Fruit Leather

One of the things we purchased when doing the Amazon.com textbook trade-in was a set of two fruit roll trays for our dehydrator.

I've been trying to figure out snacks to make at home, and fruit leather seemed like a great healthy snack option.  So, after checking the local store ads for what produce was on special, I went out and bought two pounds of strawberries, a pint of blueberries, and a pineapple.  I already had some apples and some lemons on hand.  Fruit leather is pretty easy to make; you can even make it in your oven if you don't have a dehydrator.  So, first I'll outline the process to be used for pretty much any fruit leather, then I'll give you the recipes I used for each of my two batches.


The Process:
Wash your fruit.  Cut the leaves and any bruised, moldy, and/or rotten parts off your strawberries.  Peel, core, and slice your apples.  You can view a great video on how to choose and cut up a pineapple here.  Put your fruit into a blender or food processor, then squeeze 1/2 lemon in with the fruit (use your hand, a cloth, or a strainer to catch any seeds).  Run the blender or food processor until fruit is thoroughly pureed.  Taste and add sweetener as necessary.

If you had some questionable spots on your fruit and/or you want to be extra careful, you may want to consider cooking your fruit for a few minutes to kill any bacteria that may cause harm.  Just put your puree in a pot and set it on your stove top at medium heat, stirring constantly, until it has been bubbling for a few minutes.  You don't have to boil it, you basically just want to pasteurize it.   In theory, when you dehydrate your fruit puree into fruit leather, the lack of moisture should inhibit any mold or bacterial growth.  However, your fruit leather will last longer if you take the extra step to kill any bacteria and mold that may be present at the time you dehydrate your fruit.  If you do cook it, you'll likely get some foam on the surface of your puree in the pot.  You can skim it off and mix it with yogurt as a nice flavoring, or you can just mix it back in once the puree cools.  I just mix it back in.

Once your puree has cooled and before spreading it, lightly grease your trays with vegetable oil (the cooking spray-can makes this really fast and convenient, but using a towel to spread a dollop of oil works too). Spread your fruit puree between 1/4 and 3/8 inch thick onto the sheets.  Dehydrate for 5-6 hours at 135 degrees F, rotating your trays once or twice during the process.

Fruit Leather Recipe #1:
1 lb strawberries
1/2 pint blueberries
2 1/2 apples
Juice from 1/2 lemon


Fruit Leather Recipe #2:
1 lb strawberries
1/2 pint blueberries
about 1/3 pineapple (after trimming)
1 apple


The Results:
Both of these made Great fruit leather!  I used Granny Smith apples because it's what I had, and I noticed that I had to use a fair amount of sweetener in recipe #1.  In recipe #2, because I used less of the tart apple and because my pineapple was So sweet, I decided not to use any sweetener at all.  Because I am using round trays, I just cut my fruit leather into 8 wedge shaped slices per tray, and because the bottoms are slightly lubricated with the oil I can stack them and stick them in a ziplock bag.  One wedge makes a nice light sweet treat with a meal, and they're healthy enough that even if you indulge in a second one it's pretty much guilt-free!

When you find a perfect product, buy more of it

Pretty much everyone has experienced the joy of a product that exceeds their expectations, does everything they hoped and more, and is used until it is worn out.  And when that happens, we experience the disappointment of not being able to find that exact product again, instead having to settle for something inferior.  I have had a pair of Crocs for about four years that I have literally worn a hold in the bottom of.

I wore these Crocs everywhere.  They were my casual shoes, my garden shoes, my stepping out to the mailbox shoes, my 'I'm in a hurry and need to throw something on quick' shoes.  In the winter I wore them with socks.  When they got dirty I gave them a wash in the sink.  As long as they were clean they even passed as casual dress shoes.  I loved these shoes.  And I was seriously bummed when they finally wore out.

With low expectations, I began my search for a replacement pair.  A couple years ago, unable to find an exact match, I had bought a similar pair that I intended to be a replacement when my old pair started to wear. The old pair was supposed to be downgraded to yard and garden duties only.  But the new ones just didn't fit quite right, and just didn't have the same versatility in style.  So despite the unlikelihood of finding the same style again, I figured it was worth looking.  After all, 4 years of use out of a relatively inexpensive shoe is a pretty decent value.

