[Nearly] Zero Waste at Walmart

September 17, 2018September 18, 2018 by No Makeup Mama ♥ 3 Comments

To be honest, this shopping trip was pretty far from “zero waste.” I’m admittedly using “nearly” very loosely here. The good news is that all of the waste, with the exception of the produce stickers, can be recycled or composted.

I don’t typically shop at Walmart, but when the closest bulk store is 30 minutes away and I have all three kids with me and we just spent the morning at the doctor and we really need some basics for baking and produce for snacks…well, sometimes I end up going to Walmart.

[This is actually the first time such a thing has happened because I try my best to always plan ahead and therefore avoid this problem.]

I don’t even have the time or energy to sort through my varied and complex feelings about Walmart in general. So, I had to do what I could, and I’m happy to report that, at the very least, I didn’t bring very much waste home.

Here’s a breakdown of what I got:

Flour and Sugar

I usually buy these from the bulk bins at Whole Foods or [recently] Fresh Thyme, but I just couldn’t get all the way to one of those stores. But, the good news is that these bags are compostable and I bought the largest bags I have space to store. My biggest bummer is actually that I’m not certain that the sugar is fair trade.

Extra virgin olive oil

We usually buy it at Walmart because it is a good price for a big jug [even though the jug is unfortunately plastic], BUT I will be buying my EVOO from Fresh Thyme from now on since they have it in bulk and I can bring my own container.

Toilet paper

I haven’t found a source of unpackaged toilet paper yet, so I buy the rolls in large packages and recycle the plastic wrap [grocery store drop off] and all of the cardboard rolls [curbside pickup].

I wish we were to the point of not using any toilet paper, but my husband is not a fan of the make-shift bidet [aka diaper sprayer].

Yeast

I buy my yeast in glass jars because I use a lot of yeast and glass is a sustainable material and good for reusing [like storing homemade baby food or making homemade candles] or recycling.

Milk

Ah, milk – the bane of my zero waste existence. I see why it is so much easier to be truly “zero waste” as a vegan. But my husband cannot live without milk. We could buy it in glass bottles, but I just can’t bring myself to do it yet. So, the downside is three plastic jugs to be recycled. BUT, on the upside, one gallon is for making homemade yogurt, and the other is for making homemade ricotta…so I’m saving the waste I would have if I bought those things.

[I’m trying to convince my family to switch over to the cashew milk I make and think is delicious – but change takes time…]

Produce

I picked up loose produce and put it in my own bags. The only regret is that the bananas are not fair trade – but I don’t even know where to find fair trade bananas. [Suggestions, anyone?]

Ironically, the produce is the only place where I brought home something actually bound for the trash can – the stickers.

But, I guess if this is all that goes to the landfill, that’s not too bad after all.

Karis

[Nearly] Zero Waste at Fresh Thyme

September 7, 2018 by No Makeup Mama ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Today we took a long drive to a grocery store that sounded [from everything I read online] like a bulk bin paradise. I first heard of Fresh Thyme Farmers Market a month or so ago during one of my many searches for local zero waste shopping options, but was sad to find that the closest store was forty minutes from my home. Since then, however, I learned that a new location is opening in January 2019 only ten minutes away!!!

So, today we decided to make the drive and check out the location nearest us. I was pleasantly surprised by the bulk bin options which, though not quite as many as Whole Foods, include bulk coffee beans and bulk liquids like oils, vinegars, and honey! And the prices are more reasonable than any other bulk sections I have found. The grocery store also runs good deals that offer meat and produce for prices similar to what our local grocer, Jewel-Osco, does, which is why I picked up a package of blackberries [my only purchase today with any plastic waste].

Here’s our grocery haul:

We even got some package-free bars of soap.

I put the bulk bin numbers into my phone for checkout so we didn’t even bother with any papers or pens or twisty ties or anything. The only other waste [besides the blackberry package] was the stickers on the bananas and avocados and the receipt.

Also, since going [nearly] zero waste and not buying any processed foods, we’ve reduced our grocery budget by $100 per month – from $400 to $300 for our family of five [being mostly vegan also really helps with saving money]. I think it is pretty clear that buying healthy, organic, local and fair trade food does not have to break the bank.

