Zero waste-y kitchen activities

Time for an update on what I did to save some food from being wasted. I know i could always do better, but I'm still pleased with these accomplishments. With photos this time- I decided to get out of my comfort zone a bit 😂 

Fermenting watermelon rinds: this is what I do each summer. It works best with watermelons that have a thicker skin, thinner ones work too, but it's just a bit annoying to peel. This year I'd like to try to pickle some too. 

Two jars, one large and one small, of fermented watermelon rinds 

Melon ice cream: we bought a few very bland tasting melons, and upon some googling I found recipes to make melon ice, without an ice cream maker. Since I don't have an ice cream maker, nor am I planning on buying one, I decided to give it a try. It was so worth it, the ice cream was delicious and I didn't have to waste a melon. I think i should add that i'm not the biggest fan of ice cream so that must have been really good. 

Doesn't really look like it contains melon though, nor does it taste very melon-y, but it's still good!

Onion powder: as I was decluttering my kitchen cupboards I found a big bag of dehydrated onion peels. Probably a project I once started but then forgot about it, lol. So I figured it was best to finish it or it would never happen. So I ground the onion peels in my coffee grinder. That's all you have to do for homemade onion powder! It adds a nice, somewhat sweet onion-y flavour to many dishes. 

My homemade onion peels. It has quite a dark colour as the majority of the onions I use are red onions. 

Rendered chicken fat: 

I usually collect chicken fat/skins in the freezer until there's enough for a nice batch. So a few weeks ago it was finally time to render some skins.

I don't have a picture of the final result - it's still liquid here. But once it solidifies, it becomes a bit more light yellow. I love using rendered chicken fat for frying eggs, potatoes etc. Gives the food a nice almost buttery flavour. Or sometimes I just add it to random foods as a flavour enhancer. 

Banana peels mock pulled chicken: 

Isn't it nice to see all this food that would otherwise have gone to waste? Most of these are made with by-products such as peels, skins etc. I think it's good to realize that in most cases, everything of that particular food can be used- not just what's commonly known. Just think a bit outside the box and of course, internet helps a lot too. I really don't think I would have learned all these things without the internet, I'm definitely grateful for this modern convenience. 

That's it for now. I hope I can give an update soon with other nearly-wasted food tips. 

Very easy pancakes recipe

I like pancakes for breakfast, all kinds. American style pancakes, poffertjes (tiny Dutch style pancakes), baghrir (north African style pancakes also known as a thousand hole pancakes), crêpes, etc. It's just that some are so nice, I tend to overeat them. I want to be able to portion and freeze pancakes to avoid over indulgence. Unfortunately, not all pancakes are freezable, especially crêpes. It's also nice to have a go to breakfast waiting to be thawed in case there isn't anything else to eat. So I prefer freezable pancakes. 

Also, since I'm trying to lose weight, I'm always looking to decrease my calories without making too much sacrifices (if that makes sense, lol). Typically pancakes contain milk, eggs and fat - in addition to be cooked in yet more fat. Substituting white flour for whole wheat (and/or oat flour) is something I've been doing for a long time already, but I was looking for a solution for the eggs and milk. Don't get me wrong, I'll still consume eggs and milk, but I just prefer them as is, not as an ingredient just adding more calories. So after some googling and trial and error myself, I came up with partially whole wheat pancakes that don't contain any milk or eggs- and STILL taste amazing. 

For a large batch (around 16-19 pancakes), you'll need: 

2 cups of whole wheat flour 

2 cups of fine semolina (can be substituted for white or whole wheat flour)

1.5 tablespoons of instant yeast 

Half a teaspoons of salt, or a bit less or more to taste 

A tablespoon of vanilla sugar/vanilla flavour/extract (I don't use extract because of the alcohol it contains, but apparently alcohol free extract does exist) 

As much warm water as needed to create a pancake batter- I used around 5 cups 

Oil or butter to cook your pancakes in 

Combine all the dry ingredients and mix well using a whisk. Then add the water, not adding all the water at once to avoid a batter that's on the runny side. If you find it too thick just add a bit more gradually and mix well using the whisk. Mix until there are no more lumps visible and it's a smooth batter. Then cover your bowl, I use a bowl with a lid to avoid using unnecessary disposable plastic. 

Let it sit for around 45 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on your room temperature. If you've got enough time it should even be possible to let it rise in the fridge. 

If the batter has doubled in volume and is bubbly it's done and ready to bake. Heat up your skillet, and use about one ladle or a bit less (depending on your preferred size of pancakes) of batter per pancake. Cook them as you would regular pancakes and let them cool. 

These pancakes might seem a bit flavourless, but trust me, they're so yummy! The semolina gives them that rich flavour and so does the yeast. There's absolutely no need for eggs or another ingredient for binding, which makes these pancakes not only easy, eggs allergy-friendly, vegan and lower in calories, but also WAY more affordable in this economy 😉 

Some notes: 

I made this the night before breakfast and kept the ones I was planning to eat in a container, the others went into the freezer right after cooling down.  

