There is a growing list of items that we simply don’t buy anymore. In our progress toward a homestead lifestyle, we favor reusable items over disposables. We also avoid chemicals whenever possible, especially when it can leach into our food.
Plastic Wrap – I recently started using Abeego reusable fabric coated in beeswax. If soiled, you just rinse in cold water. It molds to the shape of the dish, fruit, cheese, etc. I don’t know that it is perfectly airtight, but it’s pretty close and I love that it isn’t exposing our food to chemicals.
Paper Napkins and Paper Towels – We use cloth for both. I just throw them in with another load of whites, so I don’t notice any additional work versus using disposable napkins and towels.
Microwave – Our 100+-year-old house didn’t have one when we moved in (neither did our last house). I use the stove or the oven to heat up leftovers and now I wouldn’t dream of sacrificing the counter space.
Breakfast Cereal – This one is hard, because eggs take a bit longer to prepare and a LOT longer to clean up, but the grains in cereal are extruded, which means that there is no nutrition left in them. So, for breakfast we do soaked oatmeal, soaked granola, or eggs. Sometimes I make egg nog (raw egg yolks, milk, cream, and some blackstrap molasses) for a sweet breakfast on the go.
Tupperware – Well, I actually do have a few plastic food storage containers, but not very many. We mostly use mason jars for leftovers. They just don’t work so well for flat things like pizza. I suppose I could fold the Abeego into a pizza holder . . . perhaps I can get rid of the rest of the Tupperware.
Not exactly something you would expect to find in the pantry, but . . .
Disposable Diapers – I use the cloth diapers we bought for Adele (although I have purchased a couple of packages of disposables while traveling recently). I use cloth diapers in my diaper bag (I just bring them home in a wet bag and wash them with the rest of the diapers). To me, washing a load of diapers is less work that having to drive to the store to buy more – not to mention the cost savings. I read that the average family spends $3500 on disposable diapers per child. I spent at least three thousand dollars less than that when I bought the diapers for Adele, but now that I am using them again for Everett, it’s all free! *** UPDATE: We switched to disposables after Everett’s therapist continued to urge me to give him more mobility in his hips (the cloth diapers are kind of low on the hips compared to disposables). I don’t know if it’s making much of a difference, but I figured I should at least give it a try. I still prefer cloth though).
antibacterial soap – we try hard to avoid triclosan, which is the active ingredient in most antibacterial soaps. It’s even in some deodorant and toothpastes. YUCK! We just use plain old soap and water to wash our hands. I especially like to use foaming soap dispensers filled with a splash of Dr. Bronner’s castille soap (my fav is peppermint) and filled up with water. Cheap, easy, and works great!
skin care products – Since I have olive oil, coconut oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, tallow, and beeswax on hand, I don’t have to buy: deodorant (I make my own probiotic deodorant), aftershave lotion, body butter, etc.. I also have no need for specialized products for styling hair (like gel or mousse), face moisturizing, or face washing for that matter (I use the oil cleansing method – just spread oil on face and exfoliate off with warm washcloth in the shower). I still buy bars of soap (for washing the body and hair), but I’m hoping to start making my own in a few months (as soon as I can source some lye). I find it super-liberating to skip entire sections at the store and know that I can whip up anything I need from items I have on hand at home. In fact, for most things I don’t have to whip anything up – I use straight coconut oil to treat my son’s cradle cap and it also styles his hair, I also use coconut oil for oil pulling (for dental hygiene), and I use tallow as a rich winter-time moisturizer.
See what you will find in our pantry here.
See pics of our kitchen and pantry here.
