Whole30

Hey LIBies!

So it’s the last day of Autumn and we’re well and truly headed into the swing of winter! Sydney is putting on a glorious winter display (minus the couple of mornings of crazy thick fog) but today is glorious blue skies!

So winter is a time for people to get cozy, hide under layers of clothing and over indulge in a few Friday night pizza’s and vino! I’m going to try break that mould this winter by kick starting it with a program that has been floating around the interweb called Whole30. If you’re interested you can find all the info you need here including your own shopping list here.

I’m starting it tomorrow, which I think is perfect, first day of winter, first day of the month and June has 30 days, really could it get more perfect? Well I do have a friends birthday tomorrow and I’m not allowed alcohol, so maybe not all that perfect, but one of the rules is that you can’t break the program ever, never ever, not even once, otherwise it can completely ruin the ‘healing’ process your body is going through.

I’ll be blogging about my progress once a week and detailing examples of what I ate, how I felt etc. So if you’re interested and motivated by the Whole30, drop me a line, we can go through this together! I am assured by all the testimonials/forums etc that after the 30 days you feel like a new person, you do however have a few stages to get through to get to this feeling, so apologies in advance to all my loved ones if I’m a bit tired/grumpy/falling asleep on my desk that to me suddenly resembles a feather pillow…

Oh and on top of it all I will be doing hot yoga, which if you have never tried it you’re seriously missing out. After every class I feel like I am floating through the streets on my walk home. It’s great for your fitness, strength, mind and is super cleansing.

Have a fab weekend!

Xo
J

Happy mothers day- mixed berry cheesecake

For all the amazing, kind, caring mums out there. I hope you are enjoying your day and getting spoilt by your loved ones. Especially to my dear mum, who is my rock and shining ray of light in my life. 

Baked mixed berry cheesecake

     (serves 16)

     150 g unsalted butter

     1/3 cup (75g) caster sugar

     1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped

     1 ½  cups (225g) plain flour

 Cheesecake filling

     1 ½ (225g) caster sugar

     1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped

     750g cream cheese

     ¼ cup (35g) cornflour

     2 eggs

     300ml thickened cream

    

 Mixed berry topping

    400g frozen mixed berries

    Juice of 1 lemon

    2/3 cup (150g) caster sugar

      Pre heat oven to 170c . beat butter, sugar and vanilla seeds with electric beaters until smooth. Add flour and beat until mixture comes together in a ball. Press into a 25cm mousse ring, place on a paper-lined baking tray, then bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and dry. Leave oven on.

     
      To make filling, beat sugar, vanilla seeds, cream cheese and cornflour with electric beaters until smooth. Beat in eggs, followed by the cream until combined. Pour filling over base and bake for 45-55 minutes until filling is set but still has a slight wobble.
   
      Meanwhile, for the topping, place 300g mixed berries in saucepan with lemon juice, sugar and 50ml water. Cook over medium heat for 5-10 minutes until berries break down and mixture thickens slightly.  Stir in remaining berries then leave to cool slightly. Pour the berry topping over the cheesecake, then chill for at least one hour or until ready to serve. Carefully remove from the pan then serve.
     
     Enjoy!!

Xox

J