Keep in mind- both semolina and whole wheat flour absorb more water than white flour does, so keep in mind you'll need more liquid than when making regular pancakes. You can make this batter with whichever flour you like, making it 100% whole wheat or 100% white. 

Tightwad tip: ditch the teabag

I'm a tea drinker. I absolutely hate coffee, no matter how it's made (trust me, I've tried so many forms of coffee over the years), but tea it is for me. Like most people, especially in Europe, using tea bags was just a given. Tea comes from a bag, it's that simple. Or is it? 

It might be the usual way for tea to be sold in Europe, but that's not to say it's like that everywhere in the world. Here in Tunisia, they do sell tea bags, but they're 1) outrageously priced, and 2) less tasty. One box of tea bags costs the same as 3 bags of loose leaf tea. Only that loose leaf tea contains much more - making it nearly 6 times as expensive! The other day I read an article on Sri Lankan and Indian tea, and how they usually use "rejected" tea (which isn't suitable for exporting to countries where they generally drink loose leaf tea) for tea bags. That does explain why the tea from tea bags here don't taste nearly as good as the bags of loose leaf tea. 

And then there's the issue of environmental impact. I really don't like unnecessary packaging. Each tea bags box has a plastic wrap covering the box, then each tea bag is in a small paper wrapper, and to top it off, there's the tea bag itself. That's a whole lot of packaging! Compared to just one bag of 200 grams of loose leaf tea- I don't need scientific studies on which one is worse for the environment. But packaging isn't the only reason. Apparently, even though tea bags are meant to be paper bags, they still contain microplastics. Do I really want microplastics in my cup of tea? Yikes! 

Yes, I know a tea bag is apparently more convenient, but it's really a matter of adjustment. For me, using a small tea sieve is just as convenient as putting that bag in a mug. It may be a few extra seconds of work, but that's fine - I'm a slow living advocate anyway. I've probably saved hundreds of €€ already by just switching to loose leaf tea, and I'm protecting myself from getting even more unnecessary microplastics. 

Egg replacements

We've probably read or heard all about the egg shortages in the US lately- that is, if some of us aren't affected directly by the shortages. While we don't live in the US, nor do we eat US imported eggs (as far as I know anyhow), eggs still aren't quite as cheap as they once were, so it definitely won't hurt to reconsider the amount of eggs we consume. 

Since we don't have egg shortages (unlike the other products that we have shortages of, which I blogged about a while ago), we don't strictly have to ration them. But I still like to save money whenever we can, and if that's by replacing one more expensive ingredient by a cheaper ingredient, that's good! And frugality aside, there are other circumstances in which eggless options become an necessity. Think of allergies and ethical/religious dietary requirements. If you're not allergic or being religious forbidden from eating eggs but you're in company of people that are, it's still nice if you can all enjoy the same meal. That's what I would feel like anyhow- being the one with a "special" meal will make me feel left out,  but perhaps that's just a remnant of my childhood trauma when I was always the only vegetarian among the meat eaters 🙂

Enough said... let's talk egg replacements. Since there are quite a lot, I'll just go through my list! 

Banana (mashed)/applesauce: this is great for baked goods such as (pan)cakes, muffins etc. 

Sweetened condensed milk: also used for making baked goods. I remember using them to make brownies and wasn't disappointed at all! 

Corn starch: haven't used it enough honestly, but I do know that they make great French toast. In fact, I actually prefer French toast made with cornstarch now over the variety that includes eggs - even if eggs were free, I'd probably still be using corn starch! I have read (but not tried out myself) that cornstarch is also very suitable to make pancakes, muffins etc. 

Gram flour/chickpea flour: this is whet it gets a bit different. While chickpea flour is a great egg replacement, it certainly has to be used with caution as it does, obviously, have a strong chickpea flavour, which won't always taste great in sweet baked goods (unless you bake Tunisian ghorayba 7oms, or chickpea flour cookies 😉 but that's for another post!). Still, in a lot of savoury dishes, chickpea flour is a very good option. Or when you want scrambled eggs minus the eggs! If you do like the texture of chickpea flour but you're not a huge fan of the taste, you can always opt for other legume based flours, such as soy or lentil flour. I once got a bag of soy flour from a friend that she wasn't using (yes, my friends know I waste nothing, lol) and it tasted quite neutral. 

Speaking of chickpeas- chickpea aquafaba is also a terrific egg replacement that can be used in many ways, I once posted a mayonnaise recipe that uses aquafaba instead of egg. Other people even make meringue with aquafaba instead of eggs, but I'm yet to try that out. Btw, make sure it's chickpea aquafaba and not another kind of bean/pulse water. Chickpea water is really the best to use. 

