How to ReUSE Glass Bottles and Plastic Bags by Shopping in Bulk

Shopping in bulk is not always 'easy', but like Kermit the Frog said, "It's not easy being green". I keep my empty plastic/glass containers, bags, and herb bottles and reuse them at Rainbow Grocery, a worker owned coop.

Rainbow Grocery's has been in San Francisco’s Mission District since 1975 and some of it's employees have been working there for over 25 years - some history in this beautiful City.

Updated 2019 - Rainbow only uses compostable bag. These plastic bags I'm using in the above photo are from my house and I re-use them.


I keep all my grains and nuts in glass mason jars. Once they are empty, I keep them in a canvas bag ready for my next shopping adventure. Shopping in bulk allows me to purchase the exact amount of a product I need for my week or for a specific recipe. I can purchase 1 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes, 2 teaspoons of cumin, 3 tablespoons of curry, 1/4 cup of brown mustard seeds, 1/2 cup of bath salts, small amount of detergent, body lotions or nut butters. The point is you do not have to purchase a full bottle of an ingredient or product when only a small amount is needed for your recipe. Shopping in bulk allows you this freedom.

In this case, I was able to purchase my quinoa plastic free by reusing my own glass mason jar. I've got the tare weight and the product number listed on the jar.


I used my empty mustard seed container to purchase whole black pepper. Cover the label and the barcode on the back of the container.

TARE weight is the weight of an empty container. By subtracting it from the gross weight, the weight of the goods carried may be determined. Read more about it here: Tare weight


I've got my empty plastic bottles washed and ready to go!


Once at the store, weigh your empty bottles on the scale. The weight of my empty reusable bottles is different for each container, so weigh them all and label them with a sticker.  The TARE weight for this bottle is 0.13 - on a sticker, write "TARE 0.13".


Find a product that best fits your budget and fill your container. You'll notice a number associated with each product. With a sticker provided, write the product number on the bottle next to the TARE weight. In this case, it's 9009. It's that easy!



I had an empty olive jar and I needed more olives. Clean out the jar and lid, get the TARE weight and post the sticker over the barcode.



After weighing the jar, find the olives you wish to buy and fill the jar.




After filling the jar, I add a sticker just above the TARE weight with the product number. This makes it easy for the checkout person to find all the information in one area.

I don't have to worry about the olive juice spilling in my bag or on my bike ride home like it would when I used the containers provided by the grocery store.




This looks much nicer in the fridge as well...

I'm going to make a soup that requires 1 cup of cannellini beans. I measure out one cup, use my own bag, tag the product number and done! In some cases when I'm purchasing herbs, I will write what's in the bag or jar. This will help with herbs that look alike.

When I run out of hand soap, I keep the plastic container and refill it with more hand soap. Seems simple, but it takes some effort. This bottle leaks when I travel with it, so I found a container that holds the same amount of liquid with a strong lid.


Get the TARE weight and cover the barcode with the sticker. Find a hand soap you enjoy and fill the bottle.



Once home, fill the 'nicer' container with the hand soap.


Here's the kicker. This soap is just as nice as any, but much more affordable at $4.01 compared to the other brand at $12.95



Being green and saving money... it's worth the effort.



Looks nice and it smells just as good as the $12.95 hand soap.



In a reusable glass jar, fill up on coconut butter or oil. I use this on my skin, in the fry pan, to brush teeth, etc.


Why do all this? Well, besides being a little kind to the environment, shopping in bulk is a great way to save money. For every bag I bring from home, I get 0.10 back at check-out. Also, knowing that I'm shopping at a local coop is a big plus.


Little Vine on Grant Street has the BEST bulk Bozzano Ranch virgin olive oil and it's a local producer out of Stockton, California. In 2006 I purchased beautiful bottle of olive oil while traveling around northern Italy. I love that I can continue to use this bottle.

Bozzano Olive Ranch offers Bulk Purchases, as well as Custom Milling and Bottling at competitive rates.



If you need more information, please watch this video on 'Rainbow Grocery's How to Shop in Bulk'. It's a little old. Currently, you get .10 cents for plastic bag you reuse.

Roasted Pineapple Ginger Black Cod Fillet On A Tuesday Night

On my lovely cracked Italian ceramic square dish, I present to you: Roasted pineapple ginger black cod with saute kale salad and a side of brown rice. Boun appitito a tutti!!

We finally got some much needed snow in the Sierra Nevada / Lake Tahoe mountains the last couple of days and it's been really cold here in San Francisco as well. Brrr! What to do on a cold Tuesday night. Cook some damn good fish.


Roasted Pineapple Ginger Black Cod Fish on a mid winter night.

With so many of us getting colds or getting sick, adding ginger to our daily diet is a great way to boost the immune system naturally and fight those evil germs and colds.



What you will need:

-- 1/2 pound of the Black Cod (Sable) fillet, wild; $24.00 a pound at Whole Foods
-- Fresh whole pineapple organic
-- Ginger organic
-- Olive Oil

Tools:

-- Staub Rouge Oval Gratin Dish
-- Potato peeler for the ginger
-- Sharp hollow ground knife or santoku (Zwilling J.A. Henckels or Wusthof)
-- Pineapple Corer or slicer (I do not have one)
-- Pre-heat the oven to about 350 degrees


Cut the fresh, whole pineapple.

With a knife, cut the top and bottom off the pineapple. Then cut the sink off the sides. If you have a pineapple corer, use that to get the hard core out of the center of the pineapple. If you don't have one, no worries. Use your knife to cut around the core. By the way, you can eat the core of a pineapple. It's a little hard, but perfectly good to eat.

Snack on the pineapple as you continue to cook, I do. There are lots of health benefits from eating pineapple... such as anti-inflammatory and digestive benefits.



Cut the pineapple into bit size 1/4 inch thick pieces.  I use my Thai soup take-away container to store the unused pieces of pineapple.



In my Staub oval gratin dish, I drizzle a small amount of olive oil to start. Then, cover the bottom of the dish with the 1/4 inch thick pineapple. This doesn't have to be/look perfect, but you want the bottom of the dish completely covered.



Use a potato peeler to peel the skin off the ginger. Slice the ginger into thin pieces and place on top of the black cod.  I use about one tablespoon of ginger (that is a guess) or enough to sprinkle on top of the fillet. If you love the flavor of ginger, place some under the fish with the pineapple and let the flavors mix.



Black Cod, Sablefish or Alaska Black Cod is known for contain up to 50percent more Omega 3 fats (EPA and DHA) than salmon. I've read that it's also referred to as 'butterfish' - just like butter baby! This site is full of awesome information: www.escoffier.com

Place the cod on top of the sliced pineapple and add the ginger atop the cod.



Depending on your oven, cook the cod for about 30 minutes on 350/375 or until the ginger looks toasted. I cooked my fish well-done and it was still 'melt in your mouth' buttery.



You can make a couple of side dishes while waiting on the fish to cook. Tonight I was in the mood for a cup of brown rice and sauted kale with carrot and kalamata olives.


Ohhh...my lovely cracked Italian ceramic square dish. How I love you!

How to make the Saute Kale next week!

I'm off to ski Squaw in some powder!!! Yay for snow!