8 Easy Ways To Reduce Your Plastic Usage

It's Plastic Free July! 

While we are not plastic free, there are a few things that we do to try to limit our plastic usage. Living in Slovenia, we've learned a few things. Also, the trash system here is just amazing - yes, recycling is mandatory, but it is so efficient that the trash plant is off the grid and is self-sufficient, because they run it off of the bio fuel from the bio waste/compost. Wow!

By now, we should all know that plastic pollution is a huge crisis - especially when it comes to our oceans. We should each be trying to do our part. Here are some practical things you can do to take some of those first steps.

1. More Joy Dish Cloths

A local store here in Ljubljana carries these, and we gave them a try last month. This dish rag (which you would use instead of a sponge - which are big polluters) is great! It's made by a Finnish company  and you can find it on Amazon. You can wash it in the washing machine as needed, it does a great job washing dishes, after you use it, you just hang it up on your dish rack (or wherever), and as it dries it hardens back up. Once it's given you all it can, you can cut it up, and throw it in your bio waste (or regular trash, if you live somewhere that doesn't have you sort trash), and it'll biodegrade in 24 weeks!

2. HALO Coffee Pods

We have a Nespresso coffee machine. For a while, we were collecting the Nespresso coffee pods and returning them to the store, but it was tedious, and smelled really bad, lol. So last week we decided to give these a try. Now, I'll be honest, they're not cheap, so we haven't made a full switch, but I feel like they're the future of these coffee pod systems. Their coffee pods are fully compostable - as well as their packaging! Even the plastic-looking-not-plastic wrapper the box comes in! (The only thing that has to go in the recycling is the box it was mailed in.) So, you can "plant" the pod in the soil of one of your plants (caffeine is good for them), throw it in your regular trash or bio waste, and it'll decompose in 4 weeks. AND the coffee tastes great!

3. Stainless Steal Straws

More and more places are banning plastic straws (and if you truly feel like your civil liberties are being taken away over straws, I suggest you Google search "persecution", in might put it into perspective). We have about 10 of them, and love using them. I like this set, because it comes with a little pouch to take it with you, so you can have it with you on the go!

4. LUSH

About 4 months ago we switched most of our shower products to LUSH products. A big change was their shampoo bar. It comes wrapped in paper, and you can buy a little metal case to store it in (easier for air travel, as it can be in your carry-on). We weren't crazy about their conditioner bar, so we switched to their liquid one. That defeats the purpose, you say? Not so! They encourage you to return the bottles, and they reuse them. If you take in 5, you get a face mask! I'm currently at 3, and saving away! I also really like their lotions!

5. Bee's Wrap

I LOVE my Bee's Wrap food storage! It's organic cotton coated in bee's wax and resin. I use them to wrap fruit, veggies, bread, snacks... they last for a year, even after multiple uses. Once they no longer "stick" (by the warmth of your hand), you'll know they're done. At this time, you can compost it, or use it as a fire starter! There is now a Slovene brand that just started, and I'm excited to try theirs once current ones are used up.

6. Compostable/Decomposable Kids' Dishes

We have both of these kids' dishes, and love them! The first picture is from By Lille Vilde. They are made out of rice, and are compostable. Although they are dishwasher safe, it says that they last longer if you handwash them. So we do. :)

The second set is by Petit Collage. They are made from bamboo, and the same things apply as the other set. They are super cute, and it's always nice to look over and not see plastic. :)

7. Wooden Toys

 We love fun toys at our house! Of course, a number of them are plastic, but we've found some companies who make wooden toys that we LOVE. Here are some of them:
MilaniWood is an Italian company that somehow managed to merge toys and games to where you can use free play, but also there are games with instructions for each set.

Le Toy Van has the CUTEST doll houses, and I can't wait to get our little girl one!

Viga makes really cute and unique toys - especially kitchen and food stuff. We have their macarons and donuts, and they are favorites!

You've probably seen the ads for the Kiwi Co monthly subscription crates. They encourage kids to STEAM projects (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics) at their specific age level. I've been dying to try them, but the international shipping is a killer. We got a 50% off coupon. so we tried it, and are HUGE fans! You should totally do this!


8. Reusable Produce Bags

These produce bags are a really simple way to limit your single-use plastic consumption. Woohoo! :)

And there you have it! These are 8 easy ways to limit your plastic usage this month, and in the future. It really isn't that hard once you start, and if you try new, eco-friendly products every few months, you never know what you might find!

Bonus:
+ switch out your Q-tips for ones with paper or bamboo sticks

Renae's Coffee Cake

Full disclosure - I don't know who Renae is. She was my aunt's friend, who apparently made the best coffee cake around. So, my mom got the recipe, which I now have.

So, if somehow, through the inter-webs, Renae finds this recipe, she'll see that I've given credit where credit is due, lol.

My mom used to always make this around the holidays, and it was my favorite. Even now when I visit, she makes a point of baking it for me. 

