Thursday, April 30, 2015

Plastic Week & Hutch's Yogurt

I. What I Bought Yesterday at Trader J's That Wasn't in Plastic: 

 
   A banana and a Potato 

I'm not going to get all crazy about this, but I decided not to buy plastic for one week, or at least to notice when I do.

Mz works at a natural foods co-op, but even with her discount it's so expensive that I often buy T J's cheaper organics. I'd never registered that they're almost all in plastic. Jeez.

II. Yogurt 

One of my pet peeves has long been plastic yogurt containers. 
Back in the '70s, Hutch's yogurt came in paper cartons. *
Mmm... yogurt! * *
Hutch's Morning Milk Shake: plain yogurt, goat's milk, black strap molasses, desiccated liver, kelp powder, vitamins and minerals, lecithin  
( ^ via Starsky and Hutch: Food, Glorious Food, which lists what S&H eat in every episode and is a pretty funny collection of food in the Seventies, such as, Ding Dong from the convenience store. Hot dog with mustard, onion, relish, sour kraut, and chili. Etc.)

Mz actually made Hutch's milk shake. You may not be surprised to hear that it is, she reports, horrible. 

Anyway, I'm going to make yogurt. 

It's one of those foods that's laughably easy: just leave milk in your car on a sunny day. 

I don't have a car, so I'll heat the milk, add a blob of yogurt, and let it sit in a warm spot. I don't make it regularly because
1. lazy
2. space
3. spillage

I tend to drop things, and I've always made yogurt in a big bowl. But blogger Trina's yogurt recipe sez,
pour the hot milk into the jars you're going to store the yogurt in, and let it set in water hot from the tap.

So, so easy. 
_____________
* The Carton Council reports that paper cartons for dairy products are 80% paper + 20% plastic; shelf-stable boxes include 4% aluminum.

* * I think Hutch is actually eating porridge here.

1 comment:

Zhoen said...

I deal with so much plastic at work, and recycle anything at home, but. Well, I can try this week off of work. Eat at home and only get unwrapped produce. There's actually a lot of that at our TJs, not much wrapped fruit. Local variation.