Last year, Joy and I became obsessed with dyeing eggs using leaves, grasses, spices, and anything else nature threw our way.  Commercial egg dyes aren’t the worst thing in the world, but wouldn’t it be great to tint eggs without frightening chemicals and excess packaging?  Yes, it would be great . . . but do these “organic” egg dyes really work?  Here’s what I tried, with the disappointing results.

 
I dyed these eggs using blueberries, chili flakes, and a leaf . . . in my imagination.

Beets.  Beets stain everything around them bright reddish-purple, so they seemed like the perfect natural egg dye.  However, after many attempts, I could never manage to dye eggs with them.  The eggs turned slightly brownish, but that was about it.

Wine.  Didn’t work-and wasted wine!

Black beans.  I cook a lot of black beans, and they leave purplish stains on my Dutch oven, so I tried dyeing some eggs in my black bean cooking water.  They just looked dirty afterwards.

Spinach.  In an attempt to dye my eggs green, I tried spinach.  Nada.

Coffee.  Eureka!  Coffee dyes white eggs . . . so they look like brown eggs.

Tumeric.  After trying all the above “natural dyes” (and many more), turmeric was the only thing that dyed my eggs.  Just add a teaspoon or so of turmeric to the water when you cook your eggs and they’ll turn a delightful shade of yellow.

Joy says she used red cabbage and dyed her eggs a beautiful pink color last year.  I wasted an ENTIRE cabbage and it did nothing.  So what am I doing wrong?  I have tried cooking the eggs with the veggies and spices, soaking them for hours in cooled dye baths afterwards, and adding white vinegar to the concoctions to help the dyes stick to the shells.  Nothing works!

Today is a reverse Works for Me Wednesday, which means we can ask others what works for them.  So has anyone had good luck dyeing eggs the “natural” way?  Please let me know how you did it!  For more WFMW questions, head on over to We are THAT family.

Don’t we all hate that plastic Easter grass that ends up trailing through our living room and getting tangled into our holiday baskets?  This year you can actually grow your own grass in your baskets and get your young ones involved in the process.  I found this idea in Simple Abundance, by Sarah Ban Breathnach. 

It’s best to start this project now since it will take a few weeks for the grass to sprout.  

You’ll need:

• Easter baskets(check my next post for where to get great deals on these)
• Plastic produce bags or bread bags(the ones that can’t be recycled)
• A packet of rye grass seeds
• Potting soil
• A paper bag 

First line your baskets with plastic, layering it along the sides and bottom so that the wicker will be protected.   Place a few stones along the bottom of the basket for drainage and then layer in two inches of potting soil.  Sprinkle rye seeds over the top and finish off with another very thin layer of soil, just enough to cover the seeds.  Water liberally and cover with a brown paper sack for a few days until the seeds sprout.  When you start to see the grass through the soil, place indoors in a sunny spot and water.  In a few weeks you’ll have a lush little patch of grass, ready to nestle your home-dyed eggs.  This works great as a centerpiece as well!  Enjoy!  

As you may already know, I’m currently pregnant with our second baby and contemplating our cloth diapering options once again.  With Roscoe we used prefolds and covers exclusively until he was a year old and then experimented with a few types of pocket diapers.  Although we didn’t plan on it, my husband and I immediately found that we far preferred pocket diapers to prefolds.  For more rantings on why I love them so much, check here.

It seems a shame to buy a whole batch of pocket diapers when we have prefolds on hand in all sizes, but it’s been interesting to talk with other cloth diapering parents.  One mother I met used prefolds with her first, pocket diapers with her second and ended up buying all-in-ones for her third child.  This seems far too expensive to me, but I can see how with each child a parent would crave a more convenient cloth diapering system.   Of course pocket diapers and all-in-ones require more laundering but they are easier to put on, whereas at least with prefolds you can pay a bit extra for a diaper service. 

So, those of you who are cloth diapering your second or third child, what have you found to be the best system for you?  Did you switch with your second or continue using your original cloth diapering system?  I’d love to hear your stories!  

This is our very first guest post, brought to you by Paige Bayer of The Budget Ecoist.  If you are interested in contributing any guest posts to the Green Baby Guide, drop us an email with your idea!

Babies are expensive, which is why it takes a village to raise them.  Asking one member of the village to pick up the cost is well, a lot to ask, especially in this economy.  So The Budget Ecoist has perused the internet to bring you the best villages out there to help raise your baby!  And by “village” we mean “websites” that will swap baby goods with you, thereby keeping your physical costs down, as well as your baby’s cost to the environment. 

Zwaggle.com - Free to join, Zwaggle is a community of like-minded parents who not only want to keep their gently-used baby and children’s items from clogging the landfill, but also want to reap the benefits by scoring the things they need from the community.  Once you’ve joined, you can post items you have for swap.  With every successful swap you earn zoints (Zwaggle’s equivalent of currency).  Earn additional zoints by referring friends and family!  Once you’ve acquired some zoints, peruse the categories to find items you need, or post a wish list. 

