Candyfloss & Dreams

Category: Food

A witch is eating is a category of blog posts celebrating good food and ranting about diet culture

Saving Food Waste with Too Good to Go App
I’ve had the Too Good to Go app on my phone for a while and have had the good intentions to use it but just haven’t gotten around to it until recently. We are once again shaking up our finances and finding ways to save money and reduce our outgoings. Over the last 18 months or so takeaways and small £30-40 shops have increased and it’s gotten a bit out of control. One of the things we thought would be a good meet in the middle would be to try using Too Good to Go more often as it allows us to have some treats at a cheap price and save food going to waste from retailers.

What is Too Good To Go

It’s an App available on the App Store (for iPhone users – I’m sure there is an android version too) which brings the local community and retailers together to help reduce food waste. Retailers, such as Costa, Starbucks and M&S will put together ‘Magic’ bags of reduced food at the end of the day at a huge discount. There are limited quantities each day and the app has different offers throughout the day so it’s worth checking regularly. Over the last week we’ve tried three different retailers to get a feel for the sort of thing included. The App is easy to use, you can pay with Apple Pay and it will even link you to Google maps so you can triple check the location of the store. It’s really handy to use, very effecient and a really good idea. I hope more retailers come to use it because it could benefit so many people that are going to struggle to afford food this winter. The great thing is its mostly ready made food that doesn’t require cooking but the thing you might not like is the fact that you can’t choose what you get and it might not be to your taste or contain allergens. It’s a great thing if you don’t mind what you’re going to get though! The Too Good to Go App is free to download and free to sign up to. Registration is easy. Below is a simple screenshot of the App with the first step of how it works.

Basically, if you like to hunt down a bargain in the reduced section of the supermarket then this app is a must have. We all know food has a ‘sell by’ date but that doesn’t mean it isn’t safe to eat the same or even sometimes the next day and some things can readily be frozen. This app helps make bargain hunting for these reduced items really simple and can really help make lunches affordable.

Our Experience using Too Good to Go

We’ve now used Too Good to Go for three different retailers so far recently and have had a really good experience. Each ‘magic bag’ from Too Good to Go has been less than £5 and has provided more than enough lunch and treats for my family. I would really like to try a bag from a supermarket as I’ve seen M&S and Morrisons use the app to help reduce food waste. I have gotten a bag from Costa which had two toasties and two muffins, a bag from Greggs which had two sandwiches, a slice, a pastry and two chelsea buns, and a box from a local bakery which had about five fancy cupcakes. I have been really impressed with the quality of the food.
- Our Magic Bag from Greggs using the Too Good To Go App
- Another magic box using the Too Good to Go App from a local Bakeaway
- A quick and easy lunch thanks to the Costa magic bag
So this is a lot of baked goods which, okay, might not be brilliant to consume on a daily basis which is why I’m keen to see what supermarkets include in their magic bags as I think that could help add some versatility to meals and recipes, or encourage people to try things they might not have done so before. Having sandwiches included is such a good idea as that covers lunch the next day and doesn’t require cooking. I just think we are probably in for a harsh winter and apps like this can help families or even young people, students for example; that are struggling to afford all the things. Too Good To Go is helping to provide food for people from places many would consider a luxury to have on a regular basis.

The Sustainability of Reducing Food Waste

Food waste is a massive issue for sustainability. We throw away way too much food and in a climate where the governement doesn’t care about providing primary school children with lunch families are going to struggle more than ever. I’ve talked before about people not only being financially poor but also time poor and living in a state of relative poverty which means they might not be able to afford to fuel their kitchen this winter. Apps like this and places that offer a solution to reducing food waste alongside providing food at a hugely discounted rate working in partnership is a great thing for sustainability and helping those in poverty. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again but nothing is sustainable unless it is completely inclusive of people in poverty. The more people that use the app, the more businesses will partnership and the more accessible and available food will become to those that need it and hopefully we will see a reduction in food waste.

In terms of packaging the only things that were wrapped in plastic were the sandwiches and toasties. Everything else was in paper bags or boxes.
October 27, 2021
Making Home Made Steamed Fluffy Bao Buns

Recently I found a kit from School of Wok in Sainsburys that taught you had to make Steamed Fluffy Bao Buns at home. If you don’t know what steamed buns are they are, from what I gather, an Asian bun, usually cooked in a bamboo steamer and filled with all kinds of deliciousness. I love them. My love for them began in 2019 with the Wagamama’s steamed fluffy buns and then lockdown hit and I couldn’t get them anymore. Now I know how to make them my life feels complete. It was probably one of the best things we’d ever made together at home actually. We were fully inspired by Wagamama’s menu and made a pork belly, apple, carrot and coriander filling with a siracha mayo.

