Love Yasmin oxo

Raw treats have been around for a while now and are here to stay but I have only just rediscovered the joys of peanuts and natural peanut butter! This inspired me to create a raw snickers slice that I have to say was love at first bite!!

BASE:

• 2 cups almonds
• 2 scoops vanilla protein (I use the Arbonne one)
• 1/2 cup pitted dates
• 2/3 cup coconut
• 1/3 cup melted coconut oil

PEANUT CARAMEL:

• 240g Medjool Dates
• ⅓ CUP (105G) Natural Peanut Butter
• 1 scoop Vanilla Protein (I use the Arbonne one)
• ¼ Teaspoon sea salt
• 1-2tbs warm water
• 1/3 cup raw unsalted peanuts – roughly chopped

CHOCOLATE TOPPING:

• 1 cup cashews
• 1/4cup (65g) of ricemalt syrup
• 1/4 cup of cacao powder
• 2 scoops Chocolate protein (I use the Arbonne one)
• ½ cup filtered boiling water
• 25g cacao butter

Method:

Base – Combine all the dry ingredients together in a food processor or thermomix and mix until crumbly. Add the melted coconut oil and mix again to combine. Press into a lined slice tray or baking dish and place in the freezer for at least 15-20m

Peanut Caramel – blend the dates into a paste then combine the rest of the ingredients except the raw peanuts and blend together until smooth. Then add the roughly chopped peanuts and gently mix through. Spread on top of the base and place back in the freezer for another 20m

Chocolate Topping – blend the cashews for at least 1-2m until they come together into a paste. Add the rest of the ingredients other than the cacao butter and blend together. If you have a thermomix then turn the heat up to 70 and add the cacao butter and mix until melted and combined. If you don’t, melt the cacao butter first either over boiling water on the stove or in the microwave and then mix in with the rest and combine until smooth. Spread over the top of the slice and then freeze for at least an hour before cutting into slices to enjoy.

Let me know what you think

Love Yasmin oxo

Today is officially my last day in my 30’s and I am an truly grateful for what this decade has brought me.

In my 30’s I became a wife and a mum, 2 roles I adore and have embraced wholeheartedly. I have nurtured my passion for travel and adventure and have stepped right out of my comfort zone by starting and growing my Arbonne business. Personal and professional development has also been a big part of my 30’s.  I love how far I have come and although I will always be a work in progress and always learning, there is a certain comfort in knowing I will never arrive. It is also knowledge I am keen to pass on to others to help them live their best life. After all who wants to just be surviving when you can truly be thriving. There is magic in knowing and believing that sometime wonderful is always about to happen.

A close friend told me the other day that 40 is fine when you still look 29 and a few have told me that 40 is the new 30….. but I am not here to wish I was younger it wasn’t here yet. I am here to embrace being 40, reflect on my amazing 30s and enjoy what the next decade has to offer. Cheers to 40 and beyond.

Love Yasmin oxo

A new favourite among my raw treats is these delicious Apricot Bliss Balls. I found the original recipe in a cook book in Kmart of all places (The Raw Kitchen) and adapted it to my liking!!

Recipe:
1 cup raw cashews
½ cup of desiccated coconut (plus extra to cover)
1 cup dried apricots (I use turkish)
1/2 cup pitted dates                                                                                                                1/2 tsp vanilla extract                                                                                                                2 scoops of arbonne (or your favourite) vanilla protein

Method:
Combine all ingredients in a food processor/Thermomix and blitz to desired consistency. Press into a slice tray or roll into balls and coat in desiccated coconut and place in the fridge to set….. easy as that!

Enjoy!!
Love Yasmin oxo

So you are probably wondering who I am? What’s my background? What’s my story? “Where did I come from?” You may remember having this book as a kid but the versions we had in our house growing up was ‘Why was I adopted’

I was born in the small country town of St Arnaud, Victoria and not even seen or held by my birth mother as she had made the decision during her pregnancy that I was going to be put up for Adoption. Only now as a mother of 2 do I even have any comprehension of how hard that would have been. I was then in a foster home for about 6 weeks before being adopted by my Mum and Dad and became the 2nd of 4 adopted children that make up my crazy family!! My parents were always very open and honest about the fact we were all adopted and as a result there was never any secrets or big reveals and was just something I grew up thinking was normal because it was for us. As a result I have been always open about sharing this with others.

