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Zero-Waste Chef

sourdough bread

  • Zero-Waste Basics

How to Store and Keep Bread Fresh Without Single-Use Plastic

Posted on September 16, 2021October 19, 2021by Anne-Marie Bonneau

Readers often ask how to store bread without plastic, while keeping it fresh. It can be done! And if your bread does dry out, revive it.

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  • Sourdough

Sourdough Bread Zoom Classes (and a Recorded Starter Class)

Posted on December 9, 2020December 9, 2020by Anne-Marie Bonneau

By popular demand! Live online sourdough bread classes. Learn to make this 3-ingredient bread from the comfort of your kitchen.

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  • Fermentation

Sourdough Starter Metric and US Equivalents

Posted on August 5, 2020August 5, 2020by Anne-Marie Bonneau

Need to measure your sourdough starter but don’t have a scale? Have a recipe you’ll like to convert to US cups? Use these conversions.

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  • Fermentation

Call the Midwife of Microbes

Posted on May 25, 2020May 27, 2020by Anne-Marie Bonneau

Is your sourdough starter sluggish? Your ginger beer jinxed? Your kombucha capricious? Apply to get a diagnosis via Instagram Live.

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  • Fermentation

Is My Sourdough Starter Dead? Your Starter Dilemmas Addressed

Posted on April 15, 2020September 18, 2021by Anne-Marie Bonneau
sourdough starters in glass jars

Need help coaxing your sourdough starter to life? What can you do with all the discard? And what is a levain? Learn the answers to these questions and more.

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  • Uncategorized

Hunkered Down During COVID-19? Make Something.

Posted on March 14, 2020March 14, 2020by Anne-Marie Bonneau

Millions of us will stay hunkered down at home during COVID-19, either out of necessity or precaution. Now seems like a great time to learn a new skill.

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  • Zero-Waste Basics

Simple DIY Bread Slicing Guide

Posted on April 11, 2019April 11, 2019by Anne-Marie Bonneau
loaf of sourdough bread being sliced with a serrated knife

Cut smooth, even slices every time with this simple wooden bread slicing guide.

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  • Zero-Waste Basics

Best Zero-Waste Blog Posts of 2018

Posted on December 21, 2018December 22, 2018by Anne-Marie Bonneau
zero waste farmers market produce

These top nine blog posts of 2019 range from getting started on the zero-waste path, to doing zero waste on the cheap, baking sourdough bread from scratch.

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  • Zero-Waste Menus

A Zero-Waste Vegan Thanksgiving Menu

Posted on November 16, 2018October 27, 2020by Anne-Marie Bonneau
Fall farmers' market produce arranged on a rustic tabletop. Some of the produce is in cloth bags. The produce includes persimmons, mushrooms, romanesco, tomatoes, apples, cabbage, onions, small squash, jalapeños, potatoes and purple string beans

Like all things zero waste, this menu requires a bit of planning but not that much. During a recent Instagram Live, I discussed tips for preventing waste at Thanksgiving—not just food waste but packaging waste also (read 18 waste-busting tips here). A few people asked for Thanksgiving dinner menu ideas, specifically for vegan dishes. I […]

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  • Fermentation

By Popular Demand: Online LIVE Sourdough Bread Workshop

Posted on October 29, 2018October 29, 2018by Anne-Marie Bonneau
sourdough bread and crackers

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 […]

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  • Zero-Waste Basics

Why Cook Two Things at Once When You Can Cook Six?

Posted on August 29, 2018by Anne-Marie Bonneau

I strive to run my kitchen as efficiently as possible—I use up absolutely every bit of food, do my best to dirty only one bowl instead of two or three or four and on an ideal day, cram as much as possible into my oven and cook a pile of food all at once. After working […]

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  • Zero-Waste Basics

How Do I Juggle All of This?

Posted on May 24, 2018November 30, 2018by Anne-Marie Bonneau

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 […]

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  • Fermentation

Two Spring Webinars: Sourdough Starter and Ginger Beer

Posted on April 21, 2017May 24, 2017by Anne-Marie Bonneau
kombucha and ginger beer

I have scheduled two webinars for the spring—one on May 3rd and one on June 7th. Both take place at 4pm Pacific Time. If you can’t attend these, you can watch the recorded webinars later. If you attend, however, you can ask me questions in real time using the chat window next to the live […]

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  • Fermentation

Sourdough Starter Webinar

Posted on April 27, 2016April 27, 2016by Anne-Marie Bonneau

If you missed my sourdough webinar tonight streaming on YouTube, you can watch it below. I have to warn you that this no-budget video, unlike the information contained within, is not of the highest quality. Below the video, I’ve added my class notes if you were either in the class and want to refer to them […]

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  • Fermentation

Sourdough Measurements by the Cup (or Why I Use a Kitchen Scale…)

