Bike Lights in the Fruit Bowl

Our meat-free month

During February, following in the grand tradition of making hay while the sun shines, mice playing while the cat is away and other such happy pairings, we've been eating veg whilst the horsemeat scandal rages on.  February's meat-free challenge seemed (to me as an ex-vegetarian) like it might be a slight cop-out - not particularly challenging.  I suspected that bringing the rest of the family along too and making the month a pleasure, rather than a chore, might be where the challenge would lie.  I was at least partly right - there have definitely been some ups and downs!

The ups?  I made it through the month meat-free.  We discovered how homemade pesto knocks the socks off the jars on the supermaket shelf - a parsley and walnut variation is our latest discovery.  Mmmm! We ate lots of aubergine - my favourite vegetable. The grilled aubergine from the first week was a favourite Martin and I both agreed on.  We shook up our cooking habits and discovered a few other new recipes - I'm definitely going to enjoy perfecting my own heavenly halloumi burgers.

The downs? Martin's comments about the month including "indifference" and "a missed opportunity to eat more pasta".  He's a big fan of pasta as a tasty vegetarian option.  I had been quite excited about the month as an opportunity to branch out beyond pasta, which I find a bit boring.  It's clear our culinary desires still vary significantly!  Martin ate vegetarian food at home (with only a few grumbles) but did scurry down to a local cafe desperately seeking a bacon sandwich after a week and has had a few meaty meals out - resisting a meaty sunday roast in a pub wasn't even on his radar!  

The moments that tested me most?  It was really hard not to sample the big pot of meatballs I made for the girls/freezer.  And surprisingly, I missed my Sunday evening tinned sardines and harissa on toast fix - and easy meal we often eat if we've had a big lunch and want a light supper when the kids are in bed. Cheese on toast isn't quite the same.  

We felt the girls were a bit young for food experiments so they did eat some meat and fish either at nursery or when they were eating at home without Martin or I.  I had hoped to introduce them to a few new veggie dishes but things, including a vomit bug for both girls, conspired against me leaving little room for experimentation.  When Martin's not around, the girls and I are secret lentil eaters so I'm not too worried - the girls are being brought up to expect a diet with a large proportion of vegetarian food.  The mission to tempt little M to eat a bigger variety of veg will continue for many months!

Despite a tiny bit of meal-time friction I feel this challenge has been a valuable experience.   It has helped us understand what food-compromises will work for our family.   It's all about serving up tasty food that just happens to be meat-free.  Serving meat, from sources we're happy with (often organic and British), a bit less often or in smaller quanities to add great flavour to a meal.  And expanding our sustainable seafood horizons (which could be a whole other challenge in itself!).  We'll all - myself, Martin, and the girls - continue to have different tastes. Martin, like many meat eaters, loves rich, cheesy vegetarian food; the girls, like many children, like quite plain food and shy away from lot of veg or new foods; and I'd put chilli, lentils and loads of veg in nearly everything!

One thing I've realised doesn't work well is trying to covert recipes that were created for meat into tasty veggie food just by swapping the meat for extra veg.  I did a hasty vegetable paella this way.  It was nice, but it suffered from being compared, unfavourably, to its seafood or meaty siblings.

One thing I think does work is maximising flavour of vegetarian dishes.  I previously thought I need to replace the protein content, or the 'bite' that meat gives to a dish.  Actually, we both agreed, extra flavour is the key to successful vegetarian food.  I noticed some the recipes in this cook book that we've used a lot this month leave out the garlic until quite near the end of cooking - presumably to help it pack more punch.

Everyone eating the same meals at home definitely makes life simpler!

It has been an interesting time to try our own meat-free month, what with the scandal about unidentified horsemeat that has been unfolding first in the UK, and in the last week or so other countries too.  People are starting to make the link between cheap food, environmental pressures and the short-cuts that farmers and manufacturers feel compelled to make to supply our huge demand for meat.   Opinions in the media have varied. Some people have taken the opportunity to push a vegetarian diet. Plenty reckon we'd all eat horsemeat so long as it's labelled and animal welfare standards are reasonable. And many people are saying it has made us all trust processed food a lot less.  Lots of valid points!  

We'll keep on steering clear of most processed food.  I'm not about to start hunting out horsemeat. But I'm not going to return to being vegetarian either.  I think it's OK to eat a little meat.   The UK has significant areas of land that aren't well suited to growing crops, and a treasured landscape created by livestock farming in these areas - we need to support this type of farming, not let it disappear.  In future, alongside meaty treats, I'll try to resist always swapping meat for dairy products to create tasty veggie food and I'll try to include lots of fresh veg, grains and pulses in our diet.  My reasoning for starting this challenge still stands - it's better for our health and for the planet to eat less meat.   This month has been a mini-reality check.  Our (and the rest of society's) food habits are bloody difficult to change, even when there is good reason.  I'm sure temptation is the only way.     

Despite the mixed feelings about the month, I'd be up for doing it again to blow away the culinary cobwebs.   Perhaps in the summer when loads of beautiful veg are in season and the absence of a biting cold wind might make for fewer "is there anymore?" queries!

Inspired by my experiences this month I've decided to start a series of recipe posts called VengeVeg-ful Feasts - tasty meals full of flavour and veg, some with a little meat and some without.  I'll highlight great recipes I've found and perhaps make up a few of my own.  I'm wondering if the recipes should get a "Martin-rating" so you'll know how they fared with your average carnevore!  Watch this space.

What dishes would tempt you or your family to eat less meat?

 

(Quite successful!) veggie burger experimentation

I can't believe our meat free month is almost over!  To get some inspiration for the last few days I've been thinking about what veggie food has impressed me over the years.  I remembered one of my favourite street-food stalls - The Veggie Table.  Treating myself to one of their amazing burgers was always the highlight of my week when I worked near one of their stalls.

I don't get chance to visit their stalls much at the moment so, inspired by their Heavenly Haloumi burger, I decided to try my hand at creating my own veggie burger to knock the socks off those unspiring, cardboard-like 'fake-meat' ones.  

I used the following ingredients:

        250g (1 block) of halloumi cheese, grated

        250g of grated veg - mostly carrot and a little onion

        3 mini-scones (sorry this is a bit random, they needed using up - bread would also work!)

        Fresh corriander and parsley

        Some lemon zest

        25g of couscous (pre-cooked weight)

        1 egg, beaten

Here's how to make the burgers:

1. Prepare the couscous as per packet instructions and set to one side.

2. Put the bread or scones, herbs and lemon zest in a chopper attachment for a stick blender (or similar device) and whizz until they form a bread-crumby type mixture.

3. Mix everything together and form into patties - get your hands right in there and squish everthing well to get them to bind together.

4. Brush with oil and cook in a lightly oiled frying pan.  Don't move them about too much as you're cooking them or they might fall apart.  Mine held together pretty well, better than I thought they might, but I'm not sure they would survive a barbeque grill!

The verdict?  I was actually pretty impressed with my creation. Don't get me wrong, they weren't as heavenly as the original Heavenly Haloumi burgers (you have to try one of these if you visit Borough or Broadway Markets - they're sooo good).  But I'll definitely be making these again.  I've a feeling I'll be perfecting this recipe and creating new versions with other veg, herbs and spices for many years to come. 

I dolloped some very tasty Bengali Tomato Chutney, from Tiger-tail Chutney, on my burger today. A new discovery in my local shop.  Possibly the most delicious chutney I've ever had, and made only a few hundred meters from my home.  If this is what London's local food revolution tastes like, bring it on!  

Leftover love: fridge-drawer pasta bake and spicy scraps salad

Last week the Change the World Wednesday gang over here set a very timely challenge. They challenged us to have a proper look what veg was lerking in our fridges and then plan some meals to use them all up - making sure not a morsel gets wasted and cutting down our food spending at the same time. I've been indulging on the veg buying front recently, shopping for lovely recipes I've been cooking up to help make our meat-free month go down a storm. When I can buy loose veg, I buy just what I need, but I haven't always managed this and have to admit there was a sorry selection of veg crying out for attention in my fridge. So I took on the challenge.

