Well folks, it's Christmastime again. I know, I know... it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but since I have heard an endless stream of Christmas music already, it has inspired me to write today's post; eco-friendly alternatives to wrapping paper.
Each year, we go through 80,000 tonnes of wrapping paper at Christmas; that's an equivalent to about 50,000 trees! Not to mention the lead and other harmful chemicals that are found in most wrapping papers, which all end up in our landfills.
But, there are many ways of wrapping those gifts without all of the harmful side effects. Firstly, there is wrapping paper on the market that is 100% recycled and bio-degradable, so if you just have to go out and buy rolls of wrapping paper, try to opt for the green option.
There are so many other ways to wrap gifts, the possibilities are endless, just be creative! One of my favorite ways is to decorate your paper with children's artwork. You can wrap your gift with brown paper (get bags from the grocery store) and have the kids decorate the paper with colors, paint, stickers, or anything else fun. This is great for family members and friends, and gives the kids a chance to participate in the gift-giving as well.
Also, you can use things like newspaper (especially the comic section), outdated maps, or magazine paper for a fun and eccentric look.
Give gifts in jars! You can make cookie mix or hot chocolate mix and layer it in a jar, tie with a ribbon and give as is. The best part is that they can reuse the jar it came in!
I read somewhere that newspaper companies usually have roll ends that they send off for recycling. It's leftover newspaper that hasn't been printed on, and the roll ends usually have quite a bit still left on them. You can go to your local newspaper company and ask for their roll ends, wrap as is, or decorate it.
You can use fabric scraps or old Christmas cards.
Now, once you have figured out how you are going to wrap your gifts, you'll need a topper. Forget the traditional bows and get creative! Instead of ribbon, tie hemp around the gift. You can make the bow another gift! Tie on a new set of measuring spoons, a small toy, or anything else you might want to gift. You can top your gift with origami or dried flowers (or fresh ones!).
My favorite idea for a bow is with magazine paper. You can make an adorable bow using magazine paper and metal brads. Here is a tutorial for this project:
Materials
Magazine paper (the more color the better!)
metal brads
scissors
double-sided tape
hole-punch
1. Firstly, you will need to tear out a page from a magazine and cut it lengthwise into 1" strips. You will need 8 for each bow.
2. Now, take one of the strips and bring the ends to the middle of the strip, so you have two loops. With the ends overlapped, punch a hole through all (right in the middle)
3. Place the metal brad in through the holes and repeat with each strip of paper.
4. When you have all 8 of the strips looped over and arranged on the brad, bend the prongs of the brad out to hold it all in place.
5. Place a small piece of tape on the bottom of the bow.
Now you have an awesome recycled bow! These are very easy to make and look great! No one will ever guess that you made it yourself:)
Christmas is the time of year that our planet suffers. Between all of the lights, the trees that are cut down, the excessive traveling and all of the trash pushed into landfills, surely there is some, small thing we can all do to help this situation.
That is all for today's post. Thanks for reading and always remember that it only takes a little effort to make a big difference!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Vegetable Broth - how to reuse scraps
I started this blog to show people that it is possible to live eco-friendly and save money while doing it. But, I have posted topics that tend to deviate from the main point of being eco-friendly. However, there is a good reason for this, and before I go into today's topic, I want to first tell you the reason for my deviation.
I have spent a lot of time trying to find ways of cutting down on all of the additives we find in pre-made food and household products. Like most families, I cannot afford to buy all organic products, therefore I ask myself just about every time I start to buy something from the store, "Can I make this myself?" I do this because when you make something yourself as opposed to the option of convenience, you award yourself the benefit of knowing what is in it. Most of you have probably taken a look at the ingredients on the labels of food products for one reason or another, and there is almost always a wide array of ingredients you can't even pronounce. The bulk of society has been made aware of all of the preservatives and additives in grocery store products, this is not a new concept. But, you don't have to shop on the organic aisle to cut out those harmful chemicals. Also, when you get used to the idea of making things from scratch, it becomes a lifestyle. Once you learn to fully appreciate the benefits of basic living, convenience is then looked at in a whole new way. Along with tips on being environmentally friendly, I will also continue to talk about ways to improve the quality of your diet by showing you how to make things yourself.
Now, today's topic is vegetable broth.
When most people think of chicken (or beef) broth, the typical cans or boxes of the stuff usually come to mind. Of course, you can go out and buy a chicken and make your own chicken broth, or you can make a broth out of ingredients you would normally throw away. Vegetable broth is packed full of flavor and nutrients and is completely versatile.
The first thing you will need is a container to store the broth in, I make it a gallon at a time. It can be frozen, canned, or just refrigerated.
The base of the broth is made up of vegetable scraps. You can use anything, like for example, onion peels, carrot tops, potato peels, celery ends, cabbage heads, or whatever you feel like using.
I typically save up my vegetable scraps and freeze them in a freezer bag. A great thing I learned is to cut the scraps into chunks and spread them out on a plate or baking sheet and freeze them that way before putting them into the bag. This way, everything doesn't stick together and you can take out as much as you need.
To make the broth you need a large pot, water and the vegetable scraps (thawed).
First, you saute the scraps in the pot to release all of that fantastic flavor into the broth. You can also use a little bit of oil to saute them if you like, but it's totally optional.
Then, after you saute them for a minute, fill the pot with water and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about an hour. The broth will be a dark color, and the flavor, smell and color of it will depend on what kind of vegetables you use. When the broth is cooled, pour it into the container you chose to use.
This broth can be used in the place of water in just about anything; rice, potatoes, veggies. Or you can use this as the liquid for a soup (refer to my post on leftovers for ideas). It tastes fantastic and is healthier and tastier than anything you will find in the store.
