Is it any wonder then that mums, dads and caregivers are constantly looking for inspiration and ideas for how to keep kids fed and happy?Ìý

Then there’s the pressure to keep meals tasty and nutritionally balanced; stick to a budget; and perhaps cater to an allergy, intolerance or special food requirement or two – not to mention kids’ often wildly illogical and inconsistent approach to what they will or will not currently eat.Ìý

It’s a recipe for exhaustion, stress and overwhelm. Deep breaths.Ìý

We round up some of the go-to appliances ÌÇÐÄVlog parents have found helpful over the years, and some of their best tips and advice for how to make meal planning easier.

Mealtime saviours: the handiest appliances

Here are the top five most-lauded appliances that kids’ caterers (i.e. parents and carers) say are their godsends when it comes to delivering meals. They can go a long way towards reducing stress and increasing inspiration in the kitchen.Ìý

1. Air fryer or multi-cooker

Speed and convenience are of utmost importance when you get home with hungry kids who need to be fed. Want crisp chicken nuggets in 15 mins flat? Perhaps golden drumsticks in under 30 minutes or grilled sausages in under 10?Ìý

These versatile appliances deliver. Air fryers are quicker than ovens to preheat and cook, easy to operate and can be used for a huge variety of meals (find out why we love air fryers).Ìý

And, if you opt for a multi-cooker with an air fryer function, a whole other world of easy food-prep solutions opens up to you, with options for slow cooking, pressure cooking, rice cooking, dehydrating and more.

2. Food processor

Cooking with fresh ingredients from scratch generally means a fair bit of slicing, dicing and chopping.Ìý

A food processor is a clever kitchen shortcut that can cut down meal-prep time to help you batch cook quickly or sneak extra veg into bolognaise and stews without having to spend hours at a chopping board.Ìý

It’s a mean shredding machine, too, especially great for jobs like shredding carrots and cheese (did you know ÌÇÐÄVlog rates each food processor we test on how well it shreds cheese? And everything needs cheese, no?).Ìý

A food processor is also a dab hand at making dough and pureeing veg for soups, both of which can be the basis for some great meal ideas.

3. A good blender

Substantial smoothies, loaded with nutritious fruit, veg and proteins, are the ultimate parent hack to get your kids’ bellies full of lots of good stuff, so a powerful blender that can sit on your benchtop is worth adding to your kitchen arsenal.

Sneak nutrient-dense foods like nuts, oats and chia seeds into fruit smoothies for power-packed breakfasts or afternoon snacks; easily puree steamed fruit to stir into porridges; or blend up roast vegetables with stock to make soup. There are so many ways a great blender can help inspire and lighten the load.Ìý

Best of all, they are super versatile, so you can tailor something delicious that’ll suit your kids’ taste buds.Ìý

High-performance blendersÌýare generally more expensive, but they are also more powerful and good performers easily blitz coarser ingredients such as kale or nuts, which can make them worth the investment.

4. Dedicated freezer

Planning ahead and freezing meals is one of the best ways to avoid getting caught out at dinner time when the kids are being feral. Only problem is, freezer space is often at a premium and who has room to fit a load of dinners alongside your essential ice-cream stash?Ìý

If you have space, a double door fridge-freezer or chest freezer can help you hoard a lifetime supply of frozen pizzas and dumplings, and that bolognaise you cooked up three gallons of.

5. Espresso machine/stovetop coffee maker

This one isn’t for the kids (obviously) but many of us would not have survived the drudgery of feeding the sprogs day in and day out without a daily injection of caffeine.Ìý

Making your coffee at home is also seriously more cost-efficient than buying from a cafe, which helps with the household budget.Ìý

Although manual espresso machines outperform pod machines in our testing when it comes to the flavour of the coffee they produce, some people prefer the convenience and speed of pod or automatic machines.

Meal-planning tips we swear by

Whether it’s ideas for lunchbox prep or dinner planning, here are some of the best tips from parents on what helps them cope with family catering duties.Ìý

Clever prepÌý

Shop in bulk:Ìý“I do a menu and a shopping list on the weekend and then shop for everything we need for the week in one go. If you do online shopping, you can keep track of your shopping lists using the supermarket apps and add things as you remember.Ìý For me it’s about removing the mental load of finishing work then having to decide what to cook for dinner, which I hate. It’s so much easier to know in advance what I’m going to cook each day.”