Flax seeds: flax seeds are very versatile. I mostly use them in my yogurt for breakfast, but I've also used them as an egg replacement. It's usually 1 teaspoon + some water to replace one egg. To get the best result, it's best to use broken seeds, but I just grind up whole seeds in my small coffee grinder, which works perfectly. Apparently, chia seeds function the same as flax seeds, but I'm not a chia seed fan so haven't tried that myself. 

Tofu: if you don't really like the chickpea-y flavour, you still can make scrambled "egg" by using tofu. 

Cream/milk: when you neef an egg specifically for an egg wash for your bread, cream or even milk seem to work as a decent replacement. I've heard that some people have even used pasta water... Not sure how great it would work, so iv you're trying it, do so at your own risk. 

Mayonnaise: apparently this works in savoury dishes such as casseroles as well as certain baked goods as cake, but don't hold me accountable as I've only vaguely remember once using mayonnaise for these purposes 

No eggs at all: you may find yourself in the situation with no eggs and no egg replacements, or just can't be bothered to use any substitutes. The good news is that in many cases you can just leave out the eggs altogether. I've made eggless cakes, pancakes, muffins, and cookies... sometimes you need to alter the recipe a bit, or switch to another recipe but it can be possible. 

Tightwad tip: making your own laundry detergent

For as long as I can remember, the recipe of homemade laundry detergent is circulating around the blogosphere - the frugal blogospgere that is. Some people add a bit more ingredients, such as washing soda or borax, or both, while others prefer to keep it as plain as possible. No matter how you make it, it's going to save you LOTS of money. I did some math, and compared to the cheapest powdered detergent I can find here (bought in bulk which is cheaper than the smaller packages), using a frugal dose, my homemade detergent is still five times (!) as cheap, per load, compared to the cheapest powdered store bought detergent. That doesn't seem to be a lot, but small things add up - especially when you do several loads a week. If I'd compare it to the more expensive name brand detergents such as Ariel or Tide, it's an even bigger saving. 

I've been making this on and off for years - at times I switched back to store bought detergent, only to realise that those store bought detergents don't really work better than the homemade ones. The big companies have done their utmost best to make us customers believe that store bought detergent cleans much better. And not only that - they also make us believe that you really need to have something scented, otherwise it's "not clean". I've been making this detergent again for a while, and now that I'm back to making it, I don't get why I sometimes did switch to the store bought stuff. Probably because of the scent, despite the scent usually being gone when completely dried. Apparently the pro-scent marketing worked for me too, despite me being sensitive to most scents! But not anymore. Clean is clean, even if it's smells of "nothing" (and line dried laundry always smells fresh already!). I read that weaning yourself off of scented detergents to gradually make the shift to scentless ones, is like weaning yourself off of food with artificial flavours. It sometimes just takes some time. And I think that's a rather good comparison. In a few weeks, you're so used to it that the smell of store bought detergent is just overwhelming. If our grandmothers could just use soap for cleaning clothes, and didn't miss a scent, so can we. It takes some adjustment because we're so used to all the chemicals and scents- something our ancestors didn't have to worry about. 

I remember the hard financial times we went through, and making my own detergent was just a life saver, as we were already very penny pinching but still couldn't get by. At least our clothes could be washed for almost nothing! We had the assurance to have clean clothes and that we still could afford simple foods instead of having to borrow money for food because there wasn't any money left after having to buy detergent (I've heard that way too often!). Last year, I bought a 10 KG bulk sack of powdered detergent and was shocked that the price had more than doubled in a year. We don't go through an insane amount of detergent, but why paying a high price for something that isn't even food? Heck, it's even bad for our health - despite it not being that heavily scented, I still get respiratory issues of it, not to mention that most detergents (except the very expensive green ones) itch on our skins. The environmental impact of homemade detergent is obviously not as much compared to store bought, as it contains less harsh chemicals, doesn't come in much packaging and doesn't need a car to for transportation- as detergents usually come in heavy packages. So a in all these are all good reasons, in my opinion, for making detergent. 

No more talking, here's how I make it. You'll need: 

A bar of soap of approximately 80 gram (I've never really measured it, one gram more or less doesn't really matter), whatever brand or kind you prefer

5 liters of water 

Grate the bar of soap and dissolve in a litre of hot water- just stirr it until it's all melted, usually it reaches a boiling point by then. While I'm stirring I have another pot on the hob with 1.5 litre water that I want to reach a boiling point. If it boils, just combine the hot soapy water with the hot plain water in a bucket that's big enough and add another 2.5 litre water, just cold tap water. Make sure to rinse the pot in which you were stirring the soap with hot water as there are usually remnants there. Cover it with a lid and let it sit for a day - I usually make it in the morning and won't come back to it the next day's morning, which means I let it sit for around 24 hours. You could probably also wait a little bit less. If using soap that is palm oil or tallow based, the soap will likely thicken. It's a bit difficult to handle as it's quite lobed, so you need to stirr it with a whisk (or use an immersion blender). I usually kind of knead it with my hands. And then I transfer it to an old 5 L jug (a one that had washing up liquid in it). If using olive oil based soap your detergent probably won't thicken and stay liquid, but that won't make any difference in terms of cleaning. 