Zwaggle even has an integrated FedEx tool that calculates shipping costs and lets you print prepaid, preaddressed mailing labels and schedule a pick up right from the Zwaggle site.  Members arranging local deliveries can use the Zwaggle messaging system to schedule a meeting time and place that’s convenient for everyone involved.

BabySwap.net – BabySwap allows you to buy, sell or “swap” maternity and used baby goods, baby related services and useful baby information!  Another great feature of BabySwap: no banner ads. Why?  BabySwap doesn’t want to divert attention from those small businesses who list their services in the Swap Services section of their site. 

BabySwap’s two best services: 1) BabySwap Goods – List your used baby goods for sale or swap.  Potential buyers can search by city and zip code for the goods they are looking for and then contact the listed owner if interested in buying or swapping.  2) BabySwap Services -  Small businesses can list baby services for sale or swap for a mere $50.00.

Have any of you had success using Zwaggle, BabySwap, or something like them?  Let us know by posting a comment!

The financial and environmental impact of  simply preparing a homemade meal rather than submitting to prepackaged products  is astounding, but having the right tools to efficiently pack home blended baby food or work lunches is half the battle.  Our next two Thrifty Green Thursday posts are dedicated to a great product that grew out of a mom’s frustration with packing her children’s school lunches.  Mother of three, Nancy Myers, found a way to “fix lunch” by creating Lunchsense lunchboxes. 

The boxes are made of fabric and unsnap to create a clean eating surface that can be easily wiped down.  Inside are stored several locked leak-proof plastic containers that kids can easily open.  They might seem a bit pricey at first, but they’ll quickly pay themselves off if they help you skip even a handful of meals out.  Since Nancy lives right here in my hometown I had the chance to interview her myself.  Read on to find out more!

GBG: What makes Lunchsense lunchboxes a worthwhile investment for families? 

Nancy: Like many other people I have a drawer full of mismatched plastic containers and lids (none of which, it appears, hold just the right amount of food for a kid-sized meal), so I would succumb to single-use baggies, but I found that both the baggies and the leftover food in them would be thrown out every afternoon – an expensive and wasteful situation.  When I could manage to get lids WITH containers AND food to fit in them, they wouldn’t fit in the lunchboxes!  And then I found that the lunchboxes would disintegrate in a few short months.  

I just knew there had to be a better way, and after some trial-and-error, Lunchsense came into being.  Now all I have to think about is the food, not the containers, or the box, or the waste they might generate. 

GBG: Many parents have concerns about using plastic with their children’s food.  How do you address those worries? 

Nancy:  In truth, if I could find other containers made of anything other than plastic I’d consider using them, but as yet there isn’t anything else that is unbreakable, small enough for kid-sized portions, easy for kids to open, reasonably priced, and built to last.

That said, I like the Lock&Lock containers very much – they are made of polypropylene (recycling code #5), which is BPA-free and phthalate-free, and considered by Greenpeace to be one of a few acceptable options available for carrying food (the other plastic being polyethylene, recycling code #2).  They are also designed to fit together neatly, they are sized right for kids, and they are easy to open by just about any age. 

Thanks for joining us this week for Thrifty Green Thursday!  Please add your link below to share your frugal, green tips!  If you’re new, just click here to get tips on where to start.  It’s easy!  But remember to link back to us in your blog so that we can continue to grow as a thrifty green community.  

There’s been a baby boom in my family lately, and more are on the way!  We published a great article about throwing  a book baby shower last year.  I’ve always loved giving books as baby gifts because they’ll be enjoyed for years and even handed down from generation to generation.  That’s more than you can say for frilly outfit or a pack of disposable diapers.

When my niece was born over two years ago, I picked out a few of my childhood favorites to add to her library: Where the Wild Things Are, Little House in the Big Woods, and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day.  Now she has a little sister who needs to start a collection of her own.

I also have a new little second cousin, once removed.  I’m pretty sure they have all the clothing and gear they could ever want, so I’ll probably get him some books, too.

What are your favorite children’s books?  Did you save any of your own childhood favorites to read to your kids?  What should I get my new niece and second cousin, once removed?  (Note: If you are the parent of the aforementioned bundles of joy, please stop reading  lest you spoil the wonderful surprise you are about to receive. . . .)

This post is a part of the Works for Me Wednesday blog carnival.  Head on over to We are THAT Family for more WFMW ideas!

I had forgotten the forceful hunger that overwhelmed me with my first pregnancy until it hit me this second time.  Hunger is no longer just a rumbling in my belly, but a desire to rip food out of other people’s hands and wolf it down like a starving animal.  And then there are the cravings…

With Roscoe, my cravings were quite eco-friendly and appropriate.  I needed sushi all the time but held myself away from the raw fish varieties for safety reasons.  When my husband took me out to a Japanese restaurant for Valentine’s Day I didn’t allow him to speak to me while the sushi was melting in my mouth because it was such a sacred culinary experience.  (He was gracious enough to forgive the fact that my romantic feelings seemed to be more about the food than him at that moment.)

