make it ourselves.

We had a fairly successful couple of weeks of making most thngs ourselves in terms of food, I made some more bread that was edible. But it got me thinking about other things we buy 'made' like tofu and soy milk, musli, catfood, cat litter, jam etc. So I think this is going to be an ongoing project.
We have been thinking about making cat food for a while now, the main thing is how to cook it. Neither of us eat meat, we would want a seperate pan for cooking meat for the cats in, also we have to figure out how to buy it. Do we go to a butchers (smells bad!) or to the supermarket (not keen on supermarkets generally, they are a bit too busy) or get someone else to buy it for us? I have assumed that the meat in our catfood is not free-range or organic etc as the tin makes no mention of it. I would prefer our cats to eat meat that has had a happier life and was more ethically raised BUT at the same time, canned catfood is convenient, they like it and neither of us has to cook it. I think I might brave a butchers shop and see how much meat costs (that is another thing I have no realistic idea of) and maybe try a week of making their food. I think I could probably cook a lot at once and then freeze it.
I used to make granola but have just got out of the habit but making tofu and soy milk - that is entirely new. I am going to see if I can find a soy milk recipe which doesn't use a specific machine, and the tofu demo I saw on youtube seems fairly simple so I will give that a go next weekend... watch this space!!

Today I made some pretty successful bread, hopefully D will post a picture of it later. The reason I am so proud of this is because my previous attempts at bread have all ended up being hard lumps of stuff that scrape the roof off your mouth as you spend 15 minutes trying to chew it enough to swallow it! Today I made a sort of fruit loaf, which is quite crumbly but tasty and, most importantly, leaves your mouth intact!! I am going to try t make a savoury loaf on Friday. B:)

a two-week extravaganza

Last week we didn't set ourselves a challenge as B had a big project to finish for university and we had family staying so in light of this we have decided to set ourselves a big two-week challenge which is to make all the things we use (within reason). The first week is going to be more of an experimental week as many of the things, such as cat food and cat litter, we have not made before and the second week will be more hardcore when we will attempt not to use anything which is ready made. We will post updates (and hopefully some pictures and maybe even a tutorial) on what and how we do. D.

waste = food

Yesterday I watched a documentary (about 50mins) called Waste=Food (you can find it on google video). The film was based on part of the book Cradle to Cradle and talks about how industrial waste an be used as 'food' for the next round of making, eg a companies effluents could be used as raw materials. The basic premise is that if you look beyond the products direct lifespan while it is still in the design process you can design it in such a way that you can reuse/reclaim most or all of it for reuse in the future. It also looks at how environment affects humankind using the Herman Miller factory and the Ford as examples. Those particular buildings have also been designed in such a way as to work as closed loop processing facilities and also buildings and their plots are green with living roofs and wild life encouraged, leading to a more natural and therefor sustainable way of industrially producing, along with happier teams working in them.

http://www.hmeurope.com/our-business/environmental-concerns/

http://www.ford.com/our-values/environment

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cradle-Michael-Braungart/dp/0099535475/ref=ed_oe_p

Last week we decided to increase the difficulty of our challenges by not shopping at chain stores for a week. The first hurdle we came across was what constituted a chain store. Some such as Tesco, Asda, Boots and Starbucks are easy to identify as they are at the forefront of the homogenisation of the high street. However, what about independent stores which have more than two or three stores? Does this constitute a chain store? We decided to use common sense and judge each place on its own merits.

The week started well with lots of packed lunches which negated the need to go to chain stores during the day. We are also lucky enough to have a local mini-high street which is relatively untouched by chain stores, apart from betting shops, so most of our evening needs came from here. However, the day I forgot to take lunch turned into a bit of a nightmare. I work in central London where the rising cost of rents has forced many independent stores out of business. Also, as a vegetarian who doesn't really eat dairy or eggs (I refrain from calling myself vegan, as I do occasionally eat dairy) the choice of ready food in central London is further reduced. I'll admit that I don't know the exact location of all vegetarian restaurants in the local area but as a temp who gets paid by the hour, the less time I spend searching for lunch, the more I get paid so it is my best interest to get something to eat as quickly as possible. After an agonising half an hour of wandering round like a zombie I managed to find a café which claimed to be independent and sat down to chips and beans.

There were a few hiccups during the week; a trip to Fresh and Wild, a health food store which is owned by Whole Foods, and meeting a friend in Pret were the only digressions. Still I think for two people to work in central London and only use chain stores twice during a week is pretty good going.

D.