Well, that's all for today's post. And always remember to recycle, reuse and be creative! It only takes a little to make a BIG difference :)
I have spent a lot of time trying to find ways of cutting down on all of the additives we find in pre-made food and household products. Like most families, I cannot afford to buy all organic products, therefore I ask myself just about every time I start to buy something from the store, "Can I make this myself?" I do this because when you make something yourself as opposed to the option of convenience, you award yourself the benefit of knowing what is in it. Most of you have probably taken a look at the ingredients on the labels of food products for one reason or another, and there is almost always a wide array of ingredients you can't even pronounce. The bulk of society has been made aware of all of the preservatives and additives in grocery store products, this is not a new concept. But, you don't have to shop on the organic aisle to cut out those harmful chemicals. Also, when you get used to the idea of making things from scratch, it becomes a lifestyle. Once you learn to fully appreciate the benefits of basic living, convenience is then looked at in a whole new way. Along with tips on being environmentally friendly, I will also continue to talk about ways to improve the quality of your diet by showing you how to make things yourself.
Now, today's topic is vegetable broth.
When most people think of chicken (or beef) broth, the typical cans or boxes of the stuff usually come to mind. Of course, you can go out and buy a chicken and make your own chicken broth, or you can make a broth out of ingredients you would normally throw away. Vegetable broth is packed full of flavor and nutrients and is completely versatile.
The first thing you will need is a container to store the broth in, I make it a gallon at a time. It can be frozen, canned, or just refrigerated.
The base of the broth is made up of vegetable scraps. You can use anything, like for example, onion peels, carrot tops, potato peels, celery ends, cabbage heads, or whatever you feel like using.
I typically save up my vegetable scraps and freeze them in a freezer bag. A great thing I learned is to cut the scraps into chunks and spread them out on a plate or baking sheet and freeze them that way before putting them into the bag. This way, everything doesn't stick together and you can take out as much as you need.
To make the broth you need a large pot, water and the vegetable scraps (thawed).
First, you saute the scraps in the pot to release all of that fantastic flavor into the broth. You can also use a little bit of oil to saute them if you like, but it's totally optional.
Then, after you saute them for a minute, fill the pot with water and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about an hour. The broth will be a dark color, and the flavor, smell and color of it will depend on what kind of vegetables you use. When the broth is cooled, pour it into the container you chose to use.
This broth can be used in the place of water in just about anything; rice, potatoes, veggies. Or you can use this as the liquid for a soup (refer to my post on leftovers for ideas). It tastes fantastic and is healthier and tastier than anything you will find in the store.
Well, that's all for today's post. And always remember to recycle, reuse and be creative! It only takes a little to make a BIG difference :)
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Leftover Madness!
One way to save money on your grocery bill is to re-use your leftovers instead of letting them go to waste. Unfortunately, most people don't want to eat the same thing twice and end up throwing out all of that good food.
But, as I always say... be creative!
There are many ways of turning your leftovers into something new and tasty, and today I am going to go over some of the ways you can use up last night's dinner.
My favorite way to turn leftovers into a new meal is by making a casserole. This, and soup are fantastic ways to empty out your refrigerator because the possibilities are endless.
The main ingredients you need is a starch (pasta, potatoes, rice, etc.), meat, veggies, and a sauce.
The sauce can be cream soups (like cream of mushroom or chicken), tomato sauce, white sauce, or anything else that sounds good.
Here is an example of a good leftover casserole; leftover pasta, broccoli, chicken, and a white sauce. Mix it all together, pour it into a casserole dish, top with cheese and breadcrumbs, and bake until it is heated through.
Or, you can take pasta, leftover hamburgers (chop up the meat) and spaghetti sauce and top it off with cheese.
Another good combination is rice, pork, diced tomatoes, and chicken broth.
You can throw pretty much anything into a casserole and make it taste good.
Soup is the same, all you have to do is start with a base, tomato based, cream based, broth based, and so on and throw whatever you want in there. Soups and casseroles are both very flexible and simple to make.
I also have a post on making vegetable broth from leftovers, this is s fantastic base for soup!
Rice is a common leftover in my house, but I have found ways to use up leftover rice as well.
Fried rice is a great example. Saute the rice in a skillet with a little oil, add veggies, cut up pork (or any other meat). Push the rice mixture to the side and add 2 beaten eggs, then scramble. Mix eggs with the rice mixture, add soy sauce, salt and pepper and you've got yourself a meal!
Breakfast is also a good way to use up leftovers. You can saute some onion, pepper, mushrooms, etc. and scramble with eggs. Add leftover potatoes, pork, or smoked sausage and wrap it up in a tortilla for a fantastic leftover breakfast burrito.
Pork roast can be used in many ways. Shred it up and add BBQ sauce for pulled pork sandwiches. Cook it with taco seasonings for pork tacos.
Chili is my favorite leftover food. I usually make an extra big pot of chili just to reuse.
Chili and crackers, chili dogs and frito chili pie are just a few ways to use up leftover chili.
If there is just a small amount left, not enough for a meal, then fill greased muffin cups with a scoop of cornbread batter, a scoop of chili and top it off with cheese. Bake the chili muffins until the cornbread is cooked through.
Leftover cornbread is great for making stuffing. To me, stuffing should be eaten all year 'round, not just on Thanksgiving!
Mash up the leftover cornbread, add salt, pepper, sage, and an egg. Saute onion, bell pepper and celery and add it to the mixture. Add chicken broth until the mixture is nice and moist (you don't want your stuffing to be too dry) and press the mixture into a pan. Bake until it is golden brown on top.
Mashed potatoes are also a great leftover food.
You can mix up leftover mashed potatoes with flour, egg, diced onion (or green onion) and salt and pepper, form into patties and fry in oil, and you have delicious potato cakes!
Mix the potatoes with flour until it becomes almost like a dough, then roll it up like a 'snake' and cut it into 1" pieces. You can then take the pieces and drop them into boiling water until they float to the top, tada... potato dumplings (or gnocchi)! - You can eat them with olive oil and herbs, plain, or add them to a soup.
Another way of using up leftover mashed potatoes is sheppard's pie... mix up ground beef (or other leftover meat), veggies, cream of mushroom soup and top it off with mashed potatoes then cheese. Bake in the oven until the potatoes are golden brown on top.
Leftovers tend to end up in the garbage because most people want something new and tasty instead of the same old thing. But by using your imagination, you can turn almost anything into something new. You can eliminate waste and save money by doing this, and who doesn't want to save a little money?!