However, I am not always at my mom's house. :) and sometimes I want that pecan-y brown sugary goodness when it's NOT a holiday.

So, I got the recipe from my mom, and now I can share it with you! 

You'll Need:

- Standing mixer

- 8x12 inch pan
- Non-stick spray

Ingredients:

Batter:

- 1/2 cup room temperature butter

- 3/4 cup sugar

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 3 beaten eggs

- 2 cups flour

- 1 tsp baking powder

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 1 cup sour cream

Streusel Topping:

- 6 tbs butter melted, and allowed to cool for 20 minutes

- 1 cup brown sugar

- 2 tsp cinnamon

- 1 cup chopped nuts (pecans are my favorite, but walnuts work well, too)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F/175 C. Generously spray your pan with non-stick spray.

2. Cream butter and sugar together in the (large) bowl of your standing mixer.

3. Add in eggs and vanilla. Allow to "whip" for a few minutes.

4. In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients - flour, baking powder and baking soda.

5. Alternate adding some flour mixture and sour cream to the batter. Mix thoroughly after adding each new ingredient until it's all been combined. The trick to making this cake moist is mixing it a lot. :) It'll lighten in color and become fluffy.

6. In a separate bowl combine the ingredients for the streusel topping.

7. Pour half the batter in the pan, and top with half of the streusel. Then pour the remaining batter on top, and cover in the leftover streusel.

8. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. I baked mine for 35 minutes, and it could've handled another couple. The top will get pretty brown, but it's supposed to. If you feel like the top of your cake is getting too brown, you can always put a sheet of aluminum foil on the top to keep that part from burning, while baking the inside a little more.

9. Allow to cool just a bit, and enjoy warm, with a cup of coffee. It's good later, too... but it's heavenly when it's warm!

Store in an airtight container for 2-3 days.

Ahhhh. Sweet serenity.

Eggless Chocolate Cake With Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Last night, my husband was musing that he was craving some chocolate cake. I love him dearly, and our anniversary was this week, so I happily made my man a cake. :)

The only problem was, that our son had eaten the last two eggs for breakfast that morning, and grocery stores are actually closed here on Sunday afternoon. So, I looked up some "eggless" chocolate cake recipes, and came across one I liked, didn't QUITE wait until it fully cooled, put on some delicious chocolate buttercream frosting - and it was divine! It was very spur of the moment, so my pictures aren't great - but trust me! This is going to become a go-to in our house!

You'll need:

- standing mixer

- 8x8 inch pan

- baking paper

- non-stick spray

Ingredients:

Cake:

- 1 1/2 cups flour

- 1 cup sugar

- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I actually used some semi-sweet hot chocolate mix, and it was awesome)

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 1 tsp white vinegar

- 1/3 cup vegetable oil

- 1 cup water

Frosting:

- 3/4 cup room temperature butter

- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

- pinch of salt

- 2 1/4 cup powdered sugar

- 3 tbs sweet and condensed milk

- about 4 tbs semi-sweet hot chocolate mix

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F / 175 C. Line 8x8 cake pan with baking paper, and spray with non-stick spray.

2. Combine dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda) in the bowl of your standing mixer.

3. In a separate bowl, combine vanilla, vinegar, oil and water.

4. Turn mixer on medium speed, and pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Mix until all the lumps are completely done.

5. Pour batter into pan, and bake for 30-35 minutes (24 minutes for convection oven.)

6. Bake until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Allow to fully cool.

7. For frosting, cream together butter, salt and vanilla extract, then gradually add powdered sugar. Add sweet and condensed milk and chocolate powder. Whip until fluffy.

8. Allow cake to fully cool (or don't, haha!) and frost the cake.

This cake stayed super moist, and delicious! It's definitely going to be a go-to! 

Yummm!

Mixed Summer Fruit Galette

There are some tings that get me in the mood to bake... like gorgeous fruit sitting in a basket on a counter. I wanted something quick and delicious, since my brother was visiting - and remembered my Saturn Peach Galette that I made in the Fall, and decided to use it as a launching point.

Ingredients:

1 puff pastry (that you've thawed, and had out of the fridge for 10 minutes-ish)

3 cups (approx.) pitted fruit, sliced thinly (I used nectarines, apricots and Saturn peaches.)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4-1/2 tsp cinnamon (depending on how cinnamon-y you like it)

1/2 tsp lime juice

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg beaten

Coarse sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F, or 190 C - or whatever your puff pastry calls for.  (Adjust for convection oven if needed.) Line a baking sheet with baking powder.

