Are you ready to get started making your own food, beauty products, and cleaning supplies?
To ensure you have what you need on hand, I'm going to recommend that you start saving containers now. My recipes aren't going to save you a lot of money unless you have the necessary containers in which to safely store your concoctions.
From now on, I'd like you to save the bottles and jars from spices and spray cleaners, and the jars from lotions. I never throw away margarine bowls, spice bottles, or glass jars of any type. Egg cartons are handy, too, as are medium-sized boxes and paper bags.
Do be aware that any type of container holding strong or pungent smells, such as pickles, will retain that odor. Not necessarily the glass - but the lid, which is lined with a paper/wax product, will be difficult to eradicate strong scents. I've learned that the hard way. I once used an old pickle jar to store homemade applesauce and the lid smelled like vinegar and dill - not exactly what you want to smell when you spoon out a serving of sweet applesauce! And once I broke a very large bottle of Worcestershire sauce. In order to save what I could (and without having an appropriate container at the ready), I poured it into a plastic "adult sippy cup". It took two years of washing and filling with plain white vinegar before I could take the lid off and not smell Worcestershire sauce!
I also recommend that you buy the large, economy sizes of such staples as flour, sugar, baking soda, vinegar, salt, etc. Later on I'll provide lists of necessary ingredients you should always keep on hand but for now know that when you see a large size of any type of staple ingredient at a great price, buy it!
Hope you're getting excited to begin this journey of a year's worth of recipes! I know I am - and I can't wait to share my secrets, tips, and advice for living a sweet, natural life.
I've had good luck allowing a bleach solution to sit in the lid of a recycled container (generally overnight) to avoid it retaining the smell of what it once held. Of course it is washed well to avoid any trance of chemical residue before using.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your input, Mama Kelly. Personally I don't favor bleach because it's so toxic. Good point that you would need to wash the jar well afterward.
ReplyDelete