How to make steamed bao buns at home with a school of wok recipe kit

The School of Wok Bao Bun kit comes with the bun mix and a BBQ mariande for the chosen meat. It also includes some rice wine for chosen pickeled vegetable. I chopped up a granny smith green apple into matchstick shapes and grated a carrot before mixing the wine vinegar with a little salt, sugar and water. I then gave the apple and carrot a mix up with the pickle liquid and kept stiring occasionally as I made up the rest of the dish. For the pork belly we smothered it in the BBQ sauce and baked in the oven, turning midway. The buns were not particularly hard to make however we have neither a wok nor a bamboo steaming basket. This lead to a pretty interesting set up. We basically had a big pan of boiling water, a heat resistant bowl with a plate on top covered in greaseproof paper. We then added a couple of buns to the plate and steamed with the lid on the pan for around 8 minutes. The School of Wok kit was really helpful and explained this as an ideal set up. As long as you have a deep lidded pan in the home then you can make these Steamed Fluffy Bao Buns!

Pork and Apple steamed Bao Buns with siracha mayo and coriander

We ended up making about 8 or so steamed buns on total, maybe a couple more, because we added too much water and then needed to add more flour to compensate. How the dough still managed to raise and steam as well as it did I do not know. I didn’t roll them out very thin either so we had a lot of different sized buns. I found the kit really easy to use and would absolutely do this again. I love trying to recreate meals at home and would love to try other fillings with the bao buns in the future. They are guarenteed to be a party pleaser, can have a variety of veggie fillings and actually don’t take too long when you know what you’re doing.

July 26, 2021
Binge Eating Disorder: Asking For Help
I think I was fifteen when I first asked for my doctors permission to join Weight Watchers and thus began fifteen years of dieting. I have been antidiet for the last year now and I wish so much I had been antidiet then because I might not have half the problems and issues I have with food that I have today. Last month I called my doctor asking for help with binge eating disorder and a referral for an ADHD assessment. I have read that the impulsive nature of ADHD can be linked to disordered eating and felt it was something worth exploring. I already know that most diets fail for a multitude of complex reasons but I also wondered if there was something more to my problems with food.

I’ve talked on the blog before about living in poverty when I was younger and this resulting in an issue with my food control, binge eating and disordered eating in general but perhaps undiagnosed ADHD has also been a conflicting factor for why diets have never worked, why binge eating has been my go to and my anxiety and emetophobia have prevented it developing into something else like Bulemia. I have low self esteem and low self confidence as it is and I’ve tried every single diet but I get bored. I get bored having the same meals that don’t taste as good. I have issues knowing when to stop eating and often eat until I am over full, bloated and sometimes feeling very unwell. I have trouble controling my cravings.

These are all things I want to work on. I’m currently waiting to have blood tests to see if there are any underlying issues that are keeping me fat as well as on the waiting list for an adhd diagnosis and these are steps in the right direction. Once I’ve had the blood test results back I can be referred for stage 2 of weight management help with the NHS although I’ve made it clear to my GP that weighing myself is triggering I am hoping this will lead to some therapy around food to help me undo some of the issues I have.

I have signed up to do the Rebelfit summer camp and I am going to try and process the Nutrition information as best as I can to help me understand emotional eating, combating it and trying to build healthy food habits. I want to improve my relationship with food but I want to do this with a neurodivergent frame of mind. Something I’ve never considered before. How do I make repairing my relationship with food, avoid binge eating disorder and improve my strength and fitness now I think I have ADHD? Even if I don’t have ADHD and the assessment comes back without a formal diagnosis perhaps trying a new approach will have a more positive impact on my life. I may or may not have ADHD but I certainly have an issue with food that I’ve battled for fifteen years and that needs solving. The desire is there, but when the boredom kicks in and my brain wanting to avoid change, the motivation completely goes and I regress right back to where I started.

My goals to help me conquer binge eating disorder
- Get therapy. I am hoping for NHS but I may self fund just because I have a load of other issues to unpack.
- Follow up with the blood tests and ADHD assessment to see if that can help make changes.
- Actually complete the Rebelfit camp and read all the information.
- Build a healthy relationship with food and body acceptance
- Find a way that neurodivergent brains deal with eating disorders to see if there are any new skills I can learn
- Finish my body positive books to help motivate me
- Find food mantras and affirmations to help remind me that food is food, that I can eat anything I want and I don’t need to let it control my life
- Establish the relationship between emotions and eating. Find ways to alleviate boredom instead of turning to food.
July 5, 2021
How To Start Undoing the Damage of Diet Culture and Be Happier

Diet culture has lead to decades of body image issues and been a key factor in eating disorders. It’s time to say no to diets and yes to health.
Diet culture has ruined my life. I am not saying that to be dramatic, I’m saying it because it’s true. It’s made me diet from my early teens through my twenties and as a result I’ve got fatter and fatter. I am living proof that diets don’t work and they don’t work because I am yet to undo all the damage I have around food, around health and around when I am allowed or should not be allowed to eat. I know I’m not the only person that feels like this because it’s a conversation I have with friends on a very regular basis. So if right now you are feeling shit because you’re fat and you have no idea what to do and you’re sick of starving yourself then this post is for you. When I first starting looking into fat liberation and body positivity I felt I was too fat to even try.

