Plastic-Free Recipe: Burger Buns

Since the end of September, I've been striving (that means making a conscious effort) to purchase no foods in plastic.  By the way, if you haven't seen my guest post on Fake Plastic Fish My Plastic Free Life ... please check it out and share :) Collect Your Plastic. Change Your Life.   Over the past few months, one thing that I've struggled with is bread making... and I had even succumbed to purchasing some in plastic during the past few months... but I'm over it... I'm no longer purchasing bread in plastic...and tonight I wanted burgers... so I had to make buns!!!!  

For real... I made homemade burger buns with my two hands!!  

(Is my excitement shining through??)  

I have to say that when I found the recipe... I was cautiously optimistic as I've looked up so many bread recipes these past few months... only to learn that I can cook and I can bake... but I fail in my bread making skills.  BUT... after the dough rose, and I formed buns... and the smell filled the house... I learned tonight that I CAN make bread!!!  Happy Dance!!!!! :D 

Burger Buns

Recipe from: Ultimate Veggie Burgers

Makes 8 buns

Ingredients

1 cup warm water

2 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP honey

130 g whole wheat flour (I used Whole Wheat Pastry Flour)

260 g bread flour

1 tsp salt

1 TBSP yeast

Method

1. Mix together the dry ingredients. Make a well in the middle.
2. To dissolve the honey, mix it into the warm water.  Add the honey water into the well, then add the olive oil.
3. Mix everything together by hand to form a dough ball.
4. Knead the dough by hand for about ten minutes. 
5. Let the dough rise in a bowl until doubled in size (about 1 hour).
6. Divide dough into 8 pieces (do this by cutting the dough in half, then quarter each half). Roll out to flatten each piece. To form a ball, bring 2 opposite ends together and then bring the other 2 ends together.
7. Place the dough balls seam side down on a baking sheet.  Cover with a towel and let buns rest until they rise. (about 1 hour) 
8. Bake in pre-heated 375F/190C oven for 15 minutes.

By this point this should come as no shock... dinner tonight ROCKED!!  

I was dancing in my kitchen because I was so over-the-top excited about my victory! ;)  Check out my 100% Plastic-Free and oh so YUMMY dinner!!!!  

Homemade Black Bean Burgers on my homemade buns, with roasted potatoes and green beans!!! YAY!!  

Watch It: Tedx Great Pacific Garbage Patch Event LIVE

Please join me here on It Starts With Me on Saturday, November 6  at 8:30 am PST... that's 9:30 Mnt., 10:30 Central and 11:30 for all you East coasters ;)....  for an 

 unprecedented worldwide web event on plastic pollution-- 

the Tedx GreatPacificGarbagePatch event!!!

The conference takes place Saturday, Nov 6 from 8:30am to 6pm Pacific Time. There is an absolutely AMAZING and INSPIRING lineup of speakers, including Dr. Sylvia Earle, David de Rothschild, Ed Begley Jr, Captain Charles Moore, Anna Cummins & Marcus Ericsen, Chris Jordan, Beth Terry and many many others guaranteed to educate and inspire us for this one day information marathon covering topics from plastic in the ocean to plastic in our bodies, AND solutions from personal actions to global initiatives and getting businesses on board. Check out the complete agenda and plan on joining this global event!!!!  Seriously, you don't want to miss it... whatever time you have to watch... seize it!!! :)

The Livestream will be up November 6 at 8:30 am PST.   If for any reason the player isn't working, please click to view at www.TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch.com.

tedxgp2 on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

              With Knowledge and Inspiration...

                leading us to ACTION...

         Together we can CHANGE the world

      :)

Our Daily Ocean: Day 17

On Monday, while my two oldest children decided to stay at work with their Dad... my youngest son and I went to Wrightsville Beach to... well... you know what we do.  I had originally decided that we were going to go to Access 39, but as I as driving I saw a really great parking spot at.....  Access 33!!

Prepared to pay for parking...I got out a bunch of coins to fill the parking meter... and as loaded in my first coin... NOTHING happened!!  Oooops!!  Off-season!!  YAY!! Free parking!!! (well... kind of... I totally lost 35 cents!)

