Junebug's Junkyard: Goin' Pioneer

Easter egg coloring is a wonderful family memory I have with my 3 siblings and my mother. It was a tradition we continued into our adulthood. Yes, I colored Easter eggs as college student with my Mom and younger brothers - it was a blast! Silly to some, but funny and memory making to us! When I had my twins, I knew this special little craft was one I wanted to share with them.

However, concern over artificial food dyes and petrol based chemicals in traditional Easter egg dye kits prompted me to do a little experimenting with natural, food based dyes. I decided to try out a batch of egg dyeing long before Easter comes around again. At just over 1 year old last Easter, my kids haven't really been old enough at any previous Easter holidays to really enjoy the egg dyeing part of the celebrations. Now at 17 months, I knew this was a craft they would get a kick out of today for practice and even more so at age 2 - the next time Easter rolls around.

Mama and twins on our 1st Easter (twins 3 months) 2012

A quick internet search got me on the way for food based Easter egg dye ingredients. On my next grocery trip I bought the basics for dyeing eggs the old fashioned way! I started very simple with carrots for orange, spinach for green, concord grape juice for blue or purple and golden apples for yellow. I purchased some white vinegar to really soak up the dye into the eggshells and get that color out! There were at least 20 more options for making more color combinations and deeper hues, but I wanted to start basic as a jumping off point. All of my ingredients were organic, including the cage free white eggs we used.

Left to Right: organic spinach, organic white vinegar, organic golden apples, organic concord grape juice, organic carrots, and cage free white eggs

Most of the tips out there suggested a hot dye bath, so I boiled the eggs inside of pots with the food dye bases and a tablespoon of white vinegar. I did a 15 minute boil and then tested my colors. They weren't very dark and the eggs had started to crack. I suspected my heat was too high. So, I turned off my pots and let the dyes cool. Immediately I noticed the grape juice soaked eggs had a nice blueish, purple hue to them. Yay! Organic, no sugar added juice and perfectly dyed eggs. I let those cool and moved to the more challenging colors.

Boil the eggs with the dye materials

A few things I had read said to refrigerate the eggs overnight in a bowl with the dye for deeper color. I also wanted the egg dye to cool so that my kids could participate in the dyeing process! After a weekend of family parties, we were ready to dip into those egg dyes again. The green and orange didn't have much pigment to them and the yellow hardly at all. I added some turmeric - an Indian spice often used to color mustard yellow - and boy did those eggs turn yellow fast!

Left to Right: concord grape, carrots, golden apples & turmeric, spinach

I let the babies have a few of the eggs and some small cups of dye. Knowing we probably wouldn't get colored eggs out of the cold bath, but thinking we could still have some fun! This is what they immediately did with the dye:

I knew nothing was in that dye except organic vegetable/fruit juice, water and vinegar. Drink away my sweet ones!

I also had a natural egg dyeing kit left over from the previous Easter. It's made by a company called Natural Earth Paints. Their dyes are based in things found in Mother Nature such as vegetables, spices and fruit. They then break these materials down into small particles that dissolve in hot water. I did a batch of cage free eggs with these natural dyes to compare them to my own homemade food dye baths. The results were great!

Natural Egg Dye by Natural Earth Paint

I also had an observation when picking up my weekly order of cage free, local, farm fresh eggs. They were so colorful, I wouldn't even have to dye them! Look at these beauties in their natural form:

Farm fresh, cage free, organic eggs!

Now I feel confident about the deviled eggs I'm going to make for my family with these dyed eggs. Have you ever cracked open one of those store bought kit dyed eggs and found blue dye on the whites of your hard-boiled egg? You are ingesting those dye chemicals!

While my dyes may not have the pigmentation of the grocery store, mass distributed Haas version, I still loved this little experiment! No artificial food dyes such as FD&C Red No. 40 or Tartrazine Yellow No. 5 made from synthetic materials. Not only have those compounds been linked to ADHD in children, some types of cancer, allergic reactions and hives but they are made from petrol chemicals that harm the environment! Petrol chemicals are derived from petroleum - YES! As in gasoline! I know I don't want to eat gasoline and I really do not want my children to ingest it. These dyes are labeled as food safe in most Easter egg dye kits because they aren't known to cause side effects. That doesn't mean they aren't bad for you! It just means the FDA hasn't labeled them as such. Because they don't know 'for sure,' the dyes are allowed to be labeled as food safe. Sounds like a racket to me!

We are bombarded by artificial dyes in everything from fruit snacks, candy, mac and cheese and soda. Artificial dyes like FD&C Red No. 40, or Tartrazine Yellow No. 5. These synthetic colors are made from petroleum and other chemicals. These dyes have been found to cause cancer, hives, hyperactivity and other issues in adults and children. - See more at: http://www.stevespangler.com/seasonal-science/day-4-egg-week-dying-easter-eggs-naturally/#sthash.282az74d.dpuf

I'm at ease knowing that from locally sourced cage free eggs to my food based dyes, all of my ingredients came from local, organic sources. Which makes the holiday tradition that much more sweet! 'Hoppy' and delicious Easter fun for everyone!