Our unique kitchen essentials!

3.04.2020

Our unique kitchen essentials!

I have been wanting to share these tips since pre-kitchen reno!! I've been into cooking since high school and over time I've developed a handful of what I consider essential tools and tricks for using a kitchen. Check out this list, these may be new to you!!

10 unique kitchen essentials

1. A small nontoxic nonstick skillet. Nonstick pans get scratched up so easily! And when they do you're supposed to throw them out. We've gone through so many of the black ones, I recently upgraded to a ceramic one like this and it's just magical! Jason, Otto, and I each eat eggs in the morning at different times and this one is SO easy to wash in between. Basically nothing sticks to it (we use a little butter first) but anything that does pops off as soon as you put water on it when it's hot. Incredible! We only use rubber tools on it, no metal, but it has been holding up super well too and has no scratches.
2. The only bag clips that work. You need the clamp-style ones! The clothespin-shaped ones only keep stuff from coming out; they don't keep air from coming in and most food gets stale faster than you can eat it! We have these colorful ones from IKEA but I found these tasteful grey/white ones. Put them on chip bags, cereal bags, frozen food, cut veggies... such a good upgrade!!
3. Scissors in every drawer. Every drawer!! This is a rule I grew up with (my parents totally had the right idea!). Now we keep sturdy ones that can cut meat, Otto's food, etc. in three drawers and regular paper scissors in three others so there's always a pair handy when opening a package or cooking. We have enough that we can put them in the dishwasher when dirty and still be able to find some next time you need them. I don't know how people live without scissors around... I hate poorly torn plastic packaging, stuff spills out, you can't close the bag as easily again... life is chaos without tools like scissors.
4. Non-ugly, non-broken cooking tools. Until very recently I had these neon colored, chipped rubber spatulas with warped wood handles and was still using them. Why?!!? We upgraded to a set like this and cooking has been so much more enjoyable!!
5. Onion cutting board. If you've ever eaten cantaloupe that was cut on the same cutting board as onions and garlic, you know this problem. I'm very sensitive to smell and taste so I can always tell! Use a small, distinctive cutting board (I love acacia wood ones like this and these) and let everyone in the house know it's only for onions and garlic (or things they don't mind tasting like same). This is preferable to Sharpie-ing "ONION" on a cheap bamboo cutting board like I did for years.
6. A pretty colander. Put it on your open shelves, in a corner on your counter, in a cabinet with glass doors... they're an essential piece of cooking equipment that can double as decor if you upgrade from a plastic one. This one comes in so many colors! (but you know I love white).
7. The blender of all blenders. We got a Vitamix yeeears ago, a refurbished version of a basic model, and it's never failed us. I think we have 3 pitchers for it but we always just use the shorter plastic one. It's the perfect size for smoothies, blended buttery coffee, and even blended soups. I've made smoothies at other people's houses a few times since switching to one of these and let me tell you, other brands of blenders do not compare. They are nothing to the Vitamix. It's so powerful and fast at making perfectly blended smoothies!! I make this protein smoothie a lot and am thankful for the Vitamix every time. And the pitcher is so easy to clean, you can put soap and water in it and blend for a few seconds!
8. Multi-size stretch lids. Plastic wrap is such a pain compared to these reusable, multi-size stretch lids. They're so great to put over bowls, drinking glasses, baking dishes, etc. and you just pop them in the dishwasher when done. A genius invention!! I've used the beeswax wrap too but I think these are much easier for standard round containers. 
9. Upgraded dish brushes. We threw out our plastic IKEA dish brushes and switched to wood or bamboo handle ones and have never looked back. I don't want more plastic in my life in genera, but these sit out on the counter, for goodness' sake! We did a whole kitchen renovation, no way I'd want to put bright green plastic out the counter in such a pretty setting! But even pre-kitchen reno, I was converted. These brushes are beautiful and functional. Feels so fancy but it's not an upgrade in terms of cost, just design!
10. Big crocks. We have three of these of different sizes in our kitchen and they are so great. We use them for 1) utensil crock-sized one for holding the dish brushes and steel wool, 2) compost/kitchen scraps, 3) thin film plastic recycling. We collect plastic produce bags, those blue/white Amazon bubble mailers, etc. in a bag inside a HUGE ceramic vase on the counter and I take them to Home Depot or Target or whatever when it gets full for recycling. If we had a big recycling cabinet we'd put them in a plastic trash can there, but we don't, so we keep a big, beautiful vase out all the time. I love to keep my counters clear but too clear is boring, so I love large, washable, functional storage like a ceramic crock here and there. Of course you can also put your new pretty wooden spoons/spatulas in one by the stove, or some kind of snack or packet that doesn't need to be enclosed. I encourage you to think of ways to store functional, less pretty things in beautiful ways like this! I linked some fave LARGE crocks below and in the collage. 

