Pâté Recipe

Boy was my lunch delicious today. So good that I thought the recipe deserved getting shared with the world for others to enjoy. Looks like Nutella doesn't it? Well it's chicken liver pâté. 

Pâté is one of those things that until a few years ago, I was convinced had to be purchased in order to be enjoyed.

Well, I found that it is not true. The recipe is so simple, affordable and quick to make that it is a perfect picnic dish and cocktail appetizer.

Ingredients

Please refer below for more information on the origin of my ingredients

1 stick butter

1 lb. chicken liver

Couple rosemary sprigs

1 bay leaf

1/4 cup white wine or 2 tbsp. brandy (preferred)

Salt and pepper

Melt a 1/4 stick of butter in a large skillet

Add chicken livers and herbs and saute until thoroughly cooked (pink inside - 5 minutes)

Add a splash of white wine or brandy to deglaze 

Compost bay leaf, set aside rosemary sprigs, and blend chicken livers with the remaining butter 

and 3 tbsp wine or 1 tbsp brandy.

Season to taste, garnish with the rosemary sprig and voila!

Enjoy with baguette and cornichon (optional: a green salad).

How Zero Waste are my ingredients?

Butter: As mentioned before, I stopped making butter because of cost, and butter remains the only food that we purchase in disposable packaging. The box goes into the recycling; the wrappers get washed and added to my collection for a planned art piece. Looking at three years worth of wrappers... I realize how important butter is to this family ;)

Chicken liver: The meat counter at Whole Foods put them in my jar. Chicken liver is a discard of the meat industry and am happy to take it off its hands for a super low price!  (I bought two pounds that day, as seen in picture above)

Rosemary: As mentioned before, we do not have a vegetable garden due to the nature of our property (we are perched on an oak-covered hill). We do grow a few things on our deck, but not rosemary. I consider the wild my vegetable garden. So when I need rosemary, I take the dog for a walk and forage.

Bay leaf: California bay trees grow like weeds in our neck of the woods. They have even become invasive. Since they carry the sudden oak death disease, we have cut the ones that keep sprouting on our property. When I need a leaf for cooking, I pick the neighbour's branch that leans over our property (convenient foraging).

White wine: I have to say this recipe is good made with white wine, but fantastic made with brandy. I made this batch of pâté using wine from a local winery, Le Neebia, that refills our bottles.

Salt and pepper: I purchased fine sea salt and whole peppercorn from the bulk bins at the grocery store, using my cloth bags.

Cornichons: I fill a small jar at the olive bar of the grocery store.

What are you eating for lunch?

Simple jam making

With some time off between book edits this week, I was finally able to purchase the last remnant's of this summer's produce and tackle our family's canning needs before winter hits: 30 pounds of tomatoes and 20 pounds of fruit purchased from the farmer's market for $1/lb are now crushed, sauced, jammed and stored in our crawl space...  I never thought I'd get to it this season but now that I am all caught up, it feels so good to have it done!

Pretty, isn't it?

Some of you have asked for jam recipes. I follow a guideline rather than a recipe, but I thought I'd share it for those of you that have never tried making jam and are tempted to try. Jamming is an essential activity in our Zero Waste Home considering that we cannot find this sweet in bulk. With only two ingredients (no need for pectin or jelling additives), it is quick, easy, and simple - my kinda cooking ;). The only trick is to know when to take it off the heat: You want it to be neither runny nor overcooked (i.e, burned). 

Yum!

Jam Guideline

Heat equal weights of chopped fruit and bulk evaporated sugar in a large pot (it bubbles way up, so pick a container 3 times larger than the contents). Boil until jelled and pour into sterilized jars. And that's it!

To know if it has jelled, I do what I call a "Moses" test every so often. I run a drop of the mixture onto a cold plate and I strike it across with my finger. When the "red sea" stays open, i.e., the sides of jam do not close up on my finger's mark, it's ready. Cooking time depends on the water content of the fruit, but it always takes less than 30 minutes.

Sometimes I will also run the hand blender in the mixture before it starts boiling for a smoother jam (no pieces).

You can also use the instructions mentioned here to can your jam when you're done. I personally don't. I store it in a dark cold place and it keeps for over 6 months. Beyond that time, if mold grows on it, we simply scoop it up, and it's perfectly fine, but in our house, jam rarely lingers that long...

