moongladecraft-blog

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Keeping food fresh..

My favourite day is a Friday. Not just because we have pumped up music and filter coffee, but because it’s the fruit and veg market day. I’m lucky because we have a weekly open air market, which makes it a lot easier to avoid all the excess plastic the supermarkets chuck on veg. Besides that benefit, there is also such a ridiculous difference in the size of things! I’m not even exaggerating when I say that the aubergines from the market are easily twice the size of the tiddly ones at coop, and they don’t come in a plastic bag so it’s a double benefit.

Eating plant based means that I appreciate giant cauliflowers and aubergines, they are the stars of our meals so bigger is definitely better!

Going to the market does mean that slightly more prep is needed though. There are a few things I do as soon as we get back, that make a huge difference in the length of time things stay fresh for. I took some pictures this week to demonstrate what I do (yes, I flower arranged coriander and took pictures of it.) 

Coriander

So coriander turns up in these giant bunches. They’re stored in an ice bucket at the market, which keeps them fresh but gets them a bit soggy.

The main thing I’ve learned is that by putting the coriander bunch in a bottle with the stems in water, and putting a plastic bag over the leaves, it can keep fresh for 10 days - a fortnight. The tiny bags from the coop are sometimes not even fresh when they turn up, and definitely wouldn’t last beyond 3-4 days. 

I’m a bit specific about these things, so I do a bit of a tidy up on the coriander before sticking it in the fridge. I get rid of any yellow leaves or bits that have ‘gone’. It all gets a good rinse, and then any leaves or little offshoots that will be below the water line get pinched into the separate tray whilst I make it into a tidy bunch.  If these bits are left on they tend to go all soggy, and it grosses me out when I come to cook!

Basically I just sort them so that there is a good few inches of clear stem to go into the water. This way, you can just pull out a bunch to use and chop it straight away. I wait for the leaves to dry from their rinse before putting the plastic bag over. Plastic does work best for this, we have a handful of bags that are reused (and cleaned!) for this purpose. 

Spring Onions

Essentially this is the same method as the coriander, minus the bag. I tend to remove the outer layers, and any layers that have stuck to the roots. Again, these will go soggy in the water if left on. To be honest it’s probably not that big of a deal, but it grosses me out! Then they get a good rinse, and get added to the same container as the coriander. I use them in the same meals so they might as well live together! These will start shooting up in the fridge, which is always fun to watch…

Strawberries

It’s strawberry season! And although we are growing our own and the aim for us is to be as self-sustainable as possible, it’s a work in progress, so in the meantime I try to keep them as fresh as possible so we don’t have waste.

Strawberries are another thing which I’ve found keep best with some form of plastic. Luckily they come in plastic trays, so it’s easy to reuse them. These trays also make great seed beds so that’s handy. 

I think it’s just part of life that strawbs can get a little squishy whilst in transit. Even though the ones that we got today were really fresh, there were still a few that would damage the rest of the punnet if I left them in. So I sort and remove these squishy strawbs, and chop and wash the fresh ones. 

Whilst they’re drying, I’ll clean out the tray and lay a sheet of brown paper down. 

The dry strawberries then go back into the punnet and into the fridge (or freezer). This helps them keep for closer to 10 days, rather than about 3 or 4!

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Black beans

We used to get the recipe boxes from Gousto, it made shopping easier and was a great way to get some new recipes. When we went fully plant based it became harder to have a varied menu each week, so we ended up cancelling our order. 

I’ve made a point of collating our favourite recipes into one folder, and by going to the market weekly and topping up the cupboards with an online order for dry goods and tins etc we’re eating better than we ever have!

There are a handful of recipes that are regularly on the menu, and I thought I’d share some of these with you. Both me and K love Indian and Mexican food, and I’m a sucker for adding waaaay more garlic, coriander or lime juice than is needed. The other thing I always like to do is to have sides with a meal. I try to stick to having OMAD so adding some sides is a great way to make sure I fill up and don’t need food until the next day’s dinner! 

