#plant extract food ingredients

[qualityherb]

The Rising Popularity of Plant Extract Food Ingredients: Nature’s Secret to Health and Flavor

In recent years, the food industry has seen a significant shift towards natural and healthier alternatives. Among these, plant extract food ingredients have emerged as a popular choice for both manufacturers and consumers. These extracts, derived from various parts of plants, not only enhance the flavor and nutritional value of food but also offer numerous health benefits. Let’s explore the growing trend of plant extract food ingredients and their impact on our diets.

What are Plant Extract Food Ingredients?

Plant extract food ingredients are concentrated substances obtained from different parts of plants, such as leaves, roots, flowers, seeds, and fruits. These extracts are rich in bioactive compounds, including antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals, which contribute to their unique properties and benefits. Common plant extracts used in the food industry include vanilla, green tea, turmeric, garlic, and rosemary.

Benefits of Plant Extract Food Ingredients

Enhanced Flavor and Aroma: Plant extracts are widely used to enhance the taste and aroma of food products. For instance, vanilla extract adds a sweet and creamy flavor to desserts, while rosemary extract imparts a savory note to meats and sauces.

Nutritional Boost: Many plant extracts are packed with essential nutrients. For example, spinach extract is rich in iron and vitamins, while green tea extract is loaded with antioxidants that help combat oxidative stress.

Natural Preservatives: Certain plant extracts possess antimicrobial properties, making them effective natural preservatives. Rosemary extract, for instance, is used to extend the shelf life of perishable foods by preventing the growth of bacteria and mold.

Health Benefits: Plant extracts are known for their therapeutic properties. Turmeric extract, with its active compound curcumin, has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, while garlic extract supports heart health by reducing cholesterol levels.

Popular Plant Extracts in the Food Industry

Vanilla Extract: Widely used in baking and confectionery, vanilla extract is cherished for its rich and creamy flavor.

Green Tea Extract: Known for its high antioxidant content, green tea extract is used in beverages, snacks, and dietary supplements.

Turmeric Extract: Valued for its anti-inflammatory properties, turmeric extract is commonly found in health foods and supplements.

Garlic Extract: With its potent flavor and health benefits, garlic extract is a popular ingredient in savory dishes and condiments.

Rosemary Extract: Used as a natural preservative, rosemary extract also adds a distinct flavor to meats and sauces.

The Future of Plant Extract Food Ingredients

The demand for plant extract food ingredients is expected to grow as consumers continue to seek healthier and more natural food options. Advances in extraction technologies are making it easier to obtain high-quality extracts with enhanced potency and purity. Moreover, ongoing research into the health benefits of various plant extracts is likely to uncover new applications and benefits.

How to control the dosage of food products?

Controlling the dosage of plant extract food ingredients in food products is essential to ensure safety, efficacy, and consistency in flavor and nutritional content. Here are some key steps and considerations for effectively managing the dosage:

Understanding the Potency

Standardization: Ensure that the plant extracts are standardized, meaning the active components are present in a consistent concentration across different batches.

Label Information: Refer to the supplier’s specifications and recommendations for the appropriate dosage ranges.

Regulatory Guidelines

Compliance: Familiarize yourself with the regulatory guidelines for the use of specific plant extracts in food products. Different countries have varying regulations regarding permissible levels.

GRAS Status: Check if the plant extract has Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) status, which can guide acceptable usage levels.

Testing and Analysis

Laboratory Testing: Conduct laboratory tests to determine the exact concentration of active compounds in the plant extract.

Quality Control: Implement rigorous quality control measures to ensure consistency and accuracy in the dosage of each batch.

Formulation

Recipe Development: Develop precise recipes that specify the exact amount of plant extract to be used.

Batch Scaling: When scaling up production, adjust the dosage proportionally to maintain consistency.

Measurement Tools

Precision Scales: Use precision scales and measuring instruments to accurately weigh and measure the plant extracts.

Automated Dispensers: In large-scale production, automated dispensers can help in accurately controlling the dosage.

Sensory Evaluation

Taste Testing: Conduct sensory evaluations to ensure the desired flavor profile is achieved without overpowering the product.

Consumer Feedback: Gather feedback from consumers to refine and adjust the dosage as needed.

Documentation and Record-Keeping

Recipe Documentation: Keep detailed records of the formulations, including the quantities of plant extracts used.

Batch Records: Maintain batch records to trace the exact amount of extract used in each production run.

Safety Considerations

Toxicity Levels: Be aware of the toxicity levels of certain plant extracts and ensure the dosage remains within safe limits.

Allergen Information: Provide clear labeling regarding the presence of plant extracts that may be potential allergens.

Training and Education

Staff Training: Train staff on the importance of accurate dosing and the methods to achieve it.

Continuous Learning: Stay updated on the latest research and developments in the use of plant extracts in food products.

Example of Dosage Calculation

Let’s consider you are formulating a beverage with green tea extract. Here’s a step-by-step approach:

Determine the Desired Concentration: Suppose you want the beverage to have 50 mg of green tea extract per serving.

Check Extract Potency: If the green tea extract has a potency of 95% catechins, then you’ll need to calculate the amount of extract needed to achieve 50 mg of catechins.

Calculation:

Desired catechins per serving = 50 mg

Potency = 95%

Required extract = 50 mg / 0.95 = 52.63 mg per serving

Batch Scaling: If you’re producing 1,000 servings, the total amount of green tea extract needed would be 52.63 mg x 1,000 = 52,630 mg or 52.63 grams.

Conclusion

Controlling the dosage of plant extract food ingredients requires a combination of precise measurement, regulatory compliance, and thorough testing. By following these guidelines, you can ensure that your food products are both safe and effective, providing the desired benefits to consumers while maintaining high-quality standards.

Plant extract food ingredients are transforming the food industry by offering a natural way to enhance flavor, nutrition, and shelf life. As consumers become more health-conscious, the popularity of these ingredients is set to soar. By incorporating plant extracts into your diet, you can enjoy delicious meals while reaping the numerous health benefits that nature has to offer.

plant extract food ingredients

[alielhahmi]

Night Mega Burner

[howtocareforbunnyboys]

"Formula" baby food for ARFID age regressors 🍼🥤

I'll make a better post with progress pics next time I make some, but I wanted to post about it quickly, since it was such a success.

My small (@bunnnybcy ) has ARFID, which makes it very difficult for him to get much nutrition, and I'm always trying things to make health accessible to him. One way to make "scary" foods accessible is to make them cute or baby-like. This recipe is sort of a "base model," a warm and sweet treat that can be altered later to increase their fruit & whole grain consumption.

Equipment you'll need:

Saucepan

Stirrer

Measuring cups

Stove or hotpad

Blender

Sippy cup or reusable pouches (Link to reusable pouch example)

Refrigerator for storage

Sweet Cinnamon Formula Recipe 😋

Ingredients:

1 cup + 1 cup milk or plant milk of choice (we used vanilla soy milk) 🥛

1/2 cup plain rolled oats 🥣

1 tsp dark brown sugar, or to taste*

1 tsp honey, or to taste 🍯

Cinnamon, to taste

Vanilla extract, to taste

Steps:

🥛 Heat the first cup of milk in your saucepan on the stove. Turn the heat up to medium, or medium-high if you're impatient.

🍯 Stir in the brown sugar and honey, and continue to stir frequently until the milk starts to lightly boil.

🥣 Stir in the 1/2 cup of rolled oats, and turn down the heat to medium, if it isn't already there.

