Be Well with Bernie

Change freaks us out!   We hate it and most of the time we do our best to avoid it. Hell, I even hate when Liam empties the dishwasher and puts the saucepans in the wrong press or  when someone sits in my seat at the dinner table!! One of the main problems is that our brains don’t differentiate between good change and bad change, they both cause the same amount of stress. Starting a new relationship or ending an old relationship for example.  The relationship that’s over may have been really bad for you.  You may have struggled to get out of it for a long time.  The new relationship may be everything you need.  This new person may be the man or woman of your dreams.  Although these are positive changes you will need to make adjustments to the way you carry out your day-to-day life.  These little adjustments to your daily routine cause stress, even when they're positive. You might know that the life change is needed, you may want it more than anything and be excited a

Hellooooo 😊 As you may know, I’m recovering from an operation at the moment so I'm housebound unless some kind people call to take me out 😂  My head has been spinning (which could be the medication too 😯) with lots of different recipe idea and I’ve been looking at different ways of getting more beans, pulses and green veg into my diet. The most exciting thing to come out of this so far has to be these amazing protein bars 🙆 I remember making a tofu pudding years ago and I thought I could easily make that pudding into a bar, and this my friends is the result 👌 A rich, creamy, chocolatey centre with a crisp chocolate coat. Dairy free, refined sugar free, gluten free 👏 Yum 🤤 INGREDIENTS 1 pack silken tofu (I used Mori-Nu) 2 scoops chocolate protein powder 50g dates 60g blanched almonds 30g cacao 120g gluten free oats 20g coconut oil (split) 65g dark chocolate (split) WHAT TO DO Put everything except the oil and the

If breakfast is the most important meal of the day we want to make sure it's delicious and nutritious and most importantly that it doesn't become boring. Until recently I always thought of porridge as the big pot of lumpy goo we were forced to eat for our breakfast as kids. Not any more... I ADORE PORRIDGE NOW. I have it for breakfast, lunch and as a snack and I'll eat it hot or cold.  Basically I'm not fussy because it tastes so good 😍 Did you know that porridge and oats are not the same thing? I didn't until just last week 🙈 The dictionary says porridge is a food commonly eaten as a breakfast cereal, made by boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants—typically grain—in water or milk. Armed with this new info I've been trying out different grains to make my porridge with and I've been experimenting with lots of different add ins. Here's my top 3 (so far) What I love about these recipes is that y

Going out for a cuppa and a scone used to be one of my greatest pleasures. I was on a mission at one point to find the best scone in Ireland and I reckon I may have found it 😊 A lovely big scone topped with butter and jam and copious amounts of jam was pure heaven for me. I'm not going to lie I still have a major hankering for it but it's kind of out the window for me now that I'm mostly dairy free 😕 BUT FEAR NOT! Alternatives are always possible... I've been making these scones that have no eggs, milk, refined sugar or fat. I know what you're thinking... They must taste awful. NOOOOOO!!!!! They are unreal. I've road tested them with Ethan - seal of approval✔ I've road tested them with Liam - seal of approval (Not a biggie because he'd eat anything 😆)✔ I've road tested them with Mam - seal of approval✔ I've road tested them with Christy - seal of approval✔ I've road tested them with my nieces - seal of app

I love doing jigsaws!!   Is anyone with me??? I used to do them all the time and my love for them was rekindled recently when I spotted that Liam's sister Anna Marie had a half finished 1000 piece puzzle on her dining room table.  I bagsied getting it when she was finished and so the love affair restarted just where we had left off. I love the fact that you have a lot of time to think when you're doing a jigsaw.  There's no background noise, no distractions, just you, the puzzle and your thoughts... Some people would run a million miles from this but for me its like therapy. Whilst doing this puzzle I was thinking a lot about how you could easily relate piecing it all together to making lifestyle changes. Opening the box and being faced with 1000 tiny pieces can be a bit overwhelming.  You know what you need to do but there are so many pieces to put together that you just don't know where to start.    You have the picture on the box to guide you, som