Living a bit more sustainably will actually save you some money!

Only mid-September and the nights are already drawing in… Since April, we’ve been told about the cost of living rising through winter so, many of us have been really apprehensive about the darker nights.

Given the hot/long  summer we’ve all had, we had even hopped that the warmer days would even last longer without us needing to put on the central heating… I am already using double bed covering to heat my feet. I really hope it is just a blip and that we will have a last hooray of heat before summer properly says goodbye.

Have you heard of the expression ‘zero waste’? It is what it says on the tin. But no one actually can live zero waste 100% of the time… on any diet…

Yes, zero waste is associated to sustainability, it is actually more attainable than the big wigs make it… Keep reading…

Take cooking a fresh meal for example: You can create a composte bin and lob in all your vegetable kitchen wastes.

Over the time, some of that vegetable waste will start growing again, giving you some unexpected root vegetables and herbs… (carrots, potatoes, spring onions, beetroot and celery are very known for easy sprouting).

Over a 3/6 months, if you find yourself to having too much compost, you can share it with friends (or locals)  who have allotments. They will accept compost in exchange for some food.

If you don’t know people with allotment, search your local facebook group for allotment and exchanges. Since COVID, people are al lot more open to accept and exchanges. So, dont be proud, go for what you need.

Look after the pennies, the pounds will look after themselves…

Other ways to use your kitchen cut offs is to replant them or just leave them in a bowl with a bit of water to grow again. Above a half cut cabbage was left on my balcony and started to grow again… This is is 3 week growth.

I recently placed a bunch of spring onion bottoms in a cup with a bit of water, it took 4 weeks, now I can cut off the green sprouts to add in my broth. But as more roots come out, i’ll plant them on my balcony. Some of them seem to be seeds carriers, so will see what those pouches produce.

Am doing the same with my celery  butts, but intend to plant these on the balcony when roots come out like on this left over leek. Caring for them this way will save you buying them often.

Do not throw away your sprouting potatoes: they are still edibles as long as they don’t turn green.
If they do turn green, they are poisonous and are better planted in soil to produce a handful of spuds in 3-6 months.

If you think you won’t have time to cook a bag of potatoes, boil them, cut them in wedges, add black pepper and some herbs, then freeze…. That’s your next batch of potato wedges on pizza night.

Bread! Do you know how much bread wasted in this country?!!! Millions of tons!

When you buy bread, freeze it and just take what you need each day. You’ll never throw  bread again in your life. I do that… English bread isn’t exactly baguette so I eat it reluctantly and very slowly.

But in the event you can’t freeze it, chop it up, drizzle olive oil/rapeseed oil with sea salt and pepper… presto! Croutons for the next salad or soup.

Now if you’ve cooked too much food over this week end, what every it is, pack it in portions and place them in the freezer… remember, when you reheat them, that not everything can be heated in the microwave. Some are better in the oven, uncovered.

Hope you’ve found these useful.
For more follow Miss Nang Treats on Instagram.

To see my balcony, click here. 

And just in case you are wondering, my life is a continual experiment…

This is just one way,of tackling the cost of living, there is more to come… like, cooking in batches using cheaper electricity tarifs hours.

The cost of living will affect us all, but we do not need to feel powerless over it. Any small tips, we can discover, implement and share is a positive action that empowers us.

Let me know what you think if you have found this useful.

Written by Hortense, founder @Miss Nang Treats