My Zero-Waste Week: What I Learned from Cutting Down on Food Packaging — Zero-Waste Living

After a week of making a concerted effort to reduce the food packaging that came into — and went out of — my home, I realized there was plenty of low-hanging fruit to pluck: having my groceries double-bagged when I was too distracted (or just plain slow) to fish my nylon market bag out of my purse; the extra utensils, napkins, and condiments that came along with my takeout; the countless small plastic bags I used to transport items from the bulk bins to my canisters at home. All of these were items I could do without easily and with minimal inconvenience.

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palm springs date shake + monkey flip

palm springs date shake + monkey flip

It’s been two months since I told you I was California dreaming and I fear it hasn’t passed. I thought maybe I just longed for warmer weather, but spring has more or less arrived and I no less crave avocados that don’t require a week of hovering to capture their narrow window of edibility. I thought maybe I just needed a vacation, but we took a short one and I still found myself looking at photos from a certain large music festival in the Coachella Valley and thinking it looked kind of fun. (WHO AM I.) And last month, I went down a date shake rabbit hole and I haven’t come out since. At least these we can easily make at home.

what you'll need, mostly
professionally styled blender photo ;)

Date palms were planted in the desert between Palm Springs and the Salton Sea as early at the 1890s, but they suffered a popularity problem — mostly people considered them obscure curiosities. As the old people say, necessity is the mother of invention, or in modern terms, all that was needed with the right marketing campaign, and Russ Nichol, a date farmer, landed on the perfect one in 1928, building a roadside shack making milkshakes and malts blended with his oversupply of dates. It wasn’t long before it became one of the iconic symbols of Palm Springs.

just pretend you can see the ingredients in there

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17 Recipes That Will Help You Use Up a Carton of Buttermilk — Recipes from The Kitchn

What’s the deal with buttermilk? Often you buy a carton to make one recipe, and then find yourself with quite a bit left over. Yes, you can technically make a substitute for buttermilk with regular milk and either lemon juice or vinegar, but the results aren’t always as satisfying as using the real deal. And while freezing it is a worthwhile option, finding a few new recipes that make use of it should be part of the plan.

Luckily, there are plenty of ways to use up this luscious, fermented dairy product — from biscuits to coleslaw to ice cream. Here are 17 of our favorite recipes that will help you use up that carton.

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Make Your Own Deodorant with a Few Basic Kitchen Ingredients — DIY Mama

DIY Mama: 20 Small Luxuries for Mamas & Their Babies

There is something that makes sense about turning to wholesome, natural pantry ingredients for nourishing our bodies from the outside as well the inside. You might not have considered deodorant a recipe for your kitchen, instead of from the drugstore, but let me show you how even this body basic can come from your own home.

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