Pool your prep: “I chop up heaps of carrot, celery and cucumber sticks on a weekend and keep them in the fridge, so they’re ready to divvy up for lunchboxes throughout the week.”Ìý

Double up: “I don’t do batch cooking, but I do cut big batches of veggies on the weekend and use half to make a soup and then freeze the other half to use to make another soup or stir-fry quickly during the week.”Ìý

Freezer space savers: “If you’re batch cooking and pushed for space in the freezer, invest in some good reusable silicone freezer bags. After you fill them, lie them flat. Once frozen, you can stack them like records. It’s a massive space saver and less wasted plastic.”Ìý

Lunchbox hacks

Lunchbox menu: “Create a lunchbox meal planner with a handful of options that are easy to make and let the kids pick out what they want for the next week so you can do shopping and meal prep ahead of time.”Ìý

Freeze-ahead lunchbox fillers:Ìý“Cooking up a batch of items on the weekend that you know your kids like and that freeze well takes the stress out of lunches. I bake muffins and things like brownies or pastry scrolls that freeze and defrost well and also stock the freezer with sandwiches and slices of pizza.”

Think outside the box

Breakfast for dinner: “There is absolutely nothing wrong with serving up a plate of boiled or scrambled eggs with toast and baked beans for dinner. My kids love it!”

Snack plates for the win: “We are big fans of grazing plates for dinner. They’re super easy to throw together and no cooking required, it’s a great way to use up whatever you have in the fridge and the kids enjoy the variety. We do chopped up or grated carrots, cheese cubes, cucumber sticks, ham or salami sticks, pretzels or breadsticks with hummus or guacamole, pre-boiled eggs, crackers, pitas or toast, fruit, cherry tomatoes, nuts and seeds… whatever!”

Love your leftovers:Ìý“Don’t make a big dinner from scratch every night. Designate one night to cook a double batch of say a curry, stew or bolognese and then save the rest for leftover night (preferably not the following night so you don’t get sick of the food you made!)”

Take the pressure off

Delegate: “Once the kids are old enough, get them to help prep dinner and make their own lunches. You might be surprised how well they can manage it. Kids love making their own pizzas and sandwiches, especially if they get to choose their own toppings. Sharing the load between parents and caregivers is also handy – delegate certain days to certain members of the family so everyone lends a hand.”Ìý

Keep it simple: “Don’t feel like everyone needs a gourmet meal every day of the week. I don’t worry too much about variety. We have about three staples and no one minds having each of them multiple times per week. They all have three serves of vegies, some protein and usually pasta on the side, that’ll do. “I just don’t have the bandwidth to be coming up with new ideas all the time, especially knowing that it will probably go uneaten by my two-year-old anyway!”

Can meal delivery boxes help with the daily dinner dilemma?Ìý

Sometimes doing the grocery shopping and cooking meals from scratch (including the mental load required) just isn’t an option. Or perhaps you’re stuck in a dinner rut and just need someone else to come up with some new delicious dinner ideas for you.

There are various prepared meal delivery services that deliver ready-made meals that require minimal prep beyond heating, as well as meal kit (or meal box) delivery services that deliver all the portioned ingredients and recipe cards you need to create a meal. These include well-known services such as Hello Fresh, Marley Spoon and QuiteLike.

If you’re someone who often finds themselves making a last-minute dash into the supermarket or takeaway to get dinner, or you spend $3.50 on a bunch of herbs only to use half and let the other half wither away in the fridge, these meal kits can be a convenient and good-value answer to the dinner question, saving you time, money and reducing food waste.

They may not be worth the money, though, if you’re already nailing the meal planning and regularly doing things such as looking for specials on ingredients and buying in bulk.Ìý

Fiona Mair, ÌÇÐÄVlog home economist and one of our testers, found a lot to recommend in the meal delivery services we have tested in our kitchen labs.

“Meal delivery services are predominantly marketed to time-poor families, and we found that some deliver great solutions for families looking to lighten the dinnertime load. If you have limited skills in the kitchen and want to eat home-cooked food, they can also be a great way to learn how to cook and get inspiration,” says Fiona.

The post Mealtime hacks for busy parents and caregivers appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

On this page:

• 1. Go large: Say goodbye to pre-portioned snacks
• 2. Prep your own dairy products
• 3. Make puff pastry your friend
• 4. Bake up a storm
• 5. Use leftovers

This is hard enough in the baby and toddler years, when their tastes vary wildly and they have a tendency to throw things at the walls.ÌýBut then the school years roll around and the reality hits: you have to get up every morning and fill a box with food for your child to eat over the course of an entire day. Five days a week. For 13 years. Oh, and there’s no fridge at school.Ìý

The immensity of this task is overwhelming, and it’s no wonder many of us turn to conveniently pre-packaged foods to help us stagger through.ÌýBut with the cost of living really starting to bite, it’s worth getting creative in the kitchen to see if you can reduce your weekly grocery bill.Ìý

We’ve put together some low-effort ideas that can yield big savings over the course of the school year.

