Life updates:
My zero waste lifestyle experiment is going pretty well. I realised that first of all, zero waste means to cut things you don’t actually need and renounce seriously unnecessary things. The first steps are: Always, always, have one or two cotton bags with you. Carry your water bottle with you at all times. I was tired of carrying a glass bottle (hello heavy!), so yesterday I bought this cool bottle at a cool shop and hope that it will stay with me for a long time. Buy your fruit and veggies at a farmers market if possible; if not, take your own bags to the supermarket and put your stuff in there. Buy in big quantities (for things you use often) – if you shop online, you find shops that send the things in paper bags.If the quantities are too big, there are always friends who will be happy to share. For other things, there might be a zero waste shop in your town or at least shops where you can buy single ingredients packaging-free. Use soap and not shower gel. I even went as far as trying to make my own mascara – this will need some improvement, but for the first go, it isn’t all too bad. This is the waste I produced at home the last three weeks:
- A bag of pasta I had at home
- the plastic my diary was wrapped in (I want to stop being dependent on my phone for appointments!)
- the ticket to a glorious improvised theatre show in Graz
- a car park ticket
- the receipt of a restaurant (no, receipts cannot go into the paper wastebin as there are are other substances that cover it!)
I gave an interview for the Austrian radio transmitter FM4. You can read the article here and listen to the interview here (7:10) and here (16:10) – klick on Foodbloggerin Nadine Reyhani.
Other than that, I am interviewing teachers for my bachelor thesis and therefore have a new hobby: transcribing interviews.
Because I have loads of cashews on hand at the moment, I’m coming up with all kinds of recipes that include cashews. This Grießkoch (semonlina porridge, what a weird word combination) is a childhood memory with a twist.
Serves 4
For the Grießkoch
- 50 g cashews, soaked overnight and rinsed
- 400 ml water
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 50 g semolina
- sugar (I used brown sugar)
- 1 tsp coconut oil (for the taste, can be omitted)
For the caramelised pears (side note: apples work as well)
- one or two soft pears
- some neutral oil, like rapeseed oil
- brown sugar
Add the cashews, water, cinnamon and cardamom to a blender. When it has a milk-like consistency, transfer to a pot and bring to a boil. Add the semolina while stirring with a whisk and reduce heat. Let simmer for some minutes, until the semolina is cooked. Add coconut oil, sugar to your liking and a pinch of salt. Set aside.
Cut the pears into quarters and halve or (I make up the word to third for this purpose) the quarters, depending on the size of your pears.
In a pan, heat some oil and add the pears. Roast them until they start becoming brown on one side. Sprinkle with sugar and turn flip them over. Cook until brown.
Put the Grießkoch in small bowls and decorate with the pears. You can sprinkle it with some honey/agave syrup, cinnamon or powdered sugar.
Enjoy.