R.I.P. Microwave

I have the solid food thing down.  I steam a batch of finger foods on the weekends (carrots, sweet potato chunks, green beans, apples, etc.), freeze them, and then pull them out on an as needed basis.  Throw them in a little dish with water, pop them in the zapper for about 20 seconds, and then serve them up to my little man.  It works well, it's convenient, and it's fast.  We are doing well on solid foods!

That is, until three days ago when the microwave died.  Done.  There were occasional flickers of hope as the indicator lit up to 88:88 every couple of hours, but it was nothing more than just a last breath.  We tried banging on the door, jiggling the side, and adjusting the power cord in a vain attempt to resuscitate it, but it now sits on the kitchen floor as a giant drum for Weston to bang on as it awaits trash day next week.

"Go buy another one," you say.  I would, except that we're moving into a house within the next month and the kitchen is brand-spankin' new, complete with all appliances, including a microwave.  So, we're sucking it up and figuring out how to live life B.M.O...Before Microwave Ovens.  

At first, I panicked when all the times we use the microwave flashed through my brain.  Oatmeal in the morning, making tea, warming up water for Weston's bottles, reheating leftovers, defrosting meat because we forgot to take it out of the freezer the night before...  How are we ever going to pull this off for a month???  It was like me thinking of life without the Internet.  How would I ever find the lyrics to a song?  Directions to the nearest Target?  Movie times?  Recipes for twice-baked potatoes?

Then I remembered my dear friend Vanessa in Milwaukee.  She doesn't have a microwave, and she's actually had people over to her house for dinner on multiple occasions.  There was hope!

Steaming basket thingie

The reality is that I've been washing a lot more pots lately, but it's okay.  I'm grateful for the steaming basket thingie that we have because that's how I heat up baby's little finger foods.  Nate said making tea is a lot faster on the stove top.  Oatmeal made on the stove is way better than how it turns out in the microwave.  Sure, it takes more time to do all these things, but that's okay.  It'll make the return of the microwave next month that much more enjoyable.