Tag: vegan

Welcome to October

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

Vegans do not eat eggs, do not drink milk and do not make exceptions. I have encountered 2 people in the last 2 weeks claiming they know a vegan who eats eggs. They are not vegan, they are vegetarians, or some variety of vegetarian.

Now that is cleared up, I can move onto a brief poem to welcome the full forces of autumn and the upcoming month. Today marks the start of Black History Month in England. As you can see from the painting below, an iconic figure for the rights of minority groups.

Poem: Autumn! 

Greens to yellows and reds
my bed of roses is now dancing in the moonlights shadow
neighbourly connections
surreptitious directions
jewels that hung on the balcony
wet days on the way

As we approach the darker months of the year it is so important to connect and be with other people. I think we should be connecting in person but talking online is just as good. Video calls would be better since you are able to gauge the facial expressions of the other person. As mentioned in a previous post going to church can be a good way to connect with likeminded people. Attending any group would be a start. I am of course talking to myself at the same time as typing this; I should be doing this and more often.

Some suggestions:

  • Walking groups
  • Coffee groups/ coffee morning meetups etc
  • Art groups
  • Online groups – online quizzes and presentations or general chit chat
  • Religious groups – anything from church to a meditation group (lots online now)
  • Courses – like a short course either in person or online

As for solo activities I can think of a few to keep you busy! This is assuming you live alone though

  • Walking/dancing/exercise in any form at home and outside
  • Healthy eating/cooking/baking/dinner parties hosting or attending
  • Going to the cinema or to a show – with people as well!
  • Painting and drawing
  • Writing and blogging of course!
  • Meditation
  • Learning something new! online courses at home or even in person!
  • Travelling somewhere new
  • Reading
  • Home decoration/renovations
  • Movies and tv at home
  • Creating a routine if you want one
  • Connecting with other people – in any form
  • Visit historical places

There is a lot of things you could do in the autumn months. I can imagine taking a long walk in the countryside would be nice. Or perhaps going for some high tea in the local teashop. This is something I want to do, and I intend to go to London for some high tea. As for visiting historical places, you can do that with people too. I’d like to get down to the Tower of London and visit Clarkson’s farm at some point.

Welcome to autumn. Welcome to October. Spooky month for most of us! That reminds me, why not turn the entire month into an even for yourself and have a fantastic Halloween! No limits. No restriction on what you can and cannot do.

Burgers are Sluts

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

She sits opposite me in this leather booth. The restaurant is fairly busy, waiters and waitresses flock from table to table, taking orders, delivering drinks and food and gossiping about social media nonsense. I daren’t reveal to this brunette bombshell that I am vegan, after she took the leap to tell me on the way here. “I’m vegan,” she had said. I didn’t want to share my intimate life details or let her feel some connection, because honestly, the whole date was a big set up. I’d agreed to this after being paired with this lady by a friend. Yeah, she was okay, she chatted a lot about family and decided to tell me about her recently holiday with her ‘girlfriends.’ Not that I was bothered though.

But… the waiter came over and I knew there was no way for me to hide my diet preference, and that was all it was, a way to stay slim and healthy. I don’t care about animal activism. I’d rather let her do all the talking, but I have to throw in the occasional question to sound interested. “Been there before?” She’s forgotten her own holiday already, and she talked about it for like 20 minutes. The waiter hovers over our table, pen on his pad. After viewing the menu, seeing the little choice there was for vegans, I decided to brave it.

“Yeah loads of times,” she finally responds, blushing and batting her eyelids. Damn, this woman is really into me and we’ve known each other for about an hour or two. Essentially a blind date. I give her the silent credit, she is busty, slim and tall. Her wit is questionable, after telling me I look like Colin Farrell. I look nothing like him and was born in Brighton to a mother who worked in a factory and alcoholic father who beat me as a child after his drunken nights out. Maybe being a Colin lookalike was the career change I needed. She glances to the menu and looks to the waiter, he’s young, probably early twenties and for some reason looking down her bra. Kid, take the order and **** off.

“I’ll have the vegan burger,” she says.