The weather on Monday was less than ideal for the beach.... cold and windy... (sigh) it's finally fall here in Wilmington.... 

There was hardly anyone at the beach... just a couple of fisherman and a few runners that we saw pass during our 20 minutes.  As we were picking up the usual... I came across a lot of blue rope material...

It was all over the beach... frayed with little blue pieces everywhere.... not sure "what" exactly it's made of... but since I had a bucket overflowing with the rope... it makes me think that maybe Blockade Runner could come up with another way to mark their volleyball court (??)... hmmm....

Soooo... want the good news?!?  On Monday when we got home from the beach... I saw that Brita FilterForGood had finally announced the winners of the FilterForGood Film Project!!  Yup... my project was voted as one of the winners!  Of course, I knew Friday... but as soon as it was up on Facebook and the directors were announced... even MORE...JUMPING!!  DANCING!!  YAY!!  I am so grateful for everyone who took the time to vote for my project.... I have the most AWESOME family, friends and community!! 

(:   THANK YOU!!   :)

On that note of community, I talk about my friend Bonnie a lot on this blog and what she's doing about plastics in our oceans... 

"Did you know that an estimated 60-80% of marine litter starts out on land??  Much of this is done while people are enjoying our beautiful shorelines, oceans and waterways. " (Natural Awakenings pages 22-23... Thanks Barb!!) 

On November 6, I'll be livestreaming Tedx Great Pacific Garbage Patch.  You should totally join us for this global community event... as no doubt it will change the way we live today and for the future.  This one-day event will bring together speakers from all different fields to discuss the global plastic pollution crisis.  Together the group will identify the problem and share possible ways to solve it.  AND... the conference will culminate with the launch of 4 challenges to humanity... you can watch the event LIVE on    www.TedxGreatPacificGarbagePatch.com, or here on my blog (I'll get that up Saturday) OR on the "It Starts With Me" facebook page starting at 8:30 am PST.

Confirmed speakers include Dr. Sylvia Earle, Captain Charles Moore, Van Jones, David de Rothschild, Jackson Browne, Jordan Howard, Stacy Malkan, Ken Cook, Bharati Chaturvedi, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, Vice President of Ghana, Beth Terry, Fabien Cousteau, and Ed Begley Jr. More speakers are listed on the event web sitewww.TedxGreatPacificGarbagePatch.com.  View the agenda for the day’s events at http://www.tedxgreatpacificgarbagepatch.com/agenda/. 

20 minutes on November 1, 2010

Total amount of litter picked up by weight: 5.7 oz

Cigarette Butts: 85 (yes... this is the least amount we've picked up... YAY!!)

My son said, "Mom... I didn't get much cigarettes."  I told him, "That's a good thing."

Total amount of cigarette butts picked up off of Wrightsville Beach, NC in 17 days:

7,710

Smooth (and Plastic-free) Shave

A few years ago, my husband and his father went to Mexico for a father son camping trip to see the California gray whales migration.  Knowing there would be no running water... it was important for me to find personal care products that wouldn't disrupt (ok... pollute) the water they'd be bathing in.  I went to my local cooperative market (you guessed it... Tidal Creek) and after a brief explanation of what I needed (shampoo, shaving, non-liquid and environmentally kind) they promptly handed me a bar of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap. 

Without using it once before his trip, he took the soap to Mexico and when he returned he no longer wanted to use his over-priced shave cream from Art of Shaving.  (YAY!!)  Of course, I had been on a mission to find a better shave cream for myself... one with no parabens and no plastic... so when I saw how well Dr. Bronner's lathered I quickly made the switch and have never for one second thought about switching back to shave gels or creams.

Things I like about Dr. Bronners Magic Bar Soaps:

1. No plastic.  Even the inks that are used on the paper packaging are soy based inks! (rad, I know.)

2. No funky ingredients.  Check out the Environmental Working Group's Cosmetic's Database.

3. Commitment to environment.  Palm oil is a big issue... and Dr. Bronner's signed this pledge.

4. Fair Trade.  Part of the environment is the people that we share it with... read about Fair Trade here.

Oh... just wait... there's more!!! 

