At last, tofu! I have to hand it to Rhyannon. A couple days ago she managed to track down bulk tofu!
We had scoured Chinatown and the local supermarkets to no avail. I had actually quite given up, but this week, she brought home the goods in her own little container.
There are lots of places you can get meat without the packaging -most mid-size grocers have their own butchers- but so many “meat substitutes” seem only to come wrapped in plastic.
G and I do eat meat in moderation, but R is veggie, and we all LOVE tofu, so it’s good to know we have a source besides the ubber-expensive prepared variety in the specialty grocery deli. For those of you who live in Vancouver, you have to ask behind the counter at Kim’s on Broadway near Fraser.
The second good find of the week was cream in glass bottles. I had already
been getting milk in glass, but, inspired by greeensheeep and her homemade bread and butter, I went in search of cream to make my own butter.
Only three stores later, I struck gold. Not only does Famous Foods have cream, they also have a huge glass-bottled-milk selection. So much, in fact, that they had bunch of almost expired organic milk on sale for only a dollar a litre!
(Ok, I’m a bit embarassed that I got excited about saving a buck and a half, but it’s always nice to find something organic that’s cheaper than the conventional version isn’t it?)
The Clean Bin Project Blog 
I always enjoyed finding the almost expired meat on sale, but my fiance wasn’t a big fan. Now we don’t buy supermarket meat, so it’s not a problem anymore.
I know you found almost expired milk and not cream, but what if you have almost expired cream? When you turn it into butter, does it become almost too far gone butter? Or does that reset the spoiling process?
I’m a bit embarrassed that I got excited by that picture. Look at all that glass! Ooh, shiny.
Christine – I was just wondering the very same thing today. I bought a quart of cream that was about to expire and turned it into butter. Hubby used it all to make brownies so I didn’t have to worry about it going bad anyway. I can’t make the stuff fast enough around here! If you have cream about to expire to make butter and don’t think you can use the butter fast enough you can always freeze it.
Hmm, I wonder about that. I’ve never actually had butter around for long enough to spoil, but of course, I’ve never made it before. I feel (based on nothing remotely like science) that butter lasts longer than cream.
The homemade butter does taste a little different – more fancy actually – like the whipped butter you get at nice restaurants.
Good tip about freezing it.
Oh man, cream in glass bottles; I’m quite sure that doesn’t exist over here. I’m comin’ over LOL!
Tell me what you do with tofu please that makes you all love it. I try to eat it because I think its good for me; but so far I’ve only managed to enjoy it by cutting into teeny tiny cubes and virtually deep drying until black!!
I did bake it in the oven once and that was better. I’m guessing from that I don’t like the texture then – frying and baking dries it out.
What effect does freezing have on it; might that help?
Re: cream about to expire–make cultured butter. (Cream + lactobacilli, allowed to mature, then churned as usual.) This has a different taste profile from store-bought, unless you buy imported butter or Vermont Cheese brand or you’re lucky enough to have “artisan butter” at your farmer’s market. Cultured dairy products last longer, though they won’t reverse spoiling if it’s already underway.
And this is the second time in two days I’ve felt moved to recommend that. How very strange. -G-
DSF
organic milk for a dollar?! i’m not even embarrassed at how excited i would get for that!
What are your suggestions for buying meat without the packaging?
For deli meat and cheese, we just ask politely at the actual deli if they would put the food directly into our containers and put the bar code stickers on the outside. For raw meat, we shop at a regular grocery that has a butcher, and we just ask at the counter if they would do the same. I’m not sure what we’d do about freezing meat because we usually just buy fresh and eat it the same week. It’s more expensive, but for the small amount of meat we eat, it doesn’t make a huge difference to us.
along the making butter lines, a co-worker just told me he makes his own margarine using first pressed, cold pressed olive oil and a little salt and you just have to mix the too and stick them in the fridge and then it becomes spreadable, hmmm? something to try. .. . .
Good one. Of course Olive oil becomes spreadable in the fridge, but I never thought about doing it on purpose.
Thanks for the bulk tofu tip! I’ve been searching for a while. I’m vegan, and trying to go as plastic-free as possible, and so far tofu has been the biggest stumbling block.