1. Go large: Say goodbye to pre-portioned snacks

This is probably the number one way to save a lot of money with minimal effort. Pre-packaged “lunch box-sized” snacks like crackers, chips, cookies and sultanas sure are convenient, but it really only takes a tiny bit more effort to tip some crisps into a smaller bag before throwing it into a lunch box.Ìý

And the savings can be substantial. For example, if you buy a 225g bag of Parker’s Baked Mini Pretzels, you’ll be paying $1.56/100g. But if you buy the exact same product in six pre-portioned packs, you’ll pay almost double ($3/100g).

To save more money in the long run (and help the environment), invest in a few good-quality, reusable silicone ziploc bags in various sizes that can be used in lunch boxes every day. Another benefit of packing snacks this way is that you get to decide the portion sizes, and you can mix snacks together in one bag.

It’s also worth noting that food packaging is used to market foods to children and to build brand recognition and brand loyalty. Placing foods in generic packets from home instead of their original packaging will reduce your child’s exposure to marketing from food companies.Ìý

2. Prep your own dairy products

It’s not just dry snacks like chips and crackers that cost a fortune in their pre-portioned form. Popular lunch box snacks like cheese and crackers and flavoured yoghurt pots or pouches are also more expensive than their basic counterparts.Ìý

For example, a four-pack of Mainland Munchables Tasty Cheese & Crackers costs a whopping $7 ($1.75 per pack). And each pack contains just three measly slices of cheese and three crackers.Ìý

Instead of buying cheese and cracker packs, you could buy a giant 1kg block of tasty cheese and cut it into cubes yourself (or try grating it into a container – kids often go wild for grated cheese).Ìý

Serve with some crackers (also from a large pack of course) and hey presto, you’re getting the exact same snack for a lot less money. In fact, we calculated that making the exact same serving size of cheese and crackers can cost as little as 27c per serve.

You can also save by buying a large tub of your kids’ favourite yoghurt flavour and portioning it into leakproof containers yourself, rather than buying individual tubs or pouches. You can even make it fun by adding another container with custom “mix-ins” – nuts, seeds and dried or frozen fruit are all good options for them to add themselves when they’re ready to eat it.Ìý

3. Make puff pastry your friend

If you often buy your kids savoury baked goods for their lunch boxes, you could save by making some really simple things yourself. It’s amazing what you can do with a few sheets of puff pastry. From cheese and vegemite twists to mini pizza pinwheels or ham and cheese scrolls, the internet abounds with ideas.Ìý

The recipes are usually very simple, mostly just a matter of spreading a couple of ingredients on the pastry and popping it in the oven.Ìý

And the best bit is you can bake these things in bulk, freeze them and then just put them in your kids’ lunch boxes in the morning.Ìý

We compared the cost of making puff pastry cheese and vegemite scrolls with buying a 6-pack of Woolworths Mini Mighty scrolls (they’re not strictly the same, because the Woolworths product uses bread dough rather than puff pastry, but hopefully most kiddos would still like the puff pastry option).Ìý

The cost of making your own puff pastry scrolls was 76c per 100g, while the pre-made option was almost twice as much at $1.44 per 100g.Ìý

If you want to take it a step further and make your own 2-ingredient dough using just yoghurt and self-raising flour, you could pay as little as 66c per 100g to whip up some cheesymite scrolls.

4. Bake up a storm

The same goes for baked sweet treats like mini muffins and cakes. Even if you don’t consider yourself much of a baker, it can be very worthwhile to spend an hour whipping up a giant batch of super-simple banana muffins or choc-chip cookies, freeze them and use them in lunch boxes for the entire month to come.Ìý

As well as saving money, another benefit of making from scratch is having control over the ingredients, so you can avoid things like artificial colours or flavours and excessive sugars.

For example, we compared the cost of a five-slice pack banana bread from Woolworths, a single serve of pre-made banana bread from Coles, and a super simple homemade loaf using the recipe on the Woolworths website and the cheapest ingredients from Woolies.Ìý

Buying the pre-made 5-slice option will cost you $1.30 per 100g, while the single-serve Coles banana bread will cost you $2 per 100g. But making it yourself can cost as little as 57c per 100g – that’s less than half the cost of the cheapest pre-made option. Over a year, that can add up to a tidy saving.Ìý

Plus, the pre-made options contain preservatives, while the home-made option is all-natural (and will freeze perfectly well if you want it to last).Ìý

5. Use leftovers

The cheapest lunch of all is food you already have that would otherwise go to waste, and dinner leftovers can make a delicious lunch if served well.Ìý

If you’ve had something for dinner that can be reheated, such as pasta, bolognaise or curry, package up a hot portion in a thermos, and lunch for the day is sorted. Just add some snacks for recess and a piece of fruit and you’re good to go.Ìý

The post 5