Wednesday, April 25, 2012

A plastic-free kitchen

I'm a bit of a plastic hater. And becoming more so more recently. We have become used to storing a lot of our food in plastic over the years, because it's convenient. But perhaps not so convenient to our health. Plastics are made of petrochemicals, which can leach into our food over time. Let's not touch the issue of putting plastic dishes in the microwave – that's a whole other story.

So I thought today I'd share with you some of my favourite reusables that take the place of plastic in the kitchen.
  • Anchor Hocking Kitchen Storage – Last year some time, maybe before school started in September, these babies went on a big time sale at Loblaws in all different sizes. I think I went three times to stalk up. Always realizing that I needed more in various sizes! They are made of glass and the lids are BPA-free plastic. Fantastic for lunches and leftovers.
Source

  • Klean Kanteen – beautiful stainless-steel canisters. Good for water, juice, smoothies. And they have insulated containers as well for hot food. No more line ups at the microwave at lunch – even better!
Source

  • Stawesome glass straws – for Christmas, I asked for some glass straws and received a set of four! There's nothing like it. And no waste! Just wash or even throw them in the dishwasher. Smoothies and juice taste better with a glass straw.
Source

  • Reusable produce bags – these babies can be found at Farm Boy in Ottawa as well as other retailers. I just love them so much. 

  • RuMe bags – These are by far the most beautiful reusable shopping bags around. I have one and I love it. Holds up to 50lbs, with nice wide straps that you can sling over your shoulder. Great to not only go to the grocery store with, but why not the mall! RuMe also carries all kinds of bags (small baggies to large totes)

Source

  • Mason jars – These are my number one kitchen storage solution. I have so many of them, because they are so cheap. They work out to anywhere from 50 cents to a dollar each. Head over to Canadian Tire and stock up!
Source

Now if all that didn't inspire you, take two minutes and thirty seconds and watch this:



And if you want more tips on eliminating plastic from your kitchen and life in general, I recently came across a blog called My Plastic-free Life about a woman who is living plastic-free, or at least not introducing any new plastic into her life! Her story is incredibly inspiring and she has some great tips in the Plastic-free Guide.

Hope you found some inspiration to purge some of your plastic, or reuse it for corralling things other than food. Please share with me some of your great reusables.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Another wee milestone

Last we talked I was in the midst of the Fab Uplift Detox. What a game changer! The Detox started March 26, today is April 23... I've eaten so abundantly over the last month – following both the detox guide and eliminating my other food allergies – without gluten-grains, without any sort of dairy, without eggs and without animal protein (other than a bit of fish outside of the detox)! I haven't craved any of those food and I've thrived on what I have been eating, which includes lots of nuts and seeds, legumes, some fruit and lots and lots of vegetables and superfoods!

Life has been ridiculously busy these last few weeks too, but I've still managed to find some lunch to take with me every single day. And sometimes dinner, too, on school nights! It's a lifestyle. Some may cringe and turn their heads at my lovely green/brown smoothies, but I thrive as I know all this goodness is doing so much for me and tastes amazing too, I might add.

About a year ago I guess, I hit a big milestone of losing 20 lbs since slowing getting on this bandwagon back in the summer of 2010, when I saw a number on the scale I never want to see again. Now I can say that I've lost 31 lbs! I think the Fab Detox pushed me over as I had been hovering at 28 lbs for months. Anyway, this is just another little checkmark in my mind. Even though it took a year to lose another 10 lbs, I know I've gained lean muscle mass in the process as my body has continued to change (in a good way!). All this meaning that the total fat loss is likely more than this 11 lbs I see on the scale.

Yay for being healthy the real way – by eating REAL food.