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Indiana Deodorant and other hard to find items
I am almost a week in, and am doing fairly well in my locavore quest. I have found some fun and exciting new products. Today, with my lunch I had Sunflower Pâté made by Raw Gourmet Delights (they are at the Traders Point Farmers Market every Friday). I also celebrated the 4th of July weekend with three cookouts, two of which featured meat from Phelps Family Farms (I know they are at Traders Point on Fridays, Broad Ripple and Carmel on Saturdays). Saturday was hamburgers from their 96% lean ground beef (better and less expensive than Laura’s) and on Monday I made ribs for the first time. Boneless Country Style Ribs. They were incredible. I made a rub from spices I bought at Good Earth and a glaze with a apple juice (not local, but left over from June) and vinegar from Artisanos. At the bottom of this post I have included my recipe.
So the eating was great! Hopefully with portion control I didn’t gain any Indiana pounds. I also spent some of my weekend experimenting with hair gel. As July has progressed I have kept a list of items that I cannot find locally. This is where I need your help. If you have any suggestions on where I could find local alternatives to the products listed below or have a recipe for making them, please share. In each section below I discuss some of the local items I have found and list what I am still looking for. The items that are bolded and underlined or where I need help. You can either post it in the comments of this blog or send an email to Feiney@yahoo.com. Next week I’ll post the final results of my hair gel experiments along with some of my favorite items that you have suggested:
Health and Beauty
I have made good progress (with lots of help and patience from my wife, Maureen) on finding local solutions for health and beauty. I have listed below the major items and either what Maureen and I have found or where we could use some help with a suggestion or a recipe. Luckily I am a guy, so the list of health and beauty products I use is pretty small.
- Bar Soaps – There are so many incredible soap makers in Indiana. Almost every farmers market has 2 or 3 vendors. My favorite is from Wildflower Ridge Soap. They also make a shaving bar that I use in place of shaving cream. If you are looking for them at the Farmer’s Markets (and they are at a ton of them), look for Wildflower Ridge Honey. Their honey is almost my favorite.
- Shampoo – Though I haven’t found a local liquid shampoo vendor, Flower Child Aromatherapy has a few different shampoo bars. I am using the Rosemary bar and it works great. It would probably also work as a shaving bar because the lather action is incredible.
- Deodorant – This was the one I was most worried about, but Body Electric Skin Care makes a deodorant that worked better than most of the natural brands I have used in the past (J/A/S/O/N, and Alba Bontanica). The product is both aluminum and zinc free. They will also recycle the deodorant dispenser after you have finished using it.
- Hand Soap / Liquid Soap – Maureen and I have both found several locally produced liquid soaps. Our biggest challenge is we want to be able to put them into the pump dispensers we have in our bathrooms and kitchen. The soaps we found have either been too thick and wont go through the pump or are too watery and fly out of the pump.
- Toothpaste – I have nothing here, I’m still using Crest. I realize Tom’s of Maine is a natural alternative, but Maine isn’t all that local and Tom’s has been a division of Colgate since 2006, so at least Crest comes from Proctor and Gamble out of Ohio.
- Hair gel – As I mentioned, I am working on my own recipe, but I would love suggestions. I know that Kenra is a local company that makes hair products, I just have not had time to go and purchase their products yet.
- Toilet paper – I miss my Charmin. I could rationalize that Charmin is also a Proctor and Gamble brand, but I think I would be missing the point. Currently I am using 7th Generation Toilet Paper. Any other suggestions?
- Tissues – Haven’t had to use one yet, but I know the only brand in my house is Kleenex. I’m hoping to not sneeze for another 3 weeks.
Cleaning Supplies
Our house is completely stocked on local cleaning supplies. Almost 100% of our cleaning supplies come from a company called Tracey Clean (http://traceyclean.typepad.com/). Traceyclean supplies our house with everything from glass cleaner to laundry detergent to ironing spray. Not only is this a local company, but the products work great. I have both Bar Keepers Friend (also an Indiana company) and Traceyclean scowering scrub and they both work equally as well. Not only is Traceyclean a local company, but very environmentally conscious, the company researches and discloses all ingredients in their products. Now not every ingredient may come from Indiana, but this is about as good as it is going to get.
Food
This would be a very long section if I listed everything we use, so I am only going to list here items I am still searching for.
- Cornflakes – One would think cornflakes in Indiana would be easy to find. We have corn everywhere. I have found a wheat cereal from Greenfield Mills in North Howe, Indiana, but that is it.
- Oatmeal and Cream of Wheat – Another staple of breakfast that I would like to find. Oatmeal would also be very good for cookie making.
- Yeast – If I am going to make bread, I need yeast. I would think I could get it locally. I’m a little intimidated with making my own yeast. I also need yeast if I am going to make my own carbonated water for…
- Soda – I love soda and I have not found any microbrew that bottles and cans their soda for distribution. That is where the yeast comes in. Some of the soda recipes I have red require yeast and sugar to interact. In the meantime I have had a couple of Faygo soda. It is a Michigan company which is a border state.