Quite frankly, I don’t know why more people aren’t doing it…

Karis

Zero Waste: Beeswax Wraps

September 3, 2018 by No Makeup Mama ♥ 1 Comment

In January of 2017, I made a New Years resolution to stop using all disposable products [i.e. paper towels, plastic bags, disposable cups, paper plates, paper napkins, etc] and switch everything in the house to reusable. At the time, I didn’t even know that zero waste was an actual thing and I certainly didn’t suspect that I would fall this far down the rabbit hole…but here we are.

It has been a long process [obviously] as we have slowly eliminated different disposable items from our lives as we’ve run out of them.

And today, I started using beeswax wraps.

Truthfully, I don’t use plastic wrap very much any more because I store pretty much everything in mason jars or plastic storage containers or reusable baggies. BUT on a few occasions [such as when making jam or prepping a salad ahead], I need something to cover a bowl. Today, I did both – so I used my beeswax wraps for the first time.

When I make jam [which I do every time strawberries go on sale for less than $1/lb], I follow Martha Stewart’s no-pectin recipe and soak the strawberries in sugar and lemon juice overnight. I usually cover the bowl with plastic wrap – but last night I covered the bowl with my beeswax wrap and it worked great.

Afterward, I just washed gently in the sink and hung to dry.

I also made a cabbage salad [that is a lot like an oil based coleslaw] that gets better as it sits in the fridge, so I covered the bowl with a beeswax wrap.

These wraps are also good for storing sandwiches or anything that can be fully wrapped – but like I said, I typically use containers for those things. The tackiness goes away over time, but these are supposed to last for at least a year.

Another disposable product GONE! Yay!

Karis

Dinner doesn’t have to be fancy

September 1, 2018 by No Makeup Mama ♥ 4 Comments

Dinner tonight was from the farm….

…but it wasn’t anything spectacular.

Roasted potatoes and sautéed pattypan squash.

I was considering preparing eggplant as well, but I realized that the potatoes and squash provided plenty of food [there was even enough for leftovers].

I read an autobiography earlier this year called Kisses from Katie by a young woman who left her privileged American life to live in Uganda and love on the people in her village. One story she tells is how she was preparing beans for dinner for her family and she didn’t realize how long it takes to cook dried beans – but the story was a lesson for me that we are far too opinionated around here about what constitutes a meal.

They were eating beans for dinner. That’s it. Just beans. And here I am feeling like my meals have to contain at least five different food groups AND be beautifully presented.

Dinner doesn’t have to have courses, or side dishes, or any specific food group. It doesn’t have to be colorful, or appealing to look at, or come from a recipe. Dinner could just be food – preferable real, healthy food. And in our house tonight, dinner was just two vegetables that I cooked and we all ate until we were satisfied.

[The kids asked for seconds.]

What I love most about our new simple lifestyle is that our food is simple. The meals are simple. The preparation is simple. The ingredients are simple. And they are healthy.

There are many homes in America where a box of mac and cheese is a standard meal for the kids [and I’m not judging because I’ve definitely been there and done that]. But I almost felt guilty about what I fed my kids tonight, and it was literally just vegetables. It may not have been colorful or fancy or a lot of variety, but it was healthy and it was filling and it was tasty.

And it was from our CSA, which I love more and more.

Don’t get me wrong – there are nights when we have company and I pretend that I love to cook and prepare three-course meals and a home baked dessert. But most nights are simple.

Maybe not usually quite this simple…but pretty simple.

Karis

How I got my kids to LOVE vegetables

August 23, 2018 by No Makeup Mama ♥ 2 Comments

Today’s lunch came from the farm.

Yesterday was CSA pickup day at Rustic Road Farm, so our fridge is now stocked once again with farm fresh veggies!

I pulled tomatoes, cucumber, and green beans for lunch today.

[Side note: I have developed a deep and passionate love for fresh green beans now that I have stopped buying them canned or frozen. Even if the waste wasn’t an issue, I don’t think I would ever go back to packaged green beans.]

