Diary of an academic mum

Get festive with these cute and tasty little pies. They are so easy and quick to make. Just make sure you prepare the pastry at least one hour before you plan to bake. This recipe will make approximately 16 pies. Ingredients Pastry 315g (2.5 cups) plain flour 1 tspn. salt 1 tbsp. white sugar  230g unsalted COLD butter (cubed) 0.25-0.5 cups of cold water  Filling 2.5 cups of pear chopped into small cubes ( you can use apple if you prefer ) 1/4 cup white or caster sugar 2 tbsp. plain flour 1 tspn. vanilla extract 1/2-1 tbsp. mixed spice (depending on taste) You can add some raisins/dried fruit to add more Christmas if you like! Method Pastry 1. Mix flour, sugar and salt together in a large bowl. 2. Add butter to flour mix. 3. Use a knife to "cut" the butter through the flour until it is combined into a crumb-like consistency. Don't use your hands as this will heat up the butter too much. 4. Slowly add the water as you continue to mix the dough until it comes together. 5. Wr...

Try this pumpkin and zucchini bread next time you want to add a little more excitement (and nutrition!) to your sandwich. This recipe makes enough bread for two sandwiches. Ingredients 100g cooked and mashed pumpkin*  Half a medium zucchini (grated) 100g cottage cheese 1 egg 100ml milk 125g self raising flour * 1/4 teaspoon bicarb soda 2 tablespoons of seeds for crunch (I use sesame, sunflower and linseeds but use what you like) 20g crumbled feta cheese (optional) 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese* Method Mix the pumpkin, zucchini, cottage cheese, egg, milk, flour, bicarb, seeds and feta in a bowl. 2. Place mix into a 20cm x 20cm baking dish and sprinkle parmesan cheese over the top. 3. Bake at 160deg fan forced for 15-20min (times will vary depending on your oven). 4. Cut into quarters and serve with your favourite fillings. *Notes Keep the skin on your vegetables for added fibre. I use 1/4 cup tapioca flour, 1/4 cup polenta (cornmeal), 1/4 cup semolina and 1/4 teaspoon bic...

Dr Breanne Kunstler (BBiomedSci, BHealthSci, MPhysio, PhD).  Physiotherapist, behaviour change scientist and run coach. "Where's my protein shake?"  I hear many people ask this as they finish their workout, assuming that protein intake is the panacea for "gains" by facilitating effective recovery. Yes, as Dr Shona Halson puts it, the only training we benefit from is the training we recover from. Listen to more from Dr Halson in this excellent podcast However, recovery is more complex than making sure you take in some protein after your workout. I could take this post in multiple directions related to effective recovery modalities, but today I'm going to focus on the quality of recovery modalities, specifically protein supplements. Check out these evidence-based infographics on recovery methods Many sports dieticians will tell you that recreational athletes (e.g. occasional runner, "yogie" etc.) should be able to get sufficient protein from food sou...

Dr Breanne Kunstler (BBiomedSci, BHealthSci, MPhysio, PhD).  Physiotherapist, behaviour change scientist and run coach. Running and walking solo means silly finish-line selfies are a must! Finally we have been given some freedom when it comes to running events. What?!? I hear you say. I know, it's ironic really with all the COVID19 restrictions and all. But what I mean is that we finally have the freedom to participate in running events at a time and place that we choose. No more getting up at 4am to get into the city in time to start my marathon on a rainy, miserable Melbourne Marathon day. I hear mothers and shift workers everywhere yell  "Halleluiah! I can compete in my run and be back in time for when the kids wake up/my shift starts!"  Personally, I have noticed that suddenly I'm not overcome with the guilt associated with taking half a day out from mum duties to prepare, attend and participate in a fun run (although the atmosphere, and lack of snotty noses, is p...

Image 1: Chicken schnitzel focaccia Here's my recipe for an easy and yummy flat/focaccia bread that is packed full of goodness. It has five different types of seeds and 5 different types of flour but you can easily skip all of that and just use only plain flour and replace the seeds with some yummy herbs and parmesan cheese (or go all out and make this stunningly delicious rosemary garlic focaccia ). Make the dough in the morning to eat for lunch. Ingredients 7g (1 sachet) instant yeast 1 cup of warm water 1/2 tspn. honey 50g plain or greek yoghurt 3/4 cup plain flour 1/2 cup semolina  1/4 cup wheatgerm 1/4 tapioca flour 1/4 cup buckwheat flour 1 tspn. each of poppy seeds, sunflower seeds, linseeds and pumpkin seeds/pepitas  Enough sesame seeds to sprinkle over the top (as much as you like) Method Mix the yeast, warm water and honey together in a bowl. Let it sit for 5-minutes until the water becomes foamy.  Use a bowl that has a lid with a vent if you have one as you can...