Just a few notes: some people add more ingredients such as washing soda of borax. I can't find either of them here, so I just only use soap, and although I did add washing soda when I made this when living in the Netherlands, I haven't noticed a difference with or without it anyway. But if you prefer using washing soda, you can totally use it. Just make sure to add the exact same weight of that. So when using 80 grams of soap for instance, you'll need 80 grams of washing soda as well, which you'll add after the grated soap has melted. With borax I don't have any experience. There's also powdered detergent recipes out there, which I'm yet to try, and they all use a bit of different ingredients (some use washing soda, some both washing soda and bicarbonate of soda, some even use plain salt, etc). My mother in law is an old fashioned woman who always used soap instead of harsh chemicals, and didn't even bother to make a "detergent" out of it. She always rubbed some fabric with soap, an old sock for example, and then put that in her semi automatic washing machine.  So if you're too lazy to grate, that is even an option too 😉

Tightwad tip: upcycling socks

As the weather is changing from unbearable hot summer weather to slightly autumn-ish (yes, it's a bit early this year), I've begun to wear socks again. It's not that cold yet but I just get cold feet very quickly. And I just really like wearing socks. Kind of silly maybe, but I don't really like the feeling of bare feet. It's probably a sensory thing. When I was younger, no matter how warm it was, I couldn't even sleep without socks on! While that has improved a bit and I do sleep without socks during the summer, I still wear socks a lot and start wearing them quite early on every year. The thing is, the socks that are being sold here aren't of that great quality. And even if they were - my opinion with good quality socks, too, is that they get worn out quickly and holes appear so fast. At least I'm glad that our socks don't get lost in the washing machine. 

We're a family of four and I have developed kind of a colour coordinated system, so each one of us has his/her own colour. Having socks from just one colour is a really good hack, in my opinion. If just one sock gets a hole beyond repair, I can still wear it - just combine it with another pair (preferably from another pair with of which one single sock that has a hole). There you have a "new" pair of socks, and with the other pair, there's still some options. 

Here's some things I do with old socks. 

First of all, try to repair. Small holes are usually repairable. 

I keep some pairs of socks in my bed side table to use as "gloves" at night when I rub my hands with cream/Vaseline (I get really dry hands during the winter usually). The socks are tight enough not to slide off my hands during sleep. My children need this every so often as well, so I need at least a few pairs of old socks. 

Cleaning: way back when we had blinds, I dusted/cleaned them with a sock on my hand. That was the easiest way to do it (although cleaning blinds can never be considered easy in my opinion...). Cleaning with a sock on your hand works the same for other areas with tiny openings. 

Crafting: if you like crafting, old socks are an inexpensive, environmentally friendly way to use materials you otherwise would buy. My children liked to make sock dolls and they were so cute!

Vacuuming: when looking for tiny lost items, or in case you're afraid those will be laying around somewhere, take off the floor brush and put a sock on the extention tube. Whatever will be vacuumed, won't be suck inside. Pretty clever, isn't it? 😃

Shoe protectors: put your shoes inside a sock while traveling. 

Hot water bottles: I like to wrap a sock over a cold water bottle for protection against the heat.

Or just use socks instead of rags as unpaper towels. 

So that was today's tightwad tip! It won't make you a millionaire, but little things definitely add up. I'm sure there are many many more uses... But these are the ones I can think of now, and that we implement ourselves. I'd love to read more ideas in the comments 🥰

Thrifting is fun!

As mentioned, I recently thrifted some clothes. Thrifting clothes is something we're big on. We try to only buy clothes when needed but if we do need them, we nearly always thrift. Most people here buy their clothes at the 2nd hand store or at the market where there are 2nd hand selling vendors. So it's quite the norm to thrift clothes. Brand new clothes aren't of good quality and for shops like H&M or Zara, you'd have to drive well over three hours- not to mention it's out of budget for many people. Buying and wearing pre loved clothes being socially accepted really does make it more fun in my opinion. Everyone is doing it, so it's not a big deal- I say that because in the past, we were judged because of buying second hand clothes, even though they were still in perfect shape. I don't mind people having opinions, but I just wish people wouldn't be so judgmental at times. 

Anyway, back to the topic. My daughter needed some shirts and pajamas. So she got some of those, and we ended up buying two shirts for me too. Didn't really need them, oh well... My rule for buying clothes that I don't strictly need is that at least it's something I will definitely wear. One shirt I already wore and the other is still in my closet. The funny thing is that the yet--unworn-shirt had the tag still on. I'm not really an expert when it comes to fashion and brands, so I looked up the brand. Apparently, it's quite an expensive one and one brand new shirt of them costs $90 on sale. Brand new and without being on sale, it's probably close to $150. So I'd say it's not bad to find such an item for the equivalent of just $1. Thrift store finds like these definitely make thrifting even more fun to me. 

