I do use it every day but for leftovers, warming bread, and steaming veggies. I do use my potato button when I make potatoes but usually have to hit it twice. I would use it more but we don't buy a lot of frozen food and the ones I do buy, just taste better if cooked in the real oven. They are defined time savers though when you need them and I did use it to heat up canned food like chili, canned beef and gravy, soups, after the Hurricane when we were staying in a motor home. We couldn't find gas but we had the microwave. I found I could make things, like instant mashed potato and instant rice, steam a few veggies and we could at least eat. It is useful but pretty far down on my list of items I would miss if I didn't have it.

After 'frige and stove, it's the third most useful item in the kitchen. Please quit using these to dry your Pekinese after the bath!

*zap* (peanut gallery oohs and ahhs)

I only use mine for starting baked potatoes, defrosting something, and for my kid to heat the nasty Pizza Pop snacks he eats.

But for those things, its extremely useful.

I find it ironic that you are concerned about eating a diet of "low fat, no sugar, with lots of veggies and fruit" but that the carcinogenous microwaves don't bother you at all. Huh.

If the fridge and the microwave made a political alliance, they'd be unbeatable as the most useful kitchen appliance combo. I've lived for 2 years without using a stove, and don't really plan to waste my time cooking complicated foods just so my taste buds can enjoy something insignificantly tastier than what I cook in the microwave or eat raw. BTW, I eat *very* healthy (low calorie, very low-fat, no sugar, lots of veggies and fruit), I buy my food only from Whole Foods, would satisfy the dietary requirements of a gluten-sensitive, or those of the Modified Elimination Diet, so no lectures about quick TV dinners please :-)

In my family, I can't live without it. We're usually on a time crunch, so this helps a lot.

We bought one, but got rid of it because we weren't using it. I admit they're handy for defrosting, but it's just as easy to remember to take something out of the freezer that morning. We don't buy a lot of frozen dinners or that sort of thing, and if we do buy something like that, the toaster oven does fine. And air poppers make much better popcorn.

I'm loathe to admit it but I use the microwave all the time. I do cook, but it's just me and the old lady so there are always leftovers.

I'm a bit paranoid regarding microwaves, and probably only use one about two or three times a year.

Pretty useful for defrosting food, cooking fresh veggies (typically retains nutrient content), and heating up a fast (though not ideal) meal when you need it.

Tip: When there are stalactites made from the popped remnants of previous meals in there, it's really time to clean the microwave.

Don't know a whole lot of people who actually cook with a microwave, but it is great for heating things and for popcorn. Would take some getting used to if I had to do without it.
Dishwasher is a close second to my favorite kitchen appliances.

Lets see,food that is actually COOKED in a microwave is well nigh inedible and may be altered on a molecular level making it disuseful or even harmful to the body.I can heat almost anything on the stove in almost the same amount of time,without turning it to soggy mush or the consistancy of hard rubber.The big incentive of Microwave users is laziness-it saves dishes or pots from needing to be washed.It's only "good" for popcorn or heating leftovers,and even that is debatable.

i remember when we didn't have microwaves but i am so used to having one that i wouldn't know what to do without one. it would traumatic. i would have to go back to the basics and thats alot more work. microwaves cut your time in the kitchen down by alot.