Lifestyle: How to Live Lagom

I’m writing this whilst nestled on the sofa (it was a HARD Roller Derby session this afternoon), surrounded by candles and a mug of hot camomile tea. My evening is all about the Hygge it would seem but today I’m collaborating with Contact Numbers UK on a campaign called #LagomLifestyle to talk about ways to help you live a life more Lagom.

I know, I know. The last thing we need is another buzzword or trend telling us how to live our days, but Lagom, the Swedish translation for ‘just the right amount’, is something I know I could be more mindful of in this busy age that so often leaves me feeling frazzled and unfulfilled. So what is it exactly? In a nutshell, it’s a way of adopting a more sustainable way of living by recycling, reducing waste and being mindful of your time and pennies. The right amount is best.

Although there’s talk of the Scandinavian trend taking over from the Danish phenomenon Hygge (pfft), I think there’s more than enough room for both (hence my Hygge-ish images in this post); I’m not giving up my candles, blankets and hot chocolate for anyone.

To give you a Lagom leg-up I’ve listed at the bottom of this post, 10 simple ways to live more sustainably. But, doing these things doesn’t mean you’ve served your lagom service for the year. Living sustainably (and I’m talking to myself here) is a way of living. So to begin with, I’m focusing on one key area that I know I need to improve on and be more mindful of; reducing food waste.

There’s only two of us in the house but somehow we still have food that is wasted at the end of the week or at the end of a meal, because of my poor portion control. I’ll have great aspirations to be creative and make new and tasty recipes at the weekend and then hit a wall mid-week wanting something easy and familiar to make (that’s embarrassing to admit). As we buy most of our vegetables in packs, half of the contents find their way straight to the compost bin.

In an effort to embrace Lagom, and because I found myself in a routine of opting for a convenient can of soup rather than eating up the vegetables almost past their best in my fridge, I made an effort. I rescued the butternut squash, onions and red pepper to make lunch (and leftovers). And you know what? It was the highlight of my day. Soup is the easiest thing to make and is the perfect way to use up any additional vegetables or meat leftovers.

I improvised and roasted the squash for 30 mins and cooked the onions and red pepper in a pan over the hob. Once the squash was ready I added it to the other vegetables with chicken stock and thyme. Simmered for 10 minutes then whizzed up! I topped it off with a little goats cheese and crispy bacon (because there was 1 rasher left in the packet!) and served it in my favourite mug too (just the right amount). SMUG alert.

As promised, here’s 10 simple ways to add Lagom into your everyday but if I were you (steady as she goes and all that) I’d go straight to your food cupboard or fridge, dig out your favourite mug and see what soup you can rock up. It might be the highlight of your day too.

1| Ditch the plastic bags.

2| Be aware of portion size (soup in a mug for me please)

3| Go through your food cupboards and know exactly what is in there before you do your next grocery shop.

4| Buy a reusable water bottle

5| Shop locally (start with a jar of local honey)

6| Save energy and adopt offline breaks throughout your day

7| Use energy-efficient bulbs. Or if you’re lazy like us just live in darkness (our hallway has had no bulbs for months). Oops.

8| Turn down your thermostat by 1 degrees or cuddle with your pets to keep warm. Polly is my own personal foot warmer when working from home during the week.

9| Clean with white vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. I LOVE this combo and it’s so much cheaper than standard sprays. Great for dealing with pet accidents!

10| Share your Lagom tips with friends and vice versa.

P.S no food was wasted in the making of this post. I ate it all up.

Disclosure: Collaborative Post.