I made my dough around 1pm and baked the pizza for dinner, so I didn't photograph the process.
Pizza Dough
3 cups all purpose flour (organic)
1 packet yeast or 2.25 teaspoons (tried a special pizza one but will use regular from now on)
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (I used safflower oil)
1 teaspoon salt (bough in bulk)
1 tablespoon sugar (bought in bulk)
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
Sift the dry ingredients together into a large bowl.
Mix in oil and water, mix with your hands to create a nice sticky dough.
Cover the bowl and place into your refrigerator until you're ready to use.
Heat oven to 375 degrees
Begin by rolling the dough into a ball. Begin to pull the dough into a large flat circle. Flatten to about 1/8" inch in thickness. The circle doesn't have to be perfect. Place either on a pizza stone or stainless steel pizza pan.
Once you have spread your pie to the desired size, spread a thin layer of olive oil all over the dough. Then spread your sauce. I used organic pasta sauce because I don't make pizza often and it would be wasteful buying a separate sauce.
Then spread on your cheeses. I grated my own mozzarella and parmesan. This saved money and also prevented unwanted or needed plastic waste.
After you're done with the cheese, slice and add your choice toppings. I chose mushrooms and onions.
Bake for 25-35 minutes or until finished. Enjoy!
The entire process takes just as long as it does to order and wait for a pizza. By making your own, you know exactly what you are eating and can substitute to your needs. You can also make it a family activity and have fun with it.
Have fun!!
There are many ways to cook and make homemade items waste free. I love to make my own yogurt (recipe in previous post). Unfortunately in Illinois, I can't keep the milk and culture at the proper temperature over night.
I also usually cook my food in one pan. I use homemade vegetable stock. (
wonderful recipe here). By making my own stocks, yogurts, condiments, etc, I prevent bringing waste into the home. The most recent time I made my vegetable stock (seen below), it came out purple because I added red cabbage and kale to the mix.
Here is how I cook a lot of my meals. I only purchase wrapping free vegetables and try to stick to seasonal vegetables to cut costs. I also only purchase whole mushrooms because they last longer. Place your sliced vegetables, garlic and herbs in the skillet with about 1/2 cup of homemade stock.
Once the stock is boiling and your vegetable have been cooking for about 5-10 minutes, add your tilapia fillet. Place some of the vegetables over the tilapia, add some salt, pepper and some more stock.
Continue to allow the stock to boil. Once the fish is fully cooked, allow more of the stock to boil away. Then place your food in your chosen dish and enjoy!
I love making these recipes. The stock I use when cooking fish, chicken and sauces. The yogurt I put in my oatmeal or cereal. =) I was amazed how tasty the yogurt is in old fashion oatmeal.
Homemade Yogurt
4 cups of milk (I use fat free)
2 tablespoons of vanilla yogurt
cooking pot (stainless steel is best)
Glass jar for yogurt
cooking thermometer
Place the 4 cups of milk in the pot and turn on high heat. Place the thermometer in the milk.
Bring the milk up to 185 degrees and then turn off the heat. Pour the hot milk into your glass jar and place the thermometer in the milk. Allow the milk to cool down to 110 degrees. Add the yogurt to the milk. Place the jar into your oven with the pilot light on. Make sure the milk stays at 110 degrees. Allow the milk to sit for 4-12 hours. When the yogurt has cultured, place in refrigerator. This yogurt should last for about a week.
You can add homemade vanilla extract and stevia for vanilla yogurt.
Homemade Vegetable Stock
pinch of salt
cabbage scraps
kale scraps
leek scraps
onion peelings
carrot peelings and scraps
any vegetable scraps available
Glass bottle for storage
Place the vegetable scraps (washed please) into a large stock pot. Add water to the pot until the vegetable are barely covered. Add the salt. Bring the water to a boil. Allow the vegetables to soak for 30-45 minutes. Take out the scraps with tongs. Pour the stock into a glass bottle. Use within a week.
Making Jam
Thursday, February 16, 2012
| Author:
Unknown
Yesterday I decided to try out Agar Agar powder when making jam. I know berries in this area are out of season, but I needed new jam and wanted to try a new recipe. I purchased 36oz of natural blackberries (they were on sale) for this experiment. I also purchased some Agar Agar powder. Agar Agar powder is a vegan gelatin and is used in petri dishes to make bacteria grow. I just thought that was an interesting factoid. I usually use pectin when making jam since it is much cheaper than the Agar powder, but I had to try it.
Here is how I made my blackberry jam and please ignore the blurry photos, my iPhone didn't want to cooperate:
Rinse your berries throughly with hot water and shake the colander as rinsing. (shown in my Preserve colander)
Place half of the berries into your blender and puree for about 10 seconds. You still want the puree to be slightly lumpy for texture. When you are done pureeing the berries, place them in a pot.
Add your other ingredients to the puree:
2 tsps of agar agar powder per 2 cups of liquid
2 cups of organic sugar (I split my sweet ingredient between sugar and stevia to lower the calorie count)
Bring to a boil and lower the heat to medium.
Stir until fully mixed.
Allow the mix to boil until it has reduced about a 4th.
Bring out your sanitized jars and fill each jar with 1" remaining at the top. (Mixture should fill 6 7oz jars)
Clean the edge of the jars before closing.
Place the jars in a canning pot with 1" of water covering the jars.
Bring the pot to a boil and boil for about 20-25 minutes.
When the jars have sealed you can leave them in the pot to cool or remove them to a heat resistant surface to cool.
Check the seal of one of the jars.
Enjoy!
My opinion of the agar agar powder is that it sets very quickly, is still spreadable even if it seems solid and does not change the flavor of the jam. It is about 5 times more expensive than pectin and does not have the typical gelatin texture of pectin.
