In the Kitchen: Part 1

STORING:
I'm a big proponent of using plastic as little as possible. It's not natural, it lasts forever in landfills and it leaches bad chemicals into your food when used around it. So, especially in my kitchen, I try to avoid it. I do have some plastic containers and use plastic bags, but I prefer to store food in glass, and try to avoid micro-waving anything in plastic or styrofoam. (Of course, microwaves aren't the best anyway and should be used as little as possible. More on that later.) I use glass to freeze in, but that's where a lot of my plastic containers and bags end up - in the freezer. I'm still looking for a good replacement. Waxed paper can be used for a number of things, and it is compostable. But some waxed papers are actually coated with petroleum products. Ones coated with paraffin (wax like used in some canning applications and candle making) are a better option.

For a replacement for some of the snack bags, I recently saw a "wrap-n-mat" which can be used instead of some plastic bags. Check it out at: [ http://www.wrap-n-mat.com/fabrics.php ] They are made using a cotton/polyester blend on one side and a non-chlorinated, BPA free LDPE (low-density polyelthylene) material on the other. LDPE is recyclable and is unreactive at room temperatures. It is used regularly in food grade applications, including plastic bags. A similar option is the snack taxi at: [ http://www.snacktaxi.com/ ] though I couldn't find what they're lining theirs with. These might save a lot of plastic baggies from going to the landfill, but still expose your food to plastics. At least these are BPA free, but I just keep wondering what else will come out that is toxic in all these plastics we surround ourselves with. Another blogger, who mentions the waxed paper ideas in her blog, also suggested just wrapping lunch items in cloth napkins. [ http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/01/05/acting-green-by-acting-retro-–-food-storage-the-old-fashioned-way/ ] This works for short term storage, but not longer term like freezing. So the best alternative I have, still, is glass.

COOKING:
I cook with pyrex, stainless steel, or cast iron - my favorite being enamel coated cast iron. I try to avoid all the "non-stick" pans. The cheap ones chip and the coatings end up in our food. And even the ones that haven't chipped yet have issues of their own. Teflon is known chemically as polytrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and is a fluorocarbon. According to wikipedia: "Man-made fluorocarbon based compounds are implicated in a variety of environmental and health related issued." At high temperatures (400+ degrees) PTFE begins to deteriorated and can cause flu-like symptoms and even kill birds which are more sensitive to the fumes. [ http://www.wisegeek.com/is-teflon-dangerous.htm ]

I avoid aluminum pans for pretty much any cooking. Aluminum is reactive, meaning that the metal can react with the foods cooked in it to form aluminum salts. These are associated with impaired visual motor coordination and Alzheimer's disease. (Most deodorants have aluminum in them as well... I'll get to that later too.) Calphalon makes a line of anodized aluminum pans and claims that the final stage in this process seals the aluminum. I have one of these pans, which I use almost exclusively for eggs, just because I HATE cleaning eggs off pans. It has been getting less and less non-stick, which makes me think it's about time to get rid of it.

Pyrex is awesome for baking in. Glass is the most inert of all cookware and doesn't leak anything into food. I have a loaf pan, a 8" by 8" pan, a 9" by 13" and two big ones, even bigger than the 9" by 13". I have used these a number of time and they are great as there in no leaching of strange chemicals into the food. There have been some complaints of the glass breaking, though I've never had a problem with it. This is more likely to happen if the pans are exposed to sudden or extreme temperature changes, I also have a number of pyrex bowls that I have both stored and served food in. Pyrex is my friend (for now).

Stainless Steel is one of the most common types of cookware available. So far, there have been no reports of them contaminating food. The best type to get has a label of 18/10 (chromium steel/nickel steel) and is 3-ply, with stainless steel, then either aluminum or copper (my choice), and another layer of stainless steel throughout (not just on the bottom). These distribute the heat more evenly. Also, pots and pans should have stainless steel handles, riveted to the pan itself. Then they can go into the oven and you don't have to worry about plastic handles melting and releasing fun fumes into the kitchen. Check out [ http://missvickie.com/howto/cooking101/secret.htm#Cookware ] which gives great advice on picking and cooking with stainless steel.

