So many people have asked for it and here it is: an online, interactive, sourdough bread workshop Years ago I taught myself to make delicious sourdough bread—and didn’t bake a really good loaf for months. Drastically shorten your learning curve! The first person who took my sourdough bread class baked a wonderful loaf—on his first […]
self reliance
How to Sew a Bento Bag
Family, friends and coworkers, please stop reading now… And if you don’t sew, you can also skip this post and buy an original, proper bento bag from Ambatalia, a small, locally owned producer of gorgeous textile goods made from natural fibers and purveyor of daily essentials to help you live “a non-disposable life.” Check out […]
How to Make Coconut Milk Made from Dried Coconut
I make my own coconut milk for several reasons: The short version of how to make coconut milk Combine 1 part coconut and 2 parts hot water. Let sit for 10 minutes or so, whir in a blender, strain, enjoy. If you feel more energetic, you can also make coconut milk from a whole coconut. […]
Please Do not Turn Zero Waste into Another Consumer Lifestyle
Every day, companies contact me about a “fantastic opportunity to collaborate” and peddle their wares for them on here, wares that apparently no zero waster can live without. I can’t possibly respond to all the messages I get, so I generally ignore these pitches—even for products and services I might like. But when I do […]
9 Items Banned from My Kitchen and How I Replaced Them
In 2011, my daughter MK and I decided we would try to live without plastic. Because I’ve been at this for a while, I take for granted many of the early changes we made back then to wean ourselves off of the stuff. But with all the welcome press lately on the plastic pollution crisis […]
Lemon Extract
I feel as though have a part-time job at the moment finding uses for the lemons that our tree rains down upon us. If I had more than one lemon tree as prolific as this one, I would lose my mind. Or I would list the location of my trees on Falling Fruit, a site […]
Go Plastic-Free This Year (Or Close to It)
If you’ve arrived at this blog, you’re probably aware of the plastic pollution problem so I won’t spend time discussing it. You can read recent news on that here, here and here. Instead, I’ll discuss changes we can make in our own lives. Individual choices may not seem like much in the face of this disaster but […]
Doggy Approved Puréed Bone Treat
Before I start this post, let me point out that I am neither a vet nor a dog nutritionist, if that’s a thing, which it likely is because where I live, we have not one but two dog ophthalmologists (that I know of). I don’t have a dog. I had hoped my cat Bootsy might […]
How to Make Homemade Pasta Without A Pasta Machine
When we cut the plastic back in 2011, I swapped many store-bought foods for homemade versions, such as: Cookies Crackers Cereal Canned pumpkin Canned tomatoes Many other foods, including those that don’t begin with the letter “c,” such as pasta If you love pasta and start on the zero-waste path, finding a replacement for it […]