Recycling has been going really well now that I've got a system down and it's nice to have a little extra income from recycled cans as well (It's an average of about $12 a bag, not too shabby.) The food budget has taken a slight hit so I've been making up for it by trying some things homemade as opposed to store bought. The first thing I tried was mayonnaise. I know what you're thinking, "Homemade mayo? Really? But how?" I will tell you how- with the magical power of a blender, one egg, one cup of oil, salt, mustard powder, vinegar and about 5 minutes and a lot of patience. It's actually really easy, and all those who tried it (James and I) agreed that it tastes just like the store stuff, if not better. Pretty much all you do is toss the egg in the blender with 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. mustard powder, 2 tbs vinegar and 1/4c oil - whizz it around for 5-10 sec. Then with the lid on, but the little center pour thingy open, slowly pour in the rest of the oil in a thin trickle. Some websites say to do it a drop at a time, I took my chances in siding with the websites that say a thin trickle - I came back victorious. All told it took me about 4 1/2 min. to pour the rest of the oil and when it was done I whizzed it all around for another 10-15sec. and then took the lid off and voila! Mayonnaise! Since I had just run out I just cleaned out the old mayo jar (a glass one) and put the new mayo in. It filled the jar about 1/2 way, which is cool, b/c pretty much I just got half a jar of mayo for about $.50. A net savings of $3. Today, I try to make mustard. Keep your fingers cross.
