30th June 2022
And last from the batch, red carlin peas. Using the last of the week’s OddBox, I fried onion, garlic and red pepper together and then added cooked potatoes and cauliflower, stirred a while before finally adding the drained peas and a couple of spoons of chutney. Here it is being served with baba ganoush.
29th June 2022
The wrinkled peas have become a version of risi bisi but rather than rice I have used porridge oats. Beginning with a chopped onion and come garlic cooked in oil, I added the oat flakes as if I were making a risotto. Next I added the peas and their cooking liquid and a chopped tomato, and stirring from time to time allowed the oats to swell and absorb the liquid. For extra flavour I added some pepper and nutmeg. Once the desired texture was achieved, I added some nutritional yeast flakes (ones fortified with vitamin B12). Another time I might add lemon juice and zest, or parsley, or salted lemon for different flavours.
What does sustainability look like in daily life? I thought I would share our (that’s me and my husband) experiences. What we cook and eat and where we shop, has been shaped by three principles.
L is for local: locally produced food, which can include things grown or produced in one’s immediate locality and things where local can mean the UK rather than abroad. For example in East Sheen we can buy honey that comes from Richmond Park. We can buy coffee beans roasted across the river in Chiswick. We can have breakfast in Putney enjoying porridge or eggs Benedict made on the premises. We can choose to buy strawberries from Kent as opposed to imported from Spain. Equally we can eat strawberries grown in our back garden. We buy beans and pulses, seeds and grains such as quinoa, from Hodmedod whose produce is all UK grown.
O is for organic: organic food has a less damaging impact on the planet than non organic food. Indeed it’s effect can be positive, with soils improved with vegetable matter rather than being stripped of its micro-organisms by fertilisers, with pollinators encouraged rather than being killed by pesticides, with livestock well cared for rather than being routinely treated with antibiotic prophylactics. We buy organically grown oats, and flour that comes from farms in Cambridgeshire and which is milled in a windmill!
A is for animal friendly: animals that live as near a natural life as possible (often organically raised). If we buy eggs for my husband we opt for free range, organic ones (although at the moment no eggs are free range owing to restrictions around bird flu). At Christmas the festive bird for my husband is a cockerel that has enjoyed a whole year of life unlike most of chicken meat which comes from birds that live may be 6 – 8 weeks (up to 12 for organically raised birds).
F is for fairly traded: the Fair Trade mark is well known as measure where production has guaranteed a price above the market minimum, where the work force receive fair wages and where provision is made for services such as schooling and health care. We buy fair trade bananas, chocolate and tea which are now widely available. We buy coffee beans that have been ethically sourced from small scale producers who grow top quality beans, appreciating that the higher cost reflects their value.
2. Secondly we avoid excess and plastic packaging, a habit we learnt through a zero waste experiment. We buy dried fruit and nuts, and dry goods such as rice, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda, spices, sugar, cocoa, millet and polenta from local refill stores where goods are dispensed into paper bags – often ones we have brought to reuse. We also buy refills of olive oil, soy sauce, maple syrup, tahini and peanut butter, taking our own jars and bottles to refill. Milk – both oat and dairy – comes in reused glass bottles on the milk round. Since we cook meals from scratch we avoid lots of single use plastic boxes. Likewise making our own cakes and biscuits reduces the amount of waste we generate. Jam jars are reused when we make jam, marmalade and chutneys and when we bottle summer fruits. Deliveries from Hodmedod come in paper or compostable bags, flour and oats come in bulk in paper sacks.
3. Thirdly we seek to reduce the carbon footprint of what we eat. Most meals are vegan – Paul enjoys cheese in his sandwiches and dairy milk on his cereal. A vegan diet can save in the region 400 and 900 kgCO2 a year. Even with a vegan diet there are ways of being more or less carbon efficient. By choosing locally produced food, food that is in season and cutting back on food waste (other vegetable leaves, tea bags and coffee grounds all go into the compost bin whilst apple cores go to make cider vinegar) we aim to minimise our carbon footprint. We have a weekly fruit and vegetable delivery from OddBox which collects fruit and vegetables from farmers and suppliers that would otherwise go to waste – because supermarket demand has dropped, crops have been larger (or sometimes smaller) than expected), crops have ripened too quickly/ slowly, or items are too small/ big/ misshapen for general sale. OddBox by preventing food from going to waste, saves some 11,000 tonnes of CO2 a year.
25th June 2022
I recently stopped from a paper newspaper to a digital one on the basis that it has a lower carbon footprint. But what it also does is to remove trade from the local newsagents. Should I spend what I save on the digital newspaper at the local newsagents? I am not sure what else I would want there. Might I with good conscience spend the saving on a coffee at my local café instead?
As we all switch to a greener lifestyle there are going to be changes that affect people’s livelihoods – what about petrol station attendants? There needs to be an onus on to look for ways we can support local green businesses.