I steamed then sautéed the green beans [total of seven minutes] and drizzled the fresh cucumber and tomato slices with my homemade caper vinaigrette and VOILA!

Farm fresh lunch!

[Side note: there is no rule that says “salad” has to contain leafy greens or be in a bowl. I like to deconstruct my salads and basically use any veggies I have with a little oil and vinegar.]

My kids ate the same thing.

[They also ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, because 1) we are creatures of habit, and 2) I make the peanut butter, jam, and whole wheat bread from scratch, so it is a pretty healthy meal containing whole grains, fruit, and nuts – then with the addition of the vegetables, it is a well-balanced meal.]

Even my baby girl ate the veggies after her PBJ.

I’m very lucky that my kids love vegetables – but I don’t think it’s ALL luck. Here are some of the things I do to help my kids love vegetables:

1. I assume that they will like vegetables. I think we sometimes condition our kids to dislike vegetables by speaking of them negatively or not even offering them because we assume they won’t like them or forcing them to eat their vegetables in order to get a treat. I purposefully assume that they will like the vegetables. That is partly because I love vegetables. I think that vegetables are AWESOME, so why wouldn’t my kids like them??? Which brings us to number two:

2. I eat a lot of vegetables. I can’t expect my kids to want to eat them if I don’t. I even eat vegetables that I don’t like. I’m not a big fan of cucumbers, but turns out my daughter Evangeline loves them. Brett hates tomatoes, but all three of our kids LOVE them. I eat vegetables every day for lunch which has made my kids view salads as a totally normal meal. I frequently serve them a salad alongside their PBJ – and they always eat THE WHOLE THING. In fact, I started because they used to ask me for bites of my salad so much that there would barely be any left for me to eat so I started just making them their own. I don’t even give them ranch dressing [which, as we all know, is the child-approved way to eat salad]. I make theirs just like mine – with oil and vinegar.

3. I serve a wide variety and large quantity of vegetables. My kids typically eat mostly vegetables at mealtime. They eat a lot of different kinds. Each one of my kids has their own favorites, but they always eat a variety. I always offer at least two different vegetables – but usually more. This way, the meat [if I’m serving any] and starch become the side dishes and the vegetables become the star of the meal [which is the key to healthy eating, by the way].

4. I start them young and don’t stop. I think most people start their babies with vegetables, but eventually start mixing the vegetables with fruit and then slowly over time the vegetables become a smaller part of a kids diet, overtaken by cereal and yogurt and bread and meat and cheese and French fries…things that we typically eat more of as adults. It must be because I eat so many vegetables that I naturally just keep feeding my kids the same stuff I eat.

I can’t say for sure that these things are the only factors, but my kids will typically eat all the vegetables off their plates first and then have to be told to eat their meat.

Don’t get me wrong, they really like mac and cheese too. And tonight we are going to a ball game and they are going to be super excited to eat hotdogs. But, hopefully, overall, they are going to keeping loving their vegetables and being healthy eaters for the rest of their lives.

🤞🏻

That’s every mom’s dream for their kids – that they be healthy – right?

Karis

Garden Fresh Lunch

August 22, 2018 by No Makeup Mama ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Today I got my lunch from the garden.

While the kids played on the deck, I walked down to the garden and picked a beautiful summer squash [along with some tomatoes].

It looked too good to pass up, especially since my plan had been to eat leftover vegan chili for lunch.

So, I spiralized, chopped…

…sautéed, and hit it with some basil pesto I made a few days ago and VOILA!

A beautiful and delicious and garden fresh lunch!

Growing my own food is rewarding AND delicious.

Karis

Healthy Eating in Real Life

July 23, 2018 by No Makeup Mama ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

As promised, I’ve been tracking my food. Honestly, it hasn’t gone as well as I had hoped. On Saturday I fell off the healthy eating bandwagon and I haven’t gotten quite back on yet. But that is real life. It has been an education for myself about my eating habits and I’ve learned a few interesting things about myself in the process:

1. Brett and I have gotten into a bad habit of having pizza delivered when we are hanging out late at night. This is both terrible for my health and our budget. I don’t even know why I get such pizza cravings when I KNOW it will literally make me sick for at least the whole next day and usually several days – not to mention it does not make baby JoElle feel well either.