Freezing food is also a great way to save those leftovers, just remember to label everything you freeze, you'll regret it if you don't!
That's all for today's topic. I hope you learned a bit of useful tips, and keep checking by for new posts! The next one will be about using up all those vegetable scraps :)
But, as I always say... be creative!
There are many ways of turning your leftovers into something new and tasty, and today I am going to go over some of the ways you can use up last night's dinner.
My favorite way to turn leftovers into a new meal is by making a casserole. This, and soup are fantastic ways to empty out your refrigerator because the possibilities are endless.
The main ingredients you need is a starch (pasta, potatoes, rice, etc.), meat, veggies, and a sauce.
The sauce can be cream soups (like cream of mushroom or chicken), tomato sauce, white sauce, or anything else that sounds good.
Here is an example of a good leftover casserole; leftover pasta, broccoli, chicken, and a white sauce. Mix it all together, pour it into a casserole dish, top with cheese and breadcrumbs, and bake until it is heated through.
Or, you can take pasta, leftover hamburgers (chop up the meat) and spaghetti sauce and top it off with cheese.
Another good combination is rice, pork, diced tomatoes, and chicken broth.
You can throw pretty much anything into a casserole and make it taste good.
Soup is the same, all you have to do is start with a base, tomato based, cream based, broth based, and so on and throw whatever you want in there. Soups and casseroles are both very flexible and simple to make.
I also have a post on making vegetable broth from leftovers, this is s fantastic base for soup!
Rice is a common leftover in my house, but I have found ways to use up leftover rice as well.
Fried rice is a great example. Saute the rice in a skillet with a little oil, add veggies, cut up pork (or any other meat). Push the rice mixture to the side and add 2 beaten eggs, then scramble. Mix eggs with the rice mixture, add soy sauce, salt and pepper and you've got yourself a meal!
Breakfast is also a good way to use up leftovers. You can saute some onion, pepper, mushrooms, etc. and scramble with eggs. Add leftover potatoes, pork, or smoked sausage and wrap it up in a tortilla for a fantastic leftover breakfast burrito.
Pork roast can be used in many ways. Shred it up and add BBQ sauce for pulled pork sandwiches. Cook it with taco seasonings for pork tacos.
Chili is my favorite leftover food. I usually make an extra big pot of chili just to reuse.
Chili and crackers, chili dogs and frito chili pie are just a few ways to use up leftover chili.
If there is just a small amount left, not enough for a meal, then fill greased muffin cups with a scoop of cornbread batter, a scoop of chili and top it off with cheese. Bake the chili muffins until the cornbread is cooked through.
Leftover cornbread is great for making stuffing. To me, stuffing should be eaten all year 'round, not just on Thanksgiving!
Mash up the leftover cornbread, add salt, pepper, sage, and an egg. Saute onion, bell pepper and celery and add it to the mixture. Add chicken broth until the mixture is nice and moist (you don't want your stuffing to be too dry) and press the mixture into a pan. Bake until it is golden brown on top.
Mashed potatoes are also a great leftover food.
You can mix up leftover mashed potatoes with flour, egg, diced onion (or green onion) and salt and pepper, form into patties and fry in oil, and you have delicious potato cakes!
Mix the potatoes with flour until it becomes almost like a dough, then roll it up like a 'snake' and cut it into 1" pieces. You can then take the pieces and drop them into boiling water until they float to the top, tada... potato dumplings (or gnocchi)! - You can eat them with olive oil and herbs, plain, or add them to a soup.
Another way of using up leftover mashed potatoes is sheppard's pie... mix up ground beef (or other leftover meat), veggies, cream of mushroom soup and top it off with mashed potatoes then cheese. Bake in the oven until the potatoes are golden brown on top.
Leftovers tend to end up in the garbage because most people want something new and tasty instead of the same old thing. But by using your imagination, you can turn almost anything into something new. You can eliminate waste and save money by doing this, and who doesn't want to save a little money?!
Freezing food is also a great way to save those leftovers, just remember to label everything you freeze, you'll regret it if you don't!
That's all for today's topic. I hope you learned a bit of useful tips, and keep checking by for new posts! The next one will be about using up all those vegetable scraps :)
Monday, November 1, 2010
Herbs and Spice and Everything Nice
Well, hello again! I'm glad you've decided to read today's post, because it's all about herbs and spices!
I will go over some uses for the herbs and spices and a few ways to save money in the process, and I know how much we all love to save money!
I want to start off by giving you a few options for where to buy your herbs and spices, aside from the typical tiny bottles at the grocery store.. The products on the grocery store shelves are, yep.. you guessed it, packed with preservatives, chemicals and additives of all sorts! But there is good news folks! You can actually buy them at much cheaper prices and still have fresher, better quality stuff.
Firstly, you need to check your area for health food stores, or a whole foods store. These usually sell different herbs and spices in bulk. If you buy them 4 to 6 ounces at a time (or more), you can actually get them pretty cheap. The best part is, the bulk herbs and spices at the health food stores are usually fresher and organic! And whoever said organic was too expensive?
The truth is, if you pay attention to the options available to you, it is possible to eat and feed your family healthy and organic.
If you can't find a health food store in your area, then call around to different grocery stores (the 'mom and pop shops' are more likely to carry bulk herbs). If this fails, no worries! There are still more options!
Walmart has an ethnic section in the grocery aisles, and most of them sell a few select herbs and spices for low prices. There, I have found cinnamon sticks, whole oregano, bay leaves, dried chilies of all sorts, cumin and a whole lot more.
In some cases, you can find good prices on Ebay, and there are a huge selection of web stores that sell bulk herbs and spices. If you decide to order from the internet, however, I suggest buying a large quantity at a time (or a large variety of products in the same order) because you'll end up saving a lot of money on shipping costs. It may not be worth it to pay these costs to ship just one or two items.
Now let's talk about storage.
