Schooling in the Kitchen

If you haven't already guessed, I'm really passionate about children being educated from the get-go with healthy foods.  We as the parents have the opportunity to create the best health and eating habits in our children, so why not make the most of it right?  After all, they are our future.  

I ask you these questions:


How often are your children in the kitchen with you?  
Do they see you preparing their foods?  
Do they help?
Do they ask questions?
Do they touch, feel and taste foods?  
Do you 'show & tell' what a food is, how you can eat it?  
Have you planted fruits or vegetables or herbs?


We are our children's educators when it comes to health.  Teachers have enough on their plate when it comes to educating children (pardon the pun).   

When you're preparing food in the kitchen, no matter what time, invite your children to come and watch/participate.  As the blog titles suggests: Schooling in the Kitchen. While you're preparing/chopping talk to your children about the foods, their name, their colours, their taste, their sensation, whether they are served cooked/raw or both.  You'll be surprised how many children can't name fruits and vegetables.  They might know what it looks like chopped but not as a whole piece?!  It's important to make food fun, make up little songs if your children are young enough or get your children actively involved with preparing if old enough.  

Master 3, Miss 19 months and myself were chanting 'smashed peas' while I was smashing the peas for one of our meals this week.  The 'smashed peas' chant continued on for a little while (even to the next day) - it made the process fun, and got the children interested to try the new way of eating peas (as it wasn't just peas in the mix).  Children love to watch juice or smoothies go from fruit/vegetables to a tasty drink.  Talk about the process, emphasising the importance of the juice/smoothie (and any food you're preparing) being healthy and why their body needs the nutrients. Talk about building their immunity, overall happiness from a healthy tummy and growing well with strong, healthy bones and teeth. 

In this house, there's a good focus on the kitchen.  As much as it can be a little frustrating having the ankle biters at your feet - I encourage you to put them on a chair or stool and let them join in and ask their 100 questions. You're doing them a favour. Especially if you're answering positively and actively keeping their mind stimulated by telling them or quizzing them on what the food can do/does, its colour, what letter it starts with etc.  You can shape cut food, spiralise it to look like spaghetti, make a slinky, make a face - whatever it takes to get them involved and tasting, touching and learning about the goodness of fresh, healthy foods.  More than anything, this role in the kitchen for the children gives them confidence and common knowledge that they can always use.      

Children develop eating habits early, exposure, exposure, exposure is my best tip.  Your child may not touch something you put on their plate 10 times, but they might try on the 15th attempt.  It's worth it.  Please don't give up.  Your child doesn't like anything until they're 30 and still saying they don't like it.  By then they've had a good chance to try the foods many times, and hopefully have a positive experience.  Definitely don't force feed.  The relationship with food for each person should be a calm, relaxed, enjoyable one.  There is an amazing rainbow of wonderful foods out there that we should all have the chance to taste.  Include more colours of the rainbow on your child's plate or lunchbox every day.  

I want this post to get you thinking a little more outside the box - or even to forget the 'box'.  Serve food how you and your children want to - but make it fresh and clean.  And by clean I mean minimal/no additives and preservatives, minimal/no processed foods, minimal/no added sugar and high concentration on fresh produce.  Most of all, get the group effort happening (even if that includes your charming 2 year old eating things before it gets to the plate)! 

YOU are your children's inspiration in the kitchen.  Even if you don't enjoy it, act like it.  Enthusiasm goes a long way when you're talking about food to your children.  As I've said before "talk it up".  Whatever it takes.  Schooling in the Kitchen is our job, let's do it...!  


“The more you inspire, the more people will inspire you.” Simon Sinek

Lunchbox Love

Lunchbox.  

You're probably already cringing at the word and school hasn't even started right?  Lunchbox, Lunchbox, Lunchbox...

Let's fill it...with love, real foods, less packets and a whole lot of satisfaction.

My first tip is to make a list of the foods your children will eat.  For example:

Loves: Carrots, Apples, Bananas, Tuna
Likes: Chicken, Rice, Oranges, Yoghurt, Tzatziki
Maybe: Eggs, Hommus, Olives, Chia Seeds

Go wide and far, pull in every stop, write it all down.  Keep the list and work from the list every day.  Ideally, we want to add a little bit of Loves, Likes and Maybe to every lunchbox.

Secondly, cross out as many 'packet' snacks or foods you've included on the list. ie. Tiny Teddy's, Chips, Shapes etc.  If your child 'must' have one of these snacks save it for after school.  Why?  Healthy foods improve cognitive performance and will allow your child to keep sufficient energy for the entire day.  We're gearing our children who are our future, to a life full of less disease if we keep on top of their immune and health with real foods.  Personally, I'd be giving your children something nut based after school if they're not allergic - considering they couldn't take nuts to school with all schools adopting 'nut free' zones. 

Thirdly, pack a punch.  Make every mouthful count. Here are some swap options to make your lunchbox 'real'.

Swap dried fruit for fresh.  (unless using sulphur free dried fruit - still use it wisely however as the sugar content is higher in dried fruit)

Swap preservative and additive packed sandwiches for sandwich fillings in separate containers (meat, egg, tomato, cucumber, carrot, celery, capsicum, sprouts, olives, avocado, hommus)

Extend vegetable and salad sticks to have a protein enriched dip (hommus, guacamole, tzatziki, beetroot - I would recommend making these yourself to keep things additive and preservative free).  If lost for recipes, google exactly what you want "clean dairy free beetroot dip"...google seriously saves lives.  Haha!

