School Dinners

If you read my last blog Food-Freaks then you almost certainly would have read my post “school menus.”  In this I was talking about the quality of the food at my primary school. However after I moved on to secondary school I decided to rewrite this blog from my opinion of the food at my current School.
 At my old school, everyone came in for lunch at the same time and there was never anyone missing out or getting caught skipping lunch as we were all young and didn’t care. However after starting secondary school I have begun to notice more and more that there are people that are skipping lunch. In my previous school this was not such a problem as they kept track of everyone that came in and out of the lunch hall. At secondary school, since everyone is now a teenager they have the strange thoughts of thinking that lunch is not vital. But guess what? They are wrong. Teenagers should not be skipping lunch just because they know that they will get away with it. My idea is to find a healthier more tasty option than some of school products as it will make teenagers more willing to come to lunch. It will also stop the number of packed lunches in the school. This is better for enviromental reasons such as less plastic wrapping and packaging is being used. 

In order to rethink the school dinners, they must be:

Cheap

As healthy as possible

A balanced diet

And food that can be made quickly and in big portions.

 After experiencing two different types of school lunches I noticed the same product that is served at every meal. Pasta. Whether with tomato sauce or just with plain grated cheese pasta always happens to make an appearance. Although pasta is not bad for you, having it every day is not the healthiest alternative. Many schools serve pasta because they know that the majority of children eat it and it is cheap, quick and easy to serve. However so are other healthier products such as jacket potatoes?  They don’t frequently make an appearance. Why not? I think that schools should be serving other alternatives to the main meal such as a healthy jacket potato with butter or protein like tuna or baked beans. Currently my school do an alternative of pasta and Jackets along with the usual salads, sandwiches and fruit and vegetables. However after asking a few of my friends from other schools, I have come to the conclusion that my school is only of the only schools that does this. Well this should change.

If you agree tell your school or your child’s school. They will most certainly be impressed that you raised awareness. Make a stand today and try to change the meal you have for lunch. If you want something healthier that’s also cheap and easy then ask for it. There are most probably people that agree with you and also want the healthier alternative. 

The picture above is my school dinning room.

Please comment below for ideas for healthy school dinners as I would greatly appreciate it

Thanks

Lottie X

Kale and Milkshakes

Over my last few posts I have been talking all about healthy eating. People talk about how children should not be eating junk food and only the negatives.

This post is different.

I want to tell teenagers that having a treat once in while is fine and will not damage your health.

The picture above is a MESSY MILKSHAKE. It is covered in white chocolate chips, marshmallows, whipped cream and smarties. My mum would call this a diabetic coma. Having this every day would be terrible it could cause illnesses such as type 2 diabetes or rapidly make you obese. However, having this once in a while is the complete opposite.

A balanced diet does not just include fruit and vegetables. It also includes some fat and sugar. People can conclude that it is ok to have sugar every so often. Especially if you are a growing child.

Unlike other children I love kale and sprouts and most other green vegetables. In honesty, I almost certainly enjoy these kinds of foods more than sugary products. However this does not stop me. 

When I am out with my friends or family or am at a special occasion I, like everyone else love having a milkshake or an ice cream sundae. And that is OK!

So if you are having a bad day or are at a party or occasion, then have some fun with food. Let the healthy eating go for a couple of hours, and trust me it will not cause any damage to your body.

The next generation

please check out my guest blog on My relationship with food by Lisa Roukin!!

http://www.myrelationshipwithfood.com/the-next-generation/

NEWSFLASH

I am really excited to have been asked to write a guest blog for a really great chef. I will post more after it has been published.

Packed lunches

Sorry I haven’t posted a recent blog in while, I hope this one makes up for it. Based on my previous post a couple of weeks ago “school dinners,” I decided to go to the opposite subject this week “packed lunches.”  As I have school dinners at my current school, I would appreciate it if you comment below, healthy and cheap packed lunch ideas. Enjoy reading!

 At my primary school packed lunches were prohibited. However, after joining my secondary school, I noticed how many people have them. Although at my school they serve a great range of hot food, sandwiches, salads and more almost 50% of the school every day. This is not only a problem for environmental reasons, but is also a problem for healthy eating.

My friend’s packed lunch usually contains: a sandwich, a drink, and a packet of crisps and a chocolatey product of some kind. Having this cold pre packed meal five out of seven days a week is not always good for a child's balanced diet. people will of course rely on more processed food than fresh food in their lunch box. 