“Fries or onion rings?” he asks, smiling. Little jerk is jerking me around, can he not see she is on a date? I with hold my frustration and give him some leeway, as he probably hasn’t even reached puberty yet. “Okay great. An you sir?”

All can be forgiven, he’s addressed me by my master title, sir. Maybe I should correct him, to for the laughs. “Actually, it’s madam,” I say. The waiters face drops and he blushes. The young woman chuckles, and I get a leg up.

“Excuse me, madam.” So far so good, obedient waiter. “What would you like to order?” Oh dear the shame is built up, and I have to look at the menu, but cannot contain myself and splutter, laughing my ass off, she laughs again, and grabs my hand.

“Stop it,” she laughs. Her skin is smooth, her eyes magnetic blue. “What are you eating?”

I really was tempted to push it and order a portion of crisps, I didn’t have the mental energy now. “I’ll have the exact same, thank you.” The waiter takes the order and leaves without another word.

“So are you vegan then?” She smells of rose perfume and has that peaky, coloured tone in her cheeks. Do I confess my intimate details to a stranger? It wouldn’t go anywhere anyway.

“No, but I thought I’d try it.”

“You should be, it’s great.” Oh no, que the long animals abuse rant. I cut her off as she goes to speak.

“Do you want to know a fun fact about burgers?” She draws closer, smiling, her pearly whites glisten under the dim light.

“I’d love to.”

“Well,” I say, hesitating. “Burgers are sluts.” She pulls away, flushed. “They told me they like to be eaten out.” I expect her to laugh, but oh well, there she goes, from the table and out the door. I enjoy the moment and thank God I didn’t have to dump her.

Why you should eat an evening meal before 6pm

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

Everyone loves to think they are healthy and eating a healthy diet. A lot of people are, and have a healthy eating routine. However, a lot of people are not as healthy as they think, even if they eat plant based or vegan diets. I’ll tell you why. They are eating their food at the wrong time.

For the purpose of this short post, I’ll focus on the biggest meal of the day which is typically for most people and evening meal or dinner. Once upon a time people could enjoy breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner (called tea as well) and supper. There are more to this list, things like elevenses make another option. Nowadays people simply can’t afford to eat all of these and the majority of people don’t and haven’t for many years. In the past I might have breakfast, a snack for lunch and dinner.

My new routine for a long time has bypassed breakfast completely. I don’t bother anymore, because I don’t eat bread the majority of the time (if at all). I prefer to have wraps or pasta for carbs. But I think the majority of people have dinner. It is important to eat early though for the following reasons. By early I mean before 6pm or 7pm at the latest.

  1. You will find you are less hungry throughout the evening. If you tend to snack or eat food throughout the evening or late at night, you will find eating early will help to suppress those urges. I suspect it is because those late night hunger pangs are due to not eating enough and early. By eating early, you are signaling your body that it can in fact sleep without feeling like it is starving. Which in turn, will aid sleep and you should not be hungry.
  2. Reduces indigestion / hearburn. Late night food and snacks in any variety can and will cause your digestive system to be on continuously, and being horizontal will mean your food won’t be digested properly. Heartburn is common result, and you can either use extra pillows, take pills, or eat earlier. Don’t forget, you should be asleep at night, not digesting food. It can take a few hours to digest, which is why an early meal is best.
  3. Helps aid fasting. You’ll find if you eat at 5:30pm for example that by the time you wake up, say 7pm or 8pm, that is at least 12 hours fasting. Your body should fast every night as this is the healing stage, and if you are constantly digesting, you will never enter a fasting or fat burning state (although probs need to go more than 12 to be fat burning). My point is that your body will heal quicker if you fast by eating early. Most people do it without realising.
  4. Prevent weight gain and aid weight loss. Yes, late night snacking and meals after 7pm will cause you to gain weight, you might not notice, but it will be happening. If you counteract it you can offset this. Eating early kicks your metabolism inter high gear, and then into rest for sleep which is where the fasting state takes over. So, you will also lose weight, and it will be at first stored fat and glucose etc.