Here's what I found in my fridge:

1 and a half onions

2 and a half carrots

half a courgette

1 whole and 2 half fennel bulbs

half a head of celery

1 green and 1 red pepper

half a very large parsnip

a few cherry tomatoes

a quarter of a cucumber

a selection of mushrooms (about 100g more than I needed for a new recipe I planned to try)

a few small potatoes

half a jar of passata

half a bunch of parsley

half blocks of feta cheese and goats cheese

half a fresh chilli

a lemon without its zest

half a jar of homemade curry paste

And a few staples I would have no problem using up - cheddar cheese and eggs for example.

One good meal jumped out at me straight away. Pasta bake - everyone enjoys it, it can be prepared in advance and popped in the oven when I get home from nursery with the girls, and then portions can be kept for Martin and I to eat later.

Here's what I did:

1. I sauted some veg with onion and garlic until soft - I used 1 and a half carrots, half a courgette, a couple of mushrooms, and a red pepper.

2. I then added the passata (tinned tomatoes would also work), some dried oregano and a can of canellini beans (cooked red lentils or other white beans would probably work fine) and cooked it for another 5 minutes or so.

3. Once cooked, I blended the sauce, partly inspired by smooth Italian bean sauces and soups I've enjoyed, and partly to hide the veg from little M and the beans from Martin! The dish would work fine without blending the sauce but it does give it a hearty, creamy feel.

4. I mixed about half the sauce with cooked pasta (I saved the rest for another time as there was loads), topped with crumbled goats cheese and grated cheddar (you could use other similar cheese you've discovered at the back of your fridge).

5. I trickled oil over the top and baked it at 180 Degrees Celcius for about 20minutes - until the top was golden brown.

The girls wolfed theirs down. Little M had a few bits of cucumber and halved cherry tomatoes with hers too - more things ticked of the list! I have to admit that the bake didn't keep as well as I'd hoped. It went a little dry by the time Martin and I ate it later. I'd use more sauce next time - more than it looks like you need - or make the sauce a bit thinner.

I was tempted to pick up a nice bag of locally grown, green salad I'm a bit partial to on my way home from nursery, but resisted, and instead I made a spicy salad from some of the scraps I found. I chopped a small chunk of cucumber, 2 or 3 cherry tomatoes, a sliver of onion, a sixth of a fennel bulb, some parsely, and a small piece of fresh chilli and mixed it all up with some lemon juice, olive oil and a sprinkling of sumac. Almost as good as the amazing chopped salads they serve at our local Turkish restaurants.

I veered off course from the challenge after this a bit I'm afraid. I got tempted by the 'any-bowl-of veg-for-a-pound-stall' near the local chemist and came home with a bag full of tomatoes and red peppers. I had a cunning plan! I'd promised little M some roast potatoes for lunch after enthusiastic pestering, so to fill the oven up, I roasted most of the peppers, tomatoes, and half an onion at the same time. We had pizza (of sorts) topped with pasta bake sauce and cheddar, and roast potatoes for lunch. Then I blended the roasted peppers and tomatoes to make a lovely, rich sauce. For dinner I had this on pasta with grated parmesan. The girls (who aren't being veggie this month) had theirs with meat-balls made from beef, a few spare mushrooms, and some frozen breadcrumbs (leftover from last time I made fishcakes).

The slightly wrinkly green pepper and the potato remnants found their way into a curry last night with a few supplementary veg from our new local green grocers. And I'm still working out what to do with the rest. A roasted fennel and squash salad has caught my eye. And perhaps a hearty nut roast with parsnip and sage. That's nearly everything - although I have bought sneaky extras along the way to make half decent meals.

This challenge has been a great reminder to keep an eye on what's lerking in my fridge and to include those fridge drawer scraps, as well as exciting new recipes, in my meal planning!

What are your favourite ways for using up those lerking vegetables?

This month I'll mostly be...meat-free

Each month I attempt a different challenge with a green theme.  OK, so January's challenge is still languishing my drafts folder waiting to be resurrected when I have a little more head-space to both do and write about it properly.  But I shocked myself by starting February's challenge on time!  This month I'm having a meat-free February.  And Martin's (mostly) joining in too!!

It's no secret that eating loads of meat isn't great for the environment.  Do the Green Thing's stat 'one meat eater on a bicycle makes more CO2 than a Hummer' sums it up nicely I think. And, although the jury's still out on the intricacies of the whole meat-gives-you-cancer thing, we know that eating less meat and more veg is a good thing for our health. Two great reasons to give this challenge a go.

Friends might think this is a pretty lame challenge for someone who was vegetarian for 17 years (possibly a few don't even realise I eat meat now). There's a bit of a back-story!

I started eating meat a couple of years ago when I felt like I was running in circles preparing different meals for everyone in the house.  I was also worried about sending confusing signals to little M.  We don't always eat together because of our working hours but we try to eat the same or similar foods when we can.  I felt opting for a 'special' separate (vegetarian) meal was going to send the wrong signals.  When I started eating meat the idea was that, overall, the family meat consumption would stay broadly similar.  I'd join in meaty meals once or twice a week and we'd all share vegetarian food for the rest of the week.  This hasn't really worked - Martin, an enthusiastic carnivore, denies all knowledge of the arrangement - and our meat consumption has gradually crept up.  

I've had a lot of stick from Martin over the years for my vegetarianism, it nudged me towards eating meat, and it has made me retisant to serve up as much vegetarian food as I'd like.  We're both big fans of all things River Cottage.  I'll admit to getting in a fairly big huff when Martin gave 'His Hughness' great respect for taking on a meat-free challenge.  Bit of a double standard!  So, when we were watching a River Cottage programme a few weeks ago and I casually asked "Fancy doing a meat-free February?" I almost fell off my chair when he said "Yeah, why not".

Being vegetarian won't be a massive challenge for me this month.  But taking Martin along too? And upping our game when it comes to vegetarian food, discovering some new family favourites and falling back in love with our veg.  That's going to take a bit more doing.  If we survive the month with gritted teeth and dive desperately into a bacon sandwich the minute March arrives - I'll consider this challenge a failure!

How has it been going?

Pretty good so far.  I've been mining my River Cottage Veg Everyday book for tasty treats.  Hugh's mission with this book is to get people eating more veg by temptation - he certainly does that! Everyone should own this book. I've been delving into a few neglected old favourites too and cooking up lots of lovely soup.

Highlights of the last couple of weeks have been last night's aubergine and green bean curry, a sumptuous fennel and squash lasagne, and the tomato and pearl barley risotto with marinated feta that impressed one (non-vegetarian) friend so much she has requested it for Valentines dinner from her boyfriend.

Some homemade pesto was a surprise hit.  I tend to put pesto in the same category as salad dressing - not really something to make a meal of.  But homemade pesto is a revelation!  I thought I'd have moaning from Martin that pasta, pesto and some roasted veg was lacking a meat-substitute but he raved about it.

I got another surprise when out for a pub lunch on Sunday - they served up the best nut roast dinner I've ever had! I take back all my previous harsh words for vegetarian roast dinners in pubs.  It even topped my own nut roast which we all shared the previous Sunday.  Martin did cave in and go for a meat roast - his first in almost two weeks - and little M had chicken (we haven't dared rock the boat by turning the kids veggie too, except for shared family meals will all be veggie).  I almost picked at little M's virtually untouched chicken - a bad habit I need to kick.  But I hate seeing wasted food, especially meat so I stashed the chicken to take home and make into a stew to mash up for little L.

It has amused me that we're being meat-free whilst all around us retailers and brands are scrabbling to defend their reputations from the horsemeat scandal that's currently in full swing.  Opportunistic Quorn adverts have popped up.  In a lentils versus pretend-meat (like Quorn) toss-up we're both agreed that lentils would win.  I feel a batch of dal coming on. Perhaps a lovely thali meal with some leftover aubergine curry and a few trimmings.

I think we'll make it through the month (mostly) meat-free.  How will we feel at the end of the month?  I think the jury's still out on whether this month will have a a major effect on our future eating habits.  I've been putting a bit more effort into planning and preparing food than usual and reaping the rewards but I'm not sure I'd keep this level of effort up indefinitely!  Check back in two weeks to find out.  And if you're lucky I might find time to post a recipe or two if I venture from the safety of my beloved cook books.

Would you find a meat-free month a doddle?  Got any favourite veggie recipes we should try?

Disclaimer:  Any slight Martin bashing in this post is purely there to show that he, like most other people, is quite partial to tucking into a nice slab of meat...not an enthusiastic tofu muncher. Credit for taking part is due:-)

 

 

Learning how to live well

I've decided not to do a green challenge for December.  I'm going to take a little time to take stock of where I'm at and digest what feels like a huge volume of information and inspiration that I stumble upon daily.  

