Some microwave meals can be an exercise in following instructions. I'm perfectly capable of following the instructions - if, that is, I read them.

I was recently sent a bunch of Amy's frozen meals to sample. My reviews will be coming to Slashfood soon. I have lots of experience with Amy's products and I love them. I've been a longtime Amy's evangelist and that was before they sent me free stuff.

I had not, however, tried their hot breakfast cereals. To cook the lunches, I always ignore the instructions such as "make a 1 inch slit in the over-wrap" (did I bring my ruler to microwave?) and simply open the side of the over-wrap. I cook each meal for five minutes regardless of the recommend cook time and have never had a problem.

Well, it turns out the breakfast cereals cook for a different amount of time. The first one I tried was the Rolled Oats Hot Cereal Bowl. The directions said to cook for 4 minutes. I took that to mean all the breakfast cereals cook for 4 minutes. Not so. The Cream of Rice requires 3 1/2 minutes. In the photo above, you can see what happened at 4 minutes - a breakfast cereal eruption.

Am I the only one to ignore microwave directions?

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The new blog features recipes for things like Bachelor Food (Betty Crocker's Potato Buds mixed frozen veggies and a flavoring packet from ramen noodles) and Frito Pie (canned chili, Fritos, cheese, onion), and reviews of stuff like Banquet Homestyle Bakes. Stuff that costs about $1 a serving and can be nuked in less time than it takes to pop open a can of Mountain Dew. Stuff that makes Slow Foods members cry.

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Potato chips are, as a general rule, fried, greasy and unfortunately addictive, as illustrated by the longtime Lay's slogan "bet you can't eat just one. All these traits make them the bane of many health food activists' existences, but those same activists might go a little easier on the popular snack food if they knew you can easily make a non-fried, fat free version that is just as crispy as the "real" thing at home All you need is a microwave.

This Japanese potato chip maker allows you to make chips in the microwave. All you need to do is slice up a potato into fine rounds and place in the stand, then microwave until crisp.

It sounds implausible, but microwaving chips really does work. I've done it myself with great success thanks to the recipe for Uncle Bill's Microwave Potato Chips, which doesn't require a potato chip stand to work. The chips actually do crisp up well, especially if you take care to slice them thinly and evenly. In the photo above, the chips that I made are on the left, while the chips made with the chip-maker (not made by me) are on the right. I cut my potatoes freehand with a sharp knife, but using a mandoline will produce results even faster and guarantee consistency. Make sure to season your chips with salt and pepper or seasoning salt before microwaving them, as it is difficult to get the salt to adhere to already crisp chips.