Posted on April 6, 2016August 5, 2020by Anne-Marie Bonneau

Updated 08/05/20 WARNING: Use these measurements at your own risk! When I feed my sourdough starter or bake sourdough bread, I measure out the ingredients on my kitchen scale. I set my bowl or measuring cup on the scale, zero it out and then simply dump out the flour until I hit x grams. And […]

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It's Week 7 of my 8-week challenge to plant more n It's Week 7 of my 8-week challenge to plant more natives. This week, I'll attempt to recruit neighbors by offering up a couple of milkweed plants in my Buy Nothing Group or on Nextdoor. I'll mention how I'm planting natives to get on the Homegrown National Park map, a grassroots effort created by entomologist Doug Tallamy to conserve nature by converting private yards into nature corridors. If several of us plant natives in the neighborhood, our yards will reconnect wildlife habitats here.

Who can pass up a free native plant? (Not me.) Sometimes, if we're lucky, the squirrels do all the work and plant natives for us. I recently discovered this volunteer oak tree growing beside one of our raised vegetable beds. It's doing very well! At the end of the growing season, we'll move this bed to another location. Oaks take precedent! A keystone species, they help keep the ecological web intact by supporting hundreds of types of caterpillars, which in turn feed the birds, for example.

I’m proof of that you don't need to be a master gardener to participate in the largest conservation project ever attempted. Link in profile for the 8-week challenge.
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#californiadrought #dougtallamy #extinctioncrisis #climatecrisis #nativeplants #oaktree #oaktrees #invasivespecies #invasiveplants #homegrownnationalpark #regenerative #regenerativegardening #urbangardener #urbangardens #gardeningtips #selfreliance #foodweb #nativebees #sustainablelifestyle #simpleliving #wastefreeliving #intentionalliving #artofslowliving #plasticfreeliving #zerowastejourney #zerowasteliving #zerowastechef #thereisnoplanetb
If, like me, you could use some uplifting words to If, like me, you could use some uplifting words today, this post is for you. Elizabeth Knight, the co-author of Repair Revolution, a book that explores the philosophy of repair, offers guidelines for launching repair cafés and examines the right to repair movement, sent me some of the uplifting thoughts people have relayed to her over the years regarding repair cafés and repair in general. I've posted a bunch of them in the carousel.

When our entire society appears broken and irreparable, we can easily fall into a state of despair or paralysis. That leaves a much smoother path for those in power to continue to take away our rights. Reading these quotes today reminded me that millions and millions of people out there are working toward a more equitable and liveable world. If you've been feeling anxiety or despair, I hope you find these quotes uplifting and helpful.

And if you know of an upcoming repair café in your area, please add it to the comments. One is coming up near me in Palo Alto on Sunday July 10th.

Link in profile for how to repair your stuff.
Put every scrap of summer fruit to use and make th Put every scrap of summer fruit to use and make this very bubbly, barely sweet, refreshing fruit soda that costs basically nothing to make.

For this batch, I combined 2 cups tap water, 2 tablespoons sugar (to feed the microbes) and 1 cup fruit scraps I had saved and frozen until I had lots: cherry, peach and nectarine pits with some flesh attached; strawberry tops and cores (my daughter cuts the tops off...I wish she would eat them...I can control only so much...); and a very small bit of lemon pulp.

I fermented this in a clean jar at room temperature for a mere 2 days before bottling and fermenting again for another day. It was incredibly carbonated! And delicious! I also made a second smaller batch with the scraps. 

If you're doing @plasticfreejuly this year and want to cut plastic soda bottles but would still like to enjoy a bubbly drink, make this! You'll reduce the number of planet-heating, fossil-fuel-based plastic bottles in the waste stream, consume fewer microplastics (plastic bottles shed them), drink a tastier drink and save money.

Link in profile @zerowastechef for the full recipe.
"I’m a teenager living at home with unsupportive "I’m a teenager living at home with unsupportive parents. What can I do to make them live more sustainably?"

I hear this question constantly. If only parents would listen to reason! First of all, realize that you can’t make others behave the way that you want them to. And because your parents make the buying decisions, you have little control over what comes into your home. 

But you can still try to persuade your parents by deploying this tenet of sales 101: Sell people things they don’t want to buy by telling them how they benefit. Explain how the kinds of changes you’d like to implement will improve your parents’ lives.

Then, show them some of the benefits:
🌿 Cook a delicious vegetarian or vegan meal if they love their meat
🌿 Cook a clear-out-the-fridge meal to reduce food waste and save money
🌿 Do some of the grocery shopping and choose reusables
🌿 Grow a bit of food and save money
🌿 Hang the laundry up to dry and make clothes last longer
🌿 If you go out for dinner, bring jars for the leftovers to reduce food and packaging waste
🌿 Show them how well baking soda and vinegar work for cleaning
🌿 Don't ask them to buy a bunch of fancy zero-waste gear
🌿 Choose an environmental documentary when it's your turn to pick the movie (or happen to have one playing when your family enters the room)

I don’t expect anyone to try every single tactic I have included here, but if you do do all of them, I would like to adopt you.