I've looked at the 'Moments for me' category of my blog - not much happening there.  

I've also read some really thought provoking blogs recently that have got me pondering what motherhood, well, actually parenting means these days.  This one - The Motherhood Equation - in particular got my juices going, along with a few hundred other people's!  The comments, although mainly reacting quite negatively to the post, are an amazing sample of people's thoughts on parenthood in 21st century and well worth a read.  

I've been talking to people too!  Snatched coversations on the nursery run about how meal-times work at our various households, car-booting for Christmas presents, plans for returning to work, and skirting delicately around common 'cabin-fever' issues and what baby-sitting, if any, people make use of.

I've been both inspired and depressed by new campaigns and projects I've discovered as I've scratched below the surface of social media, or found a few moments to read beyond newspaper headlines.  The depressingly frequently tweeted examples from @EverydaySexism and the ridiculous examples of gender stereo-typing spewing from companies scrambling for Christmas toy sales that have been flagged up by Let Toys Be Toys campaign (coupled with my three year old's saddening requests for lipstick) have actually shaken me up a bit.  I get more angry by the day as Clean Air in London highlights evidence of dreadful air quality and government inaction and distraction tactics.  And I've felt kinship when reading about the film-making dad (to TV besotted kids) behind Project Wild Thing.

I've been thinking about my own childhood - memories dredged up as I noticed that we had nearly every single Fisher Price toy currently listed as vintage on ebay! 

And I've been bloody loving the Family Adventure Project...then failed to tempt little M to leave the house yesterday, let alone inspire her to be a mini-adventurer. 

I've been thinking a lot about what family life means to me.  And about how many parents I share common concerns with.  Sometimes I feel surrounded by kindred spirits and quite normal,  other times I feel depressingly 'alternative'.  I've been thinking about the types of comments I share with friends, acquaintances and the ether.  I definitely post my fair share of dimples and domestic drudgery comments (that I'm sure will encourage some people to at least hover over the unsubscribe / unfollow button) and very rarely here's-something-amazing-I-did or found type things.

It's pretty apparent from reading my 'about me' page on this blog that I have a few internal conflicts.  I want to have it all...and without leaving a significant environmental footprint.  I feel so far from cracking it.  It feels like something that will be a lifetime's labour of love.  But at the same time I want to have it figured out tomorrow.  For my own sanity, yes.  But also because I don't want to admit that living well, and lightly, is actually really tricky in today's society.  It needs to be the norm.  It needs to be easy.  Not 'alternative', not something that is tying a practical, intelligent, and at times creative woman with 13 years experience as a sustainability professional, in knots.

This month I'm going to be reflecting on what it means to live well, and lightly, NOW, and with one eye on the future.  My family's future, my future sanity and the future of our planet and society.  I'll try to keep a bit of a check on sharing my feelings about sleep, nappies, snot, tantrums and domestic bliss (friends I'm afraid I may still indulge myself more than you would like - feel free to return the moans).  But I do defend my right to share my experiences of learning how to live.  It's an amazing / scary / inspiring / depressing / abundant / spread-so-thin-it'll-snap-any-minute / funny / sooo-not-funny (delete as appropriate depending on your circumstances and the day of the week) world out there and I, along with everyone else, am learning how to live in it.

I'm learning to live in a world where pink kitchen toys for girls, and science toys for boys are supposed to prepare our children for a future in the 'grown-up' world which, despite  its imperfections, is actually much less restrictive.

I, like many other people, am learning to live far away from a handy family support network.  I'm figuring out how to foster healthy relationships between my children and their far away, extended family (and my parents are on the verge of learning how to do video calls!). I'm learning when to ask for help and when to just try harder. 

I'm learning to feed my family in a world where the supermarket shelves are full of ready meals because we're busy, where the farmers market is full of organic, dirty beetroot because bees are dying and we all love Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, and where everyone is expected to know the best chocolate cake recipe ever but to look like we never eat it.  Food, I think, in particular shows how times have changed.  For a treat my mum had sugar sandwiches, my Nanna bread and dripping (lard if you need a translation!), myself Angel Delight and frozen Supermousse and my daughters pre-packed smoothies and copious amounts of stickers!

I'm learning to live in a big city where living space is tight and a world of experiences await outside your (shared) front door, having grown up with space to run in a quiet village.

I'm learning to strike a work life balance as part of a family where both parents work when neither myself nor Martin experienced this in our own childhood. 

I'm learning to get out and about without owning a car, partly driven by cost, partly by principles, and partly by a desire to give my kids the skills to negotiate a world where, when they're grown-up, today's petrol prices will seem unbelievably cheap.

I'm learning to maintain sight of the horizon and the big picture, when my eyes are mostly drawn down to the beautiful baby clinging to my leg.

I'm wondering what languages my children should learn, Spanish because I love it, Chinese for obvious reasons, or nothing as the whole world speaks English now, right??? Or if not, Google will translate on demand.

I'm learning how to avoid dissappearing under an avalanche of material stuff that seems so hard to side-step in our affluent society, whilst not appearing ungrateful or turning my kids into odd-ball outsiders.

I'm learning how to teach my kids to respect all fellow humans, whilst dreading them seeing  most news broadcasts or having to explain to them where many of their toys come from.  I'm wondering when is a good time to shatter childhood innocence and explain the massive inequalities of the world (possibly with the aid of this intrigueing book). 

And I'm learning how to hang onto the things that inspired me when I was younger, like music, amongst the whirl of sleepless nights.  It should be easy, we're living in an era where music festivals are for families too and new music can be discovered at the click of a mouse, but I've mostly been listening to Rastamouse for the last few months!

I could go on.

For me now feels like a complicated thing. How about you?

I'd like to say to to the author of the Motherhood Equation that I'm not spouting off about minor hardships and expecting people to be interested, or desperately grabbing for the gin because being a mother is sooo hard.   I'd like to say that I am 'just getting on with it'.  Part of me that agrees with her.  And I do wonder whether people made such a fuss about parenting in previous generations.  I mean, more people are parents than not so what's the big deal?  But actually that's not completely where I'm at right now.  I am getting on with life, and I am trying not to bore my friends without kids (and with kids!) with stories of poonamis everytime they come around.  But I'm also finding this whole business of learning to live now quite challenging.  I seek information and inspiration from others, and so I'll continue sharing some of my own experiences, including the bad as well as the good.  Times have changed since our parents, and their parents, and their parents brought up their families.  Some stuff is easier now, some stuff is harder. But I'm sure of one thing - there is no auto-pilot.

The giants of the technical world will no doubt be battling soon to sell us their latest inventions - augmented reality glasses.  What I'm wondering is when will someone invent parenting bi-focals - magical glasses that allow you to focus simultaneously on the minutae of life with little people AND engage in the big societal debates of our time.  Or could help us simulataneously live in the now AND look to the future, keeping sight of adventures we can plan beyond the next few months and the skills and resources we'll need to live in decades to come as the world changes at increasingly breakneck speed. I'm sure some people manage this effortlessly.  I'm hoping I'm not the only person who finds this challenging.  Christmas 2013's top gift?  For him or for her?

Who knows what tools our children will have at their disposal when they're making their life choices and learning to live well with them.  We can be sure that, for them, some things will be easier than now, and some things will be harder.  And they like us will probably be tying themselves in knots trying to reconcile their desires to be themselves, with their desires to be there for their families, and trying to equip their own children with the skills they think they'll need to live well.

No doubt I'll post some mundane, practical stuff this month as I look at what I still need to do to make the practicalities of life work.  I'll probably also indulge in some soul searching and pontificating about what I'd like my children to turn out like, and whether I actually have any control over this!  But you have my permission to give me a stern ticking off if, by the end of December (or definitely mid January), I haven't shared a some more inspiring 'moments for me' than are currently languishing in this category!

Right I'm off to tweet about unconditional love, tiny beaming smiles and poo.

Oh, and remind myself 'tis the season to be jolly!

