Ladies with Re-purpose

Two vegan college girls trying out a cost-effective and healthy lifestyle

[pearsnpancakes]

mandatory chocolate for breakfast for me today … 🍫 and to the entire TVD Fandom *sending a virtual hug* 😢 … somehow we will make it through this … in a few centuries 😅😢 /// chocolatey coffee pancakes with fresh raspberries , mocha chocolate sauce , cacao bean nibs and coconut chips 🍵🐾🐞 - no recipe for these , they just kind of came together …😅 plus it is really hard for me to even eat today 😭 (i haven’t slept AT ALL last night , my eyes hurt from crying and are red and puffy … because literally I had to say goodbye forever to something that has been a part of me for 8 years and … TVDForever in my ❤) #pancakes #veganpancakes #chocolate

[vegan-yums]

Quinoa Gado-Gado Bowl / Recipe

[intertwiningbodies]

[ladieswithrepurpose-blog]

I always carry my water bottle around, but I also like to change up what I drink once in a while... It's always nice to see places that sell their products in glass, as it's easy to reuse as a water bottle or to recycle! #screwplastic #ecogals #reuse #zerowaste

[ladieswithrepurpose-blog]

Why is fur becoming more fashionable? Very interesting article by nat geo, where the writer makes some interesting points - the fur industry in "northern" countries is often more regulated than the factories that make our meat, which i find crazy. Link in bio! #vegan #news #saynotofur

[ladieswithrepurpose-blog]

Double Chocolate Cupcakes!

Adapted from a recipe by ohsheglows (http://ohsheglows.com/2016/05/12/fail-proof-vegan-chocolate-cupcakes-with-salted-buttercream/)

I have an insane sweet tooth. My personal favorite is chocolate - I go loco for anything chocolate! So I decided to make chocolate cupcakes for my sister and I. I’ve never made vegan ones before (the shock after I realized this - I haven’t made homemade cupcakes in a year). For the chocolate cupcakes, I followed an ohsheglows recipe & instructions (and copied them onto here). However, I switched out two things - I used coconut oil & added chocolate chips to the batter to make the cupcakes even more chocolate-y! I also decided to make a simpler, faster, 2-ingredient icing.

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Prep time: 20-25 min

Cook time: 20 min

Ingredients 

For the cupcakes:

1 cup (250 mL) unsweetened almond milk

1 cup (220 g) natural cane sugar

1/3 cup (80 mL) grapeseed oil*

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups (210 g) unbleached all-purpose flour

1/3 cup (27 g) unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Vegan chocolate chips (the more, the more chocolate-y the cupcakes will be)

For the icing: 

1 can (400 ml) full-fat coconut milk (chill overnight or stick in the freezer for a bit)

Dark chocolate chips (eyeball it - again, the more you use, the more chocolate-y the icing will be. The less, the more the icing will taste like coconut). 

Directions from ohsheglows:

Preheat oven to 350F and use coconut oil to grease the cupcake pan. That way, no need to waste cupcake liners. 

For the cupcakes: Add the milk, sugar, oil, vinegar, and vanilla into a large mixing bowl. With electric mixers, beat the wet ingredients on low speed until combined.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt until no clumps remain.

Gradually add the dry flour mixture to the wet ingredients and beat just until smooth and no patches of flour remain.

Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, about two-thirds full for each.

Bake for 20 to 24 minutes, or until the cupcakes slowly spring back when pressed gently with a finger. A toothpick inserted into the centre should also come out clean. Cool the cupcakes on a cooling rack.

Directions for icing: 

While the cupcakes are cooling, time to start on the icing! Melt the chocolate chips in a pan. Add a little bit of water, but not too much - you want the melted chocolate to be thick. Stir continuously to make sure it doesn’t burn. Once it’s melted, set the chocolate to the side and let cool. 

Open the coconut can and scoop out the solid white coconut cream. Add the cooled chocolate and use an electric mixer to mix. Mine was too liquid-y, so I stuck the mixture in my freezer for about 10 minutes, until the cupcakes were done cooking and cooling. I mixed the icing once more with the electric mixer and slathered it onto the cupcakes. Make sure to stick the cupcakes in the fridge if you won’t be eating them until later, because the icing melts pretty easily. I figured that out after I slathered some on while the cupcakes were still warm... Mistake to avoid!   