Have you been able to get your family on board with sustainable action? What has worked? What hasn't?
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#sustainbilitytips #sustainablehome #simplify #simplifyyourlife #simpleliving #sustainablelifestyle #wastefreeliving #intentionalliving #selfsufficient #slowlivingmovement #artofslowliving #plasticfreejuly #breakfreefromplastic #plasticfreeliving #plasticisfossilfuel #planetorplastic #plasticpollutes #lowwaste #lesswaste #zerowastejourney #zerowasteliving #zerowastetips #zerowastechef #thereisnoplanetb #noplanetb #loveearth #loveyourmother
It finally happened! One of the straps on my Birke It finally happened! One of the straps on my Birkenstocks tore. I thought they were done for but when I took them to the cobbler, they said the straps often break and they could repair my shoe! I was amazed when I picked them up. The patch looks good and feels very comfortable.

I bought these Birks in 2015 and this was the fourth repair (I wear them most days). I think my shoes will have more lives than cats! 🐈‍⬛

For any locals, I have my repairs done at European Cobberly on California Ave in Palo Alto.

Link in profile @zerowastechef for a new blog post, "How to Repair Your Stuff so You Buy Less of It."
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#birkenstocks #buylesss #buylesschoosewell #consumerism #repairshop #repaired #repairs #repaircafe #reuse #reusables #reducewaste #loveearth #noplanetb #thereisnoplanetb #climatecrisis #climateemergency #slowlivingmovement #artofslowliving #lowwaste #plasticfreeliving #plasticpollutes #breakfreefromplastic #zerowastejourney #zerowastelifestyle #zerowastemovement #zerowastehome #zerowastetips #zerowastechef
It's hot here today! Yesterday, the temperature hi It's hot here today! Yesterday, the temperature hit 95°F 🥵 Today's forecast calls for high 80s.

This homemade, three-ingredient deodorant has kept me smell-free. I'll still perspire though, which is fine (and healthy).

This contains baking soda and cornstarch, with coconut oil as the delivery system. I wear cotton t-shirts almost every day and haven't had a problem with stains (one of the top questions people ask) but if you're worried, test some of this on an inconspicuous spot. Simply applying baking soda to your underarms will work but I find I get baking soda all over my bathroom counter when I do that (you may be more coordinated).

I haven't tried this with arrowroot powder but over the years, people have told me that they use it in place of baking soda because they find baking soda irritating. Apparently the arrowroot powder works (please let me know if you've tried it).

To make this, combine the following in a short, wide-mouth jar:

☀️ 1/4 cup baking soda
☀️ 1/4 cup cornstarch
☀️ 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil (or more to reach desired consistency)

Apply a tiny amount of this per underarm, less than a pea-size blob, as shown in the picture. It works for a couple of days straight.

Cut the clunky single-use plastic applicators that contain a bit of deodorant and a lot of plastic. Save money too!

Do you make any of your own personal care products?
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#plasticfreejuly #deodorant #plasticfreedeodorant #simplify #simplifyyourlife #simpleliving #selfreliance #selfsufficient #sustainablelifestyle #wastefreeliving #intentionalliving #selfsufficient #zerowastebathroom #slowlivingmovement #artofslowliving #plasticfreeliving #plasticisfossilfuel #planetorplastic #plasticpollutes #lowwaste #zerowastejourney #zerowasteliving #zerowastetips #zerowastechef #thereisnoplanetb #noplanetb #loveearth #loveyourmother
Perhaps the rewilding is working! According to the Perhaps the rewilding is working! According to the Seek app from @inaturalistorg, this flame skimmer is a common dragonfly in the West. It hasn't been so common in my yard though!

It's week 4 of my 8-week challenge to plant more native plants. This week, we're choosing keystone native plants to put in the ground. Like keystones in the center of a Roman arch, certain native plants support entire ecosystems. These plants include oak, cherry and willow trees and goldenrods, asters and perennial sunflowers. Without keystone plants, ecosystems fall apart, according to entomologist Doug Tallamy @homegrownnationalpark: “Landscapes that do not contain one or more species from keystone genera will have failed food webs, even if the diversity of other plants is very high.” 

