Re-Cre8 Profile: TerraCycle Inc.

TerraCycle Inc. is a really cool concept for a business. The co-founders Tom Szaky and Jon Beyer, begun with the idea for a profitable yet eco-friendly and socially responsible business. Their first product turned food waste into plant food sold in re-used soda bottles. Now, they have a suite of products available at major retailers, such as Target.

The company actually pays you to send them your trash (specific trash) and uses that as the raw material for their products. You could get a cork board from waste corks, a Capri-Sun pencil case, or many others - you get the idea.

So, check it out...

I'm taking the Food Waste Reduction Challenge

This is a challenge hosted by Crunchy Chicken. As I go along, I'll blog about some of the things I come up with to reduce food waste in my home.

Cre8: Wholesome Multigrain Bread

In pursuit of the perfect multigrain bread...

About a year ago, my husband and I made the decision that we would make all our own bread for the family. This was one part frugality, 1 part eating healthier, and 1 part that we like to make stuff. So, we pulled our bread maker out of storage, brushed off the dust, searched for recipes online, and got started. We make a whole wheat sandwich bread for the kids as well as a multigrain bread for ourselves, our kids like to call it the “grown up bread”.

I honestly had a lot of trouble finding a good whole wheat multigrain bread. Here was my criteria for the perfect bread:

• 100% whole wheat flour along with other whole grains for the health benefit.
• A little bit on the sweeter side.
• Dense and filling, but not a brick.
• Moist, not dry.
• Containing Omega-3 Fatty Acids for the Good Cholesterol Benefits.
  

These were my main concerns. We started with a base recipe I found at bigoven.com and then we tweaked it and tweaked it until we just recently got it JUST RIGHT for our tastes. So, here it goes:

Ingredients:

• 13 oz Warm Water
• 2 Tbsp Yeast Active Dry Yeast
• 1 Tbsp Canola Oil
• 3 Tbsp Honey
• 1 Tbsp Molasses
• 1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
• 3 Tbsp Nonfat Dried Milk
• 2 ¾ Cups Whole Wheat Flour
• ¼ Cup Gluten
• 1 tsp Salt
• 3 Tbsp Cornmeal
• 3 Tbsp Toasted Wheat Germ
• 1/3 Cup Sunflower Seeds
• 1/3 Cup Rolled Oats (Toasted)
• 1 Tbsp Flax Seeds
• 1 Tbsp Ground Flax Seeds

Directions:
We use a bread machine to make the dough, but we cook it in the oven. We’ve also made it totally in the bread machine.

• Proof the yeast in all the water according to your brand’s instructions.
• Combine ingredients in the order they are listed.
• Either use your bread machine dough setting or knead by hand accordingly.
• Let the dough rise ~ 1 hr.
• Knock the dough down, form into a loaf, and place in a 9-in. loaf pan.
• Let rise for another hour.
• Bake at 325* for ~30 min. Remove from loaf pan. If sides and bottom are still moist, return to oven for 10-15 min.
• Slice and enjoy.

To me, this bread is a meal in and of itself! Since it is so moist, I often eat a slice of it with some homemade yogurt for lunch. I also love it toasted with butter on it. The bread keeps very well for homemade bread and stays nice and moist.

Re-Cre8 Pancakes: Fruit & Cake Rolls

My family just loves pancakes. Who doesn’t? I like them too because they are so easy and fun and you can make them a little healthier just by adding in a few other ingredients (more on that another time). I always like to make a few extra pancakes because they make such great leftovers and they are very portable. Just throw them in the fridge overnight and pack them in a lunchbox the next day. But, I’m not willing to pack along syrup or honey. This is just too messy for a portable meal.

So, the other day as I was packing up an on-the-go dinner for gymnastics, I thought I could re-create these leftover pancakes into something very fun. Fruit and Cake rolls. These rolls taste a lot like Fruit Newtons, if you’ve had them (“they’re not cookies, they are fruit and cake” as the commercial goes…).

This couldn’t be easier. Here’s what you will need:

• Leftover pancakes


• Leftover pancakes


• Fruit preserves or jam of your choice


• A knife


• A cutting board


• A portable container

Here’s what you do

1. Spread the fruit preserves on one side of the pancake.



2. Gently roll up the pancake.


3. Slice it up into bite size rolls and place into the container.



4. Now enjoy!

Maybe these are not a whole meal, but a great snack or “side dish” or dessert. These can easily go into school lunches, or be taken along on picnics. And, unlike little Fruit Newton snack packs – there is no plastic involved (if you ignore my plastic transportation container, but that could just as easily be a pyrex) and nothing to go into the landfill.

