This week’s Weekly Love List has a bit of a baking theme, as well as encouragement to nourish our bodies and souls. I’d love to hear if you’ve experienced any of my favourite things. Why not leave a comment below.

baked oats

As I’ve got older, I seem to have lost my sweet tooth, but if you tell me that I can eat healthy banana bread for breakfast, I am going to give it a go. Baked Oats has become a bit of a trend on social media, it’s easy, healthy, quick to prepare, and delicious. The oats and the banana provide fibre, the egg gives the oats protein and fat, and the chocolate chips provide just a little bit of sweetness so that it feels a little naughty. You can substitute the packet oats for 1/2 cup of rolled oats.

Like I said earlier, baked oats tastes just like a warm serving of banana bread. You could add a little yoghurt, or even ice cream, go wild!

Baked Oats recipe

  1. Put all of the ingredients except for chocolate chips, in a blender and blend until a smooth runny mixture
  2. Pour the mixture into a ramekin, add the chocolate chips and bake in an airfryer for 13 minutes at 175 degrees, or in an oven for 25 minutes at 180 degrees. 
  3. Serve immediately

great British bake-off – season 14

I’m not really one for reality TV (except a select few), but when there is a new season of Great British Bake Off, I am blocking time in my calendar to follow the latest batch of amateur home bakers take on the tent, in an effort to become Star Baker.

For those who are unfamiliar, Great British Bake Off is a baking/cooking competition show where contestants are tasked with three challenges each week, all based around a baking theme. This last week was Pastry week, so contestants were asked to produce a signature bake of 12 savoury picnic pies, a tricky technical challenge of dauphinoise pithivier (a fancy French potato pie) set by the judges, and a triple sweet pie showstopper. Each week the baker who has produced the most impressive goods will be crowned Star Baker, while the person who was least impressive will be asked to leave the tent.

Great British Bake Off debuted in 2010 and was an immediate success. Unlike a lot of other competition reality shows, Great British Bake Off showcases culinary creativity, sportsmanship and community. It is not uncommon for contestants to help each other finish their bakes if someone is falling behind. But at no point is this show cheesy… well emotionally cheesy. There is a little innuendo to keep things from being too sweet, a little tension to keep things from being too saccharin, but at the heart of the show is kindness.

Great British Bake Off is the reality TV equivalent of a hug. It is in equal measures comforting, wholesome, cheeky, delicious and inspiring. The hosts Noel Fielding, and new to this season, Alison Hammond, provide support to the contestants in the form of comedic relief and the occasional extra hand, while judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood offer honesty and encouragement.

In Australia, you can watch Great British Bake Off on Foxtel or Binge, with new episodes every Tuesday at 8:30pm. I believe the season has actually finished in the UK, so I would resist diving too deep on Social Media if you want to avoid spoilers.

Photo Credit – Love Productions

your weight is not the problem by Lyndi Cohen

There are very few people I have met in my life that have not had a complaint about their bodies. It could be the number on the scale, it could be the way clothes fit, it could be that fat deposit beneath your belly button that won’t budge regardless of how many crunches and planks you do. Myself included. My weight has fluctuated right across the board in my life, and at just about every point, I’ve not been completely happy, even if I seemed confident.

I don’t think my story is uncommon.

There is a huge amount of reputable scientific research that shows that diets do not work, long term. Yet whenever we give in to the self-hatred towards our bodies, we immediately jump to cutting out food and torturing ourselves. This will work until we have a moment of weakness, we give in to whatever we have cut out, we fall off the wagon, and gain back anything we had lost.

If you are sick of dieting, Your Weight is not the Problem is the book for you. I wish I could tell you that just by reading this book, all of your weight insecurities will go away, but it will put you on the right path. Lyndi Cohen, the author, starts off talking passionately about how diets have been failing us and measurements like BMI may not be totally accurate when assessing health. She then provides tips about creating the right healthy habits, based around a similar concept to Manslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. You start off with setting up your Level 1 Basic Habits, like getting quality sleep and getting enough nutrition and hydration, then you set up your Level 2 Core Habits, then your Level 3 Enrichment Habits, then your Level 4 Ideal Habits. Lyndi steps you through this whole process, and guides your towards a life of focusing on health rather than obsessing about calories and kilos.

Lyndi Cohen, who is also sometimes known as the Nude Nutritionist, is an anti-diet crusader, with a mission to get everyone away from diets and wellness wankery, and into healthy habits and self-acceptance. Lyndi has her own experience with diets and disordered eating patterns and is very candid about her journey. If you want to explore more of Lyndi’s content, you can check out her website, or her podcast, Wellness Wankery.

st tropez self tan express advanced mousse

I am no stranger to a fake tan, the good, the bad and the very, very ugly. I had my first spray tan about 20 years ago, and since then things have changed a great deal. But even with these advances in fake tan technology, I still see a lot of bad tans, even in 2023. I couldn’t even tell you the number of different brands and application types I have tried, with incredibly varied levels of success. But none are better than St Tropez, the self tan express mousse, to be exact.

St Tropez’s tanning formula has a base colour of green, instead of the orange that a lot of other brands use. It might sound a bit weird to use a green based tanning solution, but it provides you with a deep olivey glow, instead of that Oompa Loompa orange that fake tans are synonymous with. The formula comes in a few different application types but I like to use the St Tropez express mousse, which can take between one to four hours to develop. With this application type, you can control how deep your tan develops, so that you’re not left with something that’s either too light or dark. The mousse is tinted so that you can see where you are applying, and you don’t miss any spots. You can get the same formula in spray application and a gel, but I like the mousse the best, as it is easiest to apply and control. If you have a white bathroom, don’t even try with the spray.

When I apply a fake tan, the first step in the process is to exfoliate your body within an inch of its life. One of the things that can make a fake tan look patchy and uneven is when the tan solution sticks to patches of dry skin. Some people like to apply moisturiser before they apply the tan, especially to the dry parts of the body, like elbow, knees and ankles, but if you’ve exfoliated properly, you should be ok. The next step is to apply the tan. I like to use a tanning mitt so not to get the tan solution under my nails, and for an even application. Work the mousse into your skin in a circular motion until you’ve got a nice, even layer of tan. Once you’ve finished, you can either air dry or blow dry the tan yourself before putting your clothes back on. Then just let it develop. Once it’s developed to a shade you’re happy with, wash it off and moisturise.

I would warn you not to wear white straight after applying the tan, so not to stain your clothes. But once you’ve washed it off, you should be fine. I’ve never had any issues with staining. So if you want to look like you’ve been on a tropical holiday, give St Tropez a try.

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