Homebird household #brightFuture challenge

In my twenties I was fairly unconcerned about the future, although I was aware of environmental issues, I suppose I didn't take my responsibilities seriously enough. 

But....years later and as a parent I take the responsibility of my effect upon the environment with much more concern and thought - 83% of British parents felt like the birth of their first child made them want to change their life for the better. In addition, 9 out of 10 parents and 8 out of 10 children agree that if we all do our bit for the environment, no matter how small - 'together we can make the world a better place'

Unilever's brightFuture campaign focuses on the small changes that make a big difference to living sustainably.

So what little things do we do as a family to create a #brightFuture.......?

We grow our own vegetables and fruit at our allotment, use no pesticides and help encourage the wildlife too. Growing our own veggies cuts down on food miles and it's all organic so I ensure that what we eat is healthy and has no unknown chemicals in them. Little Bird loves the allotment and gets absolutely filthy - mud pies, digging the soil, exploring the plot and then taking home lovely home grown produce to cook with. Of course all that soil gets onto my son's clothes but I don't mind, it's a great sensory experience to feel the earth between your fingers and the clothes can easily be washed - Persil encourages children to get out and play - quite right too - and washing at a lower temperature helps the environment by saving energy.

The veggie scraps go onto the compost and a year later is rich organic matter to dig back into the soil. This is part of our recycling effort to cut down on landfill. Paper and card are used to help get our wood burner going and glass and plastics go in the council recycling tubs.

In the evening we try and not waste energy by turning lights off when we leave a room and not leaving the television on - candles flickering and reading a book instead some nights. A meter on the side shows how much electricity and gas we have used during the day so monitoring this has really helped and it is a challenge to keep the costs down.


Since launching the Sustainable Living Plan, Unilever have helped 482 million people to improve their health and hygiene, including hand washing, improving self-esteem and oral hygiene. Domestos has committed to helping 25 million people gain improved access to a toilet by 2020. Access to sanitation can protect people from diseases, reduce mortality rate and improve quality of life. 

*This post is an entry for BritMums #brightFuture Challenge, sponsored by Unilever 

Mysteries of Pendine Sands

A Limestone headland at Pendine, Carmarthenshire and a 6 mile long flat beach with heroic tales of attempted land speed records and tragedy - JG Parry Thomas died here attempting the land speed record in 1927 in Babs the car. The car was later buried in the sands here but then excavated and put into the Land Speed Museum.

Pendine in Welsh is Pentywyn, "end of the dunes" and the dune system edges the beach with drifts of sand and marram grass. Interesting geology to explore and fault lines in the area caused an earth tremor that registered at a magnitude of 5  in 1983. Follow the shore to the headland and below are caves, a mysterious place of chambers, rock pools of turquoise waters and sands of treasure. Bones and sharp pointed teeth have been found in them, antiquarian finds and the sounds of ghostly fiddler playing from inside the Green Bridge Cave. In 1603 there were reports of a mermaid seen here at Gilman's Point, frolicking and swimming

With the flatness of the sand it also meant that light aircraft could use the area as a runway and in 1933 aviator heroine Amy Johnson attempted an Atlantic flight from here to New York but unfortunately had to crash land in Connecticut. In World War II the MoD used the beach as a firing range and on parts of the beach there are still restrictions - be careful what you find.

Degustabox September - earthy autumn flavours.

 Degustabox September arrived and was tried out, a mixture of sweet, savoury and drinks.
My favourite was the Metcalfe's Popcorn Thins in Italian chocolate £1, a crunchy thin popcorn cake with a layer of delicious chocolate on top, all for 82 calories. Quite expensive for a snack but I would pick one up from the shops if on offer.

Chia Bia Whole and Milled Chia Seed sachets, 2 x £1. These are small black and white seeds that you add to your foods for a boost of Omega 3, fibre, protein and vitamins. I've not used mine as yet but when I have my new oven will do some baking with them - adding to blueberry muffins or some home baked bread.

Teisseire Sirop in Framboise and Cranberry flavour £2.99. This was delicious and as I've not been well recently, so refreshing and just what I needed. I added it to sparkling water and it was a drink I'd look to buy again - 0% sugar and in other flavours too - grenadine, pink grapefruit and lemon. Loved the packaging too, felt like a really quality product and I was really pleased to find this in the latest box.

