Maybe, but I wouldn't have thought to mention the achievement on a ''cooking'' forum. Just kidding.

Okay, this is easily done. The process is called ''TV dinner''. Oh, just funning again.

Seriously now - I think it would be easier to pick ingredients that require roughly similar microwaving time, and just push the nuke button once. Rather than juggling different microwaving times for disparate foodstuffs. That seems too close to actual cooking which, I gather, is to be avoided . . .

Is the microwaving time required to heat 1 cubic inch of chicken breast to 140F radically different from the time required to cook 1 cubic inch of potato? Might experiment with cubes of different things to see.

And the more you put in to the micro the longer it takes top cook.
I have done it many times. The usual menu for this sort of a meal is rice, salmon and a veggie. I cook the rice first....with a bit of onion and red pepper in chicken broth. Takes about 4 minutes on high, wait for about 10 minutes and another 10 minutes on half power...in my micro which is 1300 W.
Take the rice out and allow it to sit and stay warm, Place the piece of salmon which has been marinating in a teriyaki and sherry marinade. Nuke it on high for about 4 minutes.....depending on the thickness....don't over cook. While that's cooking add a dab of butter and fluff the rice. Remove the fish and add the asparagus, which I cook in a glass bread pan with a very little bit of water...nuke on high for about 3 minutes for 6 big stalks......and there's my dinner!

Linda, your recipe appears to be one that we should be trying out this summer. Lots of ingredients Bruce and I would both enjoy and it wouldnt take long to make. So busy in the gardens this summer. Selling hostas at the Farmer's Market and had the Harshbarger's hosta club from Cedar Rapids here yesterday. Not much time to spend in the kitchen or be on the forum. But we still have to eat, and eating the frozen entrees from the freezer section have so much sodium in them!

When I got my first microwave oven (a used one in 1979 - which is still in use today in our son's home - the microwave and our son are the same age -34) I took classes through the County Extension Office in order to use the microwave as a primary source for cooking - we were trying to save on energy use back then (those years when Jimmy Carter was president).

The microwave ovens came with great cookbooks, and today a trip to any thrift store or your local library will give you a large selection of microwave cookbooks with all the meals you could ever want to make. I even made a small turkey in the microwave for Thanksgiving the first year we owned the microwave.

Take advantage of Minute (brand) Ready to Serve Rice products for a quick microwave side dish (Brown Rice, Brown and Wild Rice, Italian Rice Mix, Spanish Rice Mix, etc. - they have a bunch of these that are ready in 60-seconds).

Microwave a basic meat mixture that can be used in a Mexican entree and add warmed tortillas (in the microwave) and fresh veggies.

I made meatloaf in the microwave, as well as microwave scalloped potatoes.

Microwaved kabobs are another way to get a combination whole-meal-deal in the microwave.

Need a quick microwaved dessert?

ORANGE SAUCED APPLES
3 T. brown sugar
1 T cornstarch
1/4 t. nutmeg
1 c. orange juice (I've also used cider/apple juice, cherry-apple juice, orange-pineapple juice, and apricot juice)
2-3 medium cooking apples, thinly sliced (I use at least 3)

In a 2-quart microwave-safe bowl, combine brown sugar, cornstarch, nutmeg and orange juice; blend well. Stir in apple slices; cover tightly. Microwave on HIGH for 6-7 minutes or until apples are tender and sauce is thickened, stirring once halfway through cooking. [Grainlady note: serve with a sprinkle of homemade granola on the top and/or a dip of vanilla ice cream. We like it warm or cold.]

Before I got my solar ovens I often baked desserts in the microwave in the summer.
-Microwave Zucchini Bread Ring
-Apricot Upside-Down Gingerbread
-Cherry Nut Cobbler
-Glazed Ring Cake
-Apple Crumb Dessert
-Blueberry Squares
-Microwave Banana Bread Ring (still one of our favorites)

-Grainlady

Well my goal is to have 3 separate foods all come out of the nuker at the same time so there is no standing/cooling time and it's all hot. As in hot.

With proper plates I envision cooking directly on the stacked plates then the whole shebang would be hot.

At present I nuke the plates in advance partly filled with water to help hold their heat while cooking the food (stove and nuke) and serve directly to the plates ie no serving dishes. Forget to MT the water out occasionally :-) VERY discombooberating.

plates filled with water??? No idea what you mean....?
If you intend on plating your meal and , stacking the plates and putting them in the microwave to cook all at once you will find that even 2 plates take a rather long time to cook and 3 or more even longer. If you just want to warm your food in the micro, that's a piece of cake.

The nuking of water-filled plates is to warm them, I assume.

