Category: Organization/Cleaning

Kitchen gadgets that are good for you and good for the environment

I love finding products that are better for me, and better for the environment.  I like cooking, I like making my own food.  And I want to make sure when I am cooking, storing, and heating my food, I am not adding chemicals to my food.  I also try to reduce or eliminate waste – especially plastic (which, once created, never biodegrades).  I’ve also found that replacing single use, disposable, and limited use products with reusable products, I save money in the long run.  Here are 6 of my favorite products, what they replace, an why I love them!

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

Food Storage

1. Silicone Lids:  I love these!  They’re a fantastic reusable replacement for plastic wrap.  I usually soak my grains overnight before cooking to reduce phytic acid content, and it’s so easy to just toss one of the flat lids over a bowl and I’m done!  No struggling to get the plastic wrap to stick, nothing to throw away when I am done.  It’s great for quickly packing up leftovers, too.  I just stretch the covers over a bowl or place a flat cover on top.  These form an airtight seal, keeping my food fresh longer.

Kitchen gadgets - good for you and good for the environment
silicone lids. the seal is so good you can pick up the bowl by the lid!

2. Mason Jars: Anyone who has seen my fridge, or my lunches at work, knows I am obsessed with mason jars.  They are so versatile, great for food storage, and very inexpensive compared to products that serve a similar purpose.  While is seems the consensus is that microwaving food in plastic is not in fact dangerous, I still prefer glass.  Glass is non-reactive so I have complete confidence that it cannot in any way contaminate my food.  Plus, it doesn’t stain like plastic.  And it is VERY difficult to break mason jars.  I have dropped several from the top shelf of my freezer.  The lids may get dinged (not a problem – they’re recyclable and very inexpensive to replace) and I may think I have broken a toe, but the glass has never been damaged.  The only way I have managed to break a mason jar was by pouring boiling water into a jar to sterilize it (we all know from reading warnings on pyrex bakeware that thermal shock can break glass; this is why you should sterilize jars by placing in room temperature or cold water in a pot, placing on the stove and heating, so the glass heats evenly).  The pint (2 cup) mason jars are a great size for packing my homemade meals for lunch, chopped raw veggies for snacking, or cut fruit.  The half pint (1 cup) jars are a great size for yogurt and other snacks.   At roughly $12/dozen (I can often get them cheaper) – $1 each or less, I have yet to find a less expensive non-plastic option.  And these last so much longer than plastic food containers!

Kitchen gadgets - good for you and good for the environment
mason jars
Cooking

3. Ceramic nonstick skillets: The most environmentally friendly cookware I have found are solid cast iron.  The heavy pans heat evenly.  Cast iron pans can last for generations if cared for properly, and when (if) they reach the end of their lives, iron is recyclable.  However, I have never been able to cook food to my satisfaction on cast iron.  Despite purchasing pre-seasoned pans, then seasoning some more just to make sure, EVERYTHING I cooked stuck, so I felt like I wasted a lot of food, then I had to clean off all the stuck food.  I was determined to find a more Diana-friendly pan.  I have a couple stainless steel pans, but need to use a lot of oil to prevent sticking.  This works well for some meals, but I don’t always want a lot of oil.  After much research, I found aluminum pans with ceramic nonstick coating.  The ceramic won’t peel or scratch off like teflon can, so my food is safer.  Sadly, the pans I found all have plastic handles.  I have the 12.5″, 11.5″, and 9.25″ Farberware ceramic nonstick skillets, and I love them.  Just make sure you don’t expose them to heat higher than medium, and they will stay nonstick.  I can easily cook eggs, brown onions or my “veggie chicken,” and stir fry.  Bonus: the pan cleans up SUPER easily!  

My friend over at PharmaFarm has an excellent, informative post about cast iron.  I recommend you check that out to help you determine which type of skillet would be best for you.

Kitchen gadgets - good for you and good for the environment
ceramic nonstick skillets

4. Bamboo cutting boards:  Wood or bamboo cutting boards are the best for so many reasons!  It’s the best material for your knives – its softer than your knife blade so the wood/bamboo always gets cut by the knife, never the cutting board damaging your knife (avoid glass and ceramic cutting boards – they might be nice for presentation but they can dull your knife blade); wood/bamboo is naturally antibacterial so it’s the safest for preventing illness; it’s made from a renewable resource and is completely biodegradable; and extra props for bamboo: its the fastest growing wood (ok, technically it is grass), doesn’t need a lot of space (look at a bamboo forest – the bamboo grow happily and healthily a lot closer to each other than trees can) making it an extra great resource to use to make our products.  If you do opt to use bamboo or wood cutting boards, you will need to care for them by seasoning with oil.  I recommend mineral oil – it will not go rancid, and it’s not a common allergen.  I oil my cutting boards with mineral oil until they are well seasoned, then I do a final coat with a beeswax-mineral oil paste.  This seals in the mineral oil seasoning and cuts down on the frequency that reapplication of oil is necessary.  Mineral oil is sold as a laxative – you should be able to find it at a local drugstore or Walmart.  

