With the news that Sainsbury’s have removed plastic wrapping from their tea bags and switched to PLA making their bags biodegradable we have updated our tea page. Full details can be found here https://livinggentler.wordpress.com/food-and-drink/about-tea/
Java, Java, Java! Plastic free* from bean to cup thanks to the wonderful people at W Martyn Tea and Coffee Specialists in Muswell Hill, London. http://www.wmartyn.co.uk *only plastic free if you go to the shop with your own containers and buy loose beans or ground.
We didn’t want a new kitchen we needed one! When we moved into Living Gentler towers we knew we would need a new kitchen, the units were bruised and battered, waterleaks had taken their toll and the doors were peeling slightly due to a lack of extraction. So we ummed and arred and in typical… Read More With a push and a shove its almost there!
Strawberry jamming to be precise… We went Strawberry picking as a family, age range 3 – 90 years old. 6kg of Strawberries later we needed to make some jam. So being a lazy jam maker I found a nice simple recipe. 1kg of fruit to 750g of sugar and the juice of a lemon. To… Read More We’re jamming!
We find some wonderful places on our travels around East Anglia, and the other day we found somewhere special. This delightful shop is run by David and Lorraine has a wonderfully old fashioned feel to it, there is a large range of products available, from refill cereals and ingredients to plastic free soaps, eco-tpilet roll… Read More Reuse, and avoid plastic at Uncle Sid’s
Thats it, todays the day… I have put it off long enough mend it Saturday has arrived. Its a day of seeing how many jobs I can get done so we can continue to use things rather than buying new. So far the list is; Dining room chair seat pad (In laws) Garden chair arm… Read More Mend it Saturday
One day….. its just one day, but it could and should have positive repercussions for the planet for years to come. We wish President Biden well with his conference but on a day such as today perhaps we should all look and see what we can do for our planet. We welcome your comments, suggestions,… Read More Earth Day 2021
We hear a lot about sustainable and cruelty free products in womens toiletries and make up but very little where the guys are concerned. At Living Gentler we do as much as we can to support products not tested on animals, and whilst not being vegan we value sustainable, responsibly sourced products that avoid animal… Read More One for the guys
We have now tried multiple varieties of loo roll that are plastic wrap free, they come in different price and quality bands and all have their place. Some are available in store and others are on line only. In store varieties include; Nicky Elite 4 & 9 packs in Home Bargains. Andrex 4 packs in… Read More Plastic free toilet roll, kind to your bum and the environment.
I tgink anyone following Living Gentler regularly knows I love baking. So as a birthday treat to myself I have had a mega baking day. First up seeded rolls to go with the last of Mrs. Living Gentlers home made chicken and veg soup. That was closely followed by a slipper loaf (mini bloomer) And… Read More Birthday baking
With snow still causing problems getting around I focussed on baking today. stonebaked wholemeal Focaccia and a loaf were the order of the day.
It was supposed to be the other day but it never happened, so restricted to barracks due to hazardous driving conditions today was Marmalade Monday. 3 Seville Oranges, 1 litre of water and 1kg of sugar. Makes three and a half jars of bitter sweet seville marmalade! Breakfast will be home made bread toasted with… Read More Marmalade day
Not really… We just left it to prove a bit too long, and the slices wont fit the toaster. While your here why not have a look at some of our other blog posts and pages?
With less travel for work farm shop Saturday is becoming a thing in our household. We got a good haul today…. Thanks to Pruttons’s and Suffolk Farmhouse Cheese. We would rather put our money into local businesses than supermarkets. #shoplocal
Its the weekend! Its not frosty here and its not raining! So tattie cake and fried egg for breakfast. Make some bread dough (double batch after the families bread eating shenanigans last week) Took a morning walk while the bread completed its first rise… Prove it cook it then out to our butchers followed by… Read More Its a farm shopping and breadmaking kind of day…
With snow on the ground todays farmshopping expedition is delayed slightly to allow the little living gentlers time to play….. So the bakers will now be shut, oh well breadmaking time! Dough after first rise. In tin to prove Ready to bake Cooked!