I think that if you:
- Cut different food into different-sized pieces (microwave cooking time depends on the size of the piece)
- Modify the cooking with added water and plastic covering (retain heat and moisture) and aluminum foil (partially shield microwaves) appropriately
- Do this in a sectioned tray (there's that TV dinner image again) so that different food can get the water, foil, etc that it needs
- Accept that you'll make some dog food during the experimentation process (great ambitions never come easy - did Evel Knievel stop at the first boo-boo?)

. . . You can achieve this! You-go-girl! (or -dude! or -decline-to-state! or -both! or -space alien! It's not any of our business.)

On the foil, I know we've all been taught that aluminum foil and live gerbils are two things that will surely lead to eternal damnation if placed in the microwave, but the USDA, at least, endorses the judicious use of foil to shield food from the full microwave effect. What our government says about nuking live gerbils, I'm not sure - that might be addressed by a ''three-letter agency''.

See http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/microwave_ovens_and_food_safety/index.asp#12

I read the link. Still I would much rather microwave the gerbil.

Don't take a chance with foil in a microwave:

Check these out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLTodHnJjVw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx7IZ4WBdy4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFLUeH38ITM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP0_qf7OjsI&feature=related

dcarch

Well, this is an interesting thread. I did find out that Grainlady and I had microwaves of approximately the same vintage, I purchased mine in 1981. Loved that old microwave and when it blew up (yes, I do mean it blew up, flames and booms and attendant smoke) I bought a new one.

I still hate the new one, so I seldom use mine for anything except warming a cup of tea or the dog's dinner. I won't even make bacon in the blasted thing, ugh, and I'd be far more likely to make a peanut butter sandwich or have a bowl of cold cereal than I would be to make a multi course meal in the microwave.

So, good luck on your microwaved meal, I'll watch here from the sidelines and maybe overcome my intense hatred of the darned thing and learn to do something with it besides warm water for tea.

Annie

Well you've all got me a good start.

After a quick perusal of the cooking guide for separate foods my first try will be boneless chicken thigh, small red potato and cut green beans. They all cook on high. May have to be turned over mid way. If it works aytall I'll expand from there. I would expect several attempts before getting a workable combo.

I've gave up on the microwave cookbooks. They lean heavily toward foods prepared with cream, cheese and sugar. Ugh. Candied sweet potatoes? What's the point? Glazed carrots? Barf!

My "stacked plates" meant the meal would be cooked on the top plate placed on the MT 2nd plate so they'd both warm up. Maybe paper plates would do? Doubt if that would get past my wife. (So now you know).

Why? Well in my youth I was an experimental research type with a minor in efficiency. Hard to shake off that background. I don't like to cook but it has to be did. My cute sweet wife has dementia and I am gradually doing more. And as far as marinating food in Sherry - I much prefer to use it for marinating me. :-)

mxyplx, you are right. "It has to be did." I wish the best of luck to you and your cute sweet wife.

Has you ever seen those ziplock microwave bags? I got a package for some reason and actually like them for asparagus with a drizzle of sesame oil. I'll check the box when I get home, I think there are instructions for foods other than vegetables, but it would definitely be steamed.

Annie

Oooh, I know this one - I can help! Google "Tupperwave recipes" or "Tupperwave stack cooker recipes," and you will find lots. Around 1990, my friends & I were on a Tupperware kick - we took turns having parties. I bought the tupperwave stack cooker (of course you don't have to use that - I got rid of mine, as I think it was the bad plastic), but it was basically three stacked containers & it came with a "mix & match" recipe book of what you could put on the top, middle & bottom. I don't use the microwave for cooking anymore, but I do remember making meatloaf, mashed potatoes & a veggie - I think the recipes were typically done within 25 minutes. I also think the slowest cooking thing always went on the bottom, and the quickest thing, which was sometimes a dessert went on top. Good luck - let us know what you try!

Back in the 80s when I bought my first microwave, I took a cooking class. The sellers did it and they knew what they were doing.

Foil in the microwave? Sure. Just be careful. You don't want it crumpled so it'll arc, otherwise works great. I often put foil on top of something so it would cook more from the bottom. Remember the show Microwaves are for Cooking with Donovan Jon Fandre? He'd purposely leave his mixing spoon in the dish to show it's not a problem. Actually his show prompted me to buy the Rubbermaid microwave cookware and that was the best thing I did. Could stack it in the oven and it worked great. Perfect sizes for me too

Cooking together depends on what you're doing. Sometimes you *need* to cook them separately. For instance I'd often nuke a couple of potatoes (normally I don't like microwaved potatoes too much but back then it was convenience and speed), then let it sit because it needs to steam through for 5-7 minutes and dry out or you only have a boiled potato. Then while that was sitting, I'd cook a couple burgers. There too, they needed to rest at least a minute or two so I'd pop in some corn and heat up and everything was hot and cooked "together".

