Food Foundations

As educators and specialists in the early years industry you play an invaluable role to our children’s futures. Health and nutrition play an integral part of every child’s life.  Ensuring children have access to nutritious and safely prepared meals will …

The humble sandwich is such an easy lunchbox staple, but there are many other alternatives if you want to change it up or if your children are not eating their sandwiches.  The main thing to remember with any lunchbox, is …

Exceeding Themes Case Study – Avenues Cannon Hill Our Nutrition Services Manager, Nicole, took some time out recently to have a chat with ‘Chef Bec’  from Avenues Cannon Hill (a service with the exceeding rating). Avenues Cannon Hill conducts critical …

  As per the Get up and Grow Guidelines “children have small stomachs, and their energy and nutrient requirements are best met through small and frequent nutritious meals and snacks”.  In practice, ideally children should be offered a meal or …

When using an external caterer, are you aware of the learning experiences you could be including for the children in your care that encompass this style of food provision?   There are many learning experiences in discussing how food is …

Meal time traditions and routines can vary around the world. Below we have listed a few meal time routines that you may be able to incorporate into learning experiences and meal times at your early years setting.   Morocco These …

Conversations with children at meal times are an important factor to the enjoyment of a meal time and also to encourage children to try new foods. Below we have listed some conversation starters if you need new inspiration on what to talk …

Both probe and infrared laser thermometers must be calibrated to ensure they are giving a correct reading. Calibration is a comparison between a known measurement (the standard) and the measurement using your instrument (in this case a probe thermometer). There are …

A food recall is action taken by a food business to remove unsafe food from distribution, sale and consumption. You would have noticed in the media that there have been a number of food recalls lately. Some you may recall include: …

Does your menu change when winter rolls around? The cooler weather provides a great opportunity to add some different meals into your menu that will warm children up after being in the cold. It is also a time to take …

Meeting Nutritional requirements in early years settings can be challenging. For those settings who use an external caterer, it is sometimes easy to put the onus on the caterer to ensure nutritional requirements are met.  However it is important for …

When planning your menu it is always important to consider the needs of children who require special diets. Special diets can be for children who have an allergy or intolerance, or children who have a special diet for cultural or …

Displaying Menus when using external caterers It is best practice when you have your menu on display to showcase what is in the meal. For example, if it is spaghetti bolognaise, list some of the other main ingredients in the …

Reducing our kids food waste In Australia, for every five bags of groceries we purchase, one will end up in the bin. Food waste often heads to landfill, and can be detrimental for the environment as well as our wallets! …

This recipe is perfect for Christmas time and can be enjoyed by those young and old. With only 4 ingredients, it’s simple and easy to prepare. Strawberry and Oat Balls – makes 24 Ingredients 250 grams fresh strawberries 2 cups rolled …

The guide to the NEW National Quality Framework states: “Assessors may observe educators responding to babies’ verbal and non-verbal cues about their preferred food preferences and meal times.” To meet the assessment criteria, it’s important that all staff involved in …

The guide to the NEW National Quality Framework states Assessors may observe educators sitting with children and modelling, implementing and reinforcing healthy eating and nutrition practices with children during mealtimes.   Mealtimes are a great opportunity to promote children’s learning and reinforce …

Although it may be a time-consuming option for chefs and cooks in early years centres, sandwiches are a tasty and popular option with children.  Coming into the summer months, it is likely that sandwiches will be a regular fixture on …

One of the ‘Guide to the National Quality Standard’ questions to encourage your reflection on practice for standard 2.2 is, “How do we encourage and support breastfeeding in the service?“ There are many things (even if they may be small) …

Although it may be a time-consuming option for chefs and cooks in early years centres, sandwiches are a tasty and popular option with children.  Coming into the summer months, it is likely that sandwiches will be a regular fixture on …

We recently surveyed early years cooks to ask them what their most popular meal and options from the lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds and legumes food group are.  See below for the top responses. Meal ideas: Tuna pasta …

Need new inspiration on how to include more grains into the menu in your early years setting? We surveyed cooks and chefs from across the country and below are some of the ideas they came up with Main meal ideas: Fried …

Good quality grain foods are a fantastic source of fibre, low GI carbohydrate and B group vitamins for children.  The Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend that children have 4 serves of grains a day (2 serves while in care). Grain foods …

Fresh fruit and vegetable platters are popular healthy snack options in early years settings.  But care is required ensure that children are not inadvertently exposed to choking hazards. Grapes and cherry tomatoes Whole grapes and cherry tomatoes are choking hazards …

Need new inspiration on how to include more vegetables into the menu in your early years setting? We surveyed cooks and chefs from across the country and below are some of the ideas they came up with Main meal ideas: Vegetable …

Mealtimes with children provide the perfect opportunity for positive discussions around food and can help to develop healthy habits that last a lifetime. When having discussions with children around food, always talk about what is important to the child at …

There are many reasons that a family may prefer or a child may require a particular milk.  The market is full of different dairy milks and an ever growing variety of non-dairy milk alternatives.   Not all of these alternatives are …

Spotlight on Element 2.1.3: Effective hygiene practices are promoted and implemented. How do we keep informed about current food safety and hygiene practices and ensure that all educators, co-ordinators and staff members consistently implement these practices?   The Guide to the …

The Food Foundations program has recently introduced the Magnificent Menu award. This accolade is awarded to settings who complete a menu assessment with the Food Foundations program and meet the minimum serves for the five food groups for children while in …

Sesame seeds are tiny, flat oval seeds with a nutty taste and a delicate, almost invisible crunch. Although sesame seeds are classified as seeds and not nuts, the proteins in sesame seeds may resemble proteins in certain nuts and may …

QUT Ethics Approval Number 1300000625 We are writing to invite your ECEC service to participate in a survey for the new LEAPS (Learning, Eating, Active Play, Sleep) project that is being run by Queensland University of Technology, NAQ Nutrition and …

Does your menu provide children with the recommended number of serves from the 5 food groups each and every day? Is it consistent with the 2013 Australian Dietary Guidelines and the Australian Government guidelines Get Up & Grow? Food Foundations …

We would like to give you ideas about how easy it is to make and enjoy delicious Christmas style recipes and snacks and still keep up the healthy eating habits. There are plenty of Christmas style recipes that use the …

 NAQ Nutrition’s Food Foundations team recently attended a symposium in Brisbane to learn about the most up to date recommendations for nutrition in early life. It was both theoretical and practical, covering maternal nutrition, infant feeding and later obesity, allergy …

 Did you know that inadequate cooking was found to be the cause of more than a quarter of all food poisoning outbreaks between 1980 and 1995? Food must be cooked to a high enough temperature to destroy most bacteria and …

This week, we look at the lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds and legume/beans group. This group is a good source of many nutrients, including protein, iron, zinc, and other vitamins.  Nuts and seeds can also …

Homemade vs. commercial products A wide range of commercial baby foods are now available in stores across Australia, targeting parents and carers. These products were the spotlight of media articles recently, which reported findings from UK research on the nutritional …

There are a number of food safety hazards to consider with eggs and there are some strategies you can use to minimise risk and keep food safe: –          The outside of egg is easily contaminated with micro-organisms that can cause …

Need Educators and cooks in early years settings need support to promote and provide healthy meals and snacks to children attending their setting Solution Food Foundations provides professional and expert information to early childhood staff including recipes, food safety ideas, …

There is a wide variety of fruit available in Australia. The main distinguishing nutrients in fruit are vitamin c and dietary fibre, with smaller amounts of carbohydrates, folate, beta-carotene and potassium. Edible skins are especially high in fibre; however fibre …