Living Without a Microwave Oven

This is a guest post from my friend Jodi over at JodiMichelle.com. They’ve been living without a microwave since last summer, so I jumped at the chance to have her share her story here. {By the way, she’s promised to post video of herself dancing routine from a popular song. Jodi…..we’re waiting. }

The journey to getting rid of our microwave started about 4 years ago when we went to Virginia to visit friends over Christmas.  I have such great respect for these friends, they’re near and dear to me and so much farther ahead in living responsibility and taking care of our earth but when I noticed they didn’t have a microwave sitting on their counter I was very literally shocked.

SHOCKED!

I had no idea that it was “acceptable” to live without a microwave.  I mean, how did they make their oatmeal?  Or cook their chicken?

Oh yes.  I grew up with a mother who would bake things in the oven and if it wasn’t done to her satisfaction she’d whip it in the microwave before serving it to us.

I was dumbfounded to watch our friends warm up their left overs on the stove, in a pot or pan or whatever it took.  Quickly heating up a casserole under the broiler for a few minutes.  What was even more amazing to me was that it worked.

Oh, I wish I was kidding you, but this was a whole new idea to me – one that I was sure had failure written all over it, I actually had the conversation with my husband that we should (wait for it) buy them a microwave before we left as our thank you gift to hosting us for the holidays.

So that was my first clue to living without a microwave and when we came home I quickly turned to my husband and said, I’m throwing it out!  We can live without one!  But I was vetoed.  He wasn’t ready for it so we kept it on our counter and used it once in a while, still making instant oatmeal and reheating the leftovers when needed.

It started to blow the breaker every time we’d use it though.  Which spells trouble to me when I’m putting my food into a box that has the potential of blowing my house up … yeah.  Not so good.

Fast forward to when my niece came for a visit from Arizona this past summer – they also don’t use a microwave and she was so against eating something from a microwave (or wearing sunscreen) that she ate dinner cold at our house one night.  Not sure why I didn’t just pop it in the oven for her, but she sat there happy as a clam to eat cold lasagna unaltered from the waves of our death box on the counter.

Which is when I finally decided to cut it out already.  The microwave had to go.  My husband still had feelings for it though so instead of using it – it sat there on the counter for a couple months while he got used to the idea of letting it go.  But then it broke and I threw it out.  He rescued it and it now sits on the floor in our mudroom – and he does use it every once in a while, but it’s a complete pain to prepare whatever it is he wants and then to go out in the cold mudroom, get on the ground and push those buttons.  He has a bad back, too, so this won’t last long.  (I’m only sorta happy about that in a very sinister way.)

It’s amazing how living with the microwave has changed how we prepare food.  I just don’t make HUGE batches of anything anymore because really when I thought I was making extra food for additional meals later (left overs) I was taking up valuable real estate in my fridge with rotting food, because we never ate the left overs – and I’d keep preparing large portion meals for more left overs through out the week.

The microwave was like a permission slip to gluttony that we just never cashed in … but in the end it cost us hundreds of dollars every year in groceries I’d throw out and packaged food I would buy that didn’t fill our tummies or nourish us in any way.

We eat oatmeal, but it’s stoneground and soaked now and the leftovers we do have become ingredients in other meals or soups … or we just reheat on the stove.  I’ve been more intentional about preparing food now because there is no lazy way out.

I haven’t done much in-depth research on why a microwave is bad for you but I’ve heard and read enough to agree with that statement and we’re now a happy, hippy family!

Thanks Jodi!

And to my readers that haven’t yet met Jodi, she’s fabulous at oversharing on her blog and she’s also planning the Gleek Retreat for bloggers, coming May 22 and 23! {yay for having a blog conference here in Michigan!}

** Please do not construe my posts as medical advice, because *ahem*, I am not a doctor or medical professional. I am but a student of Nourishing Nutrition and Natural Health. I only hope to ignite a passion within you to do your own research and begin your own journey to better health. And to make sure you don't miss a single post, you can add my blog's RSS Feed to your reader or you can sign up for free updates by Email.

Are Microwaves Dangerous to Your Health?

As most of you probably did, I grew up with a microwave. I actually can’t remember life without one. And while we didn’t use it all the time, I do remember it getting quite a bit of use.

And when I started working full time, it was the only way I ever warmed up my lunch.

And when I got married we used it quite often for reheating dinners and frozen foods. I used it to defrost meats, heat water, melt butter, and cook vegetables.

When I got pregnant with my son it was the first time I heard there were any issues about microwaves. I read multiple times that pregnant women shouldn’t stand to close to them for fear the microwaves would escape. And so I always backed away while using it.

Just. In. Case.

