Hey, Ma, what's for supper?

Better than buying a car - since it depreciates. I also have some griswold castirion works good to.

My Mom gave me a cast iron dutch oven when I first got married. It made the best pot roast in the world. I still have the pot but since it's not flat bottom I can't use it on my stove. Haven't made a really good pot roast since. I also have a cast iron skillet which we use on the barbque to make the eggs when we have our annual steak and eggs breakfast.

Here's info on seasoning:

http://www.dutchovencookware.com/lodge-cookware.html

jespah, the recipe sounds good and easy. I will definitely try it -- thanks.

mckenzie -- I had the same experience you had with the crockpot. Tried some of the recipes that came with it and they were awful. Problem is, I have this thing about leaving the house with anything electrical operating (except, of course, heat and an occasional light). I won't leave with the washer or the dryer on even. I don't think I could bring myself to let the crockpot run all day without being there, just in case.

bandylu, I use my freezer a lot and cook in bulk. Tonight, I'm cooking chicken parmesan. I'm using 12 chicken breasts, but there's only 3 of us home tonight. The other 9 will go into the freezer for other days when I have no time.

Lasagna, never make less than 3 pans. Stew, I make a huge pot with 5 lbs of meat.

I'll often cook a large prime rib or other cut of beef on Sunday for dinner. There's usually enough for 3 meals. Monday is leftovers, either hot beef sandwiches or beef dip, with some kind of a salad. I use the balance to make shepherd's pie, which I then freeze in portion amounts.

I make twice baked potatoes and freeze them.

Ah, mckenzie, you are obviously a very organized person. I used to be organized. I even used to plan menus for a week at a time. That was a long time ago. Once in a while I do get in a cooking mood, but most of the time it's the easier the better. Perhaps once I'm officially retired I'll rediscover the desire.

mckenzie
are you feeding an army?

Well, teflon is eliminated. Nobody else likes it either.

Followed your link and it led me to another, Bandylu, which I like, by the way. http://www.apptrav.com/ Easy to work with and totals up the order with shipping before submitting.

So, it's a cast iron skillet (pre seasoned), with lid, and a reasonably sized, round grill press which I've been looking for for ages. There was once an Abuzz question in search of a real cast iron hibachi. I found one here and almost ordered it for a Christmas gift, but decided that was more dollars than I wanted to see become an office tradition.

Thanks.

mckenzie, thanks for the note about Revereware. That's encouraging. We'd been living together for a while when we got hitched, and the complete set + knives was a major feature of our registry. Really have enjoyed them.

Are you ever organized! I've got to start doing that. I tend to make just tonight plus maybe tomorrow's lunch portions, which is not very efficient.

Hi All,

Roger - I'm glad you opted for cast iron,..I really think that very kitchen should have at least one, as they are so versatile,..great for a burger and frying chicken!

Hi McKenzie,..nice to meet you!
Do you use a cryovac machine, like a "FoodSaver", to seal your food before you freeze?
I do,..and find that it really does help things last longer, makes it easier to portion the food, and if you need to quick thaw, you can drop it into the sink, and run it under cold water without getting the food wet.
Can you tell that I freeze quite a bit too??

Roger! Some non-stick stuff is wonderful!

My scanpan, for instance - I barely use anything else now - it is big enough to be used as a wok, but can also be used for just about anything else.

They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes of course....

Here you go:

http://www.lenoresnatural.com/scanpan.htm
http://food4.epicurious.com/HyperNews/get/archive_gtips2201-2300/2229.html
http://www.seasonedwithlove.com/essential_pots_and_pans.htm
http://www.keylan.com
http://www.epinions.com/content_11581623940
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cookware/msg092002003955.html
http://directory.google.com/Top/Shopping/Home_and_Garden/Kitchen_and_Dining/Cookware
http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~oliver/cookware.faq
http://www.epinions.com/hmgd-review-333F-1731234A-3A148847-prod2
http://www.scanpancookware.com/keylan/keylansite.nsf/scanpanergonomic

Thanks, Deb, but . . . but. . . . You might not have picked up on this yet, but my cooking is somewhat limited. A hamburger on weekdays, with cheese on weekends, and I've already placed the order.

bandylu - tonight I'm eating frozen (well, they WERE frozen) non-fat, spicy, black bean ravioli with shredded cheddar cheese. I love my frozen, filled pastas!

more wings and wedges - that inadvertent flirting sure paid off. i may be getting tired of wings and wedges, but the dogs are loving the little snacks they're getting.

Well I am awaiting Cobalt and I think we shall dine out. TexMex would be good I think. Why does waiting take such a long time?

roger, sometimes I feel like I'm cooking for an army, when the kids' friends are over.

sozobe, I'm only as organized as I am forced to be. With two kids in school full-time, both with part-time jobs after school, I have to have dinner available when they are, which in the case of my son was at 4:00 p.m. today, and in the case of my daughter will be at 8:00 p.m.

Nice to meet you, too, Jerry. I finally persuaded Mr. M that we should get one. Sure beats Ziploc freezer bags, doesn't it?

I actually threw away, if you can believe it, my cast iron pans. Why, I'll never know.

Hi mckenzie,
Yeah they really do help!!
I cook full time for a family that does an awful lot of entertaining, the food saver really allows me to get alot done ahead of time!!

Hi little_k!!

littlek -- where do you get your frozen pasta? We have a newish pasta store nearby but I've tried their various pastas and they all taste the same whether it be crabmeat stuffing or 'meat'. Perhaps I need to look further.

bandylu, we have a franchise "up here" called M & M Meats. They sell prepared frozen food, everything, appetizers, meats, poultry, pasta, veggies, potatoes, desserts, etc. You must have something like that

M & M Meats

(Hope I did that right)

Well, obviously not. Sorry. Anyway, search "Welcome to M & M Meat Shops" on Google ...

Guess I neet a tutor (lol).

mckenzie -- I refuse to buy prepared meats of any sort (except once I did buy one of those spiral cut cooked hams which was pretty good). But I don't make stuffed pasta from scratch and the stuff you get in the food store isn't very good so I tried this pasta shop and it wasn't very good, either. I will make lasagna and occasionally stuffed shells, but not ravioli.

We do have stores where you can get precooked meals, too. And though I am a bit lazy when it comes to cooking of late, I'm not that lazy yet.