🥄 Stir frequently until the liquid is mostly absorbed, about 5-8 minutes. (The longer you cook it, the smoother your end product will be, which is important for ARFID smalls.)

🆒️ Take off the heat, and let cool for a bit, until you're confident that it won't melt your blender lol.

Pour the oatmeal into your blender, add 1/4 cup milk🥛, and blend until smooth. Check the consistency, and continue adding milk in 1/4 cup amounts until your small approves of the texture. This would also be a convenient time to add more cinnamon, vanilla, honey🍯, or sugar, if they feel the taste is lacking.

Pour into pouches or sippy cups.

You can store leftover formula in the fridge for 3-5 days.

Other formula flavor ideas:

Strawberry 🍓

Banana🍌

Blueberry 🫐

Peach 🍑

Chocolate 🍫

Peanut butter 🥜

Apple pie 🍎

Pumpkin pie 🥧

Sweet potato 🍠

Notes for other carers of little ones with ARFID:

If your small one will tolerate it, adding nuts or seeds during step 1 will yield a more nutritious result, but some may not blend down. Chia seeds, for example, will remain visible and will feel like poppyseeds, which may be off-putting to someone with ARFID, even though they don't taste like anything.

Always remember to introduce new tastes and textures slowly, and allow them to try a new thing multiple times on different days if they're unsure about it. Unsure may just mean unfamiliar, and it'll take them a number of attempts to acquire a taste for it. Uncertainty is a good sign of a future "yes", but don't push them to finish a serving of something they're on the fence about; the pressure may turn it into a "no". Instead, give them the option of putting the rest away for later, and after some time, when they're ready, encourage them to try it again.

[wachinyeya]

https://news.ku.dk/all_news/2024/06/researchers-invent-one-hundred-percent-biodegradable-barley-plastic/

From the article; Enormous islands of it float in our oceans and microscopic particles of it are in our bodies. The durability, malleability and low cost of plastics has made them ubiquitous, from packaging to clothing to aircraft parts. But plastics have a downside. Plastics contaminate nature, are tough to recycle and their production emits more CO2 than all air traffic combined.

Now, researchers at the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences have invented a new material made from modified starch that can completely decompose in nature – and do so within only two months. The material is made using natural plant material from crops and could be used for food packaging, among many other things.

"We have an enormous problem with our plastic waste that recycling seems incapable of solving. Therefore, we’ve developed a new type of bioplastic that is stronger and can better withstand water than current bioplastics. At the same time, our material is one hundred percent biodegradable and can be converted into compost by microorganisms if it ends up somewhere other than a bin," says Professor Andreas Blennow of the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences.

Only about nine percent of plastic is recycled globally, with the rest being either incinerated or winding up in nature or dumped into enormous plastic landfills.

Bioplastics already exist, but the name is misleading says Professor Blennow. While today’s bioplastics are made of bio-derived materials, only a limited part of them is actually degradable, and only under special conditions in industrial composting plants.

"I don't find the name suitable because the most common types of bioplastics don't break down that easily if tossed into nature. The process can take many years and some of it continues to pollute as microplastic. Specialized facilities are needed to break down bioplastics. And even then, a very limited part of them can be recycled, with the rest ending up as waste," says the researcher.

Starch from barley and sugar industry waste

The new material is a so-called biocomposite and composed of several different substances that decompose naturally. Its main ingredients, amylose and cellulose, are common across the plant kingdom. Amylose is extracted from many crops including corn, potatoes, wheat and barley.

Together with researchers from Aarhus University, the research team founded a spinoff company in which they developed a barley variety that produces pure amylose in its kernels. This new variety is important because pure amylose is far less likely to turn into a paste when it interacts with water compared to regular starch. Cellulose is a carbohydrate found in all plants and we know it from cotton and linen fibers, as well as from wood and paper products. The cellulose used by the researchers is a so-called nanocellulose made from local sugar industry waste. And these nanocellulose fibers, which are one thousand times smaller than the fibers of linen and cotton, are what contribute to the material’s mechanical strength.

"Amylose and cellulose form long, strong molecular chains. Combining them has allowed us to create a durable, flexible material that has the potential to be used for shopping bags and the packaging of goods that we now wrap in plastic," says Andreas Blennow.

The new biomaterial is produced by either dissolving the raw materials in water and mixing them together or by heating them under pressure. By doing so, small 'pellets' or chips are created that can then be processed and compressed into a desired form.

Thus far, the researchers have only produced prototypes in the laboratory. But according to Professor Blennow, getting production started in Denmark and many other places in the world would be relatively easy.

"The entire production chain of amylose-rich starch already exists. Indeed, millions of tons of pure potato and corn starch are produced every year and used by the food industry and elsewhere. Therefore, easy access to the majority of our ingredients is guaranteed for the large-scale production of this material," he says.

Could reduce plastic problem

Andreas Blennow and his fellow researchers are now processing a patent application that, once it has been approved, could pave the way for production of the new biocomposite material. Because, despite the huge sums of money being devoted to sorting and recycling our plastic, the researcher does not believe that it will really be a success. Doing so should be seen as a transitional technology until we bid fossil-based plastics a final farewell.

"Recycling plastic efficiently is anything but straightforward. Different things in plastics must be separated from each other and there are major differences between plastic types, meaning that the process must be done in a safe way so that no contaminants end up in the recycled plastic. At the same time, countries and consumers must sort their plastic. This is a massive task that I don’t see us succeeding at. Instead, we should rethink things in terms of utilizing new materials that perform like plastic, but don’t pollute the planet," says Blennow.

The researcher is already collaborating with two Danish packaging companies to develop prototypes for food packaging, among other things. He envisions many other uses for the material as well, such as for the interior trims of cars by the automotive industry. Though it is difficult to say when this biofriendly barley-based plastic will reach the shelves, the researcher predicts that the new material may become a reality in the foreseeable future.

“It's quite close to the point where we can really start producing prototypes in collaboration with our research team and companies. I think it's realistic that different prototypes in soft and hard packaging, such as trays, bottles and bags, will be developed within one to five years," concludes Andreas Blennow.

[ask-barbatos]

While the purity of Camellia Sinensis is a marvel in itself, the world of tea extends far beyond the simple leaf that is often called a True Tea. Let's talk about flavor-infused tea.

Infused tea

The practice of infusing tea with flavors dates back centuries, with evidence of flavored teas found in ancient Chinese and Indian cultures. Early methods of infusion involved adding herbs, spices, or flowers directly to the tea leaves during steeping. Over time, more sophisticated techniques were developed, such as extracting essential oils from aromatic plants and adding them to the tea.

Today, infused teas are typically created using one of two methods:

Direct Infusion: The most common method involves adding dried herbs, spices, or fruits directly to the tea leaves before steeping. This allows the flavors to infuse naturally into the tea, creating a harmonious blend.

Flavoring Oils: Essential oils extracted from aromatic plants can be added to the tea after steeping. This method allows for precise control over the intensity of the flavor and can be used to create subtle or bold infusions.

One of the most renowned flavor-infused teas is Earl Grey, a black tea infused with the fragrant oil of bergamot orange. The citrusy notes of bergamot dance harmoniously with the rich, full-bodied flavor of black tea, creating a truly exquisite beverage. Earl Grey is a versatile tea that can be enjoyed hot or iced, and it pairs well with a variety of foods.

Aside from Earl Grey, the world of flavor-infused teas is vast and varied. From the delicate floral notes of jasmine tea to the bold fruity flavors of berry teas, there is a flavor combination to suit every palate.