Cheese Glorious Cheese… & Fries

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

Confession time. Not last night, but the night before I ate this chicken burger. It was called a ‘tower burger’ and consisted of chicken, hash brown, cheese, lettuce and tomatoe and onion, some BBQ sauce and two lovely buns – not the sesame buns, some variety of gourmet/posh buns. Anyway, I hadn’t slept and I needed to eat so I ordered. It came with really tasty crispy fries with peri peri powder, brilliant taste. I am supposed to be a vegan but since I hadn’t slept I felt like I should divulge myself. Anyway it was lovely and I considered it a treat. Was it filling? Yes it was. Did it taste nice? Hell yes. How did I feel after? I have no idea as half hour after eating I blacked out for 12 hours on the sofa, apparently You Only Live Twice {James Bond} had played on tv and at some point turned itself off, as the day after it said ‘watch again.’ Well I slept right through that.

The picture above is from the site I ordered from. They forget my drink even though I ordered a meal which included one. Not the end of the world, great takeaway. I feel slightly guilty though for giving in to the meaty temptation. I suffered bad heartburn and a ‘junk food hangover’ the next day. It reminded me why I went vegan to begin with!

It wouldn’t be a good post without a poem about said burger: I Ate Chicken, Ultimate Vegan Sinner 

Not knowing how passion could exist without it
or how the eyelids could remain awake
the meaning of life slipped into a bun
I remember just how much it was 'yum-yum'
no pickled beetroot, no devastating soya
I just know, I was all out of juice

Get Beach Town: Hope on Kindle Unlimited for free and the eBook for free for a limited time! Grab a copy now to last a lifetime. Really appreciate the support and any and all reviews!

Have a read of my Wattpad erotic/love/romance story about one mans night of sexually charged drama and danger @ https://www.wattpad.com/story/307873965-discovery-avenue

Check out my new Elephant Journal post – https://www.elephantjournal.com/2022/04/does-life-mean-something/

I have just written something for Medium too – called ‘Making the most of Writing’ @ https://medium.com/@thomas_maxwellharrison/making-the-most-of-writing-5be702a5e4f9

You can also follow me on social media @Thomas87520559 ! I regularly post and interact with a massive writing community, and I support indie authors and self published authors!

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Coffee and Pasta @ The 6am Writing Club

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

Good morning and Welcome to Psychedelic Wizard. We hope you are all having a fantastic and positive, love filled awakening as you prepare for this beautiful spring day.

In the midst of April, things can be changing rapidly, both in your personal and professional life. We shift from Aries to Taurus. Daily horoscope for Taurus 20th April:

“It would be understandable if you felt out of sorts. What’s going on may be mystifying. Other people’s logic could escape you entirely. This could also bring out your stubborn streak – and you really dig your heels in. It might occur to you that being part of a group or association would have advantages.”

It’s the 6am Writing Club. You don’t need to have an expensive membership. I am up nice and early and wanted to be super productive. I enjoy contributing to my site which is why I am posting this! At the 6am writing club, you merely have to start writing at 6am, it can be anything… I mean anything. I am currently adding a part to my Wattpad story along with writing this post. Don’t oblige yourselves though!

I charged my crystal eggs in the east window, where the sun beams at sunrise. Along with some small plants.
Coffee and pasta, what is weird about that?

What time do you get up? I believe an early rise can sometimes contribute to increased productivity, but not always. You see if I got up at 5am everyday, I wouldn’t feel that productive. I need to delay the work to an extent. Of course, early rise at 5am and then writing until 7 or 8am would allow you to pump out thousands of words, if you are like me. I managed 10,000 in 5 hours recently, with ease {ego alert}.

I am still a vegan, and finding it a lot easier than expected. Although, when I look at vegan plant based options in the supermarkets, they are more expensive – YES – more expensive than the meat equivalents. This is a complete joke and we should be campaigning to make meat free/plant based products cheaper. They are cheaper to produce! For example, a wrap plant based costs £3.00 for falafel and humous. Check this link to Coop to see the range of products I am referring to. It is not included in the meal deal, despite competitor Sainsbury’s including their plant based wraps in the deals, and they are cheaper at £2.80! The meal deal in Sainsburys works out to £3.50. So, what the hell is the higher price about in other supermarkets? There is no excuse, and I used to class Sainsburys as more expensive than Coop. Just a disclaimer, I am not endorsed or sponsored by either.

Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this post then please like, comment and follow my blog. You can also sign up to the new newsletter, which won’t be sent until a sufficient number of subscribers is reached, which may take some time. I’d love to hear what your productive morning will be!

Continue reading my Wattpad short story which is being released one part every day. Today Part 5 is being published on the platform, titled secrets. By this point Peter has engaged with a dangerously loose woman. He is about to break the sacred bond of his relationship with his partner, Anna. What will be the result of such degrading efforts?

*update – Discovery Avenue has reached number #5 on Wattpad under ‘manhood’ stories. https://www.wattpad.com/stories/manhood/hot

https://www.wattpad.com/story/307873965-discovery-avenue

Remember, my book Beach Town: Hope is now free on Kindle Unlimited. It is also free on Ebook until Friday under a special Easter sale! Don’t miss out on getting a free copy now before it is too late!

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Breakfast Suggestion – Vegan!

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

It is time for you all to try this most excellent of breakfast suggestions. It is vegan, it is tasty, it is cheap and it is easy to make. Do you need me to convince you to try it?

I use seeded the seeded batch bread, a superb and tasty choice for this breakfast option. So what is the suggestion?

Avocado and tomato on toast

Simple but effective. I guarantee you will enjoy it. I’ll come on to the different drinks that may go well with this vegan dish.

Ingredients are easy to source. Avocados should be nice and soft and almost mushy if you squeeze it. I would suggest using 2 whole avocados to get the most out of this, the amount you use is entirely down to you. 2 slices of toast. Don’t use white bread, try something better like the seeded bread or whole meal. Use anything! I just like to see people using the wide array of bases out there. Of course, need some vegan butter. I am using an olive spread at the moment which is one of my go to choices to butter my toast. I recommend for the tomatoes either – cherry tomatoes, the small things, although they may not be as easy to slice or the big normal tomatoes. Big tomatoes allow you to slice them and there is more for you to use. I also use peanut butter, simply because it bulks up the toast and gives it extra flavour. For those who eat eggs, you might enjoy topping this delight with a fried egg, easy over!

What to do?

Make sure the toast is not hard, rather it should have some flexibility still. Butter them, liberally, apply the layer of peanut butter… if using that. Next fry the tomatoes, make sure you slice them in half or you could slice them into pieces and fry them. Using the avocado you can do a few things, smash it into a spreadable substance or simply place slices of it on the layer of peanut butter. Next, add those sliced tomatoes. Add pepper and salt to taste. I actually like to add turmeric when frying tomatoes. I also recently discovered some vegan sausages which are soft and succulent and would make a great addition to this. Like I said, it is simple but I find it really satisfying and filling.

My other post on egg filled fried tomato recommended adding whole wheat toast with avocado. I actually recommend as it is tasty, to simply combine the dishes. There will be a lot of tomato. Of course, vegans can replace the eggs with an alternative. There is a multitude of options, like hash browns – brilliant! Beans, bigger mushrooms, pancakes (?), bagels instead of normal bread.

Sides

As a side, classic says go with some variety of fruit. Maybe a bowl or strawberries or blueberries, a bunch of chopped banana, some yoghurt, some muesli cereal.

You could even have a side of those vegan sausages I mentioned, slice them and stuff them with herbs and garlic butter? Radical ideas change things… okay maybe stuffing sausages is far fetched but I would. A small portion of lentils or beans, like kidney beans or black eyed beans. Tofu , although I find it tasteless, can be tasty if you put enough flavour into it, and only eat small amounts.