Once you have started accumulating small quantities of these bulk herbs, you'll soon find out that having piles of unlabeled plastic baggies full of leafy herbs will start to get a little confusing. My favorite storage option is glass canning jars. When they are cheap in stores I buy them in all sizes (I also use them to store everything from dry beans to popcorn kernels). Glass jars are fantastic because they come clean easily, they don't store odors, and as long as you take care of them they will last for ages! They make my pantry clean and organized, and you can easily see the contents inside which saves much time when you are searching for something.
There are a lot more options for storage however, clean and reuse food containers, old spice jars, pickle jars, or anything else that will seal airtight and keep bugs out. Keep your herbs away from sunlight!
You might also want to invest in a small coffee grinder. This way you can buy whole herbs and spices, like cloves, cinnamon sticks, and cumin and grind them up at home. This is a huge freshness factor and also can sometimes save you even more money.
OK, now on to the subject of uses for our herbs and spices. Of course, you can use them in your everyday cooking in a variety of ways. Once you get used to using herbs an spices in different ways you'll not only cut down on you and your family's salt intake but your fat intake as well. Flavoring your food with herbs instead of salt and fat is extremely beneficial and yields you a multitude of flavors for your taste buds! You can't loose!
But let's venture beyond food for a minute and talk about other uses.
Nature brings us so many beautiful aromas that it leaves us little need for scented candles and Febreeze. Why dust your house with a blanket of chemicals when you can make it smell fantastic naturally?!
One way to bring the lovely aromas of nature into your home is to bring a pot of water to boil, turn it down to low and add the herbs and spices of your choice. You can put orange slices, cinnamon sticks, cloves and nutmeg for a warm holiday scent, or use lavender, peppermint, or pine. Be creative! Let the water simmer as long as you need, make sure the water doesn't cook out, and it will make your entire house smell fantastic! Also, you can use dried herbs like peppermint lavender, basil, etc. and add to a pouch, or pillow for a sock drawer, closet, car or whatever you want to make smell better. Make tea out of some herbs and add to your cleaners, bathwater, etc. to add more natural scent. Add some herbs to baking soda for a fantastic carpet powder (refer to my household cleaners part II post)
Herbs and spices are beneficial in so many ways, they are even therapeutic and medicinal! Everything in today's post is just to get you started, and any one of my posts should be considered the same. Experiment, shop around, and as always be creative and you will find more ways than you can believe to make your life a little more natural. The benefits are endless! Take advantage of what Mother Nature has to offer.
I will go over some uses for the herbs and spices and a few ways to save money in the process, and I know how much we all love to save money!
I want to start off by giving you a few options for where to buy your herbs and spices, aside from the typical tiny bottles at the grocery store.. The products on the grocery store shelves are, yep.. you guessed it, packed with preservatives, chemicals and additives of all sorts! But there is good news folks! You can actually buy them at much cheaper prices and still have fresher, better quality stuff.
Firstly, you need to check your area for health food stores, or a whole foods store. These usually sell different herbs and spices in bulk. If you buy them 4 to 6 ounces at a time (or more), you can actually get them pretty cheap. The best part is, the bulk herbs and spices at the health food stores are usually fresher and organic! And whoever said organic was too expensive?
The truth is, if you pay attention to the options available to you, it is possible to eat and feed your family healthy and organic.
If you can't find a health food store in your area, then call around to different grocery stores (the 'mom and pop shops' are more likely to carry bulk herbs). If this fails, no worries! There are still more options!
Walmart has an ethnic section in the grocery aisles, and most of them sell a few select herbs and spices for low prices. There, I have found cinnamon sticks, whole oregano, bay leaves, dried chilies of all sorts, cumin and a whole lot more.
In some cases, you can find good prices on Ebay, and there are a huge selection of web stores that sell bulk herbs and spices. If you decide to order from the internet, however, I suggest buying a large quantity at a time (or a large variety of products in the same order) because you'll end up saving a lot of money on shipping costs. It may not be worth it to pay these costs to ship just one or two items.
Now let's talk about storage.
Once you have started accumulating small quantities of these bulk herbs, you'll soon find out that having piles of unlabeled plastic baggies full of leafy herbs will start to get a little confusing. My favorite storage option is glass canning jars. When they are cheap in stores I buy them in all sizes (I also use them to store everything from dry beans to popcorn kernels). Glass jars are fantastic because they come clean easily, they don't store odors, and as long as you take care of them they will last for ages! They make my pantry clean and organized, and you can easily see the contents inside which saves much time when you are searching for something.
There are a lot more options for storage however, clean and reuse food containers, old spice jars, pickle jars, or anything else that will seal airtight and keep bugs out. Keep your herbs away from sunlight!
You might also want to invest in a small coffee grinder. This way you can buy whole herbs and spices, like cloves, cinnamon sticks, and cumin and grind them up at home. This is a huge freshness factor and also can sometimes save you even more money.
OK, now on to the subject of uses for our herbs and spices. Of course, you can use them in your everyday cooking in a variety of ways. Once you get used to using herbs an spices in different ways you'll not only cut down on you and your family's salt intake but your fat intake as well. Flavoring your food with herbs instead of salt and fat is extremely beneficial and yields you a multitude of flavors for your taste buds! You can't loose!
But let's venture beyond food for a minute and talk about other uses.
Nature brings us so many beautiful aromas that it leaves us little need for scented candles and Febreeze. Why dust your house with a blanket of chemicals when you can make it smell fantastic naturally?!
One way to bring the lovely aromas of nature into your home is to bring a pot of water to boil, turn it down to low and add the herbs and spices of your choice. You can put orange slices, cinnamon sticks, cloves and nutmeg for a warm holiday scent, or use lavender, peppermint, or pine. Be creative! Let the water simmer as long as you need, make sure the water doesn't cook out, and it will make your entire house smell fantastic! Also, you can use dried herbs like peppermint lavender, basil, etc. and add to a pouch, or pillow for a sock drawer, closet, car or whatever you want to make smell better. Make tea out of some herbs and add to your cleaners, bathwater, etc. to add more natural scent. Add some herbs to baking soda for a fantastic carpet powder (refer to my household cleaners part II post)
Herbs and spices are beneficial in so many ways, they are even therapeutic and medicinal! Everything in today's post is just to get you started, and any one of my posts should be considered the same. Experiment, shop around, and as always be creative and you will find more ways than you can believe to make your life a little more natural. The benefits are endless! Take advantage of what Mother Nature has to offer.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Homemade Household Cleaners!! *part II*
This is part 2 on my topic of homemade household cleaners, if you haven't read part one yet, I recommend doing so... it will help. :-)
I am going to start off by saying that every one of these recipes can be adjusted according to preference, it took me a while to find the ones that work for me. It helps to have a basic understanding of what each ingredient is and how they work.
