I was sooo excited last week. One of the lovely ladies that helps out at the school social events helping us to provide healthy choices for the students also has a child at the local Kinder. At their annual fundraising evening she organised sushi for the adults to go alongside the sausage sizzle. For the kids she put together 100 individual pots of fruit. And as the fruit was all free courtesy of the local supermarket it provided a great profit at $ 1.00 per pot.

Here I must digress. As much as supermarkets can work against people in terms of eating a fresh food diet I have to admit that our local Countdown is super supportive of any initiatives in the community that promote fresh food eating. Thanks Countdown we are so appreciative!

To have the sushi and the fruit pots was fabulous as it provided excellent choices for those wanting to avoid the standard fundraising fare. But far more exciting is that what we’ve done at the school is now being replicated in other community groups. Yeah!! We have planted the seeds and the fresh food will grow ….

What can you do to provide a fresh food alternative? At your house, in your school, within your community? Many small acts grow change …

First published at www.theartofnutrition.com 24th March 2015

The parents at my boys’ school run informal sessions at lunchtime on a variety of topics to entertain and educate the students. I love getting involved and promoting healthy food so decided to put together a lunchtime dip and crudites experience.

(Me at the hummus station getting the savoury crudites stuff ready).
I had to be very careful with ingredients due to allergies so spent time crafting recipes that were tasty but did not contain common allergens and of course that were still healthy.
I created two savoury and two sweet dips. The savoury dips to be served with celery, carrot and cucumber batons and the sweet with apple and pear slices. The students would be peeling and chopping the fruit and veggies and doing all the measuring, cutting and food processing required to create the dips.
We had four food processors set up to make hummus, pesto (more of a pistou), cookie dough dip and a chocolate dip. None of them used dairy, nuts, sugar or honey (and actually no chocolate – cocoa powder instead).
A fabulous group of parents offered to help and manned the dip stations armed with a food processor, ingredients and a recipe. More adults were stationed at the crudites chopping stations and made sure only the fruit and veggies succumbed to the knives! One more on hand washing duty (at both ends of the session) and coordinating and we were ready. Or we thought we were until we were faced with over 150 students across the two lunchtimes.

(The students making a chick pea “cookie dough” recipe).
It was totally mad but absolutely fabulous and the students LOVED chopping, measuring and making their own dips and dippers. There were no accidents but lots of tasting and questions.
The feedback from the parents and students has been excellent with many making the dips again at home and lots surprised that you can make something super tasty using very basic ingredients …

First published at www.theartofnutrition.com 18th, Dec 2014

It’s tradition in my boy’s school for the parent’s from the penultimate year to make desserts for the Year 6 Graduation ceremony. I volunteered to make fruit skewers but wanted to do something a lot more special for the night. From this the fun food Fruit Flower Bouquet was born.
It looks really complex but is actually simple. It took me about 1 ½ hours to put it together although I’m sure I could do it more quickly next time!

First published at www.theartofnutrition.com 25th Nov, 2013

Over the last weeks I have hosted two healthy eating sessions at the boy’s school.
I am very privileged to be allowed the opportunity to pack up boxes of cut up fresh fruit and vegetables and hump them down to the school and share designing with 60 – 100 students over lunch time. I have free reign of a large room with tables and chairs, a sink to wash hands and 4 fabulous parents who volunteer to help. I get to do two sessions a term, one with the older students and one with the younger side of the school.
These sessions have become more popular as word spreads and students know they can come to eat (in their words) “yummy food”. It is fascinating to see the enthusiasm and excitement generated by the opportunity to craft with everything from red cabbage to cress and then eat communally.
One of the parent helpers remarked that they wouldn’t be surprised at the stampede if we were offering chocolate but I think everyone is taken aback (even me to some extent) by the positive reaction to serving only fresh fruit and vegetables . The platters loaded with so many different colours, shapes and textures do look appetising and when given a white plate to design on – it’s all just so tempting.
It proves conclusively to me that fruit and veg can be really exciting to children. Not only do the students love designing food plates but we have virtually no wastage. What the children use to create they also eat (sorry parents who have prepared a big dinner !!). Many students try foods they normally don’t eat or may not have tried before and they do this in a supportive, community setting. It’s amazing how much difference the group environment and general enthusiasm makes.
My two favourite quotes from the sessions must be:
“ I can’t believe how much healthy food I really like”
“ Wow, there is so much yummy food”
I feel that we all need to work harder at providing an environment that is conducive to healthy eating. There are so many communal eating opportunities, especially at this time of the year and there is no reason for these to become the scene of crimes against fresh and natural. Using our imaginations and spending a little extra time can produce dishes that tantalise the senses, whet the appetite and excite the guests. Moreover my sessions at the school prove that if the expectation is that healthy food can be fun, it is!