What will you be jamming?

Quince: the perfect Zero Waste Fruit

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Open Garden Project, a weekly garden exchange. I love the concept. I brought a couple of jars of homemade pickles (one of the jars was that of the vinegar mother) and came home with quince fruit.

Ah Quince, the mystical fruit.

Cored whole quince

The woman who brought them to trade, had a full tree at home but did not know what to do with them. I was happy to take them off her hands and work on the delicacies my mom used to make for us. It's amazing how much you get out of the (whole) fruit and cannot bear keeping the following recipes from you;)

QUINCE JELLY

• Wash and quarter the entire quince (I used 4 this time) Do not peel or core
• Cover with water generously (the width of a couple fingers as my mom would say)
• Cook until tender
• Stain over a bowl and let stand for 12 hours
• Weigh the strained juice and mix with equal amounts of sugar (putting aside the cooked quince for the recipe below)
• Add the juice of a lemon (optional)
• Cook until it gels
• Pour into sterilized jars (my four quince yielded the 2 jars pictured).

Strained cooked quince

Quince jelly

QUINCE PASTE

• Remove and compost the seeds from the above cooked quince
• Weigh the cooked quince and mix with equal amounts of sugar
• Blend using a hand blender
• Cook until thick (scraping the bottom of your pan will leave a line in the paste)
• Spread into plates (I used our picnic plates because they are deeper than my everyday ones)
• Let dry for about a week, flipping them a couple of times
• Cut and enjoy with Pecorino style cheese or roll in sugarfor a sweet treat
• Store in air-tight containers.

Quince paste drying

Quince Paste rolled in sugar

Both make great presents.

What seasonal delicacy are you working on?

Salt packed anchovies

Every summer, I learn a few new things from my mom. While the kids learn french, I learn homemaking. I even dream that these new tricks will eventually "offset" the carbon emissions of my trip over time ;).

Last year, my mom showed me how to salt pack (cure) anchovies. Under her direction, I proudly prepared my 1st jar of anchovies. A few weeks later, Scott was flying back to the US, the salt packed anchovies carefully wrapped in his undershirts, which I now understand to be a "no-no" for US customs. Once home, a nice surprise awaited him upon unzipping his suitcase ... You guessed it: The juice from the anchovies had leaked all over (and I was not there to wash my hubby's clothes).

This summer around, I turned down the anchovies at the fish market, realizing that my frivolous ideas tend to annoy my sweet husband. But a few weeks upon my return, I went to Fish, a local fish market, looking for them. The store happened to have just cleaned a whole bunch and did not object to filling my mason jar: I came home with the biggest smile on my face and went right to work recollecting my mom's teachings.


INGREDIENTS:

• Anchovies
• Coarse sea salt (I also had Himalayan, so I mixed them)

RECIPE:

• Remove the head and guts of the anchovies and rinse
• In a jar, pack alternate layers of salt and anchovies (start and end with a thick layer of salt).
• Seal and refrigerate for three weeks before consuming (some of the salt will melt and turn into brine)
• When ready to eat, reach for an anchovie, peel its flesh off the bone under running water (compost the bone and water your plants with the collected water) and soak until de-salted to your taste (a few minutes). We like them in our salads or on our pizzas.

That's it!

As you know it, I love recipes that call for only a couple of ingredients. I have found that homemade anchovies are not only easy to make, they also save on the transportation and recycling of the store-bought kind, avoid our exposure to BPA from lined cans, support local / sustainable business, and easily transfer the homemaking knowledge from my mom to my kids. Something, that is sadly getting lost through consumerism and our disposable society.

Progress!

I have had a very satisfying 10 days and I thought I'd share them with you. Over the past couple of weekends, we adopted a few sustainable ideas (I tweeted about them) that have been on my mind for a few years. Tackling them, feels so good.

Homemade Vinegar:

Since embarking on Zero Waste, I had tried and greatly failed at making fruit scrap vinegar (a cheap way to make it). I have therefore been solely relying on vinegars available in bulk. But when I tried my brother's yummy homemade wine vinegar this summer, I realized, that it was time for me to give it a try and make my own using a foolproof vinegar mother upon my return home. Last week, Scott bought a "mother of vinegar" from San Francisco Brewcraft on his way back from work, I was ecstatic to find out that they sell in a reusable mason jar, and got the concoction started immediately. Since we do not have a convenient/nearby source of bulk vinegar and we have extra wine (from our wine bottle refills), making wine vinegar at home, makes a lot of sense for us. I'll have to keep you posted on its taste when it's ready, in a couple of months.