The recipe for today is refried black beans. I adapted these from the Thug Kitchen cookbook. They use these cumin and chilli beans for sandwiches, which are amazing, but we add them to a few different things as well. 

Refried Black Beans

Okay, so these are called refried black beans, but to be honest I’ve used kidney beans to a similar effect.

To make the beans

Garlic - loads

Cumin - a teaspoon

Chilli powder (or chopped chillies but I’m lazy) - as much as you want

1 onion - red or brown whatever you have! 

1 tin of black beans

Some veg stock (about half of a mug)

A lime

To eat with them

They’re really good in some toasted bread with mayo and salad

Put them on top of roasted sweet potatoes, top with cheese and eat with doritos

Have as the protein in a bowl, with roasted veggies, grains and salad

Put into some wraps with salad and rice - instant burritos

Sandwich in between two wraps with cheese, sweetcorn and spring onion, fry until the cheese has melted and cut into triangles

I feel silly calling this a method because it’s so simple but here goes;

Fry the onion on a med-high heat, until soft but not browned

Add the garlic and spices, cook for a minute or so

Add the drained beans and stock

Cook until the liquid is pretty much gone, mashing the beans. Our masher is useless with black beans so I use the bottom of the mug that had the stock in (saving washing up and all that) but you could also use a fork, a spatula or just a better masher than we have!

Add some lime juice - and you’re done!

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Foraging

Foraging is such a strange pastime. You go out knowing that you probably won’t find what you’re looking for and that if you do it probably won’t be ready for you to pick. It calls back to a time before supermarkets and take-aways, but of course, there’s a reason that foraging is not a good way of sustaining one person, let alone a household. But it is something that connects you to Mother Nature, and it gives you an enormous sense of wellbeing (I sometimes feed the sparrows too…)

The best bit about foraging is that, by continuously walking similar routes over the year, you see the minutiae of the changing of the seasons. It can be as clear as day: a walk at the beginning of the week will reveal particular blossoms that just need a little more sun to open fully or a berry that needs several more hours of light to become fully ripe. And the way this can be shown on a single plant is beautiful.

One thing I try to remember is to focus on finding only a few particular things on each walk. Otherwise, I would end up picking bits and pieces here and there - ending up with far more than I know what to do with. Using foraged bits as soon as possible is the best way to get the most benefit from them, and having flowers or buds sat in the fridge is not ideal because I will 100% forget about them!

The best way to learn, and remember, individual plants is to use a decent field guide alongside the using internet. I’ll do a bit of research and make notes of the key identifying features in my journal, and save a picture or two to my phone's camera roll. That way, when we’re out and about we can use the key features to quickly identify the plant and make sure that we’re not going to be poisoned! For anything that we’re keen to keep an eye on, I carry a small field guide as well (The Collins Book Food for Free). This can help with identifying plants that we’re not necessarily taking that day, and it becomes a bit of a hedgerow game whilst we’re out... who can identify particular plants first? I’ll also carry a pair of snips - these definitely look like a weapon and I’m surprised that I never get stopped with them! Making a clean cut to plants is the best way to make sure they don’t get diseased or infected, plus it stops the ripping or tugging of plants which is definitely going to damage them.

I don’t always use things that we find for food. One of my favourite things to forage is pretty flowers that I can press. They mainly get used in my journal, but it’s always nice to have a selection of dried flowers to be used. I’ve just added a few to some essential oil candles made for Nanny B’s birthday, they just add something really cute to handmade crafts. And of course, being able to say that they have been foraged from the local area (or our garden..) is pretty cool.

Another foraging tip is to make notes of the location and state of ‘readiness’ of things found. Monitoring the development of sloe berries for example, means that we can (hopefully) be amongst the first to grab some once they ripen. Of course, with fruits this popular, it helps to have several different spots where they can be found. The good thing is that once you find one bush, you won’t be able to stop seeing them everywhere you go!

