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Easy (and impressive) lemon tart

So it’s been far too long since I’ve posted a lemon flavoured baked good post….or any post as a matter of fact. With returning to self employment, as well as 9 weeks of solo parenting whilst Lachy was away on tour, life has been getting on top of me.

I’ve feel like I’m been on a never ending treadmill of work, parenting and housework….but I’ve decided to stop and reflect on what’s important to me… I’ve found that it’s easy to stop doing the things you enjoy when life gets tough, but the opposite should be true. So now I’m making a point of keeping a focus on the bright side of life – this means more blog posts, picking up my guitar again and spending more time exercising….and of course, more lemon flavoured baked goods.

On that note – please enjoy this easy and delicious lemon tart recipe. You can whip one of these babies up in under 20 minutes and you will not regret it (although I had to give mine away ((to the delight of my friends and neighbours)) because I was concerned I’d eat the entire thing).

Ingredients:

Base:

1 and a half cups of finely crumbed biscuits (I used arnott’s granita biscuits)
6 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons sugar (optional)

Tart Filling

2 cans condensed milk
3 egg yolks
2/3 cup lemon juice
grated zest of 1 lemon (the more the merrier!!)
1 pinch of salt

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C
For the Base: Spray a pie dish with non-stick olive oil spray or grease with butter. Combine crushed biscuits, butter, and sugar. Press into prepared pie plate. Bake for 8 minutes.
For the Pie Filling: Using a mixer, mix the condensed milk, egg yolks, lemon juice and salt together. Beat on medium speed for 4-5 minutes. Pour into pie crust and bake for 10 minutes at 180 degrees celsius. Little bubbles will start to surface. Cover the crust if it starts to brown too much towards the end.
Chill in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.

Serve with ice cream, cream or all of the above….and coffee… all of the coffee.

Almond Butter and Chocolate Energy Balls

So as you know, the majority of the recipes on Pop Therapy contain ample quantities of sugar and butter….so today you will be surprised to see a refined sugar and butter free recipe!!

“Jem, what’s become of you!? You’ve changed man!” I hear you say…..but don’t you worry, it’s the delicious sweetness of DATES that make these babies delicious!! They’re healthy, and completely addictive….and don’t worry…I still dipped them in chocolate to finish, so they’re not too healthy, in case you’re thinking of tuning out right now.

To make these completely dairy free, you can leave out the chocolate, or use dairy free choc chips!

I used this recipe from the Butter Half, worlds punniest food blog!

Ingredients:

1 cup dates, pitted
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1/2 cup almond butter
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips (for melting)
1/2 cup crushed coconut flakes

Method:

1. In a food processor, blend the dates and coconut oil together until smooth. Add in almond butter, dark chocolate, vanilla, and cinnamon and mix until smooth and the mixture resembles dough.

2. Roll the mixture into 1-inch balls. Place on a cookie sheet or plate covered with parchment paper.

3. Melt the chocolate in a heat proof bowl, over a simmering saucepan of hot water, being careful that your bowl does not touch the water. Dip the top half of the energy bite into the melted chocolate, then dip into the crushed coconut. Allow to set for 10 minutes, then chill in refrigerator in a sealed container.

Whilst they’re not the prettiest, I assure you, they sure taste good!! What’s your favourite healthy treat recipe?

Gratitude: Increase your wellbeing by practicing gratitude

Do you practice gratitude? Do you take the time to stop and think about all the things you are thankful for each day? Whilst I continually express gratitude to my skim cappuccino in the morning, I rarely find the time to truly reflect on the things I’m grateful for. In my experience, it’s easy to feel like you always need more and to compare yourself with others. Despite all the wonderful things that happen each day, feelings of wanting more can override my ability to think about all the positive things in my life – from the amazing family and relationships I have, to having the freedom to pursue my goals, or simply the beauty and wonder of being in nature.

Practising gratitude is a great way to put things into perspective, but in addition, having a grateful outlook on the world could greatly increase your wellbeing, through a multitude of factors!

