Small efforts.


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Thanks for reading, friends 🙂


5 things this Monday…

Happy Monday friends! I’m feeling determined and am lining up several posts for this week, so stay tuned! In the meantime, here are 5 things that have caught my eye…


  1. Sainsbury’s is leading a really exciting initiative to encourage shoppers to eat less meat! This involves improved visibility for vegetarian and vegan products alongside meat options and other plans. Companies are cottoning on to the environmental importance of eating less meat! If you are ever in doubt as to whether veganism makes a difference, consider this one of the many reasons why it does!
  2. We’re all familiar with 5-a-day, but scientists have found that eating 10 portions of fruit and vegetables a day is even more beneficial to your health (I know, it kinda stands to reason). On a vegan diet, I have to say this is a lot easier to manage- sometimes I get 5 in my dinner alone! Seeing how many veggies you can shoe-horn in is a good challenge.
  3. Schools in California, United States are cutting cheese and meat from the lunch menu to help the environment. I’m so excited that institutions are really starting to take this seriously and take charge of climate change. More please!
  4. More you say? Well the German government has banned meat at official functions! YES! What a great example to set, by taking a practical step that people can follow 🙂
  5. M&S released this recipe for savoury rosti pancakes ahead of pancake day tomorrow and they look SO GOOD! I bought all the ingredients today and I’m going to give it a go..

5 things this Monday…

I saw this and it spoke to me (Source)

Hi friends! It’s time for another round up!

  1. Jamie Oliver has some great video tutorials for vegan meals! This one for sweet potato + white bean chilli looks simple enough but also ridiculously yummy. I’m in.
  2. Zero Waste Memoirs shares some tips on eating down the pantry and starting fresh. When you keep duplicates of tins and packets, it normally ends up being a waste of money and/or food because you can lose track. Keeping less + being creative with your food stock is the key. I found this a great read!
  3. Some news- Swedish supermarkets have started using laser marking to replace stickers on produce. I love hearing about creative ways that technology is making solutions to the problem of waste. In the words of Peter Hagg, one of the pioneers, ‘It’s small but I think it adds up’. Especially for people who have dramatically reduced their trash, these little produce stickers are annoying and unnecessary and everywhere!
  4. This super short, beautifully filmed video shows Jamie Kate Adoc’s zero waste travel kit. It’s just a collection of basic items to bring on a trip and avoid picking up disposable waste. I normally carry a canvas bag on my travels, but now I’m super inspired to put together my very own kit!
  5. LEGO have recently announced that they are investing 1 billion DKK into the ‘research, development and implementation of new, sustainable, raw materials to manufacture LEGO® elements as well as packaging materials’. YOU HEARD RIGHT! Possibly the greatest toy manufacturers ever are jumping on the eco bandwagon- there is hope for everything else too 🙂

Have a great week!

Packed lunch.










5 things this Monday…


I fell out of sync a little with posting these last few weeks, but I am back on the wagon as of now, I promise! Here are 5 things I read this week:

  1. 5 myths about sustainable fashion debunked. It’s really hard not to get the impression shopping sustainably means compromising on style or shelling out more than you usually would when the high street is presented as our only option.
  2. Laura Miller of Raw. Vegan. Not Gross’s video on healthy vegan-friendly camping recipes has got the inspiration going! This is often a scenario where the meat/animal products are everywhere you turn, but I’m now pretty excited to invent some alternatives (and steal hers, obviously).
  3. A nice introduction to the concept of eating seasonally. It’s pretty self-explanatory, but if you’re in any doubt as to what it entails, or are in need of a few pointers this is a good read. I definitely need to work on this some more..
  4. I’ve never been a massive gravy person (apart from that awesome Swedish one they serve in IKEA haha) but some of these vegetarian (and some vegan) recipes are making me salivate.
  5. This article from the Huffington Post explains that child Syrian refugees have been found to be working in textile factories that supply H&M and Next among other UK clothing stores. These are the only two that owned up according to their official inspections, however a number of stores refused to comment which says a lot about what they’re hiding.

5 things this Monday…


EXCITING NEWS! UK restaurant Zizzi has released a new spring menu which includes  gluten-free and vegan options for lots of meals, including PIZZAAAAA! Now to (not so) subtly redirect all friend and family gatherings there…

More random vegan news, particularly of interest to those feeling the loss of bacon from their lives- it’s early days, and it might be hard to source, but there’s a seaweed 2x healthier than kale (my one true love) that apparently tastes like bacon when cooked. You’re welcome.

A day late for actual Easter Sunday, but everyone knows chocolate eating is still socially acceptable for many weeks to come, right? I was super excited to find this vegan, palm-oil free recipe for creme eggs!

