It’s the Very Yeast I Could Dough – Challenges in the Kitchen

The kitchen. The place in our homes where we have perhaps the greatest potential to reduce our household waste.  

And the place where I struggle to do this the most. 

When I started on my Zero Waste living journey, I confidently and enthusiastically dived into tackling personal care, clothing, household and cleaning and ‘out and about’ quite easily. I have certainly made loads of big-impact, waste-reducing changes in the kitchen, but why has this stalled a bit for me and why has this area felt a bit harder to progress?

Firstly, I have three other family members to consider who all have their own needs and wants. My husband, whilst amazingly supportive and adoptive of many of my Zero Waste ways, still lives his own life and makes his own choices. 

Secondly, whilst Zero Waste living is most definitely time- and cost-saving overall, I’ve personally found that the kitchen is not the place where this saving usually comes from – so far. I need to make an extra trip out of the way to get to the bulk store and buying in bulk is not always the cheaper option. I do not always have the time to make meals/ingredients from scratch. And sometimes my attempts to make things with reduced waste from scratch is a complete failure and I am put off from trying for a while. And meal times are usually a time where you’ve got to be quick; at dinner time, it’s the pointy end of the day where work is being wrapped up, school bag contents are being strewn across the house, after-school activities are attended, homework needs to be done, showers had and books read (and gosh darn it, where did I put my glass of wine?). It’s not always possible to cook from scratch. 

Thirdly, sometimes there simply isn’t an unpackaged option available. 

So, what’s my point and what have I learned to address this?

My point is that it’s not always easy. Today might not be the day you make that vegan curry with ingredients from the bulk store. Maybe that’s tomorrow or next week or next month. It’s ok. It can take time to make changes. And sometimes there are setbacks. Continue trying while being kind to yourself and your ideas will happen! 

Also, it’s not your fault if there is no package-free option available! 

I’ve learned that rethinking meal planning helps (we can be such creatures of habit). Is there a similar meal that could be made that uses less packaged ingredients? Or are there any ingredients that could be replaced by an alternative that comes without packaging? Does this particular recipe, with its many ingredients and fiddly method, still have a place in your zero waste life? 

Instead of being overwhelmed by ‘all the things’ at once, tackle one thing at a time. After recently feeling frustrated with my lack of progress in the kitchen, I decided to simply think about what one or two items we regularly buy that come in packaging that I could realistically replace by making from scratch using ingredients I could buy in bulk (or low packaging).

I came up with pizza bases and wraps. Both of these we would usually buy pre-made in packaging. After a little bit of recipe searching, I found pizza base and tortilla wrap recipes that the whole family loves. And I’ve now successfully reduced our packaging waste for these items – the plastic packets they come in, as well as those little oxygen absorbers. Did these recipes work the first time around? Nope! The first pizza bases I made were way too heavy and got the thumbs down from the entire family. The first tortilla wraps I made were ‘ok’, but a bit too soft and floury and the family ‘preferred the store-bought ones’. I was pretty lucky that the second recipe attempt for both got big ticks! These are waste-saving and cost-saving changes (not to mention delicious!). The pizza bases are pretty quick to make, but I find the rolling and cooking time for the tortillas adds up when you’re making 10, although I think I’ll get faster and I will soon try making them ahead of time.

Sometimes it can take a little bit of planning, research and effort to initially make a change, but once you’ve found something that works, you adopt it and no longer need to think about it. The hard work is over and it is just the norm. Then you can move on to the next change when you’re ready. 

For anyone who is interested, these are my new favourite pizza base and tortilla wrap recipes! Whatever you’re planning to try out, try to get your ingredients from your local bulk store, or find low-packaging options at your grocery store with recyclable or compostable packaging. 

Happy cooking. Now where did I put that wine…….