I can't believe it's week two of Mofo already! An also week two of September! It's still ninety degrees here in SLC so I'm not feeling pumpkin spice yet. I am ready for soups and stews and warm tea though!
For week two of Mofo I'm doing a budget and zero waste challenge. My budget for the week for all of my meals is thirty dollars.
For this week I'm going to try to fit all of my non food and non recycling waste in this mason jar. Yikes. I've watched a few videos on YouTube that inspired me to try this. It seems like less or zero waste goes well with budgeting since most packaged vegan food is super expensive! I went to Winco yesterday for a lot of bulk items, and I spent around twenty dollars. I didn't buy much produce because honestly some of their produce just doesn't look the best. Like it's already at needing to be thrown in a soup status. So I have ten dollars left for produce that I will spend somewhere else. Somewhere where I can buy everything loose not in packaging.
The budget part isn't really a challenge because thirty dollars is what I spend most of the time but the zero waste will be harder. I'm doing this not to be perfect, but to learn how I can be better. And to remind myself that I don't need certain things that come in packaging.
I'm not going to show my Winco haul because it's just a bunch of bags with bulk items, and some Romaine lettuce. I got things like black and garbanzo beans, gluten free pasta, wild rice pilaf, lentils and some bulk spices. So for this week I will be eating what I bought of course, but also things I already have while trying to produce as little waste as possible. I already have some ideas for meals and today I'm going to try to make black bean brownies made entirely from ingredients I got from the bulk section!
Even though the week starts today, I kind of started with dinner last night. I made some brown and wild rice pilaf and lentils and then had a Romaine heart and some green onion on top. I drizzled Just Caesar on top of it all and it was perfect! So simple and really, really satisfying. I know the Just Caesar is in plastic but I bought it before this week.
I've been loving all the Mofoness so far!!
Yay, I love adding the zero waste challenge in! I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes! That bowl looks so delicious! I love the "Just" dressings! They are all so delicious.
ReplyDeleteThey really are. They have a "honey" mustard dressing that is the only one I haven't tried.
DeleteI totally love bowls like that where it’s something hot plus raw veggies! In the winter i love adding hot stews to a bowl with greens because they wilt a bit and soak up all the flavor.
ReplyDeleteI’m sure you can do a minimal waste week without a problem! I was just in CA and at the farmers market in the city where they have banned plastic bags (and single use plastic utensils etc) they use regular little paper bags at the produce stands; it occurred to me I should bring those when shopping myself
Ttrockwood
I am such a fan of bowls with different textures an temperatures. I'll have to try that with greens and soup!
DeleteI've been reusing plastic bags for bulk items. It's all dry so I can use them over and over. That's a great idea to use paper bags too!
I can't wait for this week's challenge that you are doing.
ReplyDeleteI am trying to reduce my waste where I can, and I have definitely made improvements. I know I can't be zero waste due to certain things, but I can do the best I can.