A man who knows something knows that he knows nothing at all...............(about economics or politics)

out of all these books so far I've
read 'Save water, drink wine'
I admit I get my priorities
 wrong sometimes

Thank you Erykah Badu for that true statement.  I've often had the feeling that I'm stupid because I don't know and understand how the world works as well as I would like to. I can remember when doing my French A level we had to talk about issues such as the legalisation of cannabis and whether Britain should join the Euro and thinking 'I don't even know how to talk about this in English!' (Somehow I still ended up narrowly missing an A!) As I've mentioned before I'm a highly sensitive person and this means that I have more empathy than average and although I'm not naive or not trying to live under the illusion that we live in Care-a-lot, reading newspapers is difficult for me as I find it really hard to cope with all the bad news.  This is why my knowledge of politics and economics is not as good as it should be. But do I know less or more than the average person who votes? Who knows.

Sadly there is minimal education about how the country is really run in schools and so where do a lot of people source their political opinions from?

POVERTY PORN! lol love it

Newspapers such as the Daily mail, Daily express and the Sun are cheap, widely available and highly popular.  I can remember a while ago when I was based at a library in a very ethnically diverse area but at the time the only newspaper they had was the Daily Mail.  Whilst being aware that I'd never consciously made an effort to learn about about politics at the time, I was intelligent enough to use my own judgement and totally enraged by the ridiculous headlines.  

'ROMANIAN ASYLUM SEEKER RUNS OVER AN ELDERLY LADY AND YOUR TAX PAYER'S MONEY IS BEING USED TO FUND THEIR PRIVATE JET!'

'IMMIGRANT COUPLE WITH 15 CHILDREN RECEIVING MORE IN BENEFITS THAN YOU WILL EVER EARN AND THEY LIVE IN A GIANT MANSION IN MAYFAIR WITH A SWIMMING POOL AND JACUZZI!'

sad thing is, that's not much of an exaggeration of the kinds of headlines those papers have!

The daily bullshit. don't buy it

Everything these newspapers write is exaggerated and blown out of proportion to fuel anger, resentment and blame-shifting.  Programmes such as 'Benefits street' have also worryingly gained popularity, creating a totally distorted view of the welfare system that people sadly believe.

As I mentioned in my blog about body image, my family really didn't have a lot of money when I was growing up and it meant that I was an easy target for bullies.

(See http://samanthathesanevegan.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/the-girl-in-mirror-2-all-about-that.html). My mum used to be a teacher but gave up work when my older sister was little to concentrate on motherhood.  My dad used to work in credit control but sadly got made redundant in the late 90s and as a black middle-aged man, struggled to find work.  As a result, my family were living on benefits for several years.  And were we living in luxury? No. How was it really? Horrendous. Humiliating. Heart-breaking (why do all the words I'm thinking of begin with H?). Anyway! A lot of people think school is the best time of your life but for me it was absolute hell. I always felt really different and inferior because I didn't have the same things other people had. All my clothes were hand-me downs and I dreaded non-school uniform days. That being said, my parents were amazing and did the best they could under the circumstances.  It meant that I was a lot more appreciative and excited on birthdays and Christmas, even by small gifts and taught me and my siblings about delayed gratification. It certainly doesn't feel like a blessing at the time though and it's extremely damaging to your self-esteem. 

So why didn't my parents just get a job? Oh really? Cheers, they never would have thought of that! Were they just lazy, stupid 'scroungers' living in bliss? No.  What does being on benefits really look like for most people? Buying the cheapest versions of everything, scraping pennies together to get enough money to buy a 30p newspaper. Debilitating effect of repeated job rejections. The unrelenting stress of paying bills and the mortgage. My parents don't drink (except on special occasions) or smoke.  We had no luxuries and scraped by paying the essentials. My mum is incredibly bright and used to be a member of MENSA with an IQ of 178. Now in her 60s with several health issues she literally does more housework, cooking and gardening than the rest of us put together.  Does that sound like a lazy person to you?  (I actually don't think there's any such thing as laziness but that's another blog!) http://samanthathesanevegan.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/no-such-thing-as-laziness.html Do you think my parents wanted to be in that situation?  It's just so great at social gatherings when the first thing someone asks you is 'what do you do for a living?' and you have to answer 'nothing' isn't it!

