The Alaskan permafrost has begun to thaw. This is bad. As the permafrost melts due to increased temperatures, it will expose centuries-old buried plants that absorbed carbon dioxide and froze before they could decompose. As the no-longer-perma permafrost thaws, it will expose this organic matter, which will then decompose and as a result, release carbon […]
vegan
Homemade Tahini
We eat lots of hummus and so go through quite a bit of tahini. I’m pretty sure when people set out to reduce their waste, their hummus intake becomes inversely proportional. There’s likely a mathematical theory that proves this. This past weekend, I cooked two cups of chickpeas in my pressure cooker for hummus but […]
Drawdown: A Book that Just Might Save the Planet
The bad news on the environment is as unrelenting as a California wildfire. We’re well over 400 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (scientists consider 350 ppm safe). A 2012 report from the World Bank describes the world as “barreling down a path to heat up by 4 degrees at the end […]
Rice Milk
The short version of this post To make rice milk, whir 1/2 cup of cooked rice and 2 cups of water in a blender until the mixture reaches a smooth consistency. Drink. The long version Homemade rice milk made with leftover cooked rice prevents both food waste—because you can use up that rice sitting in […]
Almond Milk
One post on my blog that gets regular traffic is my no-cook rice milk recipe. I need to update it a bit actually… But in the meantime, I thought I should add a nut milk to my recipe index. I hadn’t made almond milk for, well, a few years. It’s easy to make, it tastes better […]
Vegetarian Chili
I have tried to make good vegetarian chili many times over the years—and have consistently failed. Instead of hearty and filling, it had always turned out thin, soupy and unsatisfying. We eat lots of soup and I love it—when I intend to make soup. But I don’t like chili soup. So I consulted the expert cook […]
Chana Masala (Chickpeas in Tomato-Onion Sauce)
I had planned to post this recipe midweek but I wasn’t happy with the pictures. So I made it again, which is fine because I could eat it just about every day, I love it so much. Even my picky daughter will eat this. In summer, I buy lots of Early Girl, dry farmed tomatoes […]
Not-Too-Spicy Black Beans
Click here to jump to the recipe I am in the throes of moving. Packing ALL of your cookbooks, several pots and pans and even some of your food really forces you to get resourceful in the kitchen. I feel like I’m camping indoors, except I don’t have to look out for bears when I use the […]
Cauliflower “Couscous”
Click here to jump to the recipe I need to eat more vegetables. Going zero-waste certainly forced me to clean up my diet—I cut the POP (processed and over-packaged) “food”—but I do love sugar and I can buy that in bulk where I live 😉 My older daughter first made this cauliflower dish last year, almost […]
Lentil Dal
I love Indian food and cook dal once a week or so. This delicious, satisfying and aromatic dish contains dry split peas or lentils, onions, tomatoes and spices. Even my picky daughter eats it. Like kitchen sink soup, frittata and vegetable fritters, you can improvise with dal, adding a bit of this and a smidgen of […]
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 […]