Tag: school lunch

10 of The Best Healthy Lunchbox Tips

So, you have come a long way, and there is hardly any packets in the lunchbox anymore. Lunch consists of: sandwich, apple, banana, yoghurt and a biscuit and muesli bar. Sounds ok huh?

What if I told you that there could be up to TEN hidden teaspoons of added sugar in this lunchbox? The recommended daily intake of added sugars from the World Health Organisation (WHO) is 4 teaspoons for a 5 year old (and a maximum of 8) this has just blown the sugar intake through the roof in just one meal! Let me explain; Fresh and fruity fruit yoghurt: just over 4 tsp sugar*. 2 superwine biscuits: 1 tsp. Muesli bar: around 3 tsp on average depending on the bar. Jam or honey in a sandwich: 1-2 tsp And just like that you have 8-10 tsp of added sugar all packaged up nicely in a healthy looking school lunch. Marmite and even some peanut butters have added sugar in them, it’s everywhere and unfortunately we have to become detectives to scope this out!

So what could you do about this? The trick is not to change everything at once, not only would that be hard work for you, your kids would probably be feeling pretty overwhelmed too if their lunchbox suddenly changed overnight. Make the changes small, easy for you to manage and sustainable – something you can do, and stick to, so you don’t look back. Some small, simple tips (choose one):

  • Replace the sandwich filling to something like ham, salami, egg or cheese Spreads: We slowly got rid of things like marmite and jam from the house, so they are not even an option.
  • Next time you run out of jam or Nutella, don’t replace it. We make homemade jam by blending up berries and adding some chia seeds and a tiny bit of honey.
  • Read the labels, make sure you get a peanut butter with no added sugar.
  • Try using plain Greek yoghurt instead of flavoured and add some fresh fruit to it, berries are perfect for that, fresh in summer, or frozen in winter. Even stirring a teaspoon of honey through plain yoghurt will have nothing on the sugar content of a brought flavoured pottle, you could try this with the intention to reduce it completely after a few weeks. For dairy free options, flavoured coconut yoghurt, does tend to have a little less sugar than some other dairy brands, but still check the label and try and choose the least sugar.

The lunchbox I described is one of the better lunches I’ve seen in the classroom, but just because it’s what everyone is packing, does it make it ok? (I’ll leave that to you to decide). There is no protien, fat or vegetables in this lunchbox – some ideal forms of fuel for little bodies to learn and grow. I will share my tips on how to add these in, in the coming weeks.

If you need a hand getting lunchboxes sorted I have created a Lunchbox Planner resource that comes with 70+ healthy, real food, minimal prep or fuss food ideas and 12 healthy lunchbox recipes. You can check it out here.

Come Back next week for tip #2 🙂

*one teaspoon of sugar is about 4 grams.

My kids lick the bowl has a fantastic blog post which shows how much sugar is in everyday items and how it correlates to WHO’s recommended daily intake. It’s been expertly calculated and put into easy to read visuals! I used this to help me with my lunchbox example. I highly recommend checking it out!

Kayla

The Lunchbox Mum

When Ashton was five and Felix was 6 months old, I quit my job to be a stay at home Mum. As I envisioned myself as a school Mum … a stay at home school Mum. I envisioned being that Mum that turns up to school pick up in activewear, because I’ve actually done yoga or gone for a run. The Mum with the slick pony tail who always knew what day it was, and sent her son off to school every day in clean clothes with a healthy 100% homemade packed lunch. The Mum who turned up to help out in class occasionally and paid the school fees on time. The Mum who was always smiling, and organised, with a clear head and a clean car.