the daily truth

'Don't have kids if you can't afford them!' I agree and there are some people out there who are irresponsible but they are a small minority. Contraception doesn't always work and we don't always know the reasons why people have had a lot of children.  Journalists cherry pick the most extreme examples in order to bolster their intolerant and judgemental views. I'm not claiming to be an expert on the economy but it's a minute proportion of the welfare budget (3%) that goes on benefits to unemployed people and 0.7% is claimed fraudulently.  Far more money is lost to tax avoidance, as the graph illustrates. 

Thankfully things are better and stable for us now, we're not poor any more but it infuriates me when seeing the way some (otherwise pleasant) people talk about the benefits system.  Although most of my best friends and family are 'lefties' I know a few people who have voted conservative and they are not malicious or racist people.  I feel like they have been misinformed but as I said I'm no expert myself.  I'm open-minded and if anyone has a coherent argument for voting for conservatives I'd love to hear it and be less baffled!  

Bet you can probably guess which way I'm voting in the EU referendum! LOL

Pass the dutchie pon the left hand side..... Thyme for soup!

Ha ha, I like that reggae song. I'm not that in touch with my Jamaican heritage and I haven't been there yet (planning to rectify this in the next few years!). I had no idea what that meant but a 'dutchie' is a cooking pot and the song is about feeding people (not about getting stoned as some people think!).  My surname 'Pottinger' actually means soup maker! Soups can be so comforting on a dark, rainy or cold day and it's a great way to get lots of vegetables into your system.  It's June but it was really rainy today here in London.  I don't mind rain that much as long as I'm not out in it without an umbrella. It makes my hair go frizzy but ah well. Heigh ho. It helps beautiful plants to grow so we must be grateful for it!

Anyway. On to the recipe!

Soup Thyme!

The cool thing about soup is you can just improvise with whatever vegetables you happen to have in your fridge.  I am a bit of a 'make it up as you go along' kindof cook hence why I've not put the exact quantities, I tend to just improvise and learn from trial and error. This recipe includes lentils and almonds so it provides plenty of protein and a variety of amino acids.

Ingredients:

Onions

Garlic (the more the better in my opinion!)

Sweet potato

Chillies

Red peppers

Kale (I've used frozen because I just happened to have some in my freezer)

Creamed coconut (I've used about 12-20g) a little goes a long way

Red lentils

Ground almonds (I had recently made some almond and hazelnut milk so I had saved the pulp). Use around 25-50% of the quantity of lentils you're using

Tomato puree (one tablespoon)

Thyme (I've used dried thyme)

Vegetable stock cube

Sunflower frying oil, coconut oil or rapeseed oil

Method

The texture was a bit weird because of the nut pulp
so I used my stick blender to make it
a bit more smooth

• Finely chop the onions
• Crush the garlic with a garlic crusher if you have one, If you don't you can just chop it
• Fry the onion and garlic in the oil on a low heat for a few minutes, if it starts to sizzle add some water.
• Chop the sweet potato into small pieces and add to the pan
• Chop the red peppers and add to the pan
• Add the dried thyme
• Chop the chilli and you might want to wear gloves whilst doing this. (Note to self, don't chop hot chillies and then take out your contact lenses, ouch!) Add to the onions and garlic.
• Dissolve the stock cube in boiling water. Add the stock to the stir fried onions and garlic
• Add the creamed coconut
• Add the red lentils
• Add the tomato puree and mix in
• Add the kale or any other green vegetable like spinach
• Leave to simmer for around 30 mins
• Enjoy!

Provides plenty of protein, complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, fibre, magnesium, iron and antioxidants.  A soup that can seriously improve your day!

