The WI, Vegan Macaroni & Learning a trick or two......

If I asked you what you thought of the WI you would probably have images of cute little old farmers wife’s huddled round knitting, singing cheering renditions of Jerusalem while eating big chunks of homemade cake served with a strong cup of tea. Lovely – but would it make you want to be part of the WI? You would maybe presume younger women would never want to be seen there or that it offered nothing to the women of today? That it was out of touch with what was happening in the world outside of the villages these women live in perhaps? But what if I told you that you were wrong? (Except for the amazing homemade cakes and tea – you will definitely learn a baking trick or two!)

The Women's Institute (WI) was formed in 1915 to revitalise rural communities and encourage women to become more involved in producing food during the First World War. Since then the organisation's aims have broadened and the WI is now the largest voluntary women's organisation in the UK. The WI celebrated its centenary in 2015 and currently has almost 220,000 members in approximately 6,300 WIs. The WI plays a unique role in providing women with educational opportunities and the chance to build new skills, to take part in a wide variety of activities and to campaign on issues that matter to them and their communities.

The WI has succeeded for so long and continues to do so because they have moved with the times. Pop into any WI nowadays and you will find young women who are wives and mothers, who bake and love a good natter but also women who are strong, independent and career driven. Topics covered in meetings range from supporting local domestic violence projects, decorating local bus stops that had been vandalised and veganism (yep you read that right!)  As well as many other local, important issues.

Speaking of veganism - it was at this month’s WI meeting that our guest speaker was Katy Beskow – author of ’15 minute vegan’ . She came and shared some of her amazing recipes with us and this was without a doubt my favourite. Enjoy!

Butternut Squash and Sage Macaroni  (Serves 2 generously)

3 tbsp olive oil

1 medium butternut squash, peeled and chopped into chunks (I used Waitrose frozen chunks)

1 onion, chopped finely

2 tsp dried sage

600ml vegetable stock

300g dried macaroni ( I used gluten free)

Pinch of black pepper

1 slice of day old crusty bread, grated finely into breadcrumbs ( I used gluten free)

How To -

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/ Gas Mark 6

2. Arrange the butternut squash and onion on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes. The butternut squash should be soft and the onion tender

3. Remove the butternut squash and onion from the oven and spoon into a high powered blender. Sprinkle in the sage and add the stock. Blend on high until smooth.

4. Scatter the pasta into an oven-proof dish. Pour over the butternut squash sauce evenly and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Add a top layer of breadcrumbs and return to the oven and cook for an extra 10 minutes until the edges are bubbling and the topping is slightly browned and crisp. Serve immediately.

Hot baths, bath bombs & a little Christmas Inspiration......

With the nights getting cold and dark nothing beats a long hot soak in the tub and the bath bomb is definitely the icing on the cake as they say. Lately I have developed a new found love of LUSH bath bombs – the smell, the way they leave your skin feeling sooo soft  and the fizzing / whizzing they do in the bath is an addictive combination! However the price tag (I am on a savings mission) does not excite me. So I decide to have a go at making my own and they turned out surprisingly well! Why not have a go or make them for little stocking fillers as Christmas approaches. - perfect Sunday afternoon craft session or what?!

Homemade Bath Bombs (makes two large size or 3-4 "Easter Egg" size depending on your mould (you can easily double or triple)

4 oz. baking soda

2 oz. corn starch

2 oz. citric acid

2 oz. Epsom salt

1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons water

1 teaspoon essential oil (I love otto rose)

1 1/4 teaspoon oil (I like coconut or olive oil here)

1-2 drops food colouring (optional)

How To -

1 - In a bowl combine the dry ingredients (the first four listed above).

2 - Whisk to remove any clumps, corn starch tends to be clumpy.

3 - In a small glass jar stir together the wet ingredients (the last four ingredients listed). If you're using coconut oil, give it a quick melt in the microwave or stove top first so it will more easily combine with the other ingredients.

4 - Slowly pour the liquid mixture in with the dry mixture, whisking as you go. If you see the mixture fizz or foam, you may be adding the liquid too quickly.

5- Once all the wet ingredients are combined with the dry, take a small amount in your hand and squeeze it together. It should stick together fairly well in one or two big chunks. If it's still too powdery to hold together, just add a tiny bit more water and mix until it does hold together.

6- Then fill each half of your bath bomb mould with the mixture until it's just overflowing a little. Press together, then gently remove one side of the mould.

7- Place the bath bomb on a tray and allow to dry out just a little (10-12 minutes) before removing the other side. Once you are ready to remove the other side, gently invert the bath bomb so the uncovered side is facing down, then gently remove the other half of the mould from the top.

8- The key word, if you haven't noticed, is gently. These can fall apart on you very easily if you're not careful. If a bath bomb does crack in half while you're removing it, you can gently press it back on top of the other half, or remove all the mixture back to the mixing bowl and start the moulding process again. I had this happen to a few, so don't fret, it's easy to fix.

9 - Once they are completely out of the mould, allow them to dry out for 8 hours or overnight. Once very dry, you can wrap them in plastic wrap and store in a dry place until you're ready to use them, or you can gift them to friends. Enjoy!

You can add dried flower buds, like lavender buds, to these pretty easily. Just remember to use food grade dried flowers to avoid flowers that might have been grown with pesticides as you don't want to soak in a bath with that. No thanks! Do keep in mind that after using a bath bomb with dried petals, you will have to remove these from your tub. So if that bothers you, then leave the buds out.

Period Pains & A Fab Little Bag.......

As an eco friendly bunny happily skipping along, trying to be the change I want to see in the world there are the occasional tiny (ok – some times massive) stumbling blogs and decisions about the right and wrong of an action that need to be made. Now this issue has been bothering me for some time, ladies – how do you dispose of your tampons?

 

If, like me, you care about the environment, or have ever experienced a blocked toilet, you probably hate the thought of flushing tampons – but the alternative “bag and bin” options can be fraught with anxiety, embarrassment and difficulties…

 

We know flushing a tampon is just not a good idea for several reasons:

 •Our sewer systems can only handle bodily waste and toilet paper; anything else, are a nightmare and frequently get stuck, and if it floods can end up in our rivers, seas – yuk!

 •Embarrassing… they don’t always flush away, if you’ve ever experienced poor plumbing you’ll know the problems flushing tampons can cause!

 •Sometimes you just can’t flush them eg. septic tank, festivals, camping, sailing etc.

 

So you can imagine my delight when I was contacted by Martha Silcott - inventor of FabLittleBag TM. The list of there amazing qualities goes on but here are a few…..

 

• Super Practical

 

FabLittleBagTM is a discreet little bag that you can drop your used tampon into and then seal securely with one hand using the patented clever finger loops, this is really useful if you are holding a used tampon in the other hand!

 

• Environmentally a better choice

 

Made 35% from organic material, oxo-biodegradable, and since there’s no need to flush they keep tampons out of the rivers, seas and sewers.

 

• Guilt-free, Stress-free

 

No need to worry about if there is a bin, or if you have a nappy sack on you or if there is enough toilet paper to wrap it in. FabLittleBagTM puts you back in control of disposal, every time, anywhere…

 

The best solution. Period.

 

Get yours at Amazon, Ocado or Waitrose.

 

Find out more at http://www.fablittlebag.com/