Green and lovely christmas gifts

December's here, woolies are out and we started the festive season with a lovely day on Saturday.  Little M was impressed by her first ever advent calendar - a basic cardboard, picture-behind-a-door affair but beautifully designed and a novelty for her (from managed forests and printed with vegetable ink in case you were wondering...you weren't?). We also had great fun visiting Stratford's Discover Story Centre.  A friend who is always clued up about lovely things to do with little ones in London invited us along to their Christmas show for 3 to 6 year olds - The House Where Winter Lives by Punchdrunk Theatre Company.  Martin and little M had a brilliant time being whisked through an enchanting, interactive performance.  It was a it too adventurous for babies so little L and I went to Snow Baby storytime at the same venue.  Twinkly lights in a cosy white den and a story featuring every type of 'snow' you could imagine - rustling, feathery, shimmery, floaty, cold, soft - and of course the snow baby itself.  Great stimulation for tiny tots.  What better way to kick-off December? I'm definitely in the mood for Christmas now.

And for once I'm feeling like my Christmas shopping is reasonably under control.  I don't want to give too much away about presents, as family members read the blog from time to time, but I would like to share a few thoughts on things I enjoy giving and receiving that are greener, or a bit more right on than your average bottle of perfume.

1. Top of the list has to be time.  If your life is leisurely, your time will probably be the most welcome gift you could give to the busy bees you love.  Make your own vouchers for baby-sitting, DIY,  gardening, debugging the computer and so on, throw in box of choccies (or some jam) for good measure.  People know they can ask their family and friends for favours, but most of the time they don't, so give them the budge they need.  If you're a busy bee, perhaps you could do with some time outside your usual routine. Taking time to do something for a loved one might be more doable than you think. I've got my thinking cap on!

2. A close second...home-made jam, chutney, or other tasty treats.  Even hand-made by someone else if you'd rather.  Spread some Christmas cheer to someone who earns their money from selling hand-made, posh jam rather than to the giants of the internet and the High Street!  And the recipient can have happy thoughts on toast for weeks and weeks.  If you're making your own goodies, why not spread even more cheer and use some organic, local and Fairtrade ingredients.

3. How about a local food and drink hamper?  I came across the enticing looking Hackney Hamper recently. I guess traditionally, food hampers have been either a local, countryside thing or a very high end affair from well know purveyors of posh nosh in cities.  But actually there's loads of exciting foodie stuff going on in London right now.  Who wouldn't want some Dalston Cola, Jamaican Jerk Biltong Bites from Shoreditch Kitchen, and a few bottles of craft beer from one of London's many small brewerys?  What intriguing goodies can you get round your way? Any good jam?

4. Membership of something interesting or worthy is always good, and most sensible organisations are savvy to the gift market and throw in a good freebie.  We usually get joint membership of the London Cycle Campaign from my sister - great cycling book freebie last year.  Sustrans are a good alternative for bikey people outside London.   But the world is your oyster really - bats, bugs, badgers, and British Co-federation of Freemasonry apparently (it's a link to a newpaper story in case you're wondering)!!  National Trust is always good but unfortunately your membership doesn't get you any discount on their very fine jam.

5. And don't forget about sponsoring a child, a chicken, a goat, a well, a night in a homeless shelter or pretty much whatever charitable item you want these days. Add some homemade goodies, like jam, and I think even the miserliest relative would find it hard to moan. A few good ideas in this supplement last year's Guardian. It's not big, it's not new, but it is clever.

6. I love to give and receive carefully selected second hand vintage finds.  I started my Christmas shopping last weekend with an ebay flurry.  I've given people things from my local Charity shop before.   I'm always looking for an excuse to browse the amazing second hand shops near where we live, or check out some new ones further afield.  Use 'em or loose 'em folks.  Think it's tight to buy second hand?  Well get people bigger and better presents than you could afford when buying new - everyone's happy.  No jam here I'm afraid, unless you find some vintage jam jars to fill up!

7.  You can't go far wrong with stuff people need anyway.  Little M spent most of last Christmas day prancing around in her new winter coat - one of her favourite presents.  We could buy her one at some other point during the winter but it was nice to make it into part of the Christmas fun.  She's due for a new raincoat and a restocking of her stash of tights this year.  I think the trick to pulling this off for kids and grown ups alike is to use it as an excuse to by something a bit more special than people would buy themselves or you might buy for your kids.  Socks get a bad rep, but posh socks are alway good in my book.  Wiggly Wigglers apparently have a Christmas rush on their posh goat socks!

8. For kids, arts and craft materials are good.  Let stocks run a little low before Christmas (or use them up with lots of Christmas crafting!) and then package up some basics with one or two newer novelty items.  Making a fuss of arty stuff should hopefully stimulate a creative burst in January.  If you're feeling really nifty and thrifty you could transform old junk into ready made art materials, such as cutting out shapes from old wrapping paper or attractive pages from old magazines, ready for tots to have a gluing session.  Or create your own project kit including both new and recycled things.  Collect all the boxes, bottles, cardboard tubes etc. that kids would need for a specific project.  Unless you have loads of space to stash lots of junk I'm guessing it's a pretty rare occurance to have perfectly sized boxes and a tube from gravy granuals all handy at the right time for that steam train project!  How about jam jar snow globes?

9. You can't beat plant cuttings for their green credentials.  Been eyeing up someone's finest greenery?  Put your request in early and you could have a piece of it for your very own come Christmas day.  One of the loveliest presents I ever received was a small scented geranium grown from a cutting by a friend, a plant I had never actually smellt before - now one of my favourites.  I tried my very hardest to keep it alive but didn't manage more than a couple of years I'm sorry to say.  I treated myself to a new one this year and it always reminds me of the friend who introduced me to this lovely plant with her special gift. 

10. And if all else fails there is always M&S to fall back on.  You can't help but love a bit of Plan A (their sustainability programme).  I'm still waiting for the first M&S post Christmas refunds queue wedding - it's bound to happen one day that love will blossom for two dissappointed souls whose eyes meet over unwanted pyjama gifts. 

I'm sure there are some people out there that think my suggestions sound a bit stingy, or are saying I'd never get away with that with my 'xyz' year old. I'm not saying that we shouldn't ever buy new stuff, or the latest toy.  When can we induldge a bit if not at Christmas time.  What I'm saying is use a bit of imagination and Christmas can be special when we tread a bit more lightly.

Why not mix it up a bit?  You don't want to become known as the one that always-gives-us-tat-from-a-charity-shop or find yourself on the receiving end of less than enthusiastic 'jam...again' glances.  Of course your talent for finding vintage treasures or making tasty treats may be so legendary that people become disappointed if you revert to standard gift giving practice.  I'm proud to say I've already had a request for "more of the those chocolates you made please" - obviously I did something right last year!

I'm also proud that I've very nearly finished a homemade present each for our two little ones.  Little M will have her own name-in-the-sand picture, taken on the beach on holiday this summer framed in an old photo frame decorated with shells we collected together on the same beach.  Daddy already has a seaweed one and next year it will be little L's turn.  Little L will get the blanket I knitted for her when I was pregnant.  It's just starting to be cold enough for it, and I've only just about finished sewing some edging tape on it! Better late than never eh? Not particularly green but very lovely and very satisfying for me to finally finish something!

How are your Christmas preparations going?  What's your favourite gift to give or receive?

 

 

 

This month I'll mostly be...planning a greener and lovelier Christmas

Each month I attempt a different challenge with a green theme. This month I'm planning ahead (by my usual standards) for a greener Christmas.  I'll also be casting aside my humbug tendencies, avoiding temptation to 'just not bother much', and trying to find creative ways to make Christmas lovely too. 'Bah Humbug' doesn't really cut it with kids around!  Alright, I know we're only a few days from the end of the month, but I promise I've been plotting this for a little while, if not quite finding time to write about it! 

Last week Little M had her first taste of Christmas toy adverts.  I was flicking through channels to put a bit of CBeebies on for her while she was housebound with a stinking cold, when she spotted some Peppa Pig on a different channel.   In my sleep deprived state with weakened resolve and slight brain fog I thought 'why not, can't do any harm just this once'.  She has seen toy adverts once or twice on TV before, and asked me to turn them off, so I was feeling pretty relaxed (well, actually a little bit smug).  Well, we won't be doing that again!  Little M now officially likes adverts.  She said so.  She sat there through two or three advert breaks (back-to-back Peppa Pig!) commenting with her most serious voice "I need that"..."And that"..."And I need one of those".  She even wanted the toy dog that sh*ts just so you can play at cleaning it up (although I have to say she did temper her enthusiasm a little for this one, declaring "I could have one of those" - even at three she has the sense to know no one really wants this!).  