Are these new to you?? Hope you're feeling inspired!

P.S. For links, sources, budget, DIY tutorials, and more for our kitchen reno click here.

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ONE cooking method that's changed our weeknights! & book review

5.18.2017

ONE cooking method that's changed our weeknights! & book review

We have had a really busy past couple of months, with most weeks either or both of us having activities almost every weeknight. It's exhausting for this introvert. And, it means there's way less time for cooking dinner, packing leftovers for lunches, and having a peaceful dinner at home.

A few months ago I flipped open a cookbook that has reenergized me for all of the cooking and food prep we do each week. I have a new favorite method I wanted to share with you!!

I've followed Cassy Joy of Fed + Fit for a while now, and heard about her new cookbook/28-day lifestyle/food/fitness manual on podcast interviews. It sounded like a comprehensive resource for people interested in making health changes, and was all infused with Cassy's cheerful, positive personality. But we've been doing the "real food"/mostly Paleo lifestyle for almost 4.5 years now, and I don't use cookbooks or recipes most of the time.

But then I saw the book at a bookstore and flipped through, and immediately felt inspired by several of the recipes. Then I had a chance to get a review copy of it, and jumped on it!

The book (Fed + Fit: A 28 Day Food & Fitness Plan to Jump-Start Your Life with Over 175 Squeaky-Clean Paleo Recipes) has a ton of squeaky clean, super healthy, incredibly photographed, delicious-sounding recipes and we've tried a few of them already. (My favorite discovery from this book is the homemade buffalo sauce!! I had never had "buffalo" flavored anything until this year, really... my 13 years of vegetarianism didn't expose me to buffalo chicken or anything else, I guess. The buffalo sauce recipe is SO DANG GOOD I could put it on anything!)

There's a chapter in the book called "Casserole is my favorite food." I also hadn't made many casseroles in my life until recent years. But Cassy's Buffalo Chicken Casserole sounded so good, I tried it one week.

Wow. Not only was it delicious, I discovered that when we had a casserole made up in the fridge, we had at least one super easy weeknight dinner ready when I got home! A lot of her casseroles require cooking before assembly and then baking for 30 minutes or so before serving. I discovered if I added a casserole to my Sunday morning food prep, all I would have to do on Monday night to make dinner was turn on the oven and pop it in!

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Essential grain-free, gluten-free baking tips, perfect for holiday treats!

12.22.2016

Essential grain-free, gluten-free baking tips, perfect for holiday treats!

We're deep into the Christmas season!! Are you doing any baking this year for family and friends?? Maybe spending some time with folks with limited diets or food allergies? My mom has asked me to make a dessert for our Christmas dinner and I have lots of ideas!

I've been eating a grain-free, gluten-free diet for 7 years if you count my raw vegan days, but I've been learning grain-free baking for the past 4 years on a mostly Paleo diet. I've had lots of successes (see my recipes page!) but in the beginning there were plenty of failures as I learned about using new ingredients.

I don't keep baked goods around most of the time (even grain-free, naturally sweetened, Paleo treats are still not exactly health foods) but I do love to make them for special occasions and I love impressing family and friends with a healthier version of a classic or just super delish dessert!

So, I've compiled a few essential tips I've learned over the years. Use these and your grain-free baking should be much easier and more successful!

4 essential grain-free, gluten-free baking tips

1) Don't substitute flours 

Almond, arrowroot, coconut, tapioca... they are all very different and have different functions. Back in the day I used to try to swap whole wheat cake flour for white flour and it usually kind of worked... you definitely can't do that kind of switch with grain-free flours. Coconut flour is very absorbent and fibrous so it can give things a dry texture if you don't have enough eggs or moisture--so unless you want to experiment and make a bunch of batches, just don't use it unless it's called for. I've found finely ground almond flour is the easiest to work with, but I don't like to use recipes that call for only almond flour, so I look for others with a blend of flours rather than taking it on myself to try adding another one in! Bottom line: stick to the recipe's flours!

