Grocery Shopping

On the request of a friend... here's what our shopping list looks like these days.

It came from the question... what do you do about Bulk Barn? Things are more expensive. Yes... they are. I find I'm willing to pay about 10% more for less packaging (counter intuitive I know, but you work with what you've got). I will try things out at Bulk Barn.. some things are crazy way more expensive (like the time I paid $25 for 20 cookies), lots of things are OK. The kids know that we try things out and if they are super expensive they better enjoy them 'cause we won't be getting them again.

Anyway, that's the short answer. Here's the long one if you're still interested.

	Where?	Packaging
Local Grocer.. we love Quatrochis. He’ll reuse any bags, boxes or baskets we take back. About one trip a week.
Fruits and Veg Buy “naked” as much as possible.	Lots of times they just go in the cart loose.	I have sewn some veggie bags from curtain fabric.
Frozen Fruits and Veg (smoothies)	This year I was able to "pick your own" strawberries that I have frozen. I bought a bunch of local blueberries in season and the same. I keep my eyes out for "naked" fruit on sale, chop and freeze.	Recycled plastic bags. I have a few great big ziploc bags from old purchases of frozen fruit. Recycled milk bags work great here too.
Milk	We buy Reids Dairy locally.	We're left with 3 small bags and one big one each week. The small ones I use as freezer bags and the big one is our once a week garbage bag.
Yogurt	Definitely switched to make my own. Kids aren’t loving the new stuff yet, that’s OK, more for me.	I reuse mason jars. Twice a year or so when we’ve been away on vacation and I need a new “starter” I have to buy a plastic container.
Soft Cheeses	Making them myself (for lasagna etc). Super easy… heat, add vinegar, strain	None except the plastic bag the milk comes in. I’ve bought cheese cloth.
Flour, Oats, Rice	Quatrochis will order me 20 lb bags. One last for 4-5 months. I keep them in a big Rubbermaid bin in a storage closet (could also go under a bed) .	Bags are usually paper or cloth. The plastic ones get reused as garbage bags. I have big dollar store jars in the kitchen that I refill for everyday access.
Warehouse Store – We use Cash and Carry (if you are in Kington)… we call it Costo Pobre. 😊 About one trip a month.
Cheese	I get a giant block and cut it up each week.	Comes in one large plastic wrapping. Keeps good in the fridge for over a month wrapped up in itself with an elastic band to keep it close. I leave it at the back of the fridge.
Sausage Hotdogs	Just too easy and quick	Plastic wrapping.
Frozen Juice		Aluminum tops and bottoms, cardboard sides. We separate and soak to get the plastic off the cardboard sides. Aluminum and cardboard goes into recycling.
Nuts	Buy biggest jar I can.	These are sooo expensive at bulk barn, so I buy in plastic jars. I get the biggest one I can, they get washed and reused to store beans and chips/snacks from Bulk Barn.
No Frills. I find I’m only going once a month or so.. try to stock up on the few things I still get there.
Cereal	No Frills…	One of the things still coming in throw away packaging. I’m off cereal.. hooked on the smoothies and have a great recipe for homemade granola, the kids aren’t convinced. Decided not to fight this one.
Pasta	No frills	We like the gluten free stuff here.
Pasta Sauce	No frills	In cans. I did make my own in glass jars but the stove was on most of the day to make 6 jars of pasta sauce. Not convinced it’s a better environmental option. Cans are very recyclable.
Local Farm
Eggs	Local - I get six dozen at a time, they last fine a month or so in the fridge.	Reuse the boxes till they fall apart
Meat	Local - I order a couple of months worth at a time and freeze.	Comes wrapped in plastic.. I’m working on them to change their packaging practices. I do think there is a place for this sometimes though… food safety is a thing.
Bulk Bar will let you bring your own containers now as long as they are clean. You stop off and have them weighted. I have started writing the weights on them with paint markers so I don’t have to do it every time. Technically they’re supposed to weigh them every time but if you’re honest looking they don’t seem to mind.. and it saves everyone time. Here’s a list of things I’ve found reasonably priced that we keep stocked…. and all packaging free.
Snacks, chips, etc  (some of the cookies are really expensive but the chips seem to be OK and we’ve found some choc covered pretzels that are reasonable)
Dried fruit: raisins, apricots, etc.
Seeds (sunflower, pumpkin and sesame) , great for making seed butter for no peanut schools (vitamix!!) and I put it in homemade granola crunch for lunches.
Baking powder, baking soda (for cleaning too!), salt, sugar, etc.
Beans
Drink Mix (the bigger stores have iced tea mix… great in a pinch.. and some koolaidy stuff as well
Honey
Peanuts (these seem exempt from the exorbitant prices on other nuts. I get the most expensive ones and it’s still reasonable. These mostly get made into peanut butter (vitamix!!)
Soap -they carry naked soap. I get naked soap for showers and laundry soap for making detergent (see below)
Canadian Tire
Washing Soda and Borax… both come in cardboard boxes and mixed with shredded coconut soap make a great laundry detergent.
Lush
Best we’ve found for naked bar shampoo. We’ve all switched and liked it.