The science behind that theory may not stand up to modern machines because of the way they’re designed, but that’s not exactly why I wonder about them anymore. (Though I never stand close to a microwave while it’s cooking. You know…just in case)

After I had my son and began pumping occasionally for when I wasn’t around, I kept coming across literature that told me to never heat breast milk (or formula for that matter) in the microwave. The reasoning was that it caused nutrient loss and damaged the properties that protect babies from infections.

Hmmmm……..

So if it caused nutrient loss in milk for my little baby, what was it also doing to my own food?

It was then that I started making it a habit to use my microwave less, though I did keep using it. Now? I think after a bit more research I might just be ready to give it up all together.

How a Microwave Oven Works

In very simple laymens terms, and the way I understand it, microwave ovens use a form of radio waves (called microwaves) to heat food. These radio waves are absorbed by water, sugar, and fats in foods. When they are absorbed the food molecules get excited and start moving around and heating up. By exciting the atoms of the food is this way, it cooks the food. So there is no actual heat involved.

So Are There Issues?

Unfortunately it’s hard to find concrete evidence against a microwave! I’ve come across story after story after article here on the web, but it’s hard to know who to trust.

One story I kept coming across was a woman whose family alleges she was killed by a microwaved blood transfusion. Supposedly she was doing well after her hip surgery and then a nurse microwaved the blood and she died moments later. Yet another site claimed it was a hoax and that she died of a blood clot. The full case report includes more information about the case and some effects microwaves may have on blood. But the fact of the matter is also that hospitals do not warm up blood in a microwave, do they have a scientific reason not to? Just because a judge couldn’t find concrete evidence doesn’t mean there wasn’t some truth behind the allegations.

The other story I found that was often referred to, was a study done by Hans Hertel. He carried out a small, controlled study by feeding participants (including himself) and testing the blood shortly after consumption.

The food used:

• raw milk from a biofarm
• the same milk conventionally cooked
• pasteurized milk from Intermilk Berne
• the same raw milk cooked in a microwave oven
• raw vegetables from an organic farm
• the same vegetables cooked conventionally
• the same vegetables frozen and defrosted in the microwave oven
• and the same vegetables cooked in the microwave oven

He found that the microwaved foods actually changed properties in the subjects blood. The same changes that were associated with bodily deterioration. But supposedly there was a gag order placed on the whole thing. Again – hmmmm.

It also seems that the Russians have done quite a bit of research on microwave ovens and actually outlawed them at one time. They also seem to have found that microwave cooking decreases bioavailability of vitamin B complex, vitamin C, vitamin E, essential minerals and lipotropic factors in all foods tested. (source)

Yet another source posted this quote from FDA science policy analyst Catherine Bailey says “When you microwave, it’s a good idea not to have the plastic touch the food.” The reasoning behind that is the fact the chemicals from the plastics can leach into our foods!

What I Do Know

1. Most quick foods made in the microwave aren’t good for you anyways. Those pizza rolls and frozen burritos do nothing good for your health!
2. Quick foods are not nourishing foods.
3. There may be possible nutrient loss cooking foods in the microwave.
4. I am not willing to risk the detrimental effects microwaves may have on my health.

I wish I knew all the science behind microwave cooking and I wish more studies were done. But I do know that I will be making every effort to cut the microwave completely out of my life. And I will be trying to figure out how to keep my husband from microwaving his lunches everyday!

What about you? Do you use one? Know of any other “true” research I can look into?

Ideas on how my husband can still have a hot lunch for work without the microwave oven?

Further Reading:

Stephanie’s post (from Keeper of the Home): Living Without a Microwave

Phoebe’s living without a microwave post (from Getting Freedom)

Microwaves Ovens: A Danger to Your Health?

The Dangers of Microwave Ovens Everyone Needs to Know

***and tomorrow I’ll have a guest post here by JodiMichelle on how they live without a microwave

** Please do not construe my posts as medical advice, because *ahem*, I am not a doctor or medical professional. I am but a student of Nourishing Nutrition and Natural Health. I only hope to ignite a passion within you to do your own research and begin your own journey to better health. And to make sure you don't miss a single post, you can add my blog's RSS Feed to your reader or you can sign up for free updates by Email.

Cast Iron Cookware part 3: recipes

If you missed it, part one is How to Season and part two is How to Use!

One of the reasons I love my cast iron pans is that they go right from stove top to oven! While I don’t do this all the time, it’s very convenient when I have to. And even for the recipes that don’t actually use the stove top first, the heavy pans provide a wonderfully even baking surface.