Several weeks ago, the mirror that holds our razors fell AND my husband's "Gillette" razor broke in half.  He asked me to get him a new razor... hmmm... everything happens for a reason.  I told him to "let me do some research."  I knew exactly where to look.  Fake Plastic Fish, of course!!  (Seriously, if you're looking to rid your life of a plastic product... Fake Plastic Fish is the place to go.)  All I did was search "razor" and up popped the information I needed.  I convinced my husband to give a "safety razor" a try and ordered a plastic free razor!!!  

We were both super stoked when the razor came in the mail... and the next morning my husband used it.... well... he tried to use it.  He came out of the bathroom... face all cut up... and said, "send it back.  I'm not using it."  Determined to rid our home of another plastic-product... I wasn't going to give up. When he went to work, I looked up how to use a safety razor... turns out... safety razors are a lot different than their disposable 2, 3, 6, 100 blade counterparts. Ooooopppssss... should've given my husband directions before he put a blade to his face!!  Lesson learned ;)  With encouragement... ok pressure... from me... he gave the safety razor another try.

And now after a month of using the safety razor....he LOVES having a plastic-free razor!!  AND... so do I.  (no cut up legs for me though... after seeing his face that first day... let's just say that I'm easy on the legs ;) )  

Curious about what I've done with my plastic (disposable head) razor??... We kept it and it's been allocated for travel.  :D

Plastic-free Food: Days 6 & 7

When I originally planned to do our plastic-free food week... I didn't factor in that we would be taking a 6 and a half hour road trip to Scottsville, VA to go camping.  BUT, once I realized those factors... the challenge took on a new shape.  Most often when people go camping (or on road trips) all rules are thrown out the window.  Don't buy bottled water?  Most campers (and road trippers) do.  Don't use disposable plates, utensils, cups?  Most campers do.  AND... when it comes to food... it's certainly not plastic-free.

First thing was first.  Snacks.  When my husband and I went to see Jason Mraz in Greenville, SC... I didn't plan ahead.  Part of plastic-free food week is planning.... so on Thursday, my kids and I hit up the bulk foods sections at: Tidal Creek and Fresh Market.

All containers are mine from previous purchases.... why recycle when we can reuse?!  Front row:  Yogurt covered raisins, carob almonds, dried cinnamon apples.  2nd row: Nut snack mix, yogurt pretzels, corn nuts, gummies.  Back row:  Sesame sticks, pumpkin granola, pistachios, bananas, mustard pretzels

While at Fresh Market, the bakery lady asked my kids if they wanted a cookie.  I looked at the little plastic sheets they use to grab the cookies and explained to her about our plastic-free food week.  I told her I appreciated it, but we just couldn't.  She said, "Hold on.  I have an idea."  She went to the back and returned with a pair of tongs!!  My kids were super happy and I was so grateful for that lady to go out of her way for us!!  YAY!!!'

That evening I made and prepared a slew of things for our camping trip.  I filled 12 glass juice bottles with water (no bottled water for us!  Not even a 2 gallon jug!) and made graham crackers (intended for s'mores) and a loaf of bread.

I promise I'll post the recipe!!

As usual, we were prepared for our road trip with 8 reusable water bottles... filled and ready to go.  Our road trip was long and uneventful.  I kept staring out the window looking at our littered roadways.  I wonder why people still litter??  There have been litter education programs for over (at least) 50 years, but people are still littering... I said out loud, "If education isn't working... and by the looks of it... it isn't... I wonder why these products (styrofoam, plastic bags, single use products, straws, etc, etc, etc) are still being made??  Something has to change."  For me... that's what a good portion of this plastic-free food week is about.  Making a change.  Voting with my $$.... choosing foods and products that won't be on this planet longer than me or my children... OR end up on the side of the road... because even if I don't litter... it doesn't mean that a piece of trash isn't going to fall out of a trash truck or blow in the wind from a landfill... plastic blows.

On our drive, we stopped at Subway for lunch.  Normally, we get chips with our meal and sometimes drinks.  We skipped the chips (they're in plastic bags), said no thank you to our sandwiches being put in a plastic bag and used our own water bottles in lieu of getting a drink from the soda fountain.

