While making the grocery list last week, it was noted that we had some cornmeal...so polenta went on the menu. I wasn't so sure how these ingredients would come together, but thought it was worth a try. It turned into something a little different than what I had envisioned...in a delicious way. I don't want to forget this combination, so here it is.  :) 

Zero-waste Polenta Dumplings + Chickpea Stew
part of a red onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped not peeled
chickpeas
tomato sauce or chopped tomato
cinnamon
salt
pepper flakes
polenta (1/2 cup cornmeal + 1 Tbsp. butter + 2 cups water)
cheese, grated

Saute chopped onion in olive oil over medium heat. Add tomato sauce (or chopped tomato), chickpeas, carrots + spices. Add water to almost cover the ingredients + simmer (with the lid on) for around 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. In the meantime, make polenta by boiling water + butter. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium, pour in cornmeal + whisk until bubbling up...remove from heat. Whisk to make sure there are no lumps, cover + set aside. Assemble + top with a bit of grated cheese (because cheese always makes Julia smile).  :) Enjoy!

Love,
Jane

It's still a bit brown + coldish outside, but I'm trying to remind myself + my tribe that we are almost out of the winter woods. A few happy hints that spring is here ::

Lightening up in the closet:
-My knits, hat, scarf, + gloves have been packed away in my suitcase with some lavender.
-It may be a few weeks until my wool blanket coat joins them, but I'm stitching up the holes in it now. The navy really hides the patches well.
-Not as many regrets when I go without socks (because I pretty much always do).  :)

Sunshine on a plate:
-Mangos. Alone or like this...add some yogurt, honey, cinnamon, pecans, + chocolate chips!
-Spring reminds me of the simple goodness of egg salad on toast with a sprinkle of greens.
​-Golden beets. With kale, onion, chickpeas, wild rice, + avocado.

Getting some fresh air:
-Spotted: crocus + daffodils + tree buds + blue bird
-Trying to get outside for a walk or just to sit in the sun for a bit on those rare warmer days.
-Or at least rolling down the car windows with some good tunes blasting.
-Welcomed fresh air indoors via an open screen door + also received a spider + itchy allergy eyes.

It's spring!

How are you experiencing it?

Love,
Jane

"At the end of the rainbow you find a pot of gold."  ~Jo, regarding this soup

Here is another subtle change on a regular around these parts. This was an experiment in left-overs gone oh, so good.  :) Left over spaghetti squash (we probably had about 2-3 cups- but the amount is pretty irrelevant) + half of a can of coconut milk (uncharacteristically grabbed on a whim) + a little switch in the spices = yum. Had to capture it here, so I don't forget. Hope you don't mind.  :)

Pot of Gold
part of an onion, diced
olive oil
4 cups water
left-over cooked spaghetti squash (or any squash/sweet potato)
potato, diced not peeled
2 carrots, sliced not peeled
handful or two of uncooked rice
​jar of cooked beans
1 Tbsp. boullion
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper flakes
1 tsp. grated ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
half of a can of coconut milk

Amounts are approximate. Use what you have. Saute onion in olive oil until translucent. Whirl squash or sweet potato in a blender with a cup of water. Add water, squash (that Julia + I thought looked identical enough to a pineapple smoothie that it could be a good prank), + all the rest (except the coconut milk). Bring to a boil. Turn heat down + simmer until rice is cooked, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, stir in coconut milk, + enjoy!

Love,
Jane

My mom probably gets quite a kick out of this, because I was the girl still sitting at the table well after the dishes were done + everyone else had moved on to other things...still sitting there with a plate of cold squash to finish before I could leave the table. But now...we love spaghetti squash!  :) Our favorite farmer asked if I knew about it years ago. He told me how to make it + sent me off with one. That year, Julia asked for it for her birthday meal.  :) Thank you, Steve! We appreciate you in so many ways!

Spaghetti squash fits right in with my no fuss meal prep preferences. Cut it in half...scoop out the seeds+ loose goop...rub a bit of olive oil onto the cut sides...place it face down...bake at 375F for one hour...and scrape it with a fork to release the pasta like strands. Add tomato sauce + cheese (+ whatever else makes spaghetti at your house) + you've got a delicious meal!

This dish was amazing thanks to The First Mess Cookbook by Laura Wright. I don't feel like I should share her exact recipe, but it's on page 166 + I made it with broccoli, spinach, cashews, chia seeds, + her delicious peanut sauce. It was fantastic + so full of flavor! Check your library.

Please excuse the blurry, off-center photo featuring my sock...the days have gotten long enough to take photos at dinner time...but only outside. It was freezing + I had to be quick.  :) 

Love,
Jane

It often feels like we buy the same zero-waste ingredients over and over again, so part of the reason that I record some of our meals here is to remind myself of the different ways that they can come together. Some of those differences are a little more subtle...like this one...but they are noteworthy just the same (to me).  :) I've been wanting to come up with a few sauces to top bowl-type meals...and we enjoyed this one.