Being adopted wasn’t the only unique thing about my family. My dad is Chinese so my maiden name was Lau, a very common Chinese name! Given I had blonde hair and blue eyes, I was clearly not Asian but growing up in a small country town in the 80s where diversity was non existent left my siblings and I wide open for being teased about it! Not so fun at the time but great for building up resilience! My younger brother is also half Chinese so when there was the three of us kids people would often just assume that my mum had remarried and had my brother…. then my younger sister (also blonde hair and blue eyes) came along and got everyone all confused again!! This confusion also carried into my dental career where I was often greeted with confusing looks when I came out to greet new patients who were booked in to see Dr Lau! I have lost count of the number of times I have been told I wasn’t what they were expecting and even once remember being told “I was expecting to see an Asian man!”

So for me being adopted is my normal and I wouldn’t have it any other way. No one family is the same and I like to embrace and encourage diversity of all kinds because what is normal anyway? I am grateful to be surrounded with so many people I call family and love them all.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful mums out there.

Love Yasmin oxo

For a long time I never though I was good enough at anything to be considered a master or expert at. The expression itself brings with it a range of negative connotations but I have come to realise that being good at a whole range of different things has a lot of benefits and very few downsides.

Like most people I have lots of interests and skills and I am willing to give new things a go.

I love helping others in many different ways through my business and work, by being positive and inspiring and often just by being a good listener. I love many types of exercise, I love cooking, I love sewing and making crafty things, I love doing hair and make up, I love dancing, I love shopping and helping other people shop, (yes seriously it’s a skill!). I am great at reading maps and navigating….. the list goes on. And while I have often been complimented on many of these skills I never felt like I was ‘good enough’ at any of them and hence dubbed myself the Jack of all trades, master of none!!

I have only recently had the realisation that you only need to be better than the people you are sharing your knowledge or skills with for them to benefit and the same goes for you. Don’t be afraid to share you skills and knowledge and all you have to offer.

There are actually many benefits to being a Jack of all trades. Firstly you are adaptable and willing to constantly change and improve yourself. This in turn will help you build more self confidence. You have learned how to learn and have a constant thirst for knowledge, new experiences and learning new things. Lets face it, variety is the spice of life.

Of course there are a few downsides, the obvious one being that you are not considered to be an expert in any one area, which is something you may desire or be working towards. If this is what you want, just put the time in and you absolutely can and will get there.

Another downside is it is easy to become distracted by so many fun and interesting things going on and new things to try but you have to remember being multi skilled doesn’t make us a superhero. You cant do everything for everyone as much as I know I would love to… its just in my nature to want to help people!

All I can say is embrace the skills you have, improve on them, learn new ones and use them to help others.
Love Yasmin oxo

One of the things I love doing for fun is baking for others enjoyment.
Over the years I have perfected quite a few cupcake recipes and tried my hand in some cake decorating, making and decorating all of the kids birthday kids from scratch.
More recently I have started making raw treats and here is the recipe to one of my favouries… The Raw Cherry Ripe

Recipe:
Base:
1 cup raw almonds
½ cup of desiccated coconut
1 cup frozen cherries
3 medjool dates
1 scoop arbonne (or your favourite) vanilla protein

For the chocolate icing:
1 cupbof cashew nuts
1/4cup of ricemalt syrup
1/4 cup of cacao powder
2 scoops arbonne (or your favourite) choc protein
½ cup filtered water
100gm of cacao butter

Method:
For the base:
Combine all ingredients in a food processor/Thermomix and blitz to desired consistency. Press into a slice tray or roll into balls and freeze

For the chocolate icing:
Melt the cacao butter in a small saucepan over low heat or in the microwave checking every 10-15s
Place the rest of blend together the rest of the ingredients then pour in the cacao butter blend until smooth.
Once the cherry layer has hardened pour the chocolate icing over the top of the slice or around the balls.
Place it back in the freezer until the icing has hardened. Thaw a little to serve.

PS also works well with frozen raspberries and tastes yum even without the choc topping!

