Chickpeas are a creamy-coloured, buttery and nutty-flavoured pulse, and may also be known as garbanzo beans. They are one of the world’s oldest cultivated legumes. They originate from the Middle East and grow best in a tropical climate. Read on to discover how to cook chickpeas.
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Grains are an excellent source of energy, a good source of fibre and provide the starch that should make up at least a third of our diets. Most people don’t eat enough starch. Wholegrains, as near to their original form as possible, slow down the digestion of starches. They help to prevent spikes in blood sugar levels.
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We added a whole host of everyday essentials to Realplasticfree.com from toothbrushes through to toilet paper, making your plastic-free shopping that little bit easier. Any plastic free products you’d like us to stock that we don’t already have? Please do not hesitate to let us know by email at [email protected] and we’ll do our very best to source what you need.
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When it comes to going plastic-free, I couldn’t let the children have all the fun. I put on my plastic free thinking cap and came up with a perfect plan for reducing plastic and making my life more fun. Because the children helped us create the perfect mini veggie plot, it’s my turn to get planting. I’m an enthusiastic home-cook and also a busy mother. I love to create healthy meals for the family. Preferably ones I can make without slaving away for hours in the kitchen. Herbs play a big part in this. From ribbons of basil in our no-cook, raw tomato sauce or sage on top of simply ravioli – herbs add all the flavour. Without adding any nasties. What better way to go than to have our own plastic free herb garden?
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In the spirit of getting us all involved, step 2 of going plastic free was a spot of DIY. First of all, we had great fun at the weekend. We set ourselves up a small vegetable plot in our garden. We used some old sleepers we had from some recent building work. Also some stakes we had going spare to make our wigwam. We’ve planted cucumbers, peppers, peas and runner beans. And of course, we’ve hung some strawberry plants up too for little hands to pick at as they check on the plot.
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Going plastic-free as a young family is tough. So many kids’ snacks come in plastic wrapping and finding time to make everything from scratch instead is often near impossible. But we’re ready to take on the challenge. We’ve set ourselves the goal of radically reducing our plastic use this year. We’ve been thinking about it for some time. however, it took our six-year-old coming home from school upset and worried after watching David Attenborough’s now-famous Blue Planet episode to get us to take the leap. Her naive logic made us think. She just couldn’t get her head around why we couldn’t all immediately stop using plastic that was hurting animals. So we’ve promised her we will go on our own crusade against plastic.
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