Make it or Buy It? Jewelry Cleaner

With all the hand washing going on around here lately, my rings were getting all soap scummy and dull. Remembering the last time I used storebought jewelry cleaner, I spent $6 and had an allergic reaction that caused all the skin around my rings to peel off, I decided to look for a DIY option that would get my rings sparkling again. I had been using toothpaste and an old toothbrush, but I wasn't sure all the chemicals in the toothpaste were good for the metal in the rings.

While reading my recent issue of Real Simple magazine the other day, I found an excitingly simple recipe for cleaning jewelry, and decided to test it out. So, here it is!

-2 parts dish soap (I used 2 TBS Dawn)
-10 parts warm water (10 TBS)

Let soak for 3 hours. Remove jewelry and gently scrub with an old toothbrush. Rinse with hot water. 

So, how did they turn out? Unfortunately, I forgot to take a "before" picture, but there was definitely a difference. The rings were shinier, sparklier, and the soap scum from all the preventative hand washing was washed away.

I don't even know how much 2 TBS of dish soap costs...maybe a penny or two? Either way, compared to the expensive jewelry cleaner in the stores, this method is definitely a winner.

Bottom Line: Make It!

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Make It or Buy It: Enchilada Sauce

I could eat Mexican food every single day. And, growing up in Southern California, I always had plenty of opportunities to fulfill that craving. One of my simple pleasures is a good, hearty enchilada. I've had some success making them from home, but canned sauces have always seemed to ruin my efforts, as they are either too bland, too spicy, too smoky, or just plain gross. The only brand I have found to taste somewhat like what I can find at the local taco shop is $6 for 20 ounces...not exactly a bargain!

So, I set out on a mission to find the best homemade enchilada sauce using only ingredients that I usually have in the pantry anyway. A family member who once owned a Mexican Food restaurant used chocolate syrup in his sauces, so I knew to not be afraid of using that as an ingredient. Finally, after testing several batches, I think I've created a delicious, easy, inexpensive recipe that beats the flavor of store bought sauce any day of the week.

"Holy Mole" Enchilada Sauce
-1.5 TBS chili powder (This amount creates a mild to mild-medium sauce. Add more chili powder if you prefer more heat...just add more water to dry mixture to make a paste.)
-3 TBS flour
-1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
-1 teaspoon garlic powder
-1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
-1 teaspoon chocolate syrup
-2 C water plus 3 TBS water
-15 oz can tomato sauce
-Salt to taste

Combine all dry ingredients, and add 3 TBS water. Stir to combine. Pour mixture into medium pan, and add 2 C water. Add chocolate syrup. Heat until mixture thickens, stir in tomato sauce. Continue to cook until sauce is thoroughly combined and warmed through. Add salt if needed. Pour over enchiladas. Makes about 28 oz of sauce. (Enough for 2 pans of enchiladas).

Make It or Buy It....

Canned Enchilada Sauce: $0.20 per ounce
Homemade Enchilada Sauce: $0.04 per ounce

Bottom Line: MAKE IT!

Note: To make this recipe gluten free and/or dairy free, use cornstarch instead of flour, and omit chocolate syrup.

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Make It Or Buy It....Almond Butter

I'm a fan of most nut butters, and when we purchased our new blender recently, I was thrilled to see recipes for different nut butters, including Almond Butter. Almond Butter is pretty expensive at the stores, so I wanted to see how much cheaper it would be to make it from scratch. Especially since the only ingredients are Almonds, Salt, and Oil (I used peanut, but you can use whatever you want.) I found the cheapest almonds at Costco for only $3.23/lb.

3 C almonds (1.06 lb) at 3.23/lb...$3.42
3-4 TBS oil...$0.03
1 tsp salt...negligible
Total Price for 16 oz Almond Butter...$3.45...$0.21/oz

At the grocery store, I did not see any almond butters for less than $0.45/oz. However, Costco has Almond Butter for $0.22/oz. 
Bottom Line: Make It unless you want to purchase it from Costco, in which case the extra penny per ounce is not worth the extra effort. Also, make it if you like to customize your almond butter with additions (honey, for example), or just prefer the taste of fresh.