Native plants provide food for insects, support ecosystems, restore biodiversity, require less water and more. During this challenge, I'm working on restoring what was once a water-hungry lawn into a drought-tolerant, insect-attracting and critter-sustaining piece of the biodiversity puzzle. Link in profile for the full challenge. And please follow @homegrownnationalpark! Doug Tallamy's book, Nature's Best Hope, changed my life—and maybe this dragonfly's 😍
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#homegrownnationalpark #dougtallamy #insectgram #biodiversityconservation #extinctioncrisis #climatecrisis #nativeplants #invasiveplants #regenerative #regenerativegardening #urbangardener #urbangardens #gardeningtips #waterconservation #conserve #conservewater #californiadrought #californialife #drought #selfreliance #foodweb #sustainablelifestyle #simpleliving #wastefreeliving #intentionalliving #artofslowliving #zerowastechef #thereisnoplanetb
"When we think in terms of 'nobody is doing enough "When we think in terms of 'nobody is doing enough,' we forget about all the millions of people who care and are taking action. There are positive initiatives taking place, and we can choose to be a part of the remedy, rather than being consumed by the problem." — @climatepsychologists 

I recently finished reading the book, Turn the Tide on Climate Anxiety, written by the Climate Psychologists, Megan Kennedy-Woodard and Dr Patrick Kennedy-Williams. It has helped me reduce my anxiety-induced, scatterbrained feeling.

I don't know how one cannot feel anxious when reading about the climate crisis or experiencing its effects—or both. This book explains that anxiety is a rational response, tells us that we must take care of ourselves in order to be capable of taking care of the planet and it provides tools for turning climate anxiety into climate action.

On this World Environment Day, be sure to take care of yourself as well as the planet.

If you or someone you know has climate anxiety, this book can help.
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#worldenvironmentday #ecoanxiety #climateanxiety #climateactionnow #climateaction #globalgoals #keepitintheground #loveearth #noplanetb #thereisnoplanetb #buildbackbetter #strikeforclimate #plasticisfossilfuel #planetorplastic #climatecrisis #climateemergency #extinctioncrisis #biodiversitycrisis #climatechangeisreal #globalwarmingisreal #drought #californiadrought #californiawildfires #environmentalracism #stopline3 #honorthetreaties #climatejustice #actonclimate
Food prices keep going up, with no end in sight. Food prices keep going up, with no end in sight.

According to the UN, global food prices soared by nearly 30 percent this past year. Here in the US, food prices have increased 9.4 percent during this same time period. Food banks are also struggling to meet increased demand.

Drought, high shipping costs, bird flu, supply chain problems and a lingering pandemic have all contributed to higher food prices. Russian aggression has worsened an already precarious situation. Russia has blocked the export of 20 million tons of Ukrainian grain, which, if left to rot, will exacerbate a global food crisis. On top of all of this, climate change affects everything. According to NASA, climate change will result in substantially smaller crop yields by as early as 2030. Less food leads to higher food prices.

These seven ideas will help reduce your food costs:

1. Shop the fridge first before buying more food. Let it’s contents dictate what you’ll cook next. 
2. View everything as a resource. Use up every edible part of vegetables, for example.
3. Eat more fresh vegetables. They've increased in price less than most other foods and most of us need to eat more of them.
4. Buy pantry staples in bulk. Do this only if you'll eat all the food. You'll spend less money per pound.
5. Be your own sous chef. Do some advance prep. If it's prepped, it's eaten.
6. Cook like Grandma. Grandma used everything and knew how to do stuff. Her skills helped her through hard times. 
7. Grow a bit of food. If you don't have a yard, look into renting a plot at a community garden. I did this when my older daugther was a baby and we lived in an apartment. The plot was very inexpensive and I grew lots of food.

Go to my blog for more details in a new post. Link @zerowastechef
"The good news is that we can fix our ecological p "The good news is that we can fix our ecological problems by indulging rather than sacrificing." — Doug Tallamy @homegrownnationalpark 

Please join my 8-week challenge to plant natives!

Do you hear the daily bad environmental news and think to yourself, “I’ve got to do something, but what?!” Entomologist Doug Tallamy wants you to plant natives (as does wildlife). Planting natives addresses the climate crisis (native plants require less water and fewer pesticides and fertilizers) while simultaneously addressing the extinction crisis (planting natives supports ecosystems and restores biodiversity).

Our National Parks are too small and widespread to preserve and regenerate wildlife. Tallamy proposes we build Homegrown National Park, a grassroots effort to conserve nature by converting private yards into nature corridors. Filled with native plants, these yards will increase and reconnect wildlife habitats across the country. Every private home can participate in this extension of our National Parks. And individual homeowners need not be master gardeners to start. I’m proof of that!

And if you don’t have a yard, you can help get natives in the ground in many other ways. Volunteer at a local arboretum, community garden, school garden or park. The California Native Plant Society has several positions open for volunteers or interns, for example. Your state or province likely does also. (I have a link in the challenge to a list of state and provincial native plant societies.)

This week, I've been re-reading Tallamy's wonderful, NYT bestselling book, Nature's Best Hope. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. It has inspired me to literally roll my sleeves up and get to work in my yard, putting in native plants to regenerate biodiversity.

Link in profile for the challenge @zerowastechef.
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