[ladieswithrepurpose-blog]

#zerowaste tip: got some old jeans you don't wear anymore & aren't in great shape? Recycle them! I found a program that gives back $10 for a new pair of jeans. There are many other programs similar to this, easy to find with a quick Google search! #gogreen #savetheearth #ecogals #recycle #reuse

[ladieswithrepurpose-blog]

A Guide To Having A Less Wasteful Lifestyle

From the cardboard cup that carries our morning java, to the disposable cutlery we use at lunchtime, and even the pasta left over after dinner (because we still overestimate how much we need); most of us produce a lot of waste in our daily lives. But many young people these days are embracing a

Refinery29 lists a small and easy guide to embracing a less wasteful lifestyle. They include shopping smart, reusing before recycling, being creative with leftovers and wearing secondhand. It also has a small video about people leading the zerowaste movement!

[ladieswithrepurpose-blog]

Perfectly Delicious Vegan Crepes!

Today I started craving french crepes. They have always been an afternoon staple of my family’s - most afternoons during my childhood, i would come home from school to find my mom baking some delicious french crepes. I have tried out a variety of vegan crepe recipes to replicate my mom’s, but a lot didn’t seem to come close. But I experimented a bit more and found an extremely simple and quick recipe that comes pretty identical to the delicious ones from my childhood!  

Prep time: less than 10 minutes

Cook time: Depends on how many you want (you can save some batter for later) 5-25 min 

Ingredients: 

1 C flour 

1 tsp sugar 

Pinch of salt 

1/2 tsp baking powder 

1 & 1/2 cup almond milk

2 & 1/2 tbsp veggie oil or coconut oil 

Unnecessary, but helpful, ingredients: 

vegan butter

flaxseed & water

Instructions: 

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a bowl to remove any lumps 

In a separate bowl, mix together the almond milk and oil. Gradually add the wet mixture to the dry with a whisk until you get a very smooth, liquid batter. Add almond milk if the mixture is thick or lumpy (I find that I usually have to do this). 

Lightly grease a medium skillet with the oil (or vegan butter). Heat over medium heat until hot. Cooking one crepe at a time, pour about ¼ C of batter. Here’s where it gets a little tricky: French crepes are supposed to be large, to take up the entire pan. With these crepes, it’s better to go smaller because they will be less likely to break. If you want them big (add some authenticity!), add some flaxseed - 1 tbsp flaxseed & 3 tbsp water. Let the mixture stand for 15 minutes. Cook until small bubbles appear all over the surface, and using a spatula, flip and cook the other side of the crepe until golden.

Top with jam, sugar, chocolate, peanut butter or anything else! 

[ladieswithrepurpose-blog]

I used to love lasagna before going vegan, because it was so filling on cold days, but it would sometimes give me an upset stomach. This vegan version was just as filling, delicious and no stomach aches! #perfect #vegan #whatveganseat #delicious #eattherainbow #absaremadeinthekitchen

[ladieswithrepurpose-blog]

If you're looking for an eco friendly alternative to wax paper, SILPAT is great. I usually just use oil on my cookie sheets but this is a great alternative if you're looking to make healthier baked meals. What do I like to use it for? Baked fries! A healthy vegan meal with little to no waste 😊 With Love, Sabrina // LWR

[nonconformist-vegan]

“The human appetite for animal flesh is a driving force behind virtually every major category of environmental damage now threatening the human future—deforestation, erosion, fresh water scarcity, air and water pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, social injustice, the destabilization of communities, and the spread of disease.” — World Watch Institute

[rmmmmrmmmmmrmmmmm]

STOP IGNORING THIS.

[janaeisms]

What would you guess this is? Potpourri? Those fake snowballs from Hallmark? Inexplicable bags of dirt? Nah friend, this is laundry detergent and dryer sheets. 

In the bottom right hand corner is a bag of soap nuts. They are a plant that produces a natural soap. I know, that sounds fake, but I’ve been using them for a few months now and my clothes appear to be clean. At least no one commented on it at all those summer cons. Real talk: I even threw a reusable menstrual pad (that I did not pre-soak because who has time for that shit? not me) in a load and THAT came out clean, so I’m a believer. You take a handful of the things and put them in a little bag, throw them in with the clothes, and bam. After about 10 loads, put the old ones in your compost and replace. 

