Be Less, Do Less

 Hello lovelies! I am still looking at ways I want to be better in the new year. But as the title suggests I am still rather busy and struggling with time and energy management. 

The problem is that I LOVE to DIY. If I see something in a shop that can be made, then I  make it. I pride myself on making it myself for less. It is one of my superpowers. But I am also TIRED. 

And so part of my resolution this year is that I do not have to do it all, especially if I am doing other creative things. 

1. IT'S OK TO OUTSOURCE

Since the Amazing Spiderman died I have struggled with energy management since it falls to me to do EVERYTHING. I try to do a lot of pre-portioning foods like kale or broccoli so I can just grab-a-green-and-go. I had been using plastic ziplock type bags with a slide lock, but they were wearing out and I didn't want to just keep using and throwing away bags with such frequency (see number 2 on my resolutions today) and so I thought I could make some cloth reusable bags.

I wanted them to have that food grade wipe clean PUL liner but that stuff is EXPENSIVE. I found a half metre of the fabric on sale for £15 (Ker-ching!) and then I would need to factor in outer fabric, velcro if I chose to add that, plus time and energy. I looked at my life and just thought I can't pull blood from a stone. I am currently making storytelling props for the shop's Youtube Channel and rehearsing my lines, getting ready to film and then edit and there just is nothing left in the creative tank. So i decided to OUTSOURCE. I bought some on Etsy from EMMA MARY BAGS N BOBS. It kind of hurt my heart to let someone else make these, but it would have cost me that much to make them myself and now I don't have to.

They are adorable with cute fabric and are perfect for dividing greens into portions in the fridge. And they are wipe clean as well as washable. 

So what have I been making instead? An apple tree, a baker's oven (complete with felt loaf of bread on a wooden paddle) converted from a Troll Bridge leftover from a previous storytelling  and a piece of cloth that looks both like feather bedding and snowflakes when you shake it. Can you see why I didn't have time to make those bags myself? And that's OK.

These leads me into resolution 2:

2. LESS SINGLE USE PLASTIC AND WASTE

I am already doing that with the lovely reusable bags. However, starting this month there are changes to our waste/recycling collection and I want to improve. 

Previously our collection alternated--one week recycling pickup and the next week black bag non recycled waste pickup. But starting at the end of January, recycling is picked up every week and black bag only every three weeks (basically once a month). Normally, it takes me 3-4 weeks to fill up a black bag. But now I really want to concentrate on stretching myself to see how long I can go before I have to put out a black bag. Can I go six weeks (two pickup cycles?) Can I stretch to nine weeks (three pickup cycles?) 

Our recycling is even better than it used to be. Many more things are accepted locally to fill the blue recycling bags and now large supermarkets like Tesco have collections for things like crisp packets and certain plastic food bags that can't be recycled kerbside. 

I would love to be able to buy more naked fruit and veg, but it is not always available or affordable. Broccoli I can get plastic free, but kale I cannot. Kale comes in a crinkly plastic bag that can't be recycled so I try to use them as a bin liner in the bathroom before it goes into the black bag. 

Also when you try to throw away crinkly plastic bags they will not scrunch. Or rather they won't stay scrunched. This means that they take up a lot of space (very light air-filled space) but space none the less in your black bag filling it up quicker. The trick is take one minute to cut it into strips so it takes up less space. Another trick is to designate one crinkly bag as the "fill bag" and put all your strips into it before you put it in the black bag. 

And the last resolution for the day is:

3. ACTIVITIES AND EXPERIENCES

Let's be honest--the Amazing Spiderman was my EVERYTHING. We had lots of fun experiences over the years, but now I need to do them differently. Now I do them on my own (which is not as bad as i thought it might be. I was afraid I would look like Billy-No-Mates, but truthfully--nobody cares) and some I do with my FRAMILY. 

I got some birthday and Christmas money and so I have bought myself tickets to have a variety of experiences throughout the year. I will see three NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE at the cinema by myself (The Crucible, Othello and a play called Good starring David Tennant) and two comedians at the LYRIC THEATRE (Rich Hall and Mark Steel) with my Stand Up Comedian Friend (and Spiderman's former supervisor) Bettina. I also have tickets to see the Peatbog Faeries in concert. I have tickets to Swansea Comic Con with my Geek Friends the FT Gang and have already started going out with my Cinema Friend Pearl--we went out on Monday night to film club at the Lyric to see The Muppets Take Manhattan. 

That's all I have time for today as I need to finish making props so i can go and do a dress rehearsal for the storytelling. 

I hope you have lots of fun this year and don't feel like you have to do it all by yourself. 

2021 Vision

 Hello lovelies! Happy new year! 2020 was rollercoaster year, wasn't it? But it did allow me to see some things clearly:

1. I need routine. And it is hard to impose it on myself, but I must try harder especially as we are yet again in lockdown. 

2. I love my job. I mean I REALLY love my job. I miss it when I can't go to work. I am more productive and happier when I have been at work. I have a really good work-life balance and like to be having both halves of work and life. 

3. I am recharged by interacting with people. I knew this before, but I REALLY learned it over the big lockdown. The Amazing Spiderman is perfectly happy working from home as people drain him, but I was like a flat battery for months. I don't ever want to go out in big noisy groups in crowded spaces (not even before COVID) but I really thrive on some one on one conversations. I like meeting a friend for a hot chocolate in an independent café or going for a picnic in the park to save money. I also really enjoy interacting with customers. We have lots of regulars who pop in regularly (that is the definition of a regular, Spidergrrl!) that I look forward to seeing. Interacting with customers and being helpful is a huge part of my happiness. 

4. I have some control issues. Quite a lot of control issues, and this year has been out of control which has been really hard to cope with. This also ties in with routine because  with Spiderman working from home I could not keep to the routine I liked and found it very hard to take his suggestion to "please just do that some other time." 

5. I have trouble accepting help. I am often out helping people while my battery is on low (another issue I am continually working on) but find it harder to allow someone to help me. My dear old dad once said to me, "Why are you making things harder for yourself?" to which I replied "But it is so much easier to make things difficult!" by which I meant it is so much easier to do it myself that to ask for help. More on this in a bit. 

6. I am not good at sharing. I need my own computer. This was a serious issue during the big lockdown. I am a writer. Blogging takes up a lot of time and research and I am an author who needs to work on her own stories. This was a HUGE issue between myself and the Amazing Spiderman over the big lockdown. I was like Vesuvius waiting to erupt, always boiling and seething under the surface as we both needed to be on the computer at the same time but in the rock/paper/scissors of life--work trumps personal reasons. We have solved this by investing in a second laptop and it has CHANGED MY LIFE. I have written more in the last two months than in the whole rest of the year. 

