DIY: Vanilla Extract

A few years ago, my sister-in-law, Nicole, gave us a kit for making our own vanilla extract. It was fun to do and tasted really good.

We wanted to see about doing it again since pure vanilla extract from the store is so expensive, and imitation vanilla has corn syrup and artificial flavors added to it.

So we bought some whole vanilla beans from amazon. We already had some rum (you can use rum or vodka) and an extra jar, so we were good to go!

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Here were my sources for figuring out what to do (you may want to read for more info on the process):

Taste for Adventure: How to Make Vanilla Extract

Simply Recipes: How to Make Vanilla Extract

Also, here's a write-up on the different vanilla bean varieties.

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Vanilla Extract

1. Sterilize your glass jar and lid in boiling water for 5 to 10 minutes.

2. Use 3 vanilla beans per 8oz of alcohol (in my 12oz jar shown to the left, I used 4 beans).

3. Slice the beans down the center to exposes the insides.

4. Place beans in the jar and cover with alcohol (rum and vodka are the most popular...use at least 80 proof)

5. Keep it stored in a dark cabinet for about 2 months. Shake it up about once a week.

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Other ways to use your beans:

Scrape the inside of a bean and use that in place of vanilla extract. Use one bean per 2 tsp of extract.

Make vanilla sugar. Cut open a bean and place in one to two cups of white sugar. Let it sit for about 2 weeks. Use in a recipe where you want vanilla flavoring, or use in coffee.

Find a dessert recipe that calls for real vanilla bean (like these).

Mashed Cauliflower with Sauted Mushrooms

The other day, dinner didn't look like it was going to make enough for all of us. So Sean improvised and came up with a SPECTACULAR side dish. He can't take all the credit, though, as part of the idea came out of our Nutrition Action newsletter (the mushroom part).

I don't care for mushrooms too much, but both of us were amazed at the flavor of this. Definitely a repeat side dish.

Mashed Cauliflower with Sauted Mushrooms

1 16oz. bag of frozen cauliflower
1 medium chopped potato (peeled or not)
2 Tbsp butter
1-2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt

10-12 sliced mushrooms
2 Tbsp balsalmic vinegar
1 Tbsp soy sauce

Cauliflower

Boil the potato until it's starting to get soft. Add the cauliflower and bring back up to a boil. Cook until both are soft enough to puree. Puree with an immersion blender, food processor or blender. Add butter, garlic powder and salt.

Mushrooms

Saute mushrooms in olive oil over medium heat until well browned. Add balsalmic vinegar and soy sauce and stir until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Homemade Dish Soap

Okay, so I've talked about what to use in your dishwasher that is natural (and not full of petroleum-based chemicals). For me, that combination is still working equally as well as the store-bought cheapie stuff we used to buy.

Now lets move on to dish soap. I've been making my own for a few months now, and I am very happy with it. It works well and it's simple to mix up. I just pour it into an old dish soap bottle and I'm good to go for a few weeks. It doesn't suds up as much as store-bought (since it's lacking that horrible sodium lauryl sulfate), but after about a week of using it, I was used to it and haven't looked back.

My recipe is based off of this one, but I have tweaked it a little. So here's what I do:

Homemade Dish Soap

2 cups water
1/4 cup liquid castile soap (or castile bar soap shavings)
2 Tbsp white distilled vinegar
1-2 Tbsp washing soda**

Heat water over medium heat (do not bring to a boil). Add soap, vinegar and washing soda. Stir until washing soda is dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside to cool completely.

Pour into a dish soap container (24 fl.oz. bottle is good).

It will be watery at first. After several hours it will solidify. Just shake it up. If it's too thick for you, add some water.

**The washing soda is what affects the thickness. So if you'd like it thinner, use less washing soda.

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Proof that it's more gentle on your skin

Between diaper changes, preparing food, going to the bathroom, washing the dishes, wiping up messes with a wet rag, and bathing the kids, it seems like my hands are always getting wet. And I never remember to put lotion on.

During the warmer months, it's not a problem. But at the beginning of the cold season, my hands always get really dry, and even red and cracked around my knuckles (and I still forget to use lotion most of the time).