Enjoy!!
Love Yasmin oxo

This year I have given myself a birthday present…. a creative outlet to express myself and just be me! So welcome to Love Yasmin oxo

Today I turn 39! Seriously where did my 30s go? As much as I have so many thoughts about not being or doing what I thought I would be doing I would be doing by this stage of my life I need to look back and take a look at some of the things I have done in my 30s to realise I am doing ok and I shouldn’t be too hard on myself! Sound familiar?

My 30s started with me getting married a month after my 30th Birthday which was seriously one of the best days of my life (until the kids arrived!) It was the most magical day and not even a little rain in the morning or one of the bridal cars getting very lost delaying us by almost an hour could dampen our spirits.

I then headed off on a six week trip to Europe with my new husband! Other travel adventures in my 30s included ski trips, dental conferences in Singapore, Hong Kong and Rome which turned into another trip to Europe with an 8m Harper in tow. Arbonne conferences in Las Vegas and the Gold Coast. A couple of trips to Fiji and Byron Bay, and family trips to Palm Cove, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Sydney, Rosebud, Dromana, Torquay, Anglesea, Heathcote, Bendigo, Ocean Grove and possibly other fun places along the way including a trip to Dubai last year with my hubby and some other amazing friends that was our first holiday together without the kids since before they were born

My 30s also saw us move house twice and sell our first apartment we bought together in Prahran…. “The Greville Groover!” We have now been in our current house for over 6 years which is a record for both of us since leaving home. this quite possibly has something to do with the amount of ‘stuff’ we have collected along the way especially after having children.

Speaking of having children, on NYE 2010 we celebrated the arrival of Harper Eve. Ready to party from day one she stayed up to watch the family fireworks and then the midnight fireworks from the hospital window before she would even consider going to sleep.

Then on February 23rd 2013 (and coincidently the first White Night in Melbourne) Darcy Alan enter the world after keeping us waiting for 8 days! And with his arrival we had the perfect pigeon pair. Not one to be outdone by his sister….. he didn’t give us a full night sleep until he was almost 9 months old. Needless to say that nine months are a bit of a blur!

My 30s also saw me looking for something else I could do from home that I could use the creative side of my brain in contrast to my science side of my brain as a Dentist. I tried my hand a few things including wedding story boards and making cupcakes from home, both of which I enjoyed doing and still have the occasional order come through for but I still felt like there was something else I could be doing. Then out of nowhere I caught up with a friend from school that I hadnt seen for years and she had started her own Arbonne business. I listened to what she had to say, went away and listened to an info webinar, figured I didn’t have any to lose by giving it a go, then came back the next day ready to start my Arbonne business! Turns out to be the best impulse decision I ever made and I am so glad I didn’t stop to really think about because I am sure I would have talked myself out of it!!

My 30s has also brought with it my happiest and healthiest version of myself including a much more positive attitude toward myself. And while, like most people, I still have days and moments of self doubt and unworthiness they are much fewer and far between and don’t last very long. This means I am much better equipped to share my love and energy with everyone around me far and wide. My hope is that by doing this I can help inspire others to become the happiest and happiest versions of themselves to then be able to pass it forward.

So on one favourite days of the year I am sending love to all of you and saying thank you for all the love you you send my way and may this year be your best year yet!

Love Yasmin oxo

Hi, it’s Yasmin here! Thanks for showing me some love and coming on this blog journey with me wherever it takes us! After all it’s not about the destination right?

At school English was always my worst subject! I was a Maths and Science nerd all the way. I was told many times by various teachers that my writing wasn’t very creative or exciting so even though I have thought about starting a blog for a very long time, I kept thinking it wouldn’t be very interesting or well written and who would want to read it? And let’s not even go into how terrible I am with anything IT related… However a few years have passed and that niggling feeling is still there so I decided to just jump in and give it a go. After all, whats the worst thing that could happen?

So here I go with my collection of random thoughts, memories, ideas, creations and who knows what else! Open to ideas, suggestions and feedback so please don’t be shy. One thing I know for sure, just the thought of getting these things out there lights me up and puts a smile on my face. My hope is that at lease some of what I have to share does the same for you.

Love Yasmin oxo