Quote Originally Posted by Melalvai View Post
It's funny you bring this up right now, because a few days ago in anticipation of my 2 weeks in Phoenix I googled "hotel cooking". Did you know some people consider the iron to be a cooking appliance? I'm not gonna try that one!

I read some funny stories about cooking in the coffee pot, or using the coffee maker's heater as a burner.

I have a microwave and a fridge in this hotel. There's a toaster oven in the break area of the lab I'm working in which opens up possibilities!

So far I haven't cooked anything, because I haven't had a chance to go to the grocery store. I got here Sunday night. I'm heading to the store in a few minutes on my rental bike!
That makes me think of Ken Hoffman, a columnist in Houston who does the MS150 every year. Google his name, microwave, and MS150, and you'll probably find the reference (which I won't say for fear of grossing anyone out - if you search, though, you've been warned!).

A note to explain the oatmeal thing. Rolled oats are sometimes called instant oats. They come in a cardboard cylinder box. They are plain and you can add good healthy stuff to do them, anything from dried fruit & honey to peanut butter to cream cheese to salsa! They take a minute to cook, you can use any liquid, milk or water or juice.

Then there are these little packets of instant oatmeal, that have tons of sugar added. That's what you want to avoid.

Last there's oats that aren't rolled, like steel cut oats. Those take an hour or more to bake or boil or whatever. Not all grocery stores carry this.
I've seen two different varieties in the cardboard cylinders. Instant is closer to the "quick oats", which are just a little more processed and have a little less texture to them than the old fashioned/rolled oats. But you're right, they don't have all the sugar and preservatives in them.