Holiday Cooking

We are lucky enough to be on holiday at the moment, 6 months, the east coast of Australia and a Caravan! Feel free to follow my other blog...  caravancaperswithcaznco.blogspot.com    We haven't done much family cooking with all of this wet weather we've been having but the kids have experienced a few oldies that we grew up on...Damper, an Aussie favourite, was something we have made together as a family and even made a savoury, (with herbs) and a sweet, (with fruit mince) as a treat.  The kids loved trying something new and felt a sense of accomplishment, not only because they helped cook, but they did it without the creature comfort of a kitchen.  A wonderful experience shared by all.

I wanted to share something with you that I found during my research and my case studies. I met two Mothers, lets call them Tess and Beau ( 4 years old and 48 kilos) and Jules and Alissa (5 years old and 25 kilos).  Beau has been arguing with Tess, throwing tantrums, breaking his toys and being a disruption to the whole family.  Now, obviously, there is a problem with the food he is eating (his obesity) and his behaviour stems from that.  Alissa, who is a tiny little girl, shows the same behaviours.  The sad part is, the recommendation for both children was the same.  An elimination diet, they both suffer from food intolerance's and both are well on the way to success.  If a child is displaying these, or similar behaviours, overweight or not, they may need to see a Natural health specialist to get them on the right path to eating right for them.  Until next time :)

Food for thought

A friend of mine from primary school used to invite me to her house for afternoon tea and I never liked going there because I felt uncomfortable around her Mother.  You see, her Mother used to sit in the single lounge chair and smoke and watch TV and scream at her kids to get her chocolates from the fridge, yet wouldn't let her children have any sweets at all. 

I notice that if I eat healthy food in front of my kids, they will too, so the question is.... Is eating healthy in front of your children an obvious choice or are we just going through the motions? 
Most of us lead very busy lives yet some of us manage to eat healthy so what are the ones doing that aren't eating healthy? 
I have a friend with four small children, she works part time, she eats healthy, works out most days, and even has time to catch up with friends for coffee once a week, so how does she manage it and others don't?  All questions that need to be answered, without judgement and respectfully. 

So I think this will be my homework, I would like to ask these questions to as many as I can... Do you eat healthily in front of your children? 
A very simple question although I have a feeling the answers will be quite broad and extended, I will add all answers regardless.  Until then, enjoy that healthy food with your kids :)

Summer snack ideas

What a busy time of the year!  I haven't stopped and it's not even December!  The girls and I have written up the "must haves" for Summer and here is our top 5...

1) Grape necklaces, a must have for the fashionable little girl who wants to look good and eat healthy :)
2) Fruit skewers, fantastic for alfresco dining and look great as a healthy centrepiece.
3) Vegetable dippers, mix avocado and lite Philly cheese with a dash of lemon, dip carrot, celery or veg of choice
4) Fruit smoothies, oh the possibilities!  Mix any fruit you like in a blender, add crushed ice and enjoy
5) and my favourite,  Fruity ice cubes.  We use any type of fruit and freeze in ice cube trays, you can have them by themselves or in a glass of water, yum.

I love experimenting in the kitchen but it is so much more fun when little ones come up with ideas, sometimes they work and sometimes they don't, but there is always fun to be had!  Until next time, happy cooking :)

I love summer!

Summer is just around the corner here in Australia, which means lots of fresh salads and my favourite stone fruits.  The girls and I love to go to our local markets early on the weekends to pick out some beautiful fresh fruit and vegetables and I like to let them choose what they like.  Before we leave I usually ask them what meals they would like to make during the week so we have an idea of what vegetables to pick and then let them choose the fruit, and they love choosing.  I find that if they have a choice, they are more likely to eat the foods that they choose, this can be with any foods so we, as parents/carers, may as well give them a large variety of good foods regularly.   Tonight we had salad rolls as a rare treat, funny how my kids only ate a little bit of the bread rolls and picked the salad off, makes me a happy Mummy :)

I'm hoping to get Hayley back in the kitchen soon, I've been a bit rushed in the afternoon and unfortunately, this is the worst time to be in the kitchen with the kids, when you're time poor.  It creates a stressful environment and kids in the kitchen need to feel happy and calm when cooking to create an area where they will want to return to over and over.  I look forward to posting some pics really soon.  Until next time, happy cooking :)

A grand selection

I realise we all have different tastes and as Children, we develop tastes according to the diet we are given by our parents/carers.  Some of us have a diet in rich, creamy foods and therefore are more likely to choose these foods every day.  If we allow our children to eat what they feel like, their choices may not be healthy.  So what is the best way to add flavour to your child's diet?  Let them grow their own herbs and vegetables!  Hayley has just picked her first two tomatoes and although she doesn't eat tomatoes by themselves or in a salad, we make a lot of tomato based meals so she feels she is contributing in a very personal way.  We have a lot of herbs growing and use them regularly, it really does teach a child the value and freshness of foods this way.  So the meal that Hayley has made by herself this week is a Tomato Pasta bake. Recipe: Cook the pasta till soft, boil and peel the tomatoes  then add Chives, garlic and onion, mix together, sprinkle with fresh parmesen and grill for 5 minutes, simple and fast.  Here is some pics of Hayley's first tomatoes.

Until next time, happy cooking :)

Birthday party food

How time flies...not only has it been quite a while since my last post, but my Hayley just turned 7...wow time flies.  And of course birthdays usually mean birthday parties, or at least cake and our house was no exception...because Hayley's birthday fell on a friday, and we had her party on the saturday, two cakes were needed, one for family and one for friends!  One thing I noticed when Hayley was overweight was that she didn't seem to know when to stop or even slow down  at parties, as you can imagine, this was very difficult for all concerned at any parties we were invited to.   Now, Hayley knows her limit without me saying a word, she knows that if she over indulges, she will end up suffering.  Hayley cannot eat a whole piece of cake and although she had a few lollies at her party, she will stop very quickly and wont go back, seems like my persistance paid off :)  But the place where we chose to have her party, although the games were active, they serve the children chicken nuggets, chips and usually softdrink, I asked for juice and water and they had no problem but the norm is softdrink.  I know they need to look at making money but I would have been more than happy to pay a little extra for some healthy alternative, maybe a wrap or little pocket bread with filling in, surely we have a right to choices.  The biggest problem that I have found is actually getting parents on board which can be so frustrating, a lot of them come to me for advice then tell me it's too hard, what is too hard about teaching your child healthy eating and healthy living, there should be nothing else more important!  So its back into the kitchen for Hayley and I and we are both really looking forward to some light heathy foods in the coming weeks...until next time...stay healthy :)

Photo's

I thought I'd put a couple of photo's of Hayley and her masterpieces up for now as I am in the middle of moving house.  The first one is of celery sticks with cottage cheese and sultana's in them, the second is of Hayley with her very quick morning tea fruit face :)