Year: 2018

Spider-repellent spray

I am not a fan of spiders.  I am very uncomfortable when I find them in my home…or inside any normal human-inhabited place  I try to live in harmony with the earth.  But sometimes I need the wonderful things of nature to stay outside, in nature.  I don’t want to kill the spiders, but I want to make them want to stay away from the inside of my home.  I needed a spider repellent. 

holding a bottle of homemade natural spider repellent spray

 

Disclaimer:  This post contains affiliate links.  See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

I wanted to find a way to drive spiders away without harming them.  After doing a bit of research, I found that spiders dislike peppermint.  So I decided to whip up a simple essential oil spray using peppermint oil.  If you’ve made my DIY toilet spray, you’ll find these instructions remarkably familiar.

Spider Repellent Spray Ingredients

Spider repellent spray ingredients: castile soap, peppermint essential oil, spray bottle

Instructions
  1. Drop several drops of liquid castile soap into the spray bottle.  Add 10 drops of peppermint essential oil for each ounce that the bottle holds.  I used a 2 fluid ounce bottle, so I added 20 drops essential oil.  Shake the bottle gently to mix the soap and oil.  The solution will look opaque.
  2. Fill the bottle with water.  Put the cover on the spray bottle, and shake gently.  The solution will look opaque.  

That’s it!  The oil should stay blended with the water (the solution looks opaque rather than clear like water with a layer of clear-ish oil floating on top), due to the castile soap used as an emulsifier.  

mixing the spider repellent: blending castile soap and peppermint oil
after step 1
How do I use the spider repellent spray?

I spritz this spray around windows and doors through which I do not want spiders to enter.  I know that I see spiders most frequently in my bathroom, so I periodically spray around the bathroom window.  I also see spiders in my kitchen so I spray around the exterior doors near my kitchen.  

Does it work? How do you know?

So I had to find out if this spider repellent spray really worked…and the only way I could think of to test the spray was to use it around a spider to gauge its reaction.  Yes, I feel like an evil awful person for terrorizing a spider for this experiment.  But I did it anyway.  There was a spider in my bathroom.  It was a species that usually doesn’t bother me, the kind that builds a little cocoon-like thing where the wall meets the ceiling and just chills out there all day.  The kind that usually leaves me alone.  My research shows these guys are called “yellow sac spiders.” 

Anyway, back to the experiment.  I sprayed plain water about a foot away from the spider.  It did not move.  Then I sprayed the peppermint spray in the same area, about a foot from the spider, and the spider moved away.  I sprayed again and it moved away again.  At this point I decided that the spray was effective.   I ended the experiment, then trapped the spider and set it free outside.  I thought the poor little guy had been tortured enough.  In the 6 months since my experiment, I have sprayed this around the bathroom window every few weeks and I have not found any spiders inside.  Victory!

bottle with spider repellent spray fully mixed

Cost

Cost for a 2-fluid ounce bottle of toilet spray, using lemon oil:

  • bottle: Available on Amazon for $9.46 for 12. $9.46/12=$0.788
  • castile soap: For ease of calculation, I’ll use the price from Amazon – $15.99 for 32 oz. ($15.99/32oz)x(1 oz/600 drops)x(5 drops)=$0.004
  • peppermint essential oil: Available on Amazon for $13.82 for 4 oz.  ($13.82/4oz)x(1 oz/600 drops)x(20 drops)=$0.115
  • Water: Where I live, water is $10.02 for 1000 gallons.  With 128 oz per gallon, 2 oz water costs: ($10.02/1000 gallons)x(1 gallon/128oz)x(2oz)=$0.00016 (essentially free)

Total cost: $0.91 for 2 oz bottle, including bottle.  But having a safe, natural way to keep spiders away is invaluable to me!

 

Do you let spiders live in your home?  Or do you try to keep them away?  Please share your spider repellent techniques in the comments below!

Trader Joe’s Melodious Blend Recipe – Homemade Version

I am  a big fan of healthy, easy meals.  Balancing a full time job and living my life, I don’t always have time to cook healthy meals from scratch.  On one very busy day, I dug around in my freezer and was quite happy to find Trader Joe’s Melodious Blend.  This is a vegan dish, packed with nutrition and great tastes.  It is so simple, but one of my favorite super-easy meals.  I top it with a fried egg (I am vegetarian so I like to sneak in extra protein whenever I can) and it is a very filling but not heavy meal.