Pictured above: (top) Jasmine infused green tea from Fujian Tea Import & Export Co., (bottom) Blood Orange herbal tea from Harney & Sons Fine Teas. [Blend: Apple pieces, rose hips, hibiscus, beetroot, orange peel, orange flavor, marigold petals, safflower petals.]

Some of the other popular flavor-infused teas include:

Jasmine Tea: A green tea infused with jasmine flowers, offering a delicate floral aroma and a slightly sweet taste.

Chai Tea: A black tea spiced with cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger, creating a warm and comforting blend.

Fruit Teas: A variety of teas infused with fruit flavors, such as strawberry, raspberry, or peach, providing a sweet and tangy taste.

Fruit teas are excellent for cold-brewed iced tea. I will cover cold-brewing later, so please look forward to that.

When choosing a flavor-infused tea, consider your personal preferences and the occasion. A delicate floral tea might be perfect for a relaxing afternoon, while a bold and spicy chai tea could be a comforting choice on a cold day.

The choice of infusion depends on the desired flavor profile and the characteristics of the ingredients being used. For example, delicate floral flavors may be best achieved using direct infusion, while strong, bold flavors can be created using flavoring oils.

If you wish to create your own infused tea, that will have to be a separate post. For now, it is enough to be able to identify the tea you are brewing so that you can handle it appropriately.

Brewing infused teas requires a balance of technique and intuition. First, identify the ingredients. When brewing a cup of tea, it's good to know what temperature and length of time to steep your tea for.

A tea labeled "Peach" may be a white tea with peach flavoring, and it may be best to brew it at a temperature appropriate for white tea. Blends may consist of varying ingredients that require different temperatures, so some experimentation may be in order to find the best brewing temperature to get the most of each flavor.

Herbal tea

Beyond the True Tea, there lies a world of herbal teas, each offering a unique blend of flavors and health benefits. Herbal teas are made from a variety of plants, including herbs, spices, and fruits. They are often enjoyed for their medicinal properties, as well as their delicious taste.

As no part of an herbal tea contains the Camellia Sinensis plant, these teas are not considered "True Teas". That does not mean we cannot enjoy them, however.

For the most part, an herbal tea will not contain any caffeine, unlike the tea produced from the Camellia Sinensis plant. This makes them more suitable to enjoy in the evening or late hours.

Pictured above: (from top to bottom) Roses, honeysuckle, chrysanthemums, mint and lavender.

Some popular herbal teas include:

Chamomile Tea: Made from chamomile flowers, this tea is known for its calming and relaxing properties.

Peppermint Tea: Made from peppermint leaves, this tea is refreshing and aids digestion.

Ginger Tea: Made from ginger root, this tea is warming and can help soothe an upset stomach.

Hibiscus Tea: Made from hibiscus flowers, this tea has a tart, fruity flavor and is rich in antioxidants.

As with many blends, it is helpful to experiment a little with the temperature and steep time to get the most of your tea. Intuition will follow experience.

The ideal steeping temperature for infused teas and herbal teas can vary depending on the specific ingredients and desired flavor intensity. However, here are some general guidelines:

Delicate floral or fruity teas: 175-185°F (79-85°C)

Bold, spicy teas: 195-212°F (90-100°C)

Herbal teas: 175-212°F (79-100°C), depending on the specific herbs used

Serving suggestions: Cream is usually not served with fruit teas, as the acidity in some will cause the milk to curdle. Lemon slices are commonly served with Earl Grey, however, as with the fruit tea, lemon can also cause cream to curdle. Sugar or honey are appropriate for nearly any tea.

It's always a good idea to experiment with different temperatures to find the perfect brew for your taste. I hope this has been informational and helpful to my students who wish to become better acquainted with tea.

[antimony-medusa]

i love you (i want us both to eat well)

She moved to the syndicate table and started unpacking her groceries. Butter, two types of sugar, some eggs. Flour, the vanilla extract she made herself in old potion bottles, a lemon she’d asked Ponk for. The syndicate had decided on a monthly meeting to meet up and learn about different subjects, and this time it was Niki’s turn to teach. She lined up her ingredients on the table, the strange humming energy it always put off thrumming through her fingertips. How was this going to go? She had been abandoned and left to burn so many times. She didn’t want to storm away in the middle of baking, anger demanding that she destroy something, half-made ingredients left to harden indelibly as she went to break herself against stones or explosives. She didn’t want to be alone again. OR: As four injured people rebuilt their lives, the Syndicate has started meeting to teach each other things. And this time it's Niki's turn to lead. She's going to make a cake.

Status: 1/1 chapters, updated 23 January, 2,952 words

Fandom: Dream SMP

Rating: General Audiences

Characters: Niki | Nihachu, Phil Watson | Philza, Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF)

Relationships: Niki | Nihachu & Phil Watson | Philza & Ranboo & Technoblade

Tags: Flamekeeper: A c!Niki Fanzine, single scene, Niki | Nihachu-centric, Food as a Metaphor for Love, Every Time I Edit This I Make Myself Hungry Again, Ranboo Golfs, Food as a Metaphor for Community, "I started baking again"

And now for something COMPLETELY different— I was in a zine! I was part of the fantastic @flamekeeperzine, which you can download for free here. It's all on the theme of c!niki, and I wrote about the Syndicate and Niki baking again. The zine is free, but we encourage you to make a donation to One Tree Planted!

It was a real challenge to write this short and a real priviledge to try and delve into Niki. I hope you enjoy!

[isthehorsevideocute]

Thoughts on that trend on tiktok and IG of people feeding their horses fruit rope candy and doughnuts, candy bars, and cheetos?? It drives me crazy but everyone says irs fine because it's a small amount-.-

Honestly, it usually is fine in small amounts. I had a pony that loved licorice. I had one that would get a pumpkin muffin after horse shows. Lots of them like apple cider donuts ginger snaps and carrot cake. Peppermints are a common treat for horses, You shouldn't feed horses chocolate, potatoes, avocados, or caffeine. You also shouldn't feed them lawn clippings because of potential hazards from chemicals and potential for botulism. Bear in mind the daily calorie intake for a horse is more than ten times that of the average human just for maintance (15000 calories) and their stomachs can hold 10-20 gallons (and that is considered small for animals of their size)

Also beer. A lot of people think it's weird that horses can have beer but for some horses its actually medicinal. Horses can sometimes get a condition known as anhydrosis which is when they aren't able to produce enough sweat. As a treatment we often give horses a can or two of Guinness twice a day to help them sweat more and to help lower their body temperature. Brewers grains and yeast are common supplements to help horses with digestive health as they act as a probiotic.

For cheetos in particular, sure horses really shouldn't eat dairy (because lactose) but its a corn chip. Corn is an ingredient of most horse feeds anyways.

Most of those things don't have anything horses can't eat; sugars, their diet is mostly carbohydrates and plant based sugars, horses are herbivores but they can eat animal based protein like eggs, gelatin (a common additive to joint supplements), or krill/fish oils, vegetable oils are a typical additive to feed (though you shouldn't overloaded them with fats as horses don't actually have gallbladder so they cant store bile, which means they can't break down large quantities of fat in one go)

Corn and wheat are in a lot of horse feeds (though they are Inflammatory and toxic if moldy so you do want to weigh the risks and only feed as absolutely needed if using them as a regular feed)

Just for perspective, my 1400lbs mare eats about 4 pounds of a feed with molasses, wheat, and soy as a calorie source, roughly 5 lbs of Alfalfa hay, 36 lbs of grass hay, a half pound of ground flax seed, and she spends all night nibbling on grass (which is sugary compared to hay). Thats A LOT of food.