And the final tip I have is to vary where you walk and to do foraging walks often. Nothing can beat the benefit of seeing plants regularly. It helps with every other aspect of foraging. Even if you’re walking to a specific place, there’s probably a couple of different routes to get there. And by taking different routes, it becomes easy to gauge how light, shade, heat etc interacts with the plants you’re focussing on.

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The Garden

Times are very strange at the moment, but one thing I have to keep remembering is that I’m really lucky to have some outdoor space to enjoy during lockdown. Although I’ll admit, I’d rather have a few acres of fields and veg patches, I am so appreciative of having any room to garden at all. Our terrace is a decent size and, because it’s surrounded by buildings (and overlooked from above..) it is a real sun trap. There are two issues we come across though; one is that during any bad weather the surrounding buildings can create a bit of a wind tunnel, so anything too tall just doesn’t survive. The second (which is usually a good thing..) is how close we are to the sea. We can get attacked by the sand and salt, which has caused some damage to more tender plants in the past. 

Thinking about the conditions on our terrace, our collection of plants is made up mainly of grasses, succulents, alpines, shrubs and herbs. I really like having a mix of textures: long, floaty grasses look so cute next to the chubby leaves of a stonecrop/sedum. Of course one of the best things about succulents is how easy they are to propagate. We started with one Painted Lady, and now have 21! Weirdly, these plants are native to Mexico, yet they survive over winter outside, and flower prolifically each year. We’ve already got some flower stems appearing which is always pretty exciting.

Last year we grew some chillies and sweet peppers. We had a good crop of chillies but our peppers were slightly disappointing. They got attacked by insects pretty early on in their lifespan so maybe that’s why! We also started some herbs from seed; coriander, basil and parsley, which joined our existing lavender plant. Now we also have mint and thyme which have joined the family over the winter. To make room for these guys and to keep them all together I’ve turned an old file trolley thing into a herb planter. Macrame holds in two pots on either long side, a single pot/container for propagating on each short side and a tray for rocket. The tray underneath is where I’ve planted spinach seeds. The fact I now have a herb trolley that can follow me into the kitchen does make me feel a bit fancy but it’s definitely useful!

This year we’re having a go at some more veg, and have sown a few already. I’m just waiting for our new greenhouse to arrive. The bloody seagulls have poked holes into our current one, which has coincided with us needing more space for garden storage. We’re going to use the older one for pot+tool storage only and the new greenhouse will be where our more tender plants are held, and will be where I start some of our winter veg seeds later in the year. I’m pretty sure the seagulls have gone feral as a result of a lack of tourists feeding them chips, and they’re just trying to get some food, but it’s still properly annoying. Of course, these greenhouses are only mini as that’s all that will fit on the terrace, but I’m looking forward to seeing just how much fruit and veg we can get out of our space. 

[moongladecraft-blog]

Purpose

I was, like most people I suppose, a proper hippy when I was younger. I collected crystals, without really knowing anything other than how pretty they were. I was obsessed with fairies and pixies. I spent time outside, collecting flowers and leaves for diy perfume and to put into egg-cups to display. I spoke to animals and loved nothing more than reading physical books and watching the outdoors. 

But then life happened; school and work and bills. You get it drummed into your head that the most - and only - important thing is getting good grades and translating that into getting a good job. What ‘good’ is is obviously not decided by you. It’s decided by the pay and the status that it gives you. After school I kind of assumed that an office is where I should be. So that’s where I went. For 6 years I worked in various offices; in IT, marketing and administration roles. I worked for other people in industries I had very little interest in. And although I learned a lot and had some amazing people rooting for me, it just wasn’t where I needed to be. Having people think you’re weird because you aren’t interested in corporate life or climbing the ladder is very strange, but everyone has their purpose. 

