Thursday 18 March 2010

Yoghurt

I make my own yoghurt.

I have bought a starter culture to make it with milk, and although instructions are readily available on the net, I have not got round to trying it yet.

I have however been making it since a few months with this
and this
(both available from Lakeland)

The receipe is fool proof: you mix a pouch of powder with a prescribed amount of water, fill it in the tubs and leave it in the yoghurt maker for some 8 hours or so.

The powder consists of powdered milk, yoghurt cultures and flavouring, although it is available in plain. (Tipp: I found the flavoured one to sweet and the plain one too sour. I now mix 1/2 bag of each which gets it just right!)

Why I love making my own yoghurt:
  1. it tasts good - loads of different flavours
  2. it is cheaper
  3. small individual glasses = portion control!
  4. re-usaeable glasses = no waste
  5. purchasing/carrying/expiry date no problem

Thursday 11 March 2010

Accumulating Stuff: Cleaning Agents

My husband is a typical hoarder.

When I moved into his home, he had 18 shower gels and shampoos around the bath, all almost empty. When I asked why he does not use one up before replacing it he came up with a valid explanation for every single one of them: "Janet has given me that for my birthday the year he died!", "This one, I had with me when I met you!" and "This one is now discontinued!"

We now have about 10 things between us, and although I still don`t think we need 5 half empty bottles at once, I`m satisfied with the progress and don`t ask for more. He`s however still hoarding: "It`s almost finished!", "Reduced!" or "Never goes wrong!"

The other day, I  tidied up his cleaning agents underneath the sink. He denied that we have everything twice, and I wanted to see who was right. Plus, I wanted a less obvious space for our composting. What I found confirmed my worst expectations.



Carpet Cleaner


Okay, we`ve got cats. And okay, one of them was particularly prone to vomiting. But she died in 2007.

for whiter washing


White washing should remain white, I think we all agree on that one. Only that neither hubby nor myself wear much white. He`s got a shirt, I`ve got a blouse. I think that`s really it.

Cream Citrus Cleaner



There is about 5mm left in two of them and 1/3 in the other.

I feel if you find yourself buying the same things that often because you don`t know what you`ve got, its definitely a symptom of you having too much stuff.

I also found an impressing number of bottles which were empty. They were binned, otherwise, I put the almost full ones to the back and the almost empty ones to the front and asked hubby not to replace anything until those at the back are used up, too. I guess that`ll take us a few years...

Thursday 4 March 2010

Bra Size

Approximately 80% of all women wear the wrong bra size, leading to back pain, ill fitting clothes and low body confidence. Make sure that you are not one of them!

Most department stores (Marks and Spencer, Debenhams) do now offer a free bra fitting service, with no obligation to buy. It`s quick and easy and should not take more than five minutes!
 
You`ll really feel the difference when you wear the right size of bra, and it does not even need to be an expensive one!

Also: Buy your bra so the hook fits the outer hole, not the inner one (even though this may feel better as it feels a size smaller...). As the bra stretches over time, you can still wear it by simply using a tighter hole at the back!