I buy mine in bulk from my local co-op and I would recommend looking around locally since that was cheaper (and less of a carbon footprint) for me, but you can also order them online from places like right here. 

Those big snowballs are wool dryer balls. You throw them into your dryer and they beat the static right out of your clothes. That is my understanding. I am not a scientist. I got mine here - if you watch, they will sometimes do a special on these (I got mine for $3!). I also throw in that satchel of lavender, bought in bulk from the co-op, for some flowery scented goodness. I have heard that you can also drip a tiny amount of lavender oil (or some other kind of scent, you do you) onto the dryer balls for the same result, but essential oils are damn expensive so I stick to the whole flower. 

Cost Breakdown 

I used to buy detergent at Costco at around 0.23 cents/load -> soap nuts purchased online would be 0.08 cents/load 

I used to buy dryer sheets at 4.99 or 0.05 cents/load -> at full price the wool dryer balls pay for themselves after 320 loads, it’s about the same cost until that point

TOTAL SAVINGS: $15 per 100 loads, $20 per 100 after you “pay off” the dryer balls

INITIAL INVESTMENT: If you don’t get the dryer balls on sale you’ll spend about an extra $10 up front beyond a normal box of dryer sheets. The immediate cost of the detergent and soap nuts is about the same.  

Trash Eliminated:

Large plastic detergent containers, recyclable but as with all plastic will eventually go to the landfill

Endless dryer sheets (and the often worrisome chemicals they contain)

Ta da! Zero waste laundry! Let me know if you try it out or have come across other alternatives. 

[ecogreenlove]

💚

[aspoonfuloflissi]

[livekindunwind]

[ladieswithrepurpose-blog]

Zero-waste in the outdoors?

The other week, I started getting tired of the city. I wanted to get out, to get back into nature and feel more centered. Nature always makes me feel at peace, and as if there are other things out there way bigger than me. When I’m in the city, I feel like I tend to focus a lot more on the daily stuff, and on myself. With nature, I can finally focus on other things. 

Camping and hiking has always been a low-waste activity - pack in, pack out is a constant mantra for many hikers. We don’t want to ruin the beauty that surrounds us by destroying it with plastic, or other waste. 

Sometimes though, it’s easy to get caught up in buying a lot of packaged food because it seems easier - little to no cooking necessary, and no time wasted as it gets dark out after a long hike. Cans of beans and veggies, plastic marshmallow bags, graham cracker wrappers, granola bar wrappers, beer bottles, plastic cups and finally it all starts to add up! I always love to camp with groups of friends, but the waste we create as a group by the end of our trip always makes me feel guilty. Even though we pack it out, we end up throwing it into a dumpster, which then goes to a landfill, which causes so much damage to our environment. It’s just a little less obvious. 

So last weekend, I decided that it was time to make this activity zero-waste and go back to the true ideals of low impact camping/hiking! Here’s how I did it for a brief weekend trip: 

For lunch/dinner: Grab some items you can make in the fire! Personally, I like to grab a bunch of fresh veggies/fruits and plop them directly on the fire or in a pan. I like to make corn, bell peppers, mushrooms, onions, zucchini, peaches, bananas (extra good if you slip in some bulk nuts or chocolate while its in the fire). For starches, sweet potatoes, normal potatoes and rice in cardboard packets are pretty easy. Go crazy! If I know I’ll be in a rush, I also cook ahead of time, pack some tupperware and bring that with me. 

For breakfast/snacks/on the go lunches: Ill just go simple and eat bananas with PB from a glass jar that I later reuse as a cup, or recycle. Sometimes I’ll also make myself oatmeal over the campfire (or small portable stove) from a recyclable cardboard box. I also make my own trail mix, “protein balls”, sandwiches and oatmeal bars for hike snacks/on the go lunches. 

For drinks: Everything in a glass or water-bottle. Easy to reuse and also easy to recycle! 

Keep in mind that food scraps still have to be carried out, but they can be composted. 

Cooking is a really fun group activity, and it’s always so relaxing to be next to a campfire, catching up with friends. Why not bring this therapeutic activity full circle and have as little impact on the land as possible?

With Love, Ines // LWR

[ladieswithrepurpose-blog]

Smoothies til I die 😎 #breakfast #smoothie #yum #vegan #glutenfree healthy #healthyfoodporn #eattherainbow #plantbased #whatveganseat #absaremadeinthekitchen #cleaneats