DISH WASHING DETERGENT
1 part Borax
1 part Washing Soda or Baking Soda
Mix the borax and washing soda (or baking soda if you would prefer to use it) and store in a container away from moisture. Use 2 Tbsp. of the mixture per load.
SPOT-FREE DISHES
Vinegar
Pour vinegar where you would normally put your rinse agent in your dishwasher. It will leave your dishes sparkling for a fraction of the price of Jet-Dry!
FABRIC SOFTENER
1 C. Baking Soda
6 C. Water
6 C. Vinegar
In a large bucket or container, mix the baking soda with one cup of water until dissolved. (it won't completely dissolve, but try your best). Then, slowly add the vinegar and stir until foam goes down. Add remaining five cups water and mix well. Add any scent you like (I love lavender in mine). Use 1/2 cup per load.
DRYER SHEETS
Cut up an old t-shirt. Fill a spray bottle with fabric softener, and spray a t-shirt rag with the softener to toss in the dryer. It's re-usable dryer sheets!
CARPET POWDER
Fill an empty carpet powder bottle or clean parmesan cheese bottle with baking soda, add a few drops of essential oil and shake well to mix. Sprinkle on the carpet about 15 minutes before vacuuming. It will freshen the air even without the essential oil, also.
WOOD POLISH
1/4 C. Vinegar
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil or Jojoba Oil
Olive oil is usually cheaper than Jojoba oil and easier to find. But olive oil, while it works great, will go rancid unlike jojoba oil. If you use olive oil, be sure and only make small amounts and use it quickly.
Just mix the ingredients together, rub it on the wood with a rag and use another rag to wipe off the excess oil. If you like, you can add lemon essential oil (or any other kind you want)
ALL-PURPOSE CLEANER
1/4 C. Ammonia or Vinegar
1 gallon Water
Mix ingredients together, add a scent if you like and fill your spray bottle. This is great for almost any surface, it disinfects and cleans.
FLOOR CLEANER
1/4 C. Ammonia or Vinegar
1 gallon Hot Water
Mix and use this to mop the floor. It works great! You may also add up to a cup of the ammonia or vinegar if it is tile or vinyl floors - but only use 1/4 cup on wood floors.
LAUNDRY DETERGENT
This is my recipe for liquid laundry detergent. There is also a way to make the powdered kind, which is a little easier to make and not quite as messy, but I have not tried it yet. As soon as I make a batch of the powdered kind that works well, I will post it.
1/3 bar Fels Napta Soap, grated
1C. Borax
1/2 - 1 C. Washing Soda (adjust it to your preference)
2 gallons Water
For this, you will need a large bucket or container that will hold at least 2 gallons. In a large pot, heat 6 cups of water, then add the grated soap. Mix until all of the soap is melted. Then add the borax and mix well. Repeat with the washing soda. Stir until everything is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and pour into your container along with 4 cups of hot water. Stir well then add the remaining 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Let it cool completely before adding any essential oils and use about 1/2 C. per load.
** Note - this is a messy soap, but I find it easier to keep my detergent in a bucket and scoop as needed. Also, it will gel and will not look like your typical laundry detergent from the store, but I promise it works like a charm!
These are the only recipes for today. I will be posting another on homemade household cleaners and the different uses for each of the basic ingredients. Though it will be soon, I still need to work on some of the other recipes that aren't quite perfected yet, including the powdered form of the laundry detergent. But keep checking by, there are many more posts to come!
I am going to start off by saying that every one of these recipes can be adjusted according to preference, it took me a while to find the ones that work for me. It helps to have a basic understanding of what each ingredient is and how they work.
DISH WASHING DETERGENT
1 part Borax
1 part Washing Soda or Baking Soda
Mix the borax and washing soda (or baking soda if you would prefer to use it) and store in a container away from moisture. Use 2 Tbsp. of the mixture per load.
SPOT-FREE DISHES
Vinegar
Pour vinegar where you would normally put your rinse agent in your dishwasher. It will leave your dishes sparkling for a fraction of the price of Jet-Dry!
FABRIC SOFTENER
1 C. Baking Soda
6 C. Water
6 C. Vinegar
In a large bucket or container, mix the baking soda with one cup of water until dissolved. (it won't completely dissolve, but try your best). Then, slowly add the vinegar and stir until foam goes down. Add remaining five cups water and mix well. Add any scent you like (I love lavender in mine). Use 1/2 cup per load.
DRYER SHEETS
Cut up an old t-shirt. Fill a spray bottle with fabric softener, and spray a t-shirt rag with the softener to toss in the dryer. It's re-usable dryer sheets!
CARPET POWDER
Fill an empty carpet powder bottle or clean parmesan cheese bottle with baking soda, add a few drops of essential oil and shake well to mix. Sprinkle on the carpet about 15 minutes before vacuuming. It will freshen the air even without the essential oil, also.
WOOD POLISH
1/4 C. Vinegar
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil or Jojoba Oil
Olive oil is usually cheaper than Jojoba oil and easier to find. But olive oil, while it works great, will go rancid unlike jojoba oil. If you use olive oil, be sure and only make small amounts and use it quickly.
Just mix the ingredients together, rub it on the wood with a rag and use another rag to wipe off the excess oil. If you like, you can add lemon essential oil (or any other kind you want)
ALL-PURPOSE CLEANER
1/4 C. Ammonia or Vinegar
1 gallon Water
Mix ingredients together, add a scent if you like and fill your spray bottle. This is great for almost any surface, it disinfects and cleans.