A truly happy meal :)

My happy meal of burgers,
sweet potato fries, broccoli
& a chocolate milkshake

This is a very simple and easy meal idea for those cutting down on meat or those in the transition to veganism.  It's a health(ier) and cruelty-free version of American diner style fast food. Although fast food might be a source of comfort, convenience and excitement for many, the impact widespread consumption of these foods has on our health, animals and the environment is horrendous. I'm really not one for spoiling people's fun and I think we should always enjoy food. I'm no puritan and so I thought I'd make a healthier and cruelty-free but still enjoyable version.

Although I definitely believe eating more foods as close to their natural state can work wonders for your health, it's quite clear I don't believe in perfectionism when it comes to eating.  (See my old blog; http://samanthathesanevegan.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/a-good-look-at-girl-in-mirror-little.html for a sneaky peak into my unhealthy habits!) Personally, for protein I tend to opt for mainly lentils, beans, nuts, tofu, protein bars and protein smoothies as I'm quite health-conscious and not really used to meaty flavours any more but occasionally I'll have something a bit like the things I used to have when I was younger, just for a change or if I'm feeling a bit sentimental.  Sometimes I really feel like cooking but with our busy lifestyles often we just want something really easy that can just be quickly thrown in the oven and there's nothing wrong with that.

vegan quorn burger

You can never really win as a vegan. If you eat meat substitutes people (including some vegans!) say 'if you're so against meat, why are you eating something that's imitating it? but then if you don't people are like 'yuck, how can you eat tofu and lentils?'  There's no way of pleasing everyone so it's best to just do whatever works for you.

Sweet potato is one of those foods that's so delicious I can't believe it's healthy! It's great source of slow-releasing carbohydrates, antioxidants, beta-carotene, a precursor to vitamin A (only slightly behind carrots in this eye-supportive nutrient!), magnesium, vitamin B6 and fibre.

sweet potato fries are a gift from above!

I could write a whole blog post on the importance of green foods in the diet but they are full of essential vitamins (particularly folic acid), minerals such as iron and calcium and antioxidants.  They are also high in fibre, have an alkalising effect on the body and help to eliminate toxins.

Ingredients

Vegan burgers (I've used vegan quorn burgers available from larger branches of ASDA and Sainsbury's in the UK). There have been some scare stories but quorn has been approved as a safe food by the FDA and FSA.

Sweet potatoes

Oil (I've used sunflower frying oil which is high in monounsaturates. Avoid using conventional sunflower oil as it's incredibly high in omega 6 fats which contribute to inflammation in excess. If you can't find this, look for oils high in monounsaturates or use coconut oil)

Lettuce or any other green vegetable (try to always have something green with each meal!) I've used broccoli.

• Heat the oven to gas mark 6 (204c, 400F)
• Chop the sweet potato into chips carefully using a large, sharp knife
• Pour a small amount of oil onto a baking tray
• Spread the chips around the tray and place on the top shelf
• Put the burgers on a different tray and put in the middle shelf
• Serve with salad or steamed greens. A touch of balsamic vinegar is nice to enhance the flavour!

My vegan milkshake brings all the boys to the yard! (probably wouldn't be a hit would it?)

Ingredients (per person)

• 100ml dairy-free ice-cream. There are lots of different kinds available now in supermarkets and health food stores (I've used the coconut collaborative chocolate frozen yoghurt. It's sweetened with grape juice but still quite high in sugar, fine for a treat though!)
• 300ml Almond milk

Method: Erm, mix together in a glass

Amazing!

So this meal was easy to make in half an hour, provided taste-satisfaction, around 20g protein, 2 of my 5 a day, good amounts of antioxidants, fibre, vitamins and minerals and didn't cause any animals to suffer (can't say the same for a McDonalds happy meal, can you?). That brings joy to my day :)

I've got sunshine, on a cloudy day!

....When it's cold outside, I got the month of May...........

Actually, the Temptations, it's June and it's still really cloudy, rainy and horrible here in London!  It can be depressing when it feels more like winter when it should be summer but I thought I'd make myself a nice, warming, comforting breakfast.  I'm trying to lose a bit of weight at the moment so I've been having a lot of protein smoothies for breakfast but today I fancied something warming.