Just to clarify: I'm not specifically on the lookout for expensive brand clothes when shopping at thrift stores/markets. I just look what fits my size and style. Looking for expensive brands only would be a bit difficult anyway, as I don't really know/remember brand names. I do know a few, but my knowledge is certainly limited. And I'm not really looking to expand that knowledge either as it doesn't really seem interesting to me. But, I must admit that I find it really cool to pay that tiny of an amount for something that expensive! Lol. I think other frugal people can relate to this. If not, I must be just a weird lady 😅

Cleaning on a (tight) budget

Whenever people are mentioning their low weekly budgets, they usually tell "...and that's even without cleaning supplies". I get that getting by on a low budget can be stressful, having had personal experience with that myself. But, the cleaning stuff have never really been an issue. In fact, it's where we'd spend the least out of all groceries. I'm convinced that with almost no money, it's possible to buy all your cleaning necessities. 

As time went by, and our finances improved, I've noticed that our spending on cleaning stuff hadn't increased so much. Not spending a lot in this area isn't just a choice out of frugality, it's also for the environment- not wanting too much harsh chemicals in the home. I'm not completely using only good stuff and rigorously shunning all the chemicals, but I'm still glad our detergent cupboard doesn't equal some sort of chemical factory either. 

What do I all use? First of all, I probably have mentioned this a lot by now, but we try to use as little disposable products as possible, so that includes wipes. I really don't see the need to pay for disposable wipes that are usually much more pricey than the good old reusable ones. So, no disposable wipes it is. I only use a piece of kitchen roll when I clean the shower drain (we live here with three girls which means quite a lot of hair...). But, only if it's a lot and I always cut one piece of paper unto four squares. So one roll still lasts a long time. Another disposable product I use are sponges - I like referring to them as semi disposable as they don't get tossed right away, but still get tossed in the end. I'm still looking for a solution to that though, I do have a cleaning brush but sponges are just more convenient in my opinion. 

Now we'll move on to the detergents. I try to keep this as minimalistic as possible, and especially not using single purpose cleaners. Those are really a waste of money in my opinion. The main products I use are washing up liquid (which I buy in large 5L jugs), a block of household soap, which is insanely cheap here, powdered laundry detergent -not just for the laundry-, and vinegar. I also have a jug of "all purpose cleaner", which is a bit of a misleading name because there is no cleaner in that jug; it's just scented water which you can add to your mopping water or even throw some of it to the toilet bowl etc. And yes, I use bleach too. Bleach water to be exactly, not the concentrated stuff because bleach water is much cheaper here. But I try not to use that a lot honestly. I'll elaborate some on how I use each of the aforementioned cleaning products: 

Washing up liquid: for the dishes (duh!), as we don't have a dishwasher. And to me that includes the counter, sink and hob. I pretty much use this washing up liquid as an all purpose cleaner, adding some drops to a bucket of water for mopping the floors, or when dusting surfaces, cleaning the fridge etc. It's basically my all purpose cleaner, just a very concentrated one. 

Block of soap: I like this for cleaning the bathroom - rubbing it on a sponge and then cleaning the sink with it. And then for the wall tiles, toilet, shower surface, floor etc. I use it diluted in a bucket of water. I also make my toilet cleaner by diluting a bar of this kind of soap and boiling it, then adding some of the scented water that I mentioned. I also use this soap to remove stains out of clothes, which works great. Sometimes I rub some of this soap on stains before the clothes get washed in the machine too. Washing clothes by hand is something which is still done by a lot of people where we live, and because this soap is so powerful at removing stains, most will use this plain soap - also because it's insanely cheap (the ones that wash by hand are doing so usually because they're very poor). One bar of soap costs onder €0.30, which is very very affordable. 

Powdered laundry detergent: We buy big bulk sacks of detergent, of 5 or even 10 KG. The main purpose is laundry, obviously, but there are other uses. When I'm short of washing up liquid, I use this detergent, as do many people here (which they then mix with bleach... But that's something I would never do!). And I use it in the toilet bowl- whenever I'm not using my other toilet cleaner. Note that this detergent isn't exactly the same as every other powdered laundry detergent, it's a multi purpose product- at least that's what the package says. 

Vinegar: I used to use it a lot more than I do now, which is because quite a few surfaces in our home aren't suitable to be cleaned with vinegar. But I still use it as a fabric softener replacement, to descale taps, etc. Last winter, I made a cleaner with a lot of leftover lemon peels soaked in vinegar - then diluted with water because the peels make the vinegar even more strong. Not only is this a great way to use your leftover citrus peels (I used lemon, but orange peels are a great option too), it's also smelling less vinegary, for those who are put off by using vinegar because of the smell. I regularly use this in the toilet bowl and for other things that I would use regular vinegar. 

