A few weeks ago, I walked into my kitchen and was greeted by an intense, plastic-burning, foul-like smell. My boyfriend was seated at the kitchen table, so I looked at him and said, “What’s that smell?” He replied, “I know, right? Is something burning?” “Yeah baby, something smells wrong,” I replied. We both started searching for the reason behind the pungent odor our kitchen had suddenly taken on. We unplugged and plugged things in until at last, we determined the culprit!

The microwave had died.

Now, I’ve had this microwave for a solid ten years or so. It’s done its job and done it well. I wasn’t sad to part with it or anything but when my boyfriend turned to me and said, “Let’s just not have a microwave,” I was thrown off. No microwave? Seriously? What is this? The Flintstones era? But then I thought about it and soon realized, yeah, it would be nice to not nuke things. It zaps away the nutrients anyway and practically begs for junk food. Last year, I learned stove-top popcorn was THE way to make popcorn and I haven’t gone with the “microwave” kind since. I should have seen this coming but I didn’t…

At first, I was apprehensive. When I reached for leftovers the very day we decided to be microwave-less, I nearly had a stroke. How in hell was I going to heat this up? But then, DUH! Stove top. Have you ever had fried spaghetti? If not, you need to try it. Right now. It’s amazing that I forget sometimes how much so when I just pop it in the microwave and take the easy (though much less tasty) way out.

This was followed by a night in which we made baked potatoes. In the oven. They took much longer, sure, but they were WAYYYYY tastier. Crispy skin, soft inside. YUM. And try reheating french fries in the oven. Delish. Not soggy mush like what happens when you put them in the microwave…

As the days passed, I hardly missed the microwave at all. In fact, the opposite happened. I was forced to use the oven and stove for all types of cooking. Even boiling water was now always in a kettle rather than on a spinning plastic disc but you know what? The food and drinks tasted better. MUCH BETTER, And it’s not wishful thinking, it’s a fact. As proof, try reheating a slice of pizza in the microwave versus the oven. It’s the epitome of what is wrong with the microwave. Rather than crisping the dough and melting the cheese like an oven does, the high-watt voltage machine burns the whole damn thing, bubbling the cheese while zapping and shrinking the dough. Seriously. Test this for yourself at home.

I could go on and on about how much I love not having a microwave, which I absolutely NEVER thought I would say, but instead, I’d rather pose two questions:

Is all technology a Godsend? And if not, why are we as humans not more selective?