2. Wash and slice your fruit into thin slices.

3. In a large bowl, combine them with sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice and vanilla.

4. Roll out your puff pastry onto your baking sheet.

5. Pour the fruit mixture onto the middle of the puff pastry, leaving about an inch around the edge.

6. Roll the edge up over the mixture.

7. Brush the edges with the beaten egg, and sprinkle the coarse sugar on top.

8. Bake in the oven to the specifications on the puff pastry.

9. Take out of oven, allow to cool for a couple of minutes, and enjoy warm.

Spring/Summer Capsule Wardrobe For Boys

Ahhh... Kids. If only they didn't grow so fast! To help not spend exorbitant amount of money on kids’ clothes, to try and declutter, and lessen our consumption of fast fashion, I have been leaning more and more towards the concept of capsule wardrobes. In The Fall, I shared my Back To School Capsule Wardrobe, so now I wanted to share my Spring/Summer one.

Basic Pieces:

- 5 T-shirts (stripes are great, one overall pattern is okay. We also have a couple superhero shirts... thanks grandma, lol.)

- 2 tank tops

- 1 polo

- 1 short-sleeved dress shirt

- 1 long-sleeved shirt

- 1 long-sleeved dress shirt

- 1 pair of pants (whatever still fits from Fall)

- 3-4 pairs of shorts

- Swim trunks (We have an extra pair for "water day" at school.)

Here are some combinations:

Not pictured:

- 3 soft cotton shorts

- 1 pair of Crocs (they can be used as sandals and water shoes)

- 1 pair of rain boots

- 1 pair of tennis shoes

- 1 raincoat (or some other kind of transitional jacket. We got a raincoat, because we walk to school pretty regularly, but if you drive mostly, a leather jacket is also fun.)

- 3-4 pairs of pajamas

- underwear and socks
- sunglasses
- baseball hat

Here is the raincoat.

Tips:

- If your kid likes to slide on his knees like mine, and his sweatpants have holes in them, cut the legs off right above the knee - ta-da!! Easy shorts! I also did this for his pajama pants, and paired them with a complimenting colored plain T-shirt he already had.

- For both of my kids, I have a drawer in their closet that is their "transition" drawer. One half has clothes for them to grow into (things I've bought ahead of time when they were on sale) which I have labelled according to size. The other half are clothes that are from the previous season. So, when Spring/Summer is about to begin, I get out Aidan's clothes from last Spring/Summer to see what still fits him. Whatever doesn't fit gets donated, and of course we keep what fits. This way I'm only buying new things he needs. This year for example, I managed to only buy one pair of new shorts and a couple shirts.

- My son loves superheroes, so of course we have some "outlying" graphic tees. I try really hard to not get too hung up on them, and those are what he wears to school or camp, especially on "fun" days.

Places We Like To Shop:
- H&M - Mainly, we get basics here, such as underwear, pajamas, soft cotton shorts and shirts. They have a "Conscious" line, which we try to buy when we can. The quality can be lacking, but if you stain-stick, and don't tumble dry the T-shirts, you can get quite a lot of wear. Also, you won't feel so bad about cutting them.

- Petit Bateau - This store can be a little pricey, but they have very good sales. We usually shop here when their clothes are on sale, and even buy ahead for the next season. They have an overall nautical theme, which really fits our style.

- Zara Kids - I love their aesthetic and style. Again, they have a "Join Life" line, which is more eco friendly, sustainable and fair-trade. We try our best to buy those things.

- Okaidi - Aidan is tall and slim, and it can be hard to find him pants that fit well.  I really like this brand's pants, especially since they all have an inner adjustable band. Score!

Have you given capsule wardrobes a try? It can be difficult with kids. Have you found any tips or tricks that work for your family? Join the conversation!

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Mmmm... I think we have a new addition to the Christmas cookie repertoire! Dan special requested these, and since they're one of my favorites too - I was happy to oblige!

Ingredients:

- 1 cup unsalted butter (softened)

- 1 cup brown sugar 

- 2/3 cup granulated sugar

- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

- 2 eggs

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1 tbs corn starch

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 1/2 tsp baking powder

- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

- 1 1/2 cup white chocolate chips (or, in my case, a chopped up bar of white chocolate into "morsels")

- 1 1/2 cup macadamia nuts - some chopped, some left whole

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F/165 C.

2. Cream together (manually, or in a standing mixer) butter and sugars very well.

3. Add vanilla, eggs and salt, and mix well.

4. Add corn starch, baking soda, baking powder and flour. Mix until well combined.

5. Stir in nuts and chocolate.

6. Line a baking sheet with baking paper.

7. Drop 2 tbs of dough (I used an ice cream scoop to get them all the same size) at a time, approx. 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.

8. Bake for 10-11 minutes.

9. Allow to cool in pan for a few minutes, then transfer to cooling rack. Store in an airtight container, or you can even freeze them!

Makes about 44-48.

These are delicious! I've shared them with neighbors and friends, and I can tell you - they're a hit! 

Please let me know if you decide to try these, I'd love to know how they turn out.

Here are some mouth watering pictures of these sweet things:

While I was taking pictures, I accidentally left some cookies within baby's reach - and when I turned around, she gave me the most satisfied look! Of course... I didn't let her eat it, but she loved sucking on it for a couple seconds, lol!