Here come some more café reviews. I think I write them mainly so that I can map how many of the cafés in Malmö I have been to, and make sure to try different ones.
Chez Madame: This café re-opened in a place which used to be called Old Bridge. This is one of the new hot spots in town; it is trendy, organic, healthy... But also very noisy, long tables and very crowded. I was actually a bit disappointed, since cosiness is very important to me at cafés. Not too comfy (I can ditch a café if their chairs look uncomfortable) and there is just no peace and quiet. But I was there at rush hour, so it might be nicer at some other time of the day.
Café Agnez: This place is a bit more expensive than others, buuut it is vegan, they have some raw food snacks (that are cheaper than in other places) and a backyard where you can sit even if it is cold since they have heating and blankets. it doesn't get windy because of the high buildings surrounding it, but that means there's not much sun either... Everything is home made and organic, which makes your stomach and conscience happy, but your wallet a little sad.
Kungsgatan: Prepare to fight for your table and have lots of trolleys around you. this is the favourite hangout for Swedish "latte-mammor", but they have all the reason to be here - it is gorgeous. Their sunday brunch is crowded but used to include waffles, they make their own bread, and the interior design is beautiful. Big windows, 19th century furniture in white, blue and gold... Sweet and classy but still not overpriced.
Glassfabriken: The alternative, vegan, "I'm so cool I fuck the system" hangout. But it is really nice actually, nice furniture and good food, only home made (vegan) pastries. Prices are all right too, but since it is run completely by volunteers, the staff is the slowest and crappiest ever. Don't order anything they have to prepare for you if you don't have a lot of time. It will be yummy, but prepare to spend a good amount of time waiting for them to even notice you are there.
Puls Espressobar: One early morning I walked around all of town to find a nice place to study. This place has amazing coffee and the owner was super-nice, and you can really tell he cares about the coffee. The interior is not too interesting, no wifi and no cool pastries but I got to be alone on the almost secret second floor. Not too pricey either.
Showing posts with label Green. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Green. Show all posts
Thursday, 8 March 2012
Sugar free: Day 22
So just above three weeks have past and only one week left to go! It feels pretty amazing, it was so hard in the beginning and every day of no sugar was a great challenge. Now it is part of my everyday life to say no.
How long did it take me to get rid of the cravings? Well, I would say maybe five days to get rid of the worst, then maybe two weeks to not get random cravings regularly. I mean, I can still feel the desire to eat something, but the thought of it is not overwhelming. One very good thing to do is to sort all the sweet thinks out of reach. I have a little stock of hidden goods, but it's a bit complicated to reach them... I saw the importance of that today when I decided to have a little "giffel" (mini-cinnamon roll) just because I had bought them (to bribe others) and there were some left. It was good, but not that good. And no desire to have more than one, which I feel immensely relieved by.
I have gone through an emotionally pretty rough period, which means that I otherwise would have comforted myself with heap loads of chocolate. Now I know there is sugar free chocolate, but I think that would just make me eat heap loads of that so I ruled that out too. One evening I felt completely miserable and had ice cream for dinner. I actually didn't feel too bad about it, maybe my stomach wasn't too satisfied but I had no wish to go back to my prior diet.
Alcohol then. Yes, I miss having wine sometimes (had a dinner out where I really missed it) but as for the partying, I had a great night out and saved quite a lot of money. This has never really been an issue to me, but I will definitely drink more carefully after this challenge.
So, where do I see myself after this? I understand the people who decide to live like this always, but I choose not to. I will really try hard to keep my sugar intake restricted, maybe something like only weekends, or twice a week. I have done that earlier (2008) and it worked out fine. When it comes to my weight it really hasn't changed, which I interpret as I have more or less my ideal weight. I was happy with it before, and it is great if I can maintain it.
Today I had a weird mishmash of fruit, oats, hemp protein and tahini for breakfast, a few cups of coffee, a root vegetable/bean stew in coconut milk for lunch, some cereals with yoghurt in the afternoon, stir-fried veggies with whole grain pasta for dinner and topped up with some raspberries for dessert. Ok I would say.
Martin just wrote to me and asked me for new 30 day challenges. Now I would really like to do a vegan challenge, but I think I would need a week of normality to have the energy to do that. I have a new, very encouraging friend to help me out with motivation there, but I think that's a little over the top for Martin (you gotta be able to live somewhat normally, and I'm just saying this would require a lot of work, not that he wouldn't be able to). Another one I would really need is the no caffeine one, which I think would be all right since I could just replace everything with tea.
