Choked by Consumerism

Earlier this week I happened upon (ht: Becoming Minimalist) this wonderfully produced series of short videos about material goods and their stifling effect on the average middle-class American family. If you have six minutes, it's definitely worth a look.





It really got me to thinking about how most people live, and it's shocking that we take for granted having junk piled up everywhere. I don't think a lot of people even realize how much stuff they have because they're so used to it. Even if your house is more organized than the ones in the video, you probably have a lot more crap than you think. Never is this fact more obvious than on moving day, which unfortunately is far too infrequently for most people. This is exactly what I'm avoiding -- inflexibility, suffocation, entrapment. Look at the people and things in the video and ask yourself honestly: who owns whom?

Homemade Dish Soap: Lessons Learned

I'm on my third batch of homemade dish soap now. I'm still tweaking it, but I've learned a lot so far. The first thing I've learned is that most of the people who make up recipes for soap are full of crap. Rather than putting my chemistry degree to good use and coming up with my own recipe, I relied on the advice of others. Here, then, are the consequences of my trusting nature.

After the first batch, which was way too goopy and didn't want to come out of the bottle, I looked for other recipes. All of them suggested adding lemon juice or vinegar, because the acid "helps cut grease." With batch number two, the consistency was much better. I basically did the same thing, 1/4 cup of soap flakes and 2 cups water, only this time I added several teaspoons of lemon juice. After doing a load of dishes, I noticed that all of my glasses were covered in this greasy film, and no matter how much I scrubbed, it was still there.

It soon clicked in my brain: the lemon juice did it. Very simply, the soap I'm using is made by adding a strong base to vegetable oil. So, the equation goes something like this:

oil + base -> soap

Simple enough. But adding the acid sends the reaction in the reverse direction:

soap + acid -> oil

Duh! The oily film left behind was actually oil. The solution in the bottle even separated into two phases. So, lesson learned, don't add acid to soap. My four years behind a lab bench finally paid off!

My current batch is made from 1/2 cup of soap flakes, 2 cups water, and the zest from one tangerine. It smells absolutely lovely and leaves my dishes sparkling. The tangerine does add a bit more cost, but it's still far cheaper than a commercial dish soap. I'll continue experimenting, and post some results when I come up with an optimized recipe. 

February's Project: Gone Vegan

I've been vegetarian for the majority of my life now. I quit eating meat at the age of ten for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, I just never liked it, so it's never been a big temptation. My decision to quit eating meat came in the mid '90s, at the height of the mad cow disease panic, and being a sensitive and thoughtful kid, I was worried about this and other food-borne diseases. On top of all that, I've always had a soft spot for animals, and the thought of something dying for my dinner just ruined my appetite.

Despite 17 years of vegetarianism, however, I've never been able to completely make the transition to vegan. Growing up in the deep south, it was tough enough eschewing meat, let alone dairy as well, and my already thin teenage self probably would have starved in that environment. Ever since then, it's been more an issue of convenience -- college cafeterias and boyfriends expecting "manly" meals are just not conducive to a vegan diet. I've managed to keep it up for several months at a time, but I've always returned to dairy. On top of all that, cheese is too damn tasty.

But years of reading about the consequences of the dairy industry have taken their toll, and I'm finally fed up. I've gone vegan, and this blog is my witness, the change is permanent. If it means going hungry sometimes, particularly when I go back home, so be it. Convincing the fiance to eat what I cook will be a challenge, but if I give him the option of eating this food or going hungry, I think he'll start to see things my way.

Making meals is going to require a bit more planning for the next few weeks while I adjust to this new routine, though not nearly as much as if I had been a meat-eater. Here are some meals I'm planning on making.

Breakfast

I've never been a big breakfast person, mostly because I'm not a morning person, and it's just not worth it to get up that much earlier. I know that breakfast is important, though, so I'm going to try and make something. I bought some oatmeal at the store today. I have some overripe bananas to eat with it, along with almond milk. As cold as it's been lately, it'll be nice to leave the house with something warm in my stomach. I'll also start making thermoses of green tea to take with me -- a cheaper and healthier alternative to my usual giant cup o' Dunkin.

Lunch

I had a tasty vegan lunch today that came from, of all places, 7-11. Because it's a store on a college campus, they have a much better selection of quality foods than the average convenience store. This particular one has a variety of vegan wraps and sandwiches, and I chose an "egg salad" sandwich. It never occurred to me before that tofu and boiled egg have almost the same consistency, and it was really convincing -- maybe even better than the real stuff. I'm going to look for a recipe to make my own, because at $4 apiece, these sandwiches would be much cheaper to make at home.

Dinner

This is where the big challenge is, because I have to cook something that will entice both of us. I picked up some Boca ground burger at the discount supermarket. I'm going to make a batch of chili that will hopefully satisfy the fiance. I usually make it in pretty big batches, so this should last most of the week.

Snacks

I've got several kinds of dried and fresh fruit in the pantry, and I bought a big bag of almonds. I also need to remember that I have about 5 bags of edamame in the freezer -- a vastly healthier alternative to chips when I want something salty and munchy.

For the purposes of motivation, I watched the documentary Vegucated on Netflix. It's really given me some encouragement, even when the going gets tough, to stick with it. I'll try to get the fiance to watch it too -- maybe it'll get him more on board with this lifestyle. As the weeks go by, I'll keep making updates with my progress, and any interesting meal ideas or recipes I stumble across. That's it for now. Go veg!