Ridiculous toys and middle-class snobbery aside, I still think of this incident as a truly depressing glimpse the world my little ones are growing up in.  It wasn't so much the toys that I found depressing (I'm not such a scrooge that I think toys are bad), rather the image of a very small child, transfixed by the TV, experiencing desires for things she barely understands.  Several days later those few minutes of TV are still affecting her.  She's been telling (a slightly bemused) Martin about the dodgy dog toy - it appears she was more interested than I'd originally thought - and chattering about how her dolly doesn't have a car.  

I am now more determined than usual not to get sucked into the commercial, consumption overload that seems represent a 'normal' Christmas.  My efforts to tread-lightly on the planet at Christmas vary from year to year.  It depends a lot on how busy I am and how last minute things get.   Shopping for presents is a classic example.  I always try to avoid a big trip into the West End, but often get sucked in when the big day starts creeping closer and my plans to make pressies for people or buy lovely, local treats haven't quite come to fruition.  So I'm planning (a little) ahead this year.  

A spot of green Christmas shopping (and making) is obviously on the agenda.  I'm also hoping to introduce a few new Christmas traditions.  Little M pretty much got the gist of Christmas last year.  This year she's three and even more aware of what's going on.   It seems like a good time to kick-off a few family traditions that I hope will stick with us, and make Christmas special for lots of reasons as the girls grow up.  Not just for the toys and chocolate.  We're not religious and so we celebrate Christmas as a tradition rather than a religious festival.  I think that makes it even more important to be a bit creative, and find joy in other things that make Christmas a lovely and meaninful time of year.  Hopefully, by getting in there early, we'll set the tone for future Christmases before the girls become completely engulfed by peer pressure for the latest craze! 

My first idea for a new family tradition is our 'Sharing is Caring at Christmas' box (suggestions for a catchier name welcome please!).  Little M is really lovely with her sister most of the time, and has turned a blind eye to the gradual handing over of some of her old baby toys.  But, like most kids, she has some pretty strong 'mine-mine-mine' tendencies. I'm all for kids treasuring their own things, and I couldn't imagine a Christmas without individual presents. But sharing is good too, and Christmas is a great time to remember that.  I'm going to give the girls presents to share each year.  And to make them feel a bit more exciting, rather than second best, they'll come in their own shiny  box.  It's not my finest crafting moment (above) but I think it will do the job for the next few years to make the shared presents feel special.  If I'm organised they'll get some hand-made bunting for their bedroom (which they'll be sharing soon - as soon as we can calm little L's sleeping habits down a bit), if I'm not, perhaps some bath toys. And perhaps a music CD.

My other idea is to get the kids involved in a bit of regifting.  I'm going to ask little M to choose some of her own toys to give to her sister and her two cousins.  I'm not going to force her to give away her favourite toy, just gently encourage her to think about what other people might like. We'll help little L do the same.  The girls will also help us choose presents for other people. I'm sure lots of people do this.  I'm plotting a bit of carefully orchestrated present choosing for a few key people.  And I hope to find the time to make things too - little M got involved in making lovely biscuits and sweets from this brilliant supplement on Nordic baking last year (definitely a tradition I could adopt!).  She loved handing them out to relatives.

These ideas are mostly gift related - I'd like to have some other Christmas traditions to share too.  My brain cogs are turning now and I suspect I'll have other ideas over the next few weeks.  They'll ideally be things to do in the run up to Christmas as we're mostly away with family for large parts of Christmas week.  I'd better get my skates on if I'm going to think of something interesting for advent that doesn't involve buying 24 gifts for each of the girls every year!  That's definitely not happening, no matter how green the gifts are.  

I know some people have probably finished their Christmas shopping.  I have only just started but I think I'm doing OK.  So far I've written out my list of who I buy presents for, and I'm not doing too bad in terms of inspiration (I'll be sharing some of my inspiration in another post soon, without spoiling the surprise for anyone hopefully). I've made a start on one or two home-made gifts - there's a fighting chance I'll get them finished in time.  I started my Christmas shopping at the weekend with a couple of bargain games for little M on ebay. I've got some fancy parcel tape  (one is even recycled, recyclable, and made in England) - we might even avoid buying wrapping paper at a motorway service station this year.  It's all feeling quite organised...for me.  

And next week, when hopefully little L will be feeling a bit better (she's the current owner of the stinking cold), I'll start trying to find a baby-sitter so that Martin and I can go to at least one Christmas party together!  

I just need to decide what to do about a tree.  We often procrastinate about this until it get's too close to Christmas to bother with one, especially as we usually spend a lot of the festive season with relatives.  That's not really on.  And won't get past little M this year.  We need to get a tree early enough to enjoy it, or think of some other lovely (eco-friendly) ways to make the flat feel properly Christmassy.  I feel some glitter fun coming on!  I love these tiny trees that will grow up with your family.  I'm pretty sure the combination of my dinstinctly un-green fingers and our tiny, shady yard would spell doom for one, so sadly I don't think it's for us.  

Have you checked out Extra Ethical Christmas yet?  They've got some great tips for an ethical Christmas and prizes from some of the UK's leading ethical brands to be won throughout December.  

I know it's a cliche, but I think the best bit about Christmas is seeing friends and family - particularly as ours are strewn far and wide.  What are your favourite Christmas traditions for making the season special?

 

Night time nappy success

Back in July I resurrected my washable nappy collection for one of my this month...green challenges. All was fine and dandy except for night-time.  One or two spectacular soakings led me to swap back to disposables at night, whilst maintaining some vague notions of researching a solution when I had a spare minute.  Only took me three (and a bit months) to get around to it!

I stumbled across some really useful advice about night-time nappies on the Green Mums website here. I sampled of couple of the different options they suggested.  

Firstly the Ecobots bamboo nappy for night time, a fleece lined bamboo nappy with a removable booster pad in a pocket to speed up drying time.  And hand-made in Devon no less! The review on the Green Mums website is pretty accurate and I am quite impressed with the nappy.  Little L seems to be growing at an alarming rate and actually is almost getting to big for the nappy (which fitted fine when I first got it a few weeks ago).  We've had an odd small leak, but I suspect that will be resolved by me rummaging through our hand-me downs bag to find the next size up outer wrap - I'm sure we have them somewhere.  I'd be considering buying a few of the next size up nappy if it wasn't for the fact that the other option I have tried is working brilliantly.

So, secondly, I bought a pack of large bamboo boosters.  Bloody brilliant and great value.  I've been putting two of these boosters underneath my Flip nappy insert at night time and they've been lasting fine all night.  They're not bulky so I think, if really needed, I could add one more.  I've also been using one during the day, particularly when out and about to make the nappies last a bit longer.  I have to admit that the Flip nappy on its own doesn't last anywhere near as long as a disposable before it starts to leak.  Pop in one of these bamboo boosters and you can go out on adventures knowing that the synthetic nappy is wicking wee away from your baby's bottom and the bamboo booster is holding it all in so you don't end up  with wet clothes if you have to go a bit longer than planned between changes. Works a treat.  Have just ordered myself a few more!

I'm not saying I've got the perfect combination of nappy kit.  If I'd been starting from scratch I might have opted for a different nappy.   Probably one of the pocket ones that stay together a bit better as your baby makes her fifth break for freedom mid nappy change!  I bought the Flip nappies initially because they are very slim, and fitted under clothes that the laundry service nappies were too bulky for.  They're great for that but I had been a little dissappointed with their absorbency.  But now I've got the bamboo boosters I reckon we'll be set for most occasions so I'll have to resist the urge to splash out on some of the lovely new designs that are on the market now!

P.S. I paid for the nappies I've reviewed above and none of my ramblings are sponsored in any way. I just share things that I've found useful.  

The best things come unpackaged

But I appear to have a shelf full of lentils!!

Wow! Where did October go?  And most of the first week of November?  I had a vision at the start of my packaging challenge this month that I'd have completely revolutionized my shopping habits and radically reorganized my kitchen for stream-lined, packaging free domestic bliss.  No more cloth shopping bags loitering behind a paint splattered apron begging to be taken to the shops...a nice stash of neatly stored and labelled recepticals ready to be refilled with tasty, ethical treats...a freezer brimming with delicious dishes to tempt me away from take-aways...etc.