Long story short again (yaa! you're still with me :)... shopping is a bit more complicated and takes a bit more time. I also find I buy way fewer "just because it is on sale" or "hey that looks good" which is good for everyone. I stock up so most places I only have to go to once a month. Some weeks I just drop by the local grocer.. spend $30 on fresh fruit and milk and we're good to go. Other weeks I've got a bill for $100 in flour and $300 in meat. So, things are more unpredictable as well. I haven't done the math to see if I am spending more or saving. I suspect it is about the same. However, we are all eating better. With the plastic we got rid of most of the preservatives, sugar and salt as well.

Hope that gives you some ideas! It's our new normal and it's not really more work anymore now that we are in a routine.

New Normal

I feel like the last month or so we've settle into our new normal. It look almost a full year, and there is still work to do, but our recycling bins are showing it. Just a celebratory moment. What would change if this was every families waste for two weeks?

Busy weekend... and food prep.

This weekend I was supervising some students in a virtual reality workshop #hackforheritage so it was a busy one! It's Sunday night and I know if I do just one hour of concentrated food prep the week will be easier (and more delicious). So here I go. 

-instant pot is cooking 7 hard boiled eggs

-yogurt on the stove

-once the eggs are done, wash, spin and pack lettuce

-earlier today I made crunchy granola in the oven. I tried to find the origional recipe to link and couldn't so I've taken a pic of my recipe card at the bottom. ** "flavor" is whatever you want. We have to do our with no nuts for school so this week we used coconut flakes, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, white cocolate flakes and smarties. All easily available in bulk...with no packaging. I use a silicon baking mat instead of parchment paper. 

And... there you go,... 

Weekend food prep

Weekend is over... and all that is left to do is fold the laundry. ... but that is a netflix job. 

Another weekend job is food prep. Depending on the weekend, our needs and energy, I try to prep a few things for the week ahead. 

Here are this week's jars for the fridge and pantry. 

-yogurt

-washed and chopped lettuce**

-mason jar muffin mixes

Other weekend prep jobs might include

-bread or muffins

- granola

-hard boiled eggs

-beans

Helps us stay in food during the busy weekdays. 

**(I can wash, spin and pack two head of lettuce in about 20 min and they last a week and a half at least in the fridge. It makes for a quick weekday salad and replaces the plastic boxes of washed greens I was buying.)

Fixing s%$t

Zero waste is not throwing stuff out. Today I unpacked the christmas lights... not a single strand worked. A bunch of youtubing later and some trial and error and now three broken strands became 2 working ones.

This is the tutorial that most helped me. 

https://youtu.be/X5pHACdLIa0

Do it! Fix s$#t. It's so satisfying. 