In addition to leading to increases in positive emotions, Emmons & McCullough (2003) state that “gratitude is effective in increasing well-being as it builds psychological, social, and spiritual resources.”

Being grateful can lead you to reciprocate acts of kindness towards others (performing acts of kindness also boost happiness!).
Gratitude can strengthen the social bonds you have – for example, by reflecting on the positive actions of a friend or family member, this may help you to feel more cared for and help you to be mindful of the supportive relationships in your life.
Gratitude has strong links with spirituality and may help strengthen spirituality
As a positive emotion, according to Broaden and Build Theory, the practice of gratitude can lead to increased creativity and flexibility.

Gratitude has also been recently linked to increases in self control!.

How could you integrate the practice of gratitude into your day? Would you keep a gratitude diary or log each day? How could you integrate discussions around gratitude into dinner table discussions, or in the workplace? Do you express gratitude to the people you care about this? What are some creative ways you could do this?

I would love to hear some suggestions!

Try THIS simple tip to reduce your daily stress levels

How do you unwind after a stressful day? Do you exercise, have a glass of wine, or a chat with a friend? After a rough day, did you ever consider that helping others through prosocial behaviour could help reduce your own stress?

A recent study by Raposa, Laws and Ansell (2015) showed that prosocial behaviour can reduce the effects of day to day stress on our emotional functioning. The study showed that those who engaged in more prosocial behaviours on a stressful day, could mitigate the effects of the day’s stress.

The prosocial behaviours included small gestures such as opening a door for others, or asking if others need help .

So it’s win win!! Do something kind for others, and you can also help yourself to cope better with stress!! Would you try this? What else could you do? Flowers for a friend? Make a cup of tea for your partner?

For more information on kindness and wellbeing, check out this post from last year.

Little Lemon Tarts

So it’s been a while since I’ve posted a lemon flavoured baked good on the blog….far too long I say!!

I’ve finally finished uni for the semester and what better way to celebrate with the baking and eating of (too many of) these babies!!

I looked at a few different recipes, and wanted to have a go at making the pastry myself….and this recipe was simple to follow and turned out beautifully!!

Recipe from Butter Baking

Ingredients:

For the tart pastry:

180g unsalted butter (6 oz)
6 tbsp water
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp sugar
Pinch of salt
2 cups flour (300g, 10 oz)

For the lemon filling:

¼ cup plain flour (35g, 1¼ oz)
1 cup sugar (220g, ½ pound)
½ cup lemon juice (125ml, 4 oz, about 3 lemons)
zest from 1 lemon, grated
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
pinch of salt

Method

To make the tart pastry, preheat the oven to 200 C (400 F) and get out two mini muffin pans.
Place the butter, water, oil, sugar and salt in an overproof bowl.
Put the bowl in the oven for about 15 minutes, until the butter is melted, bubbling, and just beginning to brown around the edges.
Carefully remove the bowl from the oven and dump in the flour. Stir quickly, until the dough comes together and pulls away from the side of the dish.
Put a teaspoon of dough into one mini muffin hole, and press it into the base and up the sides using your fingers. Repeat until all the dough has been used.
Prick the dough with a fork once or twice.
Bake for 8 – 12 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown all over.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
To make the tart filling, reduce the oven to 150 C (300 F).
Combine the flour and sugar in a medium mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice and zest and mix to dissolve the sugar.
In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and the egg yolk with salt.
Add the eggs into the lemon and sugar mixture and whisk until well combined.
Pour the filling into each pastry case
Bake for 5 – 10 minutes, until the centers are just set

They’re lemony, they’re delicious…what more could you want!! Serve with a cup of tea!!

Be Mindful

I’m a notorious multi-tasker. At the moment, I’ve got a load of washing on the go, am entertaining an eight month old baby, sterilising some bottles, writing a blog post, studying for a uni exam and have some trashy TV on in the background. Did I mention I also just ate some dark chocolate at so fast a pace I can barely remember eating it? Oh, and where did the glass of wine I just poured go? That’s right…I drank it at rocket speed (woooo)!! If you’re anything like me, you might on occasion (or on a regular basis…) find yourself on auto-pilot, racing through life so busy thinking about all the things you have to do that you lose sight of the present moment, and often miss out on fully engaging in the task at hand.