  Brea’s fudgy protein-packed pudding cups (two ways)! Ingredients Vanilla, raspberry and coconut Chocolate, coconut, berry and hazelnut Cake 25g (3 tbsp.) vanilla protein powder (e.g. Musashi 100% Whey) 25g (3 tbsp.) chocolate protein powder 1 tsp. custard powder 1tbsp cocoa/cacao (plus extra if you really like chocolate) Plus… 50g yogurt (e.g. light greek) 15g self-raising flour (2 tbsp.)  60ml or ¼ cup milk (soy milk will add a nuttier flavour) 15g softened butter (salted preferred) or 100% nut butter 1 tsp. vanilla essence 50g berries   Sauce 15g (2 tbsp.) vanilla protein powder 15g (2 tbsp.) chocolate protein powder 1 tsp. custard powder 1 tbsp. cocoa/cacao (plus extra if you really like chocolate)   Plus…   1 tsp. vanilla essence 60ml or...

Dr Breanne Kunstler (BBiomedSci, BHealthSci, MPhysio, PhD).  Physiotherapist, behaviour change scientist and run coach. "Ahhh! What the f*ck just happened? Christ. My f*cking back is killing me and I can't move!" I hurt my back a few weeks ago while lifting Abby out of her high chair. And when I say that I hurt my back, I really hurt my back.  We all experience some back pain, stiffness, ache-iness, not-quite-right-ness occasionally. That's normal. It's normal to have pain sometimes. Not even just back pain, but also knee pain, foot pain, ear pain, throat pain ( let's not talk about that during the COVID-19 pandemic! ). It's not the end of the world. It hurts for a bit, it gets better, we move on.  This back pain experience was different. This pain was intense, sudden, frightening and debilitating. It was also a great learning opportunity. Physiotherapists treat dozens of different musculoskeletal conditions but, by far, low back pain is the one of the mos...

Dr Breanne Kunstler (BBiomedSci, BHealthSci, MPhysio, PhD).  Physiotherapist, behaviour change scientist and run coach. Aim: Establish the effects of wearing a facial mask on perceived exertion and physiological outcomes during running. Method: One 31-year-old woman (max HR = 189 beats per min) pushing a pram with one 10 month-old-child (weight = heavy) ran* 2.7km twice while attending a work meeting. The second run was completed while wearing a three-layered facial mask. The space between each run involved getting the grocery shopping done, allowing heart rate and perceived exertion to reach normal levels. One Garmin Forerunner™ watch measured physiological outcomes (heart rate [HR] and percentage heart rate maximum [%HRMax]). Distance, time to complete and pace was also recorded using the watch. Rating of perceived exertion was measured on a scale of 0 (as easy as sleeping) to 10 (exhausting). Results: The two runs were successfully completed with baby and pram in situ, as we...

Dr Breanne Kunstler (BBiomedSci, BHealthSci, MPhysio, PhD).  Physiotherapist, behaviour change scientist and run coach. My last post involved talking about the potential positives of being isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now it's time to talk about some of the negatives. But, I'm not going to talk about the immediate negatives like poor health and economic outcomes . Instead, I'm going to focus specifically on the future negatives. What could go wrong when we encourage the entire Australian population to stay indoors? Image 1: Will you look circle-like after self-isolation? (credit: Bored Panda ) For those who don't know, I am a researcher and do a lot of work in changing health behaviours (e.g. supporting people to exercise more). So this pandemic has made me not only fear for our current health, but also our future health as a result of the lifestyle changes we'll make as we transition to increasing the amount of time spent indoors trying to dodg...

Dr Breanne Kunstler (BBiomedSci, BHealthSci, MPhysio, PhD).  Physiotherapist, behaviour change scientist and run coach. Those who have seen a physio before are probably used to going to a clinic, checking in with the receptionist, waiting in the waiting room and then seeing the physio in their consultation room. The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown a spanner in the works. The clinic is your computer room, your receptionist is the 'accept' button on a calendar invite, your waiting room has a comfy couch and your trusty dog and your physio's consulting room is in the cloud. This is 2020. This is pandemic physio. This is telehealth! So what does a telehealth consultation look like? A patient of mine gave me permission to share a video of part of our consultation where I am assessing her shoulder movement and prescribing her an exercise. As you can see, there's not much difference between assessment over telehealth and assessment in person! Except that the consultat...