When in human history have we ever not had to plan ahead for our needs? Overnight shipping is only a recent development.
cooking
How Do I Juggle All of This?
Sometimes this lifestyle makes me crazy. I will admit it. When I try to rush out the door in the morning and notice my sourdough starter sitting on the counter, yearning for the feeding I have neglected to give it, I get why people don’t want to look after one. Although feeding my starter takes […]
14 Benefits of Cooking
Yes, cooking requires time. But I’m not advocating a five-course meal every night. Dinner can be very simple: rice and beans with a side salad; a quick stir-fry; revamped leftovers. I don’t cook anything very elaborate. I simply try to eat a healthy diet—one devoid of processed food. (Read this post for 18 time-saving tips […]
18 Time-Saving Tips for Cooking From Scratch
Unless you already do cook everything from scratch, you’ll cook more when you decide to cut down on—or eliminate—your waste. That’s because you’ll cut packaged, processed food from your diet and replace these food-like substances with home-cooked versions. I can do without a lot of stuff in my life—piles of clothing, cosmetics, the latest gadgets. […]
My TV Debut!
Earlier this year, I was interviewed about zero-waste living on The Better Part, a show on KMVT, my city’s community television station. The show aired yesterday here in Mountain View and also in Cupertino and Los Altos. It will air again in several other towns near me over the week. But you can watch below […]
Live Stream: Zero-Waste Cooking 101
You’re invited! What: Zero-waste cooking 101 live stream When: Wednesday, March 30th, 7pm Pacific. (You can also later watch a recording on my sparsely populated YouTube channel.) Where: Live stream on YouTube This Wednesday evening, I’ll discuss my zero-waste kitchen in a webinar for the University of Southern California’s chapter of the Food Recovery Network and you can watch […]
My Favorite Kitchen Gadgets
In my tiny kitchen, every item must earn its keep. I do own some gadgets that I use infrequently—such as my food mill and cherry pitter—but sure am happy to have them when I need them. This list includes items I find indispensable and use at least every week and often every day. 1. Jars, […]
I Am not a Professional Chef and That Is the Point
I teach in-person workshops and online webinars, mostly on fermentation, and I need to create some new marketing materials to get the word out. How do you like this tagline? I have no formal training in food preparation™
Chef and Author Dan Barber Live!
“The future belongs to people who care about food.” — Dan Barber, Mountain View, CA, March 9, 2015 On Monday night, after attending his brilliant lecture, I added Dan Barber’s book The Third Plate to my cookbook and food essay collection pictured above.
Feeding the 5000 Comes to the US
This past Saturday, I participated in Feeding the 5000, a campaign that exposes food waste by feeding thousands of people a free, delicious meal prepared with food that would otherwise go to waste. Feeding the 5000 began in Europe in 2009, but Saturday marked its debut in America. The event’s name invokes the story of Jesus feeding 5,000 people with a […]
5 Ways Reducing Waste Can Reduce Your Waistline
If you have tried to lose weight to no avail, you may want to cut down on your waste rather than counting your calories. 1. To quote my friends at Plastic Free Tuesday, plastic makes you fat. Many plastics contains BPA, a synthetic estrogen. According to Dr. Robert Lustig, the UCSF pediatric endocrinologist made famous by his […]
Solar Cooking Festival
“If you can see your shadow, you can cook.” Pass this litmus test and a solar oven can make your dinner, according to one of the solar chefs who demonstrated this past weekend at the Sacramento Solar Cooking Festival, hosted by the nonprofit Solar Cookers International. He was one of about twenty-five impressive solar chefs demonstrating their […]
Tomato Sauce from Scratch!
Click here to go straight to the recipe. My coworkers know I don’t use plastic, and so they ask me lots of questions, such as: “How do you wash your hair?” (Baking soda followed by a cider vinegar rinse.) A recent midday email from my boss: “How do you take out the trash without a […]
Easy, Quick-Start, Overnight Irish Oatmeal
I stopped eating cereal after visiting an organic farm in the Caribbean in 2011. We ate organic homemade granola for breakfast every morning, topped with freshly harvested coconut milk and tropical fruit. After that, I purged store-bought cereal from our diet. You can’t make out some of the prices in the pic of the Safeway […]
How to Cook Black Beans
Click here to go straight to the recipe. Updated 01/19/21 Update 07/16: I now have a pressure cooker and cook my beans in that. IT IS SO FAST! Read more here. I don’t eat canned beans (or canned anything for that matter), for several reasons: Cans are lined with plastic that often contains BPA. Because […]