28th June 2022
The yellow split peas have become this week’s sandwich spread. This is a type of hummus ( true hummus is made from chick peas). The drained peas are blitzed to a paste with the juice of a lemon, some olive oil, garlic and a couple of spoons of tahini. Exact quantities vary as necessary to achieve the desired texture. If it becomes too runny, I add pumpkin or sunflower seeds to thicken things. Extra flavours come by adding pepper or paprika, lemon zest or herbs: I especially like dill.
27th June 2022
The cooked chicken peas I have combined with chopped mushrooms and Brazil nuts and wrapped in a flaky pastry case, adapting a recipe from Betty’s Cookery School (of Harrogate tea room fame).
Flaky pastry made from250g flour and 225g vegan butter
Filling made from a chopped onion, fried with garlic, to which I added about 250g of chopped mushrooms, flavoured with black pepper and rosemary. After a little more cooking, I added 100g each chick peas and chopped Brazil nuts. To add more flavour, I added a spoonful of quince jelly and some poppy seeds. Finally I added a couple of spoons of polenta to absorb any moisture, before laying the filling in the middle of the rolled out pastry. The edges of the pastry I cut into and plaited, before baking 30+ minutes at 200C.
26th June 2022
In an earlier blog I explained how I cook a week’s worth of beans/ pulses at a time. This includes chick peas, red Carlin peas, wrinkled green peas, yellow split peas and marrow fat peas. How will these turn into meals?
The cooked marrow fat peas I put in a dish and baked in the oven (30c minutes at 200C) with chopped tomatoes, olive oil and black pepper, and served with roast cauliflower and potatoes.
26th June 2022
Elijah’s life as a prophet had not been straight forward. He had been opposed by the prophets of Baal, by King Ahab, by Queen Jezebel. He had been tested to the limit by God – passing through wind, fire and earth quake. His life was not a rose tinted advert extolling the perks of being God’s chosen prophet. Elisha however is not deterred and follows Elijah assiduously. And when asked what he wants, asks for a double dose of Elijah’s spirit. I am not sure I could manage even a quarter of his spirit.
What is it that inspires Elisha? Maybe Elijah’s closeness to God: God is always there with through thick and thin. Maybe it is seeing God’s power at work through Elijah: the miracles he works. Maybe it is that against the odds, Elijah’s certainty that God’s will will prevail, even if he, Elijah, should perish. Maybe it is Elijah’s commitment to God, his sense of vocation that allows him to pursue no other career – his “zeal for the Lord”.
I know I often lack certainty about my calling, about what God wants of me and what God wants for the world. I often lack confidence that God’s creation in its present form will survive our human foolishness. On the other hand what could a figure like Elijah achieve for the environmental movement? His stubbornness in standing up against the fossil fuel giants. His persistence in effecting change in government mindsets. His ability to channel God’s wisdom. Maybe a part of me admires Elisha’s audacity in asking for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit.
How apt then is Paul’s message to the Galatians: a message which is as necessary for us today. To know that we are made free in Christ. Free to live according to God’s will: to live according the spirit of God rather than according to the deceitful, greedy, selfish way that Paul calls ‘of the flesh’. Free instead to love, to love our neighbour so completely that we can, Paul says, look like slaves! When I doubt what God wishes me to do, or how God wishes I should live in this world, I must recall Elisha’s double portion, but that Spirit that produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are the fruits that nourish the kingdom of God.
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground.
When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” He responded, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.” As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.
He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.
Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20
1 I will cry aloud to God; *
I will cry aloud, and he will hear me.
2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; *
my hands were stretched out by night and did not tire;
I refused to be comforted.
11 I will remember the works of the Lord, *
and call to mind your wonders of old time.
12 I will meditate on all your acts *
and ponder your mighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holy; *
who is so great a god as our God?
14 You are the God who works wonders *
and have declared your power among the peoples.
15 By your strength you have redeemed your people, *
the children of Jacob and Joseph.
16 The waters saw you, O God;
the waters saw you and trembled; *
the very depths were shaken.
17 The clouds poured out water;
the skies thundered; *
your arrows flashed to and fro;
18 The sound of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
your lightnings lit up the world; *
the earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way was in the sea,
and your paths in the great waters, *
yet your footsteps were not seen.
20 You led your people like a flock *
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Galatians 5:1,13-25
For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.
Luke 9:51-62
When the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village.
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
24th June 2022
There is a growing awareness of the importance of both silence and green spaces as contributors to our physical and mental well being. Nearby Ham House has a lovely lavender garden which is just coming into flower providing a multi sensory experience. At various times during the week it is available as a quiet space, part of the Silent Space network – https://silentspace.org.uk/what-we-do/
23rd June 2022
Kew Gardens in the sun is the place for an ice cream treat. The ice cream stand not only offers three plant based flavours, but also compares the carbon footprint of the different flavours on offer. The vegan strawberry ice cream has half the carbon footprint of its clotted cream sister.
I wonder if they would sell more vegan ice cream if those flavours featured at the top of the bill board?
The Green Tau 