Wonky veg!

We're on a journey to becoming a low waste family. It certainly isn't happening overnight but it's so important to remain focused on the way we want to live. 

There's much work to be done and so much to learn. Every change we make to our lifestyle is a step in the right direction, even though we already do a lot of things, we now need to concentrate on more changes. 

Plastic is a major issue...it is everywhere! We've already reduced how much plastic we use but food shopping is a nightmare.  There's way too much unnecessary packaging on fruit and veg. A year ago I was having a weekly organic veg box delivered but it was so expensive and items we're getting substituted so I cancelled it. Since then I've bought from the supermarket online and chosen loose fruit and veg. Sadly some weeks this would arrive in a plastic bag, which is so annoying. 

I'm not loyal to any supermarket but I have my favourite for quality. It is more expensive but worth it. However I tried a different one this week for my groceries to try out the wonky veg box. It cost £3.50 and was full of potatoes, carrots, onions, leeks, parsnips, a Savoy cabbage and a swede. The potatoes and leeks were quite small but apart from that everything was 'normal' I will definitely buy it again as it was good value. I bought other vegetables because I didn't know what to expect from the wonky box. The fridge looks so colourful with all the different veg in there. My plan is to slowly introduce more veg into our diet while reducing the meat. We've already cut the amount of meat we eat but more could be done. 

There are some vegetables that I struggle to enjoy so I'm looking out for recipes to make them more exciting. The children are fussy about veg but eat a lot of fruit. Time to get the vintage cookery books out!

The next step is to bring our vegetable patch back into action. I'd love to grow our own vegetables again and salad in particular. Lots of hard work and planning but I'm really motivated to get things moving. It was such a delight to see the children shelling peas for our tea yesterday. They love helping me. A few years ago Daisy planted peas and home grown is so much better. Plus both children love digging!

Exciting times ahead!

Mandy x

Birthdays and holidays!

Last week we were on the beautiful Isle of Wight for our holiday. We had some lovely days out, visiting a windmill, water mill, donkey sanctuary, steam railway and Blackgang Chine, plus a wonderful day on the beach. 

Now we're back to reality but it's the summer holidays! Lots of fun packed days ahead before the new school year begins.

Today I've been remembering my grandad who would have been 94 years old. He died when he was 56 and I was only 11. I still miss him every day.

Henry turned 4 a couple of weeks ago and Daisy's birthday is fast approaching, but tomorrow we celebrate another special birthday. Our dog Jake will be 18! We've been so lucky to have this many years with him. 

Sadly our lovely hen 'Sandy Chick Chick' died the day before we went on holiday. It was very sudden and the children were devastated. She was 12 and had a wonderfully happy life. She even laid an egg that morning. She used to join me in the kitchen all the time and the children adored her. We miss her dreadfully.

I have lots of projects planned and a huge 'to do' list but we are loving the slower pace of the summer holidays. Tomorrow we have a doggy birthday cake to bake and I bought some special flour at the mill to bake bread. Home baking brings me such joy.

Mandy x

Always baking!

Today has been a baking day for me. I'm trying really hard to avoid anything processed, so everything needs to be homemade.

I've baked a white loaf, baps and two little orange teabreads.

For tea I've made a cheese, bacon and onion quiche and lemon curd tart.

Treats for the children's tea (they have a cooked meal at school) are shortbread and rocky road. I wish I could show you photos :(

If you fancy trying any of my recipes just comment or email me and I'll send them to you.

It's such a busy time of year but we've nearly made it to the summer holidays!  Two dental appointments and sports day this week then loads planned for next week.

Mandy x

Back to baking again!

Whenever I make plans things go wrong! It's so annoying, I had plans to write regularly but then illness struck and  I'm currently nursing a perforated eardrum and a cold I can't seem to shift. 

When I'm ill I just plod on and muddle through, but I just didn't fancy baking. 

This morning I baked with the children. We made some plain cheddar cheese scones and some Wensleydale and chive ones. We had them with butter for tea and they were lovely. Obviously the children had to sample one fresh and warm out of the oven. 

Next we made plain biscuits which I iced and decorated with dolly mixtures and jelly diamonds. 

To fill the cake tins we made a variety of cakes...lemon cake, fruit cake and a small chocolate cake covered in chocolate butter cream. 

At the weekend we eat our cooked meal at lunchtime and have a proper tea. I wish I could share photos of our baking and teatime spread today but I've given up trying.

My future plans are to fill the freezer with homemade meals, puddings and cakes. Then I'll be better prepared for times of illness. We eat very little processed food now so cooking from scratch each day.   The next few weeks will be about experimenting with what freezes well. 

As we make changes to produce less waste, we are saving money too! I hope to share some ideas with you soon. We still have a long way to go but each step is a step in the right direction.

It's such a busy time of year with the school year almost over, there's lots of end of term events going on, plus all the preparation for our summer holiday, which we are very excited about. 

Well that's it for now, but hopefully I'll be back soon!

Mandy x

Changes ahead...

Hi everyone (if anyone's still reading!)

