Sleep soundly with this ethical choice of duvet

We regularly talk on here about reusing, recycling, upcycling and just reducing waste in general. We’re alarmed at the amount of rubbish polluting the earth and our oceans, seas and waterways. Especially the single-use plastic. That’s why we were really up for reviewing The Fine Bedding Company‘s newly-launched Eco Duvet.

The Fine Bedding Company conducted some research – surveying 2,000 UK adults – and found that almost half of Brits would like to significantly reduce their daily plastic consumption but don’t know how to do more about it. 94% of them believed that it was the responsibility of supermarkets, large retailers and brands to help people shop more sustainably.

The Eco Duvet has impeccable environmental credentials. The silky soft, microfibre filling is made from 100% PET plastic bottles. The king-size duvet that we’ve been sent to try out, is made from 149 bottles. The cover is hypo-allergenic, breathable and is also made from 100% recycled materials.

The cardboard box and plastic bag that it’s delivered in are – yes, manufactured using 100% recycled, recyclable materials that are printed on using biodegradable ink. And that’s not all – their products are made using 100% renewable energy in their award-winning eco factory! Check out their infographic below.

The duvet has the luxury feel of the finest goose down. It’s light, and airy but keeps you feeling warm and cosy in the winter and cool and comfortable in the summer. It can be washed on a 30ºC cycle and is fast drying, to boot.

Sustainable, responsible, practical and affordable; with the Eco Duvet there’s no down-side (see what we did there?!). The 10.5 tog duvet is available in single, double, king and super-king sizes, with prices starting at £45. We can thoroughly recommend it.

We’ve certainly enjoyed this product review, as nothing quite beats snuggling into a newly made bed with freshly-laundered sheets and a brand new duvet… especially one that lets you sleep with a clear conscience!

Have you been doing anything to reduce your consumption of single use plastic?

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A welcome coffee delivery

We love trying new kinds of food, new types of wine – and now we’ve been given the opportunity to try some new varieties of coffee.

This was made possible thanks to the people over at The Roast Club – a speciality coffee delivery company.

They offer a flexible subscription service whereby you sign up on their website and they send you a month’s supply of beans through the post – in a box that easily fits through an average-sized letter box so you won’t miss delivery. Each month, you’re sent a selection of four premium beans.

They only sell beans, so you’ll need your own grinder. Once roasted coffee beans have been ground, they begin to oxidise and deteriorate – The Roast Club advises (and so do we) that you should try to grind your beans mere minutes before you’re going to use them.

Each 100g bag of their single-origin beans come with explanatory notes about the region, grower, roaster, process and taste – just like you’d get with a case of wine… they and we take our coffee very seriously!

Since our box arrived, we’ve downed tools for an espresso tasting session each afternoon. This consists of cutting open one of the pouches, doing a quick stick-of-the-nose-in-the-bag and inhaling deeply (everyone does this, right?), spooning out a couple of scoops, grinding, pouring, tamping, brewing, tasting, enjoying.

Our selection of four coffees were all medium roasts and very mellow. The Roast Club opt for these mellow varieties over rich roasts as they feel the subtleties of the beans can shine through more easily. As for those subtle flavours – caramel, chocolate, jasmine, lemon… even pineapple and strawberry can all come through as you sip. My favourite of this month’s offering is #30, Kochere from Fortitude Coffee.

If you like the sound of discovering and learning about new coffees each month, The Roast Club makes it easy. Place a one-off order or a recurring 1/3/6/12-month subscription that you can pause or cancel at any time (with free P&P for UK customers).

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What staring at a screen all day can do to your health

If I work out the number of hours per day I spend staring at a screen it’s shocking. Working at a laptop day & night, checking my phone for messages a few times per day, watching films or binge watching box sets at night, I’d hazard a guess at around 12 hours per day… every day of the week.

Yes, I know about taking a screen break every 20 minutes – but, if I’m perfectly honest, I only do it if I go to make a cuppa or go to the loo! I know I’m straining my eyes (they’re often dry and gravelly) and I know it’s affecting the quality of my sleep. I had my biennial eye test this month and yes, my eyesight has deteriorated… again!

So, when EyeWearThese offered to send me a pair of prescription glasses with digital blue light protection to review, I didn’t need convincing – it would be good for my health! I chose a pair of fashionable Ray-Ban frames; they have a large range of other brands available – including Armani, D&G, Oakley, Prada and Versace. As well as the digital blue light protection coating, the lenses have a scratch-resistant hard coat and a hydrophobic coat that makes them easier to keep clean!

