republic of tea:: this is the tea we've been able to source in bulk locally :: also available loose leaf in tins :: some organic + some fair-trade

arbor teas :: all organic :: many fair-trade :: backyard compostable packaging ::
they make the point that steel tins are not really sustainable, but it's never completely clear how sustainable "compostable" packaging is either :: pictures via arbor teas

I love tea...hot tea or cold tea...tea is comfort. One cool day over the weekend + I was ready for a warm drink. Tea has been something I was able to buy in bulk (scooped into my own container from home) until recently. Our grocery store closed + the new location didn't carry bulk tea (which is when I acquired those containers of tea above). After a few requests, the grocery store started offering a very limited selection. A few weeks ago, I went to buy some turmeric + all the bulk spices + teas were gone. I was told that they were removed by corporate + that there was nothing this location could do about it. It's maddening that climate change is progressing at a rapid rate, + the powers that be are just kicking progress in the teeth. Needless to say, I voiced my support for the bulk spices + drove to another store.

This article about microplastic particles shedding from some tea bags makes another strong argument for bulk tea. The best packaging is no packaging...no tea bags, no container + no post office packaging. Co-ops, health food stores + tea shops are great places to look for bulk tea. If none can be found locally, the teas above can all be found online. Make sure to choose loose leaf tea. It's easy to make using a strainer or a small tool like this (my favorite kind).

Do you have a favorite tea to share? I'd love to hear!  :)

Love,
​Jane

I imagine that most of us have heard that an alarmingly large portion of the Amazon rainforest is on fire. We know that the rainforest provides a significant portion of the planet's oxygen, carbon sequestration, water cycle maintenance + climate stabilization. It is a source of food + medicine. The rainforest provides a unique habitat for varied plant + animal species and is home to indigenous peoples. We all depend on the health of the Amazon rainforest.

As the American president loosens environmental protections one after another, Brazil's president has been about the same business. Both leaders are willing to lay down precious natural resources in the pursuit of for-profit resource exploitation. Farmers + ranchers in the Amazon started most of the currently burning fires in order to clear land for cattle grazing. Brazil is now the world's leading exporter of beef.

Discussion over who should have to pay the price of rainforest conservation has been in play for many years. If all people benefit from rainforests, why should only those countries that contain this resource pay the price of decreased land use + productivity? Today, the leaders at the G7 agreed to send $20 million to help put out the fires raging in the Amazon + to aid in reforestation. The Brazilian president views this aid as colonialism...powerful nations dictating preservation. How do we help preserve the environment, if those in power do not wish to protect it? These questions deserve attention.

A little over a decade ago, it was the realization that the rainforest was being clearcut in order to make way for cattle grazing that pushed me over the hump in deciding to stop eating meat. The rainforests are vital to our survival, and I would rather have oxygen than beef. 

A few ways we can participate in stopping the fires + deforestation:
-give up beef or decrease consumption
-share this connection with others
-donate to these organizations already at work

Love,
​Jane

Movement + nature are another major component of self-care in this department. The wellness industry would like us to sell us personal trainers, books, classes, retreats, special clothing + equipment. 

We instinctively know that the true self-care comes from:
-moving...stretching, a few sun salutations, walking, yoga, whatever movement you enjoy
-getting into nature...walking, hiking + biking are great, but so is finding a shady spot for lunch...when it's hot sit on the stoop in the shade in the morning for a few minutes or at least by an open window

On these hottest of days...move, do yoga, or stretch under a fan...get the air moving. Play some vibey, soft music. Getting on the floor changes everything. Take a walk as the sun comes up. Play some happy, energizing music loud + dance. Sign up for a class or a membership, if it's in the budget + you know you'll go...but it's not self-care, if our budgets can't support it.  ;)

Whether or not I feel like tying my shoes to go for a walk in the morning, the outdoor air always holds something to notice...heat, humidity, a breeze, a change. I feel small in the bigness of nature...even in my neighborhood. I usually walk with my girls, so there is conversation + closeness. And back at home, I feel like I've done it (!)...the chore of exercise no longer looms over my head. My legs + my lungs feel stronger. There is a lightness + usually a smile. Now that is self-care...no debt...no guilt...less stress.

​A healthy diet, movement + a little time spent in nature can set us up for another crucial aspect of self-care...sleep. A regular schedule for bedtime + waking is helpful. A twenty minute nap can be a rejuvenating treat as well.  :)

While our circumstances + preferences will vary greatly, I think our thought processes can have something in common along the way. Self-care is not truly self-care if it leaves us feeling more stressed about our health, time or money. True self-care promotes true thriving.  :)

​Also in this series :: roots + time

Love,
​Jane

We're into homemade pizza around here. It's a meal that always conjures just a little bit more excitement than usual. I was looking to add a little variety in the pizza department + decided to make a barbecue (sauce) pizza (as opposed to one defined as "barbecue", because it was cooked on the grill...which is also delicious!). 

I try to avoid buying things in glass jars as much as possible, but a jar of barbecue sauce could sauce up a bunch of pizzas...so I bought a bottle. (We can recycle glass in special receptacles located in parking lots placed around our city, but recycling still takes energy + water.)