Drinks

  1. Coffee – so many flavours and strengths, one of the biggest markets in the world of trade. Decaffienated, whole, mild, intense, pure Arabica, a simple insta coffee maybe? After choosing the variety, you then have options in how to drink. Black coffee, no milk or alternatives. Have milk, oat milk, almond, hemp. White or brown sugar, honey or sweeteners? It’s so fascinating when you explore the options.
  2. Fruit juice or smoothie – Absolute go to choice for a lot of people is orange juice. With bits or without? Apple juice works well too. I said smoothie since fruit is used in these. Load up the pineapple, cherries and bananas and liquid of choice and get that pumpin’ boost ready for your breakfast. My preferred option, but I might also have a cup of decaf coffee with it!
  3. Water – You made it this far and now you want simplicity. It falls from the sky ladies and gentlemen so if you like a tasty water for breakfast, go right ahead. Sparkling water or flavoured?
  4. Teas – I love being British because we have so many teas available. From the normal black teas, to green, chai, turmeric, earl grey (I love this at breakfast), English breakfast! The list is huge and what tea you choose for breakfast is up to you. Lavender tea is fine!

So, there you have it. A simple and tasty meal for the start of the day. To all those vegans out there trying to be better people by avoiding animal products, well done. I really enjoy the idea of being vegan, sometimes though, it can seem like I am in the minority although plenty of you are out there. It is a choice that only you can make. I recommend it for health and to boost well being.

Harmonising resonance.

Café lite: Review!

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

You can find a bit more here: https://stockportoldtown.co.uk/visit/cafelito/

The café is located in the old town of Stockport, Greater Manchester. It is a wonderful part of the town, the better part if I say so. All the old ancient buildings from 500 or 600 years ago, great architecture, great shops and the feeling of going back in time.

I have sat outside this café before and had a drink. I only went back the other day, for a drink inside. Today I was braver and sat in for a decaffeinated Americano and then, decided to try the vegan breakfast! they are open until 6 serving any food unless they haven’t got the ingredients.

I had another decaffeinated Americano with the vegan breakfast. I must say that I was expecting something sub par put the food was nice and lovely. Food cooked to perfection and there was a big amount of smashed avocado. The dish was as follows: 2 slices of lovely bread/toast, not the average stuff; big pot of beans, 2 vegan sausage, some peppers on the avocado, a slice of lime, fried tomato, big mushroom, 2 hash brown. Excellent! It cost me £6.50 for the meal. I think it was worth it, very filling, and cooked well. Oh, and a pot of sauce… I chose red, aka, tomato sauce. Good value for money if you think about it. The avocado is the most expensive part in terms of cost both to bank card and the natural wildlife.

The decaf coffee was £2.20 each which is actually pretty standard for most places. The coffee they use appears to be in mugs displaying Grumpy Mule coffee, quite tasty. After my recent trip to Bramhall, the café there didn’t seem quite as good as café lite.

As you can see above, the café is in one of those brilliant pieces of architecture I mentioned. You don’t need to travel the world to find great examples, they are on your doorstep. It offers the vegan options which will automatically bump it to 4 stars minimum. If you look for images of the café, you will find outdated pictures.

Inside is a lovely modern décor with tons of plants, giving it a lovely low beat vibe. Flooring is wooden. You cannot see into the kitchen a lot, which is not a problem. I think having as many plants as they do is why I like it.

Overall, clean, welcoming, great staff, lovely service, good house coffee, great food and choices. Has to be a massive; 5/5. Well done café lite.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Veganism Just Got a Whole Lot Better!

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

Goooooooooooodddd moooorrrnniiingggg Vietnaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam!

My tarantula recently molted its exoskeleton and look so lovely and bright. She did it after only a month of her being here. Anyway, topic of the day is being a vegan once again!

In England we have a supermarket beginning with Co and ending in Op. Now, I do use this regularly. However since new year began I noticed they are now stocking this new brand/range of plant based products. Those products are in fact for Vegans.

So I took a fancy to them being vegan and all. I decided to analyse deeply the packaging and presentation. Immediately I could see the food stuff was a lot smaller than comparable meat products and at premium prices. This is a NEW BRAND which I have not encountered before, and I suspect a new company. So well done for getting your products into the big supermarket already. After some sneaky research into this plant based food company, it seems to be a part of the Coop, the very shop it is in.