It's fine to have breakfasts a bit higher in carbohydrate sometimes providing they are not based on refined white products and sugar and there is some protein and fibre included to give you sustained energy.  So here's a recipe for a comforting morning recipe that's full of nutritious ingredients and free from refined carbohydrates.

Pomegranate, coconut and almond porridge!

The healthy and tasty ingredients:

Oats 

Great source of slow releasing carbohydrates and fibre. May help to lower cholesterol

(about 50g per person) 

Pomegranate seeds 

Great way of sweetening porridge without sugar and a source of antioxidants

Dessicated coconut

Contains healthy fats and is a good source of manganese and copper, important for energy production

Ground almonds

Good source of protein, B vitamins, calcium and magnesium

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Helps to stabilise blood sugar and adds flavour

Soya milk 

Adds some more protein and may also help to lower cholesterol

(use about double or triple the quantity of oats)

• Heat the oats in a saucepan in the soya milk
• Add the cinnamon
• Add one tablespoon of ground almonds
• Continue to heat until the oats expand and absorb most of the soya milk
• Pour into a bowl and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and coconut

Enjoy!

3 reasons why there is no such thing as laziness!

Exactly!

I remember one time whilst in a depressive episode being disgusted with how little I was doing each day in comparison with other people.  Our fast paced society values productivity and being busy is glorified and admired.  The result is that the guilt about being unproductive a depressed person feels increases more and more and the depression worsens. Those with depression often hold the same harsh, critical judgements that other people have about the condition.  

I've found myself googling 'What's the difference between depression and laziness' before and wondering if I'm just a complete self-indulgent slob and why I can't just be normal, busy and productive like everyone else.  The more widely I read about depression, the more I do understand that it is a medical condition that impairs a person's functioning.  It is nothing to do with being lazy, ill-intentioned or unwillingness to contribute anything to society or other people.  In my case (and I think for a lot of people with my kind of personality) I'm someone who cares very much about a lot of different things (not just veganism!) and I have a real drive for making a positive difference in the world.  It can be quite exhausting caring about so many things at once and it's almost like the depression has to happen to give yourself a break! I don't think Homer Simpson is really one of my top role models but the picture on the top right makes so much sense.  We all need to recharge our batteries sometimes and it's ok to do this without guilt.

On my nutrition course when we learnt about the blue zones (certain areas in the world where people have an especially long life expectancy) one of the 9 keys to longevity was working less and taking time to relax. For more on this see: https://www.bluezonesproject.com/power9#power9-3

Is all 'laziness' depression?

No, that's not what I'm trying to imply but sometimes what appears to be pure laziness might be hidden depression.  Apparent laziness or apathy can be simply due to tiredness that can have many underlying causes.  Aside from anaemia or low iron levels which I've talked about on my previous blog: 

http://samanthathesanevegan.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/iron-like-lion-in-zion.html

tiredness can be due to prolonged stress (which causes exhaustion of the adrenal glands and fatigue), being too busy, autoimmune conditions, ME, digestive disorders in which the absorption of nutrients is impaired, thyroid and other hormonal problems, the list goes on. If a person is neglecting their work in their job or in the home to the extent that it impacts negatively on the workload of others then it needs to be addressed but it's always good to consider the possibility there might genuinely be something wrong with them before casting judgement.

I got this book out from the library.
I'm erm, gonna read it later

Can 'laziness' sometimes just be fear? 

Absolutely! In my blog about letting go of guilt http://samanthathesanevegan.blogspot.
com/2016/05/more-guilty-nutritional-therapy.html I've talked about the procrastination/guilt cycle.  Sometimes we can appear to be lazy when really we're just afraid of doing something and so we avoid it and procrastinate.  Once we work out the reason why we are afraid of doing something that needs to be done or we know will most probably benefit us, we can think of ways we can get around this fear, take steps towards doing whatever it is and end up feeling so much better in the long run.  Sometimes inaction can just be about uncertainty.  It's very normal not to be sure what to do and in these times it's best to not put too much pressure on yourself.