My mental illness has always been a reality for me, and it can be difficult to put into words how much it impacts my day to day life. I eventually had to stop working full-time because I just could not keep ignoring it. I’m lucky in that I’ve had the best support I could wish for; from family and doctors and the healthcare system in general, though I know this isn’t the case for everyone. I thought I was going to go to therapy and get better. But that isn’t how it works, unfortunately. Learning the skills I need to cope with everyday life is going to take time, but I’m on the journey and in the system. 

One of the things that has been really important in beginning recovery has been the idea of defining ‘myself’. My illness makes it hard for me to pin down my own personality, which I know can be off-putting (both for me and those around me.) But I’m getting there. I’m beginning to realise that wanting a simpler lifestyle over the rush of modern-life is not a bad thing and I’m allowed to embrace it. Realising that being seen as a ‘hippy’ is ok - and that I’m actually allowed to be whoever I want to be. And that, in defining myself I’m not putting myself into a box, I am still able to change and evolve.

So, my point is, that I’m going to embrace this. I’m going to do my utmost to work towards a simpler lifestyle, for me, my fiance and my pup. I’m going to reduce our waste, our impact on the environment and our reliance on supermarkets and convenience. I’m going to make art from recycled objects, teach myself every skill I can, and learn to live as self-sufficiently as we can. And I’ll write about it as well. 

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Beachcombing

I’ve never really considered myself an artist, but more of a maker. I don’t paint or illustrate, or sing or play an instrument. I love using my hands though, and I love creating things, ideally with objects that have been otherwise discarded. I suppose that the intention is there then, to create something beautiful and aesthetically pleasing, and maybe that’s what art is? Anyway, I’m not actually here to debate these things.

Living with the beach on my doorstep and a tonne of time on my hands, beachcombing has become a way to practise mindfulness and becoming comfortable with my own thoughts. Of course, every kid who goes to the beach picks up pretty shells, but when you end up with countless containers of various colours of seaglass, shells, and pebbles it becomes time to make something from them. And to be perfectly honest, as soon as I decided to get creative the inspiration hasn’t stopped. Chunks of frosted seaglass become suncatchers, pottery is unique jewellery, and driftwood has pretty endless possibilities. 

I also have a bit of a habit of picking up new hobbies. Macrame, crochet, weaving, wire wrapping and jewellery making are a few that have stuck, and that’s probably why I make things that are mixed medium in the truest sense of the word. I’m not sure if my hangings are appealing to other people, but there is something so rewarding about spotting a unique piece of seaglass, pottery, or driftwood on the beach, picking it up, cleaning it, and turning it into something greater. 

It sounds dramatic but beachcombing has helped me like nothing else has, and I think that doctors should probably prescribe a course of it for many things. Focussing on nothing other than the sand and pebbles in front of you and what they may be hiding forces you to connect with nature and to appreciate the small things. But it is very easy to become fixated on the sand and to miss what you’re surrounded by, so one rule I follow is to remind myself to take little breaks every so often, and to look up. Standing with your feet in the sea (even if you’ve got wellies on..)  has got to be one of the nicest feelings in the world. 

Some other rules I follow...

1. Smile and say hello to every doggo. Obviously. 

2. Smile at fellow beach-goers. The nice ones anyway.

3. Thank Mother Nature on every beach trip. She never fails to provide an amazing selection of objects every single time I go hunting, and I can’t help but think that she always knows what I’m after. It’s the same reason that I never feel competition with fellow beach-goers, they’re probably looking for things that I’m not and one of us has better eyesight than the other anyway. One person's trash and all that... 

4. Take as much plastic rubbish as possible. A spare bag is always a good idea.

5. Don’t wipe out the beach of all its treasure. Leave some for other beachcombers and the creatures who live there. 

6. Don’t be stupid. Land erodes and tides change. There’s been a lot of landslips on my local beach which has made it pretty impossible to explore since the storms. Hence I’m writing about beachcombing instead of actually doing it..