But this second time, I have deep cravings for double cheeseburgers.  That might not seem so bad, except that they need to be made from paper thin beef patties layered with American cheese.  Yes—only fast food burgers will do.  There are a million reasons why we steer clear of fast food restaurants—the disposable food containers, the less than eco-friendly business practices, the fact that the origins of the food are completely unknown and definitely not local.  I also don’t want my son to get hooked on fast food.

Both my husband and I went to fast food as children when our families wanted to provide us with a special treat.  The big chains have worked hard to draw children in when they’re little so they equate the fast food dining experience with positive memories for the rest of their lives.  Roscoe has never been to fast food yet, but this baby has already eaten a handful of double cheeseburgers without ever leaving the womb! 

If only Burgerville, the most eco-friendly fast-food restaurant on the planet, were here in Eugene!  They use local beef and produce and run their delivery trucks on bio-fuels.  I think I’ll have to lobby them to move down here and open shop in the next two months!

Please give me your input on creative ways to overcome these cravings.  I’ve thought of making my own burgers with free range beef at home, but I would have to use American cheese to fully get the cravings resolved and there’s nothing good about buying individually wrapped cheese slices.  Help!  

Were there any baby purchases that never even made it to the nursery?  Did you end up with a child who hated her swing or was too big for the new cloth diapers you had on hand?  Did you toss a whole box of stuffed animals in the attic?  Which purchases have you ended up regretting since baby arrived?  This is a great spot for expectant parents to look so that they can winnow down those baby registries to the things that really matter.  Thanks for your input!

What do beer, potato chips, and peanut butter and jelly all have in common?  They’re all perfectly ordinary–and all vegetarian.  Sure, they aren’t exactly health foods, but they’re comfortingly familiar.  It can be easy and painless to add some vegetarian meals to your usual rotation–and save a bundle while doing it.  One meat-free meal a week can also have a major impact on the environment.  Eating vegetarian just one day can save eighteen thousand gallons of water–that’s what it takes to produce one pound of raw beef!

Good news!  Potato chips are vegetarian.

The average American eats two-hundred pounds of meat each year.  A family of four spends about $2,300 annually on meat ($192 a month), and that number is climbing. [1]  Families can afford to eat more meat than previous generations, but that luxury takes a toll on the planet.  Many Americans are jumping into the green movement: recycling more, driving less.  Eating lower on the food chain is another simple thing you can do to help out Mother Earth.  If everyone cut down their animal protein intake by ten percent, we could feed the all the hungry people of the world with the grain saved. [2] 

Meatless Monday (www.meatlessmonday.com) is an organization dedicated to reducing America’s four deadliest diseases: heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer.  By encouraging families to go meatless every Monday, they hope Americans will be eating 15% less saturated fat by 2010.  Inspired by this program, Tanisha Renee and her family go meatless one day each week.  In her associatedcontent.com article, she calculates that 60% of her grocery bill goes to meat, so every day her family eats vegetarian, they save $11.  That’s $44 month! 

So the good news for you carnivores is you don’t need to go whole-hog with this vegetarian thing (ha ha).  Eating meatless just one day a week can still help save the planet–and keep a few of those hard-earned dollars in your pocket book.  What do you think?  Could Meatless Mondays work for you?

 [1] According to the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Bureau of Labor Statistics.

[2] www.earthsave.org

Want an eco-friendly, budget friendly solution to keeping your child’s clothing costs in check?  Buy big!  I’ve found that buying clothes a size or two (or four!) bigger for my son works in a myriad of ways. 

• Bigger pants accommodate cloth diapers. When he was smaller, we just rolled up the cuffs a bit.  Now that he’s potty training, they will be able to fit him for at least another six months with plenty of room around the waist!  Check out Rebecca’s post on managing cloth diaper bulk for more ideas.  
• Used clothing has often shrunk after several washings.  Now when I search for secondhand duds at thrift stores, I’ll often buy 4T-6T shirts.  They fit him fine after I roll up the sleeves a bit.  They’ll last him at least a year and I won’t have to worry about shrinkage since they’ve already been washed several times.
• They’re cute!  Seriously, when my son is all dressed in his baggy clothes he’s really quite adorable and I know they’ll last him much longer than perfectly tailored garments.  The outfit to the right cost less than four dollars total and each piece was a few sizes too big for my two year old.  With a few rolls of the sleeves and pant legs, it works perfectly!

I’d imagine this might be tougher to pull off with some girl’s garments, but since I have no experience in that area I’d love to hear from you.  Do you find ways to buy big and stretch the time that your child can wear his or her clothes?  It’s a great way to save money, save shopping time, and save a few more clothes from having to be manufactured.