I finally made the cheesy beef and rice casserole last night. I served it with my homemade sauerkraut on the side. Lil' bruddr mixed it right in. It was delicious. Both Lil' Bruddr and Husband loved it. I also thought it was pretty good ;)
We enjoyed an evening of eating food, watching "The Avatar," and drinking tea. There is a lot of tea talk in some of the episodes of "The Avatar" and our friend who just went to China brought back some jasmine tea and tea cups for me. I could not resist.
I'm currently growing a sourdough starter that I hope to use this weekend to make my first loaves. (pictures in progress) I want to see if I can find some stone loaf pans. We have money set aside this month for kitchen purchases. We are also going to get a stainless steel skillet. This is part of my quest to eliminate the non-stick coating stuff we have.
Today we will buy a leg-of-lamb roast which I will roast up on Sunday. This is brand new territory and an expensive experiment. Lamb is running about $8.75 per pound. That's not cheap. I've decided that I don't want to do a rare roast as is suggested in Nourishing Traditions. I'm going to do a long, slow roast and try to get it to be all melty. Then I'll use the extra to make individual shepherd's pies, and the bone will of course be turned into broth.
On the ttc front, we tried to get my blood test done yesterday but got to the clinic too late. We will try again today. But I'm not feeling pregnant and am not hopeful. I mostly want to make sure that I'm producing enough progesterone to sustain a pregnancy.
Have you considered a cast iron skillet? It took some getting used to but now I really love mine. Sadly there are health issues with stainless steel (I have a heap of stainless steel pans I bought thinking they were better!!), especially when cooking acidic dishes whereas the iron is generally considered beneficial for health ;).
ReplyDeleteHi Dan's Mum!
ReplyDeleteI have a cast iron that I bought recently. Even though it came pre-seasoned (which worried me) I'm still trying to get it perfectly seasoned. Husband doesn't like it though. He get's frustrated with controlling the heat. I hadn't heard about health issues with stainless steel. Would you mind sending me an information link?
http://dld123.com/about/about.php?id=A32
ReplyDeletehttp://products.mercola.com/cookware/
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2001/01/14/stainless-steel.aspx
I recently bought a Vision Corning Pyrex Saucepan to cook my acidic sauces in - it was an eBay bargain and it's great!
My cast iron skillet didn't come pre-seasoned and at first I got really frustrated with it - then I worked out that less is more and the trick to a good seasoning was minimal washing - I often just wipe it out with a paper towel now which saves on washing up too :)
I still use my stainless steel but not for acidic stuff and when the surface shows any signs of wear I think I'll stop.
I like the idea of a stone loaf pan and getting rid of that dubious coated stuff.
ReplyDeleteCast-iron sounds good especially if you get extra iron in your diet!
I have a stainless-steel triad of steamers. I tend to use it only for 'watery' cooking. I have instinctively kept it away from acidic ingredients (it just doesn't smell or look good). But now I will be more aware of the health issues - thanks!
Hello RealFoodLover,
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I was not able to get out and get my loaf pans, having gotten bad allergies all weekend.
I'm still reading the links Dan's Mum sent regarding the stainless steel. I think I will use them as she recommends, with no acidic foods. I made a salsa in my cast iron yesterday and that turned out lovely.