For supplements she gets apple cider vinegar, garlic, and grape seed extract. Pretty much all of those are toxic to dogs but horses can have them and even benefit from them. They have anti-inflammatory effects that help horses with arthritis, and allergies as well as helping to repel flies

[soylent-crocodile]

Gourmand (Alchemist Archetype)

(art by Htg17 on deviantart)

(If you know me this class is... not entirely surprising, but it sure is different! The idea of a class that temporarily steals abilities from monsters is a tricky one to balance, and I haven't got very far in my playtesting for this, so... handle with care!)

There are many reasons for adventuring; wealth, glory, or even just escaping your awful hometown. Among the oddest, though, is the motivation of the gourmand; the desire to taste. There are thousands of monsters out there, from carnivorous plants to magical animals to even the mighty dragon, and the gourmand’s desire is to taste them all- and gain a temporary modicum of their power!

Note that the gourmand has no restriction on the consumption of humanoids and other sentient creatures- but also note that such acts are almost universally frowned upon or even illegal in all but the most brutal and violent societies.

Delicacy

Rather than brew mutagens, a gourmand crafts perfectly made delicacies. These delicacies are specifically made for her palate, as well as for her unusual constitution gained by years of exotic meals; a creature other than the gourmand who eats it simply finds it a delicious meal and gains no additional effects. Creating a delicacy requires an hour of time, as well as at least a half pound of organic materials. These materials can be as simple as plant matter harvested from the area or farm raised meat, but gaining access to rarer meats provides additional effects. This matter, however, must have been part of a living creature within the last week; beyond that, it has lost its freshness, despite any magical or mundane preservation effects it may have been treated with. Once created, a delicacy must be consumed within a day or its effects are lost. Note that some meats are poisonous, and that it sometimes may be impossible to remove the poison from the food; a gourmand must rely on the protection from poison granted by her alchemist abilities to overcome this. A gourmand can only be under the effect of one delicacy at a time. A delicacy is mutually exclusive with a mutagen or cognatogen; the taste of a delicacy is ruined by the presence of such elixirs in the gourmand’s body. The effects of delicacy lasts 10 minutes per level in gourmand, and grats a +1 alchemical bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls, and fortitude saves, and 1 temporary hit point per HD. However, she gains a -1 penalty to reflex saves, as she is feeling a bit stuffed. Additionally, the gourmand may gain one of the following effects, based on any organic creature that is used as part of the recipe, henceforth referred to as ingredients;

Might- Access to one combat feat an ingredient had. The gourmand must match the prerequisites of that feat to use it, but treats her level in gourmand as levels in a full BAB class for this purpose.

Magic- Access to one spell or spell-like ability an ingredient had. The spell or spell-like ability must be of equal or lesser level to the highest alchemist extract the gourmand can cast. If the spell level is of the highest alchemist extract the gourmand can cast, she can cast it 1/day. Otherwise, she can cast it 3/day. This ability uses her intelligence modifier, rather than her charisma, to determine the DC.

Protection- Resistance 10 to one or fewer elements an ingredient is immune or resistant to.

Speed- A +10 bonus to her movement speed, provided an ingredient has a faster movement speed than her or a movement type she does not have.

This ability replaces Mutagen

Sneak Attack

A gourmand prefers to disassemble her victims, rather than blowing them to (overcooked) smithereens. She gains the sneak attack ability as a rogue of the same level. If she has sneak attack from another source, this ability stacks with it.

This ability replaces Bombs.

Scent

A gourmand’s nose is finely tuned to the variety of tastes and smells that surround her. She gains the scent ability, as the universal monster rule.

Bite

At level 2, a gourmand gains a bite attack as appropriate for a creature her size if she does not already have one. If she is wielding a weapon, this is a secondary natural attack. At level 6, the bite gains the grab ability, but the alchemist takes a -4 penalty to grapple checks made with this ability. If she already has a bite attack, she gains grab.

This ability replaces poison use and swift poisoning.

Discoveries

A gourmand gains access to the following discoveries in addition to those gained by normal alchemists.

Greater Delicacy Prerequisites: Alchemist 12 A gourmand with this discovery gets a +2 alchemical bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls, and fortitude saves and 2 temporary hit points per level, rather than the 1 naturally granted. Additionally, she may pick two effects granted by her delicacy, rather than one, and takes a -2 penalty to reflex saves.

Grand Delicacy Prerequisites: Alchemist 16, Greater Delicacy A gourmand with this discovery gets a +3 alchemical bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls, and fortitude saves and 3 temporary hit points per level, rather than the 1 naturally generated. Additionally, she may pick three effects granted by her delicacy, rather than one, and takes a -3 penalty to reflex saves.

Taste for Combat Prerequisites: Alchemist 8 When a gourmand with this discovery selects the Might effect for her delicacy, she gains access to up to two combat feats an ingredient had, rather than the one normally granted. These need not be from the same ingredients.

Taste for Magic Prerequisites: Alchemist 8 When a gourmand with this discovery selects the Magic effect with her delicacy, she may gain access to up to two spells or spell-like abilities possessed by ingredients, rather than the one normally granted. These need not be from the same ingredients.

Used to the Spice Prerequisites: Alchemist 10 When a gourmand with this discovery selects the Protection effect with her delicacy, she instead gains immunity to that element, even if the ingredient only had resistance.

Surf and Turf Prerequisites: Alchemist 6 When a gourmand with this discovery selects the Movement effect with her delicacy, she additionally gains her choice of a fly speed (double her land speed, clumsy), swim speed (equal to her land speed), or climb speed (equal to her land speed), provided that an ingredient has that movement speed. If she gains a swim speed, she also gains the ability to breathe underwater.

Magically Delicious When a gourmand with this discovery selects the Protection effect with her delicacy, she also gains SR equal to 7+her level in gourmand. The SR need not be from the same ingredient as the elemental resistance, if any.

Gastrolith Prerequisites: Alchemist 8 When a gourmand with this discovery selects the Protection effect with her delicacy, she gains DR2 that is overcome the same way as the DR of an ingredient. This need not be the same ingredient as the elemental resistance, if any.

Lockjaw Prerequisites: Alchemist 6 A gourmand with this discovery ignores the -4 penalty to grapple checks made with her bite’s grab ability and increases the damage dice for her bite as though she were a size larger.

Voracious Prerequisites: Lockjaw, Alchemist 10 A gourmand with this ability gains the swallow whole universal monster ability. She may use this ability on any creature up to her size category. This ability deals 1d6 damage each round for every 3 levels of Gourmand, the damage being half acid and half bludgeoning. A creature eaten this way has not undergone the careful preparations required to turn it into a delicacy and as such the gourmand gains no other benefits from it.

Overstuffed

At level 16, a gourmand’s delicacy lasts 1 hour/level.

This ability replaces Persistent Mutagen.

Grand Discovery

A gourmand gains access to the following grand discoveries in addition to the ones normally available.

True Delicacy Prerequisites: Grand Discovery, Grand Delicacy A gourmand with this discovery gets a +4 alchemical bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls, and fortitude saves and 4 temporary hit points per level, rather than the 1 naturally granted. Additionally, she may pick any number of effects granted by her delicacy, rather than one, and takes a -4 penalty to reflex saves.