For toppings, I thought green onions, cabbage + carrots would be good. As a quick solution, I decided to purchase these ingredients from the salad bar. These ingredients don't weigh much (so aren't super expensive), and I can buy just enough of each for our pizza. Last week's barbecue pizza had tofu on it. Though we usually eat vegetarian at home, this week's pizza has chicken on it. Both were found at the salad bar + added to the same container brought from home.

When suppertime rolls around, we make a pizza crust...spread some barbecue sauce on it...spread the salad bar ingredients (minus the tofu/chicken)...top with grated cheese...and bake. Five minutes before it's done, I add the tofu/chicken mixed with a little more barbecue sauce (in order to avoid drying them out)...and bake five more minutes.

The salad bar is a great source of unpackaged ingredients like tofu, mozzarella balls, olives + lots more. I save the more expensive purchases for rare treats. Salad bar pizza toppings make for a simple, quick + tasty meal.  :)

Love,
​Jane

One of the things I quickly discovered while making zero-waste meals is that a good sauce can make all the difference. As zero-wasters, we're working with the most delicious + nutritious ingredients: fresh vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts + seeds to name a few. Sometimes salt, pepper flakes + a bit of olive oil is all that is needed to make these into a tasty meal. Sometimes a simple sauce bumps the whole enterprise up a notch.

This meal was simple + delicious...and zero-waste. This salad can obviously be made with a variety of ingredients. I do especially like this dressing/sauce with chickpeas + cucumbers + tomatoes.

Simple saucy salad
greens
rice
chickpeas
avocado
for the sauce: 
lemon juice
yogurt
dill
cayenne
salt

Assemble + enjoy!

A meal like this can be a quick meal with a little foresight + regular preparation. Regularly cooking up a large batch of chickpeas all at once, always having yogurt on hand + storing my greens effectively help so much when it comes time to make meals...even at the end of a long day. (I've linked a few of the ways I keep these ingredients zero-waste, fresh + ready for use above.) When I cook rice, I always cook more than I need, so that I can have some already cooked rice on hand for meals like this. This salad can be eaten cold or warm. It could be batch made ahead for lunches too. Nourishing, quick, easy + tasty...just how I like my meals!

Love,
Jane

I've shared before how we buy + store bread in a zero-waste way. We did it that way for years, + it worked well. The only issue we had was that when the humidity was high, the bread became difficult to break off of the frozen loaf in one piece. Another issue with this storage option could be that some might prefer to eat bread rather than toast...or to pack a sandwich for later.

So...here is the way we've been doing zero-waste bread for the last year + a bit. An unpackaged loaf of bread is sliced at the store + put into a cloth bag from home. (I made my bags with the dimensions of a bag from the store as a guide. I like the bag to be big enough to slide over the loaf, but small enough to hold the sliced loaf together.) At home, I put the bread (cloth bag + all) into a plastic bread bag that we use over + over (I would imagine that a nylon baggu bag would work just as well). I just twist the bag closed, and it will keep in the fridge for a week. If I have part of a loaf still in the fridge when I bring home a new loaf, I'll put the new one into the freezer. When someone uses up the last of the refrigerated bread, they move the frozen loaf into the fridge. 

If I was shopping for one or two people (instead of a family), I may split the loaf in half...storing half in the freezer + half in the fridge. This would keep the bread fresh + ready to eat as bread or toast. Hope all of that makes sense!  :)

Love,
Jane

Going zero-waste can effect the ease of figuring out what's for dinner. I've found that having a few go-to categories (rather than meals themselves) allows for simpler grocery list making, seasonal vegetable enjoyment + a bit of variety. We've touched on five of those categories over the past few weeks, and now we have arrived at the sixth category :: pasta. 

When we first started seriously shopping the bulk bins, we could purchase bulk pasta there. At the moment I can't locate bulk pasta, but can buy orzo + couscous in bulk. Now that we avoid gluten, we don't choose those either. The first year we ate gluten-free, I skipped pasta altogether. Now we choose a gluten-free pasta in a recyclable cardboard box. (Anyway, there are a few different zero-waste options for pasta.)

Pasta is a familiar meal choice for most of us, so I probably don't need to elaborate too much...but I will just a bit.  :) Pesto pasta can be made by blending a couple of handfuls of tasty greens (basil, most commonly), a small handful of bulk nuts (pine nuts, walnuts, pecans), a clove or two of garlic (if you like), a glug of olive oil, salt, + pepper. Add a squeeze of lemon juice or grated parmesan, if desired. Mix this pesto with seasonal vegetables, chickpeas + pasta for a tasty meal like the one above.

One of my girls loves anything cheesy, and macaroni + cheese is a favorite. Our zero-waste mac + cheese is better than any I made before. I melt a small block of butter over medium heat, stir in a spoonful or two of flour (gluten-free works too) + add some milk. Whisk, whisk, whisk until this mixture thickens into a bubbly, gravy consistency. Remove from the heat + stir in some grated cheese (we love pepper jack). Poured over pasta + some steamed broccoli = decadently delicious.

