Low(ish) impact cooking

Happy Friday and welcome back to my blog! Today I am excited to write about one of my favorite topics... food! In trying to make my apartment as low waste as possible, I decided to carry that thinking over into my diet as well, and keep the impact low. I vowed to keep my home-cooked meals vegetarian and also make as many snacks, treats, etc at home to avoid processed foods and packaging.

Let's dive in to how I do this and some of my favorite recipes!

First, on the vegetarian front, I have been experimenting with different tofu recipes, lots of veggies, and alternative meat options. I have discovered that I love baked tofu and I am a pro at making pad thai, fried rice, and many a pasta dish. Cutting out meat has led me to branch out and test out recipes that I wouldn't necessarily have tried before. Before I go too much farther, I want to add that I do occasionally eat meat still, but only when I am out at a restaurant (with no tasty veg options) or at my family's house, but eventually down the road I do hope to be fully vegetarian.

Like I mentioned, I also have tested out a lot of alternative meat options. Beyond burgers are a must in my freezer and veggie sausages have made it easier to transition from my classic lazy Clare meal of chicken sausage, pasta, and veggies to veggie sausage, pasta, and veggies. My personal favorite is the Field Roast Smoked Apple and Sage sausage. Super easy to cook in a kitchen or on a campfire and super tasty either way (yes they are packaged in plastic (so is tofu), but some compromises have to be made occasionally). I also have found a few alternative chicken brands (Quorn, Morning Star), but I feel like tofu is a pretty good option for dishes I would typically use chicken for.

This blog writing session is a little slow going for me right now, so here's a link to the baked tofu recipe I use and let's move on : Baked Tofu !

I feel like that is pretty solid on the vegetarian front, lets get in to snacks! Here's my secret... sourdough starter! At the start of COVID my mom started up a sourdough starter and was gracious enough to give me a bit of it to get my own going once I moved. I use this starter to make everything from crackers, cinnamon rolls and biscuits, to actual sourdough bread. I actually just made some sourdough biscuits this morning, how perfect! Sourdough is so easy to manage, it just needs some attention once a week, which means I get to bake something fun once a week as well. Sourdough starter is a completely zero waste leavening option and can be used for just about any baked good as a substitute for yeast or baking powder and soda.

Here are some of the recipes that I have tried out and my reviews :

Sourdough Tortillas - I love this recipe, it is so incredibly easy and the result is super tasty. I make a big batch and then keep them in the freezer to use whenever I want to make a breakfast burrito or taco. I am still getting the hang of getting the shape to look like an actual tortilla, but as long as they taste good, I'm happy.

Biscuits - This might be my favorite sourdough recipe of all time. These biscuits are SO easy and there is no rise time so I can decide I want them for breakfast, and they are ready in under an hour, just as I did this morning.

Crackers - This is my go to recipe when I forgot to feed my starter and need a quick recipe before I head out the door or get in bed. These crackers take practically no time and no ingredients and they are always good (except for my last batch, those ones seemed stale even right after they were done baking, sorry to anyone that ate them).

Bagels - I have only made these once, but they were super good. I plan to make these in big batches like my tortillas so I can keep them in the freezer for whenever I am craving a bagel, which is fairly often.

Crepes - 3 ingredient crepes? Yes please! Wait.. are all crepes only 3 ingredients? Oh well, these are super quick and easy and so so tasty.

Cinnamon Rolls - One word review from myself "Incredible." I have made these a few times and they are always a hit. I could eat a whole pan in one day I think..

Pizza Dough - This pizza dough is so perfect and easy, I can just mix everything together in the morning and let it rise during the day and it is ready to go by dinner time. The crust gets perfectly bubbly and crispy and also freezes pretty well if I am only making pizza for myself and need to store some dough for a later date.

Sandwich Bread - Not a big fan of this recipe, but it's okay. I prefer the classic, crusty sourdough loaf. Speaking of which, I don't know where that recipe went so I can't link it here this time. I also don't make it very often, my mom usually gives me half of her weekly loaf.. thanks mom :)

Pretzels - Yum yum I love soft pretzels, these are super tasty, but getting the shape right is TOUGH.

English Muffins - This is another of the recipes I like to make in large quantities to keep in the freezer. I haven't made these yet for my apartment, but I made them a few times before I moved and they are the perfect, early morning, pre-work breakfast. Quick defrost and toast and they are ready to go.

Waffles - I have some of these in my freezer right now actually, these are another go-to quick sourdough recipe. They are so easy and they taste amazing every time and freeze super well.

Cookies - Yes, that's right, sourdough can even be used to make chocolate chip cookies. When I tell y'all that sourdough starter is versatile, now you know I'm not lying!

Is that enough recipes? Sorry, I got carried away, I just love telling people about sourdough! I don't have a ton more on my mind to add here so I think I'll leave this post where we're at. I hope you enjoyed and if you test out any of these recipes let me know what you think! Or if you have any recipe suggestions, please please send them my way. Also, if you need a recipe for getting the sourdough starter itself going, there are so many different ones online with tips and tricks to getting it to be as healthy and bubbly as possible. With my track record for keeping plants alive, it is a miracle I haven't killed my starter yet, but we are going strong so far!

Anyway, I hope everyone has a lovely weekend enjoying the sunshine. See ya in the next post :)

Okay sorry one last thing, one time I made my own hummus to avoid the plastic container it always comes in and it was so fun and easy and the only waste I had to show for it was a recyclable aluminum can.

Okay that is all for real now, bye :)