I changed over to my homemade dish soap just about the same time that I stopped using the store-bought hand soap (just using castile soap diluted with water, instead). And within days of making this change, my dry, cracked hands were as soft as ever.

So this is further proof to me that all these synthetic chemicals are just too harsh for us - in many ways.

Cleaning Metal Pots

Bar Keepers Friend

For a long time, Sean and I have used Bar Keepers Friend to polish up our copper bottom pots. It's a cleaner and polisher that can be used on stainless steel, chrome, porcelain, ceramic cooktops, brass, tile and copper. It removes rust too. It works very, very well.

I was using it the other day, and I thought about the fact that I didn't know anything about this product; what it contains or whether it has toxic chemicals in it or not (there is no ingredient information on the label).

I searched around the internet and found out that the active ingredient is oxalic acid. Here's what I've gathered about it: it's a toxic chemical, harmful if inhaled, can be absorbed through the skin, can irritate the skin, eyes and lungs, and can cause kidney damage.

Here's a report on oxalic acid, and here's an article on eHow Health - Oxalic Acid Dangers.

I don't know how much oxalic acid is in Bar Keepers Friend, or if it makes this product unsafe or not, but I have decided to stop using it on my cookware.

**In searching, I couldn't find anything that says Bar Keepers Friend is dangerous to use. But since I am going 100% toxic free in my cleaning, it's my personal decision not to use it since it contains an unknown amount of a toxic chemical.

***

An Alternative

I still want to get my pots clean (often soap and water isn't enough to bring back the shine)...so what do I use now?

Well, a while ago, I came across an awesome blogger, Jillee, who posts all sorts of useful household tips, recipes, etc. While I was looking for some of her homemade cleaners, I came across this post: Kitchen "Miracle" Cleaner.

Basically, mix up a paste of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. I tried it on my everyday silverware and it made them shiny as new. I also cleaned my kitchen faucet with it and again - shiny as could be.

So I thought about trying it out on the copper bottom pots. And it worked wonderfully! Equally as good as the Bar Keeper's Friend.

In the above photo, I cleaned the whole pot the best I could with soap and water - even using a scrub brush. The right side was as clean as I could get it. Then I used the baking soda - peroxide paste on only the left side. Very shiny!

Read more about Hydrogen Peroxide and its uses: Use Hydrogen Peroxide to Heal and Stay Healthy.

Tahini

Our half-used jar of Tahini

Tahini is a paste made from ground sesame seeds, usually found in Middle Eastern dishes. It's very nutritious and can be used in a lot of ways.

From MindBodyGreen, here are
10 Reasons to Eat Tahini:

1. It’s rich in minerals such as phosphorus, lecithin, magnesium, potassium and iron. 
2. It's a good source of Methionine, which aids in liver detoxification. 
3. It’s one of the best sources of calcium out there. 
4. It’s high in vitamin E and vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5 and B15. 
5. Helps to promote healthy cell growth. 
6. Prevent anemia. 
7. Helps to maintain healthy skin and muscle tone. 
8. It has 20% complete protein, making it a higher protein source than most nuts. 
9. It's easy for your body to digest because of its high alkaline mineral content, which is great for assisting in weight loss. 
10. It is high in unsaturated fat (good fat!)

Here's what it says on our bottle of Tahini:

High in protein and other nutrients, it is a flavorful base for appetizer spreads, a topping for pasta or falafel, or an ingredient in soups and salad dressings. Tahini is also ideal for desserts and confections such as halva.

We've been using our jar to make hummus and salad dressing. I thought I'd share these delicious recipes...

(just to be aware, the jar is expensive...around $7. But you'll certainly get a lot of use out of it.)

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Homemade hummus on a yellow pepper

Hummus

(original recipe is from allrecipes.com: Hummus...this is very well reviewed. We modified it only slightly)

2 cups canned chickpeas (or cooked chickpeas*)
1/3 cup tahini
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1-2 cloves of garlic (or a sprinkle of garlic power)
1 tsp salt
sprinkle of paprika
1/4 cup olive oil 

In a food processor, combine all ingredients except olive oil. As it's mixing, slowly pour in the olive oil until smooth. Keep refrigerated.

*Instead of a can, buy some dried chickpeas (much more cost effective and no added salt). Soak them in water overnight, boil them in water for about 45 minutes. 

