Plates and drinking glasses recommendations

[dave54]

Whatever the second hand store and Dollar Store has....

We use paper when boondocking. Saves water. At a FHU site use real stuff.

 

[LMHS]

Bought two piles of gold butterfly Corelle from two different thrift stores. Used it in a popup camper, a cabin, then a class C, now in my bus. Bounced it thousands of miles. Never broke a dish due to traveling. Thinned the whole mess down to 8 dinner plates, four oval platters, three 2 QT "serving" bowls that I use as mixing bowls and four 18 OZ bowls and six of the deep 28 OZ bowls and two 9" pie plates that we use for exclusively for salads and pasta dishes. The bowls and platters are newer pieces (frost white) that I have picked up over time. Sometimes I use plates in the microwave for cooking (not heating up leftovers). The bowls can be used in the oven, microwave and electric pressure cooker. For drinking "glasses" I use mason jars. I have a lot of mason jars of various sizes. They work as baking containers, freezing containers, storage containers, spice containers. I make yogurt in them as well. The jars can be used in the oven, microwave and electric pressure cooker. Never broke a mason jar traveling. Some of my mason jars date back to the early 1980's and they are well traveled. For a "dry" sandwich, I use wax paper sheets like what was used on our food cart layers over a woven bamboo plate holder. Otherwise I use real plates. And metal flatware. I'm not a big fan of paper plates, cheap or expensive. Nor plastic eating utensils. I also wash my plates/bowls in an automatic dishwasher. Before I got the dishwasher, I washed the plates by hand. Automatic dishwashers use less water then hand washing. I loathe washing dishes by hand. It makes my skin crawl. Yuk.

 

[Tom]

Our correlle plates and dishes have survived 30 years on several boats and two motorhomes. Plastic is for the birds, and not very "green". But, whatever floats your boat.

 

[MN Blue Skies]

We mostly use disposable plates and cups, but for microwaving, hot foods, etc. we have some nordic ware plates and bowls, they are some type of BPA free sturdy hard plastic that does not get hot in the microwave. As to breakable dishes, we do carry a few coffee mugs, and glass jars (jelly, etc.) and have never had one break clanking around in the cabinets, though all our cabinets are lined with nonskid rubber like mats..

We'll have to check out the Nordic Ware. I hate that the corelle gets so hot in the microwave,

 

[LMHS]

I've had Nordicware. I tossed it after it got brown spots on it from using it (as designed) in the microwave. It would get so hot that it scared me. Then my husband heated something up and when he pulled it out of the microwave, it had the brown marks on it. So we tossed it. This was some number of years ago. Maybe they fixed that problem.

 

[DonTom]

I tossed it after it got brown spots on it from using it (as designed) in the microwave.

See here under "Burn Marks in Microwave".

" Other metals that are placed in the microwave, such as utensils or aluminum foil, can also cause arcs of scorch marks on the inside of the appliance. "

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Vanbrat]

For microwaving I hit the thrift stores for old glass Pyrex pie pans, they work great. I have some small soup sized lidded bowls also, but they are a pain to wash so they may go away I just don't use them. I do use the really small pyrex bowls for mixing and zapping, and I have some ceramic mugs I use for just about everything from measuring, to hot drinks, to cooking small batches in the microwave of what ever. I use paper plates and bowls too if I don't have time/water/or? to wash dishes... but I don't like that to much.
I have a set of plastic plates that we bought at a thrift store 26-28 yrs ago, but no way they would hold up in the microwave....

 

[Larry N.]

We have some nice Melmac plates, saucers, etc. (not for microwave) but we also have some large plates that are specifically rated as "microwave safe." We also have some Pyrex and a sort of steamer** (two layers, one to hold water) that is designed for microwaves, and does a great job of heating veggies, with or without steaming, depending on what we put in there. There is also a "Pampered Chef" Micro-Cooker designed for the microwave, just as we use almost daily at home, which is great for heating frozen veggies and other such.

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Pampered Chef Micro-Cooker:

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[LMHS]

See here under "Burn Marks in Microwave".

" Other metals that are placed in the microwave, such as utensils or aluminum foil, can also cause arcs of scorch marks on the inside of the appliance. "

-Don- Reno, NV

It was the plastic "microwave safe" Nordic plastic cooking utensil that had the burn marks on it. It basically acted like melamine, in that it turned brown and blistered in various places. Luckily I only had three small pieces so I tossed them and went back to glass/ceramic.

 

[djw2112]

Very simple... paper plates, styro cups, styro bowls, plastic cuttlery.

 

[John From Detroit]

Lots of folks use the glass product called Correlle. They are light and can be used in microwave.

We bought plastic wine glasses in Walmart.