I haven't been writing because of the photo issue. I still can't publish a post containing photos but I've decided to carry on without them.

As the title says, there's changes ahead for us. We've started a new journey, to get rid of the plastic and be less wasteful. I've been working hard on this for a while now, but there's so much more to be done. 

My way of thinking is that I need to look to the past for ideas and solutions. Back to the days before people relied so heavily on plastic. I'm pretty sure there was no wastefulness back in my grandmother's day either. 

I was born in 1971 so remember just having one dustbin with a lid. That was sufficient for a weeks rubbish back then.

Plastic is so hard to avoid in the supermarkets so my way of shopping has seen changes. I've ordered the organic veg boxes before but found these so expensive and many items substituted. Last weekend I researched local veg deliveries and found a company that uses very little plastic. I placed an order and this arrived a few days ago. I was pleasantly surprised! I bought two small sacks of potatoes to try and these are such good value. The other fruit and veg have been lovely so far, so I think I'll be ordering again. Plus delivery was free!

This is just one little change. My supermarket fruit and veg come wrapped in too much plastic so this is a welcome change. 

Over the next few weeks I'll be sharing how I'm reducing our plastic and ideas on how to be less wasteful. Feel free to join in with your ideas too. 

Back soon...

Mandy x

I'm having issues!!

I've tried to do a post again today but there's an error. Every time I try to upload photos it refuses to post. I can only post text it would seem which is a bit boring really. 

I'll try to work it out x 

Testing...

Yesterday's blog post wouldn't publish so just testing...

Baking day!

Hi everyone.

I've been a busy baker today...

My first ever proper loaf! This was after its first rise.

Ready for the oven.

Whole meal country loaf, scones and melting shortbread.

Plus some lovely moist ginger cake.

I really love baking. Have you baked anything today?

Mandy x 

Yummy use up!

Hi everyone.

Yesterday I roasted a chicken and used up some new potatoes which I bought for over Christmas time. These were the only leftovers.

I put them in an enamelware oven dish and drizzled over olive oil and sprinkled on some rosemary and paprika. Henry really loved them and he's not a huge fan of potatoes. It made a change from roasties! I also roasted carrots and onions, plus we cannot eat chicken without stuffing! 

For pudding we had ice cream (I found a block rather than the usual plastic tub) and homemade chocolate sauce.

It was a yummy treat. 

No baking today but l have plans for tomorrow.

Mandy x 

Toad in the hole.

Morning everyone,

Today is all about getting back into some sort of routine. School starts again tomorrow (although Henry doesn't go back until Monday) and hubby is back at work. It's been lovely getting up later and not being governed by time, but we are craving some normality now. 

Yesterday I made toad in the hole for lunch. I don't do potatoes with it as the Yorkshire pudding is sufficient. We had cauliflower, Savoy cabbage, carrots, peas and homemade gravy. I make my gravy with flour, reduced salt oxo cubes and the vegetable water. Daisy doesn't like sausages so she has roasted carrots in her Yorkshire pudding instead. 

It didn't look this yellow in real life! 

While the lunch was cooking I made a four egg sponge mixture. With the children helping, I filled one bun tin and the rest went on top of some golden syrup to make pudding. We ate pudding before I remembered to take a photo!  It's a pudding we have quite often so they'll be another opportunity. 

At teatime we had hot buttered crumpets with cheese and the little cakes decorated with buttercream and jelly tots.

Today I shall be in the kitchen again and will hopefully remember to take photos!  

Have a wonderful day,

Mandy x 

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all a happy New Year!

Today Christmas will be packed away, but first a few photos...

All of my tree decorations are vintage, including the tinsel and lights. The children love decorating the real tree and have a small artificial one each in their bedrooms too. 

A vegan Christmas cake for my daughter, decorated with 1970s frill and decorations. This recipe was a wartime one using tea instead of eggs.

Keeping it simple! 

The children made Christmas biscuits.

I always make a Yule log. This was enjoyed by myself and Henry. We don't like dried fruit so don't eat Christmas cake, pudding or mince pies!

With a little snow added!

Homemade mince pies. I've loved being in the kitchen baking Christmas treats.

Cheese straws. These are so easy to make and the children love them.

Many other things were made but eaten before I had chance to photograph!

Cheers! Always a snowball at Christmas in my seventies glasses. 

Looking forward into 2019...

We have lots of plans! 

Yesterday I had a huge food shop delivered. My cupboards are full now and I'm stocked up with herbs, spices and baking ingredients. The plan is to move away from plastic packaging and cook as much as possible from scratch. I'm even going to bake my own bread! Plastic is everywhere and we all need to look at ways of reducing our waste. 

The large chest freezer has been defrosted and cleaned, ready to store leftovers and homemade food and baking. I'd like a store for times when I'm really busy or illness strikes! 

Now I will be baking every day there will be new (old) recipes to try. I've got some lovely old recipe books to experiment with and I'm happy to share them on here if anyone's interested?

Anyway, a busy day ahead!

Mandy x