My world has been completely opened by a new discovery I made on Friday. I can make pasta in the microwave. It never occurred to me before, but noodles plus water plus a microwave-safe container for ten minutes equals delicious, satisfying, freshly cooked pasta. I gave it a whirl on Friday and ate it again for lunch both yesterday and today. Picturedisone combination I came up with – noodles with olive oil and lemon pepper pouched tuna. I also tried and noodles with pinto beans and mesquite-flavored pouched tuna, and noodles with canned spinach and canned salmon.

In addition to pasta, certain cuts of fishare actually pretty good candidates for microwaving. I should probably have triedthis more while living in the dorm-style conditions of Naval Station Newport. But I’ve come to realize my barrier is less that I don’t have proper appliances and more that I simply don’t have a kitchen. With no counter top, no sink, no real utensils, and no real dishware, I feel quite dissuaded from even trying to cook. (Prepping food on the tiny bathroom countertop is not appetizing). The good news is that we’ll be back to normal kitchen living in early January. More on exactly where we’ll be stationed to come…