Home-Made Tortillas

I've been trying to cut costs and be as reasonably chemical-free and self-sustaining as possible; and I have to tell you, cutting out all those conveniences has left me with even more work than I had before. Recently I made home-made flour tortillas. Not that tortillas are infinitely expensive but every penny saved helps. This is also one more way that we can cut excess plastics from our lives. Besides, have you ever looked at just how much sodium some companies tortillas companies contain!?

Most tortilla recipes you find online call for lard or shortening and we don't tend to keep either of those around. With a a few minutes more of online searching you can turn up a recipe that doesn't call for either.

This recipe took me about 30 minutes to make from start to finish.

The results were satisfying but noticeably different from  their store bought counter-parts. My husband said he prefers these to the store bought.

I will definitely try the recipe again and in the future see if I can roll my tortillas even thinner than I did on my maiden try.

Washing In My Own Laundry Soap

There's a chance my mother was even more excited about my first use of my home-made laundry soap than I was. In fact, right before she'd called I was already getting ready to wash some clothes.

When I first drained the detergent into the little cup that comes with the container it was that same watery consistency from when I first poured it in. I put a bit more in and started the washer. Still pretty nervous about the soap I stopped the washer about half-way through and poured some in from the other end (after a good shake.) Still a bit watery but nowhere near as clear or thin as it seemed before.

After I washed it you better bet this girl gave the laundry a sniff test before I went forward. I didn't smell a thing, no chemicals, no foul odor, not even wet clothes. Into the dryer they went while I started another load of laundry. For the second load of laundry I used vinegar as my fabric softener.

The consensus: I'm happy with yet another positive change being made in our household and say this one is worth a try for all of those who are interested.

Pintesting - Chemical-free cleaning - The Toilet (Take II)

As I mentioned in my previous post, the bathroom closest to my bedroom is used with enough frequency that leaving it with borax in it all night isn't much of an option.

Today's pin-test comes from the info here via this pin.

The before

15 minutes later

After scrubbing

The consensus: I was better off letting borax sit all night in the toilet

Paper Towels Of My Un

Stan Smith: I'll give you $48 to assimilate.
Ma Ma: Shoes off in house.
Stan: What are you...? You don't have to wash paper towels. I'll buy more.
Ma Ma: Wasteful! You waste. Every penny counts.

                                                                           - American Dad, "Big Trouble in Little Langley" husbands

UnPaper towels, or as my husbands grandma  said (successfully taking some wind out of my sails) dish towels - another simple solution when it comes to needless waste.

I found out about UnPaper towels one day while wandering around on Pintrest and was pretty much immediately obsessed.

The idea of using shop towels, wash cloths, or other similar items reoccurred to me while I was reading Green Mama: the guilt free guide to helping you and your kids save the planet. Realizing the possible savings I told my husband that from then on, before he reached for a paper towel to think if this was a job that really needed a paper towel or if it could be just as easily taken care of by using a regular towel. Although he's not against using a towel to clean a mess rather than a paper towel, the walk down the hallway to the linen closet trumped ditching paper towels.

This was just the excuse I needed to begin making my own UnPaper towels. Having them in the kitchen and by the sink should be the incentive he needs to help us save pennies. Maybe having the last of the commercial paper towels under the sink will result in the same reaction of doing what's easiest.

Right now they aren't ready to go on a roll yet so I'll just have to make a space next to the sink for now. Hopefully I'll have these finished up very soon.

Lessons learned from this experience:
1) If you're not sure why your rotary cutter isn't getting anywhere - check to make sure the blade is out
2) Terry cloth isn't as easy to cut as you'd think
3) Using a cutting mat that is only 35 x 35 to cut yards and yards of fabric is kind of the suck

Reusable. Period.

Hayley: Oh, hey, Reggie.  
Reggie: What a beautiful vase.
Hayley: It's a menses pot.
Reggie: Okay, that's cool.
                                                                                        -American Dad, "Bully For Steve"

American Dad is one of those shows I watch when I just need my mind to go as blank as it will allow. This excerpt from the episode, "Bully For Steve", is something I never thought too much about until recently. I never asked, "What is a menses pot?"

A menses pot seems to be a piece of stoneware pottery used to soak soiled re-usable menstrual pads.

Reusable menstrual products don't seem to be common knowledge and the idea, for many, seems disgusting. Like many reusable products these are both wallet and earth friendly. If you're no stranger to cloth diapering adding a few more items to your wet bag, or even a separate one, may not be a big deal for you. One of the most popular reasons a lot of people tend to choose disposable products is for convenience.

One form of menstrual reusable is the cloth pad, which depending on where you get it from will sometimes come with it's own miniature, portable, wet bag. For those that don't, have no fear, with a little creative folding it can be folded into a neat little envelope.

"Now do you roll your own tampons or do you pay someone to roll em' for you?"
                                                                                                     - The Cleveland Show  

Francine Smith: Well, I'm doing my part to save this family some money. Look! I'm rolling my own tampons. I just saved 21 cents!
Stan Smith: That's my girl-- soaking up the savings!
Francine: I'll just shove this in my box.
Steve Smith: Mom, just put your box on the table.
Francine: While we're eating? Oh, okay.
Roger:(Italian accent): A-good a-morning, everybody. Eh... eh...eh...eh... eh...
Francine: Roger, only one scoop of chocolate mix. Everyone has to cut back.
Roger:(grunts) Why should I have to?! Stan spends $400 a week in gas for his SUV!  
Francine: Stan, I can't believe this! I'm shoving recycled couch stuffing up my Jack Johnson while you're burning through cash! You need to get rid of that SUV and get a hybrid right away!
                                                             - American Dad, "Don't Look A Smith Horse In The Mouth"

Another example of episodes I've seen at least three times and never thought much of what was said. Reusable tampons and inter-labial pads aren't made from recycled couch cushions, they're most commonly made using cotton. Disposable tampons pass for appropriate to wear while swimming but it's strongly recommended that you do not wear it's reusable option while swimming.

Still interested in a reusable product but looking for something that might be teetering on the border of a product like a tampon or a pad? Other options include sea sponges (hard to get much more natural than that) and menstrual cups. Sea sponges require moistening before insertion and work similar to a tampon and a menstrual cup is a soft, bell-shaped, cup that is inserted much like a diaphragm.

For more detailed information about the subject check out the incredibly informative site, ecomenses.