Is Your Kitchen Making You Fat?

I'm sure a lot of people are thinking about their diets again after consuming chips, chili, buffalo wings, and beer while watching the Super Bowl this weekend. One nutritionist recently advised her clients to "close" the kitchen after dinner which entails shutting the door and turning off the lights. Kind of hard to do if you don't have a kitchen door and even harder still if your kitchen is open to every other room in your house! I'm not really a fan of open kitchens because if you entertain, you can't close the door and hide the mess but what if seeing the kitchen all day also causes people to gain weight by always tempting them to eat. There is no "out of sight, out of mind" mentality with an open kitchen. Maybe we should be not just be designing kitchens from an aesthetic stand point but a health one as well. Just some food for thought (pun intended). What do you think?

Ruthie Sommers in House Beautiful

Aerin Lauder in Elle Decor

Frank Roop

Katie Ridder

Stella Tennant

Domino Magazine

Miles Redd

House Beautiful

Steven Gambrel

Tim and Helen Schifter

Katie Lee Joel by Nate Berkus

Nancy Bozhardt

Unknown

Steven Gambrel

Kate Spade

Kristen Buckingham in Elle Decor

Roman Williams

Jenna Lyons

Francois Halard

Steven Gambrel

Top Image: Jonathan Berger in House Beautiful

Eco Kitchen Trinkets

Vintage 1950s Seltzer Bottle - Grasshopper 510 ($80)
You could use these Argentinian seltzer bottles to hold liquid hand soap, moisturisers, oils or homemade dishwashing liquid.


Ice Cream Cone - Virginia Sin
These adorable porcelain cones would make me want to eat ice cream every day! They are sold individually ($18) and are handmade in Brooklyn using a non-toxic and lead free glaze. Also available at Grasshopper 510.


Vintage Snail Planter - Hindsvik (Etsy) $45
Maybe you could store your favourite herb in this snail or perhaps a stash of garlic?


Laksha Drinking Glass - Ecocentric - £5.05
Such pretty, embossed glasses! They are made from 100% recycled glass by a small co-operative in Northern India (certified by the World Fair Trade Organisation).


Vintage Teapot Napkin Holders
- Down Vintage Lane (Etsy) $14.95
These have Alice in Wonderland / Mad Hatter's Tea Party written all over them!


Vintage Chalkboard - From Gray to Gold (Etsy) $28
Chalkboards always look cute in the kitchen, especially vintage ones. Perfect for jotting down your shopping lists, dinner menu or favourite quotes and affirmations.

KeepCup - Reusable Coffee Cup Option

This is exactly what I needed on my recent holiday. Every time there was an opportunity for tea the green girl without and within was really wishing I could hand over some reusable cup to be filled with my beverage of choice instead of sheepishly accepting a disposable paper cup. Of course, many would argue that to be truly green you should sit down and sip your tea or coffee from a ceramic cup but alas, this isn't always an option for all of us as we dart about day to day.

The KeepCup has been designed to meet the needs of you and your barista, from the silicone band that allows you to permanently label your coffee preferences to the nifty plug and handle-less design that makes sipping on the go less dangerous and more do-able. It has all the advantageous of your previously loved paper cup but without the high landfill quota!



The design certainly makes it ideal for travelling. I can't help but imagine how cool it would have been if everyone on the last flight I took had each whipped out one of these KeepCups to receive their beverages (I know, ideally we shouldn't be flying, reusable cup in tow or not but 'baby steps' huh?)

According to the online store, Biome Australia all of the 'materials used in the KeepCup are BPA free' and made from the following:

• Cup and lid - #5 polypropylene
• Plug - polyethylene polymer (TPU)
• Thermal band - silicone

I'm still not sure how I feel about the use of plastic for drink containers but I thought this cup was worthy of a showing for anyone that may not have seen it yet. I'm impressed by the fact the product is made in Australia (which is quite amazing when you realise that pretty much every other drink container in the world is made in China). The KeepCup is also a welcome solution towards reducing the staggering amount of disposable cups currently being used around the globe in countless coffee chains and cafes.