Ahem..not quite there yet! Sleepless nights have taken their toll a bit, as has unpacking a large portion of our possessions following major building works (seems to be taking infinitely longer than packing up). But I've promised I won't beat myself up about things I haven't done.  So I'll focus on what I habits I have changed and what new things I discovered whilst encouraging myself to think a bit too much about tuppaware this month!

I did take myself on a little field trip to Unpackaged, an ingenious shop selling...you've guessed it...all things unpackaged.  I had cabin fever one day last week.  I found myself unable to get anything constructive done at home whilst simultaneously entertaining little L, and so, having no other urgent errands to run, I decided to entertain us both with a little excursion there.  I did need a few groceries so dutifully took along my motly selection of plastic and cloth bags, and my newly acquired wine bottle (they do English, organic wine refills!) but, mainly, I was hoping for an 'ah-ha - that's how to make this easy' moment, a magic bullet for packaging free shopping.

Lovely shop and lovely products.  You can refill everything from mustard to Montezumas hot chocolate (oh yes).  They've really done their homework and found organic and fair trade sources for many of their product lines. It's a great idea.  They're planning to have a cafe and sell cooked meals for people to take home when they move to a new site in Hackney soon.  It will be bit like popping round to a friend's for tea and being sent home with some left overs! Brilliant idea.  No magic bullet though, in terms of how to get organised around refilling. They sell a range of plastic and glass containers for refilling, but the friendly shop assistant suggested that, whilst they will happily refill whatever containers you bring, most people bring old plastic bags they've picked up elsewhere, just as I had. Looks like I just need to figure out what works for me then!  

What I think will work is...

• Labelling stuff!   No one except me (and to be frank not even me half the time) knows what recepticals we have ready to refilled.  I've generally got a few bags for fruit and veg.  Some for dry goods. Sometimes some laundry or washing-up liquid bottles.  It needs to be much more obvious what's going on.  I'm thinking small zippy bags to store plastic bags for refilling  that can be grabbed easily to take to the shops. And labelling bottles so they don't get thrown away. Might get myself some of these.

• Portable plastic containers. I'm going to get just a few that are the same size as my storage jars at home.  I'll take these to the shops to refill with dry goods.  Taking the right size containers will mean I don't get remnants of stuff in plastic bags floating around the cupboards because they don't fit in my jars at home. It would be even better if shops had measured scoops (how's about it Unpackaged if you're reading?). I'll probably have to take a plastic bag too so stuff can be weighed.

• More small freezer containers (sorry Martin - he's got some wierd thing against having too many plastic containers, probably a result of the frequent tuppaware avalanches we had a problem with at one point when our cupboards were particularly disorganised) so we can keep the freezer topped up. (Queue procrastination as I ponder whether to grab some cheapie tubs from my local plastic tat shop or spend a small fortune on freezable glassware that isn't, like most plastic, full of some 'nasty' chemicals that are suspected of messing with our hormones.) 

• More stylish storage jars - once they are on show on the shelf, I spot when we're running low on something, and they somehow beg to be filled. I find that if I'm well stocked with decent ingredients I buy less overpackaged crap on impulse.

• And...buying stuff with packaging sometimes!  

I won't crack this overnight, but my bin certainly seemed a bit lighter the last week or two so I feel I've taken a step in the right direction.

And the elephant in the room?  Plastic bags from supermarket deliveries!  I've been watching out for my worst packaging habits this month.  These plastic bags are definitely top of the list.

Grocery delivery services are great for busy people (check), people with kids (check), people without cars (check), people who have better things to do with their time than pace supermarkets aisles doing mental arithmetic to figure out which toilet roll is the best deal (check)...oh wait... pretty much everybody.  I'm pretty good at popping into local shops for a spot of bag free shopping while I'm on maternity leave. I spend much more time close to home, am much less hurried on the nursery run and, as much as the children allow, set my own schedule for the day.  When I return to work things will be a bit more hectic. Deliveries are definitely the way forward.

But supermarkets' ridiculously excessive use of plastic bags completely dwarfs any attempts I make to remember my own bag when going to local shops.  It reeeally riles me when they put a bar of chocolate (alright maybe two) in a bag all on it's lonesome.  I don't like my chocolate with added guilt.  I could go on...but plenty of others have before me so I won't.  And let's face it there's not much more to say than SORT IT OUT!   I hope the Break the Bag Habit campaign works where previous media campaigns have failed. 

So, until the supermarkets sort their act out what am I going to do?   Deliveries stay.  But I'll be looking for bag free delivery or only using deliveries to bulk buy heavy or big stuff that's hard to get without a car.

It's been a slightly frustrating month over all.  I haven't made as much of a change as I'd have liked and this niggles me because I know that, relative to most people, I've got great facilities on my door step (and OK, I'll admit it, I'm probably thinking about all this stuff a little bit more than most sane people). Most people are busy and aren't going to go searching far for packaging free stuff, even if excess packaging pisses them off everytime they're at the check-out (either online or in person).  There's got to be an easier way.  It needs to be normal, not cause a kerfuffle at the checkout as the cashier is flummoxed by the bag you brought from home.  

What would it take to make you start refilling and go packaging free?  What would be at the top of your packaging free shopping list (aside from posh hot chocolate!)?  Would you go as far as taking your own tub to the deli counter or the butchers?

Bonus discovery of the month?  On my 'field trip' I came across a beautiful, treasure trove of a shop nearby - full of all sorts of pretty things, lovingly made from...er...old stuff.  Definitely popping in there for a spot of eco-friendly Christmas shopping next time I'm refilling.  

Right.  Time to stop rabbiting on about packaging...until I pluck up the courage to do a proper zero waste challenge month! More sleep and preparation required before that I think!

Guilt free pizza and (more) wine

So how has  this month's packaging challenge been going?  I've been doing well refilling my wine bottle! Trying to perfect my packaging free pizza with a toddler in tow went less well - we had fun trying though. 

Pizza was one of the only things I'd regularly buy which has some polystyrene (boo hiss!) packaging and we all love fresh pizza.  I had a vision that every now and again I'd knead my frustrations out whipping up a big batch of pizza dough or bases, ready to be grabbed from the freezer and transformed into a tasty family meal in minutes. I did make pizzas. Little M helped.  It went something like this...

Me: This part's a bit tricky. You make the hole in the middle of the flour, then I'll put the water in and start off the mixing.

Little M: Mummy it's spilling out the side.

Me: (stiffled expletives) Aargh! I know! I'll just...oh flip (regain control of potty mouth) it's coming out the other side too! 

Little M: Can I have some butter (sees me desperately mopping up mess, hands, legs and half the kitchen covered in floury, yeasty gunk and knows this is her moment).

Me: No! How many times do I have to tell you not to eat butter on it's own.

Little M: I'm having it.

Me: Sigh. (But secretly proud of my brilliantly opportunist 3 year old!)

It's fair to say these batches of pizza won't go down as a high point in culinary history.  I rescued all the dough I could and bunged a bit of extra water and yeast in and, given their traumatic start to life, they didn't taste too bad. Little L enjoyed her first ever pizza.  Once I've cracked the dough - I'll start by ditching the poncy chopping board mixing technique in favour of a bowl (surely that's why bowls were invented?) - I do think these are going to be a firm family favourite. Freezing bases of different sizes and portions of tomato sauce, mini-ones for mid-week kids dinners and larger ones for Martin and I or family meals at weekends, is definitely the way to go. 

I haven't done so well at filling the freezer full of other tasty treats.  We've just been muddling through a relatively tough month (sleep-wise for me and work-wise for Martin) and just about emptied it, in fact.  I hate resorting to takeaways just because you're so tired and surrounded by chaos.  I'd rather spend that kind of money on something I appreciate more.  So we've dredged the freezer and had one or two less than inspiring meals recently.  There's hope though.  The cook books are out of storage now and I'm starting to feel a bit more inspired so I'm feeling a cooking spree coming on soon!  I started with lasagne tonight - mmm! I'm going to look for some really tasty dishes to put in the freezer so it feels like a treat rather than a desperate measure. 