Easy Ways to Spice Up Hummus 

Hummus is great with veggies (like carrots, broccoli, bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, celery), bread, crackers and chips.

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Tahini Salad Dressing

(idea based off of a Rachael Ray recipe...but drastically simplified)

1/4 cup tahini
2 Tbsp soy sauce
drizzle of vegetable oil
sprinkle of lemon juice
sprinkle of white sugar

Mix together. Easily double or triple to keep on hand in the fridge.

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Broccoli and Cabbage Salad

Mix together:

- fresh broccoli
- red cabbage
- sesame seeds

(cashews and/or raisins would also be good)

Top with Tahini Dressing listed above.

DIY: Lemon Juice (Preservative Free!)

Normally, Sean and I don't use lemon juice very often. It's needed for the occasional recipe, or when you need to keep cut-up apples from browning too quickly. So like most of us, we have kept a store-bought bottle of preservative-filled lemon juice in the fridge which sits there for months in its plastic container, which further leaches chemicals into it. Yum.

Well now that we're making our own bread on a regular basis - which calls for lemon juice - we decided to ditch the bottle and make our own. It couldn't be simpler:

fresh-squeezed lemon juice ice cubes

(this obviously requires that you own a citrus juicer...we got ours from my in-laws and it's an old dinosaur, but works wonderfully)

1. Buy a bag of fresh lemons

2. Juice them and strain the seeds and pulp

3. Take an ice cube tray and fill each compartment (mine fits 2 tablespoons each)

4. Keep frozen until you need some!

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Why bother making your own?

The simple reason for making your own is to avoid preservatives.

I think we too easily dismiss preservatives as being okay for us, making them an acceptable part of eating processed food (especially since the FDA says they are safe in small amounts). But how many of us have looked at what these preservatives really are? How are they made, what are the made from, and which ones are truly harmful and should be avoided? Ultimately, do we want to be consuming them on a daily basis?

Okay, so I looked on foodfacts.com and searched for "lemon juice." It came up with about 16 products, all receiving a grade of C or D (the organics got a B). They got these grades mostly because of their "controversial ingredients" and that they have added sugar.

They all had very similar ingredients, particularly two preservatives: Sodium Bisulfite and Sodium Benzoate (these are the controversial ingredients).

Should we accept that these preservatives are safe for us because the FDA says they are? Or should we learn more and make our own decision?

Sodium Bisulfite

This is a chemical preservative used to prevent discoloration and bacterial growth.

From what I have read, Sodium Bisulfite was unregulated until the 1980's. It was used in processed foods, but also on fresh vegetables - like greens on a salad bar - to prevent browning. Many people had severe allergic reactions to it when they came in contact with concentrated amounts. There were even 13 deaths. After this was realized, the FDA put restrictions and limits on its use, but it is still widely used.

Health Risks of Sodium Bisulfite:

Sodium bisulfite may cause a potentially serious allergic reaction in some individuals.

Some people may lack the enzyme that is necessary to break down sulfites in the body after they are ingested. . .According to the Food and Drug Administration, about half a percent of the U.S. population, or approximately 1 million people, lack the enzyme that prevents a sulfite allergy.

Depending on the severity of your allergy and the amount of sulfites you have ingested, these symptoms can range from mild to severe. In rare cases, sulfites can cause your throat to swell to the point where your airway is blocked, causing asphyxiation and death.

The Dangers of Sodium Bisulfite:

Sodium bisulfite is safe for many people when consumed in small quantities that are used in processed foods. . .Today manufacturers that sell products that contain sulfites must declare the preservative and amount on the food label. Nonetheless, you can develop sensitivities to sulfites at any time during your life, even if you never had any problem consuming these substances before.

So it seems that as long as you don't have an allergy to sulfites, this won't be harmful to you. But as that last quote says, you can develop a sensitivity to it at any time in your life. For you, is this preservative an acceptable risk to take?

Sodium Benzoate

This is a chemical preservative used to help prevent the growth of bacteria and fungus in acidic products.

How is Sodium Benzoate Used in Food?:

Sodium benzoate, when combined with vitamin C, forms benzene. Benzene is a carcinogen and is known to contribute to the formation of many different types of cancer. However, the Food and Drug Administration states that food products that contain both vitamin C and sodium benzoate express benzene levels that are below the dangerous limit.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to consume ANYTHING that has the potential of giving me cancer. I don't care what the FDA says about it being within safe limits.