Simple Almond Butter

• 3 C roasted almonds 
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3-4 TBS oil (peanut, canola, grapeseed, etc.) 
• Roast raw almonds by placing in a 350 degree oven for 8 minutes, stirring halfway through.
• Place roasted almonds and salt in food processor or blender, and blend until it resembles a flour/crumb mixture. 
• Scrape almond mixture to center of food processor or blender and add oil. Process several minutes until you like the texture.
• I like my almond butter a little thinner, but that's just because I find it richer and heartier than peanut butter, so I find it easier to eat when it's thinner. But, you can adjust the thickness by adjusting the amount of oil you use. 

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Make it Or Buy It? Granola...

I love granola. I mean, I really, really love it. With milk, over yogurt, even just grabbing a handful for snack. However, storebought granola can be expensive. Most storebought granola is somewhere between $0.25-$0.50 per ounce. So, what is the cost difference between homemade and storebought granola.

I have found most baking supplies to be found most inexpensively at Costco. For the nuts, raisins, cinnamon and vanilla, I used Costco prices. For the honey, I used the industry average price, and for everything else, I just used the price I last paid for the item.  

Quick Oats (I can find quick oats for $0.59/lb in the bulk bins at our health food store) $0.30
Sweetened Coconut...$0.23
Ground Flax Seed (optional, not counted in cost analysis)
Chopped Almonds...$0.70 
Chopped Walnuts...$1.17
Raisins...$0.36
Oil...$0.08
Honey...$1.56 (wow, honey is getting expensive!)
Vanilla Extract...$0.03
Cinnamon...$0.02

Total Price for 1 batch of Granola (about 5 C)
$4.45 or $0.18/oz

Bottom Line:
MAKE IT
Not only will you save up to half the cost of storebought granola, you can also customize the ingredients and have a much healthier final product with less sugar and preservatives.

Nutty Oatmeal Raisin Granola   

This granola tastes like an oatmeal raisin cookie with nuts. I like to serve it over yogurt for a hearty, protein packed breakfast. It's not overly sweet, but the cinnamon and honey add a nice warmth and hint of sweetness.

• 2.5 C Quick Oats
• 1/2 C Sweetened Coconut
• 1/3 C ground Flax Seed (optional)
• 1/2 C chopped Walnuts
• 1/2 C sliced Almonds
• 3/4 C Raisins
• 3 TBS Oil (canola, vegetable, grapeseed, or whatever oil you have on hand)
• 1/2 C Honey
• Pinch Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon (if you really like cinnamon, you can use a whole teaspoon)
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a large baking sheet with raised sides by covering with parchment paper. (The honey is sticky and you don't want a mess!)
• In a large bowl, combine quick oats and coconut. Spread in an even layer on the baking sheet and toast for 6 minutes, stirring halfway through.
• While oats and coconut are toasting, mix flax (if using), walnuts, almonds, and raisins in the same large bowl. Set aside.
• In a small bowl, whisk together oil, honey, salt, vanilla, and cinnamon until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
• When oats and coconut are done toasting, add them to the bowl with the nuts. 
• Pour honey mixture over oat/nut mixture and thoroughly combine all ingredients. Make sure there are not a lot of "loose" oats. 
• Bake in the oven an additional 8-10 minutes. 
• Set aside to cool, and break into pieces. 
• Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. (If it lasts that long!)
• You can customize this recipe with whatever nuts and dried fruit you want.  

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Make it Or Buy It? Detangler

I have seen recipes all over the internet for homemade hair detangler. Since this is something my daughter uses on a daily basis, I decided to try my luck at it. It's actually very simple. (So simple, in fact, that I feel a little dumb for buying it!)

Yep, that's the cast of characters. Just water and conditioner and a spray bottle. I filled the spray bottle (3 oz) about 3/4 of the way full and added some conditioner. No more than a few squirts...somewhere between 1/4-1/2 tsp. Then I shook the spray bottle until the conditioner was dissolved.

It became super foamy. It worked pretty well in my daughter's hair. I had to re-spray a couple areas, but I think as I make this more I'll find the perfect ratio of conditioner to water. The only thing I would do next time is buy kid friendly conditioner. It does sting a little when it it accidentally gets inside little eyes.

Water: Free (1/3 C of water is what, 1/20 of a penny?)
Conditioner: $0.05 (I can make 20 batches of detangler in this 3 oz spray bottle. Conditioner was $1, so each batch cost about $0.05.)  
Spray Bottle: $1 (One time cost.)

