The Great Hunt: MoneySaving microwaved meals

I used to buy "Microwave Know How" - a weekly magazine full of microwave recipes. I've seen them since at boot fairs for really cheap prices.

They were brilliant and I learnt you can cook virtually anything in a microwave.

I found sponge cakes rise better than any I've ever cooked in an oven - but you have to eat them the same day - they go hard by the next day! They taste very light and are so cheap to make. You can make one in a mug, a small individual one!

I've cooked a poached egg in a mug with a little water put in first, you have to do it very slowly and carefully otherwise they'll explode!

Bacon can also be cooked - on a plate, you won't get crispy but perfectly edible, just cook slowly.

The main thing to remember is that you can cook a little bit more but you can't undo once ruined, so always do a few seconds or few minutes (depending on what you are cooking) at a time. Don't try to rush things.

Things cooked in sauces are also very good as they are in a liquid and that is much easier. You can also make soups - my favourite in these recipes was one for lettuce soup, which sounds foul but tastes superb!! It has cream in it but it was the best soup I've ever had!

If you've got one with the oven or grill bit too then there's nothing you cannot cook.

Don't be frightened of your microwave - to me it's an essential and I'd rather have one than a cooker any day!

Just look up recipes online - so easy to find and use!

Have fun.

I have made meringues in the microwave, they are not as good as normal ones but ideal for eton Mess or anything where you need crushed meringues. I always make white or cheese sauce and cook rice in the microwave. Like Happy in florida I too have some microwave know how books in binders that i used to buy.

Risotto's easy peasy. Per person (adult), you need about 75g rice plus about 250ml stock made with an Oxo cube. Just bung it all together in a bowl with some (frozen) veggies and keep stirrin' till it's soft.

It is only in the last few months that I have actually had a proper oven! After 10 years! I had a combi microwave which grilled and worked as an oven for that entire time and so ate absolutely as normal. While my kitchen was being extended and fitted out my microwave also acted as a footstool when I was on the sofa watching TV. I always cook fish by MW, bacon, "jacket" potatoes, noodles or rice (especially microwave rice in bags) or couscous if I'm looking for something quick and tasty, or as a side dish, sausage casseroles, stews (30 minutes at full power in a crock pot), omlettes and poached eggs which aren't as good as the hob version but perfectly ok. My mum makes cakes in her microwave quite happily. Stewed fruit such as gooseberries, rhubarb etc. I do have a smart new double oven now but it spends much of its life as a cupboard for baking trays, tins etc. Have a look in charity shops for dedicated MW cookbooks.