Lately I have been talking a lot about what is going into your food. We are eating organic in this house and cutting way back on processed food. The question is, are we doing enough?

I read an article recently that listed the things you need to take out of your home to become greener. Can you guess what was number 1 on their list?

If you thought non-stick cook and bake ware you are right!

For years I loved the stuff, everything I had was coated with the miracle non-stick stuff. Now we are finding out all of that stuff that it gives off is not healthy for us. It is not safe over a certain temperature. That temp being much lower than than the high setting on most stove tops. This is just down right scary. There are enough chemicals surrounding us, then to think we are adding more with what we prepare our food in.

Alternatives?

Several years I switched over to stainless steel. Does my food stick? I have become a better cook over the years, but yes on occasions those silly little pancakes do stick. You have to learn to adjust the temperature. If you do that and use the correct oil you shouldn’t have a problem.

Hard anodized aluminum cookware. I do not have any of these pieces but have heard they work just as well as the Teflon and are much safer.

If you are lucky enough to have a gas stove you may want to consider cast iron. When it is seasoned correctly it is non-stick. You cannot use these on glass topped stoves. On electric stoves they may not heat evenly.

I also don’t use cookie sheets or bake ware coated with Teflon. For starters it was much less expensive to buy metal baking sheets.  I can also scrub them without the fear of ruining the non-stick surface. I also use glass baking pans where I can.

So next time you are preparing food, think about the containers as well as the food!