The last two years has taught me, that I am in fact, none of those Mums! I’m the Mum that stays in the car at school drop off because she is wearing her slippers, and the toddler is in his pyjamas. I’m the Mum who may have actually been for a walk or a run, but is wearing track pants because she hasn’t shaved her legs in 6 months. I’m the Mum with the un-brushed messy bun, probably still up from overnight, and clothes covered in baby puke, snot and possibly poop, maybe chocolate – but probably poop. I’m the Mum who hasn’t been in to meet the new teacher except through the car window one time. I’m the Mum whose son goes to school regularly wearing odd socks, and on occasion, odd shoes. I’m The Mum who has no idea what day it is, but can tell the time by how heavy her eyes feel. And the Mum who can’t see the floor of her car (last time I checked there was an open jar of mayonnaise in the back seat). But I am also the Mum who tries her best to send her boy to school everyday with a lunchbox made with love. Love doesn’t have to be homemade, or tidy, and it doesn’t have to be perfect. Love just has to try it’s best.

Here is what it looks like when I am that Mum, the one who is messy, unorganised, covered in baby excretions, and tired beyond belief, that tries to send her boys off with a nourishing lunchbox every day. My lunchboxes aren’t perfect, they are not 100% homemade, they are made quickly, on little sleep, and sometimes empty cupboards. When my boys open their lunchboxes, I hope that they see the love.

Don’t worry about perfection, because even the most experienced of us don’t get it right, all the time. Be inspired to pack lunchboxes out of love and the kids will have everything they need 💞

And if you need a little helping hand, this resource I created helped to make sure the kids had somewhat healthy lunchboxes packed daily, in my manic attempt to get everyone out the door on time

https://mailchi.mp/b75eda91781a/chefashton_lunchboxplanner?fbclid=IwAR2zWqBO66IABaMZNqWiyNpDMObZCwe_TTv5MeQgwt92_PsHLadMMrU41Eo

Kayla

Confessions of a Healthy Food Blogger

I share a fairly popular recipe for zucchini cheese – but I never make it myself, and always buy that super expensive vegan cheese from the supermarket.

I don’t like Brussel sprouts, I think they taste like farts. I live with three males (five including the cat and the dog) yes, I know what farts taste like.

My kids won’t eat frozen peas, in fact they won’t eat frozen mixed veggies either. Purely to make my life difficult. Except this one time I told my friend that my kids don’t eat peas and my 1 year old then stole and ate all the peas from her sons lunchbox.

Ashton, just Ashton. Ashton is incredibly fussy. He has the most ginormous list of foods he won’t eat, and bunch of finicky food preferences that I often comply with because I hate the moaning at the dinner table. If you want a winge-fest serve roast chicken (unless it’s a supermarket rotisserie basted in all sorts of non allergy friendly crap that he shouldn’t eat), or potatoes, especially mashed, roasted is marginally acceptable but only if they are cut into 1cm cubes, and crisp, but not too crisp, heaven forbid. Or try soup – if it’s soup, it’s inedible. Make sure you have you best gag face at the ready to make a performance at the table on soup night. Also if its marginally spicy, it may as well be poisonous. Someone save me from this kid he is a healthy food bloggers worst nightmare.

My kids won’t eat my homemade hummus, the two little ones just straight up won’t touch the stuff while Ashton will only eat “Lisa’s” hummus original flavour.

Sometimes I eat proper crisps for breakfast … and let the baby join me.

None of my kids eat raw carrot sticks, but I put them in their lunchboxes all the time because they look good in photos.

When I was a kid I used to steal meal mates crackers from the pantry and eat raro juice sachets like it was sherbet.

My mum buys the kids allergy friendly biscuits and chocolate and I eat it all myself.

Our children are allowed pudding once a week. But every night when they go to bed we eat chips and chocolate and mug cakes.

Most of my blog photos are taken on our bed covered in white sheets, or on the floor of our snail infested sunroom (best lighting in the house 😆)- I peg an upside down piece of scrap vinyl to a portable clothes rack to bounce the light off. Once I spilled a milkshake all through the bed during a photo shoot.

Sometimes I lie to the kids about what they are allergic to, so they don’t eat too much sugar, because I can’t handle the meltdowns.

