Category Archives: kitchen tips

Monday, August 24, 2015

How to Create a Waste-Free Lunch

There are two approaches to creating a waste free lunch. First, you have the actual lunch itself and the amount of waste produced at the location in which you eat that lunch. If you don’t produce any waste, I would consider this waste free, so hooray for you! And two (and here’s the tricky part), there is the process of making the lunch and the waste produced from this process. It’s really difficult to go waste free when making the lunch (think about all the packaging that comes from the basics, such as lunch meat, bread, cheese, chips, etc). My goal in the lunch making process has always been “low-waste” as I feel it’s too much pressure to be 100% waste free in this area (see end of post for tips and suggestions on this topic). That being said, and moving froward, here’s what’s important to remember: START SOMEWHERE. So let’s start with the lunch itself and ways to eliminate the need for a garbage can. Continue reading →

Posted by Amber at 7:56 am

Labels: green living, kitchen tips, lunch.

6 Comments

Emily @ Recipes to Nourish August 24, 2015 at 12:01 pm
This is great Amber! Tons of great ideas. Thanks for all the time you put into sharing this with us. Thanks for sharing a link to my Real Food Lunchbox Ideas too! xo
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- Amber August 24, 2015 at 12:11 pm
  My pleasure! Your post fit in just perfectly. Have a great week. xo
  Reply
Cristina @ I Say Nomato August 26, 2015 at 5:48 am
I love all of these! Lunchboxes and other lunch paraphernalia is SO cute. I’ve been eyeing those stainless steel ones for a while, but I never get them because we eat too many leftovers that require microwaving for lunch. This came at a great time, thanks!
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- Amber August 26, 2015 at 10:36 am
  Hi Cristina. Thanks so much, glad the post offered some inspiration. I like to use a thermos for the kiddos for leftovers. I heat the food up in the morning on the stove and put it into the thermos container and it stays warm until ready to eat. Take care and thanks for stopping by today.
  Reply
  - Cristina @ I Say Nomato August 26, 2015 at 10:37 am
    ooooh that’s a great idea!
    Reply
    - Amber August 26, 2015 at 3:16 pm
      Yay! 🙂
      Reply

The Separation Conundrum

I don’t know if anyone else has run into this problem with canned coconut milk…or maybe it was just me and a inferior can of milk? But I have discovered that these two coconut milks are not alike. After a longtime Thai Kitchen fan I switched over and started using Native Forest a while back because it is a BPA free can. Great. The milk has served me well. There is one caveat worth mentioning. To my surprise, even after several days in the coldest part of my fridge, this milk did not separate! Boo…no fun. I was getting ready to make some coconut whip cream for a dessert and pulled out the cooled Native Forest can and there was no separation whatsoever. So be sure to get the correct coconut milk if you want that thick separation, and that would be the Thai Kitchen.

Or as we all know…you can always go this route.

Posted by Amber at 3:52 pm

Labels: kitchen tips.

5 Comments

The Healthy Apple September 18, 2011 at 11:21 pm
I agree; I’ve done some cooking with the canned version and haven’t had much luck so I use the actually coconut fresh!
Just found your blog tonight and it’s great. So happy to have found you and can’t wait to see more of your recipes!
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Amber September 19, 2011 at 12:50 am
Hi There Amie~

Thank you for your kind words.
I agree that a real coconut is the best way to go! I pick one up now and then at my local COOP…so fun to work that thing open and find the fresh water. I love your blog and added it to my favorites on my blog roll. Can’t wait to try some of your recipes…your smoked chickpea guacamole looks amazing! I’m a sucker for a good dip. I have to say, your recipes are exceptionally creative. Happy cooking, happy eating. Be Well, –Amber
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Jennifer February 24, 2012 at 11:45 pm
Huh. Thanks for this – I had the exact same problem. I’ve been using Native Forest in an effort to avoid BPA…but it hadn’t separated when I tried to make whipped key lime mousse the other day. Luckily, throwing in an avocado for color also helped it thicken enough to move ahead with my dessert. Will pick up some Thai Kitchen soon!
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Amber February 24, 2012 at 11:50 pm
Hi There Jennifer,

Your key lime mousse sounds fabulous! I love the use of avocado as a thicker. The color is a perfect match too. You’ve got my wheels spinning here. Glad I’m not the only one with that coconut milk issue. 🙂

Thanks for sharing.

Be Well,
–Amber
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Kristin @ eat healthy. be happy. live well. February 28, 2012 at 1:40 pm
I’m so glad I saw this! I just bought coconut milk for the first time last week and wanted to make whipped cream from it. I bought the Native Forest brand and it wouldn’t separate…I thought I had a bad can! I think it must be the guar gum in it…maybe?

On the flip side, I bought a few more Native Forest cans yesterday and expected it to not separate again, but when I opened up a can this morning, it had separated (much to my dismay because then I had to mix it all up before using!). So maybe it was a weird batch or something?!

Glad I found your blog (through Fat Tuesday on Real Food Forager). Can’t wait to check out some recipes!
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