I've been digging around for lots of lovely new storage, for at home and for out and about as I'd started getting a bit too keen on using plastic sandwich bags for snacks. I got myself some lovely 're-usable baggies' in sale here (pictured). They've been very useful.  Little M was quite taken with hers - much easier to hold than an open top plastic tub and great for a bigger range of food than you could put in those clever snack pots with flappy lids, including today's snack of (her) choice...dry Weetabix, twice!  I also got some food kozies - you use them instead of cling film for sandwiches, cheese and so on.  They're alright, but I'm not bowled over by them.  They'll get used but they're only really good for stuff that is similar sized to a sandwich - they won't work so well when your block of cheese gets close to it's last grating, as the velcro fastening ends up in the wrong place, so won't fasten. 

So, so far I've not been doing bad at trimming my packaging waste down a bit, but mostly because I've had it in my mind more, rather than because I've come up with any slick systems for packaging free shopping. I'm pondering what will be practical when I return to work.   Fewer trips up the local shopping street for little L's naptimes equals fewers chances to refill my wine bottle (or other bottles!) on the way.  I won't be cycling to work and back with a basket full of containers to refill on my way home from work.  And I'm hoping I won't have sole responsibility for the family shopping.  

I like this idea.  A simple way for everyone in the family to know that, when it's shopping time, this is how we roll! No rummaging around for tatty old plastic bags.  I'm not sure this is quite right for our shopping habits and it doesn't include bags for dry goods, like oats, but I think something along these lines would be brilliant.  Armed with my sewing machine fresh out of storage I'm tempted to create my own bespoke shopping kit. Oh, almost forgot, I'm quite busy and tired most of the time - perhaps a spot of online retail therapy with the people who have already invented a sensible selection of shopping kits might be more practical!

What are your best freezer stand-by dishes?   Any that feel like real treats rather than 'I guess we'll just have to get something out of the freezer then' dishes?

And have you discovered any nifty gadgets that really mean you gather less packaging?

 

This month I'll mostly be...reducing my packaging waste

Each month I attempt a different challenge with a green theme.  I'm taking one for the cause to start this month's challenge - guilt free wine!  

I was very happy when Borough Wines, with their wine bottle refill service, opened up near us in the summer.  OK, so it would be even more guilt free if it was organic, and maybe English too.  But that would make it more pricey and ultimately a more niche product that probably wouldn't sell so well - I'm all for making green options accessible to the masses!

Aside from wine bottles, there are a few other contents of our dustbin that have been playing on my conscience recently.  I won't go into detail as I'm sure I'm skating on thin ice already by blogging about rubbish!  One thing that irks me particularly is that our recycling bin seems to get really full.  It's great that Hackney Council collect so many things for recycling but, given I've spent almost fifteen years of my professional life advocating 'reduce-reuse-recycle', I feel I should see what I can reduce as well as cutting down on what ends up in our rubbish bin.  

If packaging free products are the way to go then, really, I can't moan that I can't get hold of them.  I can get LOTS of things without packaging within a 10 minute (walking) radius of my house.  There are plenty of official refills in local shops - everything from wine to washing liquid and olive oil to shampoo. And local shop keepers selling loose produce don't really bat an eyelid if you use your own bags. But often I don't bother to make the effort.  And I don't really have the habits or systems in place to make it effortless.  It needs to be easy or it's not going to happen regularly!  As my mind turns to creating systems and storage in our new kitchen (even nearer to being finished now the floors are being laid as I write, yay!) it seems a good time to think about what would make it easier to cut down the amount of packaging I use.

I definitely need to find a better system for keeping containers and bags for refilling.  I'm often having my carefully saved refill containers accidently recycled by my cleaner, Martin, little M and occassionally me! You need an empty one to fill while you start using the full container - I'm never organised enough to refill immediately. I would love to live near this shop. They're opening up a bit nearer us this year but it still won't be that handy. Think I will have to do a 'field-trip' to them to see if I can get any inspiration for hassle free refilling!

And I'd like to knock my Friday supermarket pizza habit on the head.  Partly because of the packaging and partly because now little L is starting to share our food, I'm scrutinising our food habits a bit more closely! Time to perfect my home-made pizzas and fill the freezer with tasty treats so take-aways don't seem so tempting when the girls bedtime starts to unravel into cooking time!

Visiting by train: how it went...

I'm on holidays now with my little family of four having survived - and actually mostly enjoyed - my various train travels alone with the girls to escape the building work currently tearing apart our flat. So how did the journeys go and what new things have I learnt about travelling with two small children?

I started off all my journeys on my local bus.  I don't live really near a tube but do have direct buses to lots of places, including all the train stations I'd be using during my travels.  Buses are usually a great way to travel with kids as you don't need to negotiation stairs and escalators with a pushchair (although this whizzy new app for tube travelling mums can help you avoid them).  I wasn't feeling quite so happy with the buses when I set off on my first journey to Berkshire.  I waited quite a while for a bus...which then refused to stop for me.  It didn't look full.  I was cursing under my breath as little M was already getting fidgety, asking to go to the shop across the road for something random and little L hadn't fed very well before we set off so I was keen to get onto the train as quickly as possible where it would be (relatively) more practical to feed her again.

Thankfully I didn't have long for another bus and luck seemed to be on my side from then on. I didn't get bumped off the bus for a wheelchair. Technically I should have had to get off, and I have no problem with the rule on London buses that wheelchairs get priority, but am not going to complain that on this occasion, for whatever reason the driver decided not to ask 6 people (us three and another similar family) to leave the bus!  I haven't been totally enamoured by the way corporate sponsorship of the Olympics has been handled but was happy to accept a free strawberry split icecream from a train company - a welcome diversion as we tried to kill 25 minutes in Waterloo station!  We had a 30 minute delay in Kings Cross when heading up north too.  A long time to spend with two small children in a busy train station.

I breathed a little sign of relief everytime we successfully boarded our trains. When my mind wandered to worst case scenarios I'd had visions of little M doing a runner whilst little L screamed and vomited just as we needed to board the train!  Nothing like this happened - although our train from Kings Cross turned up just in time to prevent things from properly unravelling.

The train journeys themselves were a bit of a mixed bag. Little L did scream a bit, I did get an odd strange look for feeding her whilst simultaneously trying to entertain and control little M, I did have to chase around after little M a bit - carefully balancing a desire for her to behave sensibly with not telling her 'no' so many times she got frustrated and had a tantrum. From my fellow passengers I had knowing sympathetic looks, slightly alarmed "how-long-will-that-baby-be-screaming-for" looks,  adoring "I-wish-they-were-my-granddaughters" looks, an odd "what-on-earth-were-you-thinking" look and plenty of slightly surprised "oh, hello, there appears to be a small person staring right at me / touching my knee / under my chair" looks! Both girls, luckilly are really sociable and seem capable of creating their own entertainment by making eyes at people until they chat or play baby games with them. One particular lady who had grandchildren of a similar age was an absolute star on our busy train journey back to London from York and had a knack of distracting little M just at the moment when meltdown threatened a number of times. 

So if you're thinking of travelling on trains with small children do have faith in the good humour and talents of your fellow passengers; do keep calm when things kick-off - which they will - and accept that you can only do your best to smooth the situation; do develop a bit of a thick skin - there will always be someone who disapproves; and do enjoy all the new things a toddler can spot on the way, unrestricted by being strapped into a car seat just below the sightline out of the window!  Little M once exclaimed "look, the sea is waving!"on the beautiful coastal train route to the South West. But be prepared for a fascination with train toilets by bringing plenty of anti-bacterial wipes!  

And do prepare.  Not being overloaded and making sure I had a few new treats and distractions to whip out at opportune moments definitely paid off.  And finally do accept help from people - let friends or family accompany you to the station, let them lend you things at your destination (car seats, travel cots, toys etc) so you can travel light and accept the (almost) universal kindness of strangers to negotiate awkward steps.

Beforehand, I felt like my travels in August were going to be a bit of a mission.   Looking back now the overriding memories are a feeling of achievement at having broken out of the small world that I'd started to feel a bit trapped in recently and lots of lovely memories of visiting friends and family that we don't see very often.  I travelled to escape the building work.  I shouldn't wait until I'm forced out of the flat to go travelling again! 

This month I'll mostly be...visiting by train

Each month I attempt a different challenge with a green theme. This month I have been travelling around by train with a toddler and a (nearly) 4 month old baby. I've been toing and froing between London, Berkshire, North Lincolnshire and York to escape from building work that is taking over three out of the five rooms in our flat! Martin, unfortunately, can't take all of August off work so I've been going alone with the kids on most journeys.

