This one is for all the introverts out there…(actually, and the extraverts.)
Coming from an introvert, these words were wonderful to my (sensitive) ears.
The Power of Introverts
13
Plastic Free July
As many of you might be aware, we have now come to the end of Plastic Free July. While I’m not awarding myself any plastic free sainthood just yet, I have had a rejiggle over the past few weeks with our plastic use. Top 4 single use plastics? No problem. I’ve got that one in the (reusable) bag. (The Top 4 is not using plastic straws, coffee cups, shopping bags and water bottles.)
Keep Cups we’ve been using for years, we make our own yogurt which would otherwise use a substantial amount of plastic tubs, bread is made at home; stopping approximately 208 supermarket plastic bags from being used in a year. Carry our own shopping bags, use waxed wraps where ever possible, buy larger amounts of things, bamboo toothbrushes for teeth cleaning and love stainless steel containers etc. There’s nothing new there, so how could I step it up a bit for Plastic Free July?
Buying in bulk certainly knocks a lot of plastic off, but you have to have somewhere to store it, our small kitchen says err, no to that one. (You see my bags of flour lining the kitchen floor take regal precedence.)
Now, Ecolosophy did a post back in June about reducing your plastic. Not ruling it out completely, but decreasing the amount that you use, and keeping it still practical for a young family. I liked this idea but again, what could I change?
I thought I’d start with a visit to the local butcher. While I always declined the extra bag they offered for carrying their meaty treats. The hunks of chunks in question were still encased in plastic for them to weigh the meat, price it and then give it to me to take home. But what if I brought my own container, would that cut down on some plastic?
Verdict?
Well yes, yes it did. Not a piece of plastic crossed our path. The butcher didn’t even raise his eyebrows when I said… can you put the snags in here thanks mate. He plopped them in, I sealed them up, paid and back on my bike I peddled home.
A ridiculously easy plastic decrease, that really, I should have rejigged long ago.
Now, question is, what else can I change?
A few other practical plastic decreases
Buy butter in paper, rather than a plastic tub
Keep Cup for take away coffees
Bake your own bread, (have I hammered this one enough yet?)
Carry your own shopping bags
Avoid using cling wrap by using reusable bees wax wraps. Buy them or make your own
If your kids are keen on straws, use reusable stainless steel ones
Stainless steel snack containers
Bamboo toothbrushes
Glass jars for storage of kitchen goodies
Take your own containers to the butcher
*********
What are some things that you’ve changed over?
Think. Eat. Save
Food waste is currently costing Australians up to $10 billion each year, while two million people still rely on food relief. [Oz Harvest]
Standing next to the big tented kitchen and my stomach is grumbling. The smell coming out of it is incredible. Both in what it’s doing to my taste buds and also with the thought- that all those meals that are being created in there? Well, if it wasn’t for Oz Harvest, there would be no amazing tantalising lunches being handed out today and instead all that food would have gone simply into landfill. A sobering thought, that’s for sure.
“Think.Eat.Save 2015 is to bring attention to the alarming amount of food wasted in Australia and around the world, where roughly one third of food produced for human consumption (approx. 1.3 billion tonnes) is wasted or lost along the way.” [ozharvest.com]
Monday morning saw me grabbing my camera and spending a part of the day with the wonderful people connected with Oz Harvest. The national Think Eat Save campaign was launched across ten cities around Australia, in conjunction with the United Nations- (UNEP and FAO) Oz Harvest is doing an incredible job in raising awareness for global food loss and waste reduction.
Oz Harvest is a company that collects good quality perishable food (that would otherwise be discarded and end up in land fill) from a variety of different outlets. They then deliver it to a number of charities around the country. 600+ charities to be exact, that’s some amazing work right there.
But back to Monday’s Think Eat Save campaign.
“Thousands of members of the public across capital cities will be served a free hot meal including surplus soup and rescued stews made from produce that would have otherwise ended up as landfill.” [ozharvest]
Getting more people to rethink food sustainability and security on a local level is something that should be on everyone’s thoughts. Why? Because this effects everyone, on everyone level, at every generation. We should be taking ownership of the waste that we produce. And food waste? It’s a big one that really needs a big reshuffle in this country.
So what did I take away from the campaign? Well a renewed sense of, ‘we really need to do better’ that’s for sure. Rethinking what we put into our shopping trolleys, the food we create for our families dinners and what exactly we are putting into our garbages. I was also blown away by the energy of the volunteers and wonderful people wanting to do more and say more about this issue…it’s really important stuff!
