as most of you may not know, my fiance and i recently bought our first home!
so i have been completely wrapped up in that for the past few months and have really tried to get it organised and running exactly how i want it (which has been a mammoth task). i think i have finally reached a happy place with it and managed to find some time to get back on here and write a blog post!!

through the purchase and set up of our home, i have tried to be as eco and environmentally friendly as possible. especially through my purchases of kitchen, cleaning and bathroom items!
its definitely easy to get wrapped up in the convenience and availability of single use products when setting up your home; they seem to be the cheaper and less time consuming option.

i have picked a few of my stand out eco-friendly items that i highly recommend to everyone. they are all things that are easy to add into your lifestyle and help you do your part for the environment.

first up is my favourite change and purchase.
my Face Halo; i picked this one up after hearing about it from beauty guru Chloe Morello who is a part owner in the company. basically it eliminates the single use makeup wipe (which take 100 years to decompose!!!!). not only does using the face halo eliminate makeup wipes from your routine and day to day life but also the chemicals that come along with them!
the face halo uses halotech fiber technology and you literally JUST have to add water. it is the best thing i have ever purchased!!! super affordable too, its roughly 3 for $30AUD. they are super easy to clean, you just have to wash it with some soap (any soap) after each use then machine wash it every week-few weeks depending on how often you use it. you get up to 200 washes per face halo!!
i can't recommend this product enough - it truly works!
https://www.facehalo.com.au/

next up are two products that i use weekly and reduce a significant amount of plastic!!
they are my reusable produce and shopping bags. if you are like me and love food shopping then these are a must! not only are they convenient and money saving, they also really help the environment.

here in Australia, the supermarkets sell reusable plastic bags that you pay 10 cents for per bag and you are meant to bring them back and keep using etc. but i often find 1. you forget to bring them with you 2. they end up breaking after a few uses and 3. people just treat them as a single use throw away anyway.
so i decided i would purchase a set of reusable shopping bags and a set of produce bags when we moved in. (i can confirm i use them every week without fail).
the produce bags are exceptionally handy, i use them for all my fresh fruit and veggies and they can also be stored in the fridge if you can't be bothered emptying them when you get home.
the reusable shopping bags speak for themselves, they allow me to organise my shopping as i am walking around the store and are easy to transport to and from the car.

i also make sure i have fold up carry bags in my handbag at all times, so if i ever get stuck at the shops and need a bag i always have one!
https://www.biome.com.au/reusable-bags/2380-onya-weigh-reusable-fruit-veg-bags-set-of-5-9340655000477.html
https://packingsorted.com.au/

one of my favourite kitchen purchases are my food savers! i use them for tomatoes, onions and garlic that aren't being used. these are great because they eliminate the use of cling wrap or other single use plastic storage and keep my left over vegetables fresh.
they are perfect for when you only use half an onion or half a tomato or one clove of garlic and want somewhere to store the remainder. (although it isn't ideal that the food saver it self is plastic, it does last a long time and can be washed etc).
i definitely recommend these if you cook and want an alternative way to store your half used vegetables!
https://www.amazon.com.au/Hutzler-Classic-Food-Savers-Set/dp/B019Y6BWOI

reusable coffee cups are something i have been using for years and swear by them! these days you can get so many different styles and designs; it would be hard to find something you didn't like. i have been loving the Frank Green cups, i have both the original and stainless steel version and they are by far my favourite reusable cups!
i generally use mine for when i am leaving the house, i will take a coffee from home and it always stays warm for my journey. i also like to pack my small sized one in my bag for when i feel like a coffee when i am out. they really do help with eliminating landfill and can be used for so many other beverages aside from coffee!
https://frankgreen.com.au/


lastly but not least, is another reusable beverage item - a stainless steel drink bottle. like the coffee cups, you can also get these in a range of styles, designs and sizes. i particularly like the ones by Swell and from Kikki K (which i am currently using). the good thing about a stainless steel drink bottle is that you have the option of carrying both hot and cold beverages. they are perfect for summer when you want cold water that will stay cold all day or for winter when you prefer to take a tea with you.  these also really do reduce the rate of plastics entering our oceans and landfill and would literally last you years without replacement.
https://www.swellbottle.com/
https://www.kikki-k.com/au/shop-by/category/reusables/stainless-steel-drink-bottle-woodland-11222601.html?cgid=shop_by-category-reusables#start=4

so these are just a few of my favourite eco friendly things i have incorporated into my new home. i hope i have inspired you to make some changes in your home too. if every one of us started to do even one of these things every day or week, we would really make a difference.
i have put a link to each of the products i use.

hope you have all been well
thanks so much for coming back :)
stephanie xxx

Day 8 


it is pretty much an Australian tradition to have a pavlova on Christmas day. we normally have a full sized round one however after having mini ones on the cruise, i decided to make mini ones this Christmas.

i have take inspiration from Natasha's Kitchen and her Pavlova recipe and all credit to her because her recipe is amazing and works a treat!