Kitchen gadgets - good for you and good for the environment
bamboo cutting boards
Baking

5. Silicone making mat: Years ago I discovered that parchment paper makes clean up from baking so much faster.  No more scrubbing tiny bits of burned on cookie fragments from my pans.  The cookies peel right off, the cookie sheet stays clean.  But the part I never liked was tossing the parchment paper in the trash.  I looked into composting parchment paper but the consensus is that there are components added to the parchment paper that affect its compostability.  This article does a good job of summarizing what I found.  I searched for something else that meets the same need, without the waste.  I found silicone baking mats and loved them.   Cookies come off easily, and the remaining cookie dough comes off the mat even easier, with just water and a gentle scrub with a sponge or brush.  I use this mat for my 14″ x 16″ cookie sheets (I just cut it down to size),  and these for my rimmed cookie sheets.  I also use these silicone mats instead of aluminum foil in a rimmed cookie sheet for roasting veggies.  After roasting, I soak the mat in a little water then scrub off any burned bits.  I also use these baking mats to line my dehydrator wire racks.  Not only do these silicone baking mats help me cut down waste produced from my cooking and baking, but they also save money since they are reusable for a very long time (my oldest baking mat is over 10 years old, used at least monthly and typically more often, and it still works as good as the day I bought it.  

Kitchen gadgets - good for you and good for the environment
silicone baking sheet liners

6. Silicone cupcake pan/Silicone cupcake liners: Similar to the silicone baking mat, silicone baking pans and liners eliminate the need to use disposable cupcake liners while still looking nice and presentable (when I am just cooking for myself, I often just grease/grease and flour directly in a metal baking pan).  I also use my silicone cupcake pan for a lot more than cupcakes and muffins.  I like to make mini tortilla wrap or pita bread pizzas in the cupcake pan, and I’ve use it to make mini baked omelettes.

Kitchen gadgets - good for you and good for the environment
silicone cupcake pan and liners

Do you have any favorite earth friendly/reusable kitchen products?  

Longer lasting homemade bar soap

Longer Lasting Bar Soap

I was thrilled with my first batch of homemade bar soap, but found that it was used up more quickly than I expected (or wanted).  I set out to make a bar soap that lasted longer than my first batch, but still had the nice lather and silky feel.  Longer lasting soap means that the soap bar is harder.  I found All About Soap-Making Oils to have some very good high level information about selecting oils for making soap.  The Secret to the Absolutely Best Soap Recipe offered suggestions about increasing soap bar hardness, including increasing the ratio of hard to soft oils, and adding sodium lactate.  How to Make Handcrafted Soap Harder discussed ratio of hard to soft soaps, using castor oil, decreasing superfat %, adding sodium lactate or salt, all of which can increase the soap bar’s hardness.  I haven’t tried sodium lactate or salt in my recipes yet, but plan to in my next batch.  I’ll report on that after my experiments!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive compensation if you make a purchase through these links.  There is no cost to you. See my Disclosure Policy for more information. 

After doing my research and raiding my closet to see what oils and butters I already had on hand, I went over to soapcalc.net and formulated this bar soap recipe.  It is fragrance free, 3% superfat, water as a percent of oils 38%, and I decided to use black tea in place of water.  I made this recipe cold process.

longer lasting homemade bar soap

Why use tea instead of water in soap making?  Maybe some of the antioxidants in the tea survive the soap making process and my skin can benefit from this.  Even if not, I experimented with something new, and ended up with interesting colored soap!  