Imagine my surprise when I found the exact same style, in my size, and the color I wanted, for only $10 with free shipping!  I was ecstatic!  I ordered 2 pairs, figuring if they really truly were the exact same style, I might order a couple more.  On the one hand it seemed a little silly to plan on buying 4 pairs of the exact same shoe, but for $40 I could expect as much as 16 years of use of these shoes.  Sounds like a deal to me.

The shoes arrive, and they were indeed exactly the same as my old pair, excepting of course they had a lot more tread on the sole.

They totally look way different in size, but it's just the way the shoe moulded to my foot over time.

I was kind of shocked at how much difference there was in thickness of the sole, even though of course it makes sense that new shoes wouldn't be paper thin on the bottom. I was impressed by how decent the tops of the old ones still looked, even when compared to the new shoe (this confirms in my mind that I wasn't deluding myself that they were nicer looking than they actually were).

Left: New shoe.  Right: Old Shoe.  Ok, maybe they were a little worse for wear.

 Anyways, I was so thrilled I immediately went online to order 2 more pairs.  Alas, it seemed not meant to be.  The shoes had jumped in price to $30 a pair.  Now, $30 a pair is still not a terrible price for a pair of shoes you expect to get 4 years of wear out of, but it is just a little rich for me for shoes that are intended as "back ups" of a sort, to just sit in a box until each successive pair wears out.

I'm a little sad the price went up, but I am absolutely thrilled to have 2 more pairs of a shoe style I love and had previously had little success finding.  And it only secures in my mind that if you find something you love, buy more of it, because in the long run it will be money well spent.  And you can bet your bottom dollar I'll be watching those shoes like a hawk, waiting for them to go on sale so I can get more.

Making Yogurt - Part 1

Yogurt isn't terribly expensive, but I like the organic kind with no added preservatives, flavorings  sweeteners, thickeners, etc. Not only does this mean that the yogurt I like is more expensive than regular yogurt, it also requires a special trip to a grocery store halfway across the city because none of the stores near me carry it.  So when I read that you can make your own using just milk and a little yogurt as a starter, I got really excited.  Especially when I found  this  article explaining how to do it with a heating pad.  It's a little time consuming, but not at all difficult.  It is a bit of an involved process, so for this post I'll let you just read through the instructions in the link, and then come check out my findings/results.

First Attempt Results:
So the first time around, I followed the instructions (almost) to a T. The result was a soupy, almost completely liquid "yogurt" even after chilling it for 12 hours.  It tasted very mild and smelled like yogurt, but it was the consistency of heavy cream.  Thankfully, I read somewhere else that you can carefully re-heat your yogurt to 110 degrees and let it hang out at that temp for a few more hours to thicken it more, which can also make your yogurt more tangy, which I don't mind a bit.  I decided to give this a try.


Salvage Attempt Results:
So, I poured my yogurt back into the container I used for incubation, and swaddled it back up in the heating pad and covered it with a heavy towel, checking the thermometer every 30-45 minutes to see when it reached 110 degrees and adjusting the heat setting as needed to keep it there.

I started reheating the yogurt at about noon, and it was 3:30 pm before the temp in the center of the yogurt reached 110 degrees.  I let it sit swaddled in the heating pad and a towel at 110 degrees until around 9 pm.  Then, as advised by another website, I moved the yogurt straight to the fridge and let it set overnight before stirring.  The results were pretty disappointing; the yogurt may have thickened ever so slightly, but it's hard to tell.  So, this failed experiment learning experience will be salvaged by using the liquid "yogurt" as a milk substitute for my next couple of batches of biscuits.  I'll try again once I've used up what I've made so far.

Swiffer Wetjet Bottle Refill

My whole house has hardwood floors and ceramic tile, so my Swiffer Wetjet sees a lot more action than my vacuum.  Unfortunately, those refill bottles are Expensive!  I'd tried removing the cap in the past, but with little luck.  Turns out all I needed was some instruction on how to do it.  So, with a little help from Google, I found a way to reuse the solution bottles with a home made solution. First, removing the cap:

The Supplies:
Empty Swiffer Wetjet cleaning solution bottle(s)
A pot (optional)
Water
Something you can use to get a good grip on the cap
Nail clippers, and Exacto knife, or scissors

The Process:
You can put some water in a pot and boil it, then put the Swiffer bottle lid down into the water for a minute or two, as outlined here, or you can try just running it under hot water from your tap for a couple minutes.  I ran it under the tap and it worked just fine.

Once the plastic has gotten soft and a bit more pliable, use your glove/gripper and give it a good twist.  There will be some resistance, but then the lid should pop off.

