Reddit reviews Microwave Pasta Cooker - The Original Fasta Pasta - No Mess, Sticking or Waiting For Boil

How to make a filling meal for $1 even if you don't know how to cook

I am 6'1", weight 165 pounds, and run 10-15K three times a week. I love pasta, and often eat a pound of cooked pasta for dinner:

• $1 for a one-pound box of uncooked pasta (turns into two pounds cooked)
  
• $1.75 for 24 ounces of pasta sauce (six ounces per pound cooked pasta)
  
  $3.50 for 8 servings of pasta sauce + $4 for four boxes of pasta = $7.50 for eight meals of one pound of pasta + sauce, providing about 1,000 calories per meal. A woman or smaller man would eat less, so would get up to 16 meals from the $7.50.
  
  Variation 1: Instead of pasta sauce, use salad dressing. $1.50 for 16 ounces of Italian dressing (four ounces per pound cooked pasta), or the same amount of ranch dressing (2.5 ounces per pound cooked pasta).
  
  Variation 2: Add tunafish to the pasta and sauce/dressing. One $1 5 oz can is enough for two meals.
  
  With pasta sauce, the meal has 935 calories, 182 g of carbs, 9 g fat, and 32 g protein for ~$1. Tuna adds 90 calories, 2 g fat, and 20 g protein for another $0.50.
  
  And yes, there is no cooking involved other than filling a container with water. I highly recommend Fasta Pasta to cook pasta in the microwave.

Microwave spaghetti with this.

Make hard-boiled eggs with this.

Make microwave bacon with this.

They're small and cheap, and you can't argue with those amazon reviews. Makes great stocking stuffers.


Also, make microwave eggs.

Mmmm... now I want a bacon-egg-and-cheese croissant sandwich.

Go to second hand store or garage sale and buy crockpot and a rice maker with built in steamer so you can steam veggies (and buy a few items like chopping board, cutting knife, spoon, etc). Also buy one of these pasta cookers for your microwave for $10 (I have one, totally works): http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000YT2XOI

I figure breakfast and lunch will be easy so here are some dinner ideas:

-crockpot BBQ shredded chicken sandwiches

-green salsa tacos. 2 chicken breasts (they could even be frozen) and half large jar of green salsa on high for 3-5 hours. Shred, serve on tortillas with lettuce, tomatoes, etc.

-crockpot lasagna (Kraft has a fabulous recipe where you can just put the dry noodles in)

-crockpot roast with potatoes and carrots (use 1 package of onion soup mix for flavoring. Optional: 1 can of coke, rootbeer, sprite or gingerale with soup mix.)

-Stir fry. Never done this before....but you could try cooking the chicken breast and marinade in the crockpot while the rice cooks and veggies steam in rice cooker.

-"crockpot chicken" (my own recipe). Chicken thighs on bone, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup light soya sauce, juice from can of pineapple, 1-2 cups of water (whatever looks good so chicken marinates in enough liquid), some ginger and garlic and sliced carrots. Cook on low all day. Add half can of pineapple RIGHT before serving (it tastes better that way). The chicken literally falls off the bone, the carrots turn out amazing. Serve with rice.

-spaghetti (use fasta pasta for the pasta), crockpot to make sauce unless you just use a jar of sauce which is easier.

-Crockpot chili, stew, corn chowder or soup

-"risotto" or "rice pilaf". You can totally add diced onion, chicken stock, cheese etc to rice cookers....I've done it before.

-Salsa chicken. Add layer of salsa in crockpot, add frozen chicken breasts, sprinkle chicken with chili powder and cook. Sprinkle chicken with cheese and cover back up until melted. Serve on rice with sour cream and salsa (from crockpot).

-Baked potato or sweet potato/yam (in microwave). Just look up internet directions on how to do that. If you like mashed, you can scoop out the insides, mash with fork in bowl, add a little milk, butter and salt. Viola.

Bonus: If you like eggs for breakfast, you can buy a egg cooker for the microwave. Makes perfect sized eggs for egg mcmuffins. Oh, and bacon can totally be cooked on a plate in the microwave with a paper towel overtop, should you wish to add bacon :)

Edit: Formatting. iphone suck at that. I'll add more ideas as I think of them.

You're welcome! Making blocks of brown butter was worth buying them for that feature alone! If you don't need an army-sized quantity of pasta, I have a great little kitchen tool called the Fasta Pasta ($15 shipped on Amazon) that lets you microwave your noodles:

• https://www.amazon.com/Microwave-Pasta-Cooker-Original-Sticking/dp/B000YT2XOI/
  
  My procedure is:
  
  

1. Fill with the dry noodles you want (about halfway max)
   
2. Fill to inner lip with water
   
3. Microwave for 15 minutes (I have a 1250-watt microwave, for reference)
   
4. Attach lid & drain over sink
   
   This actually does a phenomenal job of making al dente pasta! You'll have to adjust it according to your microwave; it comes with an instruction sheet, but I pretty much just fill it up with noodles halfway & then fill the rest with water to the inner lining & it does a good job regardless of what shape of pasta I use. It makes enough for 1 or 2 people. They did come out with a larger family-sized model, but I haven't tried it: (yet...lol)
   
   

• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H0SSBWI/
  
  The unit is nice because:
  
  

1. You don't have to boil water on the stove first
   
2. You don't have to babysit it (no stirring required)
   
3. When finished in the microwave, you just pop the lid on & drain it using the vent slits in the lid, then load into a bowl or plate & rinse out the container, super easy!
   