A car can seem like the obvious choice for travelling with young children given their legendary need for paraphenalia.  I've known people suddenly end a lifelong love affair with pubic transport the minute they hear the patter of tiny feet. We don't own a car but we do drive hire cars or car club ones occasionally because, well, sometimes the only other option is transforming yourself into a packhorse. I avoid driving a lot because of its environmental impacts but also because I find that plenty of journeys with young children make real sense on public transport - someone else drives while you entertain and feed the children for starters!

I've chosen the train for journeys this month because it's quicker, cheaper (compared to car club fees) and less hassle than driving out of London. That doesn't mean I wasn't a little bit nervous about how the journeys would pan out - little M reminds us she's still in her 'terrible twos' often enough and little L can be a milk munching machine and has definitely started teething - not a great recicpe for relaxing long journeys by whatever means!  

I've travelled a lot by train, including with little M in tow - I think our record was the 8 hour trip from London to Aviemore - so I knew it was worth being prepared to make for a pleasant journey.  My one top tip, given to me by a friend when little M first became our travelling companion, is to buy a family rail card so you can reserve seats for the whole family without being out of pocket.  Technically you don't have to buy tickets for children under five years old but if you want to reserve a seat you'll need to - the railcard discount usually makes the combined fare less that the non-discounted adult fare on its own. I tend to take a car seat on pushchair wheels when I'm visiting family as they all live a short drive from the nearest train station.  The car seat can wedge nicely in your reserved seat whilst the wheels get stashed in the luggage rack. I actually got ushered into the disabled spot by a kindly train conductor on our way up North this month as the train was quiet so didn't need to fold the pushchair or use my reserved seats.  Our train back to London from York was packed with people heading to the Olympics for the weekend so I was glad I booked ahead.

My other tip, something I've learnt the hard way, is that careful packing is essential. Pack light! Seems obvious, I know, but it pays to be realistic about what you can comfortably carry and handle if you need to fold your pushchair. Lots of small bags can be difficult to deal with. I invested in a  new 33 litre rucksack when I stopped cycling a few months before little L was born and found my laptop too awkward to carry in a satchel style bag. I love my new rucksack! I chose it with these type of trips in mind and I've impressed myself - it's brilliant. Never too heavy to be a big strain to carry but alway seems to have space to squeeze something else in!  I managed to get enough kit for about three days (you never need more than this if your destination has washing facilities) for the three of us in it - not bad going I thought.  

I also made sure I was self-sufficient for the journeys.  If you have time to a spot of retail therapy en route, fine, but don't rely on it. Make sure you have plenty of food and entertainment - hunger and boredom don't make for good train journeys!  I put my handbag full of plenty of snacks and entertainment, baby sling (essential kit for travelling!) and nappy changing gear in the bottom of the pushchair, ready to be fished out for use on the journey.

Here's a picture of me ready to set off on the longest journey - smiling but really quite stressed after both girls had last minute scream fits and a torrential downpour started just before we left the house!  To find out how our journeys went come back soon -  did I mention I've been travelling a lot this month (and away from the internet) so am posting our adventures from this month as quickly as I can!

 

Night-time fun

I figure I can get away with a title like that on a blog about life with small children! You know where this is heading.  

I'd planned a little treat for me and Martin last night - thought we'd enjoy a spot of tapas in the garden in the balmy weather.  No cooking, nothing to spoil if it took a while to settle the girls.  We did have tapas in the garden, mostly separately and after it had taken almost three hours to get both girls to sleep and stay asleep! 

Little M looked shattered when she got home from nursery so I was hoping for an easy run at bedtime. Poor thing was a bit manic though - which I'm putting down to the medication she's on for her wheezy chest - so really struggled to settle.  I was trying to be as patient as possible, luckily able to give her my full attention as little L had gone to bed.  By 8.30 however things got messy, little L had woken up again for more milk.  It ended up in stalemate in the hall between their rooms with little M screaming 'I WANT YOU NOW" (not in a minute after I'd dispatched little L back to sleep) and little L screaming too!  I came very close to a meltdown!  They did sleep, they always do eventually but it sometimes feels like it will take forever.

I'm afraid the nappy challenge didn't help us have a relaxing night either last night.  It was the second night I'd tried using the Flip nappies overnight. First night: no problem - a double nappy lasted all night.  Last night - completely different story.  I picked little L up at about 4am to feed her to find that she, and her bedding were completely soaked through.  Not just a tiny bit damp.  I've had an odd leak with disposables but not this spectacular.  A complete changed of clothes and bedding was NOT popular with her, waking her well and truly up at that point in the night when she's had enough sleep to perk up and get interested in the world once she'd calmed down. Arse!  Disposables one, real nappies nil.  Given little L is only three months old this is pretty poor going.  By the time she's a year old she'd need so many nappies to last through the night that she'd be a half a foot in the air! I used to manage fine at night with the nappies from our laundry service - when I get chance I'll trawl around for reviews and try a different brand.

On a brighter note, a lovely gift for little L arrived in the post - a very lovely vest from Green Baby.  I love their stuff - it's really cute and always seems to fit really nicely.

 

This month I'll mostly be...washing nappies

To clarify, I don't intend to spend all month washing nappies.  That might be boring! Each month I'll be setting myself a challenge.  It doesn't seem right to have a blog with an eco-parenting slant without mentioning the 'n' word (nappies) so my first challenge is switching (back) to 'real' or washable nappies.

I started this challenge a week or so ago.  Today seemed a suitable day to write about it - the first day I've had good enough weather to dry the nappies outside!  I'd expected, as little L was born in April, to be drying nappies easily outside all summer. How wrong was I!  A few months later, after a determined (but wobbly to begin with) attempt at potty training instigated by little M two days after little L was born and a lot of rain I finally feel on top of the laundry basket enough to attempt this!  

I was also reminded yesterday on a trip to A&E with the girls after an incident with a large Peppa Pig book (that pig has a lot to answer for!) that real nappies are still a bit of a rarity - another prompt to share my experiences on this topic.  "What's that?" the doctor asked on seeing little L's lovely pink nappy.  He'd never seen a washable nappy before apparently.  Thinking about it, I've never seen anyone at the baby clinic with them either.  More than half my antenatal group, my sister and several other friends used at least some real nappies, and there's a local shop where I can peruse and prod samples to my heart's content so I live in a little bubble where I think it's normal to use real nappies. They certainly slim down the contents of your bin and don't do too badly in terms of water and energy use so I think they make sense - although I'm pleased to see some disposable nappy brands improving their eco-credentials to make these a greener option too.  

To find out about the vast array of nappies on the market these days - and there are some really cute ones -  you could look here or here.  So I'm not going to explain all about different nappies in detail here - just share a few of my experiences of using real nappies before and getting back on the wagon with number 2 so that anyone reading this who wants to give it a go has bit more information at their disposal.

I actually got on really well with  real nappies for most of the time that little M was in nappies.  We had a nappy laundry service from these lovely people.  I never had to remember to buy nappies - the nappy van turned up each week to take away my dirty nappies and drop off freshly laundered ones.  I found I had far fewer leaky nappies that I'd had from disposables, my conscience was clear and everything was hunky dory. Little M was born in October and we live in a smallish flat with no tumble drier so the laundry service was great - better than having the flat festooned in damp nappies taking days on end to dry. When little M went to nursery we carried on with laundry service.  We'd give the nursery one of these wet bags each day, then bring the day's dirty nappies home and tip them straight into the nappy bin ready for the weekly collection.  Two problems I experienced were space for storing clean nappies and the nappy bin; and that as little M got older the nappies became quite bulky.  Lots of the lovely hand-me-down clothes didn't fit very well over the nappies.  Two problems I thought I might have, but didn't, were nappy rash and nasty niffs from the nappy bin.  To solve the clothing problem I got a few of these super slim nappies to wash myself. 

So this time I'm going it alone.  I've got a reasonable stash of nappies from last time so just got myself a small nappy bucket (the bin I had before was only on loan from the laundry service), and a couple of mesh laundry bags. I'll report back on how things go in a couple of weeks but so far I've discovered that the nappies I have definitely don't dry in two hours as they claim to.  I can't imagine what temperature your home needs to be to achieve this - mine seem to be taking about a day and a half indoors at the moment.  Bring on the sunshine please!