2. I am an emotional eater. I can’t believe this is a revelation to me, but I was always under the impression that I’m not very emotional at all. For the last seven years, I have been channeling my emotions into physical activity [which is largely what has allowed me to become a long distance runner]. But, since having my third baby, I am not always able to dedicate two hours each morning to exercise – which really messes with my emotional balance – and results in late night snacking on things I wouldn’t ordinarily eat.

I’m making it sound worse than it is – but I am about to be totally honest about the things I consumed over the last few days.

First of all, I ate the same breakfast – [oatmeal with maple syrup and raisins] and the same lunch [cabbage and kale salad with oil and vinegar] each day, so I’m really only going to share what I had for dinner, unless it differed from above.

Wednesday, July 18th:

Zoodles [and Squoodles?] with Pesto

Spiralized zucchini and summer squash with homemade vegan pesto [kohlrabi leaves, garlic scapes, almonds, olive oil, and homemade vegan parmesan]

Thursday, July 19th:

Sautéed summer squash, cabbage, garlic scapes and onion, roasted cauliflower

For a snack I ate homemade cantaloupe bread.

[As someone who doesn’t love cantaloupe – the bread was AMAZING! Made just like banana bread, but with cantaloupe instead of bananas which made for a perfectly sweet and delicious quick bread that the whole family loved.]

Friday, July 20th:

Leftover sautéed cabbage and steamed broccoli

For a snack later that evening I ate roasted cauliflower and eggplant chips.

Saturday, July 21st:

So this is where the healthy eating derailed…

Brett and I were up at 5:15am to get our kids packed up and dropped off before running a half marathon.

My pre-race breakfast is always toast [in this case, homemade whole wheat bread] with [homemade] peanut butter, maple syrup and a banana.

After the run, I ate an apple and grapes and was still starving so we ordered bacon, egg, and cheese croissants at Dunkin’ Donuts and split a donut.

For dinner we had roasted sweet potatoes, black beans, and grilled corn in a sort of burrito bowl. I topped mine with onions, tomatoes, lettuce and hot sauce.

Which was great, BUT…

…then, we ordered pizza and cheese bread while we tiled the bathtub surround until 2:30am.

Sunday, July 22nd:

My kids we’re up at a shocking 5:30am and I had to take them all to work with me that morning so I ended up eating no breakfast and leftover pizza for lunch. For dinner Brett picked up sushi for me and a rotisserie chicken for the kids.

Monday, July 23rd:

Despite a good workout in the morning, I just couldn’t get back on the healthy bandwagon today. I had my usual oatmeal for breakfast, pretty much no lunch and Brett picked up wok n fire sushi rolls for dinner.

So, this week was supposed to be an “on” week for the veggie diet, but it didn’t really happen. I ate meat and seafood, cheese and breads, chocolate and [gasp] donuts. I don’t even like donuts!

Well, I guess this is healthy eating in real life!

Karis

My [Nearly] Vegetable-Only Diet

July 18, 2018October 30, 2019 by No Makeup Mama ♥ 2 Comments

***Read about my 2019 [Nearly] Vegetable-Only Diet HERE***

*I could have entitled this post “How I lost 20 pounds in 3 weeks,” but that sounds like I’m trying to reel you in to sell you a self-published cookbook or something, so instead I gave you the honest point of the post upfront. Because that’s what people who write on the internet should do. That way, if you are interested, you can read it, and if not, you don’t need to waste your time.*

But first, our garden is producing vegetables!!!! FINALLY!

Aren’t they beautiful?

[I’ve already picked many more tomatoes but I always eat them immediately.]

Here they are on the cabbage and kale salad that I ate for lunch today:

This is just a small sign of the wonderful things to come in the next few weeks. We also have cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, bell peppers, kale, green beans, broccoli and [crossing my fingers] carrots nearly ready to be harvested!

Unfortunately, the snap peas and spinach are not going to make it this year and I have no idea what’s happening with the onions [them being underground and all]…but that’s why we got the CSA.

