JulieBhosaleAchive

It is my dream to create a massive community of mums who are passionate about the health and wellbeing of their families and who provide support for each other along the parenting journey. Through a networking group for women in business I recently found the amazing Jo-Anna - creator and founder of Jo-Anna's Attic , a mum of two beautiful boys and her story about why she got her business started speaks for itself so she has done a special guest blog sharing it! Hi, I’m Jo-Anna, creator and founder of Jo-Anna’s Attic where I hand make a variety of décor and accessories for children.  I began just over 5 years ago when I was pregnant with my first child.  I’ve always been a very ‘crafty’ person and have enjoyed making my own things to decorate my home.  While I was pregnant I was planning to return to full time work after having bub and I wanted him to have a special blanket to take with him wherever he went.  At the time there was quite a bit of talk about children having a ‘transit...

ANZAC Day is an important day in New Zealand and it holds special meaning for our household as my husband has served with the New Zealand Army in Afghanistan. ANZAC biscuits are very traditional on this day - it is believed the biscuits were sent by wives to soldiers abroad because the biscuits kept well and were easily transportable (by Navy Ships!).  In addition, rolled oat-based biscuits were sold and consumed at fetes, galas and parades to raise funds for the war effort.   I fondly remember making these as a child – and eating the mixture before the cookies even got to the oven! Here is my healthier version of the traditional ANZAC cookies for you free of refined sugar and flour – and yes we did eat some of the mixture when making these! Ingredients: 1 ½ cups  rolled oats ½ cup desiccated coconut ½ cup chopped/sliced almonds 3 tablespoons coconut oil 2-3 tablespoons of honey 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 tablespoon water (if required) Directions: Pre-heat the oven to 160°C an...

Created this recipe when I was looking for a treat to make for a mummy’s movie night in with one of my MBFFS (mummys best friends forever). So I whipped up these chocolate morsels – which are free of refined sugar, gluten and dairy. I had a child begging for dinner at the time so these literally took five minutes. They look so good I thought it would mean not to share the recipe with all of you! Ingredients 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (you can also use desiccated coconut) , plus 1 tablespoon for topping 4 tablespoons coconut oil 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 tablespoon honey Directions 1. Place all the ingredients except for the topping in a shallow bowl. Use a spoon to mix everything together (you may need to flatten larger chunks of coconut oil if it is a bit hard, with the back of the spoon). 2. Form into balls (big or small according to preference!). If the mixture becomes too soft to work with, just pop in the fridge for five min...

As part of the work I do at AUT, I often do a tutorial on the sugar content of canned drinks. It still comes as a surprise to me how many of my students consume these products with very little awareness of what is actually in them. So I thought I would also impart some knowledge your way… As a mum, we often battle fatigue and exhaustion on a daily basis and sometimes this can be chronic, especially in the first three months. Our first son did not start sleeping through regularly until 7 months and I returned to studying for my PhD when he was 6 weeks old and back in the research centre when he was 12 weeks. Now we have two monkeys will go often through periods when they will wake up frequently (as young children do!). So I understand how hard it can be to function on broken sleep and have to perform. It can be very easy to turn to high ‘energy drinks’ when you are really tired. When I say ‘energy drinks’ I mean anything you turn to for a boost of energy be it high sugar, high caffeine ...