I’ve certainly got more to say, but will keep it for another post. To be continued, and in the mean time? Rethink what you are putting in the bin, it could be part of that $10 billion.
*********************
Insta Lovers- Heads Up: Now if you are keen on sharing your delicious Sunday breakfast (or any other meal) with your teams of followers on Instagram, keep on reading. Oz Harvest and Virgin Mobile have teamed up for the #mealforameal hashtag. You take a pic of your meal (any meal), tag it and Virgin Mobile turns that into a real meal for someone in need. That’s a winner right there, so get snapping people.
Helpful links with more info
loving…clear thought and raw stories
Loving…. reading this book.
I regretted not buying it when I was in Hill End. I say there is no room for regrets. I bought it and it’s delicious. Every single word and picture.
Loving…. listening.
To people’s heartfelt honesty on the radio recently. The topic was how people remembered and stayed connected with loved ones after they had died. A single wooden spoon handed down through generations, wearing a mothers top on the anniversary of her death etc. Sobbing in the kitchen while cooking dinner, wasn’t quite what I expected.
Loving….Rough seas.
With sea spray on my face and hair flying wildly. It looked like a regular weekend visit to the beach. Except for the fact there was a big fat seal sun baking on the rocks.
Loving…. clear thought.
Those teeny tiny moments when your thoughts and ideas are completely clear, nothing else is being squashed in, no lists being checked off and the whole beautiful process is (momentarily) truly allowed to stretch its legs. (To some people this won’t make much sense, but to the handful it does? Yes.)
**************
The past two weeks have been a little loco, so it’s been good to sit down and do this little post. What’s happening in your world at the moment, what are you loving?
[“Often life’s pleasures pass us by simply because we don’t take a moment to focus on them… Make a point of noticing everyday something that uplifts your spirit or tickles your heart… Stop to breathe in the joy of this moment and then tell someone about it. Share your joy and revel in it. When your joy is savoured, and then shared, it is magnified…” ROBIN GRILLE]
Shinrin- yoku
Shinrin- yoku: Forest bathing. If you aren’t familiar with the term, remember it, and remember it well. Find your nearest forest and bathe deeply. Your day will be all the better for it.
Nordic Carrot Cardamom Cake (and a sunken disaster)
I had four and a half hours before I had to get the kids to school. Surely plenty of time to get a cake baked and to be sitting cooling on the bench for when I got back, right?
Er, no.
It seems by getting up at 4.30am it gives you an increased sense of time security, that clearly wasn’t there. After jamming 21 ‘to do’ things into those morning hours, I simply ran out of time.
With time tick-tocking, the school bell never late and the cake clearly still not done. I decided I would have to leave it in the oven, turned off, but hoped the stoves residual heat would cook through any last of the gooey crumb. It had been baking for an extra 5-10 minutes already*, so surely that should be enough?
I get home hours later and enthusiastically reach into my oven to retrieve the cake and start icing it.
Not quite what I expected.
Not really what I expected at all. Sunk like I hadn’t sunk a cake since 1994.** Hmmm, what to do? The cake being still far from cooked through on the bottom, I decided to bake it again and see what would happen.
It seems cake miracles do happen, and it did get a little more height (than the mess pictured.) It was still sunken in the middle though, so what to do about that?
I was going to ice that cake, like I’d never iced before, that’s what I was going to do!
Covering the cakey crater with a vanilla mascarpone mixture***, I then carefully smoothed the tiny bit left over to the edges and sprinkled walnuts on for extra hiding of any problems.
Verdict?
Best cake I’d made in ages. Seriously, I wish all mistakes tasted that good.
Carrot and Cardamom Cake recipe can be found here, (coming from the new cook book The New Nordic.) *
The photo actually made it look taller than it was, a total height of 2cms on the sunken gooey bottom. ** I found the 200C too hot for my cake, use your judgement, and remember recipes are a guide, you know your oven best.
It also needed far longer than stated, but…I shouldn’t haven’t been squishing so many things into the morning. ***
The cream cheese and butter icing as stated in the recipe was substituted for a Vanilla Mascarpone number which is more the way our family roll. 
living off grid for $80 a week
A little something to get deliciously inspired by on a Thursday.
Jill Redwood, writer for Earth Garden Magazine lives on about $80 a week, totally off grid with over 60 animals to keep her company…she also leaves my wood chopping skills to shame.
Getting the balance right… in Bellingen
Time to be creative, in making, in music, in words and in play.
Time to talk, time to think, time to just be.
Tell me, why does it seem so damn tricky to find this beautiful balance on a regular basis?
How do you balance it? The creative time, the music making, the thinking, and the play time? Is it a juggle? Does it only ever happen on holidays? Is it even a priority? I’m curious…
*****************
Some time in the last week was spent in the beautiful township and surrounding area of Bellingen. I don’t do reviews on this blog, but I do, ‘do’ experiences, and for this place? Five, crystal clear illuminating stars. A stunningly beautiful part of the world, that I’m dead keen on getting back to.
Sausage Rolls (hipster certified)
Beards, hats, cold brew coffee, braces, man buns, green smoothies and scarves. If you’ve begun to conjure up images of well-groomed hipster types with intriguing arm tatts, waxed to a curl moustaches and retro print head scarves well I’ve done my job, because I’m talking about hipsters and sausage rolls today.
So would a hipster approve of these particular sausage rolls?
Well they have a secret ingredient within them, and that secret ingredient is hipster certified….it’s kale. And as we all know hipsters eat kale for breakfast, lunch and dinner right? (As luck would have it these sausage rolls can be eaten at any meal time.)
Hipster Certified Sausage Rolls
one bunch of curly kale (stripped from the stalk and roughly chopped)
2 small eggplants, diced
500g of organic beef mince
1 cup of sourdough bread crumbs
1 free range egg
1 knob of butter
a good slurp of olive oil
1 TSP cumin
salt and pepper to taste
puff pastry
In a pot add curly kale and diced eggplant. Add a good slurp of olive oil, cumin and butter, wilting the vegetables down. Once this is done, take them off the heat and with a hand held mixer, blitz them (or blender.) In a bowl add remaining ingredients and add cooled kale and eggplant.
If you are making your own puff pastry, line that goodness down and add your mixture in rows. If you are using the frozen stuff (because life is full and doesn’t involve making puff pastry, then thaw it out and have an extra cup of coffee in the time you’ve just saved -single origin fair trade cold brew coffee of course.
Spoon the mixture on, fold ’em up, cut them and bake on a tray at 200C for approximately 25 minutes. They should look golden, and be tantalising the taste buds.
Eat with enthusiasm, and some delicious farmers market bought chutney.
the lost art of stillness
Distractions and screens,
noise on noise…on noise.
The whir,
both from myself and the world around.
The rumble of traffic,
lists within lists.
Stopping.
Stepping off.
Finding the ground again,
a grassy ground.
Remembering to breathe.
Feeling. Seeing. Quiet mind
steady thoughts
the lost art of stillness
************
Some quiet time away is planned, with attached sketchy internet, (as much as I love you internet, this may well encourage some added stillness.)
Imagination, Nature and Coffee (don’t forget coffee)
Can I let you in on a tiny secret? Lately I’ve fallen completely in love again, in love with the city in which I live. I’ve always had a soft spot for it, but lately? Lately it’s been something a little different. Utter city love.
So what do I put this down to? To be honest, I think it’s coming up for some air after years of intense little people parenting. There are countless joyous, beautiful moments that have shaped the person I am today and I’m incredibly grateful for, but there are also moments when it’s a bit of a slog.
While my kids are still pretty young and certainly still need me a lot, things have become a bit more flexible these days. With that flexibility, opens up a more doors in what I can do with my kids, (five hour car trips for weekends away are no longer the prison sentence they once were.)
So what’s this got to do with falling in love with my fair city? Well with the kids, we’ve been playing. Mostly during the weekends but occasionally we also cut loose the military precision of a week day afternoon as well. They are the perfect age for having little adventures fuelled by imagination and nature around them, and living in this stunningly beautiful city by the sea that I’m totally in love with? Well we don’t have far to go.
Here are 3 of some of the best family friendly places to visit in this fair city.
1. Centennial Park
Why you should go? Nature calls
Cost? Nothing
It’s well established by now that kids often don’t get outside enough, Nature Deficit Disorder, it’s most certainly a thing. Antidote? A really simple bike ride or scoot around Centennial Park. Climb a tree, let growing young bodies drape themselves around the top branches of a tree. Go wandering through the swamp, look for possums and marvel at the fruit bats. Run down hills, leap from rocks to rocks, play soccer, fly a kite, collect things, tip toe through the forest- if you are quiet enough you might see a tiny fairy.