Secondly, our CSA this week has provided some of my favorite vegetables!

Corn, zucchini, summer squash, cauliflower, green beans, cucumber, eggplant, kale, MORE green onions [I am so overrun with green onions!] and, of course, more cabbage.

So, anyway, we’ve got to get busy on the vegetable front – which brings me to the point of all this…

Third and finally, I have been experimenting with a plant-based, MOSTLY vegetable diet off and on since February. This isn’t an official diet with a name or a book – I completely made it up and created my own rules based on my [slightly educated] understanding of healthy eating [and a fair share of Netflix food documentaries – cuz I’m obviously a sucker for those].

The “diet” [a word a hate using because of its negative connotation, but that I am using here to mean “the foods that I consume”] has sparked many conversations with coworkers and friends and my personal training clients because I lost a relatively significant amount of weight in a relatively short amount of time.

[As a personal trainer, I have to mention that this was baby weight – though some of it had been hanging around since Evangeline was born – and typically it is not healthy to lose more than 1 or 2 pounds per week.]

Everyone wants to know what I’ve been doing to lose weight. The answer is simple. I’ve been eating vegetables – pretty much ONLY vegetables. The other things I eat are fruit and legumes and nuts. The only grain I eat is rolled oats for breakfast each morning, sweetened with pure maple syrup. I use extra virgin olive oil for cooking and I make my own oil and vinegar dressing for my salads.

Oh, and herbs and seasonings – but those are vegetables too…right? Except maybe salt? Anyway…

And sometimes hot sauce.

I eat all of the legumes, nuts, fruit and vegetables in their most natural form – not canned, not chopped, not cooked, not prepped in anyway. I do all that myself.

I drink coffee in the morning and water the rest of the day.

That’s it.

The next question that ALWAYS follows is, “But what do you eat for meals?” because in American culture, meals are built around meat or bread or rice, so the thought of eating a meal without any of those is perplexing.

I was there too – on day one of this thing, staring at my plate of steamed broccoli for dinner. But I’ve gotten much better at it since then.

So, to help people see what I actually eat, I’m going to log my food [not track my calories, btw, because that is unnecessary when eating this way] and show everyone what a [nearly] vegetable-only diet looks like.

[I don’t eat this way all the time, either. I rotate between this and a less strict diet that includes some meat, but I am off the dairy bandwagon forever I think – especially after making my own vegan Parmesan and discovering Haagen Das’ non-dairy ice cream! Who needs dairy when the alternatives are BETTER????]

Anyway, vegetables are actually quite delicious and I feel really good when I am eating this way.

No, really.

You’ll see.

Karis

CSA Update

July 11, 2018 by No Makeup Mama ♥ 3 Comments

Now that month 1 of our first CSA share is over, I can confidently say that this is every bit as wonderful as I imagined it would be. My biggest fear was that we would let food go to waste because I didn’t know how to prepare it. But, I am happy to report that [so far] I’ve done a pretty good job of preparing and eating everything we’ve been given. Nothing has been thrown out [which is good because I am HUGELY against wasting food].

I am starting to fall behind, however. We have a weekly half share, but it is so much food that I am using the vegetables in pretty much EVERY SINGLE MEAL and we are barely able to eat it all before the next week [which is surprising since 90% of the food I eat is vegetables – but more on my eating habits some other time].

I still have a head of cabbage from last week, and I just got another one this week.

Cabbage recipes, anyone?

Here are some of the fun and unusual things we’ve received and how we ate them:

Garlic scapes – [I had never heard of these before] We ate them cooked in scrambled eggs and fried rice, in place of garlic in kohlrabi pesto, and fried with sea salt. They are better than munching on raw garlic…but you’ll still need a breath mint.

These super funky, curly things are garlic scapes.

Kohlrabi – [I had never heard of this vegetable before either] We ate the bulb raw [cut into “fries” for salads or snacks] and also roasted. We ate the leaves in soup and blended into a pesto which we use on pasta and pizza. This is actually a hugely underrated vegetable, in my opinion. You can do so much with it! And it’s pretty dang good!