7. I need more creative outlets. This too was a struggle during the big lockdown when I couldn't go to work.  I started to think about what made me happy and what I missed from my life in England when I worked in a school. There was lots of time for laying about ruminating on what I enjoy that I was not allowed to do while I waited (im)patiently for my turn on the computer. Once I determined what it was, I made damn sure to start doing it the moment I got back to work. More on this later. 

Having gained some extraordinary insight into myself in 2020, I wanted to reflect that in my Vision Board.

What is a Vision Board, I hear you cry? Well, it is part woowoo, part arts and crafts. I like to really think on new year's day what I want to do in the upcoming year and who I want to be (striving always to be a better person). It is not about new year's resolutions--which are easily broken--but just some personal growth goals and a reminder of what makes me happy. By making a tangible reminder of what brings me joy, I can make sure to do it. I then hang it in a prominent place in my craft room and look at it every morning to remind me of what it is important. 

Want to see it? Of course you do.

So what am I doing this year? In no particular order:

1. Being vegan--this is the core of my values. Does it cause death and suffering? Then it is to be avoided. Does it bring life and kindness? Then it is to be celebrated. Compassion is so much better than cruelty. 

2. What am I doing in the world to make it better? Making sure to look for opportunities to make a difference in the world. This has been more important in lockdown....how can help others (making sure that what I choose to do energises me rather than depletes me--setting boundaries.) 

3. I am the chief cook in our house, but this was not always so. When we were first married and I was a full time student and then a full time teacher with a terrible work-life balance, Spiderman did all our cooking. When I wanted to become vegan I learned how to cook (and cook well!) Spiderman is a great cook. he is just much slower than me. I swear the man gets a ruler out when he chops potatoes as they are all identically sized! Since I am often tired from work, he has offered many times to share the burden of cooking. I do not take him up on it nearly as often as I should and then feel resentful as I am tired or my back hurts and it is me doing it. We had a long talk about this and I am going to work harder to relinquish some control in the kitchen. So in 2021, we will be taking turns more. We also will be cooking together more. I can do food prep MUCH faster while we chat about our days and then I can bugger off and do some yoga or have a nap while he does the cooking. Also, I want to make sure to do more advance food prep to make cooking for whoever's turn it is, easier. 

4. Keeping to a loose routine especially in times of lockdown. I don't have to do EVERYTHING in a day, but it would be nice to tick a few things off my enjoyment list (see below) every day. Also writing down a few things in my 2021 diary that I would like to accomplish (or need to be done--I cannot tell you the amount of times I have realised at midnight that something needed to be done for the morning.)  Better organisation and loose routine (especially in lockdown) but also for when I am working to use my time more wisely. 

5. Doing things that bring me joy--making crafts and creating art, reading (and discussing--this year Spiderman will be a judge for the Carnegie and Greenaway awards and so we will get upwards of a hundred books to read and talk about...I made us our own little book club symbol!), making films with my new stop motion animation app. These are all things I am doing for me...but there are several things I do at home that bring me joy that involve work. Sewing fancy dress costumes to wear at the Bookshop (after the big lockdown I have gone to work dressed as Hercule Poirot, the witch from Narnia and a Christmas elf) as well as storytelling. I realised how much I missed storytelling--the research of finding a story that feels right in my mouth, adapting it, memorising it, making costumes or props for it, performing it. Right now it is not possible to have children in the shop for an actual audience but we have gotten round this by having my faithful camera crew Spiderman film me telling tales. Which leads me neatly on to my next intention.

6. DIY. I used to be such a luddite--I only got my first smartphone in 2017 and I always feel like I am behind on technology but this year I taught myself to build a website because some friends with an animal sanctuary needed help. I also taught myself to use video editing software so that we could put up films of my storytelling on the the Goldstone Books YouTube Channel. I used to think that I was not smart enough to do "computer things" but it turns out I was wrong. So this year, with my new laptop that I don't have to share, I am finally working on a project that has been on hold since 2016--turning my epistolary novel into a graphic novel. Yes, I will be teaching myself how to illustrate online by using my my new tech skills to tell my story. Then we will publish my second book! Hoorah! 

7. Coming out of the big lockdown (but still in cautious mode) I was reminded who was in my tribe and who I enjoyed spending time with and who I hadn't missed at all. There are several people I let fade away because they drained me and several people I made an active effort to spent (socially distanced) time with because they energised me. Even now, in our third lockdown, I am making time to have phone calls and texts with people I care about (or send make and send a card if they are struggling) and that connection is keeping my going. 

8. The lockdowns put such a strain on small businesses and several independent vegan businesses have had to close. I work for an independent bookshop and I am all too aware of the national chain right down the road who can sell at a bigger discount than we can. I tried last year to support more small businesses (especially ones that help us cut our waste) and this year I will try even harder. We just booked in an order with Cegin Mam Gu for a three course Greek meal that is vegan and GF and delivered to our door which I am very much  looking forward to since we can't go out for a meal. Which leads me to my next point.

9. Drink more tea. This ticks the box of supporting Tea Traders ( a great independent business in town run by two lovely blokes which sells loose tea) as well as keeping me hydrated. Fruit tea is good hot or cold and I am guaranteed to have less pain and be less cranky if I am drinking some delicious tea.  

10. The self care checklist. Even just 15 minutes a day makes all the difference in my physical and emotional wellbeing. Yoga and strength training for my body (I have let my ab work go this year and I feel it in my lower back), deep breathing and mindfulness (I tend towards hyperventilating and overthinking), more orgasms (they are truly the best pain relief and mood booster I know) and a 15 minute tidy every day instead of letting things pile up until it takes hours to put everything back where it belongs will save my sanity. 

11. Patience. About everything.  Enough said.  

What did you learn about yourself in 2020? What do you hope to do with your life in 2021? 

What We Ate Wednesday--Cashew Milk

Hello lovelies! In my effort to reduce our waste I looked into my blue recycle bag and saw what seemed to take up the most space and it was tetra packs. Cartons. Mostly of almond milk.

Then I went on a picnic with a friend and we talked about how thirsty of a crop almonds are and how much water they need to grow and I got to thinking that maybe if I could find a lower waste DIY milk I would give it a go.