FLOOR CLEANER
1/4 C. Ammonia or Vinegar
1 gallon Hot Water
Mix and use this to mop the floor. It works great! You may also add up to a cup of the ammonia or vinegar if it is tile or vinyl floors - but only use 1/4 cup on wood floors.
LAUNDRY DETERGENT
This is my recipe for liquid laundry detergent. There is also a way to make the powdered kind, which is a little easier to make and not quite as messy, but I have not tried it yet. As soon as I make a batch of the powdered kind that works well, I will post it.
1/3 bar Fels Napta Soap, grated
1C. Borax
1/2 - 1 C. Washing Soda (adjust it to your preference)
2 gallons Water
For this, you will need a large bucket or container that will hold at least 2 gallons. In a large pot, heat 6 cups of water, then add the grated soap. Mix until all of the soap is melted. Then add the borax and mix well. Repeat with the washing soda. Stir until everything is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and pour into your container along with 4 cups of hot water. Stir well then add the remaining 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Let it cool completely before adding any essential oils and use about 1/2 C. per load.
** Note - this is a messy soap, but I find it easier to keep my detergent in a bucket and scoop as needed. Also, it will gel and will not look like your typical laundry detergent from the store, but I promise it works like a charm!
These are the only recipes for today. I will be posting another on homemade household cleaners and the different uses for each of the basic ingredients. Though it will be soon, I still need to work on some of the other recipes that aren't quite perfected yet, including the powdered form of the laundry detergent. But keep checking by, there are many more posts to come!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Homemade Household Cleaners!!
Today the topic is homemade household cleaners!! I have loads of things to talk about on this particular subject, so I will split it up into 2 different posts. Take notes folks, you will be glad you did!
First off, I want to talk a little about why you should take the little extra time to make your own cleaning supplies. Let me start off by asking, How many plastic spray bottles and empty laundry soap bottles do you throw away each month? Or any other plastic bottle for that matter, it's probably a lot. Between dish soap, carpet powder, windex, and pine sol we go through a lot of plastic!
Well, most of the ingredients you buy to make your own cleaners come in a cardboard box, and they last a whole lot longer, therefore you buy and throw away a lot less plastic. This means less plastic in our landfills and less oil consumption!
It gets even better... the pre-made cleaners you see on the store shelves are loaded with chemicals and toxins which are harmful to your health and our planet. As I mentioned in my first post, these pollutants end up in our sewage, and inevitably in our groundwater and the earth. All of the ingredients we use for the homemade cleaners are natural and pollutant-free. I do use ammonia for a couple of things, although it is toxic and comes in a plastic bottle. I use one gallon of ammonia about every 2 months, but it is completely optional. There are other things you can use instead of ammonia that are non-toxic.
Now, with all of that being said, I want to take a minute to talk about the costs of making your own cleaners.
Making your own is quite a bit cheaper than buying store bought cleaners (even generic brands), and here is a little math I did on a few products just to show you how much money you will save;
Laundry Soap - It costs me $1.50 to make 2 gallons of liquid laundry detergent
Dish washing Detergent - It costs me $1.00 to make 20 dishwasher loads worth of detergent
Fabric Softener - It costs me $1.05 to make a one gallon batch of softener
These cleaners work just as well - and usually better - than your typical pre-made cleaners, and with the money you will pay, you can't afford not to give it a try!
Alright, I need to go over the ingredients you will be using and where you can find them.
1. Vinegar - You can find vinegar just about anywhere, dollar stores are usually cheaper than grocery stores. You will need to buy the largest container of it (I buy it by the gallon) and of all of the ingredients, you will probably use more vinegar than anything else.
2. Baking Soda - Again, you can find this almost anywhere. Buy the big box of it, it'll cost about $3.
3. Borax - This is an all-natural water softener, it has a ton of other uses as well. You can find this just about anywhere, usually found in the laundry aisle and usually on the bottom shelf. The main brand that you will likely see is 20 Mule Team Borax and it costs about $3 for a pretty big box of it.
4. Washing Soda - This one is a little harder to find. It is sodium carbonate - or, soda ash. The main brand that you will likely see for washing soda is Arm & Hammer. I find it at Ace Hardware, and it is found at some grocery stores and hardware stores. This costs about $3 for a box of it.
5. Fels Napta Soap - Like the washing soda, this one is harder to find too. I buy mine at the same place I buy washing soda, and you will probably find it in the same place you find the washing soda as well. It's an all-natural laundry soap that smells fantastic! It costs about $1.29 a bar, and it only takes 1/3 to 1/2 of the bar for 2 gallons of detergent.
6. Hydrogen Peroxide - I don't use this as much, but it is great for de-sanitizing and cleaning out stains. It's good for a few other uses as well and it'll cost about $1-2 for a bottle of it (get the bigger bottle)7. Essential Oils -These are completely optional and are a little pricey, depending on the scent you get. A few drops of the stuff goes a long way. You can also use things like lemon juice, or soak some herbs like peppermint, lemon balm or lavender (all of which you can find in bulk at your local health food store, pretty cheap I might add) to hot water, let cool, strain and add to your cleaner to make it smell pretty. Be creative!
That's about all on the ingredients.
The last thing I am going to talk about for this post are a few things you can use these individual ingredients for, and tomorrow, I will be posting some recipes :)
The last thing I am going to talk about for this post are a few things you can use these individual ingredients for, and tomorrow, I will be posting some recipes :)
Vinegar, though it does smell pretty bad, actually freshens the air. Once it dries you can't smell it at all. Place a bowl of vinegar on the counter to freshen the air.
Soak a dirty sponge in vinegar to bring it new life!
Use vinegar in a spray bottle to clean windows.
Soak a carpet stain in vinegar to help remove it. Add vinegar to your carpet shampooer - about 1 cup - for great results.
Sprinkle baking soda in your drains, then follow with a little vinegar. It helps keep the drains clean and fresh. Let sit for about 30 minutes then rinse with hot water. Repeat weekly.