Down to one car:

For the past three years, I have bugged Scott to sell his Mini Cooper to go down to one car. After all, we moved to a downtown to be close to amenities and use the car less - and we mostly walk or bike around here. We loved the versatility and cargo capacity of the Mini but it could no longer transport the four of us comfortably (the kids would sit with their legs crossed on their seats). Scott used it the to go to work a couple of times a week (he works from home the remaining days). I used my sedan for consulting work and once a week for errands/grocery shopping. We also used it for the longer family trips (including camping). It seemed that one, if not both cars, always sat in front of the house, and that with some planning we could share just one.

For the reasons mentioned, it made sense to keep the sedan. At the same time, Scott was reluctant to give up his beloved Mini, but with mounting repair bills (fly-wheel / transmission problems), last week he finally decided to take it in. Little did we know, that we'd end up trading both our cars for a used hybrid, giving us the comfort of my sedan, with even better cargo capacity (hatch-back) and gas mileage than the Mini (and one less insurance payment). The dealer even wrote us a check to make up for the difference ($12 ;) . We immediately created and shared a "car" calendar. It's only been a week, but Scott and I are super happy with our decision.

Bee Condo:

With the bee population decreasing, many sustainable organizations suggest building a bee condo to provide native bees a place to raise young bees. The first time I heard about the concept was three years ago at my friends launch party for Open Garden Project, and it had been on my mind ever since. With Max showing an interest in city planning and power tools, the project seemed perfect for him. I bought scrap wood for $2 at the hardware store and provided him with drill, drill bits, salvaged screws and hanger, and the simple online instructions. It took a couple days - he said he needed breaks;) but Max is very proud of completing his first ever building. He pointed out to one of the holes and said: This one will be the office;). He will be monitoring the bees' activity closely.

Organic Mattress:

A couple of weeks ago, Max fell asleep in our bed, next to Scott, so I spent the night in his twin bed. OMG what a horrible bed, I found out. I have read and cuddled in the kids beds before, but spending a whole night was a real wake-up call, so-to-speak. Springs stuck into my back all night and the lack of any-softness-whatsoever gave me a stiff neck the following day... as if I had camped out all night. I was really paying for the cheap mattress I bought 10 years ago, and realized that I owed my growing boys a softer nest. Scott and I both had always viewed buying a mattress as fun as buying a used car... But since our last car trade was not as painful as we had expected, we went mattress shopping for the boys this weekend. We went to The Natural Mattress Store, and after "sleeping" around, we fell in love with an Eco-Cloud mattress: 97% organic, made locally and with no packaging (on request). It was all we could have asked for! It was more expensive than the ones made in China, but after a few weekend rentals, the mattress will pay itself off. We had the option of sending the old mattresses to the recycling center, we chose to keep them instead: Stacked in the attic, they'll be perfect as a spare bed/couch for the playroom (our old plastic Coleman mattress/ spare popped a while back: I reused the plastic by sewing to the back of our picnic blanket for waterproofing).

Water Audit:

Last month, our church held a Sustainability Fair. I demo-ed a Zero Waste Home Shopping Kit, and the table next to me offered free water audits. I had meant to sign up for one of those in a long time and finally did. During lunchtime last week, a Marin Municipal Water District auditor came by. He looked at our yard, plants, watering patterns, interior water fixtures and machines. "I thought only 2 of you lived here", he said, when Scott mentioned the kids... "You only use half the water of a household of four." Wow, that statement sure made our day. Many readers have asked about our water consumption due to washing reusables. I don't how exactly much more water we use for that extra washing, but our minimalist wardrobes, and water consumption awareness seem to largely counter it.

We already know that little changes can have a big impact, but numbers prove to us how much and encourage us to do more. Future home projects now include setting up a grey-water system diverting waste water from our laundry machine to our ferns. I can't wait to have it done. And I hope that Scott can fit it in his schedule (maybe in the next three weeks instead of the next three years;)

What sustainable practices have you recently implemented that have been most satisfying?