P.S. if you've got a stand of broken LED lights around you want to get rid of I'll take 'em. 😜

Child activists.

https://youtu.be/yx1-VItmYbg

Almost zero waste tacos

We like to eat Mexican food and I have a gluten intolerance and so corn tortilla are a good option. I was buying a bag of crispy tostitos every two weeks or so, but that plastic bag is of the un-recyclable kind, solution... I learned to make tacos. There are lots of online tutorials and so I won't worry too much about describing the details. The maseca can be bought at most health/specialty stores. There is a bit of a learning curve but I can make 15 tacos now in about 5 minutes, which isn't much more time than going down the aisle for them at the grocery store. You do have to get the tortilla press, these are easily available at a kitchen specialty store and looks like it will last for ever. I would get a larger size next time, buy the biggest one you can. You do have to use a plastic liner, I use cut up cereal bags and I'm able to wash them off and use them many times. The maseca bag is paper and will make 10 or so batches of tacos. I did buy a two burner grill which makes it much faster.

Other ingredients and avoiding packaging:

Cheese: I buy this is big packages... leave it sealed at the back of the fridge and cut off what I need each week for the cheese drawer. That way I am only throwing away one large bag each month instead of 4 or 5 small ones. Keeps fine in the plastic bag and well sealed at the back of the fridge.

Beans: I cook them in big batches in the instant pot and then portion out into glass jars which go in the freezer... I can buy the beans in bulk in my own bags.

Cream Cheese: I understand you can make your own and it's not very hard. I use the fresh yogurt instead, it's delicious and I'm making it anyway.

Veggies: are easy... buy fresh and take your own bags to the grocery store.

Salsa: Make your own - the vitamix makes very quick work of this.

Sounds like a lot of work but it's not really much more than buying the kits if you're organized and extra benefit?? they are so much more delicious.

  

Almost zero waste school BBQ #2.

Shout out to the student government and environment club at KCVI (Kingston high school) for having an almost zero waste BBQ today. Fed the whole school... no napkins or plates, large reusable thermos' of juice. Free veggies if you brought your own bottle or glass. Pretty simple right?

"When you act, hope is everywhere." Greta T.

Almost zero waste school BBQ

It's about mindset - and that new mindset will put pressure on the economy that it can't ignore. This week we had Greta Thunburg to remind us that "bit by bit what ever I can do" isn't enough anymore. Our resources are not only finite... they are literally running out. Mindset - not bit by bit whatever small thing I can do adds up - but what big change can I do that will wake up and scare the establishment. I have no economic basis for this but figure but I feel like even 5% of the market saying "no, I won't buy it if it comes in packaging" would have a big impact on companies. "Well, just for today but maybe not tomorrow" doesn't have the same weight.

However, I still believe that big changes have to happen bit by bit in order to be sustainable. We've been working hard on getting single use plastic out of our lives... making changes every week to our routine, diet, habits - for nine months and I'd say we are only just starting. But - the changes that we have made have stuck. Make sense? Bit by bit, and fast, and maybe small changes... but LOTS of them. That's where I'm headed.

Today we had a school BBQ. We've been before and know how it rolls. The school serves the hotdogs and hamburgers on coffee filters, but sell drinks in plastic bottles. Knowing that, with a little bit of prep, I can reduce our impact by a lot.

Spot it? I prepped and packed a lemonade. I make it in the Vitamix - which makes it really fast. Brought some cloth napkins and cups. That way the only waste we create (besides the secondary waste of the packaging that the burgers were in) are the coffee filters. Besides, I get to carry this pretty basket (which I bought second hand) - makes me feel like Little Red. It's heavy and a bit inconvenient. More inconvenient than figuring out how to create oxygen when the ecosystem collapses? Nope... not that inconvenient. 

Thanks Greta for reminding me to talk it straight. 

Baking Prep

Not buying things in plastic containers means making more things yourself. I've found a couple of short cuts. One of them is "mason jar mixes". Basically I take my favorite baking recipes and pre-mix the dry ingredients in a mason jar. Then when I need to make a fresh batch I can dump the mason jar in the mixing bowl, add the wet ingredients and put it in the oven. Here are 3 batches of muffins ready to go, one in the mixing bowl and two in the mason jars for another day. It really does save time, especially on the evenings that I realize - at 8:30pm - that I have no lunch time snacks for tomorrow.