Oh, and this one is probably a bit unusual but I also keep some cheap shampoo for certain cleaning jobs such as heavy duty descaling, or when I need a "real" all purpose cleaner instead of washing up liquid. I already have shampoo ar home anyway, and thus way I'm avoiding buying expensive and big bottles of cleaners that I'd use a few times before it's just sitting endlessly in the cupboard. So I guess I'd need to add shampoo to my list too. You might not consider it as a real cleaner but I guess I do. 

Bleach: I try it to use it as minimal as possible, so one bottle lasts quite a while. I clean my bathroom with it every so often and the main use is when I've been cutting chicken. Sometimes I even dare to just use washing up liquid for that. 

So these are the main cleaners we use, which allow us to spend as little as possible on cleaning while at the same time staying organized because we don't have a thousand of different kind of detergents, cleaners and whatnot. Cleaning doesn't need expensive, ultra scented stuff (although that's fine too if that's important to you, but I guess for me it isn't...). Soap is usually enough, you might have to use some extra elbow grease at times. 

We're an ingredient household

Who knew social media was sometimes educational? Sure, you can look up tutorials on how to do an haircut, learn to crochet, or even learn a new language... But that wasn't exactly what I was talking about. 

Some months ago, on my social media, short videos kept popping up about people (usually in a complaining manner) talking on how they were raised in an "ingredient household". I didn't know there was a thing like that, or rather, that it had a name - this is where I learned something new. So an "ingredient household" basically means that it's a household where not a lot of pre-made/convenience foods are present, and most foods they have are seperate ingredients to make your own dishes/snacks with. Apparently, this is something beyond traumatic for children growing up, especially for teenagers. Can you imagine the horror of not being able to grab an unhealthy snack whenever, however? (ok, sarcastic mode off 😅) Yes, I know that in the end it's social media so things always need to be exaggerated. How else will they reach all those thousands of likes? But, even if it is exaggerated, there probably is *some* truth to it. Especially for teenagers who have peers that don't live in an "ingredient household" and they can grab all kinds of (usually unhealthy) snacks whenever they like. There must be some sort of peer pressure even with what people eat. If a kid brings a homemade snack to school, when all of the classmates bring store bought snacks, the average teenager probably wouldn't really like it to be standing out, only to learn later on in life that his/her parents did it in their best interest: to save money so they can spend it on more important things, and perhaps even more importantly, to keep them healthy. 

I must say, that's one of the pros of where we live. Snacking isn't really a big thing. Not that cookies, chips etc. do not exist in the stores, but people just tend not to have a lot of those at home. They're usually purchased at the nearest corner shop when needed. "When needed" usually means: when they have unexpected visitors and want to serve them some snack alongside the tea/coffee/fizzy drink. That is, when they don't have enough time to make their visitors a treat themselves; because in an ingredient household, people make most foods from scratch. People here are big on making things themselves so it's not really unheard of when you're only served homemade cookies/cakes or homemade popcorn. If you're raised in such an environment, you'll later learn that other people's breakfasts came out of a box, and that soup was some powder in a sachet. You do have to put a bit more effort in having a snack when there are just separate ingredients, which is probably a big reason why people here don't snack a lot (and also, that you're just satiated longer with homemade food compared to convenience foods). 

One of the videos in which the person was complaining, showed what she snacked on as a teenager. It was a sandwich (probably bread was already present so she didn't have to make her own bread with flour, yeast and the other ingredients needed to bake bread) with bread and butter. Not bad, I'd say... But the way she portrayed it was as if she was the most pathetic girl in the world. As I mentioned, it's probably somewhat exaggerated, and people will do anything to gain fame through social media. But if there is some sincerity, which there probably is, it means that they feel they were missing out on... junk. Let's just hope that later on in life, people will be able to see the positive side of homemade food and will be able to appreciate the skills they have learned growing up. 

Back to our own "ingredient household", and what that means practically. Usually, we're not big on snacking. In fact, my youngest especially doesn't eat particularly good and at times I need to bribe her to have a snack, because she often refuses to have a real lunch. Sometimes that doesn't work either, though. But I try to have at least some foods at home that we can eat without a lot of effort. There are always dates at home, as well as fruits, which they know can eat unlimited (well... obviously not a kg in one go or something but that's never happened). Bread, also, they can eat if it's there. We keep our bread in the freezer so when there's bread it's usually leftovers from breakfast. The toppings might be a bit limited compared to what most people have, but there's enough to satisfy hunger (or, let's be honest, cravings) and they'll have some choice. Eggs I usually boil about 6 at a time. Not only because it's saving water and electricity that way, it's a very good snack to have on hand. We always yogurt at home, which comes in small individual packages (one package being about half a cup). If they want to flavour it up they can add ground almonds (which we also have on hand), or honey etc. They usually eat it plain. 