When my glasses arrived I was really impressed, the coated lenses look practically identical to ‘ordinary’ versions; there’s an almost imperceptible blue tinge if you hold them up to the light. These special lenses filter out the damaging blue light that’s emitted by screens, fluorescent and LED lights. The younger you are, the more of this blue light that’s transmitted to your retina. I’m 50, and have been regularly staring at a screen for, give or take, 25 years – half my life so far. Imagine the damage that will be done to someone who’s half my age and has been staring at multiple screens since year dot!

Even if you don’t ‘need glasses’, if you’re glued to your smart-phone/computer/television/games console for any length of time, a pair of specs with non-prescription lenses with a digital blue light protection coating is highly recommended. In addition, use an app like Fl.ux on your computer and enable Night Shift on your iPhone (Settings→Display & Brightness) or install an app like Blue Light Filter on your Android device.

How long do you think you spend staring at a screen each day? Does it worry you or are you trying to cut down?

[disclosure*]

We’re going Stir Crazy!

This Thursday, instead of our usual Cakes & Bakes offering, we’re sharing a cookbook review.

It’s Stir Crazy by Emmy-nominated TV chef, Ching-He Huang. Born in Taiwan and raised in South Africa and the U.K., Ching shares 100 healthy stir fry recipes in her recently-published book.

In addition to the recipes, Ching sheds light on helpful wok-cooking methods. She reveals some of her ‘stir-fry hacks’ and explains the order in which ingredients should be cooked off and why. And, if you’re on a special diet – she’s got you covered – each recipe helpfully sets out the nutritional information of the dish.

As a veggie, I was thrilled to see that there are 80 pages of purely vegetarian and vegan recipes. Furthermore, in the meat and fish sections, she give lots of helpful tips as to how to convert them to veggie dishes, if so desired.

Not only is this a book review, it’s also a food review; along with Stir Crazy, we’ve been sent a selection of dried and ready-to-eat noodles from Yutaka to try.

The only way to properly review a cookbook AND noodles is to try out one of the recipes using some of the ingredients sent. I chose Ching’s simple spicy spring onion salsa verde with kale and noodles. However, instead of using egg noodles as her recipe called for, I used the pack of the gluten free and organic konjac noodles (called shirataki in Japan).

In addition to being gluten free, the root vegetable Konjac is vegan, low in calories, low in fat and high in fibre. It’s extremely low in carbs, so if you’re following a ketogenic diet this is a fantastic product to include in your meals.

My usual trinity of flavours for wok cooking are chilli, garlic and ginger. However, This recipe didn’t use garlic but a couple of spring onions. The smell of the flavours combining when they were being fried off together were divine.

If I hadn’t been stopping after each stage to take photos, this recipe could have been rustled up in under half an hour. Quick, healthy – and most important of all – tasty!

There are so many other recipes in the book that I want to give a go – Kung Po tofu, vegetable chop suey, egg foo yung, aubergines in a spicy peanut sauce, spicy coriander chickpea fried rice… are you drooling yet?!

All this talk of stir fries is making me hungry – here’s the recipe…

Spicy spring onion salsa verde with kale and noodles

2018-10-03 13:15:56

Serves 2

Prep Time

12 min

Cook Time

5 min

Total Time

17 min

Prep Time

12 min

Cook Time

5 min

Total Time

17 min

Ingredients

200g pack Yutaka konjac noodles
2tsp toasted sesame oil
120g curly kale, sliced
2tbsp rapeseed oil
pinch of sea salt flakes
knob of fresh root ginger, peeled an grated
1 red chilli, de-seeded and finely sliced at an angle
pinch of dried chilli flakes
2 spring onions, finely chopped
50ml cold vegetable stock
1tbsp low-sodium light soy sauce

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Instructions

Drain the liquid from the konjac noodles using a sieve and rinse under a cold tap
Put the noodles into a bowl, drizzle over the 2tsp toasted sesame oil and toss. Set aside
Pour 1 litre of water into a pan and bring to the boil. Add the kale and blanch for 3-5 seconds, then drain and set aside
Heat a wok over a high heat until smoking and add the rapeseed oil
Add the salt and let it dissolve in the hot oil
Add the ginger, fresh chilli, dried chilli and spring onions in quick succession to explode their flavours in the wok
Add the vegetable stock and stir-fry on a medium heat for 30 seconds
Add the kale and noodles and toss all the ingredients together to warm through
Season with the light soy sauce and give it one final toss, then transfer to serving plates and eat immediately

By Ching-He Huang

Adapted from Stir Crazy

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/