I too used Correll for my glass plates.. For plastic whatever the Dollar store had
I really like Correll. As Jackie said. Microwavable. Light. Easy to clean (Nothing is easier than glass to clean) and they bounce better than most glass/china plates (though as someone said not perfect in this respect) I locked the cabinet doors Physically locked so they could not open when driving.

 

[jackiemac]

T

Very simple... paper plates, styro cups, styro bowls, plastic cuttlery.

Too much waste.we try to keep that to a minimum particularly as recycling here is scarce.

At home we have 4 refuse bins - paper and cardboard, plastic and aluminium, food and garden waste and anything else that you can't take to a recycling centre goes in landfill.

 

[Ex-Calif]

It was the plastic "microwave safe" Nordic plastic cooking utensil that had the burn marks on it. It basically acted like melamine, in that it turned brown and blistered in various places. Luckily I only had three small pieces so I tossed them and went back to glass/ceramic.

I got a couple of marks on a micro safe bowl.

I figured out it was where the "bones" in the meal were against the bowl. Bones can get super hot, especially at the edges. It's a good idea to stir the meal half way through. It's also a good idea to run a lower power setting, like 80% and run the micro a little longer.

One way to tell that you should turn the power down is if the meal starts popping and snapping.

 

[jackiemac]

Here's a top microwave tip.

Don't try to reheat boiled eggs unless you've chopped them up first.

Thought a bomb had gone off. Then I got a telling off for being daft

 

[Reinigm]

Reusable beer cans work well. Drink the beer, then take a can opener and remove the top. Make sure it doesn't leave a sharp edge. Paper plates. I use real cutlery though and real coffee cups. Real pots and pans and spatulas etc.

 

[Ex-Calif]

Here's a top microwave tip.

Don't try to reheat boiled eggs unless you've chopped them up first.

Thought a bomb had gone off. Then I got a telling off for being daft

That's funny.

One thing I learned a few months ago was to make a breakfast scramble in the microwave.

Use chopped ham or sausage (I love Andouille) , throw in some frozen "onions & peppers", crack in an egg, season with salt & pepper (I also like to use Cajun seasoning. Whisk it up with a fork and cook for about 90 seconds. Whisk it again and add enough time to solidify the egg - usually another 60-90 seconds.

You can do 2 eggs but it is slightly trickier to get them to come out without being a bit runny. You have to dial the power down and cook a little longer.

The best part is no pans. I do them in a micro bowl and only one bowl to clean up.

PS - If you are an American you probably like cheese on "everything" so if that floats your boat you can add some shredded cheese - I always have shredded cheese on hand.

 

[Larry N.]

Dan, taking your breakfast scramble a little further, we regularly make breakfast burritos using scrambled eggs (not scrambled in the microwave, though). Just put a layer of chopped, fried potatoes (we fry in olive oil), a layer of scrambled eggs, a broken up slice or two of bacon, some chopped sausage, and maybe some cheese* or peppers or (your choice) on a tortilla, roll it up, top with 505 Green Chili Sauce#, sprinkle chopped cheese over the sauce, then zap in a microwave for 60-90 seconds in my 1200 watt oven (2-3 minutes plus in a 700 watt oven), and enjoy.

Of course time will vary, not only with oven power, but with size of burrito and variety and volume of ingredients, but we come up with a burrito that matches or exceeds any that we've eaten anywhere, including New Mexico -- make my mouth water just thinking of it. DW tends to use a smaller tortilla than I do, of course, and cuts it in two to use half the next day, OR she uses the same size tortilla and cuts in thirds.

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* We especially like the Mexican style shredded cheese blends from Kroger or Costco.

# The 505 brand is truly New Mexico style green chili sauce, and matches or exceeds anything in any restaurant I've eaten in.

 

[UTTransplant]

Larry, you sure can’t go wrong with breakfast burritos, whether for breakfast, lunch, or dinner! Sadly it seems like you left off the most important ingredient - more green chilis!

 

[Ex-Calif]

I periodically get motivated to make burritos. I will make from scratch - pressure cooked beef etc. I'll make a batch of 20-30 individually wrap and freeze them.

Same thing with brekkie burritos. I like to use spicy ground pork sausage in the filling.

Another quick tip - I will brown up a tube of ground sausage with chili oil. Or brown up a pound of ground beef - add some beef stock after draining fluids and some chili as well.

Now when you make ramen add some chili oil, oil and soy sauce to the oil. After it boils chuck in a handful of frozen onions & peppers with the noodles and in the last minute or so toss in 1/2 to 1/3 cup of the meat. If you want a further thrill toss in an egg in the last minute as well.

Not as great as Tokyo street ramen but it comes darn close. Again a one pot meal ready in like 6 minutes including the time it takes to boil the water.

 

[Tom]

After over 30 years in boats and RVs, our Corelle plates and dishes have survived rough seas, rough roads, and occasional drops. We see no reason to change, and we stay "green".