Real Bread Week

The annual celebration of Real Bread, encouraging people to buy loaves from local, independent bakeries, or bake their own. Activities will be run by people who run all sorts of Real Bread businesses and initiatives, including micro bakers, high street bakers, school cooks, traditional millers, baking teachers…On the Rise t-shirts and aprons will be available in May only from www.balconyshirts.com , with a donation made to the Campaign for each one sold.  Find full details of Real Bread Week, a year-round events calendar, list of more than 100 classes/courses (many of which offer discounts to Campaign supporters), and where to buy Real Bread locally at www.realbreadcampaign.org #realbreadweek

Mango Flakes.

To help make eating fruit a much more fun and appealing snacking option, Fruit Bowl® has added an exotic taste to the Fruit Flakes range with Mango Flakes.  The Fruit Bowl® range provides a variety of irresistibly tasty and fun to eat fruit snacks to munch between meals. They contain six times its own weight in fruit and Fruit Bowl® Mango Flakes are so fruity they even count as one of your child’s five-a-day, plus there’s no added sugar*, artificial flavours, colours or preservatives. *Contains natural occurring sugar. New Fruit Bowl® Mango Flakes (RRP £2.00 for a pack of 6, 18g bags, available from Tesco stores)

Yutaka Sushi Starter Kit Perfect Way To Introduce Healthy Eating

Sushi is a simple way to get kids involved in making and eating healthy nutritious food. Leading UK-based Japanese food company, www.yutaka.co.uk, has created an authentic Sushi Starter Kit that contains all the basics you’ll need to create 12 delicious nori rolls. The kit includes boil-in-the-bag sushi rice, seasoning, two nori sheets, ginger, soy sauce and a rolling mat together with illustrated instructions. All you need to add is your favourite fillings, be it cucumber, cream cheese, smoked salmon or whatever takes your fancy.  The Sushi Starter kits has an RRP of £4.00 and is available from Sainsbury’s and other good food retailers

Introducing the latest Little Yeos to the Yeo Valley family

Little Yeos Banana Custard, and Little Yeos Vanilla Custard yogurts are creamy pots are perfect for pud.  They are pale but interesting as they don’t contain any added colours, and don’t tell the little ones  but they still contains less than 5% added sugars,  and are of course, made only with British organic milk. Little Yeos now have their very own Limited Edition includes 2x Mango & Vanilla and 2x Strawberry & Vanilla yogurts. These silky smooth organic pots are causing quite stir in the valley …they taste so good that the grown up’s are snaffling them!  All the new Little Yeos pots are 4x90g and available for MRRSP £1.50 in selected Asda stores

Veggie friendly products from Dell’Ugo

Italian Focaccia breads adds the finishing touch to your delicious pasta meal or a great way to whet your appetite with a class of vino, or just something tasty to nibble on when you’re watching TV and have the munchies. The first Italian Focaccia breads to launch on to the UK chilled market….and they are beyond fabulous! Artisan made in Italy from the finest ingredients such as Extra Virgin Olive Oil and premium grade  type ‘O’ flour, with different and really interesting toppings, not just the standard garlic butter, these light and airy breads even have the traditional baker’s thumb impression on the top. Priced at only £2.59 these amazing Focaccia Italiana come in three varieties….Goats’ Cheese and Red Onion, Mixed Olive & Tomato and Cherry Tomatoes & Basil Pesto and are available from Waitrose 

Healthy food for families made easy with JTC OmniBlend

The JTC Omniblend is a leading brand on the current market that features 6 Japanese stainless steel blades that can pulverise and blend ingredients using its 3 Horse Power motor which is powerful enough to liquefy even the toughest of ingredients. From ice and nuts through to spices and fruit, the JTC Omniblend won’t ever lose its sharpness and being made from quality parts the motor will perform for years to come. The jug is BPA Free and with a melting point of over 120 degrees you can make steaming hot soups with no need for a pan! www.jtcomniblend.co.uk

Cooking For Children

 Parents, nannies and au pairs who are keen to ensure their children eat healthy, fresh, home-made meals are being offered a new course by London’s leading teaching kitchen. Cookery School at Little Portland Street is launching a new three-day course, Cooking For Children, for inexperienced cooks who want to learn how to prepare nutritious dishes from scratch. The food prepared on the course will appeal to even the fussiest babies, toddlers or young children and students will also learn how to make simple adjustments to each dish to cater for special diets, including gluten free, dairy free and sugar free.