Ditching the unhealthy obsession with Diet Culture

I’ve been attempting to unravel all that damage now for the last 14 months and I am not there yet. I wish I could say that I’m super thin and happy and healthy and everything is perfect right now but I can’t because it’s not true, well, some of it is not true. I am happier and I’m no longer obsessed with food, calorie counting and weighing myself. I don’t sit there *every* night wishing I could cut off the fat from my stomach. I realise typing this how insane that sounds but again I won’t lie. There have been times were I’ve contemplated grevious self harm to be thin because for all of my life I have been told the only way to be healthy is to be thin. I didn’t want to do this to myself anymore. I don’t want to say I’ve been on a journey because my fat bum hasn’t moved alot in the last 12 months but I have slowly but surely changed the focus. Now rather than hating myself I’m angry at diet culture. I’m also pretty angry at the government and how they plan to try and improve the health of the nation because it’s problematic.

What is diet culture?

It’s the photoshopped magazines, the slimming club adverts, the fat shaming, the “have you thought of going on a diet?” when you go for a smear test. It’s the stigma when your fat and pregnant, or trying to concieve. It’s the feeling of laughter if you exercise. It’s the years and years of beauty myths saying thin is beauty, thin is grace, thin is the life you want. It’s the cause of eating disorders, of our daughters thinking their fat when they’re ten years old. It’s the constant need to lose weight to be considered attractive, worthy, loved and someone to be kind to. It’s the bullying, it’s the constant need to label food as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. It’s the fear of not being accepted as a decent person, the assumption you’re stupid and lazy.

It is hugely problematic, and a predatory industry that does not care about your health but relies on your constant desire to be thin to make money. It is making weight loss the goal, never health. It is the reason for so many eating disorders and why doctors and therapists and dieticians are talking about weight stigma and disordered eating.

We have all been victims to it at some point in our lives.

Do you really want to be the friend that’s always on a diet?

No I bet you don’t because that person is boring. The person that is constantly saying I’ve lost 2lbs this week, I’ve gained 3lbs this week and I don’t know why. The person that only ever wants to talk syns. It’s the person that always feels guilty for having an extra chocolate bar or indulging in a favourite snack. I was this person and I hated being that person, consumed by what I was allowed to eat. I felt controlled and childlike, as if I wasn’t able to make my own decisions and that lead to binge eating, more feelings of failure and being fatter. What a life I’ve had!

Turning 30 has been liberating; ditching diet culture and finally feeling the most ‘Me’

I was so afraid of turning 30 thinking I had messed up my twenties by being fat and not really doing anything but now I look back and think about all the time I’ve wasted dieting and talking about ‘when i’m not fat’ and obviously that just hasn’t happened. Now I still think about what I eat but the pressure isn’t as strong for it to always be a salad or lets face it something that tastes awful.

I have more time to do things I want because I’m not preoccupied with punishing myself to exercise or focusing on weight loss. I have found clothes I like to wear and feel comfortable in. I eat all kinds of food that I enjoy but I don’t feel the pressure to eat until I bloat or like it’s my last meal. I’m no longer binging chocolate because I eat it when I fancy it. I think about my emotions and what will statisfy my feelins the most. Sometimes it’s food, but most of the time it’s reading, or drawing or video games or a walk or watching a comedy. I no longer feel I have to feed my feelings but I also acknowledge that sometimes that’s what I need. Life is better for me.

September 28, 2020
Independent Wines: Valpolicella

Ad – I was sent two bottles of wine to review on my blog. All opinions remain my own.

I remember the first time I tried a Valpolicella wine. I loved how the name sounded and it stuck with me, as well as the rich, smooth flavour. It was the wine that converted me to give more reds a go and then changed my preference from white wine to red. It’s not one I tend to buy often but I was thrilled to try the Rubinelli Valpolicella Classico DOC 2018 from Independent Wines recently.

Rubinelli Vajol Valpolicella classico red wine from Independent Wines

For this bottle Adam and I set ourselves up one evening with the wine and the absolute classic red wine dish – steak. I cooked the steak up in a griddle pan and we ended up having a really lovely evening chatting away with good food. This Valpolicella was quite light in colour compared to others that I’ve tried in the past but still had a lovely ruby colour to it. It was tart in flavour with notes of red berries and cherries but had a smooth, almost creamy finish. It paired perfectly with our meal and was incredibly easy drinking. Buying wine online is a really accessible way to try a variety of different grapes from different regions and Independent Wine make this super easy.

If you fancy pairing this wine with something different it’s a great alternative to Pinot Noir and will pair well with lots of Italian style poultry, seafood and grilled vegetable dishes. Originally, we planned to pair this with roasted Duck breast as I thought the berries and cherries tasting notes would complement it really well but sadly we couldn’t get the meal together. It was incredibly pleasent with steak and mushrooms however, and it went down easily. I often think the earthyness of mushrooms brings in fruity flavours really well in a wine.

Pairing the Valpolicella red wine with a steak dish

I found learning about where this particular wine was from using the map and tasting guide on the website really interesting. It shows that this Valpolicella is from the Veneto region in Italy, close to Lake Garda, Venice in the south and the Alps in the north. Apparently, it’s a really productive region for wine growing. Perhaps with it’s proximity to Venice is another reason why Valpolicella has always appealed to me as it’s a place so high on my bucket list to visit, particularly during Carnival. I love the theatre associated with Venice and I guess this wine makes me think of that.

September 8, 2020