Sweet Potato Salad 
1 sweet potato, peeled, chopped, + roasted in a little olive oil at 425F
1 cup dry wild rice, cooked while the potato roasts
spinach, chopped
1/2 cup yogurt
1 tsp. brown sugar or honey
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. pepper flakes
salt to taste
handful pecans

Amounts are approximate, so adjust to taste or availability. Mix yogurt, sweetener + spices to make a sauce. Top rice, spinach, sweet potato, + pecans with it. Enjoy.

Love,
Jane

Soup is a delicious + simple zero-waste meal! Packed with loose vegetable, bulk rice, garbanzo beans, and spices...this is one of our favorite meals. This meal was filling in the best of ways at the end of a long, cold day. Use up those lingering vegetables...especially these.  :) If any can be saved, it's an amazing lunch the day after!

Simple Zero-waste Soup
about 1/4 red onion, chopped 
olive oil
6 cups water
4 organic carrots, sliced not peeled
2 organic potatoes, sliced not peeled
1 1/2 c. chickpeas, cooked
3/4 c. rice, uncooked
1 Tbsp. boullion (much cheaper in store)(I use these glass jars for bulk spices)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper flakes (ours are potent)

Measurements are approximate. Use what you have. Experiment. Heat just enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pot over medium heat. Add onion + cook until translucent. Add water and all the rest to taste. Bring to boil, turn down heat + simmer until rice is cooked...stirring occasionally. Enjoy!

Love,
Jane

Super Simple Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup unsweetened peanut butter (or other nut butter)
3/4 cup sugar (make half of it brown sugar, if preferred)
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup oats 
(add 1/2 cup chocolate chips or unsweetened coconut, if desired)

Mix. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes. Enjoy.

This time I added the rest of the bulk unsweetened coconut I had (probably about 1/2 cup) + they are good!

Love,
Jane

Chai is my favorite during these cold winter days...but this zero-waste golden milk mix is making me happy right now too! Inspired by Naomi, I mixed bulk spices + put them into a jar. Now it's super easy to make golden milk any time.

Golden Milk Mix
2 parts turmeric
1 part ginger
1 part cinnamon
a few peppercorns or cracked pepper
Somewhere between 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of this mix stirred into warm milk along with a squeeze of honey is delicious!

​What I've been reading lately:
Sacred Acts: How Church's are Working to Protect Earth's Climate by Mallory McDuff :: Encouraging.
Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive and Creative Self by Manoush Zamorodi :: A good reminder to be mindful of how much time we spend with our devices.
Vintage Saints and Sinners by Karen Wright Marsh :: I ended up purchasing this to be part of the curriculum for Julia's junior year next year (so, yes, I like it!).

The art of gentle protest.
​"Winning slowly is the same as losing."
​A year of no shopping.
GOOP delves into zero-waste!

Hope you are keeping warm on this first weekend of 2018!

Love,
Jane

This is my favorite way to eat sweet potatoes. It looks super simple + there have been moments when I have thought I should perhaps add a little something more. And then I take a bite + am reminded that nothing extra is needed.

Last time I made this meal, another sweet potato was roasted + another cup of rice was cooked for another night. The sweet potato was made into soup + some beans + spinach for an easy encore. (This meal is still my favorite though.)  :)

Zero-waste Sweet Potato + Pecans
One large sweet potato
olive oil
1 cup dry rice, cooked
parmesan
​pecans
pepper flakes
salt

Peel + dice the sweet potato. Toss with a little olive oil + roast (at 420F) until soft (which is about the amount of time it takes for the rice to cook on the stovetop) (around 20 minutes for me). Assemble, season, + enjoy. (Feeds 4.)

A variation on this meal is to add some dry lentils to the rice (they can cook together) + to throw some chopped kale onto the rice/lentil mixture just as they are almost finished cooking. (Good, but not necessary.)  :)

Love,
​Jane

Falafel is most traditionally eaten with pita bread, + homemade (zero-waste) pita would be a delicious treat. Since moving away from gluten for one of our tribe, we've tried falafel with rice instead. The consensus is that we actually like it best this way. By making the rice ahead of time, this became a plate that was quite quick to put together on a busy evening. Instead of taking the extra time to make + bake the falafel (which is not too time consuming either), this shortcut uses all of the same spices + tastes just as good!

How is it zero-waste? We are blessed to live in an area where we have access to bulk rice, dried chickpeas, + spices. We grew this cucumber in our garden, but other organic produce is placed into a reusable bag all together at the super market or farmer's market...no flimsy plastic bags necessary. I make our yogurt from milk that comes in glass bottles that are returned + reused. The olive oil is bought from the bulk section + put into my own container when available...and bought in a recyclable glass bottle otherwise.

Zero-waste Deconstructed Falafel

chickpeas
spinach
rice
half an avocado, sliced
cucumber, chopped
yogurt
half a lemon, squeezed
dill
cayenne pepper or pepper flakes
cumin
salt
olive oil

Tear spinach + top with rice. Add cucumber + avocado. Mix chickpeas with olive oil, salt, cumin, + cayenne. Mix lemon juice, yogurt, salt, + dill. Assemble + enjoy!

This + lots of other zero-waste meal inspiration can be found easily by clicking the zero-waste meals tab up top.

Love,
Jane