2) Stock up on ingredients for the season

Grain-free recipes can have long ingredient lists, and often items you may not already have in your pantry. I like to plan ahead and order almond flour, tapioca starch, arrowroot powder, coconut flour, and some natural sweeteners (like maple syrup and coconut palm sugar) and keep the pantry stocked so I can bake when I'm ready! (I've linked my favorites of these below!)

3) Refrigerate delicate ingredients

Nuts and seeds can get rancid when exposed to light and warm temperatures. I can totally taste the difference between raw sunflower seeds that have been refrigerated and those that have been in a pantry for a few months. Blech. It's pretty obvious with walnuts, too. Store nuts, nut flours, and coconut flakes or flour in the fridge unless you'll be using them right away.

4) Sift!

I had never owned a flour sifter before (in my standard American diet baking days), but after making a few Paleo recipes that ended up with clusters of starchy coconut flour in them...... now I'm more careful! Almond flour also can chunk up or have bigger pieces in it. It doesn't take much time to sift the dry ingredients as you add them to the wet ones, and it makes such a difference!

Hope those are helpful! Happy holiday baking. If you want some serious knowledge about grain-free, healthier baking, check out one of these books from the pros. I've also linked some of my favorite ingredients!

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Soup season: mussel and clam chowder-inspired recipe

3.09.2016

Soup season: mussel and clam chowder-inspired recipe

I've really been into soup lately! I guess it's the black clouds and huge rain drops we get in between patches of sun in Oregon early spring.

I've been getting pretty creative with soups, too. The other day I bought some mussels in the frozen section of our local store--first time, actually, because I've been wanting to eat more seafood and they were a great price. And it's great, because they are not only high in protein, they're also nutrient-dense sources of Omega-3 fats EPA and DHA, zinc, and other minerals.

Husband was not too sure about my idea of a seafood chowder for dinner, but I won him over with this savory, satisfying, slightly creamy soup! (I looked up the definition of "chowder"--they are not always cream-based but they are usually thickened with crackers or flour, so this soup is not technically a chowder! It's gluten-free and grain-free and the thickness comes from the potatoes and coconut milk. So it's also dairy-free and Paleo- or Whole 30-friendly. [White potatoes are largely considered Paleo of late.])

Paleo Mussel & Clam Chowder Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb bacon
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 stalks celery
• Sea salt
• 1 tbsp dried basil
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1-1.5 lbs red potatoes
• 2 c. chicken broth (I used homemade)
• 1/4 c. cooking sherry or dry white wine
• 1/2 c. full fat coconut milk
• 3 cans (6.5 oz. each) cooked clams and juice
• 1 lb. cooked mussels

Instructions:

1. In a heavy-bottomed pot (this Dutch oven is perfect)... chop bacon strips into chunks and cook until a good amount of the fat is released. 
2. Take bacon pieces out and add chopped onion, minced garlic, and chopped celery to the pot. Add some sea salt and basil and thyme. 
3. Chop potatoes and add to the pan; saute a little so some of the edges get a little brown.
4. Add broth, cooking, sherry, coconut milk, cans of clams with juice, and mussels. (You can cut the mussels in half to disguise them if you're serving to picky eaters who are used to clam-only chowder!)
5. Cook on medium-low 20-30 minutes until potatoes are fully cooked.

Makes 4-6 servings (and each packs a ton of protein!). If my calculations are correct... one fifth of this recipe has a whopping 36.6 grams of protein, plus 24 grams of carbohydrate and 15 grams of fat. What a balanced dish!

Serve with a fresh green salad with some crunchy red pepper or tomatoes for a perfect rainy spring meal.

"Chowder-ey"--you know what I mean, right?? ;)

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3 ways to make cooking at home easier - and a Sun Basket meal giveaway!

1.06.2016

3 ways to make cooking at home easier - and a Sun Basket meal giveaway!

I love cooking my own food. Something about the combination of control over the quality and type of ingredients, huge savings from ordering takeout, and inevitable health benefit has totally won me over and I cook almost every dinner we eat (usually leftovers for lunch!). I love it!