Other ideas...
Draw something everyday to boost creativity.
Write a poem every day.
Take a picture every day.
Write with my right hand (I am left handed) for 5 min every day.
Live only of dumpster dived food (hardcore...)
Practice yoga/tai chi/whatever every day.
Write emails or letters to friends you struggle to stay in touch with, for example 10 letters in 30 days (maybe hard to do as it requires some time).
Brush your teeth with your "wrong" hand.
Write down something you are happy about and something you could have done better/differently every day.
Keep a dream diary.
What do you think, Martin?
How long did it take me to get rid of the cravings? Well, I would say maybe five days to get rid of the worst, then maybe two weeks to not get random cravings regularly. I mean, I can still feel the desire to eat something, but the thought of it is not overwhelming. One very good thing to do is to sort all the sweet thinks out of reach. I have a little stock of hidden goods, but it's a bit complicated to reach them... I saw the importance of that today when I decided to have a little "giffel" (mini-cinnamon roll) just because I had bought them (to bribe others) and there were some left. It was good, but not that good. And no desire to have more than one, which I feel immensely relieved by.
I have gone through an emotionally pretty rough period, which means that I otherwise would have comforted myself with heap loads of chocolate. Now I know there is sugar free chocolate, but I think that would just make me eat heap loads of that so I ruled that out too. One evening I felt completely miserable and had ice cream for dinner. I actually didn't feel too bad about it, maybe my stomach wasn't too satisfied but I had no wish to go back to my prior diet.
Alcohol then. Yes, I miss having wine sometimes (had a dinner out where I really missed it) but as for the partying, I had a great night out and saved quite a lot of money. This has never really been an issue to me, but I will definitely drink more carefully after this challenge.
So, where do I see myself after this? I understand the people who decide to live like this always, but I choose not to. I will really try hard to keep my sugar intake restricted, maybe something like only weekends, or twice a week. I have done that earlier (2008) and it worked out fine. When it comes to my weight it really hasn't changed, which I interpret as I have more or less my ideal weight. I was happy with it before, and it is great if I can maintain it.
Today I had a weird mishmash of fruit, oats, hemp protein and tahini for breakfast, a few cups of coffee, a root vegetable/bean stew in coconut milk for lunch, some cereals with yoghurt in the afternoon, stir-fried veggies with whole grain pasta for dinner and topped up with some raspberries for dessert. Ok I would say.
Martin just wrote to me and asked me for new 30 day challenges. Now I would really like to do a vegan challenge, but I think I would need a week of normality to have the energy to do that. I have a new, very encouraging friend to help me out with motivation there, but I think that's a little over the top for Martin (you gotta be able to live somewhat normally, and I'm just saying this would require a lot of work, not that he wouldn't be able to). Another one I would really need is the no caffeine one, which I think would be all right since I could just replace everything with tea.
Other ideas...
Draw something everyday to boost creativity.
Write a poem every day.
Take a picture every day.
Write with my right hand (I am left handed) for 5 min every day.
Live only of dumpster dived food (hardcore...)
Practice yoga/tai chi/whatever every day.
Write emails or letters to friends you struggle to stay in touch with, for example 10 letters in 30 days (maybe hard to do as it requires some time).
Brush your teeth with your "wrong" hand.
Write down something you are happy about and something you could have done better/differently every day.
Keep a dream diary.
What do you think, Martin?
Monday, 13 February 2012
30 Day Challenge: Sugar free diet
So, inspired by a TED talk by Matt Cutts about trying something new for 30 days, Martin (Cornish traveling friend) have decided to cut out sugar for 30 days. We both really need it. I mean, really.
So, we are to start on the 16th of February to end the 16th of March. Right now we are in the build up period: say goodbye to all the good stuff, meaning we just shared a Terry's chocolate orange for dinner. Great. (I'm going running tomorrow morning). And to put pressure on myself, I am going to blog about it so that someone reading my blog will come and kick me on the shin if I break the rules.
We still need to clear out the rules though. Martin has spent some time today researching sugar free diats, to see what is considered sugar and what's not.
