Three tiny ways to save on your grocery bill...and sometimes help the environment

I am not going to pretend that I am the thriftiest shopper in the world. 

Despite my declaration that I wouldn't buy organic grapes again (see July 29 post), I've broken down and bought them a couple of times (on sale). And despite my continued efforts to clip coupons, I almost never manage to use them; a few days ago I cleaned out a whole drawer of coupons that had expired in 2005.

Still, there are a few things I do here and there that help a little. The added benefit is that such measures sometimes have eco-benefits. Here are three of them:

1. I make my own yogurt. A half gallon container of milk makes 2 quarts of yogurt, with a little milk left over. (For instructions on how to make yogurt, see May 11 post).

Cost benefit: A half-gallon of organic milk costs around $3.50, while 2 quarts of organic yogurt costs $7-8. (A gallon of organic milk is currently going for around $6, which offers greater cost advantages).

Eco-benefit: I'm not using or throwing away plastic yogurt containers. I make the yogurt in glass jars I wash again and again. (Making yogurt uses a minimum amount of electricity).

2. I make my own foaming liquid hand soap. "Make" is relative—I don't make soap from scratch, but refill foaming liquid soap containers with water and dish soap. It works fine and most people can't tell the difference.  Here's the recipe:

• 1/4 cup unscented liquid dish soap (I use Seventh Generation Free and Clear)

• 3/4-1 cup of water

• 1 tsp. of glycerin (you can get glycerin in bottles at the drugstore)

• scented oil, if desired (I've been using either lavendar oil or grapefruit oil)

• In the winter, I add a squirt of aloe vera gel, for my chapped hands.

Cost benefit: This is about $.25 soap, $.20 of glycerin and maybe $.10 of oil (at the most), compared to a store-bought container that costs $5-8.

Eco-benefit: You're not throwing away all those soap containers. HOWEVER, the foaming capability of most re-used containers seems to give out after 4-6 uses, so this isn't something I've been able to keep going perpetually; I have to buy new soaps occasionally.

3. I buy some of my household goods and bulk items through a wholesale distributor, Frontier. Some friends and I put our orders in together so that we don't have to pay postage (postage is free is you spend $250 at a time). The downside is that it gets pretty time-consuming for the person who puts the order in and sorts through all the items that are shipped since they are not separated per individual order.

Cost benefit: I just purchased 16 oz. of Frontier bulk Irish breakfast tea for $12.95 vs. ~$3/oz. in the natural foods store; 48 oz. of Seventh Generation dish liquid was $5.05 compared to $7-8.00, retail.

Eco-benefit: There's some slight benefit in that I don't use gas to drive to a natural foods store for the specific things I can order through the coop.

Homemade yogurt

I used to have one of those plug-in yogurt makers, but the frustrating thing was that it only made four cups at a time—and our family consumes lots of yogurt each week. Plus, organic yogurt at my local grocery is going for up to $4/quart.

It finally dawned on me that my oven's breadproofing function could be used to make yogurt since it maintains 100 degrees, the perfect temperature for yogurt. (I've heard you can just leave on an oven light and then wrap containers in towels, but I've never tried it).

You don't need any special tools for making yogurt, just somewhere to put the milk so it can be cultured. I purchased wide-mouth quart-size Mason jars for this purpose. They can be sterilized in a dishwasher. If you're paranoid like me, I sometimes take the extra precaution of putting the Mason jars (and the large measuring cup I use to transfer the hot milk into the jars) in the microwave, half full of water, and microwave on high for three minutes; cool before using.

Tools needed:

• pot large enough to boil milk (enamel seems to work best)
  
• quick check thermometer (digital best)
  
• sterile jars or containers to pour milk into
  
• (optional) a large sterilized measuring cup to transfer the hot milk from the pot into the containers
• oven or some place to keep milk at 100 degree for four hours
  

Directions:

• Bring however much milk you want to use to almost boiling -- 180 degrees.


• Pour immediately into containers or jars and let cool to 100-110 degrees. The cooling process usually takes 60-75 minutes in my house, depending on the inside temperature. (You might want to measure the average time a few different times so you can just set a timer and know when to come back).


• About halfway through the cooling, you'll need to warm up your oven to 100 degrees. When milk cools to 100-110 degrees, add 3 tbsp. of yogurt to each quart of milk.


• Transfer jars or containers to oven. Put some kind of top on them. Keep at 100 degrees for four hours.

Tip#1

The only tricky thing I've found with making yogurt is getting the milk to exactly 180 degrees. I have a tendency to poke a thermometer into the hot milk every 3 minutes, which really isn't necessary. The laziest thing to do is to put a lid on the pot of milk and leave it on low for 10 or more minutes, then start checking every 5 minutes or so after that.

Tip#2

Try to make yogurt at least once a week, to keep the culture fresh. When your (last) container of yogurt is getting down to the last 1/2 cup, it's time to make more.

Recommended tools

• You can culture the yogurt in any kind of container, but I've found Mason jars the best containers because: they store easily in the fridge; they're cheap (I paid about $.83/each for wide-mouth jars at the local hardware store); and the jar lids provide a little bit of a seal for the yogurt after it has cooled in the fridge.
  
  
• However, I don't like the two-piece lids that come with Mason jars because they're a hassle and the outer part of the lid tends to rust after a few go-rounds in the dishwasher. Instead, I splurged and got one-piece large Quattro Stagioni lids from the Container Store. They will fit other (non-Quattro Stagioni) jars.