But, it is time-consuming. Sometimes when I get home from work the last thing I want to do is put mental energy into coming up with our meal for the evening. Or, if I have it planned ahead of time, sometimes I really don't feel like chopping the vegetables. And, what if I forgot to get out the meat to thaw?? (We order half and whole hog and cow shares from local farms which is great for pricing and health, but it means you have to plan ahead or defrost in the microwave... ugh.)

This time of year, a lot of us may be resolving to make better food choices and take time for things that are important--giving yourself some ways to make cooking at home easier can really help!! Here are three tips I have for taking the pressure off cooking at home and making it fun and easier to do.

3 ways to  make cooking at home easier!

1. Podcasts.

I have personal faves, of course, but pick any podcast you like and have it keep you company in the kitchen. You could even choose a podcast that you only listen to while cooking! (I do this, the habit formation strategy of "Pairing" (from Gretchen Rubin's Better Than Before) and only listen to her podcast Happier while I work out! It makes that time special and I always look forward to it.)

Some current (a couple longtime) faves of mine:

• Happier
• Balanced Bites
• Pop Culture Happy Hour
• Serial

Of course, podcasts about food would also be great for the kitchen! NPR has some great ones like America's Test Kitchen Radio and The Splendid Table. (Also check out The Kitchn's list of 10 great food podcasts!)

2. Great kitchen tools.

Another Gretchin Rubin reference (this one from The Happiness Project)... I'm an Underbuyer, and I really have a hard time purchasing things for myself until the last minute when I really desperately need them. But I've gotten better recently and know that having good cutting boards, knives, and one or two really great pans makes cooking a lot more pleasant (and easier and more effective). (By the way, The Happiness Project was such a hit that you can buy a copy for $0.01 on Amazon so really, what are you waiting for?? It literally changed my life! I love it!)

One trick I do and LOVE is I keep one small cutting board that's for garlic/onion only. Nothing worse than cutting cantaloupe and getting a lingering garlicky taste. I love bamboo since it's durable and easy to rinse and naturally antimicrobial, and sets like these are perfect!

Also, we have this cast iron skillet and use it all. the. time. It's so great.

As for knives... Global knives are really nice solid handle Japanese knives at a reasonable price point.

One more thing that may add to your ease and happiness cooking... if you don't have a salad spinner, why are you torturing yourself every time you buy lettuce?? They are so brilliant! (Maybe this sounds like a given but we never had one when I was a kid!) You want the kind with the push-down button, not the crank handle.

3. A meal/ingredient delivery service.

I had never tried a mail order meal ingredient delivery before Sun Basket reached out to me. I thought it sounded a little too convenient... maybe not great quality or local food, maybe too expensive, maybe wasteful packaging, maybe not enough choice in the meal options... but when Sun Basket solves all these problems! They offer easy, healthy recipes delivered weekly with organic ingredients from the best West Coast farms. They offer lots of options and you can pick and choose which meals you want! They're different every week.

Sun Basket is a new healthy meal kit service that delivers organic ingredients and delicious, easy-to-make recipes for cooking at home. Sun Basket makes it easy to cook healthy, with Paleo, Gluten-free and Vegetarian options, plus healthy breakfasts. Get 3 recipes per week for 2, 4 or 6 people, delivered to your door in recyclable packaging that can be shipped back - free- for reuse.

Sun Basket was founded in San Francisco in 2014. Recipes are created by Executive Chef Justine Kelly, formerly head chef at James Beard award-winning restaurant The Slanted Door in San Francisco. Chef Justine has a talent for combining the best seasonal produce with globally inspired flavors to create nourishing meals that are balanced, healthy and delicious.

We tried a week of Sun Basket and it was great! I really enjoyed having three meals for husband and me, with all the ingredients in one place! Everything was super delicious, and definitely fancier and more interesting than I sometimes come up with. I loved the spice blends and dressings, all pre-mixed, so much more flavorful and complex than I come up with on my own most nights.

The instructions were really easy to follow, too, with separate instructions for each element of the dish.

Of course I also love the options for our dietary restrictions, too, and that the food comes from organic farms in and around California.

Good news for you is, Sun Basket is offering my readers a chance to win 3 free Sun Basket meals for two people!