My favorite way to eat spaghetti type pasta is to make a sauce of chopped fresh tomatoes (or some of my sauce) added to a skillet already sautéing red onion (add some red pepper too, if desired) + to cook it all down a bit. Stir in some salt + pepper flakes for a tasty sauce.

A hearty vegetable + legume + noodle soup is another tasty way to eat pasta. 

Parts 01, 02, 03, 04, 05 of building a zero-waste meal plan.  :) We eat vegetarian at home, but any of the meal choices offered here can easily incorporate meat, if desired.

Love, 
Jane

It's been raining for weeks, but today the sun was shining when we woke up. I couldn't help but smile. There's nothing like a garden to make us realize just how dependent on the weather we really are. Too much rain can wreak as much havoc as too little. My tiny stakes don't begin to compare to a farmer's, but they do open my eyes to the enormous effects of climate change on our food supply.

Eating food fresh from the garden is pretty amazing! Never are the radishes so spicy or the chives so pungent as when they've been harvested minutes before that first bite. 

Planting + watering + caring for + harvesting + tasting our own food just must be one of the best ways to share a connection with our planet...with our children. I felt it imperative to be able to let my girls pull a carrot out of the soil...pick strawberries off the vine...dig potatoes out of the ground. I'd done it as a child + there was just no way to explain the pure magic of it to them. Before having our own garden, we made sure to find pick-your-own apple orchards and strawberry + blueberry fields. We ate things straight away, and we made jam + apple sauce too. Establishing connections between the land + weather + farmers + our bodies is crucial. These connections form our thoughts + attitudes + actions...and the connection is there whether we acknowledge it or not.

Love,
​Jane

When it comes to healthy eating, I find it helpful to have some ground rules. Michael Pollen's food rules are just about right:
-Eat food. (Not processed food-stuff.)
-Mostly plants.
-Not too much.
I would like to add zero-waste to the list (which is quite compatible with the above rules).

In a quest to make my weekly menu planning + grocery list making easier, we have a weekly menu which consists of six meal categories. These categories have some flexibility for seasonal produce, prep time + preferences built in. 

This time, we're taking a closer look at the grain bowl. A grain bowl around here consists of a whole grain + vegetables + protein source + flavor.

Obviously this is a very flexible directive which could begin with any type of grain...quinoa, brown rice, wild rice + polenta are some of our favorites. I don't keep all of them stocked, but rotate as desired. Same with the protein source. Our most likely choices are chickpeas, lentils, beans, peas, nuts, seeds + eggs. Seasonal vegetables can steer the direction of the entire enterprise. And the flavor can come from a variety of sources...spices, herbs, citrus, yogurt + cheese often feature. The possibilities are truly endless here, but to name a few:

Tikka Massala (shown above)
broccoli
brown rice (1 cup bulk dry)
2 cans chickpeas
1/2 can coconut milk (full fat)
​1/2 lime, squeezed
tomato sauce
spices: (about 1 tsp. each) cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, cumin, cayenne
cilantro
Cook rice + steam broccoli. 

-A spring bowl might consist of quinoa, roasted asparagus, chickpeas, feta, chives, salt, pepper flakes + a squeeze of lemon.

-A summery bowl could include polenta, sun gold tomatoes, onion, cucumber, avocado, spiced pinto beans, cilantro + a squeeze of lime.

-In the fall wild rice, sweet potato, kale, black beans + a drizzle of yogurt, honey, cayenne + cinnamon sauce would be warming + flavorful.

-A bowl of potatoes, carrots + spinach stirred into a sauce of tomato sauce, coconut milk, turmeric, ginger, lime + pepper flakes on a bed of brown rice would be most welcome in the winter months.

This one meal category is so versatile that it really could be what I eat for dinner every night. Since I cook for more than myself, however, I switch it up. I fing that it's really nice to have some sort of system to utilize when I'm making my grocery list. One more category to come!

Love,
Jane

I like to keep actual breakfast at our house pretty simple, so hearty breakfast foods make a special appearance at dinner time. I like this meal, not only because it is tasty, but also because it is relatively inexpensive. A frittata (or quiche) can make use of the end of week vegetables + cheese. Greens mixed with a little lemon juice, olive oil, salt + pepper dressing is a nice partner. A big omelet stuffed with vegetables and maybe a side of potatoes...all topped with salsa is always welcomed. 

Pre-gluten-free days, we liked eggy bread made from a fluffy loaf of french bread (which can be frozen to save an extra trip to the store + cut while still frozen) or sourdough. My favorite topping is a bit of jam...or make it a croque madame or monsieur. Pancakes are a meal that can often be made from what is on hand. When it comes to zero-waste toppings, we can put maple syrup from the bulk section into our own container from home...or...my favorite option is to make a syrup out of seasonal fruit like strawberries, mangos or apples. Add some sliced fruit to a bit of butter in a pot or skillet along with a little sugar, cinnamon + corn or potato starch to thicken. (The strawberries above were from our garden.)  :)

Breakfast for dinner...it's a good thing.  

Love,
Jane