non-plastic dishes

[NatureMama3]

is there any place one can get WOOD dishes? Benefits? Detriments?

I remember my grandmother had a set of wood dishes and they had to be handwashed not machine washed, but that's unfortunately the extent of my memory and I didn't inherit those dishes.

What options are out there other than breakables?

metal?

I'm afraid we'd be replacing dishes weekly in my house! the gift of gracefullness does NOT abide here. :

[Pattyla]

Hi christine,
I thought that screen name looked like you.

No answers for you. Corell? Is that one bad too? It is difficult to break at least and light weight.

Patty

[moss]

i've been seeing tons of wooden dishes at garage sales.

another option is the enamelware dishes that some people use for camping. they come in some pretty groovy colours.

[rowantree]

you cant soak them or they crack. you need to oil them too i think. all mine ended up ruined

[NatureMama3]

Hi Patty

I hope corelle isn't bad! it's the only other kind of dishes we have (eating dishes at least)!

I haven't had money to garage sale in a long time, but will try looking there for sure...

I do remember the having to quickly handwash and dry then oil the wood dishes. Still, if it means not exposing the family to endocrine disrupters (which we surely are now, even without having a microwave to speed the process).....

[pilesoflaundry]

Corelle is fine but it shatters when you drop it on certain types of flooring. It bounces on linolium but anything else and it's in a million pieces but it is safe to eat off of!

I wonder about this as well, we are not graceful here either :LOL. I have one regular bowl left from my original corelle service for 4 and also out one small bowl and a plate. :

[Electra375]

I have heavy Crate & Barrel white dishes. My son dropped one on the wood flooring in our house and it cracked, but didn't break into pieces. Of course, it became a cat bowl, but it didn't cause a mess to clean up.

Wood dishes, hmm, the older ones are probably okay. I'd be worried about newer ones emmitting toxins from within the wood (especially if they had been treated at all with anything other than a natural oil). Some wood has been laquered, I'd say away from that. I have a beautiful bowl set that remains unused becasue of the finish on it and it's from Haiti.

[NatureMama3]

My corelle is from the open stock at W-mart. W-mart is evil, can't condone shopping there now that I know..

so I'm really torn!

Is there anywhere else to get open stock corelle?? I guess it's better than nothing..

[MidnightCafe]

I second the suggestion of enamel camping dishes or just plain stainless steel camping dishes. That's what we use for DD at our house. There's some pretty nice stuff out there. You typically have to look at a camping store - not Target or some other department store - to find them. We have REI & Galyans here, and both sell these types of dishes (right along-side the #7 plastic ).

Hope that helps!

[smeta]

Is there anywhere else to get open stock corelle??

What do you mean open stock - by the piece? I've seen Corelle at Target and maybe K-mart too. But they may only be in sets. That's what we're using too, but only b/c my mom passed it on to me. I would love to get wood.

I had a friend that used all wood dishes, they were beautiful square ones. She said she put them in the dishwasher and everything. Just oiled them once in awhile. Seems like they would crack, but she had been using them for awhile.

[joyfulheart]

My friend just gave us some "bambu" wooden plates yesterday as a housewarming gift. We haven't used them yet, so I can't comment, but I will tell you what the package says...

they're plates made from organic bamboo, uv sanitized, not bleached or dyed, and they biodegrade in 4-6 months (www.bambuhome.com)

My kids use camping dishes.

[NatureMama3]

oooooh! good idea on bamboo dishes!

[calebsmama03]

Open Stock Corelle

Corning Ware (the maker of Corelle) has outlets all over. If you have an outlet mall near you I'd check there. They have tons of open stock, especially of the plain white ones. Sorry I don't have a link. I'll post if I find one.

[babyj]

HealthyHome.com has some of the Bambu products.

babyj

[koofie]

Wood dishes...

I have heard that pourous surfaces like wood harbor bacteria, ie. wood cutting boards, so I would be hesitant to use them myself, except for parties - chips, ect

I am so glad corelle is safe! i LOVE corelle! No idea where else to get it open stock, tho

[Marni]

Using camping gear for kids sounds like a great idea. I do have two questions though:

1) aren't camping cups and plates sometime made of aluminum? (if so, that could be related to OTHER health issues).

2) is the enamel covering always lead-free? Because I;ve noticed that stuff chips easily, and I'd hate for a hunk of it to get in my DD's food.

[gmvh]

Enameled metal camping dishes sound like a good option but I have gotten metal splinters from them before, they hurt like crazy, and are really difficult to remove. Be careful!!!

[mogit]

If you don't mind mismatched plates, you could buy stoneware secondhand and very cheap at the Goodwill (probably at garage sales, too). That way if the plates break, it wouldn't be such a big deal. And who knows, maybe with more practice handling breakables, you all would start to have fewer accidents!

[Electra375]

Mogit -- that is an excellent idea. I went by my neighbor's yard sale the other morning and regular dish plates were selling for 10 cents a piece. I usually see 25 cents or more on dishes.

[mystic~mama]

Originally Posted by NatureMamaOR

Hi Patty

I hope corelle isn't bad! it's the only other kind of dishes we have (eating dishes at least)!

I haven't had money to garage sale in a long time, but will try looking there for sure...

I do remember the having to quickly handwash and dry then oil the wood dishes. Still, if it means not exposing the family to endocrine disrupters (which we surely are now, even without having a microwave to speed the process).....

what dishes have endocrine disruptors?