I now have a much smaller microwave and don't use it as much but I'd like to start watching some of the old shows and look back through the cookbooks for ideas. One reason I don't use the microwave as much is I use the little convection oven so much. Some things just come out better from the dry heat and broiling effect and on some things the time isn't an issue.

I had the Tupperware stacked meal set with the cookbook (gift) and I admit I never used it.

The kitchen forum might have some advice though--people get pretty creative during very long remodels.

Pampered Chef has some microwave recipes. I tried the pork tenderloin in the microwave and it was very good.

I always make the pudding for chocolate cream or coconut cream pies in the microwave, as well as banana pudding. So easy and just as good. I remember my Mom standing by the stove stirring for 30 minutes!

Wishing you much success! My ex-father in law is going through the same thing and doing almost everything himself, I wish I was closer so I could help him. I hope you have someone close to help you.

Mxyplx....I am sorry you are driven to cooking out of necessity. But there are many many meals you can make in a fry pan on top of the stove with less prep time but more actual cooking time.....and I will guarantee they willt aste better.
Things like beef frying pan stew, chicken and rice, home made hamburger helper, vegetables and rice with shrimp.
Don't feel tied to the microwave for no sweat meals.....really other ways are easier!
I thought you were a college kid with nothing to cook on but a microwave.
Linda C

Crock pot! (Is your friend too.)

Mxyplx, you can treat the microwave as a shorter term crockpot very successfully. I can understand having someone with dementia there that you might want to keep away from stove cooking and even crockpot at times can be a hazard for them.

I had a small restaurant at one time and I used to make the meat for some of the burritos in the microwave. Using either chicken, or beef, or pork put it into a large deep container that fits your microwave. You can do about two or three pounds of meat at a time. For the beef or pork use a nice chuck or fatty type roast. Chicken, just use whole pieces of breasts or thighs. Cut up an onion and a few cloves of garlic, then add what Mexican spices you like. Cumin, coriander, chili powder, etc. Some fresh cilantro is good if you like it. Add a can of tomatoes and then cover the meat with water or any broth. Put it on high for about two hours. It will simmer away and make the house smell great. When it's done you can take the container out and it will stay hot for a long time. Then you can cook whatever veggie you might want to serve with it and while that's cooking, pull some meat off ready to make burritos. When the veggies are done, put the tortillas wrapped in a damp paper towel on top of the veggies and cook for just another thirty seconds. You then make the burritos while leaving the vegetables in the mircowave to keep hot. Hot meal done with little swapping of dishes and you then let rest of meat cool off and pull the rest of meat from bones and put in containers that would make a few burritos at a time, cover with the broth and freeze. Then next time you can layer the dishes of meat and vegetables and do the tortillas at last minute. Hope this helps. You can do other dishes like this. Cook several pieces of chicken with some broth, then toward end put in potatoes on top and veggies a little later. Good luck and you have my admiration in trying to figure out the best way to do things that work for both of you. Care-giving is not easy.

mxyplx, if you want to heat just the plates in the microwave you don't really need to add the water. I just throw mine straight in the MW and zap for 30 secs per plate. If you really feel you need to involve water place a damp paper towel between the plates.
I agree that you may get better results by cooking a meal in the standard way and using the MW to reheat portions. Or cook the meat on the stovetop/in the oven and use the MW to steam the vegetables (which I do all the time). I find meat in the MW can be tricky not to toughen.

If you want to do stacked cooking, I recommend that you use the bamboo stackable steamers. The food will taste much better and you can have everything going at once in one pan. I use a wok for that type of steaming. You will also save energy over using a MW. If you think MWs are energy efficient, go look at your electric meter while one is on. I would not recommend microwaving any meat, although fish is probably okay. My sister once cooked a meatloaf in a MW and didn't tell anyone, thinking that she could pull it off, but for me it was inedible. Microwaves change the chemical structure of proteins and therefore alter their flavor. It's not so bad when reheating meat, but during the time it takes to cook raw meat, too many changes occur. If you use a steamer, you can have the water in the bottom simmering on a low heat, and if you have gas, the expense for this is very low.

Like Colleen, I do occasionally use the MW for cooking vegetables - mostly spinach because then I do not need to add any water.

Good luck with the dementia.

Lars

The toughening of meat in microwave is why I only cook it submerged. That doesn't happen then. It's more of a braise/stew situation.

OK! FIRST ATTEMPT

I cooked chicken thigh, cut green beans and sweet potato. It's all I had we did not have any other potato. The potato had skin on but open both ends. The beans were thawed first.

