Celebrate World Food Day with us!

This day is a wonderful opportunity to introduce your little ones to a new and unfamiliar cuisine. Delight their taste buds with this simple healthy Carribean recipe!

There’s a first for everything

Kiddichef- There’s a first for everything

Here at KiddiChef.com we are proud to say that we are the first catering company to focus solely on nutritional children’s catering in Birmingham. We are not just a catering company. We aim to engage your children with the food that they are eating by offering activities, parental advice and nutritional guidance.

KiddiChef have your child in mind with all aspects of our catering. We believe our meals, which are tested and chosen by our child audience will create better eating habits for the future. We hope that you agree that helping to introduce a diverse food palette at a young stage sets a healthy lifestyle for your child to take through life. Our panel of experts including doctors and nutritionists help to make our meals child friendly with the essential nutrients cleverly hidden inside. The KiddiChef expert team take care in considering portion size in accordance to age and growth.

Being completely dedicated to catering for children, the learning aspect of KiddiChef is as important to us as the food that we provide. A healthy diet balanced with all the essential nutritional goodness for your child should not be a struggle. This is why we have packed our online platform with information to help you and provide fun activities to teach your children.

Fussy eaters are a myth at KiddiChef. Did you know that it could take up to 10 times for a child to accept a new taste or texture? We understand the struggle for young children to try new foods and also the struggle for parents to provide healthy meals with a modern fast paced lifestyle. KiddiChef meals cut out the time consuming prep for parents and nurseries, but still manage to promote a healthy diet for your child. The fresh produce we use including vegetables, herbs and fruit reflects the season and are all locally sourced within the Birmingham area.

Why not take a look at the KiddiChef website here: http://www.kiddichef.com/ Or contact us at 0121 554 0469, we’d love to talk.

KiddiChef.com - 7 Golden Rules

We are more than a catering company, we work with you to make a positive difference in child care food sector! From parental advice, child development, health concerns and nutritional guidance KiddiChef.com continues to share relevant information with you, helping you engage with your children better. 

Catering for children is notoriously tricky, however, KiddiChef is dedicated to work with our nursreies to ensure they receive the support and knowledge to create a healthy eating regime. Schedule your FREE TASTER SESSION - CALL 0121 554 0469 for further details. 

Looking for ways to instill healthy lifelong eating habits in your toddler? Look no further. These 7 golden rules will help you lay the groundwork.  

1. Make Time It is understandable, everyone has routines, deadlines and planned activites, so running over dinner time seems like a no, no. However, ensuring children are given the time to enjoy their meal and to explore ingredients - without time contraints is essential. It will help them identify new ingredients and they will begin to enjoy their food, taking a few extra minutes to really appreciate the texture and taste of the food.  

2. Sensory Elements A fun way to encourage children to become more familiar with a variety of fruits and vegetables is to play games. Purchase a variety of ingredients and let the children touch, smell, taste and play with them. Relating healthy food to fun things is a great way to get a few bites of greens. 

 3. Postitive Attitude Let's get straight to the point - there is no quick fix! You'll need to patience and persitance to start teaching your children about healthy eating habits. That’s because the patterns they'll develop now will likely be the ones they’ll carry into adulthood.

4. The Power of Table Talk If your toddler is anything like most, they may have become very selective (make that suspicious) about the foods they'll eat. So it is important to get children involved to help them understand why and what they are eating. Simple points of discussion: "Did you know superman eats carrots so he can see better and sweetcorn to make him big and strong". This is a great method to encourage children to eat their meals.

5. Presentation Children develop a natural preference for the foods they enjoy the most. So the challenge is to make healthy food appealing. It has been researched that it takes 8-10 presentation of a new food for a child to openly accept it. So make it fun! 

6. Be Persistence Don’t be discouraged if your little one doesn’t immediately say, “Yum!” It may help to remember that “no” doesn’t really mean “no.” It often means “not now.” Research shows that it can take 10 or 15 tries before a toddler will accept a new food. So there’s no need to force the issue each time. If at first you don’t succeed, simply try, try, try again. 

7. Reward Good Behaviour Creating positive food experiences can decrease picky eating tendencies. Research has shown that rewarding a child for trying one bite of a rejected food with things like stickers makes it easier for them to try the food. 

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An apple a day keeps your asthma at bay

A study published today has revealed that the number of children being admitted to hospital with symptoms of asthma has fallen since the smoking ban, which took effect in July 2007.

Research shows there was a 12.3% fall in admissions in the first year following the introduction of the law, and these have continued to drop in subsequent years.

Asthma affects one in 11 children in the UK, and can be caused by a variety of factors including family history, exposure to tobacco smoke or premature birth.

There are many over-the-counter remedies to help manage asthma on a day-to-day basis, however many parents may not know that their child’s diet can affect the severity of their asthma.

As part of the KiddiChef grown-up forum, we provide information on how different foods can help disorders like asthma, eczema and hay-fever.

Asthma is a respiratory ailment that causes inflammation in the lungs. Omega-3 from flaxseed and fatty fishes, such as salmon, mackerel or tuna, may reduce asthma inflammation as well as promoting healthy brain and heart functions.