Yogurt

One of our regular plastic culprits was yogurt. Those 700 gram tubs that get reused for all kinds of things, but you still end up with waaaay more than you need. Solution? Make your own yogurt. It's waaaaaaaaaay easier than you think. And I love the fact that the "starter" is just 1/4 cup of the last batch of yogurt. It reminds me of Little House of the Prairie and sleeping with the yeast.. but without the messy explosions late night in your bed. (P.S. I've never slept with yeast, just read about it... and if you don't get the reference, don't worry about it, not important to the story.

So - yogurt. If you were smarter than me and purchased an instant pot with the yogurt setting then your journey is really easy, put in milk and yogurt and set timer. I wanted to save the $30, and now regret it, but I've found an easy alternative. Stove top. There are a ton of great tutorials online. I'll share my system below. Basically, you heat up the yogurt, stir in the "starter" and then cool it, but slowly.

Put yogurt in a sauce pan, I use a medium one and throw in a whole bag. 

Heat the yogurt to around 180 degrees F (this pasteurizes). I keep mine at this temp for about 10 minutes. There is some discussion online if this step is even necessary, I figure better safe than sorry. You will have to stir. 

Turn off the heat and let the milk cool to around 110 degrees (cool enough to touch). More stirring but less. 

Plop in some of the last batch of yogurt, (or a 1/4 cup of comercial yogurt but has to say "active ingredients" on the package). This doesn't have to be mixed in perfectly... lumps are OK. 

Put in mason jars... 

Wrap in a towel and put in the oven, not on... just keeps the jars from cooling too quickly. Leave overnight. 

Next day, Yogurt!

The whole process takes about an hour but most of that time I am watching TV or chatting with people in the kitchen. I love that the yogurt "cures" in the same jars I'll serve it from.

My family like sweet yogurt.. so I just throw in a big spoonful of jam for them. I like it plain so it works for me right out of the jar. It also keeps me eating yogurt regularly because I have to make a new batch before the old one goes bad. It last about 2 weeks in the fridge. I've only had it go bad once before we ate it all. … Then I had to buy more yogurt. But those 700g tubs really are very useful.

Shop the Outside...

I'm sure you've heard this advice before... to shop the outside of the grocery store. It's good for your health, good for your pocket book and saves you time. All the fresh food goes on the outside of the store, where it is easy to stock and easy to see. The things that sit on the shelf for months go in the aisles. The outside is also where you will find most of the food without packaging.

Lately I have mostly been using a small local grocer (shout out to Quatrochies for those of you in Kingston) but when I don't make it on Saturday and have to go to the big grocery store zero waste is still possible. Here is a picture of my cart from Sunday. The only thing that came in a package that wasn't going to be used over and over again is the bread and the olive oil. With my own shopping bags, that meant VERY little garbage.

I have to admit to a very self-satisfying feeling as I walked by the yogurt... but more on that later.

Zero Waste at the Bulk Barn

So, fairly recently, the Bulk Barn has changed their policy and will let you use any refillable container as long as it is clean. This is great news for those of us who used to bring our own bags... and pull them out furtively and try to refill them, while waiting for the inevitable scolding.

I went to the bulk barn on the weekend, and there was one other woman there doing the exact same plan as me... hooray!!! it's spreading!!!. The more of us who refuse to buy food in plastic packaging the more companies will have to come up with other options. Don't underestimate your power as a consumer.

You need:
-a list (this just keeps you from buying stuff you don't really need anyway)
-jars
-bags to carry your jars in
-markers to mark the top (they have them at the store if you don't)
-I like to bring a notebook and a pen to write down the codes

Here's how you do it.

1. Take stock. Once you get your pantry organized this is an easy, quick scan to see which jars are almost empty.

Then grab some clean, pre-washed jars from your jar storage (see previous post) and write what you are going to buy on the top (this is totally optional, but I find it keeps me organized and saves time. I use a chalk marker that I got from a craft store. It shows up well and wipes off easily for re-use).