Only readers (or their recipients) in Western states are eligible: California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, and Nevada. If you don't live in one of those states, you can still enter, and gift to someone who lives in one of those states if you win!

Earn additional entries by checking out Sun Basket on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. a Rafflecopter giveaway
And you don't have to wait to see if you won to try out Sun Basket for a week! You can get $30 off your Sun Basket order by clicking this link! The promo code will be entered automatically when you process your order. A little more about the company...

Sun Basket food:

• Organic non-GMO produce from the best West Coast farms
• Sustainably sourced, hormone-free meats and seafood
• Easy, healthy 30-minute recipes designed for minimal cleanup
• Recipes developed by an award-winning San Francisco chef
• All recipes are approved by in-house nutritionist

Sun Basket meal plans:

• Healthy meal plans including Paleo-friendly, Gluten-free and Vegetarian options, plus breakfast
• 3 recipes per week, with meal plans for 2, 4, or 6 people
• Choose any meals you like each week. You can even double or triple up on a recipe
• Currently shipping to CA, OR, WA, CO, UT, AZ, NV, and ID

Sun Basket packaging:

• Carefully packaged to stay fresh in the box for 8 hours after delivery
• 100% recyclable packaging
• Free delivery and free return shipping so they can recycle and reuse the materials

Good luck and enjoy the $30 off your Sun Basket order!

Thanks to Sun Basket for the trial basket with three delicious Paleo meals! I was not compensated in any other way for this post and all opinions are my own.

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Beautiful grain-free baking - and a giveaway! My Paleo Patisserie

7.13.2015

Beautiful grain-free baking - and a giveaway! My Paleo Patisserie

I've had phases with baking. My mom wasn't much of a baker, so when I got into it in high school it was new and exciting. After grad school when I switched to a very restrictive diet, I still made treats but didn't do detailed, careful-measuring "baking" and didn't use common ingredients or chemistry. Now that we eat our own personalized versions of the Paleo Diet, I avoid super sweet things most of the time (and grains always) but I do occasionally bake for a special event! Like the birthdays that have happened this month!

So when I saw Jenni Hulet's inspiringly beautiful new book, My Paleo Patisserie: An Artisan Approach to Grain-Free Baking, I was excited to try some of the recipes when I had a reason to make a real treat! Husband was amazed by the 300+ pages of grain-free baking wisdom and unlimited combinations and varieties of desserts. His birthday was earlier this month, so he picked out a dessert for us to make. We both got super into it, flipping through the pages and learning the grain-free baking tricks and techniques Jenni has perfected!

I got a copy of My Paleo Patisserie to try out AND a copy to give away to one of you!!

The cake we made husband was most similar to the Neapolitan Cake, though we used all vanilla cake and jam for the filling. So beautiful.

For my birthday, I might choose the Maple Carrot Cake with coconut. (Or the No-Crust Black-Bottomed Banana Pies... or the Tiramisu... or the... well, it's hard to decide.)

Considering how fancy some of the recipes look, the detailed step-by-step photos of some of the specialized skills seem SO helpful! For example, making marshmallows someday is a goal of mine, so I know I'll want to refer to these photos when I try it!

Husband picked out a mix-and-match combination of vanilla cake, raspberry jam (we made it from berries we picked at a farm), and Swiss meringue buttercream icing. It was delicious!

Then for my mom's annual July backyard party, we made the berry tart, in one 9" pan, with coconut cream filling, nut-free crust this time, and more berries we picked at the farm. 

It was a huge hit!

Enter to win a copy of My Paleo Patisserie here!

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A book on practically everything interesting - The Homegrown Paleo Cookbook! And a giveaway

5.14.2015

A book on practically everything interesting - The Homegrown Paleo Cookbook! And a giveaway

There are a LOT of great books out there on topics I care about. LOTS of beautiful real food cookbooks, lots of books on backyard chickens and urban homesteading, lots of beautiful, inspiring lifestyle photography books, lots of books on what's wrong with our food system for sustainability and health. So when Diana Rodgers (of The Sustainable Dish blog and Modern Farm Girls podcast) combined ALL those topics and more into this one amazing book, I knew it was worth having!!

And The Homegrown Paleo Cookbook has not disappointed. I've loved sharing this book with my husband (we dream of having chickens!) and am excited to read it with my mother-in-law, a pro gardener and the one who introduced us to local grassfed beef- and pastured hog share-buying.

