JulieBhosaleAchive

It hit me like a ton of bricks today. It is always there. That is grief right, but sometimes it sneaks up on me and just whacks me cold in the chest. Christmas is by far the worst time of year and today was no exception. My mother is very much alive. She just has not really been in my life since I left home at 18 and not been in the boys lives despite my best efforts. She was asked if she wanted to host or just attend my baby shower when I was pregnant with Arjun (my first son) but did not want to do either. She was invited to the hospital when in labour, but never came. She has been asked how she would like to be involved with the boys but says she is only ‘interested’. She did not even know I had given birth to Sahan (second son) until he was eight weeks old as she never called or asked or came to visit. She lives less than 20mins drive away but has never looked after them, never spent more than an hour at a prearranged visit with them – the amount of times I could count on one hand....

Knowing how to correctly store and look after food products can give you a lot of confidence to buy it and use it! Coconut oil will change its state from solid to liquid in different temperatures and how to correctly store it is something I commonly get asked about. My home country New Zealand is typically quite cool, temperature wise, for most of the year with the exception of a couple of months in summer...though this summer is shaping up to be one of the hottest in many years. As a result I am so used to working with coconut oil in solid form, however in it’s natural state in the islands it is always liquid. You may sometimes find it in an almost jelly-like state, somewhere between a liquid and a solid If you check out some of the internet forums on coconut oil and you will see quite a divide on this = some have never seen it solid and some have never seen it liquid. Below are some good guidelines on the storage of coconut oil especially in the warmer months. Shelf Life The great ne...

Ingredients 400g (or 2 small jars (195g) of almond butter 8 Tb of coconut oil (well softened) 2 heaped spoons of honey 1 dash of vanilla essence Note: You can easily make this with half the mixture (almond butter can be expensive) you just need a small tin to set (if you want it high) or personally I found when I did a thin layer in the square cake tin it was more than enough as this is quite filling! Directions 1.Place all ingredients into a bowl and mix together. 2.Pour into a small tin lined with baking paper. 3.Freeze for about 15mins (or place in the fridge for an hour). 4.Slice and serve! Due to the coconut oil (especially in summer) I would keep this in the fridge (or even the freezer still) xxx Dr Julie Bhosale

We are now firmly in the thick of the festive season. This brings along with it a lot of family and social occasions. As many of you know I spend a significant portion of my time presenting and being in front of people. Getting presentable for such engagements is not an easy task when covered in children! This year in particular I have spent a lot of time on the road, little monkeys in tow and very much awake when getting ready in the mornings. I wanted to share with you something that was really invaluable in helping me not only look presentable but feel really good too. Previously, the only make up lessons or guidance I ever had was back in 2006 (yes nearly 10 years ago) at a shop in the mall. The Body Shop from memory. One of those 'come in get your make up done and purchase some products' experience. Yes 10 years ago! It was fair to say my make up collection was a little worse for wear and something that pretty much came at the bottom of the priority list with the arrival o...