Cast iron has excellent heat retention properties and diffuses it well so you don't end up with hot spots. It can be used over a fire, on the stove or in the oven. Regular cast iron pans can actually add iron to the food. The higher the acidity of the food, the higher the water content and the newer the pan, the more iron is released into the food. This is great for us pregnant ladies who need the extra iron, but should be watched carefully with children, especially those under 3 years old. Also, acidic foods like tomatoes should not be cooked in cast-iron for extended cooking times.

Enamel coatings on cast iron are fabulous. The pots are covered with a layer of porcelain enamel which is similar to glass. The enamel coating can, however, chip and stain. They are expensive, though there are several new brands coming out that are much more economical than when I bought my uber-expensive Le Crueset. They have all the great properties of cast iron, but are more non-stick, and don't leach iron. Non-scratch utensils should be used with these and more care should be taken in cleaning them, so the coating doesn't scratch. But I LOVE my Le Crueset.

You've probably noticed that pretty much all of my cooking gear is aimed at the stove and oven. I try to avoid using the microwave as much as possible. Here is an incredibly biased article on how "Microwave Cooking is Killing People" [ http://www.relfe.com/microwave.html ] or this one titled "The Proven Dangers of Microwave Ovens" at : [ http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/microwave-ovens-the-proven-dangers.html ] Did you know that the Soviet Union banned the used of microwave ovens in 1976? Now, even if I don't take this extreme of a view on microwaves, I don't think that they are the best, most natural way of defrosting, heating or cooking food. So, I avoid it.

To get really "out there", there are those who say that cooking food at all is wrong. my mother-in-law encouraged us to try a raw foods diet. While we didn't go completely raw, there is a LOT to be said for eating more and more of our food in the raw. Cooking of any sort diminishes the nutrients of the food. Many of the foods are "processed" and some are dehydrated, but the idea is to not let the food get over about 110 degrees, which is where the nutrients start degrading. Check out these sites for more info :[ http://www.thebestofrawfood.com/ ] [ http://www.alissacohen.com/ ] or [ http://www.living-foods.com/faq.html ]

SERVING:
We serve on corelle ware dishes. Corelle is a laminated, tempered glass product or so says the magic wikipedia. Corelle is actually made by the same parent company as Pyrex. Again, glass is non-reactive and therefore doesn't leach anything into your food. I love the different sizes that these come in. I have three or four sizes of both plates and bowls, which means I have the right size for the little boys as well as Big D. However, whatever their claims may be, they are in fact, quite breakable. Our second son, Izzy LOVES the sound of breaking glass and has found the precise angle at which these need to be dropped on our tile floor to make them explode into tiny shards that scatter all over the downstairs. It's really quite impressive.

What I'd like, especially for the kids, is some stainless steel plates like we use when we're camping. The enamel coated ones would be cool, but I recently saw some that were simply stainless steel, which means I wouldn't have to be concerned with chipping the enamel. I can also toss them in the dishwasher (on the rare occasions that I use it), though they couldn't go in the microwave - probably a plus - and would likely conduct heat more than the corelle that we currently have. That last might be an issue with Autie as he is rather temperature sensitive.

We used to have glass drinking glasses, but I think I mentioned Izzy's love of breaking glass. Only about 3 survived and I finally had mercy on the final three and gave them away before they too were shattered on the tile. I changed to stainless steel drinking mugs instead. These are more expensive, one costing about as much as a set of glasses, but I don't fear taking them anywhere. There are a number of different brands out there. We got a couple of the Foogo sippy cups and thermoses for the boys, but I didn't like that the sippy and straw parts were still plastic (though BPA free). I'm still looking for something that I like for the little ones that doesn't spill. For us big kids, I got a couple of Senja stainless steel mugs, which I really like. I usually leave the (plastic) lids off and they're still comfortable to drink from. I think I probably should have just gotten the plain ones, as the color is chipping off the colored ones i bought. Hmm... wonder how bad that is for us?

For the babies, I switched to glass bottles for Izzy, and will (be buying more to be able to) use them with Thing 1 and Thing 2 when they arrive. (Did I mention Izzy and glass??) I have since found some plastic wraps that go around the base of the bottle to give them a little cushion when the babies start tossing them around. These wraps don't go near the nipple, so I'm compromising between them and more broken bottles, at least until the babies start chewing on the bottoms of their bottles. I'm trying to find nipples that I like, but again with that whole plastic thing.... Though, honestly, bottles aren't used that much around here and I breast feed as much as possible. Though we have used formula occasionally, I'd really like to avoid it with the girls, which could be a real challenge. We'll see!