Inside the lid there are little phalanges that lock the lid onto the bottle.  Simply use your clippers, knife, or scissors to trim these.  It does not need to be perfect.

You now have a Swiffer cleaning solution bottle that you can refill with your own floor cleaning solution.  You can use whatever cleaner you like (Pine-sol, etc).  Here is what I made:


Swiffer Wetjet Cleaning Solution Refill

The Supplies:
Empty Swiffer Wetjet cleaning solution bottle(s)
Water
White Vinegar
Murphy Oil Soap
Pitcher
Funnel (optional)

The Process:
Mix 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/4 cup Murphy Oil Soap into a gallon of warm water in your pitcher.  Stir well.  If you have one, use your funnel to help pour the solution into your Swiffer bottle(s), otherwise just pour as carefully as you can.  Twist the cap back on, load it into your Swiffer Wetjet, and you're all set to go!  Excess can be stored in an old jar or bottle until needed.

The Results:
This cleaning solution works at least as well on my floors as the Swiffer solution did (and I think it works even better), and it smells Much better!  I'll never buy those refill bottles again!

Dishwasher Detergent & Castile Soap

Update 5/24/13:
I'd hate for people to read this really long post, only to find out at the bottom that this dishwasher detergent recipe doesn't work (the castile soap is awesome though).  I also don't want to delete my less-than-successful attempts at things as if they never happened.  So, I have tried a new dishwasher detergent recipe, although unfortunately it hasn't worked out so well either.  If you're interested, you can find the recipe/process to my most recent attempt HERE.  Now, on to the original post:

Surprise!  I feel bad for not posting anything for a while, so this post is a two-for-one special!  I'll be discussing how to make liquid castile soap from a bar, and how to use your liquid castile soap in a recipe to make your own liquid dishwasher detergent!

If you have a membership to one of those discount wholesale stores, or if you don't use your dishwasher often, then dishwasher detergent isn't terribly expensive.  But if you're like us, you run your dishwasher A Lot.  We don't live in a region prone to droughts, and we pay the same price every other month for our water regardless of the amount we use (there is a ceiling for that deal, but we never hit it).  Also, because we almost exclusively eat home cooked meals now, the dishes pile up faster than they did when we ate out a lot.  So making our own dishwasher detergent just seemed like the next logical step in our cost saving efforts.  As a bonus, the recipe uses a lot of the same ingredients as the laundry detergent recipe we made a few weeks ago, so we already had a lot on hand.  Unfortunately (or so it seemed at first) the recipe I wanted to use requires liquid castile soap, which isn't exactly cheap.  I was concerned that the expense of the castile soap would undo any savings from making it at home rather than buying pre-made detergents.  Then I found this blog post about how to turn a bar of castile soap into a nice thick liquid castile soap.  It's super easy!  So first, I'll show you how I made the liquid castile soap, and then we'll move on to the dishwasher detergent recipe.

Liquid Castile Soap

The Supplies:
1 bar castile soap (I used Kirk's Original Coco Castile Soap, 4oz.)
Water
Measuring cup and/or a scale

The Process:
If you know the weight of your soap (it's usually on the label), then just multiply that times 4.  This is how much water you will need using the same weight units.  For example, my bar of soap was 4 oz., so I needed 16 oz. of water.  For those not familiar with imperial units, 1 cup of water is 8 oz., so I needed 2 cups of water.  If you don't have a measuring cup with weight units, and/or if you don't know the weight of your soap, just use your scale.

Combine your bar of soap and your water in a bag or bowl (I found a quart size plastic zip bag was perfect) and let it sit for five days.  If you use the bag, set it in a bowl just to support it and to catch any potential leaks.  If you use a bowl, ideally use one with a tightly fitting lid, or otherwise cover it with plastic wrap.  If you are impatient, like I am, you can chop your soap up into smaller pieces so that it will dissolve faster.  Just make sure you get all the little bits that break/slice off into the bag.  Feel free to stir or shake your soap and water mix once or twice a day, as you will want to check it to see if it is ready, and this will help it incorporate faster.

The Results:
After a few days, you'll have a nice thick liquid castile soap, for a fraction of the cost!  It has a nice slick, thick texture; it's thicker than most liquid castile soaps you buy at a store; you can water it down more if you like but it isn't needed. It also spreads and suds's well, traits often lacking from bar to liquid soap conversions. The price is also right! At my local grocery store, a bar of Kirk's castile soap was $2.29, versus 16 oz. of Dr. Wood's liquid castile soap for $10.99.  That's an $8.70 savings!  That kind of cost savings made all the difference in making dishwasher detergent!