Pot and pot stand - Kmart

Do you ever find yourself so caught up in your thoughts that you miss out on all sorts of exciting things? Like realising that you’re halfway through a conversation with a friend, but you haven’t actually listened because you’re thinking about what a mess your house is, or you’re playing with the kids, but realise that instead of really engaging, you’re thinking about work stuff, financial stress etc…

This is where mindfulness comes in. Mindfulness can be defined as “Paying attention on purpose, without judgment to our experience as it unfolds moment by moment” (Kabat-Zin, 1990).

Through regular practise of mindfulness, we can learn to remain in the present, allowing us to fully engage in the activity we are doing. Mindfulness allows us to “unhook” from our thoughts so that we can focus on what’s going on around us. A second key component of mindfulness is openness and non-judgement – this means that whilst even the most mindful of people will experience stressful thoughts, they are able to appraise them through a lens of curiosity, seeing those difficult thoughts as simply thoughts, which are neither good or bad, without the judgement and loading we usually attach to our thinking (the way we appraise our thinking subsequently affects the emotions we feel!!).

Mindfulness isn’t designed as a relaxation technique, but many people find that they feel more relaxed once they begin practising mindfulness.

“Great, where do I sign up?” you say! Just remember, like any new skill, learning mindfulness takes practice, practice, practice!! If you can allocate five to ten minutes a day to practice, you will be well on the way to improving your skills in mindfulness.

“but I barely have five minutes to shower, let alone sit and meditate!!” you say. Fear not – there are simple ways you can factor mindfulness practice into activities that you are already doing on a daily basis!! Here are some suggestions, but you can probably come up with some of your own once you get started.

Choose a particularly devious food that you enjoy (like a piece of dark chocolate). Put the piece of chocolate in your mouth, and instead of eating it faster than you can say “pass me some more,” try savouring the experience of eating the chocolate. Bring your full awareness to the chocolate. Notice the depth of flavour. Notice the smell of the chocolate. Notice the texture of the chocolate change as it melts in your mouth. Each time you find your mind wandering, gently unhook from the distracting thoughts, by bringing your awareness back to the sensory experience of eating the chocolate. If you get distracted from the delicious task at hand, remember that this is completely normal, and continue to draw your awareness back to the delicious, delicious chocolate. Repeat, as often as required 😉
Choose a tedious housework task that you don’t love, but have to do most days (this might be washing the dishes or hanging out the washing). We will use the example of washing the dishes – as you are washing the dishes, focus your awareness on the sound of the running water as you fill the sink. Notice the sound of the bubbles as you pour in the detergent. Notice the warmth of the water as you immerse your hands in to begin scrubbing the dishes. Listen for sounds – the clink of plates, the scrape of a fork on the bottom of the sink. Notice the feeling of the dishes, the slipperiness of the detergent, the feel of the bubbles. What can you feel? What can you see? Can you smell the scent of the detergent? As you do this task, your mind will wander (time and time again). Each time you notice that your mind has wandered, simply notice this has happened, and without judgement of the thoughts that have swept you away, bring your awareness back to the experience of the task of doing the dishes. Think of the task as an anchor, which you can use to bring your awareness back to the present, each time your mind wanders. If you find yourself caught up in your thoughts, try not to judge or appraise your thinking – if you need to label your thoughts, simply label them as “thinking,” then bring your awareness back to the feel, the sound, the smells etc of the task at hand.

So here are two techniques for “mindfulness on the fly.” They don’t take a lot of time, and can be factored in to your every day experiences. Just remember, the more you practice mindfulness, the better you will get!!

Would you try these techniques? I’d love to hear how you go.

Travelling Overseas with a Baby – Thailand Adventures

We booked our flights with trepidation and a mix of emotion; on the one hand, a relaxing holiday to Thailand was exactly what we needed…on the other, the fear of flying to a foreign country with a small (and feisty) baby was pretty darn terrifying!! I am happy to say that our first overseas holiday as a family of three went extremely well (and I can’t wait to go back)!!

