Lincoln's RAMEN TOASTIE

You will need:

-Two slices of bread -One packet of ramen -A smidge of butter -A toastie maker (optional) 1. Cook the ramen according to the cooking directions on the packet. I use Koka ramen from my local bossmans and I usually boil it for two minutes. It’s just enough for my noodles to get to the density I want them. It’s good to get authentic ramen but you can also use super noodles. 2. Drain the ramen and add the seasoning, you need to get most of the water out of it. 3. Butter the slices of bread. 4. This is where the toastie maker comes in really handy. I have one with spongebob on and it’s a godsend. If you have one, just pop the bread in with ramen inbetween and close it until it’s cooked. 5. If you don’t own a toastie maker, preheat a frying pan, put the ramen inbetween the bread and cook the sandwich for two minutes on each side. Do this until it’s golden brown. 6. That’s basically it. You’ve now got the delicacy that is the ramen toastie. You can add ingredients like cheese and kimchi if you’re feeling adventurous. I like to dip mine in sauces. It works well with sriracha and korean kimchi base.

Lockdown Fruit Loaf

This cake is very adaptable and hard to get wrong (I'm terrible at cake-baking but this always seems to work!). It's a great way to use things up and having a slice of cake and a cup of tea mid afternoon adds some structure to your day in these strange times.  And it's just very satisfying to bake.

You will need a loaf tin. It may fit into other cake tins but I only have on tried putting it in a loaf tin. Feel free to improvise.

Ingredients:

A tea bag (any black tea, earl grey, lapsang souchong....Tetley, or go wild with apple and cinnamon or similar)

About a mug of any combination of dried fruit (raisins, mixed fruit, sultanas, dates, apricots..whatever you have)

100-150g sugar depending on how sweet you like things or how much sugar you have

2 eggs, beaten (use egg replacement if vegan or have no eggs)

225g flour (wholemeal, plain white, a mixture, whatever you have...)

1tsp baking powder

1tsp spice (mixed spice or cinnamon but this is optional)


Make a mug of tea (no milk), brew for 5 mins, pour into a bowl with the mug of fruit and leave for 2 hrs.

Preheat oven to 180C.

Mix sugar and eggs together. Stir in the fruit and tea and then the flour, baking powder and spice.

Grease your tin (even just with veg oil if that's all you have to hand) and spoon the mixture in.

Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for about 45mins or until a knife comes out clean when you poke it.

Reducing Waste

We are all increasingly aware of the climate change crisis and thinking about how to take action can be quite overwhelming, particularly when social media is littered with images of 'perfect' zero wasters using very expensive metal lunchboxes and wax sandwich wraps in their minimal bare-brick lofts. However, it can actually be quite easy. And save you money! It's not about being perfect and worrying about not doing enough necessarily, it's about thinking for a minute and doing what you can.





REFUSE
We are offered things all the time but do we really need or want them? Will they just end up in the bin?

REPAIR
If something breaks, can you actually fix it rather than throwing it away and buying a new one?

REUSE
Years ago, before mass plastic production and commercialisation, people just reused things and the thought of throwing something away and buying a new one didn't really occur. before throwing something away, can you repurpose it? Or can you replace disposable items with reusable ones?

REDUCE
We can reduce our waste by reducing the 'stuff' in the first place. for example, if you only buy the food you know you will eat, you won't waste any. or can you find things that have multi-uses?

RECYCLE
Recycling should be the last resort if possible but definitely better than the rubbish bin. You can check with your council website what they recycle locally - make sure that you are not contaminating your recycling bin and sending it to landfill by accident!

I've compiled a list of actions, some small, some more committed, so perhaps you could choose a few that you could easily incorporate.

Reusable water bottle - they sell them as cheaply as £2 in places like Wilko. If you are buying 2 500ml bottles of water a day, Mon-Fri, you probably spend £8 a week on water. Water! That's 104 plastic bottles and a cost of £416 a year!!!!!!! More info about tapwater here...

Reusable coffee cup - Most takeaway coffee shops will give you a discount if you bring your own cup (50p at Pret!). Disposable coffee cups look like cardboard but they are actually lined with plastic. Reusable ones can be bought as cheaply as £2.99 - that will have paid for itself in 6 Pret coffees!

