Thanks friends!
I followed your advice and went with heavy guage stainless steel pots and pans. I got ones with a copper bottom, glass covers, measuring marks inside the pots, and a sandblast exterior, with riveted gel type soft handles.
I found them on sale at Menards and paid considerably less than this ad, but here they are :
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html...sin=B000JRFNTC
I was excited to find exactly what I was looking for, so now hope I like them! My old ones are going in the dumpster or into a box for the kids to take when they move out depending on their condition. LOL