Tomato Canning

Last week, as planned, I made a list of things-to-do away from the computer, and one of the items, which I procrastinated on for the last month, was digging out a portion of our crawl space to make room for canned goods (they store best in dark cold spaces). Well, guess what? Putting it on the list made it happen. Every member of the family pitched in (besides Zizou of course), the hero of the project being our 9-year-old who voluntarily carried 20 buckets of dirt down the 30 steps to the front of the house.

I am so happy to have that done, my canned goods now have a dedicated space and so do my reusable bottles and jars.

That said, I thought this week would be an ideal time to post about (crushed) tomato canning. Canning has a reputation of scaring the novice cook, but there really is nothing to it, as it seriously is not as difficult as one might expect. All you need here is canning jars (I use Le Parfait canning jars in this recipe), a large pot, a colander, a ladle, a towel, a rock, and tomatoes of course. Visit your farmer's market at closing time to get the best deal on a large amount. In my town, $5/5lbs is a good deal.

Every cook has his/her way, and this is how I do mine:

1 - Sterilize the jars: Dunk them in a large pot of boiling water and set them aside to dry on a towel.

2 - In the same hot bath, dunk the tomatoes for about 2 minutes (that's to make peeling easy), and pull them out one by one into a colander to cool.

3 - Peel, core, and hand-crush the tomatoes, one by one, into a large bowl.

4 - Ladle the crushed tomatoes into the jars (french canning jars have a fill line), wipe the jars rims clean, add a rubber gasket on the lids and clip the jars shut.

5 - Lower the filled jars in the same pot of water (you can also stack them up if you use a tall pot), push a towel between them and add a weight, such as a rock, on them (so they don't cling into each other and break during boiling).

6 - Add water so that the jars are submerged by 1-inch of water and bring to a boil.

7 - After 45 minutes of boiling, turn off the heat.

8 - Let cool and take the jars out of the water to dry.

9 - Test proper canning by un-clipping a jar. If it opens, the canning process failed. If you use Mason Jars (screw-tops), the lid should be depressed indicating a proper vacuum.

10 - Store in a dark, cool place, preferably a freshly dug crawl space ;) so that your canned treasures can last and taste as good as my grandmother's 1978 plums, which I tasted a couple of years ago. They were in-cre-di-ble. The eau-de-vie marinade might have had something to do with their tastiness though...

Just looking at that picture reminds me that we live in an earthquake prone region... it just added a new item to my TO-DO list: Secure shelving before next shake;)

Magic Butter

I made a discovery this week. It might not be one for you, but I thought I'd share it just in case.

No matter how much I try to control the kids at my brother's house, mishaps sometimes occur. The boys used a swivel chair, covered with shirts (his house is not quite as organized as mine), to get a view of the Eiffel Tower from a skylight window... Unfortunately, while taking the glimpse, a shirt sleeve got caught in the swivel mechanism and streaked it with black grease.

Stricken by guilt, I decided to repair the problem before my brother came home from work. I googled for a solution and found out that butter, of all things ;) would remove the stain magically. Not having anything to lose, I gave it a try.

I rubbed some butter into the streaks, and let it sit a few minutes. I then used some dish soap that I found next to the kitchen sink, water, elbow juice and another part of the shirt to rub the stain off. The results were amazing. After a quick rinse, the shirt looked like new.

I later shared my discovery with Scott. Unsurprised, he replied that when living in Santa Barbara, he would remove beach tar from his feet with baby oil.

"Oil removes oil" he said with assurance.

I had no idea that the phrase would come in so handy a day later...

Saturday evening, the day before my departure for the South of France (where my mom lives), my brother had his sitter of six years come over to watch our four kids, so we could go out for a nice dinner between adults. After giving her instructions to care and feed the kids, we took off. We were enjoying our meal tremendously when my sister-in-law checked her phone and found out with horror that she had 18 new voicemails. Somehow we had not heard it ring, and while we thought our kids were tightly tucked into their beds, the nanny had set the brand new kitchen on fire!