First published at www.theartofnutrition.com 6th Aug 2015

No Junk Junk
There are many junk products marketed as healthy foods but for the school winter disco we decided to turn the tables. For the seniors we had home-made burgers (created from top quality meat) and served in preservative/sugar free wholemeal rolls with sauce that contained no sweeteners. For the vegetarians there was a bean burger option and all were eaten with delight. It was fabulous to see good food served and enjoyed.

Healthy food can be fun. Healthy food can be delicious. Healthy food can be reasonably priced and served at a fund raiser.
For the junior disco we again had fruit salad cups but next time we’re planning a home-made banana based “ice cream”.

First published at www.theartofnutrition.com 18th May 2015

In my world good health is achieved not via any diet but by following the SSS principle. Small, sustainable steps forward. I know in my house this has meant that as my knowledge about food, the body and what works best for us increases I have made little changes to our menu. Gone are some of the favourites but in their stead have come alternatives or just better options. All of our changes have happened gradually so they are a little less painful and easily sustainable.
We are working on this principle at the school. Providing options for those who already prefer a sugar/preservative free choice but also trying to introduce positive changes for everyone else.
At the annual X-country school competition we again offered our vegan sausages but this time had wholemeal rolls with a choice of grated carrot, shredded lettuce and chopped tomatoes with home-made hummus and tomato ketchup as sauces. This provided a full meal for the students who took up the option. The response was fantastic with really great feedback from everyone who purchased one.

For the next school sporting event we are discussing having the wholemeal rolls as standard and offering the salad items as optional. The PTA would still use the regular sausages but each child would be able to have a full lunch (as opposed to a slice of white bread and a sausage) should they choose. Having veggies normalised as an integral part of a BBQ is, in my mind, a great step forward.
Last sporting event we offered frozen smoothies. This time we set up a “smoothie bar” with a table of blenders offering either freshly whizzed fruit with yoghurt or with oat milk (as a non-dairy option). Using fresh bananas, apples and frozen strawberries made for an awesome mix and the students LOVED them. Even more exciting were the number of kids who had pre-booked a popsicle but decided they would prefer a smoothie. Obviously the hope is that the smoothies over time replace the popsicles entirely … and there is talk of this … and not coming from me either!!

First posted at www.theartofnutrition.com 11th March 2015

The PTA asked me to coordinate a falafel stand at the annual fete and I was delighted to be charged with the task. 200 chick pea burgers later I was not quite so bubbly but very excited to see how popular they were and how people enjoyed them.

We served the falafels on a wholemeal bun with sides of shredded lettuce, carrot and diced tomatoes. For a gluten free option we had bowls so the falafels could be piled with salad.
To jazz it all up I made a big batch of home-made hummus, some raita, a garlic sauce and a refined sugar-free sweet chilli sauce. The chilli sauce was very popular and despite being really spicy was applied liberally to many burgers. In fact all the sauces disappeared and I had very little to cart home.

What a satisfying day serving some good wholesome food that was delicious and well received. Next year we’d like to team this with some fresh fruit smoothies made to order!