Incredibly Voracious Prerequisites: Grand Discovery, Voracious A gourmand with this discovery gains a permanent +4 bonus to grapple checks, the Fast Swallow ability as the universal monster rule, and their swallow whole ability deals 1d6 damage for every two levels in gourmand

[yunogasaikinnie]

Back in 2020, when I still lived in the US, I bought these sugar cookies from Walmart.

I'm back in Japan now and I miss these a lot, so...

I decided to make my own today!

Ingredients for the cookies:

6 ounces powdered sugar 4 ounces margarine or butter 4 ounces unsalted butter softened 1 large egg, room temperature 13 ounces cake flour 2 teaspoons cornstarch 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon cream of tartar 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract or real extract ¼ teaspoon almond extract ¼ teaspoon salt

Ingredients for the buttercream frosting:

8 ounces unsalted butter, softened 16 ounces powdered sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 4 ounces milk ½ teaspoon electric pink food coloring (must be of good quality and can be of any brand that's available at your local grocery store) 2 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles ¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions for the cookies:

In the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment (or you can use a hand mixer) cream together the butter, margarine, and powdered sugar until it's light and fluffy.

Add in your vanilla, almond extract, and egg and mix on medium until combined.

Add in your baking soda, baking powder, salt, cream of tartar and cornstarch and mix until combined.

Switch to the paddle attachment and mix in your cake flour just until it's combined.

Do not overmix (or you can do this by hand.) Scoop your batter onto a parchment-lined baking sheet with a medium-sized cookie scoop (or you can use a spoon.)

Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 2 hours (or up to 24 hours.)

Preheat your oven to 375ºF.

Roll the chilled dough into balls and then flatten with your fingers into cookies that are about ½" thick and 3" wide.

Arrange on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake your cookies for 8-9 minutes or just until the sheen disappears from the top of the cookie.

Place onto a cooling rack to cool fully before frosting with buttercream and finishing with sprinkles.

How to store leftover cookies:

Store them in an airtight container for up to a week or store them in the fridge for freezing.

Instructions for the frosting:

In the bowl of your stand mixer (or using a hand mixer), cream your butter until it's smooth using the whisk attachment.

Start adding your powdered sugar while mixing on low until it's all incorporated.

Add in your vanilla, milk, salt, and food coloring and mix it until it's smooth.

Pipe on top of the cookies with a round tip (I used an 804) and top with sprinkles.

(Since this recipe is vegan-friendly, you can substitute the animal-derived ingredients for plant-based ingredients.)

[exeggcute]

Asafoetida is a very pungent plant extract used in savory Indian food. It's one of those ingredients that smells so so bad but it gives food a complex good flavor, like your stinky cheeses or fermented fish sauces.

ooh I don't know if I've ever had an indian dish with asafoetida before but now I really want to try it. if he's cousins with garlic and onion that's all I need to know

[fatehbaz]

Kurdish ecology. Indigenous seeds and food heritage. Palestinian edible plant archive. Ezidi foods and reverence for landscapes. The narratives of “exiled foods.” Suryani, Zaza, Kurdish, and Armenian displacement. Okra and mustard greens. Dispossession and native plants in  Anatolia and the Mediterranean. Imagining alternative worlds and affirmative care structures. Landscapes breathing in slow, deep time. Seed exchanges and “entanglement of solidarity” across regions in defiance of military surveillance, industrial monoculture, and extraction. “Homeland is not where you were born, it is where you are fed.”

---

Okra is strong and can survive the precarity of exile and migration: it can be found in a Bangladeshi vegetable stand in Rome, an Ezidi camp in Diyarbakır, or a guerilla garden along the highway in Kowloon. Okra is one of the world’s oldest cultivated crops, spread by the processes of colonization and the slave trade from Africa and India to the Mediterranean and westward to the new world. Its versatility makes it well suited for states of dispossession and survival. [...] The colonization and standardization of landscapes is always rooted in controlling the cultivation and erasure of localities. [...] Today, the same region [Anatolia and the Mediterranean] is inundated with wars and oppressions that destroy not only biodiversity but also the intangible heritage of ingredients and their narratives across our earth.

“Survival-with” and “through” is something of an entangled kinship that can be described as migrating ingredients, refugee seeds, and exiled foods. Works by artists Seçkin Aydın and Gülsün Karamustafa deal with forced eviction and exile from their homelands in different historical periods in the last century in Anatolia. Aydın is a Zaza minority from an evicted Kurdish town called Kulp (Diyarbakır Province). His work I can’t carry my grandma, i can also not eat her or wear her (2015) uses the metaphor of Aydın’s grandma keeping small fruits in his pocket during their journey of exile when he was a child. [...]

Karamustafa’s work Heimat Ist Wo Mann Isst (1994) depicts three spoons wrapped in an old cloth. The title means “Homeland is not where you were born, it is where you are fed,” which refers to cross-Balkan and Anatolian transnational migration.

---

Practices of collecting and archiving heirloom seeds are a form of solidarity and resistance against extractive capitalism and industrialized agriculture. Such projects protect and aim to restore natural habitats and biodiversity. They are critical of dominant monocultural approaches [...]. How can we consider a more-than-human ethics around seed and seed heritage? How can we collect cross-narrative assemblages of seed heritage? [...]

Indigenous phenomenologies are essential for tracing food heritage and the ingredients that are tightly connected to local communities of Zazas, Ezidis, Armenians, Suryanis, Kurds, and others who are continuously exiled by force in the ongoing extracted landscapes of the Tigris. Often with colleagues we find ourselves discussing, for example, the giyayê xerdelê (mustard greens) that can be easily foraged in the hills of Heskîf, a millennia-old archeological heritage site that has almost been destroyed by the nearby Ilisu Dam, which justifies the expropriation of lands from Kurdish villages and from many nomadic shepherds who were forced to leave. Military surveillance of farmers and of the common grazing grounds of Ezidi, Suryani, and Kurdish villages leads to a loss of the network [...].

Kurdish ecology activists Bişar İçli and Zeki Kanay, who were banned from their municipality and their university positions by the Turkish government in 2017, started an agro-ecological solidarity commune in Diyarbakır. They archive, exchange, and create networks of seeds around the Tigris River basin, producing an entanglement of solidarity infrastructure among Kurdish communities against military surveillance and capitalism-led extraction in this region.

---

Cineria, an Ezidi village near Batman, Turkey, was nearly emptied out in the 1980s due to conflict in the region between the Kurdish movement and the Turkish state. [...] Soil, stone, rocks, caves, and water are fundamental cosmological elements of Ezidi cultural practice connecting the past, present, and future. Each year the village hosts semi-nomadic Zaza shepherds who migrate from another southeastern Turkish city, Bitlis [...]. The Ezidis accommodate the shepherds for six to seven months in Cineria; both communities communicate using the Kurmanji language. [...]

Long walks through landscapes are a basic practice of Ezidi women, where they learn about the land and the cultivation cycle connected to Ezidi cosmology, which is about keeping and protecting ingredients, seeds, and healthy soil. Honouring nonhuman elements is fundamental to Ezidi cosmology. As Ezidi women walk through the landscape, they tell stories of dispossession, mourn for lost soil and seeds, and whisper continously: “av, agîr, erd, ba, roj.” [...]