Ignore the designated kids playgrounds in Centennial Park, the whole 189 hectares is one beautiful playground just waiting to explored.
2. Kitchen By Mike, Rosebery
Why you should go? Social outing
Cost? Whatever you choose to eat, or just go for a little wander around the medicinal garden that is part of the grounds.
Cafes. We live in a very cafe culture time. Whether you have kids or you don’t have kids, there’s a good chance cafes factor into your life. Coffee obsessed some might say. I’d say well yes, yes I am! Sydney is lucky in that there are countless different types of cafes to choose from. From tiny holes in walls with stools to perch on, to family friendly places with resident animals to entertain the kids. Whatever your coffee cafe wish is, Sydney is bound to grant it.
Cafes also play an important part in being an almost extension of the increasingly decreasing back yard for many families. I could go on and on about the social importance of cafes in big cities, however lets stick to the what’s what, and Kitchen by Mike it is. There’s cake, there’s coffee, and there’s lovely tables overlooking the garden, which is perfect for the kids to explore in.
3. Hornby Lighthouse, Watsons Bay
Why you should go? Imagination kick starter
Cost? nothing
Hornby Lighthouse is located in the Sydney Harbour National Park, this place doesn’t feel like you are in the city of Sydney. I’ve always had a soft spot for light houses (thank you Enid Blyton) and if this place with its old fortress, cannons, red and white light house, and rocks to leap from, doesn’t ignite a multitude of possibilities for the kids imagination, I would say go seek out some Enid Blyton books quick sticks.
Perfect place for family picnic, a swim at one of the nearby beach coves and a cracking spot to watch the sun go down.
Three very different places to hang out with your family in this beautiful city of Sydney. One for the banishing of any Nature Deficit Disorder niggles, one for a social outing (importantly added coffee for the adults) and one to kickstart little imaginations.
Now the question is…what shall we do next weekend?
**********
This post is part of Voices 2015 and #shareaustralia
taking stock
Sometimes you just need to pause a little moment, see what’s what and take stock, (thanks Pip.)
Making…. A crocheted black scarf/shawl thing that is possibly the slowest project I’ve done. Just finish it!!
Cooking…. Always.
Drinking…. Herbal teas, chai, kombucha, and spiced coffee
Reading…. The Residue Years… have you read it? Incredible writing.
Wanting…. more time to read
Looking…. at dogs…I want a dog…or a cat…or maybe, both?
Playing…. music, loud
Deciding…. on what to cook for dinner, really does that ever stop?
Wishing…. on stars when they first come out. Hopefully I’ll get to 80 years old and still do this.
Enjoying…. road side bought quince jelly.
Waiting…. for my tiny potted garden to dry out a little before I plant anything again.
Liking…. the fact that it’s now school holidays
Wondering…. Cat or dog, no really? (Trying to ignore all the small people guinea pig pleas)
Loving…. lots of tiny moments
Pondering…. life
Considering…. making lemon curd, (I generally suck at it for some reason- got a favourite recipe for me?)
Buying…. Who Gives A Crap
Watching…. The light bounce around the sky at sunrise and sunset
Hoping…. something will happen and wondering what will instead if it doesn’t
Marvelling…. at strong intelligent women who aren’t afraid to do….just do.
Cringing…. At our Prime Minister. Every bloody word he utters.
Needing…. some think time
Questioning…. myself
Smelling… the inside of a cut into, cooled loaf of sourdough. That’ll never get old.
Wearing…. looped scarves
Following…. nearly 700 people on instagram, love it.
Noticing…. a single nasturtium
Knowing…. never enough, and hungry for more
Thinking…. about far flung places
Admiring…. soft wintry sunsets
Sorting…. clothing, (they grow like weeds they do)
Getting…. a second coffee, hey it’s Sunday why not
Bookmarking…. inspiring permaculture gardens
Coveting: raised vegetable gardens
Disliking…. cold coffee, (was the second cup ambitious?)
Opening…. and closing my book, with not enough reading in between
Giggling…. at the lines a 3 year old can come up with. Hilarious.
Feeling…. lucky
Snacking…. on raw almonds and dates
Helping…. when I think I can
Hearing: black cockatoos flying overhead in the early mornings and evenings. Such a beautiful sound. (Click here to hear it.)
cityhippyfarmgirl 