   Then you can grab a stick of brown butter & add it to your pasta as desired! Here's a good, simple starter recipe: (when draining, put a 1/2-cup measuring cup in the sink & fill, so that you can save half a cup of the pasta water for the recipe)
   
   

• https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019980-pasta-with-brown-butter-and-parmesan
  
  The combo of the Fasta Pasta & Souper Cubes is nice because if you're feeling both hungry & lazy, you can have a meal for one (or two) with hardly any effort at all, and it's not some cheapo dish like Chef Boyardee (nothing against them!) - it's legit pasta with, in this case, brown butter & Parmesan! For this recipe, all you have to do is:
  
  

1. Prepare the brown butter in the Souper Cubes ahead of time
   
2. Cook the pasta of your choice in the Fasta Pasta for 15 minutes & save 1/2 cup of the pasta water
   
3. Melt a stick of your brown butter down in a skillet & turn off the heat
   
4. Toss with the pasta & then stir in the cheese until melted
   
5. Stir in the pasta water a tablespoon at a time until glossy (you probably won't need the whole half-cup)
   
6. Serve topped with freshly-ground black pepper & more Parm on top
   
   As far as the Parmesan goes, I vac-seal & freeze my cheese for storage, then shred with a Salad Shooter: (electric shredder)
   
   

• https://www.amazon.com/Presto-Professional-SaladShooter-Electric-Shredder/dp/B0000Z6JJG
  
  Using the "fine"-sized aftermarket cone:
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Shred-Replacement-Presto-Professional-Shooter/dp/B00TYYBA8O/
  
  Laziness through technology! Hahaha.

Get one of these (Fasta Pasta Microwave Cooker). Changed my life, seriously. It cooks spaghetti in about 5 minutes; you can get some pasta sauce heated up, sprinkle some parmesan, and BAM! delicious meal for one.

This is from the reddit amazon ad. If only I could order it without outrageous shipping cost, I would SO buy that. Seems to solve OPs problem too. :( Can anyone comment on whether it actually works that well? I always think amazon comments are fishy and purely written by mechanical turks for half a cent.

Does he enjoy outdoorsy stuff? Maybe some camping/hiking gear would be appreciated. You could get him something to neatly store this sock collection. Or you could choose something more universally useful: insulated water bottle, external battery charger, Google home/Echo, really nice reinforced and long phone charger, Amazon Prime membership of his own!, a really nice backpack (like this that can be professional too, microwave pasta cooker, or just some more really cool socks lol

Fasta Pasta A pasta cooker for the microwave. It works well.

The "Fasta Pasta" has been a game changer.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000YT2XOI/ref=sr_ph_1?qid=1462062560&sr=sr-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=fasta+pasta

I found I could make rice noodles in one of those microwave pasta cookers. I got mine from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Microwave-Pasta-Cooker-Original-Sticking/dp/B000YT2XOI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425995818&sr=8-1&keywords=Fasta+Pasta). From there, I can add leftover veggies and spices (onion and garlic powder, soy sauce, chili sauce, etc.). Makes a quick and easy meal. Add leftover fish or other precooked meats for non-veg)

Quit being a little bitch and use a Fasta Pasta for your pasta cooking.

No more excuses.

Edit: Link for the lazy. Because if you're interested in something like this, you are lazy.

https://www.amazon.com/Microwave-Pasta-Cooker-Original-Sticking/dp/B000YT2XOI

Thank me later, boysss

You can do an awful lot with the hotel fridge and a microwave. Any perishable items should be fine in the fridge, and if you just experiment some you can cook a wide variety of foods in the microwave pretty well. Americas test kitchen even tested microwave pasta cookers something like this and they worked great.

Even without refrigeration as long as you can heat it, you can get relatively healthy shelf stable rices and things like canned chicken breast or tuna/salmon. Buy a little whole wheat bread or the like and possibly some canned vegetables and you can mix things up and keep it much healthier than hotel lobby food or fast food.

Rotini Arrabbiata for a busy bachelor:

Buy a Fasta Pasta at Amazon.


1 box of Rotini

1 jar of Rao's Arrabbiata marinara (expensive but worth it)

2 mild uncooked Italian sausages.

1 wedge of Fresh Parmesan.

1 loaf of garlic bread (fresh, or even Pepperidge Farm 5 cheese garlic bread from the frozen aisle).
___
The Fasta Pasta needs no explanation -- it's a microwaveable dream-come-true for al dente pasta for dummies. Throw the garlic bread in the oven (15-20 minutes at 350, typically). Put the sausages in a large pot (membrane off mind you). Mash them up as you brown it over medium heat. Once it's cooked thoroughly, pour the sauce right in the pot over it and stir. Rao's Arrabbiata already has some good kick, but add red pepper flakes if you like it spicier. Grate your Parmesan and add a bit to the sauce. Simmer that up while the pasta's finishing (17 minutes makes a serving for 4 with the Fasta Pasta. Done. Absurdly easy and awesome.

http://www.amazon.com/Fasta-Pasta-The-Microwave-Cooker/dp/B000YT2XOI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314785013&sr=8-1

That thing has been a life saver. There are holes on the top that let you measure serving sizes. Comes out of the microwave just like you boiled it. Awesome stuff.

I'm referring to pasta cookers, which you use in the microwave.