My first thought was Oat Milk. Oats are relatively cheap, but I tend to use milk on homemade granola made with oats and I didn't want to over-oat myself by having too much of a good thing at all once as that tends to give me tummy ache. Plus you have all this oat pulp that you strained out that you have to either dump or find a use for. When i looked into the logistics of buying a nut milk bag (or nut sack bag as my friend Jo refers to it as) and thought about the act of straining anything through a fiddly bag, it just sort of took the wind out of my eco-sails.

I needed something relatively cheap and extremely easy.

Then I thought of Cashew Milk. Cashews are something I can buy in bulk. They are soft and creamy and blend well. There is no need to strain.

Cashew milk for the win.

I scored some 750ml Kilner-type bottles at Poundland that were the perfect container. I had hoped to buy the cashews in the zero waste shop but they were nearly 3 times more expensive than buying them in a bag by the kilo at Grapetree. I have reused that nut bag as a rubbish bag in the bathroom. That's the best I can do for now.

I have not sterilised the bottles, just washed them in very hot soapy water right before i added the milk and all has been well. The cashew milk only lasts 3-5 days in the fridge anyway. A word of warning--it does separate, but just give it a shake before you use it and all is well.

I am still experimenting with how I make it. But this amount is just right for one person using milk daily for granola and the occasional date and banana smoothie to use up within 5 days.

I am thinking about supplementing. Maybe a brazil nut or two and possibly added calcium powder. We use calcium carbonate (limestone flour) for the snails and so why couldn't I add some to the milk? The one we buy for the snails is 100% pure with no additives and i read online that 1/2 tsp per litre gives you the equivalent calcium as cow's milk. The snails are EXTREMELY delicate and this has been fine for them, so why can't we eat it? The calcium we buy for the Bronte snails is THIS ONE. It says it is for reptiles and poultry. There is a food grade one HERE  if you are squeamish about the animal one but it costs 3 times as much.

This is the recipe I use. It works well for me. I soak the cashews for a few hours beforehand. Partially to make blending easier and partially because it makes the vitamins and minerals more bioavailable. Just soak for a few hours, then drain and rinse well.

Cashew Milk
1/3 to 1/2 cup soaked cashews (1/3 cup is more like the watery texture of semi-skimmed milk, 1/2 cup thick and creamy like whole milk--can you guess which one  I like best?)
3 -4 cups water (I use 3 cups as that's how much I can drink in 3-5 days)
4 pitted dates (soaked as well if not really soft)
pinch of salt

Instructions:
Blend in a blender until smooth. Decant in a clean bottle and refrigerate. Use within 5 days.

That's it. It takes no more than 5 minutes to make. Tastes amazingly thick and creamy. Cheaper than store-bought milk.

It will also be quite foamy when you take it out of the blender...but that settles down. Although the froth probably would be lovely in a hot coffee if i were allowed to have caffeine. Which I am not after eating a box of chocolate covered coffee beans at work recently and things went badly wrong. But that's a tale for another time.

What We Ate Wednesday--Black Bean and Mango Salsa with Spicy Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Hello lovelies! In my efforts not to buy as much plastic as I can, I have been trying to wait til mangoes go on sale, then when they get soft (but not too squishy) I can cut them up and freeze them instead of buying them in the non-recyclable freezer bag. The trick is to freeze them first in a single layer like on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (or zero waste silicone alternative--more on this coming soon) and freeze them over night until solid. Then scoop them up and put them in the container of your choice in your freezer.

I had for mangoes--one was too squishy and we just ate it (what a hardship, I know) but the others were just right for cutting into strips that wouldn't disintegrate when frozen or cooked. Just remember to defrost overnight in the fridge the mango you need for the recipe.

So, I had all these mangoes and then I thought...hmmmm...now what can I make with this? And this is what happened.

Black Bean and Mango Salsa with Spicy Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Preheat your oven to 220C/425F.

For the potatoes:
400g (2 medium) sweet potatoes, cut into chunks
1 TB starch like cornflour (cornstarch) or tapioca or arrowroot
2 tsp chilli powder or 1 tsp cumin and 1 tsp smoked paprika
1 TB oil
1. Put potatoes in a large mixing bowl and stir over the starch and spices. When you are sure they are well coated, add the oil and stir well to coat.
2. In a large roasting pan, bake  for 13 minutes then flip with a spatula and bake 13 more minutes.

Meanwhile:
Gently heat the following in a saucepan and set aside until the potatoes are roasted.

1 tin of black beans,  drained and rinsed
half a red pepper
half a cup sweet corn (defrosted if frozen)
1 cup of mango (defrosted if frozen) 
4 sun dried tomatoes, snipped into bite sized pieces
juice of one lime

Serve the black bean and mango salsa with the spicy roasted potatoes. That's it.

What We Ate Wednesday--Homemade Hummus (Two More Ways)

Hello lovelies! More recipes from the House of Hummus. These are the two I use most often as I love the cheesy taste that the nutritional yeast flakes gives them, plus nooch (as all the cool kids call it) is full of B vitamins.

Remember you can freeze hummus, so make the big batch and pop two in the freezer and one in the fridge.

source

Aged Cheese Hummus (makes about 2 and 3/4 cups)

 2 tins beans (3 cups) drained and rinsed
6 TB lemon juice (fresh is great, but bottled works too)
12 TB nutritional yeast flakes
2 TB tahini 
2-3 TB oil (start with 2 and see how it seems)
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp yeast extract like Marmite or miso paste
1 tsp salt
water as needed to thin (a few TB should do it)

Bung everything in a food processor except the water and blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides occasionally.Turn on your food processor and while it is running, stream in the oil through the chute and watch it go all creamy. If needed, add the water to thin it out or make it smoother and blend again until silky smooth  Divide into 3 containers and freeze 2.

Smoky Cheese Hummus (makes about 2 and 3/4 cups)

2 tins beans (3 cups) drained and rinsed
6 TB lemon juice (fresh is great, but bottled works too)
12 TB nutritional yeast flakes
2 TB tahini 
2-3 TB oil (start with 2 and see how it seems)
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp salt
water as needed to thin (a few TB should do it)

Bung everything in a food processor except the water and blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides occasionally. Turn on your food processor and while it is running, stream in the oil through the chute and watch it go all creamy. If needed, add the water to thin it out or make it smoother and blend again until silky smooth. Divide into 3 containers and freeze 2.  

Pimp your hummus: Leave out the smoked paprika and add 1/4 pesto. This is even better with the nutritional yeast flakes than with the basic hummus.

Enjoy! 

What We Ate Wednesday--Homemade Hummus (Two Ways)

Hello lovelies! Hummus. It's a vegan's best friend. Pesto may be besto, but hummus is yummus.

