Cook one in the oven, then! It only takes, what, 75-90 minutes? Heh. One of the downsides of not having a microwave.

Make it from scratch. Here is approximately the recipe we use (although I don't recall using evaporated milk); it's surprisingly simple, and you can get that crust you like by sprinkling bread crumbs on top before it goes in the oven.

Make it from scratch.

What're you some kind of communist? I don't make things from scratch. The convenience food industry has gone through a lot of trouble to make eating fast and easy, who are you to turn your nose up at that?

My advice, put it in the micro for 2/3 or 3/4 of the time it says on the box, then into the oven at the recommended temperature for, how long? I'd check it after 10 minutes then every 5 after that. 15-20 should be enough for optimum crusting without burning, but be extra careful if you're using a toaster oven. I can't believe we finally have a cooking topic I can provide knowledgeable advice on (this also applies to Stouffer's Lasagna).

Yes, the crust is the best. Browned, somewhat crunchy lasagna noodles are yummy too.

How about a pot pies cooked in the oven? OMG, I used to love pot pies. My father was in the grocery business for years and he would bring home pot pies. My sister and I would scarf them down as afternoon snacks. I think I stopped eating them as a teen when I realized how many calories in one pie. I'm pretty sure I was depressed and remorseful of all of the pot pies I had eaten. I'd take a pot pie now though. I loved convenience food as a kid, we didn't get much of it. I was also a big fan of Dinty Moore beef stew

I have the best recipe for Mac and Cheese by Pam Anderson. It contains eggs. It has a custard-like base. It's delicious, but not over the top rich. Here is Pam's without the eggs: Creamy Mac and Cheese. If anybody is interested in the egg version let me know.

And speaking of convenience food, I like a Duncan Heinz chocolate cake from the mix just as much as a fancy chocolate cake from a swank restaurant. Am I not refined? Probably so. :)

That would be Duncan Hines. I'm getting my prepared foods confused.

When I were a lad, Mum used to make a big pot of minestrone each winter. I'd get home from school, heat the pot and have a nice big bowl. Then we got a microwave, so you could just nuke the bowl, rather than waiting for the whole pot to heat through... after a week, the pot went all mouldy and foul, which brings me to my point:

Microwaves are basically evil in appliance form.

(And yes, I am a communist. Macaroni cheese and you can't DIY? Up against the wall with you.)

And yes, I am a communist. Macaroni cheese and you can't DIY? Up against the wall with you. This is what my very earthy veg friend said to me after I told her I made Kraft dinner occasionally.

Kraft mac and cheese with peas is a staple.

Macaroni cheese and you can't DIY?

Not can't, don't. I could beat my laundry on a rock, but thankfully somebody invented the washer and dryer.

Mmmm, I have a box of Velveeta in my cabinent. This thread makes me want to BUST IT OUT.

I guarantee that home-made mac & cheese will beat that mush from Stouffer's every single time. I'm no purist - I still like making the stuff with the powdered cheese-like granules - but scratch is the shit. And I'm more of a socialist, really.

Maybe you can cut the heating part out of the bag of microwave popcorn and put it on top of the microwave macaroni and cheese to provide some extra crust making power. Hell, you could get all obsessive about it and hoard those little microwave heat pads as you come across them. Could be your angle on being a "unique" New Yorker.

Not can't, don't.

/starts mixing mortar

It's nice to be reminded that there are other people out there who hate to cook
(and in fact, don't unless forced).

Oddly, both Adam Smith and Karl Marx ate mac & cheese made from scratch. Those who fail to learn history are condemned to use microwaves.

It's nice to be reminded that there are other people out there who hate to cook (and in fact, don't unless forced).

But -- waddya gonna do on the second date?

Oddly, both Adam Smith and Karl Marx ate mac & cheese made from scratch.

Yes, but Kevin Smith and Groucho Marx either ate instant or got takeout.

I used to love the Howard Johnson's frozen mac and cheese, in the metal tray. Bake it in the oven and it gets all crusty and bubbly! But I like my homemade mac and cheese the best! I will post my recipe up here soon, next time I make it (which is def soon, I need some carbs).

I like a Duncan Heinz chocolate cake from the mix just as much as a fancy chocolate cake from a swank restaurant.

Mmm, mix cake!

It's probably obvious from my posting history that I love to cook from scratch. But when The Fella requested marble cake for his birthday this weekend, I went straight out and bought two boxes of cake mix --- yellow and chocolate to mix together. Betty Crocker makes as good a plain cake as I ever will, and it's exactly what he wants.

Velveeta birthday bonus: I'm going to buy the fixin's for that vile-sounding but utterly addictive Velveeta and salsa dip, in case we need to reinforce the party snacks late at night. Mmmm, vile dip. I can hardly wait.

Now i kinda want that steaming pre-made starch goo drek mac & cheese you get from KFC.
This, too, will pass.

Mac n cheese for lunch tomorrow! Yaaaay!

I have never owned a microwave. People think that's nuts; but you don't need one. I can do everything a microwave does in my oven or on the range, and it's not like nuking it is that much faster.

My grandmother was a gadget junkie and got one of the first-generation microwaves in the early 80s. We observed her use of it for awhile as she attempted to use it like an oven, a la the cookbook they give you with it, to make things like cakes and pork loin. It didn't work out too well, especially since she was actually a really good cook using conventional methods.

Finally she gave it to us. My dad referred to it as the "$400 popcorn maker," an apellation which stuck, and by which I still characterize microwaves to this day (though they have come down in price considerably).

i never had a microwave until i swapped this free printer i never got to work to a neighbor for this little old spare one she had. It does make some things a lot easier, like reheating left overs and having to eat something NOW.
i never had a toaster until i snagged one off a free table, and while it's obvious why it's free, it's faster and easier than using my oven when i want a single skinny something toasted.
i feel satisfied they have long outlived their reuse and will not feel bad at all when they are either disposed of or taken apart.

A good toaster oven would be all around more ossem, just for the broiler.

Miko, you've hit on exactly why I've never wanted one myself: they heat things just fine, but you can't really cook in them.

We have a microwave that we inherited with the house; we use it to heat up a bowl of soup or chili or something, and that's about it. Everything else happens on the stove or in the oven. On preview: or in the toaster (which, by the way, was one of my parents' wedding gifts - that makes it the same age I am).

If you put a Stouffer's in the oven (am I the last person to do so?), it still doesn't crust up. The ones I ate in my grandmother's kitchen in the 70s were crusty as hell. The formula has changed, for the worse.

We only got a microwave when we had kids. It's good for sterilizing baby bottles, and not much else. I guess you can cook some vegetables acceptably in there too, but I usually don't bother. Microwaves fill the same role for me that dishwashers do - devices to save labor from tasks that I don't find inconvenient.

Oh, and I'd really like to know which joyless freak invented the microwaved jacket potato. Ugh - might as well eat handfuls of dirt.

I'm all about the bunny pasta.