Going Nuts
18/07/2020 09:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
izmeinaIt is now just over half way through the month which means half way through the crazy challenge of Plastic Free July. The rules are simple - to avoid buying all forms of single use plastic for the month. This category is rather larger than you would think at first glance
That is precisely what makes the challenge so tricky
I did very well in the first two weeks by following the tried and tested formula - the best way to resist temptation is to avoid it. So July usually ends up being a month where I rely on the pantry and do as little grocery shopping as possible.
I knew I was going to have to break my 13 day streak to buy milk because all the shops I knew that used to stock old fashioned glass bottles of milk no longer do so. Whether it is a plastic bottle, pouch or carton, they are all not kosher because milk cartons just like disposable coffee cups are lined with plastic so that the liquid contents doesn’t leak and turn the paper to mush
But on the way to the dairy section, I had to walk past the fruit and vegetables and there I saw a big pile of nuts. 800 gram bags of roasted cashew nuts for the ridiculous price of $10. That is the cheapest I have ever seen them. The last time they were available at a $13.33 per kilo unit price must be at least 3 years ago.
This special offer finished on Tuesday so I snaffled 3 bags. I did look around to see if the unsalted ones were also at this special price but they were most definitely not.
Pity because they would be perfect for making DIY cashew butter. I had tried in the past with peanuts only to discover that salted peanuts are simply disgusting when made into peanut butter.
The following day I also got distracted. I was not supposed to go anywhere near the cheese counter since there’s plenty at the Lair. But the chunks of King Island smoked cheddar with their alluring Siren stickers of $18 per kilo when the usual price is $44 or more also proved to be irresistible.
It is just as well that the other special deal for the week are the NOYA nut butters. They are half price and come in 5 varieties, ABC, Almond, Cashew, Hazelnut and Macadamia
The unit prices ranged from $17 per kilo for the first 4 and up to $30 for the macadamia which was more expensive and in a smaller jar
Now those are definitely guilt free pleasures. I have been reading the labels. ABC has got the Brazil nuts so it contains selenium while the others contain ridiculous amounts of protein, magnesium, vitamin E and assorted trace elements. And also FAT. A good 50% in most cases.
But what I especially like is they contain nothing but nuts. No nasty emulsifiers or sugar.
Tonight I tried using the ABC nut butter as a salad dressing. Usually I use tahini or yoghurt but the nuts were tasty too.
So I now have another 3 days to unleash the inner squirrel while trying to avoid the evil plastic temptations in the supermarket.
Sometimes, with my crazy addiction to cheese, peanuts and nuts in general (although of course peanuts are technically regarded as a legume and not a proper tree nut - I have even tried growing them but rarely got beyond the little yellow flowers) I am beginning to suspect that I am a secret squirrel like Petunia rather than a proper carnivorous slithering serpent.
Last week I came across a pretty little print in a charity shop. It was a copy of an Albrecht Durer drawing of a squirrel feasting on nuts. I never cease to be amazed by the variety of creatures he has drawn and all so beautifully. I snaffled it for the Shrine to add to the soft toy squirrel and the bowl of acorns. I had also put some acorns on Petunia’s coffin for her funeral service as well as planting quite a few in the garden. At this stage there is at least 8 of them growing happily and some are more than 4 years old. So there is hope that they will eventually turn into oak trees before I turn up my own toes
The only squirrels to be found in this bit of Oz are the tiny ones that lurk around the zoo and surrounds. They did actually make it as far as Petunia’s place and she was always happy to see them. But they are tiny weedy little creatures. Nothing at all like the bushy tailed red critters in all the fairy tales.
The main nut eaters in this neck of the woods are the parrots and cockatoos. In fact I plant nut trees precisely with the intention of luring such critters into the garden.
They can choose from almond, pecan, oak and macadamia trees so far. Just so long as its not nuts they want. No idea how long I will have to wait for those. That’s where the supermarket comes in handy.
That is precisely what makes the challenge so tricky
I did very well in the first two weeks by following the tried and tested formula - the best way to resist temptation is to avoid it. So July usually ends up being a month where I rely on the pantry and do as little grocery shopping as possible.
I knew I was going to have to break my 13 day streak to buy milk because all the shops I knew that used to stock old fashioned glass bottles of milk no longer do so. Whether it is a plastic bottle, pouch or carton, they are all not kosher because milk cartons just like disposable coffee cups are lined with plastic so that the liquid contents doesn’t leak and turn the paper to mush
But on the way to the dairy section, I had to walk past the fruit and vegetables and there I saw a big pile of nuts. 800 gram bags of roasted cashew nuts for the ridiculous price of $10. That is the cheapest I have ever seen them. The last time they were available at a $13.33 per kilo unit price must be at least 3 years ago.
This special offer finished on Tuesday so I snaffled 3 bags. I did look around to see if the unsalted ones were also at this special price but they were most definitely not.
Pity because they would be perfect for making DIY cashew butter. I had tried in the past with peanuts only to discover that salted peanuts are simply disgusting when made into peanut butter.
The following day I also got distracted. I was not supposed to go anywhere near the cheese counter since there’s plenty at the Lair. But the chunks of King Island smoked cheddar with their alluring Siren stickers of $18 per kilo when the usual price is $44 or more also proved to be irresistible.
It is just as well that the other special deal for the week are the NOYA nut butters. They are half price and come in 5 varieties, ABC, Almond, Cashew, Hazelnut and Macadamia
The unit prices ranged from $17 per kilo for the first 4 and up to $30 for the macadamia which was more expensive and in a smaller jar
Now those are definitely guilt free pleasures. I have been reading the labels. ABC has got the Brazil nuts so it contains selenium while the others contain ridiculous amounts of protein, magnesium, vitamin E and assorted trace elements. And also FAT. A good 50% in most cases.
But what I especially like is they contain nothing but nuts. No nasty emulsifiers or sugar.
Tonight I tried using the ABC nut butter as a salad dressing. Usually I use tahini or yoghurt but the nuts were tasty too.
So I now have another 3 days to unleash the inner squirrel while trying to avoid the evil plastic temptations in the supermarket.
Sometimes, with my crazy addiction to cheese, peanuts and nuts in general (although of course peanuts are technically regarded as a legume and not a proper tree nut - I have even tried growing them but rarely got beyond the little yellow flowers) I am beginning to suspect that I am a secret squirrel like Petunia rather than a proper carnivorous slithering serpent.
Last week I came across a pretty little print in a charity shop. It was a copy of an Albrecht Durer drawing of a squirrel feasting on nuts. I never cease to be amazed by the variety of creatures he has drawn and all so beautifully. I snaffled it for the Shrine to add to the soft toy squirrel and the bowl of acorns. I had also put some acorns on Petunia’s coffin for her funeral service as well as planting quite a few in the garden. At this stage there is at least 8 of them growing happily and some are more than 4 years old. So there is hope that they will eventually turn into oak trees before I turn up my own toes
The only squirrels to be found in this bit of Oz are the tiny ones that lurk around the zoo and surrounds. They did actually make it as far as Petunia’s place and she was always happy to see them. But they are tiny weedy little creatures. Nothing at all like the bushy tailed red critters in all the fairy tales.
The main nut eaters in this neck of the woods are the parrots and cockatoos. In fact I plant nut trees precisely with the intention of luring such critters into the garden.
They can choose from almond, pecan, oak and macadamia trees so far. Just so long as its not nuts they want. No idea how long I will have to wait for those. That’s where the supermarket comes in handy.
