So today marks the beginning of our journey. I went through the fridge & freezer this morning, something I’ve but off for a long time, and was definitely overdue. We managed to use most of our non-vegan food stuffs, but I felt like this needed to be a fresh start and I didn’t want anything to tempt me.
We’ve decided to keep things simple this week, sticking to meals we know how to make, just dropping meat & dairy for vegan friendly bits. That means this week’s food is mostly based around beans, especially Mexican styled food.
Yesterday we did our first vegan shop. All hummus, avocado, and Linda McCartney sausages. Breakfast was pretty much like normal, but I think I’m going to miss real butter.
Our dinner tonight was a black bean chilli, it didn’t go perfectly but that was more down to my cooking than anything else. I look forward to some “accidently vegan” biscuits for dessert.
So here we are, the day before we go vegan. It’s weird when I was younger I’d have felt nervous about it, but know I’m actually quite excited. Yeah I have a few things that have been playing on my mind, for one I am pretty addicted to Chocolate Milk so I’m anxious about finding an alternative. Finding pages that list accidentally vegan products have helped, especially knowing that there are plenty of biscuits available for me to eat makes me very happy. The only thing that is going to hold us back is that we live in a town that’s barely bigger than a village so finding alternatives to meat and dairy might be a bit of a struggle.
Now I’m going to be honest, we’re going green because we feel compelled to by God. We wanted to live up to the role of stewards that was given to us. We’ve just got back from our Church’s European conference and I have to admit it really made me think about a few things, and it certainly has stoked my excitement, especially if it gives me an opportunity to spread the Gospel through it. The event has rekindled a passion in me for green living, and I’m excited to see how far we’ll go.
Evening all! I hope you’ve been enjoying the fleeting spell of sunshine, I know Gracie and I really made the most of the weather.
In our quest to get greener we’ve picked up two new products today,first a block of deodorant, and secondly a shampoo bar.
I picked these lovely items up from Lush as I have been eyeing them up for a long while now but have had to wait patiently for our current bits and bobs to run out (sometimes being green means being patient unfortunately).
I am really excited to give these things a whirl but for the moment all I can say is that they smell absolutely amazing! Here is hoping that they will allow us to ditch plastic bottled shampoo & deodorant for good.
Mummy and I have been discussing ideas on what we can do to continue our push to be green. Eventually Mummy suggested that we have a vegan month, to which I (semi-reluctantly) agreed to. Starting next Tuesday our vegan month begins proper with the aim of not only reducing our need for meat & dairy products, but also to encourage us to cook more vegetarian and vegan meals in the long run. Ethically I have little issue with eating meat, I grew up in the West Country and have worked as a butcher & fishmonger, but I am aware that we too often rely on these things in our meals when we really don’t need to.
Next Monday I’ll kick off with our meal plan posts again, and will keep you updated on how we are doing! For now I am off to prepare for our church’s weekend conference.
If you have any great vegan recipes then we’d love to see them, please post them in the comments section. See you guys soon.
Haven’t posted in a while. Things have been pretty busy, Mummy was on half term and we decided to spend time with each other, and our family. This invold us jumping on a train back to Kent.
Since I’ve last posted Gracie has had two teeth cut through, and it looks like 3 & 4 are rapidly approaching. It’s been nothing short of exhausting, and I just desperately hope we’ll get a reprieve once these have cut through.
Here’s hoping we return to a semu-regular posting schedule.
And you can see a post giving a broad overview of our stash here.
So let’s get this said right at the beginning, a lot of people don’t like Alva Nappies. This is because they are made in China, now while some people may object to this, there is certainly an up front cost to reusable nappies and that does have go be considered.
Nothing is quite as dapper as a cloud with a moustache
We got our first Alva nappy after we won an online competition. We’d seen the lower price tag and the fact they only come with a single insert and had been put off by that. However these nappies have become a staple of our stash.
What we liked…
First of all we were impressed by the quality of these nappies. They feel well made, the poppers are sturdy, but un-pop at the right amount of force meaning that you’re not just tugging on them hopping that the fabric doesn’t rip.
The soft fabric that sits against your baby’s skin is also extremely soft, and quickly pulls any moisture away from the baby leaving them feeling relatively dry to the touch when the nappy is removed. The pockets of the nappies are also a decent size, and while the insert that comes with the nappy is certainly enough for short periods, there is plenty of room in the nappy to add additional inserts for ensure that the nappy can be worn for longer, and without fear of leaks. Alva nappies are also easily adjustable for your baby’s size, using poppers to make the nappy bigger or smaller, allowing you to find the perfect fit.
Perhaps one of the best things about Alva nappies however is their eye catching and beautiful designs. One of the many benefits of reusable nappies is that they can look extremely attractive, and Alva nappies certainly embrace this fact. The sheer quantity of designs means you are sure to find something that you like.
Owls, foxes, feathers, dinosaurs and wolves! You are sure to find a design for you
What we didn’t like…
So as we mentioned above, Alva nappies are produced in China which we know might put some people off of purchasing these nappies.
The real drawback however is that these nappies only come with a single insert. And while this is plenty for short periods of wear, we don’t feel that it really gives you the peace of mind that you’d want from a nappy. We are fortunate that we have a number of spare inserts in our stash, others just starting their collection won’t have such convenience.
The white fabric is also a little prone to staining, while these does not effect the quality of the nappy, it can be touch unsightly. That said, we found that successive washes removed the stains with ease, and the use of napisan (or something similar, we use Bio D Nappy Fresh).
Conclusion…
It says a lot that of the nappies we’ve purchased for Gracie, the one nappy that we ensured that we had on hand was the single Alva nappy that we randomly had. Since that I have purposely purchased more Alva nappies for pad out our collection and provide us with more tolerance when it comes to washing and drying our nappies. More than this we intend to purchase more Alva simply because we love the designs, trust the quality, and find that, simply put, they fit Gracie extremely well.
If you are just starting out along the road of reusable nappies, then perhaps these are not a great place to start, but if you have a collection, or are looking for a few statement pieces then I couldn’t recommend them highly enough! However I would suggest a purchase of additional inserts (especially charcoal ones that fit these well).
There is nothing more likely to drive me crazy than being forced to stay indoors. And following the extreme (at least for Somerset) snow that we’ve had yesterday and today, I have to admit I was getting a little short with people.
We managed to get out yesterday morning once we knew the schools were closed which was nice but once we were home the snow really began to pile up. By the evening I was wishing I could get out and stretch my legs.
This morning I managed to get out for a brief walk. I went around Wellington and took a few photos. I’m feeling much better now but I do feel a little bad that Gracie hasn’t been out but it’s just not safe to carry her.
Hopefully tomorrow it will clear up enough to get her some fresh air. Until then we’ll just keep her wrapped up warm with us.
Luckily our new nappies managed to get to us before the snow got too bad. Now to spend today basically snowed in. At least I’ve got these beautiful Alva Nappies to keep me company.