ReCre8 Milk: Make Your Own Yogurt

I have tried to encourage yogurt eating in my household since my kids were on solid food. It’s a great way to get your calcium, protein, and helpful bacteria all at once. With the right additions you can get a lot of other yummy and helpful nutrients and antioxidants too. Here are some links on the health benefits of yogurt and other cultured dairy products:

• Ask Dr. Sears has an excellent informational site
• An excerpt from FDA Consumer Magazine
  
• Wikipedia always has good info
  

This year, I realized we were spending at least $10-$20 a week on yogurt. That is $500 - $1000/yr just on yogurt! I also realized how much plastic we were acquiring to support this yogurt habit. Many wonderful green and frugal blogs out there inspired me to make my own yogurt. It is super easy to make your own yogurt. It has been a big savings to our food budget and just a lot of fun.

I have researched a TON of advice out there and came up with my preferred method for making yogurt. I’ll explain it here, but I’ll also provide links to the great resources I found out there that can give lots of other ideas.

Before venturing to make your own yogurt, I highly recommend watching the Alton Brown “Good Eats” episode which gives a tutorial on making yogurt. It's called "Good Milk Gone Bad", pretty funny. It is available on YouTube unless it gets taken down. I do mine a little bit differently, but this helps you understand the process really well.

I make ½ gallon at a time, but you can easily adjust this to make any amount. The yogurt will stay good in the fridge 1-2 weeks, but it never lasts that long in my house! This is my method:

What you will need:

• 6 oz. yogurt with LIVE, ACTIVE, CULTURES (this is your “starter”.
• You can use plain or a flavored variety, but if you use flavored, your resulting yogurt will carry that flavor forward)
• ½ gallon of milk (I use 2% organic – in a GLASS bottle, but you can use skim or whole milk as well)
• ¼ c. non-fat dry milk (optional – adds protein)
• 1 2-quart thermos or thermal carafe (must be lined with stainless steel or glass – NOT plastic)
• Kitchen Thermometer (I use a candy thermometer)

Directions

I like to start in the evening, putting the milk on to heat right before we sit down for dinner. Then, by the morning, I have yogurt!

Day 1:

1. Take out 6 oz. yogurt as a starter and let it come to room temperature while you prepare the milk
2. Heat milk at medium heat in your pot to 180 degrees F, stirring regularly (this kills off any bacteria that is currently in your milk)
3. Stir in non-fat dry milk
4. Once milk reaches desired temperature, cool it down to 120 degreed F
5. While milk is cooling, sterilize and warm your thermos or carafe by adding boiling water and closing it for at least 5 minutes. Empty the water.
6. Temper your room-temperature yogurt with the 120 degrees F milk
7. Add starter yogurt to pot and stir gently until dissolved
8. Transfer milk/yogurt combination to your thermos or thermal carafe
9. Put in a warm, draft-free place and leave overnight 8-10 hours

Day 2:
At this point you have a choice. Do you like your yogurt very thick or do you like it a tiny bit runny? If you don’t mind it a little thinner, your yogurt will be done. Just transfer it into a glass container or into jelly jars and put it in the fridge. I like to have my yogurt very thick and creamy, so I always strain out the whey first. To strain your yogurt, place a mesh sieve over a glass bowl. Pour in enough yogurt to fill the sieve. Let it sit and drain. Use a flexible spatula to gently manipulate the yogurt. Don’t mess with it too much, because you don’t want to break up the curds. Once it is at the desired thickness, place it in your glass or ceramic storage vessel (I like to use 4 oz. or 8 oz. jelly jars so I have single servings ready-to-go). Once you have jarred up all your yogurt, don’t discard the whey! It is full of protein and other goodies and it is infinitely useful, as I will cover in another post. Store it in a glass jar in your fridge until you are ready to use it.

Flavoring Yogurt
Now, regarding the flavoring. You have so many options for flavoring. I used to mix up some flavors in the blender and stir them into the yogurt, but it was more work and more to clean. So, I found some super simple ways to make a variety of flavors:

• Honey-Yogurt: A favorite of my kids. Just drizzle a tablespoon of honey (or substitute Agave nectar) on the top of the yogurt and put it in the fridge. When you are ready to eat it, just stir it up.
• Raspberry Yogurt: This is my absolute favorite. Just take about 10 or so frozen raspberries and push them into the yogurt. Leave it out for a few hours until you are ready to eat (this makes it very convenient for a bag lunch – no refrigeration necessary). Once the raspberries have melted, stir the yogurt together. Add a packet of sugar or equal for sweetness. This is really a treat.
• Chocolate Yogurt: Stir in 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder into the yogurt. Put 1 tablespoon of honey or Agave Nectar on top and refrigerate for a few hours or days. When ready to eat, just stir it all up.