Dishwasher Liquid

I really didn't want to try to make a powdered dishwasher detergent because we live in a humid region and I didn't want to deal with it clumping up.  Finding a liquid dishwasher detergent recipe was a bit more difficult than powdered, and the two main recipes I based mine off of were rather different from each together, so I decided to combine the two, along with some tips I remembered from reading about this a long time ago but unfortunately can't remember where.  If you'd like to see the two main recipes I drew inspiration from, you can view them here and here.

The Supplies:
10 cups water
6 cups white vinegar
1 ½ cups washing soda
1 cup borax
1/2 cup liquid castile soap
2 tablespoons Dawn dish-washing liquid (You can use whatever brand you                  like; I find Dawn does the best job cutting grease.  Using a scented                detergent is also a great way to add a scent if you want it.)
Container(s) to hold 1 gallon of dishwasher liquid

The Process:

In a large pot, bring the water to a boil.  Remove the water from heat and stir in washing soda, borax, liquid castile soap, and Dawn. Stir in Vinegar, then allow the mix to cool for 24 hours.  The detergent will “gel” up over next 24 hours.  Using a whisk, egg beater, or electric hand mixer, mix the detergent well, then pour into storage container(s).  I reused a dishwasher detergent bottle and a 2 liter soda bottle.

To Use:

Give the soap a good shake to re-incorporate all the ingredients, then use 1 tablespoon per load.

Cost Breakdown:

6 cups vinegar: $1.31
1 1/2 cups washing soda: $2.67
1 cup borax: $1
1/2 cup liquid castile soap: 57¢ 
Dawn: 20¢ 
Total: $5.75 for a gallon (256 loads worth) of dishwasher detergent.  Not bad at all!

The Results:
This detergent works great!  My dishes come out clean and sparkly, and with no residue like they sometimes had with store-bought dishwasher detergent.  It doesn't perform any miracles when it comes to baked-on stuff, but then neither does store bought detergent (at least from my experience).

Update 3/2/2013:
After having used this detergent for a few weeks, we have been seeing a white residue on many of our dishes.  After one load came out with a particular build up of this residue, I ran the rinse cycle again to see if it was an issue of needing to use less detergent (since dishes otherwise seemed "clean").  The extra rinse cycle didn't help, so next we ran a load with regular dishwasher detergent bought at a dollar store, but this didn't seem to help either. Tomorrow we are going to go buy a small bottle of the detergent we used to purchase and run the load again and see if the dishes come clean.  If not, I can't help but wonder if this is somehow a water quality issue, since the home made detergent seemed to work fine for a while.  I will update with our findings soon.

Update 3/8/13:
The store-bought detergent cleared up the residue, so it must be something about my detergent formula.  The  liquid castile soap is still awesome though. So, hey, at least part of the experiment turned out well!

Textbook Trade-In

I love Amazon.com.  They have so many great specialty items and I almost always find the lowest prices there when it comes to home goods.  I was also vaguely aware that they offer a trade-in service, but never thought seriously about taking advantage of it.  Well, thank goodness RM did!  He told me a few days ago that he had some old textbooks and he had looked into trading them in on Amazon.  It turns out that they pay for the shipping (you just print a shipping label and slap it on the box you're shipping the books in), so it's easy And profitable!  For the cost of a piece of paper to print the shipping label on, and the short drive to our post office, we got $130 credit for our (mostly RM's) old textbooks!  I've had a "Garden & Home" wishlist of things that I'd like to have around the house for a while, and I was able to seriously stretch that $130.  As RM put it, "it's a good way to alchemize stuff you don't need into stuff you do need."

Just to be clear, Amazon.com is Not paying me or offering any type of incentive for me to write this.  They haven't had any contact with me at all, for that matter, outside of shipping confirmations and such as is standard/expected from purchases, returns, and exchanges as a customer.  And there's no reason you have to go through Amazon; lots of used book stores will give you good credit for your used books that you can use towards new ones, ebay is pretty simple to use too, or you can always have a good old fashioned yard sale to get cash for your stuff that would otherwise sit around collecting dust.  I just wanted to share this little experience because it brought so many other possibilities to mind, and allowed us to get many items that will help us save even more money in our efforts to cut expenses and become more self-sufficient!