Miso Tasty Miso Soup £3.65 I haven't tried this as I've always been put off Miso Soup as some sort of brown water resembling puddle water.... But what I've learnt is that Miso Soup is a nutritious broth made from fermented soy beans and rice, with a hint of Japanese shichimi spice. Gluten free and suitable for vegans, plus health benefits of being naturally rich in protein and B12 for building up your immune system. I am going to try it as a base for a vegetable soup.

Hartley's no Added Sugar Jelly Pots 4 x 50p, I assumed these might have gelatine in and hence didn't try them but the rest of the household enjoyed them. A lovely snack pot of jelly in fruity flavours.
 Cirio Borlotti express Beans £1.89 for a pack of three. These beans are ready to use and perfect for me as a veggie for I use them in so many dishes. Now it's autumn and the slow cooker is out I added them into soup and casserole. I love them as they are so versatile, in fact I grow borlotti beans on the allotment.  Cape Drinks in pineapple and passion fruit and peach and lychee flavours 2 x £1.59. A sparkling blend of Rooibos Tea which is full of anti-oxidants and fruit juice. Just natural ingredients and a refreshing taste.
Get Fruity Bars £1, I've tried these before and they're a nice snack to take out with me. Gluten free oats with a high percentage of oats and produced on a nut free site.

Say YES to No Bread Chips £1.49. We tried the BBQ chips and ate them before I managed to take a picture -oops! Moreish and great with cheese as a lovely snack.

Mrs Crimble's Fusilli £1.99 Gluten free corn fusilli pasta with a creamy mushroom sauce. I'm the only one that likes mushrooms so this was all mine. A little bland for my liking so I added chilli but ok as a quick dinner before I have to rush out of an evening.

Degustabox is a monthly subscription box of food where you get a surprise of products which are new across the market. A perfect foodie delight each month and it's quite the community with people sharing what's in the box come delivery day. You can try Degustabox for £12.99 a month or with this code BLDEG15 receive £7 off.

*I received a Degustabox for the purpose of the review, words are my own honest opinion.

A churchyard picnic #FloraLunchbox

We don't need a packed lunch for school as school is out for my home edder but we do pack a lunch for our day trips which lately has been in churches and churchyards. The latter where we learn about nature and enjoy the peace - a great place for a picnic on a graveyard bench. A little spooky perhaps but we are used to it but it is Halloween so I added a couple of seasonal elements to our latest lunch.

Recent research by Flora with the University of Leeds found that a mere 1.6% of primary school lunch boxes are meeting nutritional standard with too many still full of saturated fats, sugars and salts with not enough fruits and vegetables.

Little Bird has big sensory issues and food can be tricky, especially vegetables but he loves fruit - all kinds. I call him my little fruit bat. So....veggies I have to sneak in which I did with some grated carrot on our sandwich.

Using Flora which is rich in Omega 3 and 6 is lower in saturated fat than butter and we used this on our Best of Both bread with some grated cheese, lettuce, grated carrot and homemade spiced apple chutney - a bit of jazzing up helps LB with his foods and he really craves anything spicy. 

Flora have produced a guide to help parents and carers put together a yummy, healthy packed lunch which was really useful. We also added some popcorn with some melted cocoa nibs on it and LB's favourite strawberries and a clementine dressed up as a Jack O'lantern. The study found that only 17% of lunchboxes contained fruit and vegetables although positively the amount of sugary drinks consumed has decreased.

As a vegetarian I agree with Flora when they say that eating more plants is beneficial to us and the planet, 100% of the oils in Flora are from plants.

We'll be using the guide to get some recipe ideas over the next few weeks  - Moroccan cous cous salad for me using Flora and will try some Bagels with hummus for LB. 

This post is an entry for the #FloraLunchbox Linky Challenge, sponsored by Flora. Check out their lunch planner and recipe ideas here <http://www.flora.com/article/category/1104207/healthy-kids 

Start of October

The first crispy brown leaf
The first log fire
 A new mug supporting a cause I feel strongly about
A walk in the garden, taking in the slow changes of autumn
 The first lot of dyed heather appearing in the shops
A holiday to East Sussex with a foxy front door
 Pretty tearooms for spiced lattes and cake
Harvest flowers in churches everywhere