Recycle - if you can't reuse, are you recycling? Here's some useful advice...

Say no to straws! - if you REALLY feel the need for one, you can get reusable ones but why do you need a straw?!

Use a cloth bag instead of plastic - they are given away for free at loads of events and you probably already have some lying around. Just keep one in your pocket or bag and you can avoid the plastic bag mountain building up at home and then in the oceans!

Reusable cutlery - even just put some from home in your bag then wash it when you get back home.

Bring your own lunch and snacks 

Cleaning with vinegar and water - commercial cleaning products are full of chemicals and cost loads. And most of them have the same basic ingredients but are advertised for different tasks to encourage us to buy more. The simplest is general cleaner with vinegar and water but this video goes into more depth.  of course, you don't need to buy special glass bottles - you can just clean out and reuse an existing bottle!

Mending your clothes- if you have a needle and some threat, you can very easily make repairs for small things like missing buttons or small holes rather than buying new clothes.  Or make friends with someone with a sewing machine who knows how to use it!

Compost food waste- you can do this in your garden if you have one and grow things but most councils will collect food waste. When it goes to landfill it gets trapped in the other rubish and creates gasses as it decomposes. Yuk.

Freeze leftovers and make stock - there is a post about it here

Alum stick - this is a natural deodorant that lasts for ages (my travel size one is still going after 2 years!). They are often on special offer and much cheaper than newer brands.

Biodegradable bin bags - some councils will recycle plastic bags but those you put your rubbish in will go to landfill.  There are biodegradable ones though which are quite cheap when bought in big packs HERE.

Loose produce bags - rather than using those flappy plastic bags, buy, make or repurpose something

Buy veg loose in a market - it's super cheap, there's no plastic and you can buy just the amount you need.

Make your own bread - can be time-consuming but is fun and quite therapeutic! Soda bread is a good way to start because it's easy and fast.

Solid shampoo - there are loads out there, some are terrible but some are really good.  And they can't leak when you're travelling!

Bamboo toothbrush- check with your dentist first but these are compostable

Metal razor - they can last a lifetime and you just need to replace the razor blades. Vintage ones can be found even cheaper on eBay

Bar soap - easy to find with no packaging, often way better for your skin

Soapnuts - these are natural cleaning 'nuts' that you put in your washing machine (no need for softener but you can use essential oil if you want a smell) and then you compost them after a few washes.

Fully use things up- make a massive stew, squeeze last bit of toothpaste...

Loose leaf tea- teabags are usually lined with plastic but you can use a metal tea bag or buy a teapot from a charity shop!

Buy in bulk- not always cheap at bulk shops but buy bigger packs of pasta etc and split with a friend

Menstrual cups - for those who menstruate, it can cost a fortune each month. Once you get the hang of these (and if they work for you) it's easy and saves you an absolute fortune.

Buy secondhand- eBay, charity shops (also sell on eBay)

Swap! - Skills, clothes, batch cooking

Rechargeable batteries - they cost a bit to buy in the first place but pay for themselves after two charges.  there is a battery recycling point in college by the main doors.

Led lightbulbs - they last much longer than the old school type

Turn things off - saves so much electricity!

Grow your own food - growing all your food is impossible in London but even with a small windowsill, you can grow herbs and chillies. There is a food growing club in college in the secret garden.

Stop using cling film- Tupperware boxes, parchment, foil (then recycle) or beeswax wraps are reusable.

Cut down on toiletries- google 'DIY sustainable toiletries' and there's loads of info

Stop using baby wipes - they don't degrade! This is quite hideous. They create 'fatbergs'.

Paper towels- Cut up and old t-shirt or get reusable cloths

Eat less/sustainable/ no meat- save it for once a week and use all parts. Game is cheap and all meat is cheaper from a butcher

Fountain pen!- find on eBay and get a refillable cartridge and some ink. Less likely to lose.

Buy better quality- sometimes expensive outlay but you can often find cheap in charity shop or on eBay. Saves buying twice.

Walk more - it's good for your mental and physical health, saves you money and reduces your carbon footprint.  Easy.