- Sugar – I am fully aware that sugar cane does not grow in Indiana, but am hoping to find a local processor. I contacted a company called Indiana Sugars (could it have a better name for me), but based on their response I do not believe they distribute to individuals. The fact they sell their granulated sugar in a quantity range of 25 pounds to 50,000 pounds should have been a giveaway
- Salt - Similar issue with Sugar. I have contacted Morton’s Salt (based in Chicago), because I know they have mines in Michigan and Ohio, but I don’t know if they are mining salt for the roads in those locations or salt to eat.
- Other Spices – I am growing the spices I can (dill, basil, oregano, rosemary, cilantro, mint, stevia, and parsley), but I can’t products such as garlic power, vanilla, and paprika being produced locally. Maybe I’m wrong and you know something I don’t. Thus far I have been relying on places like Good Earth and Artisanos.
- Peanuts – Really what I want is peanut butter. I have all these amazing Indiana Jams, and want to pair them with a peanut butter for a sandwich. As I was writing this I did Google Indiana Peanuts and came up with The Peanut King. A nut roasting company located on South Meridian. I don’t believe their nuts come from Indiana. Anyone found Indiana peanut butter or something similar like cashew butter? I would also love to find nuts for sale that are grown in Indiana.
- Pretzels/Potato Chips - I mentioned the pate earlier, but what I really need is a chip or pretzel to dip into it. The best I have come up with so far is Mike Sells, it is based in Dayton, Ohio, which is fairly close to Indy. I’m not looking for a soft pretzel, but a nice hard crispy one. In a week, when my garden is in full bloom I am going to have a lot of salsa and will need something to dip in it. If I get a toothpaste solution and my hair gel works out, I may tackle making my own pretzels and / or chips.
Thanks for following along on my quest. I am looking forward to your suggestions. As promised, here is the recipe. I only have a gas grill, so I will describe what I did and then I will also provide the more complicated version of the recipe you could do on a charcoal grill.
Rub:
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 3 tablespoons of light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• 2 teaspoons of chili powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons of black pepper, ground
• 1 ½ teaspoons of garlic powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons of onion powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons of cayenne pepper
• ½ teaspoon thyme
Ribs
• 3 pounds of boneless country style ribs
• ½ cup apple juice
• 3 tablespoons of flavored vinegar (traditional choice would be apple cider vinegar, I used a strawberry vinegar)
• Soaked wood chips
Instructions
1. Combine rub ingredients in small bowl. Place racks on rimmed baking sheet; sprinkle rub on both sides of each rack, rubbing and pressing to adhere. Allow rub to sit on ribs for at least 2 hours.
2. Warm up grill. If you have two burners, start with them both on so the grate gets hot and will give the meat a slight sear. Once the grill is warmed up turn off one of the burners. If you have three burners, leave the two burners on the left side of the grill on. Place the soaked wood chips and water in disposable aluminum pie plates and set them above the burners that are still on. Place your meat above the burner that is turned off.
3. Cook for 45 minutes. You want to keep the temperature in the grill between 250 and 275 degrees. Flip the ribs and brush the ribs with your apple glaze. Cook for an additional 45 minutes. With 10 minutes to go preheat your oven to 300 degrees.
4. Transfer ribs, to wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet. Brush top of each rib with 2 tablespoons apple juice mixture. Pour 1½ cups water into bottom of baking sheet; roast 1 hour.
Flip the ribs and brush again. Allow to roast for another hour. During this process you may need to refill the water in the baking sheet. I would also brush the ribs every 30 minutes. You want the internal temperature of your ribs to reach 195 to 200 degrees. If you use less ribs your cook time could be greatly reduced. Brush ribs with remaining apple juice mixture and continue to roast until meat is tender but not falling off bone (internal temperature should be 195 to 200 degrees), 1 to 2 hours. Transfer ribs to cutting board, tent loosely with foil, and let rest 15 minutes.
Alternative method for charcoal grill
2. Combine apple juice and vinegar in small bowl; set aside. Open top and bottom grill vents halfway and arrange 15 unlit charcoal briquettes evenly on 1 side of grill. Place disposable pan filled with 1 inch water on other side of grill. Light large chimney starter filled one-third with charcoal (about 33 briquettes) and allow to burn until coals are half coated with thin layer of ash, about 15 minutes. Empty coals into grill on top of unlit briquettes to cover half of grill. Sprinkle soaked wood chips over coals. Position cooking grate over coals, cover grill, and heat grate until hot, about 5 minutes; scrape grate clean with grill brush.
3. Place ribs, on grate over water pan. Cover grill, positioning top vent over ribs to draw smoke through grill. Cook ribs 45 minutes, adjusting vents to keep temperature inside grill around 250 to 275 degrees. Flip ribs and turn 180 degrees, and switch their positions so that rack that was nearer fire is on outside. Brush each rack with 2 tablespoons apple juice mixture; cover grill and cook another 45 minutes. About 30 minutes before removing ribs from grill, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees.
4. Transfer ribs, to wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet. Brush top of each rib with 2 tablespoons apple juice mixture. Pour 1½ cups water into bottom of baking sheet; roast 1 hour. Brush ribs with remaining apple juice mixture and continue to roast until meat is tender but not falling off bone (internal temperature should be 195 to 200 degrees), 1 to 2 hours. Transfer ribs to cutting board, tent loosely with foil, and let rest 15 minutes.