Encompassing popular children’s dishes, the course covers a wide variety of food preparation techniques and instruction so students can create many popular mealtime dishes for every meal, from breakfast to supper plus snacks.  Healthy pancakes and porridge, pasta with tomato sauce, home-made mini burgers, fish pie, fun salad and veg options, fruit smoothies and a sugar-free apple crumble will all be mastered, amongst a host of other dishes. Running over three days on 22, 23 and 24 August from 10am to 1pm, the Cooking For Children course will cost £315.  For further information or to book the course visit, www.cookeryschool.co.uk/classes/cooking-for-children/ or call 020 7631 4590.

Honey Spelt Puffs.

Introducing the newest member of the gang, Honey Spelt Puffs. Designed for our youngest customers (and their parents).? It’s simple; parents want their children to start their day off with a healthy and nutritious breakfast and children want to kick their morning off with a bit of fun and a treat. This cereal is made using only two ingredients – Spelt and Honey. They taste like a treat but will keep parents happy as we only use wholegrains. The Honey Spelt Puffs will be launching in early June into Independents and Waitrose stores nationwide www.waitrose.com Rude Health’s website from JUNE 2016 www.rudehealth.com

Healthy Eating Week 2016 sets out to positively change children’s behaviour

Across the UK, school children will be taking part in the British Nutrition Foundation’s (BNF) Healthy Eating Week 2016, from 13 – 17 June. The Week will focus on building children’s knowledge about healthy eating and wellbeing, and on making positive changes in behaviour and attitudes towards food, cooking and exercise. Last year, over two million children and teenagers took part in Healthy Eating Week.

Registration in Healthy Eating Week is FREE for all schools and participants will receive complimentary resources to support activities throughout the week, including food cards, posters, activity ideas, a competition and daily challenges. The challenges are structured into five themes: Breakfast, 5-A-Day, Drink plenty, Get active and Try something new. For more information about the BNF Healthy Eating Week 2016 and to register your school, please visit www.healthyeatingweek.org.uk.

Healthy Food Guide ask – How do you get your kids to eat healthily?!

Dr Jane Bowen, a dietician and mother of three, offers her top tips for getting your children to eat healthy in the April issue of Healthy Food Guide. Here she offers her suggestions to help you avoid confrontation at mealtimes and set them on a deliciously healthy nutritional journey.

• Be a good role model

Eat what your children are eating. Avoid having crisps and biscuits as everyday snacks – they should be treats instead.

• Eat dinner early

The more tired the children get, the less they can control their emotions. We eat at about 5-5.30pm

• Plan ahead

Work out meals for the week and buy accordingly. At the weekends, when I have more time, I can involve the kids in the meal preparation, which, whilst slow and messy,  makes them more interested in what they eat. It is also worth batch cooking, for when time is short.

• Have strategies up your sleeve

After a day of work and school, I often cook pasta or stir-fry as they are quick and can include vegetables. If younger children can’t handle a full plate give them what I call ‘mini dinni’, or if you are entering meltdown territory, give them a bowl of steamed vegetables with watered down soy sauce and let them eat it while watching the television.

• Think about food behaviours

Sweet foods are often highly prized (‘you’re not getting dessert until you finish’ etc.) – which makes children think they should have the sweet treats. Avoid these motivators where possible and keep to meal time routines to avoid the need for snacks.

• Don’t hold out for an empty plate

Insisting your children clear their plate teaches them to eat until the food is gone, rather than until they are full. You know how much your child can eat, so stick to similar portion sizes.

• Avoid making dessert a permanent fixture

Try and have yogurt or fruit – or both – for dessert rather than sweet treats like ice-cream.

• Make eating about good health

I think about foods nutritionally – brown foods are often good (nuts, wholegrain breads and pasta), whereas white foods are less so. For breakfast have wholemeal toast, fruit or muesli. In lunchboxes pack vegetable sticks, wholemeal sandwiches and hard-boiled eggs. Every now and then introduce something new – they might just try it.

• Let your children make some decisions

Try and let them make some decisions – for example, on the odd visit to the tuck shop, guide them what to choose.

• Talk about food and health

My children respond well to being told why they should eat some things. I don’t focus on weight, just health and the benefits. Encourage them to eat certain foods by saying things like ‘The meat is good for you and will help you do cartwheels because you’ll have stronger muscles’, or in less healthy foods, I say ‘No, it’s not good for your teeth’. Children are much more intelligent and capable to taking in information than we give them credit for.

Dr Jane Bowen is a member of CSIROseven, a group of Australian scientists working on research breakthroughs. She is a research scientist and dietician for CSIRO Food & Nutrition. www.healthyfood.co.uk/