Okay, I can see the confusion. First you put boiling water into the thermos to make it hot. Otherwise there would be an immediate decrease in temp when you fill it.
While thermos is heating up, you can heat up the leftovers from the frig.
Next you pour the water out of the thermos and reheat to boiling while you put the hot leftovers into the theremos.
Then you add the dry uncooked macaroni, and spices.
Then you pour on the boiling water. Put on the lid. My thermos was a cheapo from the kid’s old lunch box. So I wrapped it in a towel to help with the insulation.
I neglected to time it, but I think it was about 30 minutes. I used the microwave for all the heating. I was very suprised that the macaroni cooked that well, I really thought it would be a starchy mess.
You will need less water than it shows on the package.
I am going to hunt up some more of our thermos. I am thinking that I might try cooking some stuff like oatmeal and grains overnight, somehow I just don’t cook in the AM.
It would be great to just get up, drink coffee and eat breakfast-kinda like room service. I am a slow starter, and will just micro wave an egg, or eat a bowl of cold cereal.
This is great with respect to the number of dishes too. No pots and pans. LOL
I see now that in your system you heat up the left overs in a microwave, and not in the thermos.
When you say “I used a microwave for all the heating,” you are referring to the heating of the left overs and the boiling water? Sorry for my density. I just want to make sure I understand perfectly. Thanks for the clarification.
Putting the breakfast cereal ingredients into the thermos and letting it sit overnight would probably work. I’ve been surprised at how quickly my cereal is finished just by pouring water over it and letting it sit while I fix my eggs. I will spend an hour once every couple of weeks dishing up the tablespoons of ingredients into baggies so I can grab them easily for instant breakfast. [I’m not quickly functional in the mornings either! LOL!]