Run an empty cycle in your dishwasher about once a month with just borax to help keep it clean.
Add a scoop of borax to your dishwater or laundry to soften up the water.
Keep a bottle of hydrogen peroxide in the shower and spray the walls and tub each time you shower to kill bacteria and mildew. Also use it around the house as a surface disinfectant.
Mix baking soda and water to make a paste and use it to clean tiles, sinks, toilets and much much more.
There are so many uses for these ingredients, tomorrow I will tell you plenty of recipes to get you started. Thank you for taking the time to read my post, I hope you give it a shot! I assure you, you'll be glad you did!
Have a fantastic day!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
A Note On Vanilla Extract
In my last blog, I brought up the subject of food and all of the things you can make yourself. Why? Well, to save money, of course! Along with saving money, making your own is healthier, tastier and better on our environment. But before I get into a long lecture about saving our planet, I should probably go ahead and talk about today's topic - vanilla extract.
I am sure you have gone to the grocery store and bought vanilla extract from time to time. Even if you don't bake often, I'm sure you've at least bought some vanilla around the holidays when we stuff our bellies with delicious cookies, pies and the like. Vanilla extract (the real stuff, not imitation) runs around 4-8 dollars for an itty bitty teeny tiny bottle of the stuff. Even the imitation vanilla is high, as horrible as that stuff is.
But no longer do you have to deny yourself the deliciousness of the vanilla bean! Making vanilla extract is extremely simple and inexpensive, and it yields stellar results!
Firstly, we'll discuss the ingredients.
One thing I have learned is to be careful where I buy things. For instance, if you go to your local grocery store you might pay around $8-10 for about 3 or 4 vanilla beans. Ouch! Don't buy them there! Here is what I did, I went to Ebay, typed in vanilla beans and found a wide array of results. Yes, you can order vanilla beans from Ebay.
Food Connoisseurs would argue about the origin of the bean, for example, Madagascar vanilla beans are better than , say Tahitian vanilla beans. But, vanilla beans of any type would work. I pay about $4 for a dozen Tahitian beans off of Ebay - shipping included - they come fresh, juicy and sealed airtight, and they make outstanding vanilla extract.
The next ingredient you need is bourbon. Now, this ingredient has a greater demand for quality than the vanilla beans. All you'll need is a pint (for 6 of the vanilla beans) and it doesn't have to be top of the line bourbon. But, of course, with the bourbon quality does make a difference, so buy the best you can afford. Even with the 'good stuff' a pint won't cost too much.
Let's do the math...
Let's say you spend $10 for bourbon (I buy the $5 stuff), then you'll only need 6 of the vanilla beans (it costs $4 a dozen), that's an investment of $12. Now, a pint is 16 oz. and the typical bottle of vanilla from the grocery store is 1 oz. That's a whopping 75 cents per ounce of the homemade extract!
Now, I'll end this with a note on the leftover vanilla beans.
Sure, you can double up your batch of extract and give some out as gifts. Or, you can keep the beans around for other uses. Like, for example, if you cut open the pods, scrape out the beans and mix them with a few cups of sugar, let them sit for a week or two, you'll have the most delicious vanilla sugar you have ever tasted. The sugar can be used in place of regular sugar in any way you desire. Be creative! Just remember to store the beans in an airtight container and away from light.
Well, That's all for this post. Keep yourself updated and check back often for new blogs!
I am sure you have gone to the grocery store and bought vanilla extract from time to time. Even if you don't bake often, I'm sure you've at least bought some vanilla around the holidays when we stuff our bellies with delicious cookies, pies and the like. Vanilla extract (the real stuff, not imitation) runs around 4-8 dollars for an itty bitty teeny tiny bottle of the stuff. Even the imitation vanilla is high, as horrible as that stuff is.
But no longer do you have to deny yourself the deliciousness of the vanilla bean! Making vanilla extract is extremely simple and inexpensive, and it yields stellar results!
Firstly, we'll discuss the ingredients.
One thing I have learned is to be careful where I buy things. For instance, if you go to your local grocery store you might pay around $8-10 for about 3 or 4 vanilla beans. Ouch! Don't buy them there! Here is what I did, I went to Ebay, typed in vanilla beans and found a wide array of results. Yes, you can order vanilla beans from Ebay.
Food Connoisseurs would argue about the origin of the bean, for example, Madagascar vanilla beans are better than , say Tahitian vanilla beans. But, vanilla beans of any type would work. I pay about $4 for a dozen Tahitian beans off of Ebay - shipping included - they come fresh, juicy and sealed airtight, and they make outstanding vanilla extract.
And... well, that's it. Bourbon and vanilla beans. I told you it was easy. So, now you get a pint jar and make sure it is clean. Get 6 vanilla beans and, with a knife, cut all along the length of the pod, from end to end, to open it up (like a pea pod) to release all of those magnificent little beans inside. Place it in the jar, fill it up with bourbon, screw the lid on tight and wait. Yup, that's it! Put it in a dark place, like in a cupboard, and wait about a month (the longer you wait the better it will be, like good wine). And tada!! You have yourself some gourmet vanilla extract that cost you a fraction of the price!
Let's do the math...
Let's say you spend $10 for bourbon (I buy the $5 stuff), then you'll only need 6 of the vanilla beans (it costs $4 a dozen), that's an investment of $12. Now, a pint is 16 oz. and the typical bottle of vanilla from the grocery store is 1 oz. That's a whopping 75 cents per ounce of the homemade extract! So, compare $4-8 an ounce to 75 cents an ounce and you tell me which one sounds better! The homemade stuff is free of all the chemicals you might find in the store bought stuff, and that means less toxins for our planet and ourselves. Even eliminating small amounts of toxins makes a difference. Always remember that the small things DO matter!
Now, I'll end this with a note on the leftover vanilla beans.
Sure, you can double up your batch of extract and give some out as gifts. Or, you can keep the beans around for other uses. Like, for example, if you cut open the pods, scrape out the beans and mix them with a few cups of sugar, let them sit for a week or two, you'll have the most delicious vanilla sugar you have ever tasted. The sugar can be used in place of regular sugar in any way you desire. Be creative! Just remember to store the beans in an airtight container and away from light.
