No microwave oven....???

Haven't tried the non-refrigerated, microwavable meals, but we've discovered a new option not practical at a younger age. We now each eat less. If we agree on a choice, we can now share meals at the restaurant! That just cut my bill by 50%!! Now I can go out twice as often...or buy new gadgets for the boat!

Hmmmmmm!

FlyWright said:

Haven't tried the non-refrigerated, microwavable meals, but we've discovered a new option not practical at a younger age. We now each eat less. If we agree on a choice, we can now share meals at the restaurant! That just cut my bill by 50%!! Now I can go out twice as often...or buy new gadgets for the boat!

Hmmmmmm!

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For a light meal, Hormel Compleats is actually fairly good. Like all packaged foods the sodium content is irritating. Around 300 calories.

Bruce B said:

I am the "OP" and this thread did exactly what I hoped...
It helped me think outside the box. In the end we will do exactly what I thought we would do initially but I did enhance my understanding of the issues a little bit.
My thanks for everybody's input!
Bruce

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And...it looks like if we keep the boat...and no-one else appears to want it...we will continue to do without a microwave on the boat, even tho' we love it at home...

boatpoker said:

2-burner propane stove, no microwave ...

Couldn't delete the one with Sharon at the table ..... we didn't do that one.

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Now to be sure there is plenty you can do with simply a gas grill>>>

Peter B said:

And...it looks like if we keep the boat...and no-one else appears to want it...we will continue to do without a microwave on the boat, even tho' we love it at home...

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Well, who wants a boat without a microwave? ;o)

caltexflanc said:

Well, who wants a boat without a microwave? ;o)

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Wifey B: It was his trick to keep the boat.

FlyWright said:

Haven't tried the non-refrigerated, microwavable meals, but we've discovered a new option not practical at a younger age. We now each eat less. If we agree on a choice, we can now share meals at the restaurant! That just cut my bill by 50%!! Now I can go out twice as often...or buy new gadgets for the boat!

Hmmmmmm!

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Restaurants often charge extra to share meals so we each get one and eat half and save the rest to be reheated another day. Besides, my wife and I would usually prefer different meals.

hmason said:

Of all the opinions in this thread I'm most fascinated by the photos of food on actual ceramic plates. Haven't you people ever heard of paper.???

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We've heard of it and we've tried it. Outdoors, they blow away or fold in half if you hold them and it's difficult to cut steak and such on them.

We don't have ceramic, we have a matched set of Kmart's finest plastic plates, bowls, etc.

Paper plates...? To borrow/modify a phrase from Rainman... Paper plates suck!
Bruce

Bruce B said:

Paper plates...? To borrow/modify a phrase from Rainman... Paper plates suck!
Bruce

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Or worse. Nothing worse than eating a nice steak, holding it in a paper plate in your lap and realizing you cut through the plate and it's dripping all over you.

To us too it's the accumulation of more trash. Yes, dishes to wash, but we don't use paper plates at home, so not on the boat.

There are times that paper makes sense for smaller boats without watermakers...

But my boat is my home and I like a meal on corelle or better and wine in real glass.

Always? No, but flexibility and adaptability let lesser platforms maximize enjoyment.

For a quick pizza and movie with friends ...paper is fine and cleanup doesn't interrupt the evening or start the next day off wrong.

If you are anchoring out or on a mooring paper generates way too much garbage. It doesn't take much water to wash a slug of dishes manually, and actually our automatic electric dishwasher, full, used only about 4 gallons in the economy mode (nice to have a watercounter for stuff like that). Now granted we had about a 400 gallon capacity between tanks, water heater and bottled.

There are times that paper makes sense on smaller boats.....there...I said it again...

Some of us have done it every which way.....big yachts to cruising on a laser sailboat.

And have been with other highly experienced cruisers of the same mindset...

Not positive..but think paper was used for pizza at the last SE TF gathering of very experienced cruisers....

Either/or..neither right or wrong...personal preference...and many situations different...

Hand washing by non backpackers/small salboaters/mini cruisers.....meaning most people...uses more water than any other daily function in my experience.

psneeld said:

Hand washing by non backpackers/small salboaters/mini cruisers.....meaning most people...uses more water than any other daily function in my experience.

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Your experience ties to numbers I've seen that indicate hand washing uses an alarmingly high amount of water. Today's dishwashers, on the other hand, are extremely water efficient. Depending on how you do it and whose numbers you believe, it may be 3 to 1 or as much as 5 to 1.

While dishwashers are efficient, they are not common on smaller boats which I did specify.

When my crew does dishes...we go through 200 gallons of water in 2/3 the time when I do them. Meaning 1to 2 less days of water....maybe more.

As for paper being bulky trash, aren't about 50 plates just a few inches thick and 10 inches round when you buy them and don't ball them up?

psneeld said:

While dishwashers are efficient, they are not common on smaller boats which I did specify.

When my crew does dishes...we go through 200 gallons of water in 2/3 the time when I do them. Meaning 1to 2 less days of water....maybe more.

As for paper being bulky trash, aren't about 50 plates just a few inches thick and 10 inches round when you buy them and don't ball them up?

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I think the trash of paper is only relevant if you have long periods with nowhere to dispose of it.

When you do dishes, you're obviously conscious of conserving water to a degree your crew isn't.

I know dishwashers are not common on smaller boats but see that changing. I think with many people now if they could make one change in their galley, that would be it.

Meanwhile they're just like microwaves and cooktops and everything else of that nature, just a matter of personal preference.

FlyWright said:

Haven't tried the non-refrigerated, microwavable meals, but we've discovered a new option not practical at a younger age. We now each eat less. If we agree on a choice, we can now share meals at the restaurant! That just cut my bill by 50%!! Now I can go out twice as often...or buy new gadgets for the boat!

Hmmmmmm!

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We came to the same conclusion (about how much we should eat) nearly ten year's later in age.

Dishwashers! Haven't used the home-based appliance in over 25 years. What a waste of space!

Here we go again.

Would love a dishwasher...but would have to give up something essential on my 40 footer....I don't think a dishwasher is a good tradeoff on a 40 or less...but paper plates when water is critical might be.

psneeld said:

Would love a dishwasher...but would have to give up something essential on my 40 footer....I don't think a dishwasher is a good tradeoff on a 40 or less...but paper plates when water is critical might be.

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Well, we'd probably trade a storage cabinet for the dishwasher but absolutely would go the paper plate route over dishes if water was critical. And if we didn't have a dishwasher, we'd always go with paper plates. Mark that one up to laziness more than water conservation.

With paper plates ,dishwasher space will probably be used for a trash compactor.

Or at least a shredder if you are going to deep 6 your paper trash.

BandB said:

Or worse. Nothing worse than eating a nice steak, holding it in a paper plate in your lap and realizing you cut through the plate and it's dripping all over you.

To us too it's the accumulation of more trash. Yes, dishes to wash, but we don't use paper plates at home, so not on the boat.

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I agree. We use 'retired' heat resistant glass crockery from home on the boat. The less non-re-useable stuff on the boat to have to dispose of the better, over and above the other issues BandB mentioned above.