Trader Joe's Melodious Blend Homemade Recipe

Disclaimer:  This post contains affiliate links.  See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

I don’t have a Trader Joe’s located conveniently to me, so I set out to make my own version.  

The Trader Joe’s Melodious Blend has the following ingredients: Cooked Green Lentils, Cooked Red Lentils, Cooked Green Garbanzo Beans, Tomatoes, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Sea Salt.

image of the Trader Joe's Melodious Blend package
Courtesy Trader Joe’s, copyright 2017

Making my own, there are plenty of opportunities to tailor to my own taste, and to what ingredients are on hand.  This recipe below is how I most recently made it, packing in even more nutrients than the Trader Joe’s version.  My recipe makes 4-6 servings.  To make more like the true Trader Joe’s Melodious Blend, increase lentils to 1.5 cups, omit the spinach, onions, and peppers, and add 1/2 pint quartered grape tomatoes or 1/2 can diced tomatoes (finely diced if available).

Trader Joe's Melodious Blend ingredients

Ingredients
  • 1 can chickpeas (1 3/4 cups cooked chickpeas), I use unsalted
  • 1 cup dry lentils (100 grams)
  • 1/2 medium onion, diced
  • 1 medium bell pepper, diced
  • 100 grams spinach (about 1.5 cups chopped frozen, or 3.5 cups fresh, packed)
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • pinch ground black pepper

Note: My recipe contains roughly similar amounts of chick peas and lentils, by volume.  The Trader Joe’s version is more like 2-3 parts lentils to 1 part chickpeas, but I wanted to use a can of precooked chick peas (actually I cook chickpeas from dried and freeze them in 2 cup mason jars to have ready-to-use chickpeas without the cans) and did not want to make a huge batch.  

cooking homemade Trader Joe's Melodious Blend

Instructions
  1. Bring 2 cups water to a boil and add the 1 cup lentils.  Use the cook time on the package instructions (different types of lentils have different cook times – typically split lentils cook in about 7 minutes and whole lentils cook in 15-20).  Do not add salt to the water when cooking lentils (I have read this can ruin the flavor or texture, and it always comes out well when I salt later).
  2. Drain and rinse the chickpeas.  
  3. Dice the onions and peppers.  Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat in a medium sauce pan (I love this ceramic nonstick pan!).  Saute the onions about 5 minutes, then add peppers.  Continue to saute until the onions are translucent.  If using fresh spinach, chop and saute until wilted.  Remove from heat.
  4. Once the lentils are done cooking (they look “fluffy” around the edges and are tender), reduce heat to low.  Add the chickpeas, onions and peppers, spinach (sauteed or frozen), an additional tablespoon olive oil, salt, and pepper*.  Stir together and, once the chickpeas are warmed, remove from heat.
  5. If desired, fry 1 egg per serving (the nonstick pans are the only way I can manage to cook eggs). 
  6. Divide into 4-6 individual serving bowls.  If including egg, top each bowl with a fried egg.
  7. Enjoy your healthy, delicious, and frugal home-cooked meal!

*If including tomatoes, add in step 4.  

homemade Trader Joe's Melodious Blend - finished cooking

Lentils are high in iron, and vitamin C has been shown to increase the absorption of iron, so I like adding vitamin C-rich foods to iron rich foods, like lentils.  Bell peppers and tomatoes are both high in vitamin C, so I always try to add at least one of them to my lentil meals.

homemade Trader Joe's Melodious Blend - finished cooking

Homemade Recipe - Trader Joe's Melodious Blend

My adaptation of Trader Joe's Melodious Blend - made from scratch.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Servings 5

Ingredients
  

  • 1 can chickpeas 1 3/4 cups cooked chickpeas, I use unsalted
  • 1 cup dry lentils
  • 1/2 medium onion diced
  • 1 medium bell pepper diced
  • 100 grams spinach about 1.5 cups chopped frozen, or 3.5 cups fresh, packed
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • pinch ground black pepper

Instructions
 

  • 1. Bring 2 cups water to a boil and add the 1 cup lentils.  Use the cook time on the package instructions (different types of lentils have different cook times - typically split lentils cook in about 7 minutes and whole lentils cook in 15-20).  Do not add salt to the water when cooking lentils (I have read this can ruin the flavor or texture, and it always comes out well when I salt later).
  • 2. Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
  • 3. Dice the onions and peppers.  Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat in a medium sauce pan.  Saute the onions about 5 minutes, then add peppers.  Continue to saute until the onions are translucent.  If using fresh spinach, chop and saute until wilted.  Remove from heat.
  • 4. Once the lentils are done cooking (they look "fluffy" around the edges and are tender), reduce heat to low.  Add the chickpeas, onions and peppers, spinach (sauteed or frozen), an additional tablespoon olive oil, salt, and pepper*.  Stir together and, once the chickpeas are warmed, remove from heat.
  • 5. If desired, fry 1 egg per serving.
  • 6. Divide into 4-6 individual serving bowls.  If including egg, top each bowl with a fried egg.
  • 7. Enjoy your healthy, delicious, and frugal home-cooked meal!

Notes

Note: My recipe contains roughly similar amounts of chick peas and lentils, by volume.  The Trader Joe's version is more like 2-3 parts lentils to 1 part chickpeas, but I wanted to use a can of precooked chick peas (actually I cook chickpeas from dried and freeze them in 2 cup mason jars to have ready-to-use chickpeas without the cans) and did not want to make a huge batch.
*If including tomatoes, add in step 4.
Adapted from Trader Joe's Melodious Blend
If I am really hungry and want to make this a more hearty meal, I like to enjoy it with a slice of my homemade soaked bread or sourdough bread.  I particularly like how the sourdough complements the mild flavors of this recipe. 

Nutrition

I used MyFitnessPal to calculate the nutrition for this recipe.

Assuming 5 servings, nutrition per serving without egg:

225 calories, 7 grams fat (1g saturated), 490 mg sodium (20%DV), 31 grams carbs, 8g fiber, 6 g sugar, 11 g protein, Vitamin A 43%, Vitamin C 93%, Calcium 6%, Iron 19%

Assuming 5 servings, nutrition per serving with egg:

300 calories, 12 grams fat (2g saturated), 560 mg sodium (23%DV), 32 grams carbs, 8g fiber, 6 g sugar, 17 g protein, Vitamin A 48%, Vitamin C 93%, Calcium 9%, Iron 24%

homemade Trader Joe's Melodious Blend - serving

Cost
  • 1 can chickpeas (1.75 cups), prepared from dried beans. $1.50 for 1 lb dry, which yields 6 cups, or $1.50 x (1.75 cups/6 cups)=$0.438
  • 1 cup dry lentils (200 grams) (organic). $1.99/lb (1 lb = 454 grams).  $1.99 x (200g/454g) = $0.877
  • 1/2 medium onion (organic). $3.49 for 3lbs (6 medium onions). $3.49x(1/2 onion/6 onions)=$0.291
  • 1 medium bell pepper (~130 grams) (organic). $3.99 for 1 lb (454g) organic frozen bell peppers. $3.99 x (130 g/454 g)=$1.143
  • 100 grams spinach (organic). $6.99 for 3.5 lb (1588 grams).  $6.99 x (100g/1588g)=$0.440
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil (30mL). $9.99 for 1.5 Liters. $9.99 x (30mL/1500mL)=$0.20
  • 1 teaspoon salt. $1.48 for a 26 oz (737g) carton, containing 491-1/4 tsp servings. $1.48 x (4 servings/491 servings)=$0.012
  • pinch black pepper – assume 1/16 teaspoon. $4.19 for 1.7 oz (53.9g) organic ground black pepper. 2.1 grams/tsp. $4.19 x (2.1g/53.9g) x (1/16 teaspoon) = $0.010
  • 5 eggs. Currently $1.48 per dozen. $1.48 x (5 eggs/12 eggs)=$0.617

Total without egg: $3.411.  Per serving (assuming 5 servings): $0.68

Total with egg: $4.028.  Per serving (assuming 5 servings): $0.81

This meal packs in vitamins, minerals, protein, and fiber, and is less than $1 per serving!  This is by far one of my favorite frugal + nutritious meals. 

homemade Trader Joe's Melodious Blend - serving with egg

Have you made your own homemade version of a store bought meal mix?  Tell us about it in the comments below!