See the source image

Now, vegan food producers need to stop charging ridiculous prices when you can get a meat alternative cheaper, and I mean a lot cheaper… 1KG of turkey for £7.99? Yes please. £3.00 for a small wrap which won’t fill you up? Not a chance, although I have been buying them. Yesterday I bought one of their vegan pizzas, and now I am cooking it as I type. You can see the picture of the box at the top of the page. I tried one of their cupcakes, a pack containing 2 which were small but did taste nice.

Yes we want that colourful and fun packaging and we want that plant based alternative vegan food, what we also need is a company to show some originality and understanding of the market. If you are like me you may be sad enough to get excited at the thought of shopping for fresh produce, especially in markets. Most vegans use fresh produce and these sorts of pre packaged goods are okay but usually appeal to people on the go, who have no other choice but to buy because the shop is all meat products and dairy (not uncommon).

Overall the products are good and I think the Coop is doing a good thing by trademarking and incorporating this new set of food stuffs. A lot of big franchises are now doing them too. McDonalds introduced the McPlant, which I must say is good and is value for money. Dominos and Papa Johns both have Vegan pizza and side options. More independent vegan restaraunts are popping up. It is foolish to not offer vegetarian and vegan options nowadays onto the menu of every establishment selling food in England and Wales and Scotland and Ireland.

It’s a fun game to play, until you realise that the market isn’t really catering for vegans, rather, capitalising by giving them highly processed food stuffs for high price mark ups and in return, customers think that they are getting the best in the world and continue to fuel the hypocrisy.

Praise the change from the big franchises offering affordable alternatives, like McDonalds, who I WILL PRAISE. Give a shout out to others like TGI Fridays who are offering vegan options. Come on big food companies! Give us at least one or two options otherwise you won’t make it past 2030!

PLants based peace. xxxx

Spoke Through Images. My Fast Begins!

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison
Look in the mirror, my friend.
An enduring pattern of behavior characterised by disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others. No known cure.
See the source image
See the source image
See the source image
See the source image
Your shadow is never too far away.
Nick Brewer credited.

Currently working on my own piano piece at the moment. I have a electronic keyboard but it will simulate grand piano along with various other sounds. The reason I like the Zombie Army Trilogy sound track so much is that I had a great time playing the game a few years ago, and it was the songs that made it extra special because they sound quite simple and I like that. It also reminds me of the Black Ops zombie theme. I don’t write music for any purpose but comparing mine to that of published artists I’m probably good at writing music for games, again simplicity, which makes game music more memorable.

I’ll try and get some pictures up when I get chance. I don’t have a way to transfer from phone to laptop yet!

You are wondering what this post is about, right? It is tied into what I said in the last post. I can’t explain it or that would ruin the point. I’ll give you a question so you can ponder what it means.

If you knew that the world was nothing but a playground for an alien race, would that change your view of the world?

I am also starting my fast today. Technically I started last night. My goal is to get to Saturday 10pm which would make it a 72 hour fast or 3 days. I have done fasts in the past and considerably longer than 72 hours. I am starting them again for the new year along with starting my vegan journey once again. I’m not taking notice of veganuary, I want to do it long term as I have before. I’m also not taking notice of dry January, haahahhaah what a joke! Stopping or starting something for one month will do nothing and benefits only the individuals involved, it does not benefit society or the earth, so one month of plant based foods does not make you an eco warrior nor does abstaining from alcohol make you a bloody martyr! Amen.

A Random Mixture to Brighten Your Day

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

Delightfully British quintessential.

“Delila, who’s cooking meat?”

“I can’t smell ******* meat!”

“Must be the news.”

“Dad, what’s for dinner?”

“Steak.”

“I heard that, this is a meat free vegan household we don’t participate in the killing of animals.”

“Sorry it was a joke, gotcha. Listen, son, keep this between us.”

“I can’t I want some too, I’m starving.”

“Woof.”

AND, the story goes on and on. Jingo.

Do you know that muffins have the most delicious center? Maybe I need to remind you all of this. Get some muffins this Christmas. Skip the turkey, its out of fashion and eat a lump of mashed avocado on toast. Save the animals and kill the rainforests while you eat, now that’s multi tasking.

Want to see my face? British. Quite.

I assure you, my hair is not green, and my face is not purple.

I can’t guarantee the tongue or stars in my eyes.