We rushed home to find the kids safe at the neighbor's, but my brother's kitchen looked like a war zone. The sitter had mistakenly turned on the oven, in which my brother stored a fryer (full of cooking oil). When the fryer caught on fire, she grabbed their fish bowl and threw it on the stove, water, pebbles and all (including the poor goldfish). Needless to say, it made things worse. When the firemen arrived, they extinguished the fire, but in the process, also tracked soot, burned oil, and pebbles all over the house and the new hardwood floors.

While my brother drove the sitter back home, I set out to clean the mess, which extended to the upper floors. I first tried a mixture of water and castile soap equivalent, but in vain. The black stuff was too thick and there was too much of it. It is only after 30 minutes of desperate scrubbing, and a call to my brother to recommend the hiring of a restoration expert, that I remembered Scott's words: "Oil removes oil". So I tiptoed into the sticky kitchen, grabbed the first cooking oil and sponge that I could reach and voila! Eight hours later, floors and white kitchen cabinets looked as new as before and the damages not as dramatic.

Considering that the kids and sitter were safe, and that only four cabinet doors and a stove need replacing, we were all lucky. And thanks to the simplicity and handiness of the oil cleaning remedy, my brother and sister-in-law were able to keep their sanity and stay upbeat in dealing with the aftermath of the ordeal. (I forgot to count how many times they said: "This oil trick is amazing! The damages are not that bad after-all.")

Interestingly enough, this fire was not the only one that we survived this summer, but since this is a blog and not a book, you'll have to wait to hear about the other story when the time comes ;).

Do you have a simple and magic pantry revelation to make?

Paper Making

Well, it's that time of the year again... the end of the school year is near, so it's time to make stationary for my kids' teachers, from the stack of papers that they've sent home from school.

Last year, the gift was a hit and the news went around the school. It ended up coming handy, when in the fall, I had to warn the new teacher about our special home paper requirements (reduce)...she already knew. Giving homemade paper, I hope also makes them think about paper consumption in our school.

In the middle of the stressful week, there is nothing better to relieve stress. Some like to jog, I like to make paper ;)

For those wanting to give it a try (and for those of you not familiar with the process), here is what to do. You can listen to my podcast interview on "More Hip than Hippie" while doing it ;)

- Tack window screening or mesh tight onto a frame (picture below, down) . You can also slide a used nylon sock over a smaller frame and knot is tight (picture below, up). The size of frames will pretty much be the size of your paper and they need to fit flat into your tub, so plan accordingly. I use two 3.5x5 frames (one with nylon and one without for neater edges) for small cards and postcards. I use an 8.5x11 for letters or envelopes.

 

 

 

 

 

- Line the table with felt squares:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- In a tub (yes, mine is plastic... it serves for paper recycling, extra curbside pick-up, and paper-making), tear the papers in small pieces and fill with water (I like to let it sit overnight to give paper time to soften...),

-Using a hand-mixer or blender, blend the soaking paper into a pulp (this time, I ended up with a dark purple, which means a light purple finished product ) :

At this point you have the option of adding seeds (for "plantable" paper), lint from your dryer, dried flowers etc...

- For small cards with neat edges (which I will be demonstrating here), stack the 2 matching frames (nylon frame at the bottom), dip flat into the pulp, let drain a bit, and lift upper frame off gently:

- Remove the upper frame:

-Flip it onto a felt square:

 

-Absorb as much water as possible with a sponge (a remainder of our previous home car washing days...):

 

- and delicately remove the frame. The paper pulp should stick to the felt.

-Repeat:

- Line dry over your plants (the felt will drip on them and no water will be wasted ;)

- When dry, peel off and iron as needed:

- et VOILA!

Now, all I need to do is to make matching envelopes (with the larger mesh frame, and an envelope stencil to cut the dry sheets) and then "gift-tag" and tie the whole thing with compostable string. I think the teachers will be quite pleased.

Note: When you're done (pulp too thin to make paper), you can compost the leftovers.

I am afraid to ask... what did you think of the podcast?

What about meds?

People who visit our house feel like they've hit the jackpot when they see our "pharmacy" container: "Ah, ah! Do I spot packaging over here?" they ask teasing.

Medications have been hard to eliminate of course, but we've found ways to reduce our packaging here too. In the process, we went thru some trial and error. One of them was finding natural medication in bulk at Good Earth, where you fill your jar and pay by the ounce for decongestant, flu relief or echinacea. Besides the fact that these were really expensive, they did not even work! Well, at least not as well as the regular drugstore stuff.