An article on naturalnews.com has more to say about this "safe" preservative.

Sodium benzoate is a preservative that promotes cancer and kills healthy cells:

(Sodium benzoate) has the ability to deprive the cells of oxygen, break down the immune system and cause cancer.

Sodium benzoate chokes out your body's nutrients at the DNA cellular level by depriving mitochondria cells of oxygen, sometimes completely shutting them down. 

The FDA says it's safe because the amount used to preserve foods is very low, but don't ever combine it with vitamin C or E, as this causes benzene to be formed. This is dangerous. Benzene is a known carcinogen, which means it causes cancer.

So now why is it put in food? It's the cheapest mold inhibiter on the market, so it's all about the money. Acidic foods tend to grow bacteria, mold and yeast more easily than non-acidic foods, so the sodium benzoate extends the shelf life, while it shortens human life.

Cancer is all about the cumulative effect. When the human body is exposed repeatedly to any level of this carcinogen, which rears its ugly head in thousands of products, the immune system, over time, is depleted to the point that one acquires an immune deficiency. Then the body does not have enough essential nutrients to detoxify, and this occurs at the cellular level. Parkinson's, neuro-degenerative diseases, and premature aging have all been attributed to this infamous preservative.

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I'm not taking any chances with the health of my family. We will not be consuming anymore bottled lemon juice, or anything else with Sodium Benzoate it (oh, and it's also in soda to enhance the flavor of the high fructose corn syrup).

Be smart about your food choices. Educate yourself on what you buy from the store!

What to use in your dishwasher that is safe and natural

Of all my new ways to go toxic-free around the house, figuring out what to use in the dishwasher was the toughest one. I searched through tons of posted recipes and read all sorts of comments from people who either had really good results or really bad results.

Bottom line, I think the type of water you have - how soft or hard - will determine a lot as to what will work for you when it comes to the homemade stuff. Also, different things work well for different dishwashers. So there are some variables to work out. Not everything will work the same for everyone.

One combination of ingredients that I was seeing posted quite frequently was Borax, Washing Soda, Kosher salt and Citric Acid. I don't want to use Borax, and citric acid seems too expensive from what I could find.

I started searching for recipes that are Borax-free. I found one that I wanted to try and used it for about a week: Natural Homemade Dishwasher Detergent. Ingredients: water, vinegar, liquid castile soap, pure lemon juice, salt and washing soda.
 
I loved it for about 3 or 4 days, until my glasses all started coming out cloudy. So I kept searching for another one that didn't contain Borax or citric acid, and didn't have too high of a proportion of castile soap (making it too expensive).

Then I remembered a blog post I had bookmarked a while ago that had very useful information in it. 10 Things You Should Know Before Making Homemade Dishwasher Detergent. She concludes that you may only need washing soda to wash your dishes, or maybe also add a little soap.
 
So I thought about all I had read and learned (including using less soap to get better results), and I tried a combination using my best educated guess: 1 tablespoon washing soda and 1 teaspoon castile soap. I also used vinegar as my rinse aid (see below for more on that). Everything came out perfect and sparkly clean! I continued it for a few days getting nearly perfect results every time.

I wasn't sure if it was the castile soap or vinegar (or both) that was doing such a great job, so for about 2 weeks I experimented with each load (I kept the washing soda constant because I knew I wanted to use that as my base). I tried varying amounts of vinegar and castile soap, even leaving each of them out completely.

What I found out was that I definitely needed the vinegar to rinse all the food particles away and get all the glasses shiny and clean. I thought that I might get away with not needing the castile soap, but without it, I have had several things come out with food stuck to them. So, looks like I need both in addition to the washing soda.

So here's what I'm using in my dishwasher: 

1 Tablespoon washing soda
1/2 teaspoon castile soap
1/4 cup vinegar as the rinse aid

Simple and toxic free :)

(I still might get one or two things that come out dirty, but that usually happened with the store-bought stuff too. Overall, I am very happy with these results)

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Rinse Aid

We had been using Jet Dry for quite some time, but obviously we wanted to ditch that too. I have read all over the place to use vinegar as a rinse aid.

