Doesnt that sound like utopia wrapped up in a neat little sentence? Just a bit to good to be true, just to similar to a slogan for some new age advertisement. But underneath the provocation that idealism brings, it sounds good. It simply sounds good.
As much as nothing of the following actually fulfills any of what is in the sentence, it strives to. And in a globalized society little is actually sustainable. But we can do our best, and how we eat and relate to recourses is a way to do just that. Organic and nutritious food is hard to afford for everyone. The Eco-trend is practically exploding all over the internet, raw food here and microbiotics there. Recipes calling for exotic super-fruits and mysterious seeds with healing powers, half of it I cannot even spell. Eating well has become a fashion
I belive that real food is available for everyone. No matter you climate-zone, budget och skill. How to balance modern comforts with traditional crafts, all incorporated in a good design that will radically improve you eating habits and change the way you look at eating and give you more time over to what you value. Lets take five steps towards Saving money, saving time, saving youself and even saving the planet.
- MEAL PLANNING – You have heard it before, and you will hear it again. It is the core and foundation to a budget but is not as restricting as one might think. Write down 3- 4 warm meals you love and a few breakfast ideas. Once you come home from shopping, spend one evening in the kitchen to cook, chop, mix and freeze vegetables. You will not have to cook every day. Ready salads in boxes, dressings in glass jars, vegetables in cubes for cooking, hummus and lunch in freezer. Once you are hungry you will not grab a boring sandwich, order take-away or snack. A gospel of angels will sing as you open your fridge or freezer: The sweet fruit of meal planning.
2. EAT BY SEASON – Lets play a game. The goal of the game is that at least half of the groceries in you bag is from the country you are in. Try once, to go all in and only pick what is local, you might find that your options are limited. But most of all ask yourself: Why is that? As much as I love avocados, grapefruits, quinoa, they dont grow in Sweden so I try to consume less of them. If you live in Brazil, then go for it! Going all local is hard if you dont have your own land, but going more local is possible for anyone. To read about traditional food in your culture, especially the northen ones, is fascinating. Our bodies also ask for different nutrition during different times of the year: Let that be an experience. To long for aspargus and nettles until spring, eat yourself full of apples in autumn and strawberries in summer, spout and eat root vegetables during winter. To experience the contrast of seasonal food is an organic adventure.
3. WHOLE FOODS – I am not gluten or lactose intolerant, and I don’t have diabetes either but I eat like if I did. There are simply some foods that does not fulfill any purpose to our bodies. Milk-sugar (lactose) Starch (gluten) and refined sugar makes us sick. Auto-immune diseases are booming all over the world and there is a pattern to how we consume more refined products, strangers to our bodies. Pasta is cheap, but will not keep you full for long. Go get them fibers: Wholegrains and flours. If you have not met the royal Sir Porridge, I reccomend you to introduce yourself during the next breakfast. Choose lactofermented dairy products and ignore the milk to put microbiotics in your system, bake/buy your own gluten-free bread and replace sugar with honey, fruits and spices. The less processed, the better.
4. NO WASTE – With good planning, you should not have to waste food. The packaging of our food is hard to walk around, but each household throws away about 7 million tonnes of eatable food each year. First of all: Dont peel your organic vegetables. Wash them well, but the whole vegetable (skin, stem, leafs) is many times very nutritious and tasty. Let the tips of the root vegetables come back to life putting the tops in water: Watch them sprout and use in salads and as garnish. Potatoes can be planted in pots, Peel made into crisps. And don’t trust the dates on the packages: Trust your senses.
5. MERRY YOU FREEZER – If you have access to one: Merry one. It was not until recently I realized that most things freeze very well and me and my freezer have wonderful conversations every day. Lemons: Grate them over food, peel and all. Brown bananas: Makes perfect ice cream. Grapes: Refreshing snack. Beans and burgers: Soak and boil in large quantities, make burgers and put in portion-size bags. Herbs: Buy in bulks, freeze and crumble in portion sizes. Over all, buying frozen vegetables and fish will save you loads of money. Keeping ready meals, simply defrosting for tomorrows lunch is the lazy chefs most powerful secret weapon.
elinolga 