These are some of the favorites in my house, but really, you can stir in whatever flavors you like and sweeten it to your own taste.

Here are some sites that have some different recipes and some different approaches:

• Yogurt Maker Coffee Yogurt at Crunchy Chicken
• Fermenting Yogurt in the Oven at Hillbilly Housewife
• Cooler Fermenting Yogurt at Heavenly Homemakers
• Video Tutorial at about.com
  

In the next post, I’ll cover some other great things you can do with yogurt.

Re-Cre8 Canning Jars as a Flexible Kitchen Storage System

i HEART mason jars

The introduction of mason jars/canning jars into my kitchen has been the most wonderful transformation in storage for me. If you look in my regrigerator, any of my cabinets, or on the counter, you are sure to find all sizes of jars performing some useful function. I initially bought some jelly jars for making jam after our pick-your-own raspberries and blackberries adventure this summer. (BTW, the jam turned out great and the canning process was super easy). That is when I had an “a-ha” moment that these inexpensive glass jars will address many of my concerns in the kitchen this year.

Here are all the reasons for my new love affair with these classics:

Using less plastic - I have been trying systematically to remove my dependence on plastic - especially those kinds that cannot be recycled at all, such as zip-top bags and plastic wrap. I found that having a set of different sized canning jars lets me do just that. I can store single-size servings of leftover spaghetti - ready to go into lunch boxes or snack-size cookies and crackers. I can use them in place of plastic storage containers for just about everything I cook. They are also great in the pantries for holding beans, seeds, and flour bought in bulk.

Storing leftovers in re-heatable containers - Leftovers are important to staying frugal and eating healthy in my household. I absolutely refuse to put anything plastic in the microwave. So storing, say leftover homemade Spaghetti Sauce, in a quart size mason jar allows me to just put it directly in the microwave and voila - dinner's ready. No need to pour from a Tupperware into a another bowl and dirty some more dishes.

Reusable containers for work and school lunches - I use these in my Kindergartner's lunch and to bring my lunch to work all the time. Applesauce, yogurt, smoothies, leftover rice and beans, soup - you name it - all of these things work great in a small canning jar for a portable lunch. While glass is breakable, these are pretty durable. As long as you're not throwing your lunch box around, they're going to be alright.

Yogurt jars - These are just about the best solution for creating single-serving yogurt jars. There are 4-oz. jars and 8-oz. jars for kids-size servings as well as grown-up servings.

Standard and easy-to-replace lids -Now the lids for all my containers can be interchanged with each other. If I lose them, I don't have to throw out the whole storage container - I can just get a new lid from any grocery or hardware store.

Bulk Food Storage - I am buying more and more bulk food in the process of reducing my plastic consumption. Mason jars are so great for storing rice, beans, seeds, and flours. No need to have anything disposable involved! They also are a standard size, so it can keep your pantry nice and neat.

The list goes on and on. But, you get the idea! It is just as wonderful to reuse glass jars you may get your honey, parmesan, jams, or pickles in - especially if they have a lid that is easily reusable. Give it a try!

What to Do with Old Pants: Coloring Tote

This project involves making a bag just the size for some activity books and coloring books along with crayons out of the butt of a pair of men's chinos. These are size 36 waist pants. Anything smaller might not yield a bag that can hold coloring books, but might be fun just the same.

Here's how you do it:

1. Cut down the side seams of the pants, so you are left with just the back side.
2. Fold in half (top to bottom) and cut off any excess on the sides to make sure it will be square.
   
3. Cut across the butt allowing the height of the bag you want plus 1-inch for a seam allowance.
4. Sew across the bottom of the pockets (on the inside) so that they are at a desired length. (I like them just tall enough to hold some crayons, but so that the crayons can still pop out the top).
   
5. Fold in half side-to-side and inside-out.
6. Sew across the bottom of the bag.
7. Sew across the open side 0f the bag. The top will be very thick, so be careful there.
8. Make the strap:
   • Cut a strip from one of the legs that is ~4 in. across.
   • Fold in half long-ways and sew up the side leaving 1/4" in. seam
   • Turn the strip right side out and sew up both sides with a 1/4 in. seam to keep it nice and flat.
9. Now attach the strap to the bag by sewing at the waste-band.

Now you have a nice kid-friendly tote. Get's dirty? Just throw it in the wash with your clothes. Decorate it up however it seems interesting to you. If you try this yourself, send me some pictures or techniques.