This recipe is for a 2 kilogram batch of homemade bar soap.  You can adjust the amount of soap you make by keeping the same ratios I have listed, and using soapcalc.net to calculate the amount of water and lye needed.

black tea bar soap recipe

Black Tea Soap

Fragrance-free soap made with olive oil, coconut oil, castor oil, cocoa butter, and black tea
Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients
  

Ingredients

  • 760.00 grams distilled water 26.81 oz or liquid of choice (I brewed tea with 4 black tea bags)
  • 290.20 grams Sodium Hydroxide lye (10.24 oz)
  • 100 grams Castor Oil 3.53 oz (5% of oil weight)
  • 100 grams Cocoa Butter 3.53 oz (5% of oil weight)
  • 600 grams Coconut Oil 76 deg (21.16 oz) (30% of oil weight)
  • 1200 grams Olive Oil 42.33 oz (60% of oil weight)

Supplies

  • immersion blender
  • large glass ceramic, or steel container for mixing soap
  • glass ceramic, or steel bowls or measuring cups for measuring ingredients
  • microwave crock pot, or stove for melting oils
  • kitchen scale
  • silicone spatula or wooden spoon
  • soap mold can be as simple as a box or pringles tube lined with wax paper
  • gloves safety glasses

Instructions
 

  • 1. If using tea in place of water, the day before you plan to make soap, brew the tea. Measure slightly more water than needed in your recipe, and heat to a boil. Remove the water from heat and place tea bags in the water. I used 4 regular size tea bags, and let steep for about 1 hour. I wanted dark tea for the color. Remove tea bags, and leave the tea at room temperature, or place in the fridge to chill. From my 2 batches, chilled tea resulted in darker finished product.
  • 2. Prepare your soap molds.
  • 3. Measure the tea by weight, pouring into a glass, ceramic, or steel vessel. If you do not have enough tea, add distilled water until you reach the desired weight of liquid. Ensure that your tea is room temperature or cooler (see note below).
  • 4. Place the container with the tea in a well ventilated area where it will not be disturbed. I use my sink with the nearby window open. Wearing safety glasses and gloves, carefully measure the lye. Slowly pour the lye into the tea and stir gently with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula to dissolve.
  • 5. Measure the oils into a large glass, ceramic, or steel container. Heat slowly until the solid oils are fully liquefied. I use the ceramic pot from my crock pot, and heat either in the crock pot on "warm" or "low", or I microwave the pot with oils.
  • 6. Carefully pour the lye solution into the oil solution. Using an immersion blender, blend the solution until achieving trace, typically 3-5 minutes. Trace means that all of the lye is fully mixed in with the oils, and is achieved when the solution has a cake batter to pudding-like consistency; when the blender is lifted out of the soap and drizzles on the surface, traces of the drizzles stay on the surface.
  • 7. Pour the soap into molds and place somewhere that the molds can be left undisturbed for 24 hours. I have used a closet and my microwave. At this point the lye is still present in the soap, so use care not to touch it.
  • 8. After 24 hours, you may test the soap to determine if it has fully saponified. I use the "tongue test" - touch the tip of your tongue to the soap. If you feel a zap - like touching your tongue to a 9 volt battery - the saponification process is not yet complete, and you should leave the soap for several more hours.
  • 9. Remove the soap from molds and cut to your desired size. The soap is still somewhat pliable at this point, so be careful not to make undesired marks with your tools or fingers. You can also use this time to smooth edges on your soap.
  • 10. Place the soap bars to dry. I line a large shallow box with waxed paper and stand the bars up on end with space between each bar. Allow the soap to dry at least 6-8 weeks before using. Longer dry times should result in harder soap bars that last longer.

Notes

If the tea is chilled in the refrigerator before combining with the lye, it will result in a darker bar of soap. If you use room temperature tea, the bar will be a tan color, but lighter than cold tea soap. Please NEVER use hot tea as the reaction of water (or tea, in this case) and lye is exothermic (produces heat), and starting with hot liquid could result in boiling lye-water, increasing the danger of working with lye.
Ingredients

760.00 grams distilled water (26.81 oz) or liquid of choice (I brewed tea with 4 black tea bags)
290.20 grams Sodium Hydroxide (lye) (10.24 oz)
100 grams Castor Oil (3.53 oz) (5% of oil weight)
100 grams Cocoa Butter (3.53 oz ) (5% of oil weight)
600 grams Coconut Oil, 76 deg (21.16 oz) (30% of oil weight)
1200 grams Olive Oil (42.33 oz) (60% of oil weight)

Supplies

immersion blender
large glass, ceramic, or steel container for mixing soap
glass, ceramic, or steel bowls or measuring cups for measuring ingredients
microwave, crock pot, or stove for melting oils
kitchen scale
silicone spatula or wooden spoon
soap mold (can be as simple as a box or pringles tube lined with wax paper)
gloves, safety glasses

Instructions
  1. If using tea in place of water, the day before you plan to make soap, brew the tea. Measure slightly more water than needed in your recipe, and heat to a boil.  Remove the water from heat and place tea bags in the water.  I used 4 regular size tea bags, and let steep for about 1 hour.  I wanted dark tea for the color.  Remove tea bags, and leave the tea at room temperature, or place in the fridge to chill.   From my 2 batches, chilled tea resulted in darker finished product.

