Do You Cook in Cast Iron?

Do you own a cast iron skillet?  If so, do you use it?  Like good newlyweds we registered for a Lodge Logic cast iron skillet and didn't know what to do with it.  I made cornbread occasionally and that was the extent of my cast iron usage.  On the way back from my aunt's in North Carolina a few times we stopped at the Lodge Logic outlet and picked up a few more things, including a small skillet that needed to be seasoned.  Now, five years later, we don't even put the skillets away because they are used the most.

Farmer's Market sugar snap peas with a drizzle of olive oil, scoop of sesame tahini, salt, pepper, teriyaki and sesame seeds.

Lately, I've been reading about the health benefits of cast iron, especially for women.  Women are especially prone to anemia, as well as not taking care of ourselves.  If there's something we can do for ourselves that's simple, we should do it.  Everything that we cook from scrambled eggs to vegetables to chicken breast is cooked in the cast iron skillet and the extra iron gives us a little boost.  It also makes a mean corn bread in the oven.  The clean up is ridiculously easy, we just take pour a little drizzle of olive oil in the pan and wipe out.  No water, no soap and no scrubbing.  No matter what we cook in it, all we have to do is wipe it out, the seasoning makes it almost no stick.

Here are several links to articles about cast iron skillets that I found in a two second Google search. 

Anemia and Nutrition: The Importance of Iron
Anemia- Dietary Factors
Anemia and Pregnancy
Ever So Humble, Cast Iron Outshines the Fancy Pans
The Benefits of Cast Iron Cooking

If you have a cast iron skillet you should use it. Not only does it cook your food quickly and evenly, it gives you a little extra iron that you may not be getting from your diet.

I Actually Won Something!

I am so excited!  I went to check my email before I hopped in the shower for work and there in my inbox was the subject "you won the snack bags from Homemade Mothering!"  Yay!  I had almost forgot that I had entered Homemade Mothering's Contest.  I have seen many reviews on reusable snack bags, but couldn't convince Munchkie's Daddy that they were worth the price.  I think that FREE Itzy Ritzy bags might help.  I am getting two free bags, and I get to choose my three favorite patterns. 
 I can't wait for them to come and although my comment that helped me win the bags was  

My daughter’s favorite thing to say now is “take it us” and she will hold whatever it is up to her cheek. This would be perfect for me to say, if it can fit in the bag, it can come with us. Whether it’s her sunglasses, a random Melissa and Doug pretend food, small book, crayon or anything else she decides to love at that moment.

 I think it will also be used frequently in Munchkie's lunches to daycare.  We tend to use a lot of ziploc bags to daycare because the foods I send are mostly finger foods.  These will be great to replace ziploc bags.

I am so excited and so thankful to Homemade Mothering for a contest that I actually won!

Hair Clip Review

Recently a blog that I follow had a giveaway of a hair clip by Lilla Rose and so I of course entered the contest.  I went to the website to check them out and part of the contest entry was to "like" it on Facebook, which I did.  These clips sparked my interest and I decided that although I didn't win the giveaway, I wanted to try it out.  I get bored very quickly with my hair and then tend to do something that I regret later that usually involves dye or scissors.  I thought that these clips might be a way to change things up for less money and not be quite as permanent.

After pouring through all of the option,s I selected two different kinds in two different sizes and bought them on Monday.  They arrived in the mail yesterday (Thursday)!  And I choose the cheapest mailing option.  They are speedy!  I tried out several styles last night, making Munchkie's Daddy take pictures, and also tried the small sized one on Munchkie.  She was able to wear it well until she wanted to exercise with Munchkie's Daddy and I, then it just slid out of her smooth baby hair with the jumping around.

Then I put the clip to the test.  I put it in my hair when we got to the aquarium today, chased Munchkie around the aquarium all day, came home, took a nap and then took pictures in my bathroom mirror to see what it looked like.  I have to say that I am impressed with how well it held my hair, it did take a couple attempts to get it to feel tight.  And it was much more comfortable than wearing a ponytail.  The only thing is that I'm not sure if it makes my hair look fun or if I look like a Duggar. 

I decided the best way to show these clips was just to post a lot of pictures.  So here I go.

I didn't quite understand how these clips work.  The two parts are attached and then the pin part has grooves in it that keeps it in place.

See how it's attached to the figure eight part?  Then you push the pin under your hair, as close to your scalp as you can, and push it through the loop of the figure eight part on the other side.

The figure eight part is very flexible and so can bend around different styles of hair.

I tried out the small one on Munchkie.  It's small, but just a little too big/heavy to stay in her hair like this.  I think it will work out well on my hair if I'm just going to do it halfway or maybe even just a ponytail if I can get all my hair to fit.

I did a twist with Munchkie's hair and stuck it in.  This was the hairstyle that held up until Jillian's 30 Day Shred started, and the jumping jacks were just too much for it.

These are my hair in just a simple twist.  My hair stood up a little too much for my liking. 

And then the basic ponytail.  Nothing too exciting.

Here's a random twist.

And then of course the classic french twist.

And then this is my hair after today's activities.  I didn't look in the mirror and had no idea what it looked like until I got home and took pictures.

So.  Tell me your thoughts.  What do you think about this clip?  How does it look?  Do I look like I should be wearing a long skirt?

A dose of self esteem

I had to go into work today for my annual review.  Ugh.  I hate these things.  To make matters worse, instead of someone else reviewing me I had to review myself.  I had tried to work on this this several times while I was working, but never finished and so I went in this morning to complete my self review.  I tossed and turned in bed last night, waking up several times and was literally sick to my stomach when I woke up.

My whole life I've been taught to act humbly and put others first.  When you do a self evaluation you can't be humble or self-deprecating.   Well I guess you can, but you won't get a raise.  It was so difficult to type out why I should be rated highly and what I have done to deserve high numbers.  It seemed too close to bragging, and that goes against every grain of my being.  It took me a couple hours to complete it and I still felt uncomfortable and squirmy-in-my-seat when I was finished. 

I think that you need to sit back and evaluate your self esteem before you go into something like this.  Yes, there is a place and time for humbleness, but you also should be proud of your accomplishments and achievements.  This is something that I need to learn.  I can be proud of what I've done and I do deserve that recognition (because you sure don't get recognition for your accomplishments as a mother). That was my lesson for today.