Reusing jar lids is a simple yet creative way to cut down on waste and give everyday items a second life. Instead of tossing them into the recycling bin, these small but sturdy discs can be transformed into useful tools, fun crafts, or even beautiful decorations. It’s an easy step toward a more sustainable lifestyle — and a fun one, too!

Here are some ideas:

1. Coasters – Add a felt or cork backing and turn wide jar lids into quirky coasters.
2. Mini Paint Palettes – Perfect for kids' crafts or touch-up jobs.
3. Plant Labels – Write plant names on the inside and pop them on garden stakes.
4. Drawer Organisers – Use them to hold paper clips, pins, or earrings.
5. Mini Photo Frames – Pop a small photo inside and stick a magnet on the back for the fridge.
6. Ornaments – Decorate and hang with ribbon for festive or seasonal DIY décor.
7. Tealight Holders – Use as a safe base for tealight candles.
8. Tiny Snack Trays – Great for toddlers or portioning small nibbles.
9. Paint Stampers – Dip in paint and use for circle stamping on cards or paper.
10. Game Pieces – Turn them into checkers, memory game pieces, or homemade board game tokens.

Geraldine Fitzpatrick

My hands are very dry for a lot of washing and cold weather so I decided to try out the Neroli & Vanilla Hand/Body Lotion from Sunvale Soap Company, a local Limerick business.

Wow I am loving how my hands feel, they are so smooth. There is a beautiful scent, this will be my go to hand lotion. 

More info on this product: "A light, hydrating , 100% natural hand and body lotion handmade in small batches. With a herbal infusion of lavender, Irish chamomile and calendula, our own Irish Calendula Oil and beautiful fragranced with a blend of therapeutic essential oils including, neroli, lavender, chamomile and geranium. Recyclable b-pet plastic, pump bottle." 

Review by Thelma

Let us know which of our products are your favourites and why
Email Geraldine [email protected]

Asparagus is often a starter at our meals in the springtime. Is this still spring time? Well, as I walked through the Urban Coop I spied these lovely looking bunches of organic asparagus. They chose me… as is said in metaphysical terms.
 
So, I took them home. Now luckily the Urban Coop had the other required ingredients to make what I had planned. Flour, vegan butter, soya milk and yes, cream cheese de Hungry Soul.  Really you are talking about two ingredients – asparagus and bechamel.
 
Asparagus can be eaten in so many ways; oven baked, in a lovely pasta sauce, steamed eaten as is, along with a light vinaigrette or as with a nice bechamel … they all taste good.
 
Enough for 4
 
INGREDIENTS

• A bunch of asparagus … 4 to 5 each, well you may want 2 bunches
• A tub of Cracked Black Pepper – Hungry Soul Cream Cheese
• Bechamel
• 2 tbsp vegan butter
• 2 tbsp of flour
• 300 ml soya milk
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Sea salt

 
 
METHOD
For the bechamel:

• Soften the vegan butter
• Add the flour and stir until it is well mixed in with the melted butter
• now adding the soya milk nice and slowly, stir continuously to make a smooth sauce,
• the idea is to add a little of the milk, stir till incorporated, then add more and more, making sure the sauce is never lumpy.
• Add two to three tbsp of Hungry Soul to make it oh so delicious, the black pepper works well here.
• Once all stirred up taste it to see if you would like to add a little salt and set aside.

 

• Steam the asparagus until just soft, not too much or it loses its lovely flavour.
• Reheat the bechamel
• Serve 4 to 5 or more if it is only 2 of you and pour oven a nice amount of the bechamel when still hot

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Available in the good vegan fridge in the Urban Coop

Jacques, from Hungry Soul

Coleslaw can be a love it or hate it salad. Cabbages are so versatile though and they last ages so there is usually one lurking in the fridge. Making coleslaw is simple generally with cabbage, carrot and mayonnaise. Bringing it to another level though here is a dressing that makes it nourishing, delicious and a fabulous ferment!

First the Mayo 

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs, hard-boiled
• 1/2 cup neutral oil (like sunflower or avocado oil)
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• A few tblsps milk kefir
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optional: herbs like chives, parsley, or dill
• Shredded cabbage, grated carrot, diced celery, apple, scallions
• Onion seeds /nigella seeds

Instructions:

1. Boil the Eggs: Place eggs in a saucepan and cover them with cold water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and place eggs in an ice bath to cool.
2. Prepare the Mayo Base: Peel the cooled eggs and cut them into quarters. Add them to a food processor or blender.
3. Blend with Oil and Seasonings: Add Dijon mustard, kefir, salt, and pepper to the blender with the eggs. Pulse a few times, then add the oil in a slow, steady stream while blending until a creamy consistency forms. Taste and adjust salt, pepper, or kefir as needed.
4. Shred and slice vegetables as required.
5. Mix thoroughly – Add the nigella seeds for extra bite..

Anne Maher 

Toxic by Sally K. Norton

​You may not like to hear this one but it would be remiss of me to not bring your attention to this book. When superfoods are toxic…great! After the chocolate fest of Easter this actually may be a timely one though. What if the very foods you thought were healthy and you are consuming liberally because you believe they are good for you but were making your symptoms worse?

Those green smoothies and nut butters? Berries and potatoes? Surely not! You will be challenged to look more critically at your virtuous diet…oxalates are a topic that you must know about and this book will be a must in your journey towards health. 

Anne Maher

If you come from a farming background chance are you will have had some brain rewiring time to adjust to the use of the letters AI. Artificial insemination has become intelligence. It was only a matter of time perhaps! I have just read Klaus Swabbs book on the 4th Industrial Revolution. Gosh he was enthusiastic about how technology was going to be the wonderful gamechanger. Indeed it is difficult to deny the progress and speed of technology. But have you noticed the brakes being applied more lately? Screens have not been the answer to seamless learning in schools. In fact there is a return to pen and paper. A realisation that technology does not provide all the answers. Finding the balance of traditional and modern is our challenge today. Personally I find the automatic tills a challenge. “Unidentified item in the bagging area” This slogan is up there now with “Mind the gap” The latest gadget to keep up with. How bloody awful it is for the rising number of folk suffering with memory loss and dementia to have to cope with the speed of technology development. Are we checking out mentally I wonder? Screens are robbing our children of the ability to socialise and every daily interaction that can reinforce socialisation is being digitised. Social connections are so valuable for our health and slowly we are realising this. But will we be able to recover the virtualised children in time? That is the concern.  

Anne Maher

Food prices have risen – a topical issue of course. Revolutions have happened when food prices reached the triggering point. Politicians have always known that the population must have access to affordable food. Subsidised food is so normal to us now we have little idea just how much it actually costs to bring it to our table. For many years we have had the luxury of wasting food also because there is such excess. How difficult it is for us to transition to the real life reality of what food costs!
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A story from a customer struck a cord when I thought about this topic. We were discussing the craft of lacemaking as an old tradition. I had recently met the folk showcasing the Limerick lace traditions and was amazed at the fine work and detail involved. How skilled people were and this is an important tradition to protect. In any case she told me of her grandmothers story of being a child with siblings in Mayo making lace all winter long and working hard to save for a cow. Months of detailed work by candlelight, I guess, with the prize at the end of a living food source. Milk, butter, cream…I imagined the longing for this prize. The achievement and satisfaction to have earned this valuable prize. Alas the story did not end well as the cow died soon after! How devastating this must have been. The fact the story carried on through the generations echoes the enormity of the impact. It is no harm to be reminded though of how valuable food actually is. Butter will never taste so good.   

Anne Maher