You may be able to chase down the ingredients from that faded and bespattered recipe card, you may be able to talk to relatives that remember seeing it cooked, or maybe you scoured the Internet for countless recipes in an attempt to match the taste of nostalgia. But there’s always something missing, right?

What if I told you that the secret to what you crave lies solely in the vessel it’s cooked in? I’m talking about that gorgeous, seasoned, cast iron skillet that lived on Granny’s stovetop.

Cast iron skillets and cookware have been around for hundreds of years. Ever since the discovery of mixing pig iron and steel to make cookware, people have relied on cast iron to do their best cooking, whether it’s searing steaks, baking bread, or making that pot of stew that signals the start of cooler weather.

No other material holds heat as evenly as cast iron does. No Teflon-coated pan that needs coddling and will start to flake within five years is as nonstick. And not even the most modern, multiple-ply cookware that costs more than your first car can compare to a properly seasoned cast iron skillet. Cast iron cookware is more non-stick, more durable, and better for cooking ANYTHING than that costing double, triple, or even quadruple the price. And while cast iron often gets a bad rap for being heavy or too hard to maintain, when you get past those misconceptions, you’ll find that centuries of cooks just might be on something.

Don’t be scared. Taking care of a cast iron skillet is really quite simple. New skillets come from the factory with a “seasoning” already baked on to it. Seasoning simply refers to the polymerization of fats onto the skillet’s surface, which will continue to happen the more you use the skillet. Each time fat is introduced to the skillet, some will chemically bond to the surface. This increases the skillet’s “non-stickiness” and adds to that deep, dark coloring that is typical of a heirloom piece of cookware just like your grandmother had in her kitchen.

Once Granny used the skillet, she would probably let it cool down slightly before simply rinsing it with warm water. Then she would do is put it back on a hot stove eye to make sure it was completely dry before wiping it down with a small amount of oil or bacon grease to make sure it didn’t rust. And that, my friends, is the secret to making sure that skillet lasts for generations. There is a myth that I feel needs to be dispelled. Adherents of stainless-steel cookware will tell you that you can’t use soap on cast iron. You can, as long as it’s a mild soap. Use a non-abrasive sponge to clean it, but always be sure to thoroughly dry it before applying a light coat of oil to prevent rust.

Rust is cast iron’s enemy. Rust can mean death for cast iron, but usually a rusty skillet can be restored. There are several methods for restoring rusty cast iron that can be found on the Internet, but each comes with their own list of pros and cons. The best way to bring Granny’s skillet back to life is to let a professional handle the process. Using electrolysis [a process in which an electric current is passed through a vat of water in which the cast iron has been suspended to do some complex chemical reacting], the cookware is stripped down to the base metal, removing all the rust that has accumulated. Unfortunately, the electrolysis also removes all the seasoning, so the skillet is coated with a high-smoke-point oil and baked in a 500-degree oven. Once this process is completed several times, the skillet will look just as it did on Granny’s stove and is guaranteed to last for years to come.

If you have cast iron cookware that’s been in your family for as long as you can remember that you would like to use but are unsure of how to start, do a little digging on social media. You’ll be able to find a person or group with all sorts of information to help you on the road to years creating great food and, even better, cooking up memories of your own.

The post Your Granny’s Skillet first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

For years I have been spending upwards of $1600 a month for our family of six, and some months are closer to $2000 (thanks, gas prices and inflation). According to the Motley Fool, food expenses are third in line behind housing and transportation for where Americans spend the most each month. But that isn’t the case for my house. The money we spend on my modest Subaru, my husband’s Jeep, and the gas we use don’t come close to feeding four hungry kids.

(If you’re expecting me to write about coupon clipping and using the same ingredients from meal to meal, that isn’t what I’m sharing. This is about being creative with what you have.)

We hardly ever eat out unless we are out of town, so I can’t even blame that on why our food bills are so high. It all had to do with my grocery shopping habits. I had to do something to stop the bleeding. I think I knew deep down I had the solution all along, but it takes planning to bring those grocery bills down, and I am not a planner.

Here is where I started: the pantry.

Why do I have so many half-open packages of pasta, rice, and beans? And why do I have so many canned goods that I buy every trip thinking I need to have every nook and cranny of my pantry filled. I won’t even get started on all the frozen veggies in my freezer, but here, my friends, is where my solution began.

Breakfast is usually yogurt or toast with peanut butter. Lunches are usually sandwiches, soups, salads… whatever we have on hand plus fruit, chips, and granola bars making their usual appearance in lunchboxes

For dinners, I brainstormed with my husband since he’s the main cook. Together, we came up with ways to make a dent in the pantry.

• Monday
  3 half bags of egg noodles + 4 frozen steaks that were on sale + mushrooms = Beef stroganoff!
• Tuesday
  Buy one get one pork tenderloin deal + rice + can of peas = Roasted pork tenderloin and sides. I got to use a pantry bouillon cube to season the rice. It’s all about using those pantry items.
• Wednesday
  Frozen hot dogs + crescent rolls = pigs in a blanket + mustard (not every meal is gourmet – we being frugal here!). I had some frozen mozzarella sticks I added to the “feast.”
• Thursday
  So many half-full jars of olives + can of garbanzo beans + feta + tomatoes + cucumber + a half bag of frozen chicken = Greek salad with grilled chicken. I made my own salad dressing with red wine vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, and various spices. The kids gobbled this up (well, the oldest only ate the chicken, but three out of four ain’t bad!).
• Friday
  Frozen salmon + quinoa + frozen veggies. Here’s where I got creative. Those frozen veggies needed heeeelp. I found a recipe on Bon Appétit that has you toast panko with spices that you mix with the sautéed veggies in butter right after they are cooked. It took my sad frozen cauliflower and brussels sprouts to another level. Here’s a link: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/skillet-roasted-cauliflower-with-panko (I didn’t have any pine nuts, so I skipped that).
• Saturday
  Any leftovers you have – or whip up a butter noodles or spaghetti and meat sauce. It’s Saturday, and no one felt like preparing a huge meal.
• Sunday
  Eggs + frozen veggies + cheese on hand = veggie soufflé! Soufflés sounds intimidating, but they’re not. And I got to use the bits of feta, parmesan, and mozzarella I had. Is it worthy to be served at Rise? I think decidedly no, but this is a delicious meal, and you will be surprised how easy it is to make and how much you can go through those bits of things in your kitchen. Same goes for quiche if you prefer them. You can work in ham or bacon if you need to use up the meats in your fridge.

My grocery list included pork tenderloin, crescent rolls, mushrooms, onion, frozen chicken, cucumber, tomatoes, two bags of lettuce, and then all the stuff I buy weekly like chips, granola bars, yogurt, milk, butter, and fruit – lots of fruit, as my kids go through pounds and pounds per child per week. Admittedly, this is where a large portion of my bill is, but I know how healthy it is for them.

Last week, my grocery bill was UNDER $300! Don’t forget we have four teenagers/tweens who eat all day long. This is a huge win for me. And if I keep it up, we will save over $10,000 this year on our grocery bills.

The post Using What You’ve Got – A Grocery Trip first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.