Well now here a thing…. We supported Oraganuary last year, and are proud to do so again in 2021. Due to our love of liver, kidney, pate, and haggis we already consume a reasonable amount of organ meat in our diets, but we can always do more. This campaign is designed to encourage people to… Read More Organuary 2021
As the rain clouds cleared letting the blue sky to emerge and the sun shine brighten the day, I started cooking breakfast. We had some left over roast potatoes and cabbage so bubble and squeak was on the agenda. Both had come from Putton potatoes farm shop 5 miles away. The bubble was topped with… Read More A local breakfast!
What went well Breadmaking – We honed our breadmaking skills, and found independent artisan sources of quality flour. Jam making – We raided the hedgerows this year, and successfully made jams from Blackberries, Sloes, and roadside apples. We made Hawthorn syrup, and with donated chilli some chilli sauce! Sustainable shopping – As covid crept among… Read More So how was Living Gentler in 2020?
Sometimes the things right in front of you are the most important thing in the world…. Pan fried British smoked treacle cured bacon from M&M Rutland, with Parlick fell cheese from Revetts the butchers, on malted granary from the cake shop bakery buttered with suffolk farmhouse cheese butter… Local on a plate and tasty to!
Update 16-12-20 So we were looking for a sustainable, cost neutral supply to toilet roll. We ordered some ‘Nicky’ rolls from a wholesaler. The toilet rolls arrived as promised five paper wrapped packs of nine rolls in a cardboard box. They are soft strong and fairly long, and fraganced so no tinned airfreshner needed on… Read More Plastic free loo rolls
Work took me to rural Essex today, following a damp day by the roadside I decided to revisit Colletts Farm shop at Wormingford. Their milk is now available in glass which is a bonus, and their scotch eggs are rather wonderful! Looking foreward to spreading some of their raw milk farmhouse butter on some of… Read More Wet nuts and raw butter, (farm shopping around Essex).
Work has taken me across to Norfolk again, just outside of Diss there is a small brown and white farm shop sign. If you follow those signs there is Place Farm, with its lovely little farm shop! They are on facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/Place-Farm-Eggs-More-100523731637736/ The shop majors on the free range eggs produced on the farm (we… Read More New farm shop!
We like to support local events and think this one is really worthwhile. It takes place at Trinity Park Ipswich in the cow sheds. The organisers have struggled to get the word out about this on social media so please share the details with your friends. More info can be found by clicking the image… Read More Suffolk Farmers Market 17th October 10am – 2pm
Thank you to those that followed yesterdays breadmaking thread on Twitter. Incase anyone missed any steps, the photos are below. The ingredients used were; 3 cups strong white bread flour 2 cups strong wholemeal breadflour 1 cup light rye flour 1/2 cup mixed seeds 1 teaspoon seasalt 2 teaspoons Suffolk honey Approximately 1 1/2 mugs… Read More 321 Bread
I like jam, the little living gentlers like it as well. I also like making jam, not that I am great at it, its either runny or solid. But I enjoy making it. So today was Blackberry jam day! Having promised for a week and with work having to come first, I finally took the… Read More Jam!
There is much said about unnecessary plastic packaging, and indeed here at #livinggentler we are vocal about it ourselves. In particular we have a real issue with the plastic wrap around toilet paper and kitchen towels, its single use, has very limited recycling opportunities and generally just ends up in the waste bin. We already… Read More Paper packaging
So we may have found one of our much sought after products. Long lasting, nice smelling palm free soap that has no plastic wrapping… So we took delivery of soap from the friendly soap company…. More to follow! So we are now coming to the end of our second multipack. We are going to try… Read More Friendly Soap product trial
Making happy memories is really what life should be all about. Today my 89 year old mum saw her first solstice sun rise. What made it special was that she was sharing this with her grand daughters as they saw their first sunrise. With three generations from one family making a special day memorable… Sometimes… Read More Summer Solstice Sunrise
We eat lots of it at #livinggentler Greek set, Greek style, and ordinary yogurt all find a place in our fridge. Its good for you, is a great source of protein, and tastes great either as it is, or mixed with fruit and / or honey. BUT and this is the thing for us….. most… Read More Yogurt!
