Summer Grilling Tools

It’s mid July, mid summer and high grilling season. I love to grill. I don’t have a super fancy or high tech grill. It’s a grill that I can use propane or charcoal. It also has a side burner so I appreciate having that option. I usually use the gas because honestly it’s faster and easier. Also, I usually am only cooking for 2 adults and 1 child. Sometimes only 1 child and 1 adult.

I am always interested in gadgets or insider tips and tricks. I’ve been looking into taking a bbq class at a local teaching kitchen but the schedule just hasn’t been right. I did recently start receiving Bon Apetit magazine and the current issue was the Grilling Issue! You can find it here. Which I have to say as a sidenote it is a bit bothersome the article can be accessed for free online. Maybe it’s posted once the magazine is published. Back to the subject at hand. There are a lot of cool tools talked about in the article written by Jesse Sparks. My absolute fave was using a mesh basket to grill things that get messy and fall apart. Grilling strawberries for a shortcake. YUM! And the grilling tool idea came from a Brooklyn chef, Christine Lecki formerly at Reynard which I have never been to.

Love this idea!

So I absolutely am going to try this. If you have tried it how did it go? What did you think?

Did you make a shortcake? Or what did you put them on?

Enjoy!

Tracey

Eco Travel Ware and the Harmfullness of Plastics

Anthropologie

Have you noticed the increase in eco flatware? On the go cutlery. I work from home so I usually eat my meals here. I say no to flatware when we take out. However sometimes the restaurant still gives it to me.  If they do give it to me and this also happens to you, save it. Our local soup kitchen takes plastic ware to give to their patrons. 

Recently Anthropologie had their eco flatware kits on sale. Lots of cute options!

But why is bamboo good? Bamboo grows sustainably. It does not pollute, grows quite fast (2 feet a day) and it composts relatively quickly. Plastic, once used and disposed sits in the landfill. Sometimes contaminating the land, ground water and the sea. Have you walked on the beach seeing trash?

albatross filled with trash (photo: onegreenplanet.com)

Above is a harsh photo. It is an albatross that was found with so much garbage in it. This bird, the Layson Albatross, dives for his/her meals. When he or she dives they pick up trash as a result.

By using bamboo cutlery or even pack some cutlery from home for your lunch at work or your picnic you are helping prevent some plastic end up in our waterways.

If you have plastic utensils from take out. Don’t use them and donate them to your local soup kitchen or homeless shelter.

Thank you!

Tracey

Make your Own Kitchen Cloth: Part 2

Earth day is almost here. Want to make a small change in your life that will lessen your carbon foot print? This is part 2 of crocheting your own dish cloth. Part 1 is right here I’ve been using Blue Sky Organic Worsted Cotton but you can use any sort of worsted weight. I like this cloths because it is pretty absorbent. Materials: size J crochet hook

1 skein worsted weight cotton

Instructions:

1. after chaining 26 you will need to start working back.

2. Insert hook into the second loop from the end.

3. Wrap yarn around hook towards you and under the throat. What’s the throat? See below diagram.

Step 2 make sure on top of the hook you see these two yarns, this stitch. This way you know you did not insert into the wrong section.

step 5.

4. Now there are 2 loops on the hook.

5. Wrap yarn towards you around hook and pull thru both loops. You are back to one loop on the hook. Repeat steps 2 thru 5 until end of row.

6. At end of row the last stitch can be tricky. The entry is a bit tight. See circled stitch below.

Step 6.

Step 7. This is also a single crochet.

Once you reach 5” high begin to bind off.

Step 1. Insert hook into loop as if you are creating a single crochet.

Step 2. With 2 loops on the hook pull the furthest loop from the head over the first loop and off the hook.

Step 2.

You are left with one loop on the hook. Repeat above steps until you reach end of row.

Step 3. You have reached the end with one loop on the hook. Cut your yarn from the main ball and pull thru the loop.

Step 4. Pull the tail thru the stitches 3 or 4 times. You can use a darning needle for this.

One of my favorite table top cleaners is from Common Goods that I get refilled army local General Goods Store, Annies Blue Ribbon.

Now get cleaning!

And to wash this cloth, just throw in with your other towels. I wash everything on cold and tumble dry or line dry.
Would love to hear and see what you made. What yarn did you use?

Thanks for reading and Happy Earth Day!

