Do the small things, but don't lose sight of the big picture

Making small adjustments to our daily habits is important.  For example, if every household replaced one regular bulb with a compact fluorescent, it would prevent the equivalent of the emissions generated by 800,000 cars (however, at this stage we have decided against using CF's in our house, as I'm not totally comfortable with what may be some negative effects, more information on this website http://hubpages.com/hub/Negative-Side-Of-Compact-Flourescent-Bulbs-CFLs)


However, we cannot alleviate the strain on our planet simply by buying better dish soap or using rechargeable batteries.  As we implement the small improvements, we must keep in mind the need for greater change.  reducing the amount of petrol we use by driving hybrids or small fuel efficient cars is good, but creating public transport systems that eliminate the need for cars is much better.  Some of the big-picture actions we should keep in mind are ridding ourselves of oil dependence; reducing the amount of land we require for food and limit the environmental impacts of big agriculture; re-imagining our communities and living standards to curb unsustainable suburban sprawl; and electing officials, from the local level to parliament, who have clear environmental priorities and policies.


Don't compartmentalise your efforts: Understand where each gesture fits into the larger context of sustainability and always look for ways to make a leap toward great change!

Air Freshners.....

The CFC's (choloflurocarbons) in aerosols are now illegal in the EU, but artificial air freshers are still an energy-intensive and toxic way to produce a 'nice' smell.  Each year the UK uses around 600 million aerosol cans, yet aerosol propellants contain flammable and nerve-damaging ingredients as well as tiny particles that can lodge in your lungs.  Fragrances of all kinds can provoke allergic and asthmatic reactions, also take into account the new advertising genius of 'botanical' and 'aromatherapy' plug ins - these again are nothing more than chemical creations with nothing beneficial to your home or body!


Replace artificial air fresheners with an essential oil diffusers, candles, incense (be careful of which one you choose, as these are have also been proven to be as bad as smoking), fragrant plants or flower arrangements (citronella, honeysuckle or lavender).


My favourite oil diffuser is the Aroma Stone by Absolute Essential one that stays on 24 hours a day at the cost of about 20c per day, it contains no water, you just place about 5 drops of the essential oil directly on the stone, and viola, a lovely smell!


And remember essential oils or aromatherapy, not only smells nice but you can use different oils to help with health issues, I regularly use Absolute Essentials Head Ease when I have a headache or migraine, it can often help and I wont have to take medication.  


Absolute Essentials have an amazing range of products and what I LOVE is that they are labeled so that I know which ones are Mother-to-be, Baby and Child friendly!  Check out their website www.absoluteessential.co.nz and if you wish to order anything I can get these into Rejuvenate for you!

Pumpkin is in abundance - Pumpkin and Spinach Lasagne

Well its that wonderful time of year when everything in the garden is fruiting at once, we've had a pretty good tomato harvest which has all gone into salads and into pasta and veges for our wee one.  Our perpetual spinach, just keeps feeding us, its amazing, every week it provides us with at least one vegetarian meal.

Our neighbours and friends from our old house popped over and gave us 2 pumpkins, I made a sensational Pumpkin and Spinach Lasagne, a total triumph!  I also made a pumpkin and lamb casserole in the crockpot, a total disaster, that went into the compost!  My husband wanted to give the other pumpkin away, but as pumpkin lasts I think I'll hold onto it.

Pumpkin and Spinach Lasagne

1/2 Medium Pumpkin, chopped, cooked in vegetable stock and mashed

1 Onion, chopped finely

2 Cloves garlic crushed

10 Large Spinach Leaves chopped finely

1 Large container Cottage Cheese

2 eggs

1/2 cup of Edam Cheese

Salt and Pepper

6 Fresh tomatoes

San Remo Wholemeal or Organic Pasta

Pine Nuts

Use the left over stock from the pumpkin and cooked down the whizzed up or finely chopped up tomatoes, cook down in an open pot for 20 minutes or until it has reduced down to a thick sauce.

In a bowl combine Onion, Garlic, Spinach, Cottage Cheese, Eggs, 1/2 of the Edam and Salt and Pepper.

