Micro-Cooker

A few months ago, a friend had a Pampered Chef party and I decided to purchase the Small Micro-Cooker. It is a pan "customized for microwave cooking! Prepare veggies, melt butter, heat soups and reheat leftovers."

I love it. It is so nice to steam vegetables in. I use barely any water compared to the amount of water that I had to use when I steamed my vegetables on the stove top. In part, this is because I don't worry about the vegetables sticking/burning to the bottom of the pan. With less water, I like to believe that I am pouring away less nutrients when I drain off the water used for steaming. The vegetables have a nice bite to them when they are done, which I like as well. Mushy vegetables are no good.

When you prepare leftovers it is a convenient way to reheat most anything that you would have made in a saucepan - soup, rice, pasta with sauce, etc. You can also use it to heat up canned pasta dishes like Spaghettios.

The design of the cooker includes venting in the lid. This allows you to cover the food, so it won't spatter all over the microwave, but allows the steam to vent during the cooking process (no more lids blowing off the dish you are reheating). Additionally, the vented lid allows an easy one-handed way to drain the water after you are done cooking.

And, it is dishwasher-safe, a definite plus in my book. Since my regular cookware has to be hand-washed, using this dish for preparing my side dish saves me from having to wash one additional pan.

Check out the Tools others are using at Toolin' Up Tuesday over at Life As Mom. You can also find out what works for others over at Works For Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer.