Category Archives: Green food

Green food, Green Home, Green Living, Interviews, War on waste

Your Green Life: Zero Waste Chef

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Ok, so first things first: a massive apology for how embarrassingly late this interview has come to you lovely people. About 3 months to be exact! But they say you leave the best to last, and I have to say this is a gem of a green life right here! 

Fellow blogger and my ultimate cooking inspiration, Zero Waste Chef, makes living waste free and cooking from scratch seem easier than finishing off a cool glass of white wine on a hot summers day! From buying fresh, local and seasonal; to using up every last morsel of food. Being the lazy old fool I am, I tend to watch with amazement but rarely give her recipes a go; though her ideas and food knowledge never cease to amaze me. 

Alongside her blog, Anne-Marie also hosts regular webinars and workshops to help others learn the skills of waste free cooking where she lives in California (dream home BTW!). In fact, as I will be finishing off my backpacking travels in San Francisco next year; I’m very much hoping I can catch one of these and learn a thing or two myself! 

Continue reading Your Green Life: Zero Waste Chef →

Green food, Sustainability, War on waste

Waste Free Dining With Doggy Bags!

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Doggy bags are the best. That is, if you’re brave enough to ask for them! We are all guilty of having eyes bigger than our bellies from time to time, and ordering way more than we can possibly consume when eating out. But when it comes to sending plates of food back to the kitchen, the dreadful waste can be a little too much to stomach. But I for one am always a little shy just to ask for a doggy bag. If eating at a restaurant that also offers a takeaway service it can feel a little less cheeky asking for a tub to take any leftovers home. But even then the food often sits in our fridge for a few days before being thrown into our bins at home!

This weekend we were faced with this dilemma when we went out for Sunday Lunch at the Offshore Bar and Bisto in Cubert. A couple of sides of steamed seasonal veg were ordered, but with such generous main portions, they were barely touched. After forcing a carrot or a sprout into our mouths, we all admitted defeat. It felt like a complete waste to send it back to the kitchen, but we all seemed unsure if it was good etiquette to ask for a doggy bag. Luckily, one of the most braver, resourceful member of the group just asked and the staff were happy to oblige. Easy! Continue reading Waste Free Dining With Doggy Bags! →

Green food, Green Living, War on waste, What to buy, Where to shop

Day 5 of Local for Lent: The Natural Store

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I’m now five days into my attempt to avoid supermarkets for lent, and so far so (almost) good. I had a little hick up late on Friday night when I needed to get a few bits and all the shops in my village were shut apart from a large supermarket chain. So I must admit I did cheat a little, but compromised and bought two things that couldn’t wait till the morning when the local shops opened again. Note to self: be better prepared next time!!

So yesterday, whilst enjoying a day out in Falmouth, I popped into my favorite Cornish chain, The Natural Store, to stock up on some bits and bobs (and indulge in a few non essential treats!) Alongside the Falmouth branch there is one in Helston and nearer to me in St Austell, but Falmouth is much bigger and is in fact slit into two stores; one for food stuff and one for home and body.

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Continue reading Day 5 of Local for Lent: The Natural Store →

Green food, Green Living, What to buy, Where to shop, Zero Waste Week

Giving up supermarkets for Lent

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Coffee, chocolate and wine…the many pleasures I have tried to give up for lent. Unsuccessfully of course. But why is it that giving something up always sounds like a depressing way to deprive yourself of something you like? What if we switched it, and gave up things we couldn’t give two hoots about?

Well, that’s exactly what I’m planning to do this time around. Instead of giving up something for lent that becomes a countdown to the moment it meets my lips again, I’m giving up something I have been trying to do for a while: Supermarkets. Not like I have anything against the big boys, they offer incredible vale on tinned tomatoes and sacks of rice; but when you live somewhere with such a thriving local foody culture, it seems mad not to tap in to some good old Cornish produce. There are markets and farm shops galore around here, and we happen to have one of the most delicious bakeries where I work at the Eden Project.