I use a permanent black or gold marker to write on the "tare" - the weight of the jar - when I know it. This saves me time when I get to the store. Any jars that haven't been "tared" you just have to get to the till before you start shopping and they will weigh and mark the jars for you. You ask "I have to tare some jars please", they know what to do.

Then you shop as normal. I also usually throw in a couple of cloth bags for last minute "I forgot this", "it's on sale" or just plain "I love cheezies" last minute, unexpected purchases.

I find this whole process saves me time and money. First of all, I'm way less likely to buy something I don't need. I get just the right quantity and when I get home, the jars just go right on the shelf. Unpacking is easy!!

Take your own cutlery

Another habit we've developed is to travel, when we go out and might eat, with our own cutlery. I'm a sewer and chronically crafty so I made some cute little holders, but there is no reason to be that fancy. Will you forget sometimes? Yes. But when you do it is so satisfying. I wrap the cutlery in a cloth napkin and then I have that too. It also means I can wrap up messy cutlery covered in gravy from the poutine (did you say poutine??) so that I can wash it later.

If you are not crafty - there is no reason to be so fancy.

You can just wrap some cutlery that you have at home in a cloth napkin and add an elastic. Throw in a reusable straw and you are ready for anything!

Speaking of cloth napkins, good thing to have on hand. I made mine from left over fabric that I had in my stash. We've had them for about 3 years and haven't had to throw away a single one. I love that they are all different fabrics.. that way I don't feel like I have to take care of them because they are easy to replace.  I never bleach or fold, after they're used they just go in the washing machine and then folded and back in the basket. 

Jars... and somewhere to put them

So we're trying not to use plastic. I still send Rubbermaid lunch containers with the kids to school because, have you seen how my son treats his backpack!! A glass container wouldn't last 5 minutes. But, at home I try to store leftovers and freezer food in glass. The cheapest option... glass. I have a few fancy pyrex containers but I needed a LOT more so, another trip to the thrift stores for mason jars. They are cheaper there, and keeps more jars out of the landfill.

I also have a few commercial jars that I have been hording. Specifically the small fat ones that salsa come in and some skinny ones that jam come in. It also gives me an excuse to continue to buy these products commercially for now. To get these jars ready to go I use GooGone to clean off the paper and glue. I've had this one for almost two years and I've used only half.

Happy jar collecting!

The tools....

So, if you are not going to buy plastic, you are not going to buy processed food. If you're not going to buy processed food, you're going to eat more healthy (good thing), but there are some foods that you may want to "process" at home. Here are the tools that we use most. I've listed the by frequency of use, from most to least.

Tool: Vitamix       Frequency of Use: two-three times a day. More on the weekends.

This one was a recent addition and a game changer. I had always resisted... because who needs a $500 blender right? Well I do, and so do you. The good news is that I bought the almost cheapest one (make sure it has a variable speed, the rest is all gravy), refurbished and second hand so it only cost me $210. If you are not that lucky... get the one on sale at Costco anyway. You won't regret it.

Here's what we make in it - all in less than 3 minutes:

-cheese sauce for mac and cheese (you don't even have to shred the cheese!)
-peanut butter (and sunflower butter for school, and almond butter, and... you get the picture)
-any and all smoothies
-mayonnaise
-juice
-salad dressings
-tomato sauce for spaghetti
-salsa
-peanut sauce for "thai" night
-soup
-hummus
-rice flour, corn flour, chick pea flour, etc
-and more

Tool: Popcorn Maker  Frequency of use: three to four times a week. 

I bought this recently for a zero waste birthday party and have used it regularly since. I got it at the thrift store for under $5... I looked for the oldest, simplest one I could find, figuring it would actually last longer that way. The kids have been loving popcorn in their lunches. I can get popcorn and popcorn seasoning at Bulk Barn (who let you take your own containers). It takes about 3 minutes to pop fresh in the morning and lunch snacks are low salt, low fat, no sugar and cost me pennies. Good deal. 