Ruled out: Chocolate, sweets, alcohol, ice cream, pastries, crackers and cookies, desserts, pies, squash (as in mix juice/concentrate crap), flour: meaning white bread, rice, pasta, syrup, all kind of marmalades and jellies, all kinds of food with refined sugars (sweet chili sauce for example), sweetened soy milk, sport drinks, sweetened coffee.
Still in: Fruit, fresh juice (make sure no added sugar!), raisins, nuts. Obviously all kind of veggies, cereals, whole wheat bread, rice and pasta, lactose such as milk and unsweetened yoghurt, eggs, coffee, tea, mate and honey, but only for cooking.
Wish us good luck because we so need it! And I hope our day 31 will not look like Matt's.
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Eyes on food and consumption
About doing something for someone else in this harsh world - there is a group in Malmö, Sweden, called Matförmedlingen - the food distribution. They get food thrown out by ab anonymous bakery and grocery store and then distribute it to people. It can for example be given to a shelter for homeless or distributed in the streets, but the main goal is to lessen the waste and show people that our consumption is ridiculous. They have a blog in Swedish that can be found HERE, have a look and get inspired!
Saturday, 31 December 2011
Living cheap III
Honestly, cheap living is after all just about getting to the bottom with what you really need. Need not Greed, as the slogan goes. So do you actually need a new winter coat, or does the one you bought last year or two years ago still serve you? You see the point. Still, one thing you will always need (at least to some extent) is food.
Lesson three - Dumpster diving
DD is exactly what it sounds like - get into a dumpster and pick up what you want.
"6.7 million tonnes of food is thrown away by households in the UK every year, or, to put it another way, around a third of all the food we buy ends up being thrown away" Salford city council
...and then consider how much the grocery stores throw away. It is seriously mind-blowing. And yes, some of it they throw away because it is not edible, but most of it actually is, just that if we have the choice between that product and a slightly fresher one, you go for the new one. Do you look at the best-before date when you buy milk? What happens to the one that is due tomorrow? And for how long is it actually drinkable? Milk is produced under very good conditions and generally last a little longer than what is written on the package. You just have to use your nose.
Top items found in dumpsters:
* Bread. At bakeries, you can even get bread baked the very same day, but that they because of policy will not sell the following day.
* Bananas. A little brown spot and no one will want it... or so they believe.
* Broccoli. You know how it goes a little yellow? You can brush it off.
How much can you save? Well, it depends on you. Some people survive entirely on dumpster diving, but it depends on if you can find everything you need/want in a dumpster not too far away. You might be unlucky and just find hot dogs and mashy fruit, or you have to add extra ingredients to make a complete dish. Really good thing is that it boosts your creativity when you have to use new ingredients and come up with new combinations.
Danger? Well, food quality you just have to see for yourself. Smell it, wash it and if you are a little doubtful, cook it thoroughly or throw it out. Heat kills lots of bad stuff, believe me. And so far, no one has died from a mouthful of sour milk (in case you have no nose to smell it). Legally, In Sweden, discarded property is still considered to legally belong to the individual or organization which disposed of it. Which means no, you are actually not allowed to take it. Which makes sense in a capitalist world view. However, moral and what is actually correct to do is a completely different thing. But you might want to be careful about who sees you (hence, this could be considered a night time activity).
How? It can be pretty tricky to get started, if you don't know where to go or how to get into a dumpster. Good tip is to research some before - look up your home town either on Ecosia (search engine) or on the very useful site Trashwiki. Here you can also find some info on laws and other things good to know. There is also a group on Couchsurfing where you can ask people to teach you or just for good tips.
What do you need?
*Comfortable clothes, not your brand new white jacket. You most likely will get a bit dirty. Think about what shoes you wear. Gloves are nice too.
*A flash light, preferably a head torch.
*A backpack and some plastic bags.
Its really not that hard. Another thing you can do if you feel uncomfortable diving into a dumpster, is to go to the market (eg. farmers market) at closing time and carefully ask around. Generally, the salesmen are happy to give away whatever they otherwise would have thrown to you.
Good luck!
Lesson three - Dumpster diving
DD is exactly what it sounds like - get into a dumpster and pick up what you want.
"6.7 million tonnes of food is thrown away by households in the UK every year, or, to put it another way, around a third of all the food we buy ends up being thrown away" Salford city council
...and then consider how much the grocery stores throw away. It is seriously mind-blowing. And yes, some of it they throw away because it is not edible, but most of it actually is, just that if we have the choice between that product and a slightly fresher one, you go for the new one. Do you look at the best-before date when you buy milk? What happens to the one that is due tomorrow? And for how long is it actually drinkable? Milk is produced under very good conditions and generally last a little longer than what is written on the package. You just have to use your nose.