Since the piece of chicken weighed 2.5 oz I chose to go with 2.5 oz each of the potato and beans. I determined cooking times and methods (covered or not etc) from the instruction book for our nuker, the bean package, skill and experience. :-) I ratioed the weights to get the cooking times. The setting was high for all runs.

PLAN:
Nuke the sweet potato 1 minute, turn it over, add the beans and chicken and nuke it all for one more minute.

WHAT HAPPENED:
1. The potato was apparently done at 1 minute. So I had to set it aside.

2. I nuked the chicken and beans 1 minute same time. Chicken was covered with wax paper. It popped a couple times as expected but didn't explode. Beans were in a small open bowl - I forgot to put any water in the bowl.
3. The chicken was done on top so I turned it over and nuked it another 30 seconds. It popped good and nearly blew the wax paper off. It was thoroughly cooked. (I didn't let it stand - hell with it - I was hungry.)

4. The beans were not done. I nuked em twice more at 30 seconds each time. The last time I added some water and covered the bowl with wax paper. They still were not done to my preference which is mush. If you like squeaky beans they were perfect. Blah. Cooked veggies should be mush. :-)

5. The sweet potato, as it turned out, was not done and needed maybe another 30 seconds and presumably turned over.

WHAT TO DO NEXT TIME:
1. With same ingredients and weights nuke the beans first for about 1.5 minutes, add the chicken and sweet potato - nuke for 1 minute. Turn the chicken and sweet potato over and nuke for another 30 seconds.

2. Experiment with different ingredients. With chicken with use hard cover instead of wax paper.

CONCLUSION:
Though this attempt was basically a failure I have knowledge I didn't previously have and a good reference point from which to continue experimenting. The concept will work. It requires a compatable choice of foods. I think the learning curve would be short as one would quickly zero in on ingredients, cooking times and nuke settings.

I have been cooking for a lot of years - stove top - and can do pretty good but must admit: Can I cook? Yes. Am I a Chef? NO!

I see many posts since my last. Looks like lots of good advice from cooks of vast experience. Lots of stuff I never even thot of. It seems others have solved this problem. I will copy the posts and look into them. Thankyou.

The water in the MW heated dishes is intended to keep them hot after removing them from the MW since the water holds the heat longer (high specific heat and all that). Gotta remember to empty it out though because, as before, pouring a wokfull of sweet-n-sour pork into a bowl of hot water just isn't conducive to a relaxed atmosphere in the kitchen and results in epathets not suitable for publication. THAT's where the Sherry helps. :-)

mxplx, I agree, nearly all vegetables should be cooked to mush, that's how I like 'em. Raw or cooked, nothing in the middle, and you can keep all the "crisp tender" things, LOL.

At any rate, I checked those Ziplock brand micro-steam bags. There are times and instructions for hicken and fish too. I'm thinking it would be relatively easy to add a piece of salmon or a chicken thigh, maybe some asparagus or broccoli, a drizzle of teriyaki or sesame oil, or some hot chili oil if you like heat, and nuke them together in the bag. Some decent "store" bread or a potato/sweet potato and you have a meal.

I understand that rice and pasta can also be cooked in the microwave, although I've never bothered to try it. I do know that you can cook a soft yolked egg in the microwave if you watch it carefully. Spray a small round container with cooking spray or grease with a slick of butter/oil. Crack in the egg, poke a tiny hole in the yolk to prevent explosion. Nuke for 15 seconds, run a knife around the edges of the container to loosen the egg, nuke at 5 second intervals until the white is done.

I will admit that I've only done this at work, the microwave-from-hell at home is too inconsistent. And it's relatively new!

Annie

I sense a doctoral dissertation in the making. We're going to be addressing you as ''PhM''. And, if you crack the code for making tasty one-press complete meals in the magic box, as ''Your Highness''.

Would you check if cooking time for, say, a potato cube is affected by the size of the piece, or the shape of the piece? I believe it is, but that hypothesis requires empirical validation.

I would try to verify my hypothesis personally, but I am in a hotel, so no magic box handy.

We would like to see the data in graph form - time vs mass for a constant shape, or time vs surface area at constant mass. Well, maybe ''we'' the CF wouldn't, but I sure would be happy to geek out with some nice curves.

Graphical analysis is, of course, the preferred method of presentation of experimental results. It is the undersigned's experience, however, that the presentation of the graphical results, for those uninitiated in the complexities of graphical interpretation, produces contra rotation of the eyeballs in the heads of the recipients thereof followed by valiant but unsuccessfiul attempts to keep said eyeballs open.

yes, mxyplx, that's exactly what it does to me, but first my eyeballs kind of glaze over.....

Annie

I vote for fish as the next experimental group. I had one of those TV dinners where the fish is raw and frozen and cooks in the microwave. It wasn't bad.