I do sometimes indulge by buying it in the shop as I can't replicate the caramelised onion flavour. But mostly I make my own as it is HUGELY cheaper and you get more for your money and there is considerably less waste. None of those single serving plastic pots to throw away.

This is especially true in the US where decent hummus was running around $4.

I make a triple batch and freeze it. Did I mention you can freeze hummus? Well you can. This makes it easy to make a big amount in one go. Do once, eat for weeks. Use your freezer. That's my motto. I often have several flavours of hummus (and now jars of pesto!) in my freezer. Just defrost overnight in the fridge.

I also prefer to use butter beans rather than the traditional chickpeas. This is because I can get tins of butter beans for between 29p and 33p depending on where I shop. Also because I think they puree up smoother with less oil. In my opinion, chickpeas can be a bit grainy unless you process them for ages and add in extra oil. But use what you like.

I also love to store things in salsa jars. They are just about a one cup serving and freeze well. All my hummus and pesto is frozen in them.

source

Basic Hummus Recipe (makes about 2.5 cups)

2 tins beans (3 cups) drained and rinsed
6 TB lemon juice (fresh is great, but bottled works too) 
2 TB tahini 
2-3 TB oil (start with 2 and see how it seems)
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder or a  clove of garlic (I am a huge garlic lover and this is plenty for me, but use as much as you want) 
1 tsp salt
water as needed to thin (a few TB should do it)

Bung everything in a food processor except the water and oil and blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides occasionally. Turn on your food processor and while it is running, stream in the oil through the chute and watch it go all creamy. If needed, add the water to thin it out or make it smoother and blend again until silky smooth. Divide into 3 containers and freeze 2.

Pimp your hummus: Add 1/4 cup olive tapenade to it if you happen to have some just lying about.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus (makes about 2 and 3/4 cups)

 2 tins beans (3 cups) drained and rinsed
6 TB lemon juice (fresh is great, but bottled works too)
2 TB tahini 
2  roasted red peppers (from a jar is fine) 
2-3 TB oil (start with 2 and see how it seems)
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder or a clove of garlic (I am a huge garlic lover and this is plenty for me, but use as much as you want) 
1 tsp salt
water as needed to thin (a few TB should do it)

Bung everything in a food processor except the water and blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides occasionally. Turn on your food processor and while it is running, stream in the oil through the chute and watch it go all creamy. If needed, add the water to thin it out or make it smoother and blend again until silky smooth.  Divide into 3 containers and freeze 2.

Next week I will show you some more ways that we eat hummus.

I'm Cuckoo for Cocoa

Hello lovelies! As a member of the Do-It-Yourself Beauty Brigade, I wanted to share some of my homemade beauty secrets. The best bit about them is the all revolve around CHOCOLATE.

Yeah, you heard me correctly. Chocolate. Cocoa. The baking stuff. So not only is this good for your skin and hair, it is edible. Bonus.


I use cocoa in a variety of beauty treatments and I'll tell you why.

It is natural.
It smells amazing.
It s cheap.
It really works.

The website BEAUTY MUNSTA has this to say about the benefits of cocoa powder (with a few notes from me):

Skin repair: Yes, cocoa powder helps repair skin cells! That’s because it is packed with antioxidants that fight off free radicals. Free radicals are unstable molecules that steal oxygen from skin cells to balance themselves. In the process, they make skin cells lose oxygen and become lifeless. This causes a variety of skin problems like blemishes, dull looking skin and more. So, make a cocoa powder face mask to repair your skin cells and rejuvenate your face!

 Improves Skin’s Hydration:  Did you know that cocoa powder can actually improve its natural hydration? This works when you consume cocoa powder or apply it on your skin!  

Exfoliates Dead Cells: Cocoa powder has a gentle exfoliating texture that helps slough off dead cells on skin. It is good for carefully exfoliating sensitive or acne prone skin without irritating it. Personal note:  This really works. I have been making a face mask and applying it every “Self -Care Saturday” and have seen my skin be brighter and softer.

Face mask: In a little dish mix 1 TB unsweetened cocoa powder with 1 tsp sugar and 1 tsp oil of your choice. I like sunflower oil as in is non comedogenic (won’t break me out) and is high in vitamin e. I have very combination skin, so my skin is can’t decide if it wants to be an oily teenager or a mature adult. Wet your skin with warm water then mix all those ingredients into a paste and carefully rub all over your face avoiding the eye area. It is ok to put it on your lips because it can help exfoliate dry lips and if it gets in your mouth it’s fine because it is edible. Leave on while relaxing (preferably while resting with closed eyes on a yoga mat while listening to Enya) then using wet hand carefully scrub your face letting the sugar exfoliate and rinse off with warm water.

 Fights Acne & Pimples: This cacao face mask for acne works wonders in reducing the appearance of acne and pimples. Cocoa lessens redness and inflammation caused by acne. Find the cacao face mask recipe here: DIY Cacao Face Mask for Acne

 Prevents Sun Damage: You know when they say ‘eat your sunscreen.’ Well add cocoa powder to your list of sunscreen foods because it helps prevent sun damage! A study published in the Journal of Nutrition in 2006 showed that a group of women given a flavanol rich cocoa drink showed 15% less reddening of the skin when exposed to UV light. This is due to its high antioxidant content which fights off free radicals generated when UV light hits the skin.

 Improves Skin Complexion: Cocoa can improve your skin complexion, making it brighter and clearer! The flavanols in it nourish the skin, boost its elasticity and help reduce blemishes that make skin dull.

 Firms Skin: The caffeine and theobromine found in cocoa powder make skin firm, taut and toned. That’s because they help break down fats and eliminate excess fluid retention. So, if you have sagging skin, puffy skin and even under eye bags, try making a mask out of cocoa powder and applying it to your face for a few minutes.

Makes Hair Shiny & Soft: Cocoa powder isn’t just good for skin, it’s great for hair too! It contains a significant amount of sulphur, which is one of the most important minerals for hair health. Consuming cocoa powder makes your hair shiny and soft naturally.

 Darkens Hair Naturally: This delicious powder doesn’t just stop at making hair soft and shiny! It also gradually darkens hair and helps cover up greys. So, if you’re a brunette, try making a cocoa hair mask or even mixing cocoa powder in warm water and using it as a hair rinse. Personal note: This really works. I have stopped dyeing my hair and have successfully darkened my light brown hair to a lovely medium brown shade by doing this.