Humans are strange creatures and we have a tendency to behave in counter-productive ways a lot of the time that make us unhappy and dissatisfied with our lives. Criticising ourselves and others for being lazy just creates guilt and hostility.

Some of us are tortoises, some are hares! 

We're all different. Some people thrive on being busy and enjoy it and there's nothing wrong with that if it doesn't result in stress or ill health.  For those who have a mortgage, bills and/or children to feed and look after, taking a break when you want one isn't always an option but it doesn't make you a bad person if you feel like you want a holiday.  Just focusing on what is essential and ignoring the not so important stuff may help. (I like the motto "everyone fed, no one dead!") Attempting to be superman/woman and constantly 'keep up with the Joneses' is just likely to cause misery. Those like me who are in a position to take a break and like taking things a bit slower should enjoy it without feeling the need to impress others. 

I will not feel guilty!

Things that are really annoying.........

Really? I think these kind of vegans 
are like unicorns. Non-existent

About being vegan. I'm lucky that although probably about 90% of my best friends and close family are meat eaters it doesn't cause much hostility or inconvenience.  I generally like to focus on the many other things I have in common with people (there's a lot more to me than veganism!) and enjoy myself. I like to change people's perceptions about veganism by making vegan food enjoyable and indulgent and just by being a cool person. 

More about this on my blog 
http://samanthathesanevegan.blogspot.co.uk

/2014/07/cant-we-just-all-get-along-little-about.html

But some things about the treatment and portrayal of vegans that seriously get on my nerves. Firstly there's:

The 'Sense of humour' thing

this is an exaggeration but yet it's still more realistic
 than the meme above!

Recently a video came out called 'if meat eaters acted like vegans' that was supposedly hilarious and had millions of views.  I only watched a tiny bit of it but it portrayed vegans as being judgemental, self-righteous and making unreasonable difficult demands in restaurants. I have been to vegan meet ups (albeit sporadically) but over a good few years and I have yet to meet a vegan who behaves anything like this. It's a stereotype that just really comes from nowhere. Vegans are less than 1% of the population and it's an even smaller percentage who are actually self-righteous about it so I find it hard to understand why some meat eaters would feel threatened by such a tiny minority. 

It sparked a lot of heated debate between vegans being annoyed at being depicted that way and meat eaters accusing them of having no sense of humour and not being able to take a joke.  I mentioned in my earlier blog http://samanthathesanevegan.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/more-about-peace-settling-battles.html that I do have a sense of humour (don't see why I need to prove this to strangers when those who know me well are already aware of this!) but certain jokes about vegans really bother me.  Why is this?

Being a sensitive person with low self-esteem makes it hard to be different from other people.  When meeting new people I want to make a good impression and like any normal person I like to find common ground and make polite conversation in order to be pleasant and sociable. When you're someone who never fitted in at primary school, secondary school or university, drawing attention to something that makes you different from other people is really not what you want to do. I feel like mentioning being vegan or even just vegetarian creates a barrier and so I avoid mentioning it unless necessary.  A few years back there was a work Christmas 'do and the vegetarian option on the set menu was full of cheese and other dairy products and when people asked me why I wasn't going I just said 'I don't really like the menu'.    This is why it's especially annoying to say that vegans can't shut up about it when people like me just feel really awkward about mentioning it.  

I've had difficulty sticking to veganism sometimes and one of the reasons is that I can be too unassertive sometimes and I've ended up eating non-vegan foods to be polite when eating at someone else's house. When I'm reminded of how animals are abused in the egg and dairy industries I get annoyed with myself for having strayed away from it and in awe of the vegans who have stuck with it for years.  As I'm getting older I'm slowly becoming more confident in my own choices and I don't see why I should have to apologise for it.

Non-vegans are perfectly entitled to be difficult out of fussiness or trying fad-diets but a vegan who likes Chinese, Thai, Indian, Latin American, Caribbean, Italian, Spanish & Middle Eastern style food must apologise for inconveniencing people with their morals! You wouldn't want to be one of the 'bad' vegans!

and secondly:

Constant Duty to Prove....