Tool: Stand Mixer  Frequency of use: two or three times a week

This one is an old friend, and not so necessary. I like to bake and we've been through a series of allergies which has made it important to cook at home. This really does make lots of stuff faster and easier and has the added benefit of coming with it's own very sturdy and satisfying mixing bowl.

Things we make in it: 

-mix gluten free flour

-muffins

-arepas

-pancakes

-bread

Tool: Instant Pot  Frequency of Use: One to two times a week.

The instant pot has replaced tin cans in our house. I had an "old school" pressure cooker before so I was used to cooking with pressure. As a result, the instant pot wasn't such a surprise, but I sure appreciate being able to set it and walk away. I also think it cooks faster and with higher pressure that the old school one, although I don't have any proof. Note: It is supposed to replace the slow cooker too, but I've found it doesn't really. I kept my slow cooker. Note 2: I saved money and bought the one without the yogurt button, but I've regretted it.

Things we make in it:
-beans... mostly beans once a week. I do a big batch and put two jars in the freezer and we have 3 or 4 meals out of it.
-hard boiled eggs - also cook up beautifully and really easy and make great lunch food
-the occasional other more fancy recipe. There are millions online.

Tool: Tortilla Press   Frequency of use: once a week

We love tortillas, but tortillas come in small numbers in big plastic packages. Maseca - the most common tortilla flour - comes in paper bags and one big bag can make like 20 recipes of tortillas. Turns out they're not that hard to make, if you buy the press. Turns out the press is easy to find at any kitchen supply store. And... they taste waaaaaaayyyy!! better than the ones in the plastic bags. There is a learning curve for sure with these so don't be disappointed if they don't turn out well your first try. By the time I had made them a couple of times I had a good rhythm down. I can do 20 tortillas in about 10 minutes now - about as fast as finding them in the grocery story. I did get a flat two burner griddle to put over the stove and that speeds up the process a lot because I can cook them 6 at a time. 

Tool Waffle Maker   Frequency of use: once a week

We usually make waffles on Sunday. I do a double batch and the left overs go in the freezer to be "eggo" waffles during the week. They just pop in the toaster and voila! I got this waffle maker cheap at the thrift store as well. It is the sort of thing people get as wedding presents and then never use. Someone else's trash is my delicious waffles :)

All of these tools are optional of course, but they do make things easier.

P.S. you will notice the pictures included here are not as pretty as many on other blogs you may have perused. This is a blog for families, and who has time to take studio pictures? I promise to always give it to you as it is.. with dirty dishes and yesterday's unfinished lunch snacks in the background and everything.

We can do this!!

War on Plastic

This blog is about my family's journey - with some guest bloggers along the way (I hope) - as we go "zero waste" - which will, realistically be "low waste" - in a family of 4 in Kingston, Ontario. There are lots of blogs like this out there, but few with families. Also, I think it is important to have one in every town - because the resources are different in every place.

We started on this journey as a New Year's Resolution. We have a beach which we visit once a year in the Caribbean. This last Christmas we had a wonderful time. Everything was beautiful. There was more plastic than ever. The caretakers who clean the beach do a great job. Every wave brought more plastic. So we decided to make one change every week which will eliminate a single use disposable from our lives.

Here is what I have learned... it's not as hard as I thought it might be. Each new week, and each new routine is hard at the beginning and then it becomes the new routine... and doesn't take up as much time as it did before. The big picture is, basically we have had to change how we eat. The good news - we're eliminating the preservatives and most of the sugar right along with the plastic.

So, follow along, change what you can, go to a climate protest, don't sweat the small stuff. If you are plastic free 5 days of the week and end up at Harvey's on a Friday (as we did) you don't worry about it. I think next time I will take along my own cups though, the rest of the wrappers they give you are recyclable...just saying.

Here are some pictures of our beautiful beach. I'm hoping when my kids take pictures here with their kids it won't be like this.