Since then, we have found a balance between natural alternatives and drugstore products. Here again, it's all about paring it down to essentials (you knew I was going to write that). Sincerely, is there a point in keeping medications that do not work or are expired?

Every family has different medical needs, but here is what we did in our home:

• We took expired meds to our pharmacy
• We now keep only a minimal supply
• There is no way around the occasional plastic prescription bottle and it's illegal for pharmacies to refill them in CA, but our pharmacy takes them back to recycle them (#2). I figure they have a better chance of getting those recycled than we do thru our household recycling.
• We choose tablets (pain reliever, for example) in a glass or at default a plastic jar (usually a recyclable #2), instead of the tablets individually wrapped in aluminum/plastic and then a box (that's what I call obnoxious packaging).
• Although they are cheaper by the count, we do not buy jumbo size medication jars, they expire way before we can finish them.
• We choose metal tubes instead of plastic (Arnicare is magic on bruises)
• We invested in a Neti pot (Santa gave one to Scott this year, picture above): Great to clear out your sinuses with just water and sea salt.
• We researched and tested a few natural alternatives: I forage Yerba Santa in the winter for its decongestant properties (tea), but many plants are available in bulk at health food stores also. For example, you can make a corn silk tea for prostate relief, a senna leaf tea for constipation relief or an oatmeal bath for skin relief. By the way, you can also roll a fresh California bay leaf in your nose to relieve a headache – I agree, it's a great look:) or eat a small amount of local honey each day to relieve allergies. I also found this cough suppressant recipe (all ingredients available in bulk), but we have yet to try it (Knock on wood that we won't need it for a while): 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 1 T honey, 1 T apple cider vinegar, 2 T water mixed in small sterilized jar.
• Instead of plastic band-aids, gauze and surgical tape work fine. We use hydrogen peroxide as an antiseptic on small scrapes and cuts before we let them air dry or apply surgical tape directly on deeper cuts. How often do you really need a band-aid? My son thinks that band-aids are a cure to any "owie"... but a smoothie works just as well. Update: Per a nurse's email: "Hydrogen peroxide is not recommended on wounds anymore. It may (with reservations) be diluted and used to clean, initially a very dirty wound but is actually damaging to healthy tissue. Tea tree oil or honey products are a natural antimicrobial alternative". Old fashioned Lugol's iodine has also been mentioned on the forum.
• We do not use everyday antibacterial products, most contain Triclosan, and only make bad bacteria stronger. As Mayo clinic warns: "Antibacterial soap is no more effective at killing germs than is regular soap. Using antibacterial soap may even lead to the development of bacteria that are resistant to the product's antimicrobial agents — making it harder to kill these germs in the future."
• To answer a question from a couple of readers, we do not take vitamins. Like Michael Pollan (in his book, "In Defense of Food"), we believe in a varied diet instead... but I did take them while pregnant and we might reconsider them when we're older.
• We believe in moderate sunscreen use (we worry about skin cancer as much as vitamin D deficiency). I do use it on my face everyday, for vanity reasons;), but we use clothing as sun-shield as much as we can (the rays penetrates it in a small percentage), and use sunscreen for prolonged exposures on our bodies. When we're out of my favorite, we'll give this recipe a try. I just have to find zinc oxide in bulk...

Do you have some natural remedies (that work) to share?

Zero Waste Recipes

These are recipes of items that I have not been able to find in bulk or as a refill, items that our household “can’t live without”. We have tried and tested many recipes but these are the ones that have made the cut because they tasted good and worked best for us (which is why I won’t give the instructions on how to wash your hair with baking soda, or make cheese from kefir). Most importantly my recipes only require very few ingredients (all available in bulk, except for the yogurt starter) and are easy/quick to make. Every home is different: you might not find the toothpowder to your liking, and can find more options (with more ingredients) online. Experiment, have fun and make quantities that last!