Having plastic wrapping being thrown away every day can lead to problems such as pollution. All of these problems, just because someone is not keen to have school dinners. Having a packed lunch once in a while is not bad for you but having sugary products such as chocolate bars AND salty products such a crisps is not good enough if you are having it five out of seven days a week.

if your child is having a pack lunch, think about the products you are putting in everyday. maybe stop making them sandwiches and start making them more healthy filling foods: like pasta salad .  maybe even try to get them hot School lunches which will save you the stress of making a quick lunch every morning. you will also be helping the environment by not wrapping up so much food in cling film. 

Like I wrote above, if you have any packed lunch ideas I would love to here them so i would appreciate if you could comment below.
Thanks 
Lottie X

Location isn't Everything

Great food can be anywhere from the smallest cafe in primrose hill to the biggest restaurant in London. One of the things I love about food is you can be anywhere and still have an enjoyable experience. There is one place in the world that just about illustrates this perfectly. For me this place is one of the nicest cafes on the planet. Guess where it is. It's not in the most exquisite places or even in a very nice area. In fact, it's behind a shopping centre in a dirty area next to a car park in Israel. 

However, although its surroundings are not somewhere you would choose to go, the cafe is fabulous. The restaurant has been blocked out from any of these unbearable views and has been covered in plants. If you were inside it would seem like you are in a shady cafe by the beach. The food itself is delicious too. 

This is one of the things I love the most about food. A great meal can be cooked by anyone, anywhere.
It's your turn now. In your own kitchen, big or small, you can create a food masterpiece. so why don't you try? You have nothing to lose.

The picture above is a breakfast from this amazing restaurant. 

Lottie's Kitchen

One of the great joys of food is sharing. Spreading your knowledge to the world.  Lottie's Kitchen is a charity supporting the families with children in hospital. Their work is amazing and there are two main reasons why I respect this charity so much.

1. Quite obviously, I love food and one of the greatest aspects of food is sharing it, only so other people can experience the joys of the meals you prepare.

2. Lottie's kitchen doesn't just think about the child, although this is important, their main priority is the families of the sick and what sort of impact the food will have on them. This may not seem important, however, the more strongly the family are looked after, the better they will feel about looking after the child.

Last Christmas, I had the great joy of going there with my family and a friend to work there for the afternoon. We spent part of the afternoon listening to the achievements of the charity and the other half preparing meals for the children in hospital. In 3 hours we succeeded in making 80 meals this means that in a full day’s shift we could have made 320. This was an incredible experience and I felt so much pride in preparing these meals. I also loved some of the amazing stories about the charity that the inspiring women who do this every day told my family and I.

One of the most amazing things they have ever done is setting up in hospitals something called COFIX. if you have ever had to suffer the long periods of time in hospital, then your family may have realised that they are spending a great deal of money on expensive lunches from a hospital canteen, this can make somebody’s bill very overpriced. In many hospitals they have now opened a COFIX. This many seem like an ordinary Café. However All of COFIX's products are not more than 5 dollars. This means that having a quick sandwich every time you are waiting for your child in hospital, your will not have to spend too much money. Although this was just a normal chain of Cafes Lottie's kitchen persuaded almost all of these hospitals to open one. This is one thing I find amazing as it is not an ordinary idea that any charity would think of 

Another one of the great achievements done by Lottie’s kitchen is microwaves. As you may not know a great majority of sick children will have siblings. The parents must be in the hospital with the ill child, so where does that leave all the siblings? There sometimes might be 3 or 4 of them. Lottie’s kitchen takes care of this. They mainly take care of the food aspect. In every sick child’s house they have installed a simple and easy to use microwave. This means that a child can just take something out of the fridge and heat it up for their supper. This may not be an exquisite banquet. However it does keep them going and means that the parents do not have to worry about feeding them on top of everything else they have to deal with.

breakfast

Breakfast. One of the most important meals of the day. Children are supposed to have a maximum of six cubes of sugar per day. A massive 3 cubes is consumed by a great deal of children before breakfast. This means that children are having half of their daily sugar each day before they go to school. Sugary breakfast products include not only obvious spreads such as nutella, but also cereals that you may not even expect to contain sugar. With this in mind, eight out of ten parents do not realise the sugar in these products. Well this needs to change. Breakfast should be healthy and packed with nutrients in order to give children the best start to their day.

This post is going to be different to the last few as I am going to share with you what I believe are some of the nicest recipes for breakfast. These are my: TOP 5 BREAKFAST BEAUTIES!!

5. Strawberry Parfait: this tasty idea may taste like a dessert, but is still low in calories, sugar and fat. If you have a sweet tooth then this is for you, and is a healthy alternative to the sugary breakfasts you’re used to.