HOWEVER, most people suggest putting it into the rinse aid compartment. I read on a blog post that "the acid in the vinegar can damage the rubber components in the rinse aid compartment." And that came straight from the dishwasher repairman.

So an alternative is to use a small bowl that can sit right-side-up in the top rack and put some white vinegar in it. This will slowly slosh it around as it goes through the cycle.

And as I said above, this is working very well for me.

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Cost comparison 

I wanted to see where my three ingredients fit into the spectrum of store-bought detergents. Here's what I calculated, listing the least expensive first:

Great Value (Walmart brand) powder detergent, 75oz box
$3.22 (price from their website) / $.04 per ounce

My homemade option
Washing soda + soap + vinegar = 2.13oz per load = $.11 per load
$.05 per ounce

Cascade powder detergent, 75oz box
$6.90 (priced from Walmart's website) / $.09 per ounce

Seventh Generation (all natural) powder detergent, 75oz box
$7.49 (priced from amazon, shipping not included) / $.10 per ounce

I may not have beaten Walmart in price (who can?), but I'm sure I beat them in safety of ingredients (they don't even disclose their ingredient list...what are they hiding?).

Sean's Corn Soup

My husband is great at making soups. He just makes stuff up right out of his head and it turns out spectacular. And with tonight's dinner, our two picky eaters ate this up and asked for more!

Corn soup garnished with paprika and green salsa from Moes.

Sean's Corn Soup

1/2 cup dry white beans
1 medium onion, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 medium white sweet potato, peeled and chopped
4-6 cups chicken broth (or vegetable stock)
1 16oz bag of frozen corn
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ginger

Cook 1/2 cup dry white beans in water for about an hour and a half, or until soft. Set aside.

In a saute pan, saute onion and celery in some oil on high heat, letting them sit to char a little. After several minutes, add the chopped white sweet potato. Turn the heat down and deglaze the pan by adding a little bit of water or broth (it will sizzle loudly) and scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon (this gets up the char which adds flavor).

In a large pot, combine the onion mixture, white beans, broth, and bag of corn. Boil until cooked. Puree (we use our stick blender). Add spices.

Nut-free Granola Bars

I'm still looking to expand my "bag" of homemade snacks for the kids and I knew they would love granola bars (especially since we never buy them because of Noah's nut allergy).

I actually have never made granola bars before today and I was surprised at how easy it was. I found a nut-free recipe on allrecipes.com (called "Playgroup Granola Bars"). I followed it exactly except I didn't have any wheat germ. They are yummy.

When they came out of the oven, the edges were getting a nice golden-brown. They were still a little soft and the piece I took out was falling apart, but as they cooled they were fine to stay together as "bars."

I'm looking forward to trying them again with different dried fruits and maybe some chocolate chips :)

Soft Homemade Wheat Bread (from a bread machine)

About a year (or two?) ago, I borrowed my mom's old bread machine in hopes of regularly making our own bread (the manual is from 1992, so this is a dinosaur). I tried one loaf and it came out short, dense and became rock hard the next day.

I put the machine in my closet and it stayed there a long time...

I finally got it back out a few weeks ago to make an honest effort this time. I wanted to find a whole wheat recipe that will make soft bread (I mean, why would you want it any other way?). I found one that I have made about 5 times. The bread is definitely soft and we all love it.

The author of the blog post/recipe wrote a lot about it, so I'll let you read what she says and get the recipe from her:

Super Soft Whole Grain Sandwich Bread

She suggests mixing up all the ingredients - except the yeast and salt - the night before and letting it sit in the bread machine. Then add the yeast and salt in the morning and start it up. Soaking the flour like this makes the bread softer and more digestible.

A couple notes about the recipe:

1. It calls for whole wheat pastry or spelt flour. I didn't know where to buy either of those, so I'm just using plain old whole wheat flour. It seems fine to me.

2. The first time I made this, I already had a packet of dry active yeast. This batch turned out a little short. I then bought a small jar of "bread machine" yeast and the dough rose up so tall that it touched the top glass of the machine. I now only put in 2 tsp. of yeast instead of the 2 1/2 tsp that it calls for.

That's about it. If you have a bread machine, give it a try!