With a lot of fruits I have to be honest, I pick them up and hope for the best. This article about how  to tell when 8 fruits are at their tastiest was massively helpful. Yay to not floundering in complete darkness anymore!

The image at the top of this post is 1 of 3 depicting the devastating effects of deforestation, forest fires and melting ice caps. Beautiful and sad, but great to see artists raising awareness.

Food shopping part 1.







my rather adorable bounty


Overnight oats.

There was a time not too long ago when I could forgo breakfast (and sometimes even lunch as well) and get through the day, but everything does catch up with you at some point- less food in the morning would mean a humongous dinner and ravenous evening snacking. That almost feels a world away now, as I can’t really leave the house until I’ve well and truly fuelled up.

My fuel of choice is overnight oats. As the name suggests, it involves pouring your oats into a bowl making sure to cover them with your choice of milk or water, (I tend to opt for almond or hazelnut milk) and leaving the bowl in the fridge overnight until breakfast time. By the morning the oats are lovely and soft, and the cold nut milk makes it so refreshing! I like to add a banana and one other fruit just to give it a bit more flavour and pack in the energy. Here are the most common combinations I go for (pictured above)…

  • 1 banana + 1 clementine (+ dark chocolate chips)
  • 1 banana + 1 kiwi
  • 1 banana + 1 date (+ vanilla)
  • 1 banana + 1 handful of raisins

Note: if you forget to prep your breakfast overnight, try and leave the oats to soak for as long as you can, as they taste better and are absorbed into the body easier the longer you leave them (ideally at least half an hour, but even 5 minutes is better than nothing!)

I find overnight oats to be both light enough to eat first thing in the morning, and filling enough to energise me for HOURS! Seriously, it’s crazy.

Is it more expensive to be a vegan?

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A recent market haul

I am often told as I whip some nuts/dried fruit/a smoothie out of my bag to eat, “wow! How do you afford to eat like that all the time?” At first I thought wait a minute, how AM I doing this? Before becoming vegan or trying to buy food package free, I didn’t buy a fraction of the whole foods I now consume. I too would have looked at someone eating certain things and assumed they were rich (ha)! Here are a few observations on how I eat like I do on a student budget.

Freeing up money

Being vegan and buying food loose means that, although I don’t consider myself to be missing out (on the contrary!), there are a lot of things I used to eat that I no longer do. Meat used to be the hardest thing for me to buy- it took up so much of my weekly budget, but I would only go about 2 days a week without having it for dinner. It was a must. Now that I don’t eat it, I can use all that money to buy other things. The same goes for sweets and takeaways. I kind of had a health revelation at the same time as going vegan and realised that little by little, the packet of Haribo here and the burger there were actually making a dent in my wallet (as well as obviously making me unhealthy). Every time I crave some sweets or chocolate now, I try and get my hands on some fruit. You can get so much more for your money!

One in one out

It is completely possible to spend the same amount of money or even less than before by trading in the things you’re indifferent to/don’t like/are unhealthy. It’s a question of deciding that you are going to make it work. I was a crisp-fiend before I discovered Zero Waste, but since I found bulk dried mango, raisins and nuts in my local shop, I haven’t looked back (much)! I swapped crisps and cheese at lunch for a smoothie and some dried fruit and nuts, I swapped chocolate cereal at breakfast for oats and fruit with nut milk. It all works out about the same because for every item I’ve introduced to my diet, something else has gone.


People seem to think being healthy is much more expensive than not. Whilst in certain ways I can understand their view-point, for me it was more that I didn’t know where to look. Fruit and vegetables can be very cheap; some of my favourite go-to meals include spiralized courgettes in place of pasta, and red pepper (one pepper per person). That rivals a £5 McDonald’s meal any day! Also, natural whole grain food registers in the body to let the brain know that the stomach is full. The more processed a food is, the less the body will be able to detect whether you have eaten enough and the less you will absorb any nutrients. A burger may well be cheaper than a vegetable stew, but when you consider that the former option will be followed up with more cravings for snacks (hence more money spent), it is overall cheaper to just fill yourself up properly in the first place.


I have been having so much fun experimenting with vegan meals over the last few months that I have noticed my spending increase. But I’ve also come to a new decision: not to police myself on the money I spend on good food. When I go shopping, I buy what I need for the week, but I don’t allocate a budget. It works out the same-ish usually anyway. I don’t want to deny myself the opportunity to go out later in the week for a few extras for a smoothie or some snacks. Now that I am reaping the benefits of being healthy, and having struggled with eating problems in the past, I am finally ready to give food the positive place it deserves in my mind and my wallet. Before food was just another thing I had to budget for, whereas now it comes before clothes and items. It’s what keeps me alive- I need to make sure it’s good and that I can have as much as I want!

Getting creative and changing my perspective have been key to making a success of this new way of eating, and have brought excitement and positivity back to food for me.