Zero-Waste Entertaining!

This past weekend was an exciting one for our family. My 8 year old daughter tested for her black belt, and my baby turned two! We wanted to celebrate it all with friends and family in one fun-filled weekend! 

I want to let you know that I was THIS! CLOSE! to throwing in the towel and going to Costco. I mean, do you know how hard it is to resist Costco, pick up some Hummus, some Juice, some prepared meals in their plastic containers so I don't have to make everything from scratch? I was so close, I sat in the parking lot and wrestled with myself, struggling between convenience and my caring so much about the environment. It was a difficult moment, but I negotiated a way that I could entertain a group of people without waste on my part.

Please note, on MY part, because I couldn't really help others bringing in waste, and I am also not the kind of person that gets on a high horse and tells others how to live their lives. When we took out the trash, I was a little sad about all that we were throwing out, despite my hard work on having zero-waste food. But we did have a nice time, and I am sure I saved a little bit of the environment...Small changes can accumulate to something big. Here's what I did (and my shortcomings that you can prevent)...

 

 At my local second hand shop, I found two different sets of reusable napkins. I can't wait to use them, but I didn't for this party because I still had some leftover disposable napkins before I committed to going zero-waste. The same is true for the butter and crackers in the pictures. But I still wanted to show you, aren't the napkins pretty??

 I made two different kinds of fall soups: potato soup, and butternut squash soup. Both were delicious. I also made them a day or two before the party, put the slow cooker bowls with the soup inside my fridge, and then pulled them out to re-heat them in their slow cooker that morning. It was easy, and worked beautifully.

 

 But I ran into a little problem with this. I did not have enough bowls, or plates, and I did not have enough spoons. They are enough to feed my cute family of five, but not enough to feed a group of 25. I will need to look for some more bowls and spoons on my next trip to the second hand store. (I LOVE blue and white bowls, and it's more magical when they don't match so you can get a special blue and white bowl just for you! It's beauty in a bowl! :D)

 Fresh veggies were easy to cut, and I made my own Hummus for the first time! And can I tell you, it was AMAZING! Here is the recipe.  

The pumpkins are hand made with fabric and the stems of pumpkins of old. Made by a friend of mine, and I get them out every Halloween/Thanksgiving. I love them, and they add a little something to my table. The pumpkin pie candle is a smell I love as well, and I wanted to use it up.

 I was worried not everyone would like fruit-infused water, so I kept it simple and had only water. The crackers were leftover from before my zero-waste commitment, and my kids don't like them anyway. It was a good way to say goodbye forever to them.

 Deviled eggs are zero-waste, and oh so yummy!

 We used a dry-erase crayon to write our names on the cups, instead of using disposable cups.

And there we have it! Simple, healthy, delicious, and zero- waste. Now you know I am not that big of a cook! hahaha! I did buy some fresh sourdough bread from a local baker, but the middle was not cooked through, and we had to cook it for longer in the oven. :(.

If you tried entertaining zero-waste, what did you cook for your group? And did you hire a dishwasher person to wash all those dishes afterwards? I didn't, and that was the hardest part about it. But I feel good that we committed to this for our guests, and it was a good talking point as well, so maybe we can spread the word by our example.

Cheers!

Laura