As for main meals, being an ingredient household can be a bit different from non-ingredient households too. I don't claim I make everything myself, but we do make quite a lot. Something we don't make (yet?) is pasta, as that would turn out to be more expensive, which isn't worth the labour in my opinion. So we have that at home. Sauces is a thing we make ourselves, wether it's white sauce, or marinara sauce, or the stew to serve with couscous etc. Sauces aren't really being sold here anyway, so it's just necessary, even if I wanted to buy them ready made. The only thing we've been buying lately is mayonnaise and that is because the oil prices have risen tremendously which made making our own mayo very cost inefficient. Tinned vegetables/beans etc are expensive here, much more expensive than buying fresh (fresh tastes so much better anyway, in my opinion). So that's another thing you won't find in our home. This makes it a bit more difficult to make meals in a pinch. I mean there's always meals we can make in a pinch, but not just every imaginative meal. Due to this, planning is important (which I'm still not very good at, unfortunately). You do learn to eat what's on hand and that it's OK not to be able to eat whatever whenever. 

I think the most outstanding thing when it comes to main meals as an ingredient household is packaging, or the lack thereof. A lot of people are so dependent on packaged foods. I once read a complaint by a woman, saying that she would like to be able to just cook a pasta meal without the garbage bin being half full. At first I didn't really get it - because I've always cooked from scratch. But now I get it. The sauce, the meat, vegetables, the salad used as a side, sometimes cheese, and of course the pasta all are individually packaged. That's a whole lot of packaging for just one evening meal! For us, the only thing in such a meal that's packaged is the pasta itself. I even learned to re-use the wrapper to be even a bit less wasteful. Yes, I know it will eventually be thrown away, but it does save me another disposable bag. The meat we buy package free, and it eventually needs to be packed when it goes into the freezer, which is still less than a store bought meat packaging. That is if we do use meat, as a lot of our meals are vegan or vegetarian. 

That being said, I honestly can't imagine to make a meal with so much waste (that is, if nothing of the prepared food goes to waste). Not trying to be judgemental or something, but I sometimes can't really relate to being not waste conscious. Perhaps that's even more clear when it comes to breakfast foods. Most people have so many packaged things for breakfast. We usually have bread, either homemade with bulk bought flour or bought package at the bakery. Then we eat it with olive oil (which is poured into our own bottles when buying) and dates from our local market, along with tea (loose leaf tea from a big sachet). I sometimes crave other foods like oats, which we buy package free. I'm a bit more wasteful than the rest of the family as I like my oats with yogurt, although I do have other ways to eat oats. We do have "real" bread toppings, but save them for when we have a bit more special breakfast, or when I make pancakes. 

This is kind of how our imperfect ingredient household works. It's easy for us because this is how we've always done it, but switching from an un-ingredient household to an ingredient household, it's probably a bit of a challenge. Taking one step at a time will make it more doable. 

Package free grocery shopping: pros and cons

As I mentioned before, our groceries are partially purchased at a refill store. Meaning, they're package free. I'll try to elaborate a bit more on this way of shopping in this post. Depending on which store we'll shop at, they have shelf stable goods in huge baskets or more tidy containers. From what I've noticed, the tidier the containers and the shops, the more expensive they are. Usually it's not self service, but an employee will measure/weigh the goods. You could bring your own container,  but usually they put it in a baggie, similar to a sandwich baggie. It's then labelled with the product/price on it. 

What kind of foods do we buy there? Legumes, some grains (such as whole wheat flour, sorghum flour, and oats), spices, nuts and seeds, cocoa powder, cornstarch, as well as some "candy". Traditional healthy treats such as frankincense (this is like natural chewing gum), corn for making popcorn, and carob. This obviously doesn't cover all our needs from the store, and there's certainly items that we don't buy there. If it were me, I'd buy everything there, but unfortunately not everything is available at the refill store. I really hope these stores will expand their assortment one day and that about everything would be available there. 

Its obvious that this kind of shopping does reduce the amount of plastic going into the landfill, which is the foremost reason why we shop like this. Seeing nature sites getting more and more cluttered with rubbish is so heartbreaking. It's frustrating when you realise that the world's plastic pollution is not inevitable, if people would just put a little more effort in how they shop. Other than environmental reasons, which are obvious, what I especially like about these kind of shops is the simplicity! You've probably seen pictures (if not in real life) of colourful markets with heaps of different coloured spices. Well, apart from the fact that it's not just spices there, it still looks quite similar. The more modern refill stores will sell their goods in a bit more neat containers, which has a bit more of the aesthetic look. It's both very simplistic in their own way. I also really appreciate that this way we're cutting back on our plastic use. Living in a country where there's a garbage problem in some areas, it's clear how much plastic is being wasted. I cringe at every disposable plastic item that I can easily avoid using. Yes, they do use sandwich baggies in those shops, but I make sure to simply reuse those. So that's not too big of an issue (to me), and otherwise I can still bring my own containers. Another benefit of these shops is that they're usually just so much cheaper! Just to compare; oats are about double the price here if you'd buy them in the supermarket. And at the refill store, they already are quite expensive. You'll get the exact same product, which means you're paying all that money just for a cardboard box. Not even a firm reusable box with a lid or something. That's just throwing money into the trash, in my opinion. What I also like is that with package free shopping, you're not dependent on the package sizes that you find in the supermarket. When you have a small household or only want to buy a certain (small) amount for whatever reason, this is possible- you can buy just however much you want (this is the case where we buy our goods anyhow). This is a good way to avoid wasting foods. 