---

Palestinian geographer Omar Tesdell, who created the Palestinian edible plants archive, tells us that landscapes move in slow, deep time, and that all wild plants, seeds, and healthy soil are our heritages. These heritages will not only support our precarious societies but may create an ethical, responsible entanglement of resilient coexistences for our collective future. [...]

Following an okra plant through narratives, infrastructures, forgotten languages, and entangled exiles is not a metaphor. As artist Jumana Manna writes, we strive toward “imagining alternative/affirmative care structures that remain, within and beyond the current reality, aligned towards plant and human life alike.” Navigating through migrating ingredients, refugee seeds, and exiled foods, we witness and learn about extractive strategies, state-making, and slow violence.

---

Text by: Pelin Tan. “Entangled Exiles.” e-flux (journal). Issue 131. November 2022. [Italicized first paragraph/heading added by me.]

[fcukfodmap]

Day 42: Low-FODMAP Gluten-Free Strawberry-Custard Pie

This recipe came together because another recipe completely fell apart. I tried to make these graham-cracker waffle things for a whole s'mores situation, but, turns out, baked goods made from gluten-free flour completely lack coherence, and I couldn't get them out of the waffle iron intact. So instead of graham-cracker waffles, I had graham cracker crumbs. So let's turn that frown upside down and make pie with a graham-cracker crust!

Low-FODMAP Gluten-Free Strawberry-Custard Pie

Ersatz Graham Cracker Crust

1 c gluten-free flour

1/4 c brown sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt and cinnamon

4 tbsp melted lactose-free butter

2 tbsp lactose-free milk

1/4 c maple syrup

1 tbsp vanilla extract

For the crust: 6 tbsp melted lactose-free butter

Mix together the dry ingredients into a bowl, then pour in the wet ingredients except for the 6 tbsp of melted butter for the crust. Stir until a dough forms, and let sit for 5 minutes. You could either pour this into a waffle iron or pan fry them like pancakes, cooking until the waffle/cakes have a nice brown crust. Let cool for a bit, then break up and pulse in a food processor until crumby. You should have about 1 1/2 c crumbs.

Melt 6 tbsp lactose free butter, and mix with the crumbs. Press into a deep dish pie pan while still warm, and put into fridge to set up. Meanwhile, make:

Vegan Custard

1 1/2 c plant milk such as almond or oat

2/3 c coconut milk

1/2 c cornstarch

1/3 c sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp turmeric

Off-heat, mix together everything but the turmeric in a sauce pan; whisk out the lumps. Over medium heat, cook stirring constantly until the custard thickens, 2-5 minutes. Turn off heat and keep stirring for another minute to keep it from clumping.

Let it cool for 5-10 minutes, then stir in the turmeric (which is for color, because the pudding is otherwise an unpleasant gray.) Spread custard over the graham cracker crust, and put back in the fridge. Meanwhile, make:

Strawberry Pie Glaze

1 pkg strawberry flavored Junket Danish Dessert

1 3/4 c water

1 lb strawberries, hulled and cut into quarters

Mix the Junket packet with the water, and cook over medium heat until boiling, stirring often. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Let cool for 10-15 minutes. Arrange strawberries in an even layer over the custard, then pour the pie glaze over the strawberries. Put back in the fridge to set up.

Once the pie sets up, serve with vegan whipped cream.

So this whole project was ridiculous from beginning to end, but the results were pretty good! I liked the plant-milk custard, especially the hint of coconut from the coconut milk. I thought it paired well with the fruit, which was the sweetest thing in the pie. I like my pies not very sweet, so that was perfect. I could have used less butter in the graham cracker crust because it ended up being a little hard. It could also use a little ginger and cinnamon in the ersatz graham cracker crumbs. But really, no complaints.

Even though there was some dairy in the crust -- a little milk and some butter -- I decided I was going to make the filling vegan? Honestly, I have no idea why I committed to that, but you could easily make this recipe 100% vegan by using shortening and a plant milk in the crust instead. I had a bunch of plant milks and vegan whipped cream to use up, so that was that.

I'm not sure how widely available Junket Danish Dessert is. My Scandinavian grandparents used it often as both pie glaze and as a pudding. I've always used it as a vegetarian option instead of Jello, because Junket is thickened with tapioca starch not gelatin. In fact, you can usually find Junket by the Jello in the grocery store.

So! Pretty silly, but a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

Evergreen disclaimer: I am no dietician. I'm doing my best to minimize FODMAPs in my diet, but it's possible for me to be misinformed or mistaken about various ingredients.

[curvycarbivore]

Jumbo Cinnamon Rolls (Vegan)

Yield: 5 buns | Prep time: 1 hour | Cook time: 35 minutes | Total time: 3 hours

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sticky, sweet, fluffy, and VEGAN! These vegan cinnamon rolls are perfect for breakfast or dessert. They are warm and gooey on the inside, topped with an easy homemade icing. While this recipe does take a long time, half of it is waiting for the dough to rise. You can take that time to prepare some other breakfast or dessert foods, or take a break on the couch like I do. This recipes comes together to create 5 large cinnamon rolls that are so delicious you will have people guessing if they are really vegan. Wink wink.

Dough Ingredients:

1 ½ cups buttermilk (1 ½ cups unsweetened nut milk + 1 tbsp lemon juice)

2 tbsp vegan butter, melted

2 tbsp granulated sugar

1 packet (2.5 tsp) active dry yeast

3 cups of flour

½ tsp salt

Filling Ingredients:

5 tbsp vegan butter, melted

½ tsp vanilla extract

½ cup brown sugar

2 tbsp cinnamon

Icing Ingredients:

1 cup powdered sugar

2-3 tbsp unsweetened nut milk

Directions:

Lightly grease a bowl and a pie dish. Set aside.

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the together the almond milk and lemon juice. Set aside for 5 minutes until it begins to curdle slightly. Once it's curdled, microwave for 2-3 minutes until slightly warm.

Add the melted butter and sugar to the buttermilk.

Next, add the yeast to the buttermilk and give it a quick stir to combine. Let it rest for 2-3 minutes to activate the yeast.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the buttermilk mixture with the flour and salt.

Carefully mix with a wooden spoon until just combined. If it's too dry, add a splash of plant milk. If it's too wet, add some more flour.

Once the dough has come together (it will be sticky and will not form into a perfect ball), transfer it to your lightly greased bowl

Cover with a warm, damp kitchen towel and let it sit in a warm place for 1-2 hours to rise, or until it has doubled in size.

While the dough is almost done rising, make your filling.

Melt the vegan butter, and add in the vanilla extract, sugar, and cinnamon.

Preheat your oven to 350˚F.

Once the dough has risen, transfer it to a floured surface.

Knead the dough for a few times to deflate it. If the dough is too too sticky to roll out, add some more flour and knead it a few more times.

Roll the dough into a square, about 1/2 inch thick.

Brush the filling evenly onto the dough.

Carefully roll the dough up into a log, then slice into 5 even pieces.

Transfer the rolls into the pie dish. Place one in the middle, and the other 4 around the edges. It's okay if they're slightly touching.

Loosely cover the pie dish with plastic wrap and let the rolls rise for 30 minutes.

Bake for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown on the top (I like my rolls slightly undercooked, so I cook them for about 25 minutes).

Once they have finished baking, remove from the oven and place the pie dish on a drying rack to cool.

When the rolls are cooling, prepare your icing.

Combine the powdered sugar and plant milk in a bowl. You want the icing to be a thick consistency so you can spread it with a spoon or knife. If it is able to be drizzled, it is too thin and won't create a thick frosting. Add more powdered sugar if this happens.