The KeepCup is available in three sizes and in various colours. Resellers and corporates can also customise the KeepCup with their preferred colour choices. You can purchase the cups through KeepCup (small sizes start at $10.20, medium $12.20 and large $14.20).

To learn more about KeepCup, you can visit their website.

7 Eco Products for the Kitchen

I have some great little eco products to share with you today that will help greenify your kitchen. Even if you frequent your kitchen as often as a vegan visits McDonalds, you may still find these products interesting. Recycled glass cake boards, tea towels, aprons and oven mits in organic fabrics (hold your excitement girls – there’s more!), mango wood salad servers, recycled paper lunch bags and fair trade rubber gloves! Move over Nigella, we have hemp oven mits and aprons and weren’t not afraid to use them!

Cake Board
Made in Spain
100% recycled glass
Perfect for presenting your homemade or store bought cakes (I won’t tell). Also great as a cheese board which I believe should feature one of the following cheeses: soft, hard, mature and stinky (sounds like I’m describing the judging panel on American Idol).
Eco Centric - £25

Mokimoe ‘Mirra’ Tea Towel
Made in the UK
Organic cotton, hemp and water based inks
This 'almost too pretty to use' tea towel is handmade and designed in the UK and available in either a cork or ink colour (shown above).
The Natural Store - £15

Mango Wood Salad Servers
Fair trade made in North India
Mango wood, oiled with linseed oil
These salad servers are made from mango wood, a renewable timber that is often discarded after bearing fruit. So now the mango tree can give us delicious fruit and the utensils to eat it with! Mango salad anyone?
The Amnesty Shop - £4.50

Organic Hemp Apron
Made in Romania (sweatshop free) by Ecolution
42% hemp and 58% flax
Aprons. Perfect for the messy cook, the cautious cook and the pseudo cook that needs to strategically hang one in their kitchen to give the impression that much whisking, sieving and flambe-ing takes place in there! Available in 6 colours such as natural, orange and sage.
Downbound UK - £12.25

Recycled Paper Lunch Bags
Made in Ireland
Recycled Greaseproof Paper
If you take your lunch to work but wonder about what is the best eco friendly way to wrap up your sandwich or vegan cake (I know I’ve lost many a nights sleep pondering this), here is a good option. Say goodbye to gladwrap and go all ‘1950’s’ by using recycled paper lunch bags instead!
Currently sold out but worth noting for a future purchase perhaps.
The Amnesty Shop - £3.25 for box of 50

Fair Trade Rubber Gloves
Made in the UK
Fair trade natural rubber latex, cotton flock lining
Sold out (before they are even on sale) but another product to remember for those times when you need to do some hardcore cleaning. Purchasing these fair trade rubber gloves will help support farmers of the Firstlight project in Sri Lanka.
Traidcraft - £1.10

Organic Hemp Oven Mits
Made in Romania (sweatshop free) by Ecolution
100% organic hemp which is biodegradable
Stay safe in the kitchen with this great pair of organic hemp oven mits which are available in brown, green, indigo or natural.
Downbound UK - £11.75


Find out about more great eco products for your kitchen

The best natural loofah for washing dishes
Pretty fair trade trivets for underneath pots, vases and glasses

Fair Trade Mats and Trivets for the Home

Must-have items for the home

Who doesn’t need some cute little trivets scattered around their kitchen and dining room? Use these pretty heat and water resistant mats for saucepans, teapots, coasters or vases and enjoy the fact you are supporting a women’s cooperative in the Philippines who make the mats from recycled newspapers. Fair trade, sustainable and affordable!