After over 6 hours of driving we arrived here:

Here's what we ate for our meals:

Day 1 Breakfast:  Dunkin Donuts and bananas with Chocolate Milk  (don't cringe... doughnuts are my kids special treat when we go camping ;)  In the future, I'd like to make our own)  I had a hot cup of green tea with ginger instead of chocolate milk

Day 2 Breakfast:  Pancakes, chocolate milk and bananas

(true making the pancakes does produce the plastic... from the lid of the buttermilk... I plan to work on this.)

Lunch:  Peanut Butter and Jelly with cut up carrots and fresh oranges. (and our bulk snacks)

I used the bread I made for the PB&J  and used fresh ground peanut butter (put in my own container), Bonne Maman Strawberry Jam (comes in glass with no plastic over the lid... I usually use my own... but we're all out!!!), carrots and oranges were bought loose.

Dinner 2 nights:  Vegetarian Chili with Avocado and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

This photo was taken on night 2 of chili and we had leftover cheese from the sandwiches... so why not?!

Of course, the chili was plastic-free... that was easy.  (I'll post that recipe soon... ok it may be awhile... I've got a lot going on!!) The grilled cheese sandwiches were made my homemade bread and with local Hoop cheese (it's like a mild cheddar) that I got from Tidal Creek wrapped in paper.

Smores:  SO... I said I made graham crackers intended for S'mores.  We bought some Green & Black's organic dark chocolate for the purpose of ooey gooey marshmallows melting the chocolate onto our homemade graham crackers. Thing is... I didn't buy marshmallows.  They come in a plastic bag.  I thought that I would make marshmallows instead... but kept running into plastic.  I kept going back and forth... do I just buy marshmallows??  And ended up deciding that I just couldn't.  I figured that someone would have marshmallows for my kids to score at least one smores... but they were so into doing this challenge that they didn't even ask.  

I'm so proud of my kids as they brought so many different things to me to ask if they could have it.

As we were packing up on Sunday morning, I watched as a tractor went around picking up everyone's trash and putting it in a (roll-off sized) dumpster.  I looked around and realized that besides some compostable materials....we didn't have any trash.  We had a cooler full of beer bottles to be recycled... but no trash to go to the landfill.  AND... that felt amazing.

 On our way home, my husband and I talked about our plastic-free food week.  It's been such a fulfilling experience.... rethinking our food choices... teaching our kids about the problems of plastics (and seeing them understand)... and seeing what we were able to accomplish... In one week, the only plastic waste we-- a family of FIVE-- created was from 4 glass milk jugs.  And it all fits in the palm of my hand:

Once again I sent in my tally of plastics to Fake Plastic Fish: Show Us Your Plastic Challenge... I'll post that as soon as it is up :)

  As I talked to my husband, I had this feeling of not knowing what we're supposed to do now that our challenge week is over.  So I asked my husband, "What do we do now??  Do we go back to buying foods in plastic??"  AND my husband said, "I thought that this was a trial run... something that we would try and see if we could do it.  YOU did it... we proved we could live without those foods in plastic.  Why would we go back??"

I think he's right... that's why I had such a hard time thinking about the "what now".   The "what now" will be that we always strive to purchase no foods in plastic... rework recipes as needed to make them plastic-free AND share our adventures of being a family of five living in a plastic-free food world :D


Moments after I posted... I read this:

"Plastic pollution is the visible symbol of our global crisis of over-consumption. Let's pledge to shift our societies away from the disposable habits that poison our oceans and land, eliminate our consumption of throwaway plastics, and begin embracing a culture of sustainability. 

Our health, our children, and the survival of future generations depend on us." 

~ marine biologist Dr. Wallace J. Nichols

Plastic-Free Food: Day 1

Knowing that I was planning on doing a plastic-free food week... last week, I kept all of the plastic that I used throughout the week.  This is what my plastic waste in my kitchen looked like:

I submitted my plastic waste to Fake Plastic Fish:  Show Us Your Plastic Challenge.  I'll post that link whenever it's up.