Once the rolls have cooled slightly, spread the icing evenly on top.

Slice and enjoy your sticky, sweet, vegan cinnamon buns!

Tips and Tricks:

You can make the dough the night before for a quick breakfast. Make them all the way through the steps until right before baking. After you let the rolls rise for 30 minutes in the covered pie dish, place then in the fridge overnight. Then in the morning, you can immediately bake them. If they have deflated a bit in the fridge, let them rise in a warm place for 1 hour before baking.

[postoctobrist]

Of the people who attended the WTYP live show, ten will get covid. Good news, statistically speaking, none will die. Two of them will get permanent neurological damage from it, but you probably don't believe that's real.

Bad news, with the current r0, they will infect thirty more people, who will in turn infect ninety more. That's 140 cases, 30 long covids, ten hospitalizations (it's mild!), two deaths and a nonzero chance of a new, deadlier variant. Additionally, all of these people's immune systems will be damaged (death of naive lymphocytes), some permanently especially the older people.

But at least, you got to read the Wikipedia article about molasses, so who's to say if that's good or bad, etc.

I mean, we could print this out and put it on the door and see if anyone changes their mind about coming in, but I think most people kind of know there are risks, whether they trust your numbers or not. I think maybe you just have to file that under shitty background environmental risk rather than tracing every covid case back to which specific bastard was inconsiderate enough to have a social interaction. That’s an (ironically) unhealthy view of risk and of disease, I suggest

Anyway, molasses (/məˈlæsɪz, moʊ-/) is a viscous substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour foods. Molasses is a major constituent of fine commercial brown sugar. It is also one of the primary ingredients used to distill rum.

[justalittlesolarpunk]

hey!! feel free to ignore this but i scrolled through your blog and really liked it and if you have the spoons I'd love to get your advice/tips on trying to live sustainably while in uni/on a limited budget? I'm going to uni in a year or so and I want to try and do it as sustainably as possible but I don't have a lot of money

love your blog <3

Hi! Thanks so much for the kind words, I am super new to tumblr and fairly new to solarpunk still myself, so I really appreciate it.

I’ll level with you: most of the really aspirational choices in sustainability are pretty expensive. Buying local organic food or slow fashion can really eat into a budget. The good news is that a lot of the frugal decisions you’d make are also good for the planet. You’re not going to be going out buying expensive cars, flying in private jets or any of the other earth-wrecking things that the super-rich do. Being conscious about your spending will mean you’ll probably naturally gravitate towards getting your clothes from charity shops and other similar money-saving choices. In some cities and certain supermarkets, plant-based food will be cheaper, while in others it will be more expensive, and so for this you’ll probably need to make choices on a case by case basis, weighing up each time how much you can afford and how committed you are to a certain diet. Getting a library card is also very solarpunk - free, communally owned knowledge! As a uni student you’ll likely also have your university library as a resource, which it’s definitely worth making use of. Have a look to see if there’s a tool library/library of things in your university town, as that will not only save you money but also reduce your purchase of things you might only use once or twice. Apps like TooGoodToGo offer cheap baskets of food from local restaurants, cafes and shops which would otherwise go to waste at the end of the day, and if there’s a ‘buy nothing’ or ‘stuff for free’ Facebook group for your local area it’s worth joining it - these are really exciting anticapitalist digital spaces where people can get what they need and dispose of what they don’t without exploitative or extractive relationships.

Starting a new paragraph here for readability, and also because it’s slightly a topic change - there are things you can do to be more sustainable that are fairly cash-cheap, but time-costly. As a student you won’t always be able to devote much energy to them between your studies and your social life, but if they’re something that’s important to you and your other commitments (or any disabilities you might have) don’t prevent you, then things like mending your own clothes instead of throwing them out and replacing them can help. But these are fiddly tasks so that isn’t possible for everyone, even if they do have time! Depending on the rules of your student accommodation you could also try having certain edible houseplants - salad leaves, strawberries, herbs, etc. My success rate with these has been very patchy but it’s worth a shot and the original outlay for seeds or a small plant isn’t too much (though if you’re planting from scratch, soil can be expensive as it always seems to come in enormous great bags).

Things like batch cooking or planning communal meals with other people you’re living with can also be greener, and cheaper, if it means food can be made to go further and wasted ingredients can be avoided. Uni is a really exciting time for a solarpunk because it’s the closest to cohousing many of us get - sharing facilities and responsibilities in a close-knit community of non-related people with common goals and experiences. Use this to your advantage to form networks of mutual support.

Similar caveat about time scarcity as above, but there are also things that tend not to cost any money that will make you feel better about your own environmental contribution which you can actually do at any age if you have enough free hours. These are things like volunteering with your local conservation volunteers or in a community garden - this latter is particularly good because volunteers might get to take home some of the produce, thereby saving money and getting access to local nutritious food. Some unis even have their own food gardens and teams of students who help tend them, so get involved with this if it exists and you can.

In the same vein, almost every uni will have its own climate justice or environmental student club, and attending these meetings if your schedule allows can be a great way to meet other people within your institution who share your priorities, and who may well have more advice on frugal, sustainable living that they can offer. Pooling wisdom like this means your can all do better.

It sounds like you might have already picked your uni, but if not there are factors you can consider to help you do better in these goals when you get there, like examining the relative cost of living in different cities or investigating how eco-friendly the university is. It’s worth asking questions like what is their endowment invested in? How much research into climate change and solutions do they fund? Are their careers services still promoting fossil fuel industry jobs?

University towns are usually pretty walkable and/or bike-friendly, at least in the UK and Europe, and these modes of transport are also the cheapest and most sustainable. Plenty also have good public transport too, and buses or hireable scooters are all options (though you’d probably have to use the scooters a lot to make the expense worth it, and if you do, please don’t leave them lying in the pavement like people did when I was at uni - it blocked wheelchair access and was really annoying). Certain cities have trams, which are like catnip to solarpunks lol. Transport can get expensive but tends to still be cheaper than driving in most urban centres, though as I said your own two feet or wheels can probably get you to most of where you need to go within the local area.

Your student’s union might well also run clothing swaps or second-hand book sales, so keep an eye on that and go along when you can. There’s also nothing to be ashamed of in collecting discount codes, coupons for free products, or loyalty cards, or with working if you have the time and ability to earn while you study. The more money you save the more of those slightly costlier green decisions you can make.

What I’d say last, though, is don’t be too hard on yourself! You’re young, the world is set up to be excessively expensive and to reward you for consumptive behaviour that is the opposite of ecological values. Of course you should try your best and I’m so glad that you’re thinking of it already, but remember that you probably won’t be able to do it perfectly - that pretty much no-one can unless they have insane amounts of time and money (in which case they’re probably not the kind of person who cares about this stuff). Remember to enjoy your new independence, to hang out with your friends, to be studious and whimsical and learn about life and yourself. And remember that I’m just one person and not all my ideas will apply to you, and there’ll be other things you could do that haven’t occurred to me because of the specific experiences and biases that inform where I come from.

You probably already know which subject you’re studying, and if that’s the case then there will be ways you can examine these issues within the curriculum of most degrees (except maybe maths? But I’m willing to be proved wrong haha). But just in case you’re still picking subjects and institutions, I’ll just leave a link to a really fascinating-looking new undergrad qualification I heard about a few months ago, that I am *gutted* not to have been young enough to apply for and study! Even if it isn’t the right fit for you, perhaps you’ll know someone who it could work for. I’m assuming, possibly wrongly, that you’re in the UK based on certain dialectical cues (for instance saying uni rather than college), but feel free to ignore this if you’re elsewhere in the world, I’m just very stoked about this course!