Purchase Fair Grounds Fairly Traded Mats / Trivets at the Natural Store for £4

Mats are approximately 19-20cm in diameter

Wash Dishes the Natural Way

I am absolutely loving Michael’s Original Luffa Scouring Pads. I know I shouldn’t get so excited about cleaning products but this luffa ticks so many green boxes, it is hard not too. It is good for the environment (biodegradable and sustainably sourced), chemical free, ethically traded from the Philippines and lasts 1-3 months. Michael’s Luffa is also hygienic as it can hang from the tap to dry. Thankfully, I no longer have to use anymore of those dubious supermarket cloths and can now use these environmental and economic luffas instead (I will only need 4 luffas for the entire year!).
Available at some UK health food stores or online for £1.49 each at Michaels Luffas or Green Brands.

Upcoming Post: Learn how to make your own natural dishwashing liquid with only 6 ingredients (that are probably already in your kitchen cupboard).

The Best Organic Teas for Winter

Pukka Herbs Revitalise Tea – 20 sachets for £1.99
Pukka’s Revitalise is the perfect hug-for-the-soul tea during the cold winter months. With warming organic ingredients of ginger and cinnamon and spicy cardamon, this tea is perfect day or night. Pukka Herbs draw strongly on Ayurvedic ingredients so their teas not only delight the taste buds, but they also address the rest of the body as well.
Available at most supermarkets and health food stores or online at http://www.pukkaherbs.com/

Steenbergs Organic Christmas Tea – 125g tin for £5.25
If you still want to drink in the festive charms of Christmas, there is always Steenbergs organic and fair-trade Christmas Tea. The heavenly scent of organic clove, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla and orange peel will permeate through the house and leave some christmas cheer during the dark winter months.

Tea Palace – Immune Boost Tea from £3.25
Notting Hill’s Tea Palace not only provides a chic environment for an indulgent afternoon tea but you can also order their delicious loose leaf teas online to enjoy at home. Keep your immune system strong this winter with their award winning ‘Immune Boost’ tea. Certified organic ingredients include echinacea, ginger, ginseng and orange peel. The Tea Palace also does another great winter tea, ‘Healing Hand’ which contains lemon peel, eucalyptus and echinacea.
Tea Palace – 175 Westbourne Grove, W11 2SB.
Hampstead Tea Ginger Green – 25 bags for £1.89
Enjoy the warming and antioxidant properties of ginger and green tea this winter with Hampstead Tea’s ‘Ginger Green’. Ginger is perfect too for anyone who overindulged over Christmas as it will settle any sensitive stomachs. This tea is organic and fair-trade and there are extra green points for the non-chlorine bleached tea bags made without glue or staples.

Chic City Kitchen

I was going to call this post, Chic Country Kitchen but then I remembered that the husband and wife owner's Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch don't care for the connotation that the phrase "country kitchen" infers, especially since theirs is in a loft in downtown New York. Regardless of what they call it, it's one of my favorite kitchen designs. The forced cherry blossoms add to the beautiful ambiance and have me drooling as well. I also thought that Decorno might need a little inspiration after her "home of never ending projects" post today. You can read the entire article about this chic kitchen here.

1) The island: The marble top comes from a lithographer’s studio in Indiana and had to be craned in through the window. Standefer found the tree stump in a forest, and uses it as a cheese platter or fruit stand.

2) The Garland stove: A well-used workhorse that was inherited from the loft’s previous owner, an urban pioneer who’d been there since 1968 and also kept a giant loom on the premises. She’d cloistered her kitchen in a dark corner of the loft. They moved the stove—and everything else—out into the open.

I'm going to have to do another post about the owners and their design firm Roman & Williams because they have a really interesting back story. They started out as set designers for movies and then started to get interior design jobs after a few celebs who admired their work started to hire them. There also came a point where they couldn't stand to watch all their hard work destroyed at the end of a shoot. They recently finished the lobby renovation of the Royalton Hotel in New York and word is that they have quite a few more celebrity clients. Now, I just wish they would post some photos online so we can see what else they have been up to!