So I was also very excited to share it with you! And overwhelmed as to where to start on this review. So much good stuff!

Check out this page on Diana's blog for more about the book, plus a beautiful video trailer!

The Homegrown Paleo Cookbook is more than 400 pages of info, including gorgeous photos (they were shot in FILM photography!! How many gardening/homesteading/cookbooks can say that?), and is split into sections about 1) the case for sustainable living and eating, and the problems with standard modern diets, 2) Raising, 3) Growing, 4) Cooking, and 5) Living. So many things I care about!

The Homegrown Paleo Cookbook Review

Here are a few of my favorite pages and tidbits from the book.

The "Raising" section talks about chickens, rabbits, sheep, goats, pigs, cows, and even bees!

I've heard about Diana's chicken coops on wheels (on podcasts), so it was cool to see this photo of them! And read about the role chickens play in a sustainable farm.

The "Growing" section is also an incredible resource. The parts about getting started with a food garden (on any scale, even porch planters) are helpful for me since I'm a newbie at it. Some great science on soil health, too.

And specifics about growing each family of produce.

Possibly my favorite page in the book is this map of what you can grow on a 1/8 acre, 1/4 acre, or 1 acre plot of land. Oh, how I hope I can one day (soon?) have a yard of any size at all, and be able to produce some of our own food on it!

Of course, there are also RECIPES! In the "Cooking" section, the 100+ recipes are organized by season. This is super helpful for those of us with CSA subscriptions, too... I've been getting a lot of the ingredients for the "Early Season Recipes" in our CSA box each week, and this book is organized for seasonal eating and using foods that are available at the same time as each other. Perfect!!

Diana took more than a year to get all the photos taken, so she was able to capture each season on the farm. It's incredible what we can produce all year 'round, and if you subscribe to a year-round CSA or winter CSA like we do, you know you get some amazing produce in the winter, too. The photos of all the recipes are so gorgeous (film photography of fresh, local food through the seasons... what more could you want in an appetizing cookbook?), every page is inspiring. And, Diana is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and notes in each recipes if it can be made nut-free, egg-free, Autoimmune Protocol-friendly, or Whole30-compliant. All the recipes are gluten-free and most are or can be dairy-free.

This roasted asparagus soup with trumpet mushrooms and sorrel recipe is also available on Diana's blog!

There are important kitchen tips in the "Cooking" section, too, like basic canning methods (I need to learn!!), how to make and refrigerate broths, how to grill... and this, how to care for cast iron cookware. We love our cast iron, but it did take some getting used to.

The "Living" section of the book has DIY projects like beeswax candles, ideas for games, and tips for de-stressing. And some tips and encouragement on eating good food on a budget/"making it work in real life."

Even if you don't have land (we have two decks, no yard) or a green thumb, the book is helpful and informational about how we buy food. The first part shares some help for being an educated consumer (like what all the terminology on egg varieties means), and I love reading stats like how Americans' budgets have changed over the years on how much we spend on food.

Giveaway!

I can't explain how much great information is packed into this beautiful book. I'm sure you will love The Homegrown Paleo Cookbook if you love cooking real, high quality food!

Diana has generously offered one of my readers a copy of this incredible book! Enter here! Ends Thursday, 5/21 at 9:00 PM PST.

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4 easy things you can do in the kitchen to celebrate Earth Day every day

4.21.2015

4 easy things you can do in the kitchen to celebrate Earth Day every day

Tomorrow is Earth Day!
I don't usually give much thought to the day itself, since I've been a pro recycler since middle school, a very sparing plastic bag- and paper towel-user since college, a Prius driver since grad school, and a primarily local food-eater since going Paleo 2.5 years ago. Being a responsible citizen of the planet is important to me and I do it as much as possible as a given in my normal routine.

But, I'm on the Sustainability Committee at work this year, and we've put together some programming to encourage recycling and reduce waste in the office, and it's got me thinking about little changes that are easy for people to do without changing their routines. A science/movement writer I follow, Katy Bowman, says in order to change behaviors or patterns, it's much harder to introduce something entirely new--much easier to change a detail on something you already do (for her, it's switching to safer shoes or sitting on the floor to watch TV instead of in a chair). What this means for everyday habits that affect the waste stream is, rather than changing behaviors we have, like drinking coffee every day or washing the counter often, it's easier to change the way we do those things to reduce our impacts.

