Sunday reading - The Moneyless Manifesto

I am utterly delighted to discover that Mark Boyle's The Moneyless Manifesto can be read online for free! I forgo many of the books I want to read on the basis that it is (a) money I can't afford to spend and (b) more clutter on my shelves (and alas, I have yet to find an English-language library in Brussels.) Free and online is an immediate solution.

Mark has lived several years without money, and in his book proposes a move towards a 'gift economy' where we don't exchange goods or services on the basis of a set value, but rather provide each other with what we need just because we need it and each other to survive and thrive. I particularly love the story of a free festival organised in Bristol - food, booze, workshops and a huge party all organised for free, with everyone contributing what they can and want to make from foraged or salvaged or borrowed things. No money involved at all. It's a seriously cool idea.

Read it here.

My moneyless slippers

Some other bits and bobs I have enjoyed reading this week:

How to mend your jeans
Menu planning

Stressed by the daily commute? Try 'canuting' - and travel by canoe
Slow parenting?
Make your own deodorising disks
Be a clutter detective
Don't waste a moment

Free slippers

It's been a grim August. It's grey and rainy, and because they can't figure out how to turn off the air conditioning at work, we're all sitting in front of our computers wrapped up in jumpers, jackets and even blankets against the cold. So just the weather for making a pair of slippers!

You may remember I found a HUGE number of old worn pairs of jeans in one of my boxes in the basement? I've been googling ideas for things to make with all that denim, and one of the projects I came across was a tutorial for making a pair of slippers out of old jeans and cardboard. Unfortunately I now can't find the link for the one I used but there are plenty more around t'internet!

It involved drawing around flip flops on cardboard, cutting them out and covering them with denim, then stitching them into the back pockets.

They are super comfy, super soft and super warm, which shouldn't really surprise me as they are made from lovely worn denim cotton, but it did surprise me nonetheless. I'm not sure how well they will wear, but I'm only intending to wear them around the house, they were totally free and they are 100% compostable. And I've got plenty of denim left to try making a second, stronger pair when these wear out!

I really enjoyed making these. In each effort to simplify life, I encounter complication after complication. (The latest is trying to make or find plain white cotton bedsheets. It would cost three times more to make them than to just buy fitted sheets, but that's really not what I'm looking for, but I can't justify paying three times the price...) 

This project is so simple. Easily completed in an evening after work from things that would otherwise go in the bin, this is satisfyingly frugal, green and creative all at the same time. A little thing making me disproportionately happy.

Sure as eggs is eggs

I have wanted to go no-poo for aaaaaages. I've tried many alternatives, but never anything that really worked. I could kid myself it worked but I knew it looked unwashed. I've tried conditioner only. I've tried baking soda and vinegar. I've tried black tea and lemon. I've tried water only. I've most recently been using soap, followed by a vinegar rinse. I went a year without washing my hair not so long ago. I've never felt happy with how my hair looked, and always ended up caving to the shampoo.

I recently decided to try again. I went water only for a week, and was unhappy but unsurprised to find a waxy build-up in my hair. I've had this before. It never really goes.  

Then I found inspiration online. For the last two weeks, I have been washing my hair with eggs. Yes, eggs. You read that right.

My hair is clean clean clean - as clean as it would be after shampoo, but also soft and thick and bouncy, where shampoo left it feeling thin and stripped. My scalp, after a brief dandruff shower, seems to have settled down more than it has in years. The egg has totally cleaned off the waxy deposit, and the oily build-up, and my hair is CLEAN!

Egg wash is endlessly versatile, and I'm experimenting. Some washes work better than others. This is the basic recipe/method I'm using at the moment:

Eggwash for hair

1 egg, beaten

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp honey

1/2 tsp olive oil

2tbsp cold water

Mix it all up together, apply to dry hair, massage into scalp and along the length, leave for 10 minutes or so, wash out in lukewarm water (to avoid scrambling the egg), and then follow with a final rinse of cold water.

I've seen recipes online which use only egg white, or only the yolk, or which include yoghurt, beer, vinegar, essential oils and myriad other ingredients which I have yet to explore. The first time I did this, I used one egg on its own - not as effective as the wash above but still quite good.

I haven't worked out the cost yet - I imagine it is probably more expensive than commercial shampoo, but it is so lovely on my hair! I'm using it twice a week so far, but I am hoping that I can stretch out the gap between hair washes as my scalp adjusts. I should really have waited a few months to see if it is still working but I am so excited to have finally found an option leaving my hair feeling beautifully clean and nourished that I just had to share it!

Homemade pizza

Saturday night is treat night. For several years now, we have planned, cooked and eaten (well, my boyfriend largely does the planning and cooking) healthy meals during the week, and on Saturday we can forget about diets and weight loss and cholesterol, and splurge.

It's a great trick because it's not that we can't eat pizza, burgers, ice cream, chips - we just have to wait until Saturday, so it helps with will power when one of us is trying to lose some weight. It also means we don't get too tired of eating healthy meals, or too tired of cooking, because we have usually eaten out on Saturdays, or got takeway. No cooking, no washing up.