Hair darkener: Mix equal quantities of unsweetened cocoa powder and your favourite shampoo. It will be the texture of that ready to spread canned frosting you can buy in a shop. Store it in a jar. With dry hands scoop a little out and rub your palms together until they are evenly coated. Rub into your hair and really massage it in. Then rinse, but don’t over rinse. I have crazy oily hair like a teenager and this has actually helped to dry it out a bit. If you do not have teenage hair, then feel free to mix equal parts of the cocoa powder with your favourite conditioner as well

Slows Down Ageing of Skin: Cocoa powder is rich in antioxidants called flavanols. The powerful 

antioxidant properties of flavanols help fight free radicals, hence making skin youthful for longer. Consume cocoa powder and also use it externally to plump your skin cells and fight premature wrinkles!

 Reduces Cellulite: Enjoy the cellulite clearing powers of cocoa powder! Because of its caffeine and theobromine content, cocoa powder helps drain fatty cells, promote flow of excess fluids out of the body which helps clear off cellulite by firming and tightening the skin. Drink cocoa powder and also make a cocoa coffee scrub to help you with this!

Cocoa Coffee Cellulite Scrub: In a large bowl, add ¼ cup cocoa powder, ½ cup ground coffee and ¼ cup liquid coconut oil. Now add 1 tsp cinnamon powder. Mix everything well to form a soft scrub. Transfer the scrub into an air tight container. To use, place 1 tbsp in a bowl and take the bowl to the shower with you. Scoop up a little and rub in circular motions over wet skin that has cellulite. Leave it on for a couple of minutes then rinse off and wash your body as usual. Use every other day in the shower.

Personal note: if you'd like a body scrub, but like me don't drink coffee so don't have any coffee grounds just hanging around try this body scrub. It makes you smell like a York Peppermint Patty (US Version) Fry's Peppermint Cream (UK version.) 

Chocolate Peppermint Body Scrub: In a jar mix 1 cup sugar, 2 TB liquid soap (helps it to wash away easier), 3 TB cocoa powder, a few TB oil to make it a paste, 10 drops peppermint essential oil. With dry hands (water can aid in breeding bacteria) scoop out and bit and scrub your body in the bath or shower. Your body will be soft and smell amazing. 

Add to your Dry Shampoo: DIY dry shampoo is all the rage these days and what’s more is that it’s so easy to make! Cocoa powder is one of the main ingredients for brunette or dark hair types. Here’s how to make dry shampoo with cocoa powder:

Amazing DIY Dry Shampoo: In a bowl, mix up 1 tbsp arrow root powder, 1 tbsp baking soda, ½ tbsp cocoa powder and 3-5 drops lavender essential oil. Dip a brush into the bowl and dab it on your hair roots starting from one side going to the other. Let it sit for a couple of minutes then brush your hair and voila! Your hair will be soft, fluffy and look and feel clean!

So, that's the wonders of cocoa! Let me know if you have a go at any of these beauty tips.

Progress not Perfection on my Zero Waste Journey--Small Swaps

Hello my eco-conscious friends. In my last post I talked about trying to buy more NAKED PRODUCE. That has definitely been working.

I also have swapped STOVETOP POPCORN for crisps to save on packaging. I've also been making my own granola as I like to do that sort of thing and can get  nearly everything needed to make it in paper or glass. This isn't necessarily a money savings, but it's no more to make than buying a box of our favourite cereal. It is quick and easy and tastes 100 times better than store bought stuff.

This week on What we Ate Wednesday I will write about Marmalade Granola. 

Mmmmm....Marmalade Granola.

But I digress.

I started to look at ways that we use disposable items in every day life that could be substituted for something with less packaging, no packaging or become reusable.

Some were less successful than others.

 Item one: 
Cotton wool (cotton balls to my American peeps)
I like to use cotton wool. I tried to make each one last by tearing it into thirds, but i was basically using a cotton ball a day. One-third in the morning to put on my homemade ROSEMARY VINEGAR deodorant (1/3 cup rosemary vinegar plus 1-2 TB witch hazel), one-third in the morning to apply diluted apple cider vinegar to my face, and repeat that same ACV actions before bed with the final third

That's 365 cotton balls a year. .

So what did I do?
1. I swapped my deodorant into a spray bottle that I already had. Would a glass bottle be better? Maybe. But I don't have a glass spray bottle. I am all about using what you already have. Plus, i know from recent trip to the US that everything in glass had to be decanted into plastic for travel. Glass + travel= a heavier bag with something breakable in it. Which equals a giant BAD IDEA.

Verdict:
Excellent. If i spray a few times, then rub into my pits and then spray some more and rub in, I avoid the dreaded drip. Also, I need to remember to spray first and then use my body oil, otherwise the spray bottle slips out of my hand.

2. I made some reusable face wipes that can be washed in a washing machine. I know you can buy stuff like this from Etsy, from people with better sewing machines that have sergers to make professional edges around their organic unbleached fabric, but i needed to make it cheap.

I hunted around charity shops til i found a 100% cotton flannel shirt for £2 and cut it into squares and zig-zagged the edges to stop them unravelling. I store them in a jar and then put the used ones in a mesh laundry bag that gets washed when we go to the launderette. Since we only go every three weeks to wash there (otherwise we wash in a bucket) I made enough to go a full three weeks.

Verdict: 
Excellent. I have really enjoyed them, they work well (as well as cotton wool) and wash and dry nicely. I did make sure they went in the tumble dryer at the launderette so they would remain soft. Flannel can get a bit scratchy if it is left to air dry. I had tried this previously with polar fleece and the liquid just seemed to bead up on top and roll off--fleece is supposed to repel water after all--but it just never worked for me and I went back to disposables. My only complaint (if it is indeed a complaint) is that I feel like a need a wee bit more product to saturate the flannel wipe than I did a cotton ball, but since my product is merely diluted apple cider vinegar, it's not a big deal. But having to use a wee bit more product because it is ABSORBED by the fabric is miles better than it being REPELLED by the fabric.

Also, I only used the sleeves and the upper back of the shirt to make 25 little pads, so when these wear out I have lots of shirt left to make some more.

Item 2:
Garlic
I like to make GARLIC PASTE once a month and freeze it in teaspoon portions. Previously, I had spooned it into plastic ice cube trays, frozen it then popped them all out and stored them by wrapping cubes in cling film and foil and then put in a plastic baggie. I did this on advice from something I found on google. I decided to see if i could just flash freeze in my big pyrex baking pan and then pop into a jar.

Verdict:
This seems to work really well. They don't stick to each other having been frozen separately and there is no disintegration issues that I used to get prying them out of the ice cube tray. Excellent.