That you can be healthy.  Most people were raised to believe that we need to eat animal products to be healthy and thrive and so the idea of not eating any still seems controversial.  Even prior to doing my nutrition diploma I read very widely around the subject of vegan nutrition and so I'm quite clued up about what I need to do to be healthy and nourished.  Yet still, people, including those who are obese, who smoke or binge drink think it's okay to criticise vegans for their diet and tell them they are malnourished! 

Do I feel in perfect health all the time? No. Does anyone?  Other than depressive episodes I'm pretty symptomless and hadn't been off sick from my job in about 5 or 6 years but yet I felt the need to write a blog to prove that my depression wasn't related to my diet (See http://samanthathesanevegan.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/depression-part-2-food-mood and.html). The first time I saw a student nutritional therapist I was eating quite a good diet and but I said that my energy could be a bit better and she suggested that I might be anaemic.  Totally nothing to do with the fact that I'd started studying for the science access course (equivalent to 2 A levels) whilst working full time! 

Thank you Vegan Sidekick!

Like the rest of the population there are some vegans who are very health conscious and some who are not and enjoy junk food.  Why should those who are not especially health conscious feel like they have to be a role model? Why did that poor woman have to die trying to climb Mount Everest to prove a point?  Can't vegans just enjoy themselves like other people?

& meat eaters sometimes act like they're the victim? P-lease...............

RANT OVER!

Cherry Bakewell Protein Shake

I'm seeing a personal trainer at the moment so I've been getting back into having protein smoothies. My real passion is making healthy food both tasty and indulgent so I thought I'd do one with a bakewell tart theme. Sports nutrition is a complex subject and it wasn't covered on my diploma but I went on a one day workshop about it and it's so important to get nutrition right when exercising, whatever your goal is.

At the moment I'm just trying to lose some weight rather than build muscle but protein is always important for muscle recovery.  After my second personal training session my muscles were so stiff I could barely walk normally and it took 3 magnesium baths for me to feel normal again! However,...

Not just about protein!

Yes, protein is important but so are

other ingredients!

Some people might think just eating protein and no carbohydrate is the thing to do when trying to build muscle or lose weight, but it's actually counter-productive. Carbohydrates are necessary for exercise and when our body is starved of them, it uses the amino acids in our muscles as fuel before using our fat reserves.  This is why when rapid weight loss occurs with high protein diets, it is often muscle that is lost. When the person reverts to normal eating or ends up binge eating because of the carbohydrate deprivation the result is more fat being gained and difficulty losing the weight.
The answer is to eat a suitable combination of carbohydrates and protein depending on your body composition.  In general we need around 0.8g protein per kg of body weight, more if we are trying to increase muscle.

The correct amount of carbohydrate is crucial for exercise, I've ended up feeling dizzy and faint on occasions due to not eating enough before exercising. In general we should eat around 30-60g carbohydrate per hour of exercise, depending on the intensity of exercise and whether you're trying to lose weight. No point drinking a whole bottle of Lucozade if you're just going for a 10 minute jog!

Nutritional benefits of these ingredients

• Cherries are a great source of antioxidants, important to neutralise the free radicals generated by exercise.
• Bananas are a good source of carbohydrate for energy and potassium, essential for fluid balance.
• Almonds are a good source of magnesium, needed for the activity of the adrenal glands.
• Pea protein is a source of branched chain amino acids, needed for muscle repair
• Flax oil is a source of omega 3 fats, essential for reducing inflammation.  
• If you choose a calcium enriched milk alternative, this along with the exercise will help keep your bones strong 

Plenty of healthy boxes ticked!

ooh it almost matches
my hat!

Ingredients

100g Cherries (pitted or you could use frozen to save time)
1 medium banana
25g ground almonds
15g pea protein
250ml soya, almond or coconut milk
10ml flax or chia oil.

• Add the liquid ingredients first to the blender
• Chop the banana and add to the mixture
• Add the pea protein and ground almonds
• Add the cherries and then blend.
• Enjoy!

This is usually quite filling so I don't usually drink the whole thing in one go but if you're after something that will sustain you for a good few hours, these kinds of smoothies are great.