One of my favorite recipes I’ve tried recently in the cast iron pan has been a pineapple upside down cake.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

For the ‘top’:

• 4-5 pineapple rounds, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup sucanat
• optional – cherries and pecans to place between the pineapple rings

For the cake:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour (I used spelt)
• 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2  cup butter or coconut oil
• 1/2 cup sucanat sugar or other sweetener (rapadura, maple syrup, etc)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Melt the 4 Tbsp butter in a 10 inch cast iron skillet. Once melted add in the sucanat and stir until combined. Cook a couple minutes until the mixture is nice and bubbly. (helps make it nice and kinda crispy on top)

Place pineapple slices in pan.

Continue to cook another couple minutes, turn the slices over, and turn off heat. (if using, place pecan slices into pan now as well)

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl and set aside. Next, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter, and the 1/2 cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs in one at a time and then stir in vanilla. Alternating between the flour mixture and the buttermilk, add them into the creamed mixture, stirring just until combined.

Pour over the pineapple slices.

Bake for about 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Then run a knife around the edge to loosen the cake from the sides and quickly tip over onto a flat plate or cutting board. Place cherries on top if using.

To make it a bit healthier (though it’s still a dessert!): Try using all whole wheat flour and/or soaking the whole wheat flour in yogurt overnight and then omit the buttermilk.

Other cast iron recipes:

Quince Cake from The Nourished Kitchen (she said it works great with pears too!)

Cornbread – though I use 1/2 white rice flour and 1/2 brown rice flour, not the soy flour!

And there is a slew of recipes here at What’s Cooking America

This post is linked to: Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays and Ultimate Recipe Swap

** Please do not construe my posts as medical advice, because *ahem*, I am not a doctor or medical professional. I am but a student of Nourishing Nutrition and Natural Health. I only hope to ignite a passion within you to do your own research and begin your own journey to better health. And to make sure you don't miss a single post, you can add my blog's RSS Feed to your reader or you can sign up for free updates by Email.

Cast Iron Cookware pt 2: How to use and care for

Many people (used to include myself) don’t care to use cast iron pans because everything sticks!

But did you know if you properly season, use, and care for your cast iron that won’t happen? The problem is, we’re all out of practice when it comes to using these fabulous ‘non-stick’ pans and we don’t know how to use them. So I’ll share a few tips I’ve learned along the way for using your cast iron pans and hopefully it’ll help you get the most out of them.

1. Make sure the pan is correctly seasoned. If food begins to stick, you’ll need to re season it! And always season a new pan. Even if it states it’s pre seasoned. You will be unhappy with it if you don’t.
2. Preheat the pan every time you use it. Place it over whatever flame you’ll be using (or in an oven with whatever temp you’ll be baking at) until it’s hot. To test you can place a few drops of water in the pan and if they sizzle and jump around, it’s hot enough! Take care though not to let it sit to long waiting for food, an empty hot pan could crack.
3. Always have pot holders around! It takes awhile to remember that the handles get hot when your used to using modern pans and skillets.
4. Use a bit of oil or grease each time you use it.
5. If you do use a fat to ‘grease’ the pan before frying, make sure you don’t let it sit with just the oil/butter in it for to long before adding the food. It will begin to re season it and could become gummy and sticky.
6. Use a hard edged stainless steel spatula.
7. Don’t use knives to cut anything in the pan.
8. Once cooled, clean right away. Don’t let it sit overnight with leftover, gunked on food in it. A dry rag should be all that is needed after frying if you have a perfectly seasoned pan.
9. On the same note, don’t let it sit and soak for long periods of time in the sink. Moisture is not your friend when it comes to cast iron as it will cause it to rust.
10. When washing stuck on/dried on food (especially for the first dozen times or so after seasoning) use only hot water and a rag. Mild soap only if you need it. Dry immediately. Pop it on a hot stove for a minute to make sure all the water is out. Heat is a must when drying them! Otherwise you’ll get rust.
11. If you do have stuck on food in the pan, try boiling water in the pan to remove the gunk before you move on to scrubbing.
12. Never use a dishwasher!!
13. Spread a very thin layer of oil inside the pan after each washing. I try and remember to do this, and the reasoning behind it is the fact that it will save your pans from moisture in the air.
14. Use often. The more you use it, the better the pan will become!

So now that we know how to use them, what do you use them for? I personally use them for anything that needs to be fried. Plenty of eggs, potatoes, veggies, chicken, ground beef, etc. I’ve also used them to make frittatas by cooking on the stove top for a few minutes and then finishing under the broiler. You can also make a traditional cornbread in these pans as well since the whole pan can go into the oven!

