Good Economic/Ecological Practices for Consumers

Why buy frozen waffles when you can make your own fresh ones or freeze them yourself? Plus in addition to these being zero-waste, they are healthier for you too. Here is my favorite easy whole wheat waffle recipe: Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons sugar 1 large egg 1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk 1/3 cup vegetable oil Directions: Preheat waffle iron while making the waffle batter. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and oil. Mix together the wet and dry ingredients, stirring just until combined. The batter may be a bit lumpy. Cook the waffles as directed in the instructions that came with your waffle iron. For my Cuisinart waffle maker I cook until the steam mostly stops. Yield: 6 round standard 6.5" waffles or 3 round deep-pocket Belgian-style 7" waffles. I get my whole wheat flour, sugar, and salt in bulk in my own reusa...

Here is a super easy and tasty syrup recipe. I use this syrup on pancakes and waffles and as an ingredient to my favorite granola recipe. It is much cheaper than store bought commercial syrup and has zero high fructose corn syrup. While I love natural maple syrup, it is extremely expensive and uses a lot of fossil fuel to ship it to where I live. Ingredients: 1 cup water 2 cups granulated sugar (white or unrefined) 1 tablespoon molasses 1 tablespoon maple flavored extract Directions: Bring the water, sugar, and molasses to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Take off heat and stir in the maple extract.  Let cool until no longer hot. Store in a sealed glass mason jar in refrigerator (since it does not contain preservatives like store purchased varieties). I buy my sugar in bulk in my own reusable container from Whole Foods. However, even from a regular grocery store, white sugar is usually packaged in paper. This greatly reduces the disposable plastic from b...

2016 was busy, hectic, and I ran out of time to post on this blog. However, after working at  Harvard University ,  Bank of Boston ,  Fidelity Investments ,   Apple Computer ,  Sun Microsystems ,  Adobe Systems   and  Silver Spring Networks  (all world class companies), I decided to retire early at the end of 2016. To spend more time with my wife, family,  friends,  dogs, reading, writing, and outdoor activities.  We'll rarely remember how great it was to work late, but we'll always remember the great times we had with family and friends. To do more to make our world a better place by helping: Community:  City of Sunnyvale ,  Sunnyvale Heritage Park Museum ,  Sunnyvale Community Services ,  Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church , my neighborhood association, politicians who prioritize science, environment, health, education, children, housing, equal rights, truth, and justice . Kids:  American Youth Socce...