Foil ball - small pieces of foil can end up contaminating the recycling chain but if you gather bits up and roll them into a ball, it's bigger and will be detected

Reuse envelopes etc for lists before recycling


Eco bricks - see HERE

FURTHER RESOURCES:

BBC series

Sunday Roast - fast chicken

Sunday Roast doesn't need to be a ball ache. It's actually really simple. This recipe is a fast one for chicken thighs. I'll do another post for other meats and for veggie versions as well as traditional whole chicken.


For 4 people:

8 chicken thighs (use any leftovers for Monday lunch)
4 cloves garlic, whole
1 lemon cut into wedges (optional)
Thyme or rosemary sprigs (optional)
Salt and pepper
Oil

Gravy granules

8 potatoes, cut into quarters

peas/carrots, whatever veg you like.


Preheat the oven to around 200c and put a baking tray in there to heat up. 

Boil the potatoes on the hob until they are very slightly soft around the edges (about 5 mins from boiling).

Drain the potatoes and flap them about a bit in the pan to rough the edges a bit.

Put the chicken thighs, garlic and other bits if using into a baking tray and drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper.

Add the potatoes to this tray if big enough but preferably in a different baking tray, hot from the oven.

Put them in the oven for about 20 mins (check the chicken thigh packet for exact timings). The potatoes will take about 20 mins.

Turn everything at least once during cooking. Get the other veg on just before the rest is done.

When the chicken is cooked, take it out and set aside on a plate.  Make up a small mug of gravy and add it to the pan that the meat was on and put in on the hob. Thing the gravy with water fromt eh veg pan and mix it all together until it looks like gravy.

Serve it, eat it, have a nap whilst someone else does the washing up.

Grow Your Own: salad

Rather than buying a whole bag of salad or loose whole lettuces that risk ending up going slimy in the fridge, you can grow your own really easily on a windowsill, balcony or garden that you can just keep sowing and picking just as much as you need.  It will keep producing more and have no chemicals on it!

Buy some seeds from wilkos or sainsbury's or somewhere and a shallow tray and a bit of compost. Sprinkle the seeds finely on the compost and water. As the seedlings grow, you'll see that some a very close together so pinch the weedy ones out when they all have two leaves. After about 3 weeks, sprinkle some more seeds around the grown plants so that you have a later crop.


1 bag of salad - £1.50

= 2 servings

seeds - 75p
compost - £1
seed tray - £1

= all the salad you can eat, for about a year!

Grow Your Own: herbs

If you have a sunny windowsill, tender herbs are really easy to grow.  You can find pretty cheap kits (posts, seeds, compost) in garden centres and places like Wilkos. o just buy the seeds, some compost and reuse containers with drainage holes.

You can also grow them from cuttings:





If you have a garden, you are lucky enough to be able to grow woodier herbs like rosemary and bay.. Beware, they get huge so you need to cut them regularly.  Rosemary needs lots of sun but bay copes well with some shade.

Mint is super easy to grow outside. There are loads of varieties and it's great to have your own mint tea. Do make sure that you grow it in a container though as it has a habit of taking over everything - mint sends of little runners that burrow down and then pop up all over the place.  It took me 2 years to tame a rogue mint plant in my garden!

If you feel like getting adventurous with your herb growing, I totally recommend Herbal Haven as a supplier - they are online as well as at various London Farmers' Markets. it's quite fun to go to see them and get advice about where to plant/how to care for herbs you've never heard of before!!

Grow Your Own: chillies

Chilli's often get wasted if you buy a bag of them from the supermarket. A cheaper way to buy them is loose from a local shop. An even cheaper way is to buy a plant and grow your own!

They are really cheap from a garden centre from about May (about £4 from B&Q or Homebase, cheaper probably from a plant stall somewhere). Just keep in on a sunny windowsill and water when dry but not too much. If the soil is dry, water it. If it goes a bit yellow, you've watered it too much so leave it alone for a while and it should perk up.

First there will be flowers. Then come the chillies. And the more you pick, the more will grow. Like magic! If it is a green variety then pick them when they look like chillies. If they are red, purple or yellow, then they will be green to start with but will change colour as they ripen in the sun.

If you cook with a lot of chillies then this is definitely the cheapest and most handy way to go.

If you get really into it then try growing from seed! You will need to sow them in about March on a warm windowsill.