Anyone else got anything to confess?!

Kayla

Real Food Jelly Lollies

Ingredients

Strawberry & lime

1 cup strawberries (frozen is fine)
1/4 cup water x2
1 T lime juice

1 T maple syrup (optional)

2 T gelatin*

Blueberry

1 cup blueberries (Frozen is fine)
1/4 cup water x2
1 T maple syrup (optional)
2 T gelatin*

Peaches

1 cup peaches (i used tinned – rinsed and drained)
1/4 cup water x2
1 T maple syrup (optional)
2 T gelatin*

*(you can use up to 4 T gelatin for a firmer jelly / lolly like consistency)

what to do

Put the fruit, one lot of 1/4 cup water and sweetener for your your chosen flavour in a small pot and heat through.

While its heating add the gelatin to the other 1/4 cup water and stir. It will expand and soak up the water. Add this to the hot pot and stir through until dissolved.

Remove from the heat and blend the mixture in a blender, or with a handheld blender.

Pour into moulds, or line a tray with cling wrap and pour into the tray to cut into shapes when its set.

Set in the freezer for 20 – 60 mins depending on the size, or overnight. This part is essential for making sure the jellies come cleanly out of the moulds, especially if its a fiddly mould – like a lego man! you can store them in the freezer and defrost over night in the fridge before needed, or store in the fridge for a couple of days.

They should be able to handle being at room temperature for a couple hours, but are nicest when cold.

Kayla

Choc Almond Cranberry Bliss Balls

Ingredients

1 c almonds
1 c dates
1/2 c dried cranberries
1 t vanilla extract
1 T coconut oil
1 T raw cacao or cocoa powder
1 c desiccated coconut

what to do

Put the almonds in the food processor and pulse until they are broken down. If you want almond chunks then leave them a bit chunky, if you want them all blended in then grind them to a powder. Add the rest of the ingredients and process on high until the dates are broken down and the mixture is clumping and sticky. Roll into balls and store in the fridge or freezer. I store them in the freezer and they get eaten straight from there.

Remember there is lots of dried fruit in these, even though they are wholefoods etc, they are still a ‘sometimes’ treat 🙂 they are especially good as an after dinner sweet or a high energy lunchbox treat.

Kayla

Waffles – Free from gluten, dairy, egg, nuts

So if you have been following me for a while, you will know that I’ve spent a good part of this year trying to create the perfect gluten, dairy, soy free but also egg and nut free waffle. And a month or so ago I finally cracked it. Well actually, that’s kind of a lie, I found this fantastic pancake recipe from one of my favourite real food blogs and decided to try and turn it into a waffle. Low and behold, it turned out perfect! there is nothing I could have done to make this recipe any better. So i really can’t take any credit for the everything free waffle recipe I spent so long trying to create, but I’m totally cool with that because it found me in the end!

All the credit goes to Buffy from Be Good Organics who created this stunning pancake recipe which I then turned into waffles. Here is the original pancake recipe, and below I will outline how I make it into waffles! The best part is I can serve this to the whole family and everyone loves it, gluten eating Dad and egg eating Chef Ashton included, and the best part is that our little guy Felix can enjoy the same breakfast as the rest of the family! He thinks its pretty cool and loves to partake in ‘build your own’ waffle Sunday when I lay out a bunch of condiments on the table and you can choose what to top your waffle with. (think blueberries, banana, kiwi fruit, maple syrup, seeds, dark chocolate, whipped coconut cream, coconut yoghurt, homemade chia jam, honey).

This makes 4 waffles and feeds our family of 4, with toppings.

Ingredients

1c buckwheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp himalayan pink salt
1 large ripe banana
1c + 1/4c coconut milk (or milk of choice)
1/4 lemon (juice & flesh)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 dates

Oil – for the waffle iron (this is the one and only place I use an oil spray)

what to do

Turn the waffle iron on and set to preheat. Grease the waffle iron, grease it real good, like i said this is the one time i use an oil spray instead of coconut oil because you really need to get into all the crevices. Trust me, you don’t want the waffle to stick!

