9 Changes for 2009- #4 Dish Detergent

This entry is part of a series on changes I made in 2008 that I want to stick with in 2009…

1. Cut out commercial breakfast bars
2. Cut out canned beans
3. Ditch premade hummus (and all those containers)
   

4. Use only environmentally friendly dish detergent
   (homemade to boot)
   
   Why…
   
   So question one is why an environmentally friendly detergent even matters, right? Most conventional dishwasher detergents contain phosphates and chlorine. Phosphates seriously impact our water supply by encouraging excessive algae growth which kills fish and plant life. Chlorine bleach is an environmental pollutant and it may cause immune and reproductive system problems. Now, I am not alarmist about many things, so the possible concern about bleach doesn't faze me too much. But, the dangerous chemical reaction caused by bleach mixing with ammonia that we've all been warned about since we were kids is undoubtedly of concern. Ammonia is a more eco-friendly choice, so I'd just as soon stick with that one and keep out the bleach.
   
   Here's what we did…
   
   We made our own. We started off by using a recipe from Green Clean of 1 part borax to 1 part washing soda. We put 1 heaping teaspoon of the mix in the release cup and vinegar in the rinse aid. We started off using 2 tablespoons of the dry mix, but that made the dishes cloudy, so we cut down until we got the right amount for our water. But, we were having issues with cloudiness and chunks of food remaining. So onto blend two…
   
   Our second attempt was 3 parts baking soda to 1 part borax along with the vinegar in the rinse aid compartment. With this mix you use just as much as you would with a conventional powdered detergent. I read the instructions for the dishwasher to refresh my memory, and it turns out that we've long been putting in too much: the lowest line on the cup is ample for normal loads. We also add 2 drops of essential oil per load on top of the dry mix. Generally I use tea tree oil, which has natural anti-bacterial properties, but if I'll be in the kitchen I'll put in a smell I really love, like bergamot or sweet orange, since the scent will be released in the steam that comes out of the machine.
   
   We've stuck with this second blend for many months now. I use an old 32 oz yogurt container to mix the powder (measure and dump in, put lid on, then shake to mix). I only need to make up a new batch every other month or so.
   
   I will be perfectly honest and say that we are still dealing with cloudiness. We've taken to wiping the dishes with a slightly damp cloth as we put them in the cabinet to fix this problem, but I know that cloudiness simply is unacceptable to some people. Some days it bothers me and I consider trying out Ecover or another similar green product, but most days I love that it is so much cheaper than anything else. My price per year is about the cost of a single box of brand name commercial dishwasher detergent. Even if we go to a commercial product, I am committed to staying away from dish detergents with phosphates or chlorine bleach.
   
   UPDATE: See my improved (dare I say, perfected) recipe here.

9 Changes for 2009- #3 Hummus

This entry is part of a series on changes I made in 2008 that I want to stick with in 2009…

1. Cut out commercial breakfast bars
   
2. Cut out canned beans
   
   
3. Ditch premade hummus (and all those containers)
   by making it at home.
   

   Okay, this one totally piggybacks on the bean post. Let me confess right now that a love of hummus is where the whole bean soaking in mass quantities idea stemmed from.
   
   There are many reasons to love hummus: it tastes great, is nutritious, and jazzes up veggies or pita to make light but filling snack or meal. But, all of those little plastic containers they come in add up. My county only recycles plastic containers with necks, so we either could keep amassing them (but there is so much space, right?) or throw them away (eek, never!). So, we decided to start making our own.
   
   We tried some actual recipes (there are tons online) and devised many of our own: basic, lemon, chipotle, roasted pine nut, roasted garlic, roasted eggplant, mixed hot pepper, and roasted sweet red pepper. I also just learned about pumpkin hummus—we'll have to try that, since we are still wading in pumpkin.
   

   
   

   As you may guess from the bean post, since dried beans are so cheap, homemade hummus is considerably cheaper than packaged hummus. Another score for reducing packaging, saving money, and increasing yumminess!

9 Changes for 2009 - #2 Beans

This entry is part of a series on changes I made in 2008 that I want to stick with in 2009…

1. Cut out commercial breakfast bars
   
   
2. Cut out canned beans
   and replaced them with dry beans
   
   Canned beans (and tomatoes, for the record) are especially susceptible to BPA leeching, so I thought it might be worth finding an alternative. We started buying dried beans and soaking and cooking them. Yes, soaking and cooking takes time, but we do it in bulk to get maximum impact for our time and freeze the extras for later. We started cooking one pound at a time, but we're now up to doing two pounds at a time (mondo stock pot required). Another plus is that one pound of dried beans is about the same price as a single can, yet the one pound of dried beans yields 3-4 times the amount of beans in a can. Plus, bonus points for less shipping and packaging energy expenditures.
   

9 Changes for 2009- #1 Commercial Breakfast Bars

This entry is part of a series on changes I made in 2008 that I want to stick with in 2009…

1. Commercial Breakfast Bars
   Replaced with homemade granola bars and whole grain muffins
   
   

   Commercial breakfast bars were one thing on our grocery tab that we had a hard time keeping cheap. Sure, we'd shop sales and coupons, but I am SUPER picky about breakfast (i.e. I don't like to eat breakfast, so I need something easy and yummy to convince me so I don't skip it an then become a hungry, moody lunatic by lunch) so if we were out of bars and no deals were to be had, we'd buy them at full price anyway. I'm super thrifty, so paying full price irritated me, being a slave to store visits when we ran out irritated me, and all of that packaging—individually wrapping and a box—irritated me. Plus, in terms of nutrition, I felt like the bars just didn't have much bank for their buck. So, I needed to come up with something comparable in terms of convenience and portability.
   
   I decided to try my hand at making my own bars and muffins. I made a recipe in bulk every few weeks and put whatever I wouldn't eat that week in the freezer for later weeks. So, I added two hours of work every three-ish weeks for cooking and clean up, but I ended up with a more delicious, nutritious alternative that yields much less packaging waste. I also started making yogurt & fruit smoothies in the blender to up the nutrition. Here is one muffin recipe that packs a big nutritional punch: Oat Bran Muffins. Here's a picture of some hearty granola bars I made, but can't find the recipe for again.
   (Update...basic recipe is here, yummy variations are here.)