At the farmer’s market this past Sunday, my daughter MK bought not-so pretty apples to bake pies for the meal she would prepare Monday in our community kitchen. She also suggested I write a blog post about uglies (she’s a smart one!). At $1 per pound for these cosmetically challenged apples—compared to $2.75 per pound […]
food waste
Compost for the Lazy: Throw It on the Ground
Compost can save the world! It sucks carbon dioxide out of the air and not only that, a half-inch layer of this black gold can still increase yields six years after its application. I had been composting in our community bins for nearly 10 years—and for several years before that at my house—but decided to start a rogue […]
My Transition to Full On Hippie Is Complete: Solar-Baked Kale Chips
Updated 06/19/17 I loved my Easy-Bake Oven as a little girl. Every fall when the Sears Christmas Wish Book arrived, I pored over the pages featuring the small boxes of cake mixes and circled the flavors I hoped to find under the tree. Today I shudder to think of the ingredients those little packets contained. But as […]
Vegetable Fritters
Click here to jump to the recipe I’m not sure what to call these. Fritters? Savory pancakes? Kitchen sink doughnuts? Whatever they are, they make a nice side dish for dinner or a tasty breakfast of leftovers the next morning. Their portability also makes them good for packing in lunches. Lately I’ve tried to come up with […]
7 Simple Tactics for a Trash-Free Road Trip
Notice I didn’t use the term “zero-waste” in the title. I would feel a little ridiculous writing about a road trip to Tahoe—an entire tank of fossil fuel away—and then saying, “Look at me! I brought my own fork!” I think twice before I travel these days and I haven’t flown this year, although I […]
Vegan Pesto
My daughter MKat started us on the zero-waste path in 2011 at age 16 and soon afterward launched her blog The Plastic-Free Chef. She says my constant complaining about the sea of plastic in grocery stores (and my accompanying lack of action for the most part) inspired her to figure out how to change our […]
Clear-Out-the-Fridge Frittata
Click here to go straight to the recipe When we rely less on recipes and more on cooking methods, we buy fewer ingredients, waste less food and alleviate what-on-earth-will-we-eat-for-dinner-tonight stress. My kids sometimes complain we have nothing to eat (translation: we have no processed snacks) but when I look in the kitchen, I see possibilities. […]
8 Tactics to Reduce Food Waste at Home
Updated 10/29/18 Food waste is a huge—but edible—problem. These eight tips will help you reduce food waste at home and save money. 1. Buy less food more frequently If you shop a couple of times a week and buy only what you need, you will enjoy fresher food and waste less of it. Yes, I realize some people […]
Letter from California (Part II)
Dear Reader, In my last letter, I wrote about the water conservation measures I have taken at home as the mega-drought here in California rages on with no end in sight. Although I am happy to have incorporated these practices into my daily life—I find them easy enough to do—ordinary citizens like myself do not consume the […]