Sure there are some things there that I normally don't buy.  For example, the Clif Bars, M&M's, and individually wrapped tea were from a road trip to Greenville, SC to see Jason Mraz in concert.  I usually plan our road trips really well... but not taking our 3 children... I really didn't think to bring snacks and this girl was hungry and not stopping at McDonald's for lunch.  Good news.. I never leave home without  my reusable water bottle!!   I'll be prepared with an arsenal of snacks next time!  AND I have to bring up the cookies... when I purchased them, I thought... "Well, I'm going to go plastic free next week... what if it's forever?!  I need to say good-bye to Liz Lovely's Chocolate Moose Dragons."  I LOVE Chocolate Moose Dragons... but I don't love the packaging.

SO... today was day one of buying or using no foods in plastic.  Breakfast and lunch were easy peasy.

• Breakfast:  Pancakes with maple syrup and local chocolate milk.

• Lunch:  Quesadillas made with homemade whole-wheat tortillas with maple smoked cheddar wrapped in paper**, sweet corn tomalito and mexican rice (left over from tacos last night... recipes coming soon!) and canned peaches that I made last week!  Note:  The whole wheat tortillas were made without wrapping the dough in plastic wrap-- I used a dishtowel.  I used bulk canola oil in the pan instead of using a spray can.

Now on to dinner.  All day I was stressing about what to make.  My husband is out of town and usually when he's out of town I pick up something easy to make like frozen organic raviolis or Gardein.  BUT... that wasn't an option.  I didn't want to go to the store and I had two butternut squashes sitting on my counter that I got from the Farmers' Market almost 2 weeks ago!!  So I decided to make "Butternut Squash Ravioli."  And by make... I mean make everything... the pasta and the filling.  I made the pasta in my food processor and thought, "hmmm... that's the easiest thing I've ever done."  I let the dough rest and then started the process of rolling it out using my pasta maker (that I got as a gift 8 years ago!!  Thanks MOM!!).  AND... the dough kept tearing and after so many tries... I nearly had a meltdown....and I almost gave up. But, I got my kids to help knead the dough some more and kept running it through the pasta maker and then... MAGIC... beautiful pasta!!!!

Dinner:  Butternut Squash Ravioli served with sautéed zucchini.  I made the ravioli using this recipe with these plastic-free adjustments:

• Instead of wrapping the dough in plastic wrap, I wrapped it in a dishtowel.
• I left out the butter. (only because I forgot... oops!)
• I used local buttermilk (in glass) in place of the marscarpone or cream cheese (both come in plastic)
• I used Chapel Hill Asiago (wrapped in paper**) in place of the Parm.
• My thoughts are that none of the dairy ingredients were really needed.  Next time, I'll make it with almond milk and a bit of nutritional yeast.

Day 1 is down... only 6 more to go....tomorrow I'm making Almond Milk!!!

**Last week, I asked the "cheese girl" at my cooperative food market to wrap cheese for me in paper in lieu of plastic... she wrote down my request and Friday after yoga I picked up my plastic-free cheese!! YAY!!

A Plan

Back in June of 2008, we cancelled our trash service.  It wasn't something that we did over night... in fact, we used to fill up a 95-gallon trash can most every week.  Then as time went on and we made changes-- through reducing, reusing, recycling and composting-- we found that we were barely filling up our 95-gallon trash can... and only took it down to the curb every other week (and even then it'd only be half full).  Once we made the decision to cancel our service, we found that we were only filling up a 34-gallon trash can once a month (it's even less than that now).  

Of course, I'm always looking at my trash.   Ever since we cancelled our trash service, I keep wanting to eliminate MORE of our trash.  I'd really like to only have my husband take our trash can to his business dumpster a few one time a year... how AWESOME would that be??

We've definitely made a lot of changes... BUT... I know that I can do more.  And... where I can make the most impact is in the kitchen.  The trash that we do produce is plastic... and it's plastic from packaged food.  Cereal bags, pretzels, pastas, tofu, Gardein, tempeh, seitan, cheeses...

For the past couple of weeks, I've had this idea brewing... I said to my husband, "I think that I want to try to buy NO foods in plastic for one week."  His response:  Cool.  That won't be too hard.  (He either has no idea or he is a pure optimist ;) )


BUT... I've thought about it... and thought about it... and the thought keeps getting larger and it's not going anywhere...