Thanks so much for your ask, and sorry for the insanely long essay response. If you’ve managed to wade through to the end then seriously congratulations on your patience. Best of luck with your studies and with your efforts at ecological living, and I hope you carry solarpunk with you as a source of hope, comfort and action into your future. ☀️

[siriscrafts]

(I have posted about this on @official-nature-posts before but asking you specifically. So when I remembered that Japanese indigo is a persicaria, I wondered if my local Persicaria Decipiens would work. I could see some blue hints just crushing it up which is good, best seen in the blurry photo. I plan on doing fresh leaf dyeing first, but I have been reading up about small scale indigo vats which id like to know if you know much about them? I don’t want to have to buy chemicals.I know that they need an alkali (I can wood ash lye or even calcium hydroxide at a pinch by heating up ashes a lot) a reducing agent ( fructose, I saw one blog that was using boiled orange peels and also trying pectin.) and of course the indigo source. Do you know how the reducing agents work. I will wait a while for it to warm up so the plants start growing again because they get knocked about by frost each year. Also hopefully going to grow some Japanese indigo.

Ooh, cool! I've gotten to try indigo dyeing on a course once, and one of my friends there showed how to make an organic dye vat, Michel Garcia's style (you can find his tutorials on youtube too!). Both were made with ready indigo powder, though. Let's check my notes first, then I'll talk about the plants. Prepare for a long read!

Chemical dye process

For reference, the normal chemical process went like this: we used 10% WOF (weight of fibre) sodium hydroxide to get a high (10-11) pH to help extract the dye. Temperature should be 40-50⁰C., and the extraction time was 40 minutes. For the reduction, we used sodium dithionate 60% WOF at 55⁰C (no higher, it wastes some dye), and pH was 8-9. At that step we had to leave the room for 30 minutes because it's toxic to let it settle. A tip for controlling the temperature: use a double boiler. After the 30 minutes, it looked like this:

A pretty metallic sheen on the surface and an "indigo flower" bubble in the middle had formed! Underneath the mixture was a yellowish green.

For dyeing, dip it 1-10 minutes, try not to get air mixed into the dye bath. We used a parsley boiling kettle with its basket to dip the fibers in! Presoaking in water also helps the dye absorb more evenly. Pulling it out is magical, as it oxidized it turns from green to blue! Then rinse with vinegar and water and continue rinsing with water.

Organic vat method

This method can be done in smaller scale! It works like this:

Ingredients:

1 part indigo powder

2 parts calcium hydroxide (pickling lime) for alkaline agent

3 parts food-grade fructose or any other natural reducing agent (henna, oignon, very ripe fruits or an old madder dye vat are some suggestions!)

The indigo powder was dissolved into a bit of water first by putting it into a plastic box with some marbles and shaking it around to form a smooth paste.

For the reducing agent, the fructose was simply dissolved into 7-8 liters of water. If using henna (Lausaunia Inermis), prepare a "decoction" by putting the extract in cold water and boil till the powder remains in the bottom, then filter through a cloth and let cool to 50-70⁰C.

Then the indigo paste was added to the reducing agent. Probably let this sit for 40 minutes too?

For the alkaline agent, also don't breathe or touch with bare hands. Dissolve the calcium hydroxide in warm water and add that mixture into the indigo dye vat, carefully pouring it along the container wall to avoid getting air mixed in. Stir three times, creating a vortex. It should turn green, and look like the picture above with a metallic surface and blue bubbles. Then cover the vat tightly and let sit for 12-24 hours for the indigo to dissolve and reduce. Then carefully stir it and check the pH. Adjust it if needed:

For wool, pH 10 and temp 40-45⁰C.

For silk, pH 11 and no heating necessary.

For celluloce fibers like cotton/linen, pH 12 or higher and no heating necessary.

Dyeing: With presoaked fibers, dip for 30 minutes. Press the fibers against the wall of the container to avoid getting air = oxygen into the dye bath. At this point, it should look green.

Then the dye needs to be oxidized. To do this, remove the fibers from the dye vat, gently wring excess dye out, and push it in and out of cold water, opening any folds as you do. After the colour stabilizes into blue, hang it to dry for 30 minutes.

For best results, repeat this dyeing process two more times. If you want darker, extend the dipping and drying time on the second and third dye round to 1 hour and 1.5 hours.

When using fresh plants, I think you can extract the dye first and then use the extracted and filtered solution (or paste, if you use a lot of leaves and dehydrate it a bit) as a base for the fructose step. More on the extraction later.

Indigo compounds in plants

I'm not familiar with the plant you mention, so I don't know if it's as good as the indigo plant, Persicaria Tinctoria. I think you should still try, as crushing the leaves shows blues thing is very engouraging. I bet you'd at least get nice greens or greenish yellows if not even turquoise or blue!

Indigo is a category of many dye chemicals, and P. Tinctoria contains (among others) indirubin, which is the red indigoid chemical that makes indigo a more dark purple kind of blue. We have another plant, Isatis Tinctoria (common name woad, morsinko in Finnish), growing here, and it's also cultivated for indigo, but it doesn't have indirubin, hence the colour it gives is a bit cooler blue. So be aware that the shades you get might be different from what you're used to seeing as indigo! Also with our I. Tinctoria I remember reading that it's recommended to pick the leaves when they're young and keep them intact for best dyeing results. Though it depends on the method.

Indigo as a compound is not water-soluble, so that's why we need to reduce = remove the oxygen from the dye bath, so that it can turn into its precursor, that is water-soluble. The precursors are sensitive to light and oxygen during the process, so it can be tricky to get it to work. In the dye process the precursor sticks to the fibers, makes it green, and when it oxidizes in the air, it turns to indigo = blue.

Also in some traditions the leaves have been fermented first, and then used in the dye vat – that might be interesting to look into! Fermentation is also a way to reduce a vat, as the yeast and bacteria use up the oxygen in the fermentation process. Here's some reading on the traditional dyeing methods with I. Tinctoria that Outi, a natural dyer from Finland, recommended:

"A treatise on the culture, preparation, history, and analysis of pastel, or woad : the different methods of extracting the coloring matter, and the manner of using it, and indigo, in dyeing" (Lasteyrie, Dearborn 1816)

"The woad plant and its dye" (Hurry 1930)

Extracting from plants

I don't have any personal experience about this, but I'm going off of this finnish blog post on dyeing with I. Tinctoria, that I think should work very similarly. Her reasoning was that high heat and oxygen destroy the precursors of indigo, but high heat breaks the cells of the plants to allow for the dye compounds to dissolve into the water, so she put the plant leaves into boiling water and then put cold water on top soon to drop the temperature to around 50⁰C. (Also with the same reasoning, if you need to rinse the plants, use cold water). The leaves turned yellow in the 20 minutes they brewed, after that her steps were:

Remove the leaves

Add soda ash (50 grams, vat pH now 11)

Whisk for 20 minutes to add oxygen (at this step it should be more blueish, keep whisking until the bubbles turn pale, though hers was green) (I'm not convinced if this step is good)

Add 40 grams of a stain remover that contains sodium dithionate to reduce and leave for an hour

Peel the metallic surface and dye!

Wow, that was long. I find indigo dyeing super fascinating so it was fun to research it again! I hope some of this is useful to you!