Then we had a go at homemade pizza. I don't think we will ever again be able to spend €30 between us on a couple of takeaway pizzas, when we can make even more fabulous homemade pizza for half that, and have enough to invite some friends over to share it with us. We can even open a nice bottle of wine, or some craft beer, and still spend far less than we would in a pizza restaurant.

Homemade burgers followed, with homemade bread buns, grilled cheese and bacon. Yum. Why go out to a noisy pub when we can enjoy something so much nicer and cheaper in the comfort of our own home? (I've been checking out recipes for barbeque sauce, might have to have a go at that.)

I strongly encourage everyone to have a go at homemade pizza. I've been making bread for years and thought pizza dough would be difficult, but its the easiest bread recipe I've come across. I use this recipe from the River Cottage Bread Recipe Book. It only needs to rise once before baking, so I can have it from the bowl to the oven in less than an hour, or it can be left to develop more. 

 

My boyfriend mixes up a paste from tomato concentrate, which we always have in the cupboard. The only thing we need to go out and buy for this is the cheese, ham or other toppings. It's super quick and super tasty and super filling.

Saturday night is still treat night, but we are increasingly using it to invite people over. A couple of pizzas, a bowl of salad and a bottle of wine makes for an incredibly easy but really nice evening. Throw in some decent ice cream or even a pre-prepared tiramisu and we can call it a dinner party. 

I've even been able to add some fresh basil - my first homegrown ingredient on a homemade pizza.

Curfew

I'm sooooo tired. I have been for the last ten days or so. Counterintuitively, I've been sleeping far better. I think this means I'm catching up on a long-standing sleep debt, and that's why I'm craving more sleep.

I'm sleeping much better for one very simple reason. At my boyfriend's suggestion, I am observing a 9pm 'curfew' after which I switch off my laptop and put my phone on silent. I don't check emails, don't read blogs, don't browse facebook or watch videos on upworthy or chat to people on skype. I also don't channel-hop on tv, but can watch a pre-recorded programme or a film.

As a result, I use my time more effectively earlier in the evening because if I want to send an email or write a blog post, I have a self-imposed deadline. I have a more relaxed evening, more focused on what I'm doing now instead of multi-tasking (or multi-failing, more accurately).

I wind down earlier, and find myself heading to bed earlier as well. I used to go to bed between 11 and 12, but now I find myself dozing off by 10.30. I sleep far better and awake more rested. I'm a definite convert.

Have you tried something similar?

Jam is not just for toast

When I was growing up, jam was eaten on toast. On occasion, it might be eaten on a scone or crumpet, but that's about it. But jam is so much more than a spread for toast. All that concentrated sunshiney sweet fruit, the tangy vegetables, are a beautiful accompaniment to other food groups you may not expect.

Jam with meat. Yeeuch, I hear you say. Fruit and meat? Ho yes. Back in ye olde times, mixing meat and fruit was common, cos its yummy. Turkey with cranberry sauce, anyone? Pork with apple jelly, or lamb tajine with dried apricots? Redcurrent jerry in homemade gravy? Preserved fruit most definitely has a place on the meat dish, whether in the marinade or next to the cooked meat. My favourite is cranberry and port jam with poultry or pork.

Jam with cheese. Fig jam with a soft brie and a slice of homemade bread is a beautiful, beautiful thing. Cherry jam is also good for this, as is our favourite cranberry. I've not yet made it, but onion marmalade is also delicious with cheese.

Jam with ice cream. Peach and walnut jam on vanilla ice cream is summer in a bowl. Cherry jam just takes so much more cherry-y than plain cherries, somehow. Strawberry jam, with a drizzle of melted chocolate for good measure. (Just wait until I can make my own ice cream. Then this will seriously rock.)

Jam with porridge. This is one for winter, or for days when I need cheering up in the morning. A bowl of warm, comforting porridge with a spoonful of raspberry or cherry jam. So, so yes.

And for good measure, you can still eat it on toast. How about you? Any favourite jam tricks? I keep meaning to try using them in drinks, fruity flavour and sweetness in one hit.

Edit Things wot I missed:
Jam with yoghurt
Jam in sandwiches
Jam with meatballs
Jam in cakes (Victoria sandwich)

Cue a Monty Python-style song: jam, jam, jam, jam, lovely jam...

Free plant containers

So as you may know, I've been frustrated in my container gardening aspirations by my refusal to spend silly sums of money on gardening centre pots, and my difficulty finding any cheap alternatives.

However, recently I've started seeing free pots. Everwhere. I don't know if it's because everyone's chucking them out or because I've started looking at random plastic tubs differently. I picked up a couple of slightly cracked storage boxes which had been dumped by the roadside (we have a problem with flytipping round here but on this occasion it worked in my favour). I pushed a few holes in the bottom, glued the cracks shut and voila.

I took advantage of the gorgeous weather this week to sow lettuce, radishes and sunflowers in one pot. The other one (in the middle) is only waiting for me to get some more potting compost - it will hold rocket, sorrel and spring onions. I took this opportunity to interplant some lamb's lettuce with the beetroot, and sow some herbs in some small pots that were cluttering up the balcony. 

It's certainly looking a bit more like a balcony garden, no? I picked up the watering can for €2,50 from the second-hand shop, I think it will make watering easier than using a measuring jug.