Swap juice and milk for water.  Or try blending some fresh fruit into water and freeze it for a different touch to plain water.

Swap egg and vegetable slices or muffins made with flour to an even cleaner recipe of just eggs, meat and vegetables (plus some herbs).  Last nights leftovers mixed with eggs, throw the mixture in muffin pans and cook. Done and done. 

Make your own yoghurt with natural greek or pot set yoghurt and sweeten with cinnamon and berries - frozen berries too.  This may have you thinking...how on earth do I have so many containers to 'house' all of these wrapper free options?  Here's a few too look at for long term use:

LunchBots
Biome
Squeezeéms

Imagine the concoctions you can use the Squeezeéms for.  Frozen yoghurts, smoothies, soups.  I'm in love!  Simple recipes get the tick - use real ingredients every time, sweeten with fresh or frozen fruit, cinnamon, raw honey.  These squeezeéms get me excited!

Here's a list of ideas as lunchbox inclusions:

*Boiled eggs
*Tins of tuna
*Mashed avocado with a squeeze of lemon or lime
*Leftover roasted, oven baked meats
*Raw vegetables (with nut free butter or dips as mentioned above)
*Fruit (slice and add nut free butter for dipping)
*Coconut chips (from health food shop - check bulk buy section for cheaper price)
*Natural greek yoghurt with cinnamon, fresh or frozen berries, chia seeds.  *Coconut milk yoghurt with chia seeds
*Egg & bacon or preferred meat, vegetable slice or muffins (no flour required)
*Puffed corn
*Home popped popcorn
*Rice cakes with abovementioned dips or nut free butter
*Sliced full fat cheese (if not following dairy free eating plan)
*Kale Chips
*Sweet potato, carrot, beetroot chips (homemade only in dehydrator)
*Vegetable and Flax crackers (made in dehydrator at home)
*Raw Balls (made with seeds rather than nuts - pure life cereal from health food aisle, fresh medjool dates and coconut blended in food processor).  You could also make this mixture as a slice/muesli bar - mouth is watering!
*Homemade raw chocolate - this stuff seriously gives you a good kick, in a good way.  I promise. The kids could progress a year ahead of schedule.  No really, it is good stuff!  Here is the recipe MYO Raw Chocolate.  Easiest trick out there!  Add chia seeds to the mix too.  Pack a punch remember!
*Salmon or Tuna, sweet potato patties (atlantic salmon or tuna with mashed sweet potato, mix one egg through the mixture and make into patty shape, bake in oven for 20mins or until cooked)
*Frozen smoothies made with coconut milk, fresh berries, mango, banana, cinnamon and chia seeds.  Use the Squeeze'ems to store these.  
*Vegetable, pumpkin or cauliflower soup - blend it up and again use the squeeze'ems pouches.  YUM!  Recipes here on Doing it for the Kids. 

Some other sites to check out for wonderful, simple, healthy recipes:

The Healthy Chef
Just Eat Real Food

Otherwise, I have plenty of pictures on Doing it for the Kids for inspiration, and will continue to update throughout the year with ideas and recipes.  Be sure to take a scroll through the whole page, the wall and all the albums, including the Notes section which has recipes.   The Gluten Free Lunchbox has some great inspiration.  There is always pinterest...search paleo.  We live in a world of resources, use them when you need it.  :-)  

Remember to fuel the lunchbox with plenty of protein for satiety, pack it with excitement and energy, talk it up...I always talk up food! Get the kids excited about what they're eating...it helps.

Until next time healthy readers... 

Hayley xo

Behind Doing it for the Kids

Mining town girl turned city career woman…now mother of two in downtown Brisbane, Queensland. Hayley is the name. Hayley Oliver. Remember it, because I want to be big one day. Not big as in grown up, ‘big’ as in famous.

Health drives me, and if I remember correctly it always has. Born highly intolerant to dairy, I remember plenty of not so pleasant stories post ice cream, chocolate and cream in my life.

At the age of 18 I was in hospital with an extreme Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) attack and a prolapsed disc in my back. Best medicine? Stripping the diet to work out what the body didn’t like. Dairy. Gluten. Preservatives. Additives. And whatever it pleases on the day. (Note: Always listen to your body).  My two children are very much the same when it comes to their bodies tolerating the above mentioned foods.  Simple.  Cut.it.out.

The body fascinates me. I often wonder why I kept putting off entering the health field. Doctor. No. Too many years of study and do they ever really fix the cause? Nurse. Definitely not. I have children to look after now. That’s enough! Naturopath. Love their holistic approach to the body. Love them a lot. But too many people kept asking ‘what does a naturopath do’. Really? Nutrition. Let’s start with that!

After attempts at Legal Secretary, PA, Cadet Journalist, Sales Consultant, Retail, Account Manager, Client Services Manager (Radio) and Pilates Instructor over 10 years, I threw it all in for the best job a woman could ever have, being a mum.  Ding, perfect opportunity to begin the dream...working with children and families in nutrition. Cue - start studying Hayley. (I do wish I was a student sponge learning on campus every day, but at the age of 3 and 1 my beautiful children are the ones who sponge me up more than the textbooks at the current time).

A long lived dream and passion has finally come into fruition with Doing it for the Kids, a Facebook page to start getting more families on the right track with their health and eating decisions (be sure to read the info section on the page to understand my pledge). Ask me if I'm happy right now...YES!  

One radio interview down. Where to next?! Remember I said I want to be famous?