Cost Per oz of homemade: $0.02/oz plus the one time cost of a spray bottle

Cost Per 10 oz of storebought: $0.19/oz

Bottom Line: Make It. There is no downside to making this yourself, and you'll save money!

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Make it Or Buy It? Homemade Wet Ones

For the last week, I've been scouring the internet for recipes to make my own homemade Wet Ones. I like to keep them in the car to wipe off shopping cart handles, or to wipe my daughter's hands at the park. There were several recipes, but I decided to go with the simplest one, with the ingredients most similar to the actual Wet Ones I purchase.

Just baby lotion, rubbing alcohol, and paper towels...I can handle this, right?

I spent 10 minutes trying to whisk the lotion and alcohol, and got something akin to cottage cheese.
"It's okay," I told myself hopefully, "Maybe the paper towels will absorb everything."
So, I threw the paper towels into the wipe container and allowed them to sit.

Ten minutes later I came back to an unabsorbed mess of paper towels, lotion, and alcohol. To my credit, this concoction smelled like Wet Ones!
Again, my hopeful mind exclaimed "Looks can be deceiving! Try it out!"
So, I wiped my hand with a wipe, hoping I would feel sanitizing goodness followed by gentle moisturization.
Instead I got a congealed mess of...stuff. My hands were left greasy and gross. I had to wash my hands just to get the goo off. The whole container went into the trash.

There are several other recipes for homemade Wet Ones, but judging from the ingredients, I would guess those to leave my hands greasy as well.

Rubbing Alcohol-$0.50
Paper Towels-$0.15
Baby Lotion-$0.80
Total Price for 24 homemade wipes (that ended up in the trash)-$1.45 or $0.06/wipe
Price for 20 wipes at the store-$1.29 or $0.06/wipe (though you can find coupons to make them cheaper)


Bottom Line-Buy It
One half penny per wipe is not worth the odd texture and greasy feeling of the homemade variety. Plus, using coupons that often come out for Wet Ones and pairing with a sale, you can actually get them several cents cheaper per wipe than homemade.

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Make It Or Buy It? Organic Applesauce

I love numbers. Charts, graphs, cost comparisons, I love them. I get great enjoyment looking at and comparing numbers. (See my Costco Price Comparisons for an example.) Ironically, I'm awful at math. I once took a college class called "Math Ideas", in which our course requirement kit included pipe cleaners, 3D glasses, and a foam puzzle. I got a B. But, I digress.  

My love for numbers was the inspiration for this new series, Make It Or Buy It? I'll compare the costs between making and purchasing various food and household items to give you a quick reference as to whether it's worth it to DIY or add it to your shopping list. Of course there are other factors besides price (health benefits, a desire to "live off the land", etc), but I'll stick to the price comparison and you can determine for your own family what's worth it and what isn't.

I had a hankering for applesauce the other day. Warm, chunky, with the slight flavor and aroma of cinnamon, simple applesauce. I found organic gala apples for $0.99/lb. I also purchase my cinnamon at Costco because cinnamon is ten times cheaper per ounce at Costco than at our local grocery store. Here's how much my batch of applesauce cost...

-Organic Apples: $0.99/lb ($1.25 for 1.25 lbs)
-Cinnamon: $0.25/oz ($0.04 for 1 tsp)

Homemade Cost: $0.11 per ounce, ($1.29 for 12 oz)
Cost at Store: $0.16 per ounce ($3.00 for 16 oz jar)

Bottom Line: Make it if you can find organic apples for less than $1.50/lb. Buy it if apples are not on sale. 

This is a great cost saver in the Fall, when you can routinely find apples for $0.49 per pound. 

Now for the fun part. My simple applesauce recipe. Perfect for breakfast, snack, or over pork chops. This only makes 12 oz of applesauce, so double the recipe if you want.

Simple Organic Applesauce

• 1.25 lb Organic Apples (about 4 medium apples)
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 3/4 C water

Peel, core, and chop apples. Throw the apple skins in the freezer and add them to your next Smoothie for a fiber boost.

Add everything to a medium saucepan and stir to combine.

Let simmer over medium heat, covered, for about 20 minutes or until apples are soft and liquid has been absorbed. Mash with a potato masher for a slightly chunky texture.

Serve and enjoy!

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