This is what kohlrabi looks like. Word to the wise – peel the bulb before eating.

Swiss Chard – [I had never had Swiss chard before] We ate it sautéed as a side dish and baked into Swiss chard chips. Not my fave.

Bok Choy – [I had never had Bok Choy before either, though I have bought it many times to feed our sugar gliders back in the day] – We ate it sautéed and roasted with tamari sauce. I actually like it, but Brett and the kids aren’t really fans.

Kale [Red Russia and Siberian] – [I’ve had kale before, but it’s not something I usually buy] I baked it into kale chips – which the kids loved – and put it into vegetable soup [I make vegetable soup a lot], and also had it in salad, obviously. We got more today so I am looking forward to adding it to egg dishes and trying it sautéed. I will probably make more kale chips too.

Scallions – [TONS of scallions – which we are actually growing in our herb planters right now. I have scallions coming out of my ears!] I made a scallion and basil pesto – with basil from a client’s garden – and used some of the remaining scallions to top fried rice, a sweet potato skillet, and eggs. I chopped and froze the rest.

Vegan scallion and basil pesto. Don’t ask for the recipe – I make these things up, but it was delicious!

Other stuff we received: red butterhead lettuce, romaine lettuce, broccoli, cucumber, zucchini, summer squash, green beans, and cabbage.

So, about that cabbage…

Suggestions, anyone??

Karis

Our First CSA Share

June 20, 2018November 17, 2019 by No Makeup Mama ♥ 1 Comment

Ever since I first heard of a CSA [Community Supported Agriculture] program, I have been wanting to purchase a share. But, because my financial priority was always to buy the cheapest “healthy” food possible, I never felt that I could afford to pay share prices. The vegetables at the grocery store were healthy enough and fit in my budget.

[I haven’t actually done the research to determine whether store vegetables are cheaper – I just always assumed that they were.]

But, now that we’ve adjusted our financial priorities to reflect our true values regarding food [sustainability, healthfulness, and quality over…everything else], not only is a CSA suddenly affordable – it is literally the very best option BY A MILE and one that we will likely choose for the rest of our lives [assuming we always have a CSA available in our community].

Here are some reasons why I love it – and why you should give it a try:

Sustainability: Owning a CSA share is extremely sustainable. I picked up my share this week with my own canvas bags. There was literally no paper exchanged, no plastic bags or film around the food, no twisty ties, no produce stickers [hallelujah, cuz those little buggers are so unnecessary and wasteful].

Healthfulness: A CSA share provides the healthiest produce for my family. Each week, I am picking up food that is local and in season and just harvested the day before. I know exactly where it was grown, how it was grown, even the people who are growing it.

Variety: When I go to the grocery store where literally every vegetable is available to me all year long, I can easily just choose my favorites and eat the same vegetables my whole life [not to mention that I don’t even consider where this cucumber must have come from or how it has been preserved so well after being shipped half way across the country or how long ago it was picked OR how does it look so perfect anyway???? …but I digress]. With a CSA, I don’t even get a choice. Whatever is ready to be harvested that week – that’s what we’ll be eating. It makes so much sense. I can’t wait to experiment with a wide variety of foods – some that I have never even heard of before – and hopefully discover some new favorites!

Today was the first pickup of our 20 week share and I was so excited that I almost woke the baby up early from her morning nap so we could get going.

At the farm, the kids had fun petting and feeding the goats and chasing the chickens.

Oh, how we would LOVE farm life.

We picked up our food and thanked our farmers.

This just feels right.

Ever since Brett and I started rethinking how we wanted to live our lives, I have been wanting a simpler existence and more intentional, cooperative relationships with the people in my community. A CSA share feels like the biggest step we have made in that direction so far. And it feels good.

Now, I have to go figure out how to prepare kohlrabi for dinner…

Karis

No Makeup Mama

motherhood simplified

Tag: healthy eating

[Nearly] Zero Waste at Walmart

[Nearly] Zero Waste at Fresh Thyme

Zero Waste: Beeswax Wraps

Dinner doesn’t have to be fancy

Garden Fresh Lunch

Healthy Eating in Real Life