For those of you that read my earlier post on travelling with a baby, we’d taken Dash on several domestic flights around Australia, and all had gone swimmingly, but at the time, he was quite young (barely five weeks for his first flight!) and things were a lot simpler. Now he is nine months old, and seriously on the move!!

Here are some of my tips for your overseas adventures with your little one!!

Getting around

Rather than bringing our usual pram, which is quite bulky, I bought the Yoyo Babyzen, which is a lightweight stroller which is small enough to store as cabin baggage when it folds up (and surprisingly easy to fold up!!). We were able to take Dash through the airport in the stroller, which made things way easier (and freed me up for duty free shopping!!).

Mosquito Protection

I was super nervous about Dash getting bitten by mosquitoes, as Dengue Fever can be carried by mosquitoes in Thailand (but luckily in coastal areas, Mozzies aren’t so bad). I used this citrus based mozzie repellent which studies show is just as effective as DEET, but without the harsh chemicals. My doctor advised this was fine for a nine month old bub, but it’s always worth checking with your doctor about any insect repellents for small babies….it seemed to work, and Dash managed to stay mosquito bite free the entire time without us covering him in nasty chemicals.

Out and About in the Sun

Little Dash still needs two naps a day, or he becomes particularly feisty (he’s already a feisty guy in general!!). I was worried he wouldn’t nap in the stroller, but luckily the lovely team at Fly Babee had sent me the new Fly Babee Sleep Easy Cover to road test. The cover clips over your stroller (see photo below, and in the top photo!) and blocks out 97% of light!! This meant that wherever we went, we could pop this over the stroller and Dash could have a nap distraction free!! It’s also UV protected, which meant we could go for walks on sunny days without worrying about him getting sunburnt. It’s 100% breathable and is made of a light mesh fabric, which means it’s nice and cool inside, and safe for baby. This also doubled as a fantastic mosquito net, which was another added bonus. We’ve used this baby on walks, in restaurants and cafes and he goes to sleep every time – this is my new absolute favourite baby product!!!

Little Dashy was sound asleep under his Fly Babee Sleep Easy Cover!!

Lachy walking on the beautiful beach in Hua Hin just before sunset

The gorgeous resort we stayed in – Baan Baayan at Hua Hin

The Flight

The flight from Sydney to Bangkok is 9 hours – a very long haul with a little bubba!! Luckily, the flights turned out to be fantastic with our new Fly Babee Sleep Easy Cover, which clips over airline bassinets, and forms a small tent which blocks out 97% of light. All the bright lights and people moving around the cabin were a massive distraction for Dash, but he was able to sleep for 6 hours with the Fly Babee (pictured below)!! Once the cheeky little fella settled in and we covered him up, he was out like a light, and had a big sleep. This was fantastic, as it meant Lachy and I could actually relax and watch a movie.

For awake times, I used this great teether/rusk holder, to keep Dash’s rusks from falling on the ground all the time.

That cheeky Dash slept 6 hours on the flight underneath his Fly Babee Sleep Easy Cover!!

Nappies/Wipes

Nappies and wipes were easy to find. Tesco seems to be everywhere in Thailand, and we stocked up on Mamy Poko nappies and wipes, which seem to be Huggies of Thailand!!

Food/Sterilising

I was quite nervous about how we would feed Dash overseas, now that he is eating solids. I decided to pack enough sachets of baby food to last the trip (this was no problems taking through customs at the airport) to save worrying about what to feed Dash – this made feeding when out and about nice and easy, and we didn’t have to stress about the risk of tummy bugs. In addition, we also gave Dash fresh bananas every day, which he loved!! Our doctor advised us to be safe, that it’s best to give little babies fruit that comes in a peel only (like bananas, mangoes and lychees) and to avoid anything that’s been washed in water. By the end of the trip, we loosed up quite a bit, and he was also eating rice and bits and pieces of our meals (he even gnawed on his first chicken bone – who knew what a great teether they make!!)