SO... here's my plan:

The week of September 26, I am going to purchase no food in plastic.  No paper milk cartons or ice cream (they're lined with plastic), no pasta boxes with the little plastic window... if it comes in plastic... I won't be purchasing it.  I've already started talking to farmers/vendors at my Farmers Market and tomorrow I'm calling the couple of stores in town to find out what all I can buy in bulk.  With 3 kids, I have to be prepared. ;)   (Note:  One thing that I will be purchasing is local milk.  It comes in glass bottles that I return to be reused, and the only plastic is the cap.) 

The week before I challenge our family to a week of no foods in plastic... I'll be collecting all of the plastic that I do use and sharing it on the Fake Plastic Fish "Show Your Plastic Challenge".  I want everyone to see that we have waste... that we didn't start from zero....

OK... so now I'm going to throw it out there.  Join me!  

Here's what you can do:

Collect all of your plastic that you normally generate for the week of September 19- 25.  (This week collect ALL plastics that would be trashed or recycled and even plastics that you'd keep to reuse.)  Share  what you collect with Fake Plastic Fish "Show Us Your Plastic Challenge".

Then... the week of September 26- October 2, don't buy any foods packaged in plastics OR make a conscious effort to avoid food packaged in plastic.  (Once again keep all your plastic and share it on Fake Plastic Fish).  Shoot, if you want to share it all here... I'd love to post it. :)

Need tips or advice??  Feel free to email me and definitely check out the Plastic-free Guide and Recipes on Fake Plastic Fish.

Thinking that you want to do the challenge with me... post a comment and let me know!!

Our Today is Forever

This IS reality... become conscious to it....

Now's the time to visit one of my absolute favorite blogs: Fake Plastic Fish. Learn to reduce your plastic consumption by checking out her Plastic-Free Living Guide and become conscious of the plastics you're using by participating in the Show Your Plastic Challenge!

(Un)Consumption

The other day, I was catching up on one of my favorite blogs: Fake Plastic Fish . If you've never heard of it... lets just say, "Now you know." :) If you've ever wanted to lessen your plastic consumption... and leave a lighter footprint....this is definitely a blog that you should check out!

Last week, she wrote a blog about "Buying Green vs. Being Green." The blog post is long... but she makes many valid points that I completely agree with. **STOP here and read her blog post:)** It's easy to get caught up in purchasing something new because it's touted as being "green" when we either don't really need it because our "non-green" item works just fine or we could and should be purchasing used anyway. OR maybe something we hadn't even thought of: NOT purchasing at all. Think about what she says,

"What we don't buy and consume is probably more important than what we do."

A point that is made in "The Story of Stuff." Overconsumption whether "green" or not... is overconsumption. In order to move past overconsumption, we have to rethink what we buy, why we buy it, and HOW we buy it. Wow... that's a mouthful.

I know the things that I used to buy a lot of and thinking back.... I had to ask myself:

How many pairs of black pants does a girl really need?? How many times am I really going to watch that movie that I just had to buy?? How many toys do my kids really need??

I do this often and I always find that when I rethink (and rethought) things... I don't need 10 different pairs of pants, I don't need to buy movies because I could rent them, and my kids don't need all of the toys that they want (yes, we've even put a limit--it's 1-- on how many gifts family can buy for each of our kids for birthdays and Christmas).

Before we make a purchase we ALWAYS first see if we can buy the item used. Some places that we check are Ebay, Craig's List, consignment shops, and I'd really like to say we go to garage sales... but I just don't move that early in the morning ;) Another one of our favorite resources is Freecycle. Ok... it's not buying... it's better... it's FREE!!) Last year, my husband built a brick patio and walkway with used bricks he gathered from other "Freecyclers":)

Want to go full-fledged into Unconsumption?? Try one of "No Impact Man's" suggestions and don't buy anything new (besides food) for one month. Here's an idea to help "fill the craving to shop."

"Only when we rethink how and what we value — so that we no longer base well-being and quality of life on excess production, consumption, and wasting — will we truly be able to address global warming and other forms of ecological ruin." -- Green Gone Wrong by Heather Rogers (go check it out at your local library ;))