Item 3:
Storing leftover cake
What's leftover cake? Seriously, I know other people who always take their cake out of the pan it baked in because they have baked layer cakes, but I never bake in layers. I always leave my cake in the pan it cooked in and serve directly from the pan. My way of dealing with it has been to throw some cling film over the top of the pan and call it a day. But obviously now I am avoiding cling film where I can. This is a genius hack, it actually makes sense if you aren't too concerned about presentation.

This is an amazing coffee and walnut cake I made that was inspired by a cake I ate at the Waverley recently. When i bake a cake it makes 8 rectangular slices. After we ate the first two, I transferred what was left into some airtight containers i already had.

Verdict:
Excellent. This is a bit of a DUH moment for me, as I can't believe I never thought of this before.

Item 4:
Snail towels
In years past we had virtually fazed out disposable PAPER PRODUCTS. Since we moved to Wales and have no washing machine I have had to give up my beloved CLOTH TOILET PAPER as there is no way to wash it. We do most of our washing by hand in a bucket and only pay to wash at the launderette every three weeks. I had been good about not using disposable paper towels if I could help it, but since the Bronte Snails came into our life, our usage of disposable paper had increased tremendously. Spiders are really clean and their waste is a dry, white powder. Snails poop A LOT and they poop EVERYWHERE.  And I didn't want to wipe up their poop with the same towels I dry dishes with.

I had thought about buying some designated snail poop towels, but couldn't justify the expense.Then I had an idea. This was another DUH moment for me. A lot of my kitchen tea towels are really old and worn. Why didn't we buy more kitchen towels and relegate old tea towels for snail poop? (I told you it was a DUH moment)

I bought us some really nice waffle weave tea towels from the market (6 for £5) and relegated 4 towels for the snails. I wrote on them in a permanent marker just so they wouldn't accidentally be used in the kitchen. I relegated a separate bucket for washing, so it's all good.

Verdict:
Excellent. We've been really happy with this system. the new waffle weave towels really dry dishes well and the snail ones clean up poop and slime, dry condensation and wipe out water dishes. Feel a bit daft i didn't think of it sooner. If you have pets, i would highly recommend getting some poop towels especially if you have a washing machine, but even if you don't like we don't--it is still doable.

On an separate note, after reading my post about my beloved cloth toilet paper (I really miss it!) I am going to try to figure out a way to start again. Probably only with urine, but at least it will be a start.

Item 5:
Kitchen scrubber
I roast vegetables in my oven several times a week and we don't have non stick pans (things like TEFLON can actually be really dangerous) so i often need a scrubby doodah (technical term) when doing the washing up. Steel wool has been our scrubby of choice. Supposedly it is recyclable, but i can never find a place to take it. But it also always seems to come in a plastic tray in a plastic bag. Another reason to try and find an alternative.

I looked into some of those wooden scrub brushes with natural bristles. First off, they were hella-expensive. Secondly, what exactly do they mean by natural bristles? The ones I found online turned out to be make from pig bristles. Um...no thanks,

I came up with (what I thought was) a genius idea. I bought a loofah sponge at Wilkos for £1. No packaging. Compostable. I sawed it up with my trusty hacksaw Hank. (yes, my hacksaw has a name. What of it?)

Then I could use it for scrubbing pot and pans.

Verdict:
Of all the things I have tried, this is my lowest rated one. It's not BAD, per se, it's just not as brilliant as I had hoped. My thought when I bought it was "this is so stiff and scrubby, it feels like steel wool but natural!" Those who use a loofah will see where I made my mistake. I had not realised it would get SOFTER when it got wet.

And when you do the washing up, things have a tendency to get wet.

It just doesn't quite have the scrubbing power of steel wool. I have tried soaking the dishes longer. I have tried adding some bicarbonate of soda for extra scrubbing power. Those things help...but it is still not quite what I had hoped. I will continue to use it until I come up with a better solution.

In my journey of Progress Not Perfection towards Zero Waste I will try to keep adding small swaps that a make a big difference.

What are your tips for small swaps?

Progress not Perfection on my Zero waste Journey--buying naked produce

Hello my eco-conscious friends. I am happy to report I had another successful day out with my Zero Waste Kit yesterday. My friend Sarah and I went to Skanda Vale and I am happy to say it gets easier and easier to bring my own stuff everywhere I go.

Today I want to talk about things I have doing to reduce my waste. Some have been really successful and others just so-so, but that is how you learn what works--by trial and error.

The first thing we looked at was trying to buy more fruit and veg "naked." Because we are on a tight-as-a-drum budget, money has to be a consideration. Our usual plan of action had been to buy everything from Lidl in a plastic bag because the prices are so good. Lidl sells little to no loose produce, so if we were going to do this, we had to first do a cost analysis.

Now I love this sort of thing. I am happiest when making little charts and diagrams and comparisons. The one thing I struggle with is the math aspect of it. But most places tell you the price per kilogram so I don't have to work it out myself, but occasionally I had to do a little calculating on paper. And then double check by using a calculator and then get Spiderman to check my calculations. Sigh...

We are lucky in that we have several supermarkets that we can get to. Carmarthen has a Lidl and a Tesco and a Marks and Spencer Food Hall all within walking distance of our house. Spiderman works in Lampeter and there is a Sainsburys there.

What I did was write down everything we normally buy in plastic and the price we paid for it, so I would know how much more it would cost to buy it without plastic. The agreement was if it was a small difference between loose and plastic (something like 15p) we would do it, but if it was like 50p or more to get it plastic free, we would continue to buy it bagged.

Would we like not count the cost and just be 100% zero waste? Sure, but it isn't going to happen at this time.