Tracey

Make Your Own Kitchen Cloth - DIY tutorial - Part 1

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For the past few months I have been carrying a project bag in my purse. Harper is now 5, so after school pick up we usually head to the playground. She plays, I sit and crochet. Also, this uses up small amounts of yarn and is a small enough project to carry around. I’ve been using organic Blue Sky worsted cotton. It’s incredibly soft not to mention eco friendly. So if you want to make someone a housewarming gift or new baby gift these cloths are perfect. They make great wash cloths, so soft on the skin and feel so durable. I use a few for my face cloths, Harper uses some in her bath and now I am making crocheted ones for the kitchen.

Ok so THE CONS: I do realise that sometimes a knitted or crocheted cloth won’t scrub like a sponge. It may not provide the scrub one needs on a soup caked pot. For that I will use my spaghetti scrub that I mentioned in my last post.

Another CON: at first I had a hard time using nice cotton for the kitchen, but honestly it’s nice because it’s durable, good for the environment and fair trade. So I should just get over myself and use the beautiful cotton yarn. I bought the yarn for these reasons.

PROS: you get to use up all your scrap and leftover yarn, you won’t be buying sponges anymore and you get to do some crafting. t

I experimented with a few size hooks, the same yarn and the same pattern with a little variation for size of the cloth. I used 2 hooks, a size J, 6” by Addi and Chiao Goo bamboo hook in 5.5 mm.

INSTRUCTIONS, Part 1:

1. Make your foundation chain of 26 stitches. Make a slip knot with your yarn, looks like a pretzel. With your right hand pull the yarn tail over the rest of the yarn, create a loop. The left side lays on top of the yarn and the tail part will lay under the right side of the pretzel.

Make your slip knot, notice that the tail right side is under the yarn.

Step 2, slide hook into pretzel knot.

Pull slip knot on hook by pulling the two tails.

Slip knot hugging your hook, time to start the chain.

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Starting the chain. With your left hand, ring finger and thumb hold the slipknot, the yarn is over your index finger. With your right hand, hold the hook and the yarn on the hook. Wrap yarn over (yo) and under the hook, then slide loop that’s on the hook over the tip and the yarn you just wrapped over. This is one stitch of the chain stitch. Continue this for 26 stitches. I have done the sample in green but the actual cloths I made are in white and pink.

After chaining 26 it should look like this.

In the next post I will continue to show you the pattern of making the dishcloth.

How often do you Throw out your Kitchen Sponge?

twist sponge, one of the better and safer ones. loofah on top and sponge underneath.

Do you use a sponge in your kitchen? How often do you replace it? I’ve heard kitchen sponges are harmful, for us and the environment. When I started to read up on it, oh wow and very gross. One, the unfriendliness to the eco system and two, the bacteria that sponges hold. So much dangerous bacteria that people who have an illness already can become more sick. NY Times has a very enlightening article on the bacteria that you can read here. So yea sponges hold a lot of bacteria and using the microwave or dishwasher to clean them doesn’t work. So we humans came up with anti-bacterial sponges. Yay! No…. Once again humans are trying to make life easier but is harming the environment as a result.

Sponges are made of plastic and have a chemical called Triclosan. This is registered with the EPA as a pesticide. It destroys fragile aquatic eco systems especially algae that other animals may depend on. So you have a sponge that is “anti-bacterial”. It tells you on the packaging. How often do you replace your sponge? Some replace once a week, we replace ours when it’s pretty exhausted looking. So it gets thrown out, makes it way to a landfill or waterway. Because it is anti-bacterial, sewage and waste water treatment plants can’t remove it. As of 2009 it is one of the main chemicals found in US streams. I learned this on greenlivingtips.com a very good website on eco issues. Another negative of the kitchen sponge is that sponges are made of plastic and as you know plastic doesn’t break down.

So what do we do?

You can buy a cellulose sponge. Cellulose sponges are made from 100% organic or bio-degradable materials. Cellulose is sourced from plantation forests or recycled. If you buy a cellulose sponge be sure to read the packaging to make sure it was not impregnated with polyester, another form of plastic. Cellulose sponges do break down and pure cellulose resists bacteria.

Another option is popular brand that you can find in most stores called Twist. They have a wide selection from loofah sponge to the raviolli sponge. Yes, raviolli. All made from natural fibers: hemp, agave, loofah and cotto

twist loofah sponge

Wood brush: great for cleaning those tough jobs, made with a wood handle and natural tapioca fibre bristles, with a replaceable head. The online store, Wild Minimalist, carries an awesome selection of supplies to make a zero waste life.

wood handle dish brush from Wild Minimalist

Another alternative is making your own. In my next post I will show you how to easily whip up your own kitchens scrubbers while on the go.

Thanks for reading!
Tracey

I receive no payments or products for the businesses I mention. My opinions are thru my own experiences.