Well, That's all for this post. Keep yourself updated and check back often for new blogs!
Friday, October 22, 2010
All Of The Wonderful Reasons To Make It Yourself
There was a day when you had to make everything yourself, you couldn't just go buy everything from Walmart. You had to churn your own butter, make your own clothes, and there was no such thing as 'instant mashed potatoes'. That's right, you had to peel, cut, boil and mash the potatoes all by yourself! GASP!!
Then came the 50's and 60's when processed and convenience foods became a staple in every kitchen. If you ask me, we can credit much of the disease we have today to all the processed food from that era.. but that's just an opinion of my own.
The point is, that in our pursuit of laziness (I guess most people call it convenience), industry has induced severe injuries to our planet. The pollutants in the products on store shelves today are unreal. The chemicals and pollutants are in everything from household cleaners, to hygiene products, to toys that break after one use and end up in another massive landfill. All of these toxins end up in sewage, and inevitably in our groundwater and in the earth. I didn't even mention our depleting atmosphere, but you know all about that already so we'll leave that one for another day.
Well, after a long hard look at my daily life and the waste that me and my family produced each week, I decided to find some solutions. I went through a period of time when I wanted to 'upcycle' everything! I discovered that just about anything can be turned into something new and useful. But after a while I thought I should find more ways to keep the unwanted trash from accumulating. I started one day by making my own cleaners. After some time with a cup of coffee and Google, I found all sorts of recipes made from natural ingredients that were actually a fraction of the price of store bought cleaners! These are so easy to make and can be adjusted to fit into any one's lifestyle, not to mention this dramatically reduces the amount of plastic containers a household will go through. But that's another blog... check back for that one, you won't want to miss it!
Then one day.. BAM.. no more food stamps. It seems as though even though we are poor and struggle to pay our bills, we no longer qualify to receive them. Bummer. Well, after a long, hard look at our budget we decided that $50 a week is what we can comfortably count on to feed out family of four. Rough, huh? Oh yea, but guess what?!?! I do it!! That's because I am super-mom!!! I'm sure that in a few years my kids will label me as tight-wad mom, but you and I know the truth.
I learned right away that giving up convenience foods was something that I had to embrace, so after a moment of silence - and maybe a tear or two - I went to work. Here are a few examples of some of the foods you can make yourself that will not only save you money, but will help the planet as well as your health;
Bread crumbs, pie crusts, rolls, vanilla extract, spaghetti sauce... and the list just goes on and on and on. So the next time you are cooking dinner, look at each ingredient and ask yourself... 'can I make this?', and I bet the answer is probably 'yes'. Most of the time, making something from scratch isn't near as difficult as you may think, the results are worth it, and everybody knows that homemade is always better!
As you begin making your own products, whether it be food or household products, it will become a part of your daily life as it has mine. I can't imagine living any other way, even when I can afford to buy convenience products, it doesn't make sense to me to do it. There are so many benefits of doing what I refer to as 'going back to the basics', that you can't afford not to give it a try!
I will continue to post blogs touching on topics like how to save big money on groceries, how to make all the wonderful things I've been telling you about, and many many more tips on saving money and going green! Keep yourself updated and always take a minute out of your day to be creative. :)
Then came the 50's and 60's when processed and convenience foods became a staple in every kitchen. If you ask me, we can credit much of the disease we have today to all the processed food from that era.. but that's just an opinion of my own.
The point is, that in our pursuit of laziness (I guess most people call it convenience), industry has induced severe injuries to our planet. The pollutants in the products on store shelves today are unreal. The chemicals and pollutants are in everything from household cleaners, to hygiene products, to toys that break after one use and end up in another massive landfill. All of these toxins end up in sewage, and inevitably in our groundwater and in the earth. I didn't even mention our depleting atmosphere, but you know all about that already so we'll leave that one for another day.
Well, after a long hard look at my daily life and the waste that me and my family produced each week, I decided to find some solutions. I went through a period of time when I wanted to 'upcycle' everything! I discovered that just about anything can be turned into something new and useful. But after a while I thought I should find more ways to keep the unwanted trash from accumulating. I started one day by making my own cleaners. After some time with a cup of coffee and Google, I found all sorts of recipes made from natural ingredients that were actually a fraction of the price of store bought cleaners! These are so easy to make and can be adjusted to fit into any one's lifestyle, not to mention this dramatically reduces the amount of plastic containers a household will go through. But that's another blog... check back for that one, you won't want to miss it!
Then one day.. BAM.. no more food stamps. It seems as though even though we are poor and struggle to pay our bills, we no longer qualify to receive them. Bummer. Well, after a long, hard look at our budget we decided that $50 a week is what we can comfortably count on to feed out family of four. Rough, huh? Oh yea, but guess what?!?! I do it!! That's because I am super-mom!!! I'm sure that in a few years my kids will label me as tight-wad mom, but you and I know the truth.
I learned right away that giving up convenience foods was something that I had to embrace, so after a moment of silence - and maybe a tear or two - I went to work. Here are a few examples of some of the foods you can make yourself that will not only save you money, but will help the planet as well as your health;
Bread crumbs, pie crusts, rolls, vanilla extract, spaghetti sauce... and the list just goes on and on and on. So the next time you are cooking dinner, look at each ingredient and ask yourself... 'can I make this?', and I bet the answer is probably 'yes'. Most of the time, making something from scratch isn't near as difficult as you may think, the results are worth it, and everybody knows that homemade is always better!
As you begin making your own products, whether it be food or household products, it will become a part of your daily life as it has mine. I can't imagine living any other way, even when I can afford to buy convenience products, it doesn't make sense to me to do it. There are so many benefits of doing what I refer to as 'going back to the basics', that you can't afford not to give it a try!
I will continue to post blogs touching on topics like how to save big money on groceries, how to make all the wonderful things I've been telling you about, and many many more tips on saving money and going green! Keep yourself updated and always take a minute out of your day to be creative. :)
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