This is what I found:
carrots
45p per kg bagged at Lidl, 60p per kg loose at Tesco and Sainsbury--15p more---- YES

mushrooms
£2.83 per kg in plastic at Lidl, £2.75 per kg loose at Tesco, £2.70 per kg loose at Sainsbury--8p to 13p less---YES (this surprised me--most things are more to buy loose)

onions
57p per kg in a plastic net at Lidl, 75p per kg loose at Tesco and Sainsbury--18p more--YES

new potatoes
price varies at Lidl but on average 75p per kg, no loose new potatoes at Tesco, Sainsbury and M&S both sell loose new potatoes for £2.50 per kg--£1.75 more--NO

oranges
in a plastic net at Lidl 97p for 5 medium oranges, both Lidl and Tesco sell loose oranges at 30p each so it is 53p more to buy them loose. --Maybe. We have been buying them loose because I have found some savings elsewhere (9p savings on buying 500ml sunflower oil at Poundland not Lidl etc)  I think we will buy them loose, unless there is a sale on, then buy them in a net.

broccoli 
£1.28 per kg in plastic wrap at Lidl, £1.57 per kg loose at Tesco, £1.35 per kg at both M&S and Sainsbury. 7p more--YES.  A thousand times yes. I have bought loose broccoli twice at M&S, both times selecting the biggest head i could (sadly, they have no scale, so i never knew how much it was going to be) but each time paying around 57p and that head of broccoli fed us for three meals which is incredible value for money.

apples(Braeburn or Gala) 
Hard to say about apples at Lidl, there are different kinds in bags all at different prices per kg, they did have some loose ones but they were GINORMOUS and I didn't want to get two apples the size of a baby's head for one kilo, so I looked elsewhere. £2.20 per kg at Tesco, but again...a bit on the big side. That's what makes bags convenient as you get 5-6 smaller ones. £2 per kg at M&S and Sainsbury. I haven't seen the ones at Sainsbury in person, but the M&S ones are a decent size. Not huge, but not titchy either. I got 5 apples at M&S at roughly 37p each. YES

peppers
pretty much everywhere you shop, loose peppers are 55p each. I can get a bag of three at Lidl for 92p (sometimes less) That's a 73p difference.--NO

Tinned tomatoes
34p each at Lidl, 35p each  at Tesco. these are both loose without that shrink plastic connector thing. Buying the shrink plastic set of 4 at Tesco, they are only 1 p more. YES

Baked beans (reduced sugar and salt)
we prefer the reduced sugar and salt cowboy beans from Tesco. This really chaps Spiderman's ass (as they say in the American South.) To buy them loose they are 32p each, to buy them with that shrink plastic connector thing they are 4 for £1, making them 25p each. Why should it cost LESS for extra packaging???? We always buy a 4 pack because sometimes i am too tired to cook and you need something easy and healthy. It's 28p more to buy them loose--YES, but grudgingly. 
Side note: I have found that Sainsbury will collect the plastic shrink wrap on multi packs of cans in their carrier bag collection box.

Recycle Now says they also collect: YES Plastic carrier bags	NO Any non-Polyethylene film (e.g. PP, PVC, others)
Plastic bread bags (shake out)	Cling film
Plastic cereal bags i.e. Porridge Oats (not inners from boxed cereals)	Food and drink pouches
Plastic wrappers and ring joiners from multipacks of cans and plastic bottles	Crisp packets
Plastic wrappers from toilet roll and kitchen towel packs	Film lids from ready meals and food trays
Plastic freezer bags
Plastic magazine and newspaper wrap (type used for home delivery only)
Thin bags used for fruit and veg at supermarkets
Bubble wrap
Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) - resin ID code 4

 The list above will help us recycle some of the things we have previously thrown away because our local counsel doesn't accept them (like plastic wrappers from toilet roll and magazine wrap)

So what have I been using to bag my naked produce? After much consideration, I have chosen to buy rather than make something. I normally am all about the DIY, but the bags needed to be lightweight and see-through and I didn't have anything in my fabric stash that fit the bill.

I ended up buying some of those zippered lingerie bags from Poundland. They are perfect. Easy to fill, machine washable, 10g in weight (so they don't add much to your cost since the supermarket won't subtract the weight of the bag)

Every shop i went to, someone stopped me and marvelled on what a good idea it was and where did I buy them, so hopefully planting seeds of being a good eco-steward.

Here they are in action:

apples and broccoli from M&S

mushrooms and onions from Tesco

The only downside to the bags is they came in a plastic packaging, but the packing says "Please recycle this packaging" as opposed to the dreaded "This package is currently not recyclable" so i am going to try my luck taking it to the Sainsbury bag collection.

So are we mostly plastic free? Well, there are some things like cucumber and lettuce for the snails, salad, kale and spinach for us that are always in plastic and never naked. I can see why kale, spinach and salad need to be bagged, but why-oh-why does a cucumber need a shrink wrap???

We have started using empty salad, kale and spinach bags as a bag in the bathroom rubbish bin. We figured give it a second job before it goes in the black bag.

In my next post, i'll go over some of the other ways we have made changes to reduce what we throw away.

My First Zero Waste Event--Absolutely Fabulous Vegan Fayre

Hello everyone! In my last post, I talked about creating my own ZERO WASTE KIT from stuff I already had. Today was my first day to try it out.

Because I knew I was going to bring home LOTS of delicious food I loaded up my kit with 3 containers.

So how did I do?

Brilliantly. I was like 99.9% zero waste because each of my ice cream cones had a paper napkin that I forgot to refuse. I was just so incredibly excited about vegan ice cream, I didn't even see the napkin until she handed it over.

I actually ate ice cream TWICE because it was that good. The nice lady from Cardigan and her company Ice Green makes cashew based ice cream with homemade gluten free waffle cones. This is why I had it twice.

There were so many flavours I couldn't decide. First I had Black Forest Gateau (chocolate with GF brownies and cherries) and then went back and was so indecisive so she kindly did me a half scoop each of Peanut Butter and a sort of Pralines and Cream with a caramel swirl and cinder toffee.

This was also how I was so mesmerised I forgot to refuse the napkin on the second cone.

This is actually not my ice cream cone because despite eating two, I forgot to take a photo before consuming them. This is the hand of a friend who kindly acted as my stunt double.

So two strikes for getting paper napkins when I had a cloth one, but let's see what I did right.

For lunch I ate from the lovely people who run Brownwins Caribbean Food. They had Chinet heavy duty paper plates for their food or you could get it in a cardboard box, which was great. However, I had come prepared.  

I got the jerk tofu with rice and peas and coconut curried vegetables. It also came with salad but it wouldn't fit in my box, so I had the hot food in one box and salad in the other. I used my own cutlery and cloth napkin to eat it.

close up of my jerk tofu in spicy gravy

 There was so much food, i saved half of it for my supper tonight.

I went and washed my fork in the bathroom and shook out my salad box and went and filled it with cake from Vegangela Rose Cakes  (Angela is my ice cream stunt double ).

This cake was gluten free white chocolate banoffee cake with salted caramel and a sprinkle of vegan meringue. 

Here it is in a box. There are two slices in there, plus a big blop of icing she plopped in as an extra.

Because my supper was sorted with jerk tofu, I went and bought a Mr Nice Pie for Spiderman and refused his offer of a paper bag and used an old Swedish Glace ice cream tub instead.

