Sarah Wilson

You eaten quinoa yet? The high-energy, gluten-free grain that everyone’s talking about right now? The stuff is unreal, beyond healthy and is a happy food at this time of year when our bodies need lots of protein and warm comforting textures. Consider this a bit of a cheat sheet on how to cook and eat it:

* For starters, pronounce it right: KEEN-wah. You can get it everywhere now…health food shops, Coles etc.

* DUK? Quinoa has the highest nutritional profile and cooks the fastest of all grains. It is an extremely high-energy grain and comes from South America.  It contains all eight amino acids to make it a complete protein and has a protein content equal to milk, and is super high in B vitamins, iron, zinc, potassium, calcium & vitamin E. It’s gluten-free; easy to digest

* When quinoa is cooked, the outer germ surrounding the seed breaks open to form a crunchy coil while the inner
grain becomes soft and translucent. So it has this double texture, which is fun.

To Cook the Stuff

* VERY IMPORTANT: before cooking, quinoa must be rinsed to remove the toxic (but naturally occurring) bitter coating, called
saponin. Saponin, when removed from quinoa, produces a soapy solution in water.

In my bumpy journey to find what makes life better, I’ve found this works: watching Ted.com every now and then. I subscribe to their newsletter and save the ones I like. There is so much cheap opining out there; to watch people who actually know their shit humbly share their findings, is refreshing. I mention the site in my Sunday Life column this week and have had stacks of people ask me about it. I thought it best to explain the gist with a little list of some of my favourites.

1. Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened — as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding — she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story about how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another.

This week I talk deep

Remember the 90s? Ah, yes, they were such earnest, toe-gazing, reflective times. Folk would Quick Unpick the Nike logos off their sportswear (making branded statements was so tawdry), and debate whether you could wear lipstick and still be regarded a feminist.

Gosh, we cared back then!

In the 90s we’d have D & Ms. Which are not the same as DMs. Indeed the latter (a 140-charcters-or-less “direct message” on Twitter) is the antithesis of the former. Which, for those who weren’t there for the fun, stood for “deep and meaningfuls”, referring to the kind of conversations we liked to have. We’d also say “deep”, as kids today might say “fetch” or “amazeballs” or “hectic”.

Deep was good. Deep had currency.

So you can probably guess where all this is heading. As a paid up Gen Xer, I take great delight in signs that we might be harking back to “my day”. Or that the way we used to do things, I’ll have you know, was better. So of course I’m going to share with you news that deep is back.

This popped up in Shop Till You Drop this month, prompting an urge to share a recipe with you (below):

As it happens, I cooked a meal last night using ALMOST all the ingredients above. In rough terms, this is it:

***Updated Friday 5pm: News is emerging the election will be called tomorrow. The PM is saying she’ll ask the GG to delay issuing the writ until Wednesday, which means IF YOU’RE NOT ENROLLED TO VOTE YOU’LL HAVE ABOUT FIVE DAYS TO DO SO. Do it at my link here.

***Updated Friday 5pm: Latika Bourke has started this election Twitter list of political journos to follow. For more, see my list below.

I keep getting asked the best way to stay up to speed with the stuff we all need to know for the election. Honestly? Twitter. It’s taken a while, but Twitter has really settled into itself and we’re kind of getting the hang of how to best use it. It’s not really for inane “I just ate 3 Maltesers” updates. It’s a business tool. And a media tool.

Heading into the election, Twitter will play a major role. News will break on Twitter (as it did with the Abbott/Turnbull spill). Dynamic, important debate will happen on Twitter. Without spin (there’s not enough characters!). On Twitter the media/opinion leaders we all love actually share what they REALLY think, rather than the publisher line.

Before I break into a list, a community announcement: The election COULD BE CALLED THIS WEEKEND, which means you need to be enrolled to vote NOW. Not on Monday. TODAY. Got it? Once the election is called, there’s about 1-5 days (depending on how fast they move things) to do so. If you’re a first-timer, or you’ve moved, or you have kids who might not be correctly enrolled, check out my election cheat sheet. Pass her around…

Sexist ads…they’re often passed off as being funny (don’t you femmos get the bloody joke?!?), like this current Lynx one (which was not approved, NOT because it objectified women, but because the perving boys aren’t wearing seatbelts!). The makers tried to claim it was funny. Me, I can’t find the joke anywhere.

The below, featured on Vintage Ads, show us, not so much how far we’ve come, but perhaps where it all started…

A little while back, my friend Gez got fired up with me that I included some info about agave syrup, without explaining the downside of the stuff. So, I’ll try to rectify things here…

Never heard of it? It’s a sugar substitute made from a Mexican succulent. Tequila is made from the same plant. The “nectar” tastes a little like honey, but is clear in colour, and is 1.5 times sweeter than sugar. Thing is, it’s popping up everywhere as a “healthy” and “natural” alternative to sugar. And, I have to say, I was sucked in by the sell. Until…

I got naturapath Angela Hywood to explain, eloquently, as always, the real deal:

My view overall: it’s a shame Agave has snuck into the “health natural sweetener” category when its of absolutely no nutritional value at all and as highly caloric as corn syrup.

[From me, Sarah: Actually, Dr Mercola at Huffington Post argues agave is worse than corn syrup, containing up to 97% fructose. Why’s this bad?

It’s a fact of life: these days we have to cull “electronic friends”  to cope with Sheer Influx of Cluttery Information. I think we all accept this, right? It’s not personal; it’s professional. I keep my “following” list at 108…it’s partly an auspicious thing.

But how to clear the clutter? This little gizmo – ManageFlitter – does it sniper-like.

It works by sorting your Twitter followers list into:

• Talkative or Quite – They tweet too much or too little.
• One Sided – They don’t follow you back.
• Possible Spam – They have no picture on their Twitter profile

This week I give the Pomodoro Technique a crack.

On this bumpy road to a “better life” that I ride week to week, this much has become abundantly clear: it’s very hard to make self-discipline sexy. As I read on some blog or other recently, you don’t get excited about a party because you’ve been told all the self-disciplined people will be there. Now, do you.

Although over the past 12 months writing this column I’ve given it a good crack. At making self-discipline sexy, that is. At parties I hold court by the buffet and impart fascinating productivity stories to captivated friends, while sipping on my one glass of pinot gris for the evening and urging myself not to grab another handful of Burger Rings.

My favourite is the one about Ray Bradbury. Ray was a broke freelance writer. Unable to afford an office, he’d go to the public library to write, where he’d queue to hire a typewriter in the basement for 30 minutes at a time.  It cost a dime a pop; he had to get value for money (and time). So he’d write in efficient bursts.

I’m sensing flatness today…I think some days just have flat vibes. Watch this and see if you don’t feel better.

Yes, I know, I know – shame about the canned laughter. And it would seem they’ve added extra squeak.

Grumpy much?