Bathroom

Tooth powder:
2 tb baking soda
1/8 ts white stevia powder
In a parmesan shaker
(for my shaker pictured, it takes 16tb baking soda, 1 ts stevia)

Hair Spray:
2-4 lemons sliced
Cover with water
Simmer for 30 min
Strain
Pour in spray bottle
Add 1tb rhum or vodka

Vitamin E balm:
1 tb beeswax
4 tb vitamin E (a friend gave me some but you can find sesame oil in bulk. It has a high concentration of vitamin E, and does not carry the strong smell)
Pour in small tin (got mine from Container Store)
Let cool
I use this balm on under eye, lips, hair tips, and home applications that call for Vaseline, like greasing up our attic ladder...

Lip/Cheeks Stain:
Cook beets, as you normally would, in a bit of water (eat the beets)
Reduce the left over juice until it thickens
Add a splash of vodka
Pour into a glass roll-on


Laundry/Cleaning

Ironing Starch:
1 pint water
1 tb cornstarch
In a spray bottle

Drain Cleaner:
¼ c. baking soda in your drain
Followed by ½ c. white vinegar

Multi Purpose Cleaner:
1 ½ ts. castile soap (optional, for scent)
3 ts. white vinegar
4 c. water
In a spray bottle.


Kitchen
Mustard:
Soak ¾ c. yellow mustard seeds in ¾ c. white vinegar + ½ c. white wine, in a canning jar
Blend (immersion blender) with salt and 2 ts honey
Add water to reach your preferred consistency

Vanilla Extract:
Combine 2 vanilla beans chopped, ½ c. brandy, ¼ water
Steep for 3 days
Strain
Pour in glass bottle

Hot Sauce:
Blend ½ c. chiles (serrano or jalapeno), 2/3 c. vinegar, 1 ¾ ts salt
Steep for 3 days
Strain
Pour in glass bottle

Soymilk:
Soak 2 c. soy beans overnight
Drain
Blend (immersion blender) with 12 c. water
Strain and squeeze in handkerchief into a large pot
Add sugar and vanilla to taste
Bring to a boil
Boil for 10min
Let cool
Pour in a glass (Straus Creamery) milk bottle
Lasts a week

I was making soy milk for my older son only, who does not like the taste of regular milk, but as I noticed his use decreasing over the last few months, he finally told me that he had had enough of it and did not want it anymore... He added that it would save me time... what a sweet mama's boy.

Yogurt (you need a thermometer):
Heat oven to 100-150, turn light on
Heat 4 c. milk on the stove to 185F
Pour milk in a French or mason canning jar
Cool milk to 110F
Add yogurt starter or ¼ c. yogurt that you already have
Put in oven, turn oven off, keep light on (to keep temp at 110F)
(to save energy, you can also drop the jar in a 110F water bath in a closed pressure cooker)
Wait 4-6 hrs
Refrigerate

(You can also make cheese from your yogurt, by hanging it in a handkerchief and letting it drain... it's a lot of milk for a tiny bit of soft cheese though, not economical when you use Straus Creamery milk)

I am not making yogurt on a regular basis anymore either, I can't seem to get past the starter's packaging and am hanging onto my last packet. I hope to find yogurt starter in bulk soon!

On my way to make more hot sauce! (my bottle looks pretty low on the picture...)

Seasonal Recipe: Spaghetti Squash

Where I live, pasta is one of the food staples that is hardest to find in bulk (one of my pet peeves). The closest bulk store with a pasta bin is 25 minutes away, and if I am in that area, I stop by to get some, but the opportunity does not present itself very often. So in the winter, when we run out, we turn to spaghetti squash as a great - and healthier alternative. This is a simple recipe that has had a lot of success at home.

Cut the squash in half and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until a knife can easily be inserted through the skin.

Scoop out

In the meantime, prepare a pasta sauce (I sautee sliced onions in olive oil, then add canned tomatoes, chopped oregano, salt and pepper)

Combine squash and tomato sauce and top with goodies (I used goat cheese and olives here)

Bon Appetit!

How Zero Waste are my ingredients?
Spaghetti squash and onions: Purchased loose from the farmer's market (sticker free) or grocery store.
Olive oil: Purchased from bulk dispensers, filling a jar or bottle.
Canned Tomatoes: Opened one of the jars that I canned this fall; how-to right here! 
Oregano: Grown on the side of our house; it's a transplant from a friend's plant. We water it with leftover cooking water.
Goat cheese and olives: Purchased respectively from the salad and olive bars, filling 1 quart and 1 pint jars.