I was pleased to see so many stalls having paper containers and wooden cutlery.  This may be because vegans are more environmentally aware that non vegans. But I was still happy I had brought my own.

Verdict: it was easy and doable. People were really nice about letting me use my own containers and no one looked at me weirdly. It was perfect for carrying leftovers home--my cake didn't get squashed, my gravy didn't seep out the bottom of the cardboard box.

If I can do it, you can do it. It didn't take much forethought because all i had to do was chuck a few extra containers in my Zero Waste Kit.

If I had not been such a greedy guts about the ice cream, I would have been 100% zero waste. But I am not beating myself up over it.

Progress not perfection.

Progress Not Perfection on my Zero Waste Journey--the First of the Five R's (Refuse)

Greetings and salutations my eco-conscious friends. This is my third post inspired by my recent incredibly waste producing trip to the US where I went to visit my lovely daughter. I  had several panic attacks while there over the amount of rubbish I was single-handedly producing and was gobsmacked by the sheer quantity of single use plastics that pervaded everyday life. If you missed that one and want to read about the 56 single use plastic water bottles I used in two weeks you can CLICK HERE.

When I was growing up, there were only Three R's--Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.  Times have changed. Now there are Five. Because we live in such a throwaway society with all these single use plastics we have to start with the most important R.

Refuse.  Just say no. Which is a lot harder than it seems as my recent trip to the US proved. I thought the UK was bad, but it is a piece of cake compared to the amount of refusing I had to do in the US.

In the UK, they charge you 5p for a plastic bag, so there was an 85% drop in people getting plastic bags. People started to bring their own cloth ones (I upcycled and sewed some from old curtains)  or bought Bags for Life--heavy duty reusable ones that are made from 94% recyclable plastic. Places like Tesco will replace your worn out Bag for Life for free if it is one of theirs.

In the US...a different story. Every. Single. Shop. popped my items in a plastic bag before i could refuse. Even my shouts of "No bag, please!" were ignored. It is just habit for the cashiers. You buy, they bag. My attempts to give back plastic bags were frowned up. The cashier would sigh and screw up their faces because I had messed up the system. The bags are on a special doo-dah (technical term) that held each bag open and made it easy to pop items in. My giving back a bag meant that they would have to fight to bag the next person's items.

And the straws!  For Frith's sake, Every. Single. Place popped a straw into my drink before I could say "No straw!" Boom! It was in there. The one place that brought me a straw in a paper wrapper was Olive Garden. When everyone was opening their straws and putting them in their glass of water I said I wanted to reduce my use of single use plastics, someone in my family actually said to me:

I *always* use a straw. you never know about the cleanliness of the glass. I don't want to put my mouth directly on it. 

She said as she ate with a fork off of a plate. If you are that afraid of grot at the Olive Garden then you shouldn't eat there.

In the UK, we do a pretty good job of refusing...partially because people don't give you stuff like bags or straws. If any of my US peeps want to try this (and I would urge you to do so)....you have your work cut out for you.

In the UK, I nearly always have a water bottle...I think I have bought a single use plastic bottle a dozen times in 14 years. I do have a cutlery bag to carry cutlery and cloth napkins, but I don't always have it with me. I originally made it to go on hikes and picnics. Now I have it with me always. The sorts of places where I eat out give you real silverware not plastic...but there are *always* paper napkins, so now I am prepared to refuse those as well.

Here's my new improved DIY cutlery roll made from stuff I already had. Eagle-eyed friends will recognise this fabric as I have clothes made from it. It's basically two pieces of 10 inch by 14 inch fabric, sewn together on three sides (right sides together), turned right side out and top stitched to close the gap on the open side and folded up 4 inches to make a pocket. I sewed pocket divider lines and attached a button and elastic loop closure. I did the whole thing in a little over an hour.

After seeing all the smug Vloggers with their cute (and expensive) bamboo travel utensils, I was like--I can do better. It would have been even cheaper to just use some cutlery I already owned, but we only have place settings for four and I didn't want to always be shouting, "I know we've got more bloody spoons than this!" at Spiderman. So, I went to a charity shop and bought 2 spoons and 2 forks for 10p each. 40p. Splashing out the big money. They're not matchy-matchy, but oh well.

If you can't sew, why not just reuse something like a pencil case. or if your old pencil case is grotty, buy a new one for like £1.

If I was the sort of person who liked a straw in my drink (or lived in the US) I'd get one of these stainless steel reusable straws:

It even comes with a wee brush for cleaning it. I'm told the trick is to show it to your server when you order a drink to imprint on their mind not to give you one.

I rarely get stuff to go. If we are going to pay to eat out, we are damn well going to sit in and enjoy ourselves. But if you are the sort of person who always gets a Starbucks latte (other brands are available, and might even pay taxes) or whatever, invest in a reusable travel cup because that paper one that you just throw away is lined with plastic and can't be recycled. Plus lots of places will give you a discount for bringing your own. If you want to be all cool and hipster, bring a jar. But be aware that many jars aren't heat proof and might explode, so get a kilner jar which can withstand the heat and has less of a chance of leaking. Personally, glass is HEAVY and a faff to carry about because of the weight and the fact that it is BREAKABLE. (says the clumsy woman with back problems)

I was given one by my lovely daughter, so now, if I want to I can get my hot chocolate with soya milk to go, I can do it guilt free.

A reusable container is one I never thought about carrying. As i said, when we can afford to eat out we tend to eat in the establishment and don't get stuff like takeaways. But what about leftovers? You can ask places to put your leftover food in your own container. Or if you buy a slice of cake from a vegan stall, it can go in your box.

Now, you could spend money on a stainless steel container like the one featured above from A Slice of Green which costs £18 plus postage, or you could dig around in your cupboards and find something you ALREADY HAVE. Which conveniently is the third R in the Five R's--REUSE. Some people just carry a huge ass reused glass jar with them for this purpose.

I am using a BPA  and Phthalate free plastic, leak proof box i got on sale from Tesco for £1.75. It is also much LIGHTER and not BREAKABLE because lugging around a giant jar would be murder on my back.

So here is my DIY Zero Waste Kit. It is made with cheapness in mind--I made the cutlery bag from materials i already had and I spent 40p on cutlery to go in it. I used my regular BPA free water bottle from Wilkos plus my new coffee travel mug that was a gift and a container I got on sale and stuck it in a free bag I got 5 years ago at a science thing.

I can carry it as is or pop it in my backpack. I plan on trying it out Saturday at the Vegan Fayre in town. I will report back on my experiences.