In fact, even our local independent healthfood shop sells everything I need for my vegan diet; from nuts, seeds and flour, to soy milk, tempeh and (most importantly) dairy-free ice cream!

My biggest worry though, will be reigning in my budget so I can keep on track with my recent realisation that my travelling savings has gone a little bottoms up. But buying in bulk, cooking smart and eating for my height (instead of my greed) will certainly help.

So what do you think? Fancy challenging yourself to live supermarket free for lent? I can guarantee it will be rewarding to switch those pesky trolleys and grumpy checkout ladies, for local producers doing their thing in your community. Plus, it’s much nicer proposition that giving up something you actually like, surely?!

Keep up with me, and some of my wonderful green blogging freinds, on Twitter to see how we get on:   

Green food, Recipes, Vegan

10 Deliciously Vegan Desserts That Everyone Will Want a Bite Of

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A chef, I am not. But I really do love my desserts! And though I’ve been sharing some of my lazy vegan recipes over throughout the year, it’s more to share what I’ve been stuffing my face with, than any motivation to start my own bestselling cook book. And to be honest, when there are so many stunning vegan bloggers out there, why should I even need to bother?!! 

I’m big on bookmarking food blogs, websites and recipes whenever something catches my eye; so I thought I’d share a selection of vegan dessert recipes from some of my favorite food bloggers at the moment.

And don’t forget, just because they’re free from animal products doesn’t mean they’re not just as yummy for any non-vegans out there!  Continue reading 10 Deliciously Vegan Desserts That Everyone Will Want a Bite Of →

Green food, Green health, Sustainability, Vegan, What to buy, Where to shop

Dairy & Egg Alternatives for Easy Vegan Living

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Today is world vegan day – a day celebrating (and raising awareness about) a lifestyle that’s promotes looking after our bodies, animals and planet. Cutting out – or limiting – animal products is an easy way to eat healthily, reduce carbon footprint and help to end the suffering of millions of farmed animals. Win win!

But taking those first steps and switching to a new diet can seem daunting to begin with, especially when animal products appear to be in everything! But I’m sure people once thought going vegetarian was near impossible in a meat dominated world, and now vegetarian options are absolutely everywhere.

Whether you’re thinking about going completely vegan, or simply want to reduce your impact by cutting down on animal products, these great substitutes will help make it even easier: Continue reading Dairy & Egg Alternatives for Easy Vegan Living →

Facts and Stats, Green food, Green health, Green news, Nature, Sustainability, Vegan

A Question of Ethics: Dairy Farming

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Milk: the “nutritious” white stuff that played a huge part of my childhood memories; from drinking vats of banana Nesquik, to turning it multi-coloured in my Lucky Charms cereal. We were advised to drink it daily, and were outraged when Margaret Thatcher “took it away from us” in the 80s.

According to This is Dairy Farming, British dairy farmers produce around 11 billion litres of milk annually; of which 5 billion litres is sold for drinking, and 6 billion litres is used for dairy products such as cheese and butter. We really do love the stuff!

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It’s been in my life for nearly 30 years and a key part of our nation’s diet; so – as a vegan – what’s my beef (pardon the pun) with milk now? Well, it wasn’t until I actually knew where milk came from, and how it’s made, that my taste for dairy soured altogether. I used to love creamy yogurts, and sprinkled cheese on almost everything. Now, not only do I avoid the stuff, I disagree with the ethics of the whole industry entirely.

I personally found my discoveries of the dairy industry rather emotional – so much so that I became vegan as soon as I found out. But in order to really explore the ethics, I want to let the facts speak for themselves; and allow others to share their thoughts and experiences of dairy farming. So here goes… Continue reading A Question of Ethics: Dairy Farming →

Green food, Green news, Nature, Sustainability, Vegan

Fast for Compassion

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Today I am taking part in a fast for World Day for Farmed Animals (WDFA), a day dedicated to exposing the needless suffering and death of animals, raised and slaughtered for food. Every day, as millions of animals are transported to slaughterhouses across the world, they are denied food and water for several hours, up to days. So in protest of this, I am going just one day without food. Continue reading Fast for Compassion →