Ingredients:
- 6 egg whites, room temperature 
- 1.5 cups white sugar
- 2 tsp corn flour
- 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract


Ingredients for topping:
- 1 1/2 cups cold heavy whipping cream
- 2 Tbsp white sugar
- 4-5 cups fresh fruit (blueberries, kiwi, raspberries, sliced strawberries, etc)

Decorating:
1. Beat cold heavy whipping cream with 2 Tbsp sugar in the cold bowl for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes or until whipped and spreadable.

2. Pipe frosting onto the pavlova and top with fresh fruit. Once they are assembled they stay great for up to 4 hours at room temperature.

Ingredients
200g unsalted butter (chopped)
1/2 cup Caster Sugar
1/2 cup Rice Flour
1 1/2 cup Plain Flour
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
**whatever you choose to decorate with** (i chose Dr Oetker designer icing in white and some icing sugar)

Method

DAY 11

i felt like today deserved two posts considering that they are both pretty short posts and its Christmas eve eve!! i can't believe there is only 1 day to go and that 12 days went so quickly!!

DAY 4

Day 4 is all about Christmas baking. it is always nice to make treats over Christmas (even though i really don't need them). this year i am making Gingerbread, surprisingly i have never made Gingerbread before but i am going to give it a go.


Gingerbread

What you will need:
- Melted Butter, to grease
- 125g Butter, at room temperature
- 100g (1/2 cup, firmly packed) Brown Sugar
- 125ml (1/2 cup) Golden Syrup
- 1 Egg, separated
- 375g (2 1/2 cups) Plain Flour
- 1 tablespoon Ground Ginger
- 1 teaspoon Mixed Spice
- 1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
- Plain flour to dust
- 150g (1 cup) Pure Icing Sugar, sifted
- 8-10 drops red liquid food colouring
- 8-10 drops green liquid food colouring
- Smarties or M&Ms to decorate

Method: 

i have decided to *potentially* start a series of blog posts called "Baking Sundays", this is where ill hopefully be able to share with you what i bake (if they turn out that is)

I have always enjoyed baking and cooking in general but have always been the one out of my siblings to bake even when we were younger, maybe its because i have such a sweet tooth.

This blog post will focus on cookies and crunchie cheesecake.

...and so we begin.

if you are like me and love subway cookies, then you will also be dying to know how to make them from home.

i picked up this recipe from my local radio station here in Adelaide's facebook page so i am not sure who the original author is but all credit to them.

i am a sucker for white chocolate and macadamia cookies and of course M&M cookies so they are the two featured in this blog post.

***please note, i wasn't completely successful at this recipe and im not sure why, they tasted delicious however out of the 3 trays i had in the oven 1 burnt, 1 cooked perfectly and the other could of done with a little longer then 7 minutes (see photos for what i mean, i ditched the burnt ones). I'm not sure if i should've rotated them during the 7 minutes or had less in the oven. I also found that the longer you let the mixture sit the sticker and thicker it became making it easier to place them on the tray as described. BUT please don't let this deter you from the recipe they still tasted good, i would still give it ago and see if it turns out better then me***

Ingredients:
- 1x packet of cake/brownie mix (whatever flavour/brand you want- i am using vanilla)
- 2x eggs
- 1/3 cup of vegetable oil
- optional ingredients; milk choc chips, white choc chips, macadamias, m&m etc

Recipe (super easy):
1.  Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius or 392 Fahrenheit
2.  Pop everything into a large bowl or kitchen aid and mix together with an electric or hand mix until fully combined
3. Roll the dough into small balls and place onto a lined baking tray (they will get bigger so don't put too many on a tray [maybe 12 per tray] otherwise they will run into eachother)
4. Pop them into the oven for approximately 7 minutes. (they won't seem ready when you pull them out however they will continue to harden as they cool but don't worry they will still be soft like a subway cookie on the inside)



Biscuit Base
– 300g Digestives
– 150g Unsalted Butter/Stork, Melted

Cheesecake Filling
– 500-600g Full Fat Cream Cheese
– 125g Icing Sugar
– 1tsp Vanilla Extract
– 300ml Double Cream
– 250g Milk Chocolate, chopped
– 200g-250g Crunchies, chopped – (2×4 multipack = 260g)
– 200g Crunchie Spread
– 50g Chocolate, melted
– 150ml Double Cream
– 2tbsps Icing Sugar
– 3 Crunchies, chopped into 12 pieces
– 1 Crunchie, chopped finely
– 500-600g Full Fat Cream Cheese
– 125g Icing Sugar
– 1tsp Vanilla Extract
– 300ml Double Cream
– 250g Milk Chocolate, chopped
– 200g-250g Crunchies, chopped – (2×4 multipack = 260g)

To Decorate  (NOTE: i didn't use the double cream, crunchie spread or icing sugar on my cake as i don't like cream and we don't have crunchie spread here in AUS but totally up to you how decorated)
– 200g Crunchie Spread
– 50g Chocolate, melted
– 150ml Double Cream
– 2tbsps Icing Sugar
– 3 Crunchies, chopped into 12 pieces– 1 Crunchie, chopped finely