Assemble lasagne by placing a layer of the tomato sauce, followed by sheets of lasagne, Spinach mixture, pumpkin, continue until you have used all the ingredients, you should get about 3 or 4 layers depending on your container.  Sprinkle the top layer with the left over cheese and pine nuts.  Cook in a moderate oven for 35-45 minutes, enjoy!

Our Autumn table, our neighbours kindly donated Pumpkin, our yellow tomatoes and some beautiful flowers that my husband bought me!

Dairy and Egg Free Savoury Pancakes

I'm trying to come up with ingenious recipes to use the vegetables out of the garden.  I made pancakes for lunch the other day for the family as I wanted to use up the huge Courgette out of the garden and had run out of eggs.  These were delicious and easy, and a great way to get veges into the little ones!

1 Cup Flour

1 Cup Soda Water

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1 1/2 Tbsp Rice Bran Oil (or any other oil you have)

1/2 Cup Rice Milk

1 Grated Courgette

Fillings of your choice - I used mushroom, tomato and ham

Mix all ingredients together except for the fillings, pour into an oiled pan, when bubbles form place in the fillings then flip in half, fry until cooked. Yum!

New Products I Love!

Thought I'd just do a shout out for a few new products that have graced the supermarket shelves lately that I've been impressed with


San Remo Wholemeal Pasta range, I cant rave about this enough, not only does it taste great (adults and children would not know the difference from normal pasta), the price is reasonable too.  It comes in Penne, Spaghetti and Lasagna, yum!  San Remo also do really reasonably priced Organic range.  Available currently at Countdown


Vileda Naturals range of cleaning sponges and scourers, my favorite is the Vileda Naturals All Purpose Scouring Sponge, I loved their normal 3 in 1 Scourer, but this is brilliant (I must say I was skeptical, but it proved me wrong!)  Its made from renewable and recycled materials – corundum, cellulose, recycled bottle flakes and coconut shell abrasives.


Sistema have just started making a range of baby plasticware that is not only BPA Free but also Phalate free and the price is fantastic!   I picked some food storage containers and a sippy cup - but the range is extensive. Currently available from Countdown supermarkets.

Homemade Breadrolls (for Burgers)

I quite often make a double batch of Rissoles, one night we have them with potatoes and salad and the next as Burgers.  However, my husband insists on fresh burger buns and this puts our 'one shop a fortnight' system into disarray.

His brilliant idea was for me to make them, and it really was easy, although my misbehaving toddler made my afternoon, one of those that needed a gin after!

I'm very proud of myself, they were an absolute triumph!

Whats in the basic breadroll dough?

This makes 16 rolls, which for a family of 3 is excessive, I would tend to 1/2 the recipe or par-bake half of them and pop them in the freezer, and then next time we're having burgers I'll just pop them into the oven for 71/2 minutes and viola! Fresh burger buns!!

400ml Spring or Filtered Water
2 Tbs Oil (Olive or Rice Bran)
1 Tspn SeaSalt
4C High Grade White Flour (or wholemeal or a mix of both)
2Tbs Manuka Honey or Sugar
2 Tspns Bread Machine Yeast
2 Tbs Milk Powder

How do you make them?

Throw everything in the order of ingredients into the breadmaker and switch on to a dough setting, once its risen (and I usually forget it about and by the time I've got to it, its risen nearly to the top!)  Take out of breadmaker, divide into 16 balls (this mixture is quite wet) and I kneaded in quite a bit of flour so that they weren't so sticky.  Bake in a moderate oven 180 degrees C for about 15 minutes.

Free Computer Recycling Event E-Day Tommorow Saturday 06 November

New Zealand is kicking off its first E-Day event tomorrow, Saturday 06 November, where all unwanted PC's, computer peripherals, mobile phones, game consoles and digital cameras can be disposed of to help divert part of an expected 80,000 tonnes of e-waste from the landfills.

Check out the link for places where you can drop off your unwanted waste!

http://www.eday.org.nz/