If you're interested in making some changes to celebrate Earth Day this week, here are 4 easy ideas that we do at home. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen and a lot of waste is generated there, so it's a good place to focus your efforts for a bigger impact.

4 Easy Sustainable Changes in the Kitchen

1. Store recycling in an accessible but concealed location. Ours goes to the left of the fridge in a large pantry, and the paper bag we use to capture recyclable paper and cans is larger than our trash container!

2. Make your coffee at home rather than buying it out. It's very simple. People have been doing it for years. It's really not hard. I don't understand why people are still buying trendy, fancy coffee. Why don't we all just make our own?!? It's cheap, it's easy, it's fast (we use this programmable coffee maker and set it up before going to bed the night before--here's another option), you don't have to talk to strangers first thing in the morning, you can know the source of the beans you use, you can put any kind of milk or cream, fat, spices, etc. in it, and (the sustainability reason) you can bring it to work in a reusable mug. Think of how many cups you save from the landfill if you swap your daily St@rbucks for homemade--and how about all those other benefits I just listed?

3. Use hand towels and rags instead of only paper towels. I wash my hands a lot while cooking, and I actually prefer drying my hands on cloth towels over paper towels. They're also fun to decorate with! As you can see, the hand towel hanging on our stove is one of the only spots of color in our kitchen.

I also clean the counter a lot, and I use old washcloths and hand towels in a rag bucket next to the sink. The rag bucket was $1 at Dollar Tree and we already had the washcloths and assorted towels, and I keep a rotating collection as they get old or I have to use them for wood staining or something. We keep a bucket of rags by the kitchen sink, a small laundry basket for rag laundry in the downstairs bathroom, and a bucket of rags in our bathroom so I can clean the mirror or counters easily. I use rags every day! It's old-fashioned but they work better for cleaning than paper towels, anyway. I also use a rag instead of a drying rack for hand-washed dishes.

4. Keep and reuse bags. We store plastic shopping bags in a drawer (we use them as trash bags in our tiny IKEA inside-cabinet-door trash basket), produce bags on a shelf, and paper grocery bags sideways inside the cabinet. It's handy to have a variety of bags available for use, sorted. We reuse the produce bags from the grocery store (and from the CSA, when they're not too wet or dirty) to split up veggies from our CSA or garden/family's garden. (We use canvas shopping bags for regular grocery trips, but we still end up with lots of paper and plastic bags from other places.)

Photos by Nakalan McKay.

There you have it--4 easy changes that aren't really big changes at all! Happy Earth Day this week, and may you enjoy it and build habits that you use the whole year!

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Practical Person's Gift Guide: Kitchen Stuff

12.11.2014

Practical Person's Gift Guide: Kitchen Stuff

A follow-up to my "Practical Person's Gift Guide" of a couple weeks ago--this one's also written by a practical person, intended for the relatively practical people in your life, but with some of my favorite practical and beautiful kitchen goodies.

Over only the past two years, I've been learning to cook, and I've gotten really comfortable with and excited about a few tools and processes in particular. I love to share things I'm passionate about, and it would be great if I could share some of my new love of cooking real, whole, nutrient-dense foods for my family through personal gifts to friends.

Isn't it just the most perfect to find a pretty, useful, valuable gift specific to each friend? I hope this gift guide can help you with that! Here's my gift guide of kitchen stuff that will inspire and nourish.

You'll recognize a few of these kitchen faves in my Amazon shop here, but here are a few that would make great gifts!

A practical person's gift guide - for the cook or food lover!