Add all the ingredients into a blender or food processor, except the 1/4 cup milk – i put them all into a 1 litre glass jug and use my hand held blender. If it’s too thick add at the 1/4 cup milk. The consistency works best if its thick, but pour-able, with the help of a spoon.
Blend until all the ingredients are combined.

When the waffle iron is heated set it to your desired doneness (i like it a little brown, but not too much – which is about a 4 or 5 on my machine). Pour 1/4 of the mix in and close the lid. Obviously your waffle iron might be a different size to mine, so be the judge over whether that will be enough or too much. You don’t want it to overflow! I’m always so greedy and pour too much in the first two then the second two end up kinda stingy (the kids get those ones haha).

Remove each waffle with a spatula when done and place in a low temp oven until the others are cooked. While they cook, I chop and assemble the toppings (see above for suggestions) also some nice suggestions in the original recipe you could check out.

So there you have it, the most delicious egg and nut free (and all the other stuff free) waffle! I’m generally not a hue fan of a strong buckwheat flavour, but I don’t find the buckwheat flavour over powering at all in these.

If you are like us, and need options for egg free baking, you should definitely check out Be Good Organics, why reinvent the egg free baking wheel when you can just go there! Some seriously yum stuff, using good, quality, real food ingredients that I’m happy to feed my family.

Kayla

Homemade Coconut Yoghurt

This makes just under 1 litre of coconut yoghurt, You might need to make sure your coconut cream is chilled, so you can scoop just the cream from the can. We don’t have to worry about that in Stratford, we have solid coconut cream and coconut oil pretty much all year round!

Ingredients

3 tins ‘essentials’ brand coconut cream (from countdown) or any coconut cream that lists only one or two ingredients: coconut extract, water.

1L glass jar or container (washed well with very hot water)

2 teaspoons probiotic powder (from a capsule or from a powdered probiotic)

1 Tablespoon sweetener (I use maple syrup)

what to do

Scoop the cream from the coconut cream and put into a small saucepan. Heat gently just to remove all the lumps and make it all smooth.

Take off the heat, make sure its only just luke warm. pour it into your jar or container. Then add the sweetener and probiotic.

Put the lid on and shake it. Place the jar in the oven with the oven light on, for 12 hours or overnight, this keeps it at a nice steady temp that’s not too hot or cold. (Make sure you tell the other family members about this or you might get up in the morning to find your coconut yoghurt has spent a long lonely night alone, in a cold, dark oven, when a well meaning spouse turns the light off before bed!)

Take it out and put straight in the fridge, it is ready to eat in another 6 or so hours when its properly chilled. Enjoy!

If you don’t have an oven light that works well (it turns out i might be quite privileged to have one of these?) then a hot water cupboard or a yoghurt maker will also work. With the yoghurt maker you need to make sure the water isn’t too hot and might need to change it once, after 6 hours in the winter.

Kayla

Paleo Waffles | Easy recipe only 4 Ingredients

These delicious paleo waffles only require 4 healthy ingredients and are so quick and simple to whip up. Thick, fluffy and perfect for weekend brunch! They freeze great and can be pulled on out busy mornings to reheat in the toaster. Also great to make ahead for lunchboxes too.

All you need is bananas, peanut butter, eggs and a smidge of coconut flour. That simple!

This makes about 3 – 4 waffles – depending on the size of your waffle iron, how much you spill from overfill and how many children you had helping to throw ingredients all over the bench (the struggle is real!).

Can you make them nut free?

Yes. You can omit the peanut butter and the waffles still turn out nice.

How do you grease a waffle iron without using non-stick oil spray?