Ingredients: (serves 1)

1 pot of fat free Greek yoghurt

1 teaspoon of stevia (or any sweetener)

2 handfuls of strawberries

1 handful of blueberries

2 tablespoons of granola

(Any other fruit that you wish to put in)

 Method:

·       Mix the stevia with the yoghurt and stir well.

·       Cut the strawberries small and mix them gently with the blueberries to form a fruit salad.

·       Take a tall glass and add a layer of yoghurt

·       Then a layer of fruit

·       Then a layer of granola

·       Then a layer yoghurt

·       Keep doing this until the glass is full.

This is a perfect breakfast idea that can be made the night before if you have a busy work schedule. Children also love this recipe so a great idea for a family breakfast

Recipe by Fleur De Force in her book Glam Guide

4. Poached eggs: this is a simple recipe that doesn’t take longer than five minutes to make. So great if you are in a hurry. This recipe is loved by all in my family and is totally natural and quite obviously contains no sugar. This is a great alternative if you want a savoury breakfast.

Ingredients: (serves 2)

2 eggs

Pepper for sprinkling (optional)

(It’s as simple as that)

Method:

·       Fill a small pan just over one third full with cold water and bring it to the boil.

·       Crack the eggs one at a time into the pan.

·       Leave them for 3-4 minutes checking them well so they don’t overcook.

·       Season with pepper and serve at once.

If the eggs don’t work first time don’t panic. Please note: everyone likes their eggs cooked for a different amount of time. If you want to have them hard boiled then leave them in for longer. You can also add your own twists to the eggs by serving them with products such as cheese, bread or vegetables.

3. Extra bananery, banana cake: I know what you’re thinking. “This can’t be healthy. A cake must have sugar in it.” Well believe it or not this cake contains no sugar and is a great way to start your day if you want a quick start. My father usually makes this cake on a Sunday so that it is ready for the upcoming week.

Ingredients:

25g of rolled oats

4 overripe bananas (a great way to use leftover bananas)

200g of self-rising flour

50ml of maple syrup

25g of unsalted butter

50ml of olive oil

A pinch of salt (if needed)

Method:

·       Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C

·       Sprinkle a third of your oats into the bottom of a loaf tin

·       Slice up one of your bananas and place it evenly above your oats

·       Peel and mash the remaining bananas in a large bowl.

·       Add the flour, maple syrup, butter, oil, salt and remaining oats and mix will until everything is a soft dropping consistency

·       Pour the mixture as evenly as possible and bake in the oven for 45 minutes

·       Take out of the oven and let cool

The cake can be stored for 2-3 days. It can be served with fruit, yoghurt, jam and anything else you wish and is a great recipe for all the family.

Recipe by Lorraine Pascale’s in her book a lighter way to bake.

2. PB & J alternative, as a smoothie: many children and adults love their peanut butter. Especially my younger brother. However why have it on toast when you can have it blended in a smoothie with a tonne of fruity goodness.

Ingredients: (Serves 1)

¾ of cup low-fat milk

¾ of cup frozen raspberries

½ a banana

1tablespoon of natural almond or peanut butter

1tablespoon of honey

Method:

·       Throw everything into the blender

·       Press the button and let the blender do all the work

·       Pour into a cup and drink

This drink can be served with anything and is a healthy alternative to the chocolate milk or sugary orange juice you may have been drinking. This can also be a great treat in the summer on a lovely day. Why not take a picnic to the park with some fresh homemade smoothies.

This is it my top favourite recipe for breakfast.

1.   Baked avocado egg: in my opinion, there is no better combination than avocado and eggs. This delight is not only healthy but will fill you up if you have a long day ahead. Just follow this simple recipe and enjoy this great way to start your day.

Ingredients:

1 large avocado

2 small medium eggs

Chives (if wanted)

Chilli flakes (if wanted)

Salt and pepper

Method:

·       Half the avocado and remove the stone.

·       Crack an egg into each half and sprinkle a pinch of chilli flakes and chives.

·       Place the avocado halves in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

·       The cooking time will depend on you egg size.

·       So will the temperature.

·       Remove from the oven and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

The avocado egg is certainly one of my favourites and is a great way to start the day. This may also be a light dinner if you are in a hurry. Avocado eggs can be greatly enjoyed by all for both children and adults.

Recipe by Fleur De Force in her book Glam Guide

As you can see there are many other healthy alternative than the sugary cereals we are used to. This is the sort of food that the world needs to be eating at the start of their day. Here’s what you can do. If you are serving your children breakfast cereals then look at the label. How much sugar does it really have? Try a new  before school/ work breakfast. You will be really thankful in the future.