Fruit and vegetables rich in Vitamin C- may decrease asthma wheezing symptoms.  These include apples, berries, citrus fruits, cabbage, broccoli, leafy greens, sweet potatoes, carrots, tomatoes and red peppers. Foods made with vegetables and fruits, such as smoothies, juices, stews, pasta dishes and vegetable-based soups, are also rich in antioxidants.

Studies have found that people with asthma tend to have lower blood and tissue levels of magnesium, and increasing magnesium intake over the long run can reduce the incidence of asthma attacks. Magnesium rich foods such as green leafy vegetables, legumes, whole grains and tofu may prevent asthma attacks, whereas low dietary intake of magnesium-rich foods can increase asthma symptoms such as wheezing, coughing and chest congestion.

Seeds, nuts and plant-based oils such as sunflower seeds and oil, almonds, almond butter, hazelnuts, wheat germ oil, peanut butter, peanuts and soybean oil, provide your body with unsaturated fats and vitamin E nutrients. It has been noted that vitamin E may also decrease asthma-related lung inflammation.

Reduce Food Waste

We throw away 7.2million tonnes of food and drink from our homes every year in the UK. This adds up to the average household wasting £480 a year and rising to £680 for a family with children. 

2 main reasons why we throw away good food

1)      We cook too much

2)      We don’t use it on time

 

This New Year, ditch the bad shopping habits and plan to cook fresh food, save money and eat more healthily. Cooking at home is important as it equips families to gain the knowledge and confidence to prepare healthy affordable meals. 

Understanding the fundamental principles of cooking and how to save money, shop smarter and to reduce food waste will not only help us save £££ it will postively impact the environement too.

 KiddiChef.com has helped with these 10tips to reduce Food Waste.

1. Shopping matters: Reducing food waste begins at the grocery store.  Live by the motto “Buy what you need, and eat what you buy.”  Always have a plan and a list before going grocery shopping.  Check your pantry and fridge before you head to the store to make sure you’re buying what you really need.
2. Buy fresh produce a week at a time: Buy fresh fruits and vegetables in bulk only if you will use them before they go bad. If you are able to get to the grocery store weekly, buy only enough fresh produce to last that week.
3. Cook with canned and frozen fruits and vegetables: Canned and frozen fruits and vegetables can be a good solution if you aren’t sure you’ll be able to use up fresh foods before they go bad.  Bonus: they are often more affordable than fresh and can be even more nutritious. Just make sure they have no added salt, sugar or fats.
4. Stock your pantry: A well-stocked pantry can be the secret to whipping up a tasty meal from food that would otherwise go to waste. 
5. Adapt recipes to your needs: Learn to adjust recipes to meet your needs and use up what’s in your fridge.  Make changes to a recipe based on the foods you have at hand, including leftovers.
6. Make the freezer your friend: Freeze bread when it won’t be used right away, or if you have some leftover from a meal (bread can be stored in a freezer for up to 6 months).  Freeze leftover vegetables for use in later soups or stir fries.  Chop and store fresh fruits in freezer to use for smoothies.
7. Use up fresh fruit before it goes bad: Combine fruits into a fruit salad or top cereal with sliced fruit. Cook berries, apples or pears into a tasty pie or cupcakes. Use overripe fruit in muffins, breads, or pancakes.
8. Use up fresh vegetables before they go bad: Add vegetables to soups, stews, casseroles, pastas, sauces, or omelettes.  Combine vegetables and a little salad dressing for a side dish or snack
9. Transform leftovers into a new meal: Transform leftover mashed potatoes into a hearty soup by combining them with stock, a splash of vinegar, onions, carrots and any other veggies you have on hand.
10. Stretch ingredients over multiple meals: Use ingredients more than once to save money and avoid food waste. Add veggies to pasta or combine to make a mixed salad. 

 For further information on healthy afforadble recipes visit our KiddiChef.com Facebook Page www.facebook.com/kiddichef

Are you aware of the ‘hidden nasties’ in your food?

Change4Life – the government’s public health programme –have launched a new campaign to expose the high levels of sugar, fat and salt in food.

 

The scheme, which aims to reduce obesity, increase activity and improve lifestyle, aired its new advertisement this week.

 

It shows a large wine glass full of fat, which supposedly represents the amount of fat in a pizza and also claims that there are 17 sugar cubes in a bottle of cola.

It is hoped that this very visual representation of the‘hidden nasties’ will help people make better food choices.

 

Change4Life’s ethos is quite similar to that of KiddiChef in that we both want to create a well-balanced, healthy lifestyle.

 
 

KiddiChef’s meals contain only a varied selection of fresh, nutritious ingredients with no additives or preservatives.

 
 

However, we are not only about food, KiddiChef’s online community allows children and parents to feel part of fun, creative and inspiring hub.

 
 

Victoria Taylor, a dietician at the British Heart Foundation, welcomed the Change 4 Life campaign.

 

She said: "If we're to lessen the heavy burden of obesity, this campaign must provide the spark for a continued, joined-up approach to the promotion of healthy eating and physical activity across the UK."

 

 

We, at KiddiChef, hope that people take notice of the new campaign and bear it in mind when they are making food choices for themselves and their family.