If you are cooking your food in nonstick Teflon pans, you are ingesting all the chemicals that make up Teflon. You are also breathing in the fumes as the pans heat up. There have been many reports on the negative effects of using nonstick pots and pans as well as cooking with aluminum.
I grew up as a child eating everything cooked in aluminum pots and pans or fried in cast iron skillets. Then about the time I got married nonstick cookware was all the rage. I had nonstick everything, never really thinking about what I was ingesting after having my food cooked in these pots and pans or what I was breathing into my lungs as these pots and pans heated up. Going to antique stores and seeing the lovely glass refrigerator dishes made me want them because they were pretty and represented a time we all refer to as the June Cleaver days. Of course, I didn’t buy them. What would I do with them? Afterall, I had my Tupperware and Rubbermaid to store my food in the refrigerator, freezer and cabinets.
Becoming ill with environmental illness suddenly opened my eyes. I have become more aware of the food I eat, the chemicals used in the home and the utensils I use to prepare my meals. I store my food in glass in the refrigerator and have glass jars for items I store in the cabinets. I still long for the beautiful old refrigerator ware shown below. I can’t go into antique stores because of my mold allergies but may check into some reproduction pieces of this beautiful glass ware. The last picture below is what new glass refrigerator dishes look like. I found it on Amazon. While it is not as pretty as the antique ones, I think I may invest in a couple of pieces very soon.
Today I cook my food in stainless steel pans, cast iron skillets and enameled cast iron pans and pots.
I follow a blog from Andrea Fabry about her family and their journey through recovery from their mold exposure. As a fellow mold sufferer, I enjoy the topics that Andrea shares on her blog and learning how her family is progressing through the various illnesses they have suffered as a result of their mold exposure. Last week, Andrea posted on her blog about Safe Cookware. You can see this blog post by visiting her site: http://moldrecovery.blogspot.com/2012/10/safe-cookware.html
My dear friend Sonda at sondasmcschatter reblogged about choosing healthy safe cookware a few days ago.
When I first talked about safe cooking utensils I had meant to come back and talk about seasoning those old cast iron skillets. I found two links for seasoning that are fairly simple and straight forward. They can be found here and here.
So, tell me what is your food cooking in? I would love to hear what others are using and what you think about nonstick pans (even the new ones that say they are safe).
allergictolifemybattle 
Wow! Thank you for the info…
You are welcome. This is important information and I think everyone should be aware of what they are cooking their food in and then ingesting.
I cook in enameled or stainless steel. Thanks for all the great info. 😀
Colleen – it is amazing how
ignorantoblivious and uninformed I was until getting sick.Kathy: Having been through the patient education program at Dr. Rea’s clinic, I, too, stick to glass, porcelain, and stainless steel for baking and cooking on the stovetop. I avoid non-stick cookware. Although I have a large non-stick flat pancake pan, I haven’t used it in years. Thanks for bringing attention to safer cooking materials. It never hurts to review. Jennie
I learned so much from being at Dr. Rea’s clinic.
kATHRYN— WE HAVE ABOUT ALL SIZES OF CAST IRON— & I BAKE IN GLASS– & SINCE I OWNED ANTIQUE STORES FOR YEARS– I HAVE ALL THOSE GLASS DISHES TO STORE FOOD IN!!!! 🙂 GREAT INFORMATION— THANKS FOR SHARING!!!!
How lucky you are to have the vintage dishes. My mother has more cast iron that she isn’t using and I am thinking of asking for another piece.
I did not know this Kathryn! What an eye opener. Urm, I am guilty of still using Teflon non stick pans… But have recently been considering looking into a good cast iron set… I think you have just answered that question for me! 🙂
Leisl – I am glad that I helped you decide against the use of Teflon.
Check out Etsy.com! They have a lot of vintage housewares and you won’t have to leave the house to get them 🙂
Oh, I will have to check it out. Thank you.
Good article, Kathryn. I use stainless and glass. My dad read an article years ago linking aluminum pots and pans to Alzheimer’s and he threw out every piece made of the offending metal. To this day, I refuse to use them, as well as non-stick.
DV – I had heard about the aluminum having a relationship to Alzheimer’s as well. I am sure it isn’t the only thing, but when in doubt, throw it out.
We only cook in glass, which is nice. I used to have a cast iron skillet but somehow lost it (have no idea how you lose a cast iron skillet, but if it can be lost, I’ll find I way to lose it).
Great post. Unfortunately, the makers of cookware, keep pushing this stuff. Thank goodness Pyrex keeps making glass.
Thank you RJ. I am glad that we do have other options. I am sorry you lost your cast iron skillet. I love mine.
When we moved in to our new house, I looked at it as a new beginning cookware wise. I bought all new safe stuff. It was hard to throw out the nonstick stuff we’d gotten for our wedding, but a lot of it wasn’t really durable and had become worn anyway. The heathy stuff also seems to be sturdier, which is a huge plus and helps affirm the cost. 🙂
As they say, you get what you pay for. I am glad to see you have discarded all the nonstick cookware. Here’s to NEW BEGINNINGS!
Reblogged this on quirkywritingcorner and commented:
I do have several non-stick skillets, but everything else is stainless steel, cast iron, stoneware, or enameled cast iron. I use a lot of wooden utensils (some my son made). I prefer storing and serving in glass, but I still have plenty of plasticware on standby. I use wooden cutting boards because they don’t grow germs and can heal themselves.