1. Cuisinart mini food processor. We use ours all the time for sauces and smaller dishes, and it's much easier to store than a full-size food processor.
2. Cast iron Dutch oven. How beautiful are these Dutch ovens from West Elm? Unfortunately/fortunately, they're on sale, so they may not be around for long. There is also this classic Lodge Dutch oven - 3.5 quart or 6 quart. I had never used a Dutch oven until last year but now I'm hooked. Stove-to-oven-to-table-to-fridge!
3. THE CLASSIC cast iron skillet. This one comes with the handy perfect-fit rubber handle. (Bonus to include: home-rendered lard or tallow to cook in and season it with! See how and why to make your own here, here, here, and here.)
4. Enameled cast iron skillet (or this West Elm one, which is on sale). We have a small enameled cast iron skillet we use for eggs all. the. time. and they never stick!
5. Really good, programmable slow cooker. We got this one for a wedding gift and use it several times every week. It's on right now, actually. It's great for setting when you leave the house or need something cooked then kept warm during the night. 
6. BIG butter dish for grassfed or European butter. You'd be surprised how hard it is to find butter dishes big enough for Kerrygold butter!! We bought ourselves one of these, plus a gift for my in-laws, who also buy the good stuff.
7. Stick blender. Great specialized, small kitchen item. This is great for soups, sauces, and Bulletproof® Coffee (if you hold the cup or jar, don't leave it on the table if it's full).
8. Spiral slicer. I know it may seem like a lot of appliance for one function, but if you've ever tried to make zucchini noodles, sweet potato noodles, and squash noodles over the same few-week period with the little handheld one (like I have, ahem) you'll find yourself wishing for a dedicated, more functional machine. The little ones work for skinny zucchini but nothing bigger or firmer. Spiralized noodles are delicious and a great base for just about any dish - plus they fit extra veggies into the meal!

I'm serious about the cast iron--there's a reason it's been used forever!! We've given a cast iron pan along with a jar of home-rendered lard (seriously, check out those links above) as gifts before and people love trying new things (new classic, old things).

I'm sure my tips for kitchen goodies will evolve with my cooking skills, but I love to stick mostly to the basics like some of these above!

Check out all my gift guides here.

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Why, how, when - making mirepoix

11.14.2014

Why, how, when - making mirepoix

I've learned so much about cooking in the past couple years, and there are a few things I've taken on that have really helped me save time and make more delicious food. I didn't learn a whole lot about cooking from my mom, and I had such a limited diet for so long that I didn't expand my horizons much on my own until a couple years ago when we started eating a balanced, nutrient-dense, real food (paleo) diet. Now, I love that I can resurrect classic recipes from family members, literature, wherever and put together delicious foods of high quality ingredients (and I can easily modify things to be grain-free and processed food-free).

So I have a kitchen tip for you! I realized what a benefit this was one weekend when I was cooking a soup, a roast, and a stir fry all on one day (we pack lots of leftovers and I love having things ready to cook). So often for me the barrier to cooking is the chopping. Especially messy things like broccoli and carrots, which fly everywhere if you're not careful. And onions require a special cutting board, so yet another step. But so often I find myself chopping up the same few ingredients! Onions, definitely. Also, for wintery stews and roasts, carrots & celery!

And so have many people, over many years! Since as early as 1757, people have been calling this mix "mirepoix" and using it as a base for many, many recipes.

Seriously, I looked up the definition and origins of "mirepoix." (I love definitions. Especially specific ones like this!) Mirepoix (pronounced "meer-pwah"), is:

a sautéed mixture of diced vegetables (as carrots, celery, and onions), herbs, and sometimes ham or bacon used especially as a basis for soups, stews, and sauces

So simple, right?!

Even more simple if - and I realized this when I put together all those recipes that one day - I make a bunch of mirepoix and spread it out over several recipes!

There are a million different variations (around the world, even--read this post) and a million things you can do with it. Some of my faves are:

• Roasted chicken
• Shepherd's Pie
• Soups

Mmm. Great way to add flavor and set up a base for delicious dishes. (Especially during the season when we get onions, carrots, and the most flavorful celery ever from our CSA!!)

So recently when my photographer friend Aubrie came over to take some photos, we got these as I prepared a mirepoix base for a couple dishes for dinners.

 1. Chop vegetables.

2. Combine.

(My suggestion, optional 3. Prepare several containers, and save one for the next night to save you some chopping time!)

(I always use my designated garlic/onion cutting board for garlic, onion, and spicy peppers... nothing worse than onion-flavored cantaloupe! I swear the taste/smell never really goes away.)

 Image Source: Stocksy

Photos by Aubrie LeGault.

Portrait Business: Capturing Grace Photography / Capturing Grace Facebook Page

Food & Editorial Business: Aubrie LeGault Photography

Twitter: @aubrielegault

Instagram: @aubrielegault

Try it!

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