Sunbutter on gluten-free blueberry waffles and chia gel with maple syrup, coconut milk, lucuma powder, and frozen raspberries
The chia gel is in a mason jar with a Tattler BPA-free lid! I've been researching for a long while, looking for something to replace the BPA coated lids for our mason jars. My favorite option until recently was the Weck canning jars with glass lids. I never ended up ordering those though, they are pretty pricey, and I really didn't want to purchase jars when we already have so many. When I stumbled across the Tattler lids in the Lehman's catalog, I was thrilled. They are BPA-free, come in 2 sizes to fit both regular and wide mouth canning jars, and are reusable. The best part was that the mister was going to be driving within a few miles of Lehman's that very week, so we didn't have to pay shipping charges, or make a special trip. I haven't canned with them yet, but have used them for bulk storage, and making chia. They are just as easy to use for those purposes as the metal lids, without the extra bonus of leaching toxins into our food. Yay!
Another way that I've found to get BPA out of our home; We buy our sunbutter in a 5 lb bucket. It's less expensive since it's bulk, but it also has the benefit of a BPA-free container. We used to buy the smaller jars by the case, but didn't like that the lids had BPA. We fill a smaller sized container with sunbutter, so that it's easy to grab out of the fridge when needed, and leave the bucket tucked in the back of the fridge. It wouldn't work if you have a mini fridge, but for a bulk buying family, it's great.
We've finally had to replace the reusable shopping bags that we've been using for many years with some shiny new ones from Reuseit.com. I chose the Baggu Reusable Shopping Bag set of 5, and the Blue Avocado Cruiser Kit. They've gone on a few grocery trips with us, and so far all thumbs are pointing up. The Baggu set folds down into a tiny stuff sack and the bags are extremely light weight (and durable). They are shaped like a traditional plastic grocery bag, only a lot bigger and in better colors. I never would have dreamed of fitting 7 boxes of cereal into such a light weight grocery bag, but these can handle that and more! I found them to be very comfortable to hold, the doubled handles don't cut into my hand at all. Since they are so light weight, they will air dry quickly after being washed.
I chose the Blue Avocado Cruiser Kit because I was looking for a PVC-free insulated bag to help get frozen items home without melting. The large patterned bag holds more than a paper grocery bag worth of groceries and seems very sturdy. We went shopping on a very humid and hot day, and even with a pit stop on the way home, none of the cold items in the (huge!) insulated bag were thawing and the interior of the bag was quite cold. This kit also comes with 2 large produce bags that are made out of an open mesh that is easy to see through. It's so great to be able to toss my Baggu bags into the Blue Avocado bag and have all my grocery reusables in one tote-bag sized bag that I can easily grab on my way out the door.
Reuseit.com has generously offered a coupon code to PirateBootieBlog readers! From now until Aug. 23rd, enter code bootiebaby10 at checkout for 10% off your order. Thanks, Reuseit!
gel with maple syrup, coconut milk, lucuma powder
, and frozen raspberries
