Homemade Potato Chips

These are so delicious! Nice and crispy just like (but better) store bought ones!

I peel my potatoes first but you don't have to. Then I slice them thin. I usually do 4 potatoes for my family of 4. Once they are all sliced fill up your bowl of potatoes with cold water and stir them around. Drain off the water then do the same thing again. I keep the potatoes in a strainer and press some more of the water out then I put them on a clean towel to dry a little. This process helps get the starch out so they won't turn out soggy.

Next step is to add a little oil to your frying pan and sprinkle with salt and let it heat up a bit. Once heated I cover the bottom with sliced potatoes and sprinkle a bit more salt. Let them fry a little then flip. I add another sprinkle of salt (my family loves salty chips...and everything else) then I flip them again. If they aren't wiggly any more they are done. I put them on a plate with a towel so it soaks up some of the oil. Repeat the process till they are all cooked! 

It takes a little while but it's so worth it and completely waste free!! I buy the salt in bulk (no packaging) and I buy my olive oil in my own jars, and I buy the potatoes in my mesh bags. No Waste!! :-)

My Zero Waste Beginning

This is what I did to start at home. I have been at this for a year. It can be overwhelming, but if you start out slow you'll pick up good habits in no time. I started out with cloth napkins, micro fiber towels, and cloth feminine pads and the big change…I switched from wearing contacts to wearing my glasses.

I furthered my zero waste start by grocery shopping. I found a couple of stores that have zero waste food options and called them to see if they did tare weight. Tare weight is just the process by which the weight of the jar or bag you bring in for your bulk goods is zeroed out or removed from the weight of the bulk goods you're buying. I re used old jars made and thrifted a couple of cloth bags and went on my first zero waste grocery trip. It felt so good to not create so much waste. Even after a year my family of 4 plus a dog, 5 ducks, and 11 chickens…we still create waste.

Through out the year I began rethinking everything we were doing and purchasing. If I need something I stop and look around my house and see if I can find a way to do with out it. If I can't I try and thrift it or find it on Craigslist. I do with out if I can't find it. I love the saying "Use What You Have". I repeat it in my head daily. I have a long ways to go but we are doing so much better. I have done this in baby steps. Start with one thing and build on it.