I also packed a can of formula (it can be hard to find your usual brand of formula in Thailand, so it’s easiest to pack your own if you can) and a set of bottles.

For sterilising, we used Milton tablets. I bought a plastic tub to keep in our hotel room which we could make up the Milton solution in, and bought a bottle brush and dishwashing soap to clean the bottles beforehand. You make up the Milton solution, and can add items in over 24 hours, and items stay sterile until you remove them. It was really handy and meant we could also easily sterilise dummies and plastic toys. We used bottled water for Dash’s formula to be safe also. Dash was fine the whole trip and had no tummy problems (phew!!).

We found Thailand to be the most wonderful place to travel to with a bubba. Travelling with baby Dash was honestly like travelling with Madonna – everywhere we went, people would come up to say hello and to give little Dash a cuddle!! Dash loved the attention, and made so many new friends in Thailand.

We can’t wait to return to Hua Hin for our next holiday – this was truly a magical trip!!

Have you travelled overseas with your baby? Do you have any travel tips? I’d love to hear them!!

Jem's White Dress - TBags Los Angeles

Stroller - Yoyo Babyzen

Stroller/Bassinet Cover - Fly Babee

Raspberry Tea Cake

So about 90% of the recipes on this blog seem to be lemon flavoured….lemon bars, lemon yoghurt cake, coconut lemon cake, lemon cupcakes etc etc etc 🙂 If we haven’t already established this, I do enjoy a lemon flavoured baked good!!

Today I was contemplating what other delicious cake I could attempt to bake, when I realise I had neglected the most wonderful fruit of all, the humble raspberry! (p.s, although, at $8 a tub, I used frozen raspberries instead!!)

I did a search and couldn’t seem to find many raspberry cake recipes out there!! I found this one, on the BBC food network, and gave it a whirl!! The only tweak I will make next time is….more raspberries!! I will definitely be adding a second layer of raspberries to the top of the cake before baking next time I attempt this one.

Here is the recipe (you can see above that I’ve already eaten a very large slice of this baby!!

Ingredients

140g almond meal
140g butter, softened
140g golden caster sugar
140g self-raising flour
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
250g raspberries
2 tbsp flaked almonds
icing sugar, to serve

Method

Heat oven to 180Cand base-line and grease a deep 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin. mix the almond meal, butter, sugar, flour, eggs and vanilla extract in a food processor until well combined. I don’t have a food processor, and used a hand mixer instead, and it was fine.
Spread half the mix over the cake tin and smooth over the top. Scatter the raspberries over, then dollop the remaining cake mixture on top and roughly spread – you might find this easier to do with your fingers. Scatter with flaked almonds and bake for 50 mins until golden. Cool, remove from the tin and dust with icing sugar to serve.

This only took about 10 mins to prepare – you can mix it all in the one bowl (woohoo, less washing up!!)

Serve with…..raspberries and cream!! Yum!! Do you enjoy a good raspberry!?

Little Lemon Cakes

Just when you thought I couldn’t possibly post another lemon flavoured baked good recipe, I go and prove you wrong!! BAM!!! These lemon cakes are zesty, buttery and delicious!!!

They are quick and easy to make, and great for sharing (or for a rough day where you need to eat a lot of cupcakes).

If you’re looking for a healthier lemon cake, try this lemon yoghurt cake. Or for a dairy free option, try the lemon friands!!

I used this recipe from BBC Good Food, but decided not to ice them. They’re sweet enough without icing, but you can try a butter cream, or a lemon glaze if you want to jazz them up a bit more.

Ingredients

125g of softened butter
125g of caster sugar
2 medium eggs
100g of self raising flour
2 tbsp of milk
2 lemons (zested)

Method

Heat the oven to 180 degrees.
Using a whisk, beat together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, flour (sifted), milk and the zest of the two lemons and a little squeeze of juice.
Mix everything until it is a smooth mixture.
Spoon one and a half tea spoons of the mix into the cake cases.
Bake in the oven for 15-20 mins or until golden brown