Progress Report

You know, it occurs to me that I never followed up on how I'm doing with my resolution to buy fewer prepackaged items. I would say overall it's going well; I have not purchased cookies from the store since my last shopping trip in 2011. I have successfully made my own laundry detergent and granola cereal* since January. I even made my own liquid dishwasher detergent**. If my family needs a snack, I'm on the job. The only snacks I buy from the store now are chips, saltine crackers, and the occasional box of graham crackers (this may change shortly, as I have found this promising recipe). I now no longer purchase Hamburger Helper mixes, or Pasta-Roni mixes, or Zatarain's rice mixes. I also stopped buying packages of shredded cheese; if I need shredded cheese, I now use my once-neglected Pampered Chef rotary grater. Alas, I haven't worked my way up to making my own cheese.

Now for some honesty. How do I like making my own things? Well... It's more time consuming, it's more messy, sometimes it's hard. I don't always feel like making cookies for my husband or mixing up a batch of granola for breakfast. I definitely don't care for cleaning up the kitchen afterwards. Sometimes I try to make something, and it goes terribly, horribly wrong. However, I still love doing it myself. I feel pride and a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. I get to bond with my daughter, who just loves to help me in the kitchen. I think the food tastes better, and I know it's better for us. (Have you seen the amount of sodium in a box of Hamburger Helper?) All that, and I save money too. My grocery bill averages anywhere from $50 to $100 a month less than before, and that's without using a single coupon. Typically, my trips to the store are also quicker, since my grocery list tends to be shorter. So yeah, I'd say the benefits outweigh the burden.

Here's a list of things I still want to try to make myself:

• Baby wipes
• Mozzarella cheese
• Household cleaners
• Wheat Thins
• Chocolate syrup
• Fruit leather (previous attempts were unsuccessful)
• Pop Tarts (my daughter is begging me to do this)
• Gummy bears (also my daughter's idea)
• Various and sundry seasoning mixes
• Pretty much all condiments except mustard

Think I can do it? We'll see.

*I don't follow this recipe to the letter. I leave out the almonds and raisins, because almonds are expensive, and I don't always like raisins in my granola. I melt the brown sugar in with the honey and oil instead of mixing it with the dry ingredients because I feel it coats the oats better this way. Also, I don't bake the granola for 40 minutes. Maybe it's my oven, but anything past 20 minutes, and the granola gets dark and tastes burnt. Pro tip: if you want granola clusters, don't stir after you take the granola out of the oven. Let it cool on its own and then break it up into clusters before storing. If you like loose, flaky granola, then by all means, stir away.

** I'm all for natural cleaners, but I don't recommend making this detergent. It's not at all cost effective because it calls for liquid Castile soap, and once the detergent is cool, it clumps up and is impossible to remix. It worked great for cleaning at first, but over time, I noticed a film on my Tupperware and glasses, even when I used the recommended rinse aids. I went back to using a phosphate free, eco-friendly premade dishwasher detergent when I finished up using the batch I made.