Top items found in dumpsters:
* Bread. At bakeries, you can even get bread baked the very same day, but that they because of policy will not sell the following day.
* Bananas. A little brown spot and no one will want it... or so they believe.
* Broccoli. You know how it goes a little yellow? You can brush it off.
How much can you save? Well, it depends on you. Some people survive entirely on dumpster diving, but it depends on if you can find everything you need/want in a dumpster not too far away. You might be unlucky and just find hot dogs and mashy fruit, or you have to add extra ingredients to make a complete dish. Really good thing is that it boosts your creativity when you have to use new ingredients and come up with new combinations.
Danger? Well, food quality you just have to see for yourself. Smell it, wash it and if you are a little doubtful, cook it thoroughly or throw it out. Heat kills lots of bad stuff, believe me. And so far, no one has died from a mouthful of sour milk (in case you have no nose to smell it). Legally, In Sweden, discarded property is still considered to legally belong to the individual or organization which disposed of it. Which means no, you are actually not allowed to take it. Which makes sense in a capitalist world view. However, moral and what is actually correct to do is a completely different thing. But you might want to be careful about who sees you (hence, this could be considered a night time activity).
How? It can be pretty tricky to get started, if you don't know where to go or how to get into a dumpster. Good tip is to research some before - look up your home town either on Ecosia (search engine) or on the very useful site Trashwiki. Here you can also find some info on laws and other things good to know. There is also a group on Couchsurfing where you can ask people to teach you or just for good tips.
What do you need?
*Comfortable clothes, not your brand new white jacket. You most likely will get a bit dirty. Think about what shoes you wear. Gloves are nice too.
*A flash light, preferably a head torch.
*A backpack and some plastic bags.
Its really not that hard. Another thing you can do if you feel uncomfortable diving into a dumpster, is to go to the market (eg. farmers market) at closing time and carefully ask around. Generally, the salesmen are happy to give away whatever they otherwise would have thrown to you.
Good luck!
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Reasons to be a vegetarian
Reasons to be a vegetarian - short summary of arguments to help you out when people attack you
Environmental aspect
There would be more food for everyone if we ate producers, not consumers because of energy loss in the food chain.
Big herds of animals destroy land (ex. erosion).
Large scale fishing destroys ecosystems.
Transporting meat is generally not conducted efficiently.
May cause extinction of animals due to overpopulation of others.
Side effects like methane gas and vast water consumption is inevitable.
Health aspect
The further up in the food chain you get, the more toxins are stored in the tissues.
there is an unknown possible risk with GMO's and growth hormones.
Animals killed in fearful conditions produce chemicals (caused by stress and terror) that I personally don't want to ingest.
Personally, I don't believe that decomposing flesh belongs in my body - eating death sounds pretty unhealthy to me, try something growing like a colourful fruit instead.
Ethical aspect
My belief is that it is not sound for a human to have that sort of power over an animal - you lose conception of what life is worth.
I also feel that breeding breeding large amounts of animals is a bizarre industry.
The meat industry is generally not pretty - animals are held under very unnatural conditions. Vegetarianism is, all in all, nothing but love.
However: Generally, the problem is not exactly the meat eating itself, but the quantity and the industry behind it. I just try to do my best. Do yours, whatever it is.
Environmental aspect
There would be more food for everyone if we ate producers, not consumers because of energy loss in the food chain.
Big herds of animals destroy land (ex. erosion).
Large scale fishing destroys ecosystems.
Transporting meat is generally not conducted efficiently.
May cause extinction of animals due to overpopulation of others.
Side effects like methane gas and vast water consumption is inevitable.
Health aspect
The further up in the food chain you get, the more toxins are stored in the tissues.
there is an unknown possible risk with GMO's and growth hormones.
Animals killed in fearful conditions produce chemicals (caused by stress and terror) that I personally don't want to ingest.
Personally, I don't believe that decomposing flesh belongs in my body - eating death sounds pretty unhealthy to me, try something growing like a colourful fruit instead.
Ethical aspect
My belief is that it is not sound for a human to have that sort of power over an animal - you lose conception of what life is worth.