Of course, as with everything, there are cons - or others may consider them to be cons, anyhow. I only see benefits in shopping this way but I'd thought of including them anyway. Since it's package free, there's obviously no "use by" date. To me, that's no issue at all - I think that putting dates on shelf stable foods is just a way to encourage wasting foods. If it looks and smells good, I'll just eat it.                                                            With foods not being "properly" packed, you do need suitable containers. Yes, this may cost a bit initially, but it doesn't necessarily mean very trendy and expensive ones with the "zero waste aesthetics", you can just buy the cheapest plastic containers you can find, or simply reuse food containers. With smaller kitchens, this does take up a bit more space at times, but I'm willing to sacrifice that space (I have no idea what else to store in my cupboards anyway). We have a lot of smaller buckets, I think they're 5L buckets, not completely sure - there fits about 3.5 kg of flour in a bucket. I also have smaller containers for the foods that we don't buy in bigger quantities, such as sorghum flour. Yes, this does take up space but I don't think it takes up much more space than stocking the average pantry with packaged items. The reason why we need a lot of space is due to the fact that we're buying in bulk, not so because of the lack of packaging. As long as you're using suitable containers, it's not that much of a space they're occupying. 

All in all I like the way we shop- the way people have been doing this before supermarkets were there. You may find it too costly, which unfortunately is the case in some countries, unfortunately, and I can totally understand that especially in these times, people look at the prices solely. Some may find it too time consuming, which I can understand too. I'm privileged with a refill store in our street, even though we usually go to another one in a different neighbourhood, but it's still very accessible.

Still, despite people's general reluctance of returning to the old ways of shopping, I am very enthusiastic about it. It just may take some planning and making shopping lists and investing in containers. 

Keeping yourself warm

 So, basically where we live it's getting cold! Many Europeans, when they think of Africa, they think of tropical places and all that. And while there may be some African countries where the climate is like that, there are much more countries that have 4 seasons.   So here we are, and winter has started. Maybe not officially yet, but its getting colder here! Living in a country where the average person has not a very high income, you'll learn to be creative with the resources you have. Contrary to what I was used too, many locals consider heating your home as a luxury. Say what?! Don't you NEED to heat your home?! Well, if you live in a very cold climate, I'd defenitely agree with that statement-- here however, it doesn't get THAT cold. It usually doesn't freeze here, and if it's cold its usually a few degrees above the freezing point. So you technically don't have to warm your house. So yeah, heaters are a luxury. And I've adjusted to that point of view. It's not that we don't use heaters at all, but we try to be careful with using heaters too much, both for environmental reasons as well as financial reasons. 

As I said its getting colder, but we still haven't turned on our heater. We certainly will when its getting colder! Though we acknowledge that heating is a luxury, we certainly love the convenience. But for now, we've taken certain measures to still be comfortable without a heater. 

Here are some things we do. 

Wearing sweaters and slippers. This is an obvious one but apparently not for everyone so I decided to start with this one! From my own experience, cold feet cool your entire body. And the opposite is also true; with warm feet you'll likely not getting chilly quickly. So warm slippers it is, and of course warm sweaters. I love wearing jumpers that my late grandmother knitted for me! Needless to say we also wear multiple layers of clothing. 

Drinking warm drinks. I am not into coffee, but I love tea and herbal infusions, some of which I forage such as olive leaves. I can appreciate a lovely hot chocolate too but try not to indulge in that too often! 

Switch to winter-y kind of meals. During the colder seasons our eating change a bit as we're eating more warming stews, soups and occasionally casseroles. We also like to eat all kinds of hot porridges for breakfast.

Another obvious but we try to stay very warm at night, with pajamas and thick blankets. Even once you've woken up you will stay warm for a long period of time. 

Being active during the day. Try to involve in activities that keep you warm. Cleaning (I like sweeping the floors with a broom- zero electricity used so very frugal/environmentally friendly plus a free workout), kneading dough, baking bread on my gas stovetop. There's so many more things but these were just some examples of how even indoor activities can keep you warm. As for outdoor activities, I like taking a walk and then being amazed by how warm my house actually is when I return! 

So, these are some things we do to stay warm before turning on the heater.