Most non stick oil sprays contain hugely refined and processed vegetable oils. We try to avoid these types of oils as they are not good for our health. Though that sometimes comes at the cost of convenience! If you are looking for a way to grease a waffle iron with out non-stick spray you can use whatever healthy oil you like (olive oil, melted coconut oil, butter) melt it in a little ramekin and use a silicone pastry brush to brush the oil on.

We love these paleo waffles, but due to increasing food restrictions of my family, I had to develop another recipe too. If you are after a nut free, gluten free, dairy free, and egg free waffle, I totally have you covered on that, you can find that recipe here.

If you make any of my recipes don’t forget to tag me on Facebook or Instagram. And if you have any questions about the recipe, or anything else don’t hesitate to ask!

Print Recipe

Easy 4 Ingredient Paleo Waffles

These delicious paleo waffles only require 4 healthy ingredients and are so quick and simple to whip up. They freeze great and can then be pulled on out busy mornings to reheat in the toaster. Great for making ahead to go in lunchboxes too.
Prep Time10 mins
Course: Breakfast, celebration, Dessert, Main Course, Snack, treats
Cuisine: American
Keyword: coconut free, dairy free, easy recipe, gluten free, grain free, paleo, quick, soy free, waffle, waffles
Servings: 4 Waffles

Equipment

  • Waffle iron

Ingredients

  • 2 medium bananas
  • 2 Tablespoons peanut butter
  • 3 Tablespoons coconut flour
  • 3 Eggs

Instructions

  • Preheat your waffle iron following the manufacterers instructions.
  • Combine all the ingredients in your blender, and blend.
  • Let sit for 5 – 10 minutes to let the coconut flour do its thing.
  • Grease your waffle iron. Carefully pour into your waffle iron making sure not to overfill it.
  • Cook until waffles are golden brown and crisp. Top with your choice of toppings, our favourites are chia berry jam, berries (fresh or frozen) and whipped coconut cream.

Kayla

Hummus |The Best Easy Homemade Hummus

This hummus recipe is not only fast and easy, it’s creamy and delicious. Its gluten free, dairy free, egg free and nut free, and an all round allergy friendly dip.

Hummus from the supermarkets often have added sugar, vegetable oils and preservatives. Not to mention the homemade version tastes way better, and avoids any cross contamination issues with wheat or nuts.

This hummus goes perfectly in wraps and with crackers . You can add flavours to suit whatever occasion or taste you are making it for, or eat it plain – which is just as delicious. I often whip up hummus to serve on shared platters, as a quick, allergy-free and budget friendly snack to serve when we have guests coming over, and for the kids birthday parties, again for all the reasons listed above!

Here are some flavours you can add to this hummus recipe:

  • Roasted Kumara – add 1/2 cup roasted kumara when blending. 
  • Roasted pumpkin – add 1/2 cup roasted kumara when blending.
  • Roasted carrot – this combination is lovely and sweet – add 1/2 cup when blending.  
  • Beetroot – add 1/2 cup cooked beetroot when blending
  • Sundried tomatoes – dice 1/3 of a cup of sun-dried tomatoes and add when blending. 
  • Mexican twist – add 1/2 teaspoon of each cumin, paprika and chilli.
  • Red pepper – add 1/2 cup roasted red pepper (capsicum) and 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika. 

Hummus Tip

If the hummus is a little thick or still has chunks in it, add a little water – 1 Tablespoon at a time, until it can run freely through the blades (who doesn’t want to run free, right!?) , which will allow it to blend up super smooth.

If you make any of my recipes don’t forget to tag me on Facebook or Instagram. And if you have any questions about the recipe, or anything else don’t hesitate to ask!

Print Recipe

Easy Homemade Hummus

This hummus recipe is not only fast and easy, it's creamy and delicious. Its gluten free, dairy free, egg free and nut free, and an all round allergy friendly dip.