I also feel that breeding breeding large amounts of animals is a bizarre industry.
The meat industry is generally not pretty - animals are held under very unnatural conditions. Vegetarianism is, all in all, nothing but love.
However: Generally, the problem is not exactly the meat eating itself, but the quantity and the industry behind it. I just try to do my best. Do yours, whatever it is.
Thursday, 1 December 2011
Living cheap
Sometimes, your financial income is not as high as you want it to be. Worse, it might not be as high as you think you need. If that is your case, or you just feel like cutting down your living cost for an other reason (environmental, moral, personal challenge etc) I will try to provide some tips. So this is to be a little serie of blog enties on how to lower your expenditures without significantly lessening your life quality.
Lesson one - Literature
Fact: many students consider themselves poor and find themselves struggling to make the month. In Sweden, students are paid fairly well (funding from the government and low-rate loans) but still complain. One grand cost for students is the required literature. Then there's also the fun reading, which depending on your taste can get quite pricey too. The green bonus here is obvious - buying new items has a greater impact on the environment than re-using, by doing so we maximise the gain from each product.
What to do?
Step 1 - Try your libraries. If you live in a university town, maybe all the books are lent out to other wise people. Then try libraries outside of the city - perhaps your aunt 20 km away can look for it at her local library and you can pick it up on a family reunion.
Step 2 - No luck at the libraries. Then you ask around to borrow - are you a member on Facebook, post it on your wall. Is it course literature, maybe someone in the year above you still has it.
Step 3 - Still no luck. It's time for the second hand shopping. Have a look around on the internet.
Sweden/Swedish books:
Blocket - not the easiest one to manage, but you can be lucky and find very cheap ones here. Try to search not only the title, maybe the category or just course 'literature'.
Kurslitteratur - well organised, easy to find.
Tradera - not specialised on books and you might have to bid, but still worth a try.
English/English books:
Abebooks - supercheap and a great variety of books. (For me, it was cheaper to order the book from the US and get it shipped to Sweden than buying it second hand here)
For more online bookstores look Here (The mighty book blog's list)
Step 4 - Maybe you just have to suck it up and "bite the sour apple" as the saying goes in Sweden. That is, buy the new book. Do online research before, the prices vary and some stores might have offers/sales. Ask granny for coupons.
[Personal experience: I am to obtain 4 books for my next semester at university, buying new copies would add up to 200€. After looking around, I found two of them at different libraries, bought one online for 9 USD and am looking at the las one for 20-35€. In total, I will pay around 20% of the original cost.]
Lesson one - Literature
Fact: many students consider themselves poor and find themselves struggling to make the month. In Sweden, students are paid fairly well (funding from the government and low-rate loans) but still complain. One grand cost for students is the required literature. Then there's also the fun reading, which depending on your taste can get quite pricey too. The green bonus here is obvious - buying new items has a greater impact on the environment than re-using, by doing so we maximise the gain from each product.
What to do?
Step 1 - Try your libraries. If you live in a university town, maybe all the books are lent out to other wise people. Then try libraries outside of the city - perhaps your aunt 20 km away can look for it at her local library and you can pick it up on a family reunion.
Step 2 - No luck at the libraries. Then you ask around to borrow - are you a member on Facebook, post it on your wall. Is it course literature, maybe someone in the year above you still has it.
Step 3 - Still no luck. It's time for the second hand shopping. Have a look around on the internet.
Sweden/Swedish books:
Blocket - not the easiest one to manage, but you can be lucky and find very cheap ones here. Try to search not only the title, maybe the category or just course 'literature'.
Kurslitteratur - well organised, easy to find.
Tradera - not specialised on books and you might have to bid, but still worth a try.
English/English books:
Abebooks - supercheap and a great variety of books. (For me, it was cheaper to order the book from the US and get it shipped to Sweden than buying it second hand here)
For more online bookstores look Here (The mighty book blog's list)
Step 4 - Maybe you just have to suck it up and "bite the sour apple" as the saying goes in Sweden. That is, buy the new book. Do online research before, the prices vary and some stores might have offers/sales. Ask granny for coupons.
[Personal experience: I am to obtain 4 books for my next semester at university, buying new copies would add up to 200€. After looking around, I found two of them at different libraries, bought one online for 9 USD and am looking at the las one for 20-35€. In total, I will pay around 20% of the original cost.]
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
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