While these pans are very versatile, and can be used very much like modern non stick pans, there are some foods that will actually remove the seasoning. Like tomatoes. Because of their acidity, they may ‘eat’ away at the seasoning and cause you to have to re season over time. So just be aware that even though you’re using the pan like you should, some foods may not be suited to the pan like you’d think.

So do you use cast iron? What’s your favorite dish to prepare in it?

Part one – How to Season

coming up…..part 3 : recipes for cast iron

This post is linked to: Kitchen Tip Tuesday

** Please do not construe my posts as medical advice, because *ahem*, I am not a doctor or medical professional. I am but a student of Nourishing Nutrition and Natural Health. I only hope to ignite a passion within you to do your own research and begin your own journey to better health. And to make sure you don't miss a single post, you can add my blog's RSS Feed to your reader or you can sign up for free updates by Email.

Cast Iron Cookware part 1:How to Season

Soon after my husband and I were married, his grandmother gave me one of her old cast iron pans.

I hated it.

Seriously. I tried to fry eggs in it and they stuck horribly.  So I ended up taking a steel wool pad to it to get it clean each time.

*Sigh* Those of you who know and love your cast iron are just sitting there shaking your heads, I know. Because for those of you who do not know, you never scrub a cast iron pan! And if you do, you need to reseason it!

Once I finally figured this out a couple years ago I resurrected the pan and came to love it. So much so that I’ve been on the lookout for them at garage sales all summer long trying to build up my stash. I ended up having to wait until our rummage sale at church and found a set of 3 unseasoned pans for just a couple dollars.

Score!

Now the advice here on the web on how to season a cast iron pan is quite diverse. Some cook on a low heat for a long time, some do an extremely high heat for shorter periods. I can’t say that a low temp is wrong, but I’ve only done the high heat variation so take this as you may, but it has worked out well for me.

How I season:

1. Clean your oven. If it’s dirty, don’t skip this step or you will be dealing with mad amounts of smoke in your house. Please don’t ask how I know this……
2. If you have a very sensitive smoke alarm near your kitchen, put a chair underneath it to make it easier to turn off.
3. Whether you are re seasoning or doing and initial season, wash and scrub the pan. You don’t have to go to crazy, but for a re season you’ll want to scrub off any rusty spots, pits in the seasoning, and any burnt on gunk off. For a new season, the reason you scrub is that now a days pan manufacturers are putting a food grade wax on the pan which makes it hard for the oils to carbonize onto the metal. Just a quick scrub will do it!
   

   My new 'unseasoned' pan and my small pan that needed to be re seasoned.

4. Slather the pan inside and out in some sort of fat. Unsalted butter, coconut oil (what I use since it turns liquid from the heat of my hands and makes application easier), olive oil, or beef lard all work wonderfully. And from what I’ve heard on a few different sites is that veggie oils take longer to carbonize (plus they are rather icky anyways) so use a natural fat. You want the entire pan covered in a thin layer with no pooling.
5. Place the pan face down on your top oven rack with an aluminum foil lined baking sheet underneath it on the lowest rack.
   

   Yes, I know I didn't use foil. I didn't own any at the time. And yes, my baking sheet now has carbonized oil on it as well.

6. Turn up your oven to 500 degrees.
7. Open windows, turn on the vent fan above your oven, and have fans ready to go if need be! These pans will smoke!
8. Cook your pan for a few hours or until there is no smoke coming off of it when you check on it.
9. Let cool.
10. Repeat cooking your pan until you have a nice black carbon layer on it. This took 4 times for my unseasoned pan, and only once for a my re seasoned one. (also, use butter/oil liberally the first few times you use it after seasoning)
    

    How my unseasoned pan looked after 2 cooking times

Seasoning it this way is supposed to make it last basically forever, as long as you use and wash the pans correctly. I can’t comment on that to much since I’ve only had my new ones a few months, but the pans I recently seasoned have been cooking and frying food wonderfully!

So do you season yours any differently?

Part two – how to care for

This post is linked to:

Kitchen Tip Tuesday

Works for me Wednesday

My Mason Obsession

Over the past few months I’ve found a new love. Mason jars. Or better yet, any glass jar I buy that I can reuse.

I use them to store my soaked and dehydrated nuts in, dried fruits that I buy in bulk at the health food store, and homemade seasonings. Sometimes my fridge is overflowing with them since I normally have 2 half gallon jars for milk plus an assortment of quart sized jars for my kefir, buttermilk, yogurt, and heavy cream. I also use them to store leftover gravies and sauces. Mason jars can also be easily put in the freezer (although if it’s liquid, don’t fill till full!) just use the plastic lids, not the metal ones. They also fit easily into any cupboard or lazy susan, plus they are see through so no guessing or having to label everything.