Ingredients

  • 1 400g can chickpeas drained and rinsed
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon garlic (I prefer the garlic cooked – you can pan fry or roast it first)
  • 1 Tablespoon tahini (you can omit this to make it sesame free, or if you dont have any, or are avoiding seeds)

Instructions

  • Place all the ingredients together and blend! Add some water if it's too thick, 1 Tablespoon at a time until it's the consistency you like.
  • Once you have made this as a base you can add different flavours, see the notes below for ideas.

Notes

Some of our favourite hummus flavours are:
Roasted Kumara – add 1/2 cup roasted kumara when blending.
Roasted pumpkin – add 1/2 cup roasted kumara when blending.
Roasted carrot – this combination is lovely and sweet – add 1/2 cup when blending.  beetroot – add 1/2 cup cooked beetroot when blending
Sundried tomatoes – dice 1/3 of a cup of sun-dried tomatoes and add when blending.
Mexican twist – add 1/2 teaspoon of each cumin, paprika and chilli.
Red pepper – add 1/2 cup roasted red pepper (capsicum) and 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika. 

 

 

 

Kayla

Chocolate Avocado Mousse |Egg free, Dairy Free

This smooth and creamy chocolate avocado mousse is a great healthy, allergy friendly dessert. It’s gluten free, dairy free, egg free, nut free, coconut free, and probably paleo!

I get asked quite a few questions about this recipe so I will do my best to answer them here!

Can you taste the avocado?

No you cannot taste the avocado! And I am fussy about this – I dont like the taste of avocado in my cooking and baking! Once I could taste it and it was because my avocados were way too overripe, and I tried to salvage them by making them into mousse – sadly, the best place for them was the compost! So if you hate food waste like me, make sure your avocados are actually edible first!

Can you make this banana free?

Yes! I only added the banana for some natural sweetness, as one of my kids doesn’t do well on sweeteners, whether they are refined sugar free or not. So I try and stick to whole foods for sweetness where I can. You can completely omit the banana, and you may or may not have to adjust the sweetener, depending on your preferences.

Does this HAVE to chill first?

Yes AND no …

Yes it does need to be cold before you eat it, just like any good mousse it is best enjoyed after some setting time to let it chill. HOWEVER, patience not being my virtue, I came up with a hack – and that was to add 1/2 cup (or up to 1 cup) of frozen berries to the blender with the other ingredients. This will make you instant, chilled chocolate avocado mousse! You can just taste the berries and they make a lovely edition to the mousse.

If you make this don’t forget the tag me on Facebook and Instagram, and use the hashtag #chefashtonnz

If you are keen on other raw avocado desserts I have the most delicious Chocolate Peanut butter cheesecake in my Easter Treats Ebook.

Print Recipe

Avocado Chocolate Mousse

This smooth and creamy chocolate avocado mousse is a great healthy, allergy friendly dessert. It's gluten free, dairy free, egg free, nut free and coconut free!
Prep Time5 mins
Course: Dessert, lunchbox, Snack, treats
Keyword: avocado, chocolate, chocolate avocado mousse, chocolate mousse, coconut free, dairy free, egg free, gluten free, grain free, mousse, no bake, nut free, treats
Servings: 2

Ingredients

  • 2 large avocados
  • ½ banana (if you cannot have banana or are looking for low carb option, omit the banana)
  • 2 Tablespoons raw cacao
  • 2 – 4 Tablespoons maple syrup (or sweetner of your choice)
  • 1/2 c milk of your choice (almond, coconut, hemp, rice milk etc)

Instructions

  • Add all ingredients together in your blender or food processor.
  • Blitz until well combined, smooth and creamy. You may need to scrape the sides down a couple of times to incorperate everything. ½
  • Chill in the fridge for an hour or so before serving. (unless adding frozen berries*)

Notes

*To make instant cold mousse that doesn’t need to be chilled first, add 1/2 to 1 cup of frozen berries. If using a blender, put them in first, against the blades, then layer the other ingredients on top. 
 

Kayla