I also took some photos of ridiculous amounts of plastic at Target the other day:
You receive five cents back for every bag you bring to the store. . . .that can add up over time.
Here is how I make my own peppermint toothpaste.
one jar or containers
baking soda
stevia powder
peppermint extract (optional)
fork
Place the following in your container or a bowl
add 3 tablespoons baking soda
add 1 tablespoon stevia
whisk together the dry ingredients
add a dash (about 1/2 a teaspoon) of peppermint extract
while stirring the mixture with a fork begin to add water to make into a paste, thickness of the paste is based on your preferences
Cover your toothpaste and use! I prefer adding the peppermint in order to get that "fresh, clean" feeling after using the toothpaste. I also believe it helps my breath. Please remember that there is alcohol in the extract. This toothpaste is not to be swallowed.
Do: Purchase bulk, unpackaged un processed items like grains, sugar, etc
Don't: Use plastic containers. These containers may leak harmful chemicals and fumes
Do: Use glass or ceramic storage containers. These containers are non toxic.
Don't: Purchase processed foods. These foods are made with harmful chemicals and are very bad for you.
Do: Take your own bags and containers to the grocery store and farmers market. This saves you time (you won't be fiddling with opening the plastic bags) and it will lower your trash amount while preventing more bags being put in the landfill. (I sew my own produce bags and use
Bormioli Jars for Meats and Cheeses)
Do: Use your own glass or metal water bottle (I use a
Modern Water Bottle by Takeya)
Don't: Overstock on canned foods. Canned foods are now known to leak BPA and are also very high in sodium and other hormones and chemicals.
Do: Make your own nontoxic house hold cleaners. This is good for the environment and your wallet.
Do: Stock reusable items. Reusing items is very good for the environment because they don't end up in a landfill and are also great for your wallet.
Do: Wash your laundry in cold water. This prevents colors from bleeding and saves energy.
Do: Eat seasonal vegetables and fruits. This is healthier for you and prevents the use of unneeded energy.
Here is how I make my homemade all-purpose household cleaner. This is a common recipe and my measurements may be different from other versions. This cleaner is extremely effective.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups White Vinegar (either buy in bulk or in a glass bottle)
2 tablespoons Castile Soap (use Lavender scented)
3 cups Water
34 oz glass/spray bottle (bottle shown purchased at Ikea)
Take your bottle and place a funnel in the opening.
Pour in your vinegar
Add your castile soap
Slowly add your water. The mixture will begin to create suds, so add water very slowly.
When all of the ingredients are in, close the bottle and shake lightly.
Add to spray bottle when needed. The castile soap and vinegar may separate, just shake the solution again.
Use this cleaner with microfiber cloths for best results.
Tip: To clean windows, just use water with your microfiber cloths.
Here are my new stainless steel utensils:
To give you an idea of how much tupperware my mom has, here is a photo of her cabinet:
I feel so free since I donated all of mine except my Preserve ones.
This week I am pet sitting my parents two dogs and parrot while they treat my grandparents to a cruise to Belize. Their house is very different than mine now. They rely more than anything on processed and packaged foods/items. My mom gave me strange looks when I took my jars and bags to the store. She understands, but thinks it's too different to do.
I will be buying my coffee in bulk and grinding it at home from now on. It is cheaper and you know the coffee is fresh. You can then store the coffee in an airtight container like a larger fido hermetic jar.
I will say one thing, they are lucky when it comes to their milk. Their grocery stores carry Oberweis Dairy Products. It's a dairy company in Northern Illinois. Oberweis sells their milk in returnable and reusable glass bottles. I am jealous. My co op used to sell milk in glass bottles, but I don't know what happened. I am going to keep two of the bottles for myself. They are very useful for storing things.
While shopping at one of their local grocery stores, I saw roma tomatoes on sale for $0.38 a lb. I bought about 5 lbs and made it into tomato paste/unseasoned sauce. I made exactly 2.5 liters of canned tomatoes.
I will say one thing, the hermetic jars do take longer to properly seal than the mason jars. I used my hermetic jars because the entire thing is reusable. Unfortunately, the lid of the mason jars aren't reusable.
I have also noticed that it is soo easy to marinate meat in the jars. I have been adding cut garlic cloves, pepper, salt and lemon juice to the meat over night. Definitely saves time. To also prevent creating waste, cook your meal in one dish. I cook a lot of my food in one skillet at the same time. I first place my vegetables in the skillet with 1/2 cup of water. Put the heat on high, add your meat, oil and spices. Cook until finished, you may want to flip your protein over to fully cook it.
What zero waste ideas have you come up with?
We now have a Facebook page. Please join the community.
Here is the recipe for my homemade Vanilla Extract:
(bottle was purchased at Hobby Lobby)
slice two vanilla beans in half and then chop it up into 1.5" increments
place the beans inside the bottle
add the 400mL of vodka to the bottle with a funnel
Shake everyday and keep out of direct sunlight. Your extract should be useable within two weeks. Just continue to add more vodka and beans as you use the extract.
Today I went to Staples to pick up some dishwasher safe labels for my jars (for stable items such as flour, salt, etc.). While there I saw a package of 48 Marcal earth friendly rolls of toilet paper for only $24.99! Compared to Seventh Generation, the price was right. The toilet paper is 100% recycled paper. Each roll is wrapped in it's own paper, which can easily be recycled. The biggest downside is obvious, the plastic wrapping. I figure it is better than buying smaller amounts of toilet paper, which are also wrapped in plastic. I won't be buying any paper for quite a while. Since there are no places that sell Seventh Generation in bulk, I will continue to purchase my toilet paper from Staples. I know it sounds strange. hahaha
I would also like to mention that Hobby Lobby has all of their glass jars 50% off. I recently purchased 10+ jars for $34.00.
