Extended Butter

A few years ago I picked up an interesting looking book from a used book store for about a dollar. Its called "Make Your Own Convenience Foods" by Don & Joan German. I came across it again recently while reorganizing some shelves. This is the first, but will not be the last project to come from its sage, inspired and now slightly mildewed pages.
They call it "Extended Butter" - for 1/3 the cost of the real thing. I call it awesome.

The recipe calls for only one special ingredient, but it happens to be one of my favorite things in life - liquid soy lecithin. There's so much you can do with that stuff that I'm going to have to write more about it later. Lets just say for now that it is worth a trip to your local health food store to pick some up. I got a 16oz bottle (enough for the next few years of my life) for less than $20. Do make sure to buy "unbleached" or better yet, "certified organic".
Other ingredients you need:

• 1 cup of vegetable oil (any of the good kinds, i.e. unsaturated, like safflower)
• 1lb softened butter (salted or unsalted, you decide)
• 5oz water
• 1 teaspoon of liquid lecithin

(They also mention you can add the oil from a carrot oil capsule for a more groovy yellow color and additional vitamin A. Ive never heard of carrot oil capsules and I dont have any, but they sound neat.)

You will need a blender or food processor - or a whisk and a lot of determination.

Steps:

1. Soften the butter (leave it on the counter for a while).
2. Put it in the food processor.
3. Add oil, lecithin and water (in that order, slowly) through the chute of the food processor while its running on low until the mix is all smooth and creamy.
4. Put it in the fridge.
5. Enjoy!

In addition to saving you money, this recipe has about 20 less calories per ounce than regular butter and more polyunsaturated fats (the good kind) and less saturated fats (the not good kind).

DIY buttery spread - healthier, cheaper, better for the planet. Yet another victory against the evils of potassium sorbate, calcium disodium EDTA, monoglycerides and artificial flavors, plastics and packaging - just to name a few. I'm storing mine in a re-purposed Smart Balance spread container - that just makes me giggle every time I use it.

Clean and Green

A few months ago I clicked on an article from MoneyTalksNews that was posted on the Yahoo! Finance page. Happily, it inspired me to undertake the easiest, greenest, most economical and successful D.I.Y. projects in the history of the whole entire world ever.

The article, http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/109349/do-it-yourself-laundry-detergent, details everything you need, but Google searching also turned up an abundance of recipes and excellent advice on the subject of do-it-yourself detergent making.

One of my favorite reads was on The Simple Dollar. Blogger and author Trent Hamm has (among other great tips) a simply awesome how-to article on the subject: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/04/09/making-your-own-laundry-detergent-a-detailed-visual-guide/

As it turned out, all the ingredients I needed were to be found cheaply at my local grocery store (its so local, I walk there) and the recipe I chose just called for:

• 1/3 bar of Fels Naptha (which was on sale at the time, yesh!)
• 1/2 cup of Borax 
• 1/2 cup of washing soda
• 2 gallons of water

The extras I added, based on my web research, were all items I already I had on hand:

• 1/2 cup of white distilled vinegar (for preventing residue in the machine) 
• 3 tablespoons of glycerine (for softening fabrics)
• a few drops of orange essential oil (a fresh, lovely scent)

The process took about 15 minutes and consisted only of grating the Naptha and then melting it in hot water, stirring in the 2 powders and finally adding more water.
Crazy easy right?

Unfortunately, it would just be wrong to brag about the project as it was such a no-brainer and not even my own idea.
Still, Im giddy with my small victory over mass produced, over priced, polluting commercial detergents and their huge plastic, landfill fodder packaging.
As far as the money part goes, figuring in your ingredients, most recipes save you about $0.15 cents per load versus common supermarket detergents.
Tide & Co - I feel bad for you man, I really do - but the secret's out!

By the way, if you're lucky enough to come across a three gallon bucket - I got mine from the Habitat for Humanity re-sale shop (it held vegetarian chicken pellets originally, lol) get several. They're the bomb.

I wonder if one day I'll take D.I.Y. detergent a step further by using my own bar of laundry soap instead of Naptha... :-)