    Room temperature tea made the bars on the left, chilled tea made the bars on the right
    Room temperature tea made the bars on the left, chilled tea made the bars on the right
  2. Prepare your soap molds. 
  3. Measure the tea by weight, pouring into a glass, ceramic, or steel vessel.  [Measurement by weight is critical for soap making, to ensure you do not end up with unsaponified lye in your soap.  If you don’t have a digital kitchen scale, I personally love and recommend this American Weigh Scales digital kitchen scale.]  If you do not have enough tea, add distilled water until you reach the desired weight of liquid.  Ensure that your tea is room temperature or cooler (see note below). 
  4. Place the container with the tea in a well ventilated area where it will not be disturbed.  I use my sink with the nearby window open. Wearing safety glasses and gloves, carefully measure the lye.  Slowly pour the lye into the tea and stir gently with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula to dissolve.  
  5. Measure the oils into a large glass, ceramic, or steel container.  Heat slowly until the solid oils are fully liquified.  I use the ceramic pot from my crock pot, and heat either in the crock pot on “warm” or “low”, or I microwave the pot with oils.  
  6. Carefully pour the lye solution into the oil solution.  Using an immersion blender, blend the solution until achieving trace, typically 3-5 minutes.  Trace means that all of the lye is fully mixed in with the oils, and is achieved when the solution has a cake batter to pudding-like consistency; when the blender is lifted out of the soap and drizzles on the surface, traces of the drizzles stay on the surface. I didn’t get any pictures of this, but if you’re unsure if you’re there, read this SoapQueen post.  
  7. Pour the soap into molds and place somewhere that the molds can be left undisturbed for 24 hours.  I have used a closet and my microwave.  At this point the lye is still present in the soap, so use care not to touch it.  
  8. After 24 hours, you may test the soap to determine if it has fully saponified.  Several methods are described here; I use the “tongue test” – touch the tip of your tongue to the soap.  If you feel a zap – like touching your tongue to a 9 volt battery – the saponification process is not yet complete, and you should leave the soap for several more hours.
  9. Remove the soap from molds and cut to your desired size.  The soap is still somewhat pliable at this point, so be careful not to make undesired marks with your tools or fingers.  You can also use this time to smooth edges on your soap.  
  10. Place the soap bars to dry.  I line a large shallow box with waxed paper and stand the bars up on end with space between each bar.  Allow the soap to dry at least 6-8 weeks before using.  Longer dry times should result in harder soap bars that last longer.  

    black tea soap drying
    black tea soap drying

Note:  If the tea is chilled in the refrigerator before combining with the lye, it will result in a darker bar of soap.  If you use room temperature tea, the bar will be a tan color, but lighter than cold tea soap.  Please NEVER use hot tea as the reaction of water (or tea, in this case) and lye is exothermic (produces heat), and starting with hot liquid could result in boiling lye-water, increasing the danger of working with lye.  

Cost

Castor Oil- $9.49 for 16 fl oz (470.6g) on Amazon. (100g/470.6g)x$9.49=$2.02
Cocoa Butter- $15 for 1 lb (453.59 g) on Amazon. (100g/453.59g)x$15=$3.31
Coconut Oil – $14.99 for 54 oz (1458.99 g) at BJ’s Wholesale Club. (600g/1458.99g)x$14.99=$6.16 (or $16.99 on Amazon)
Olive Oil – $13.99 for 1.82 liters (1688.96 g) at BJ’s Wholesale Club. (1200g/1688.96g)x$13.99=$9.94 (or Amazon)

Distilled water – $0.98 for 1 gallon (3,785.41 grams) at Walmart.  (760g/3785.41g)x$0.98=$0.20

Tea Bags – $3.99 for 100 black tea bags at Ocean State Job Lot. (4 tea bags/100 tea bags)x$3.99=$0.16 (Amazon)

Total cost is $21.79 for 2 kilograms or 70.5 ounces.  This equates to $0.309 per ounce, or $1.24 for a 4 ounce bar of soap.  For comparison, I can get Kirk’s coco castile soap for $3.28 for 3-4oz bars at Walmart, which is $1.09 for a 4 oz bar.  A 6 pack of Dove 4 ounce bars is $6.88, or $1.15 per 4 oz bar.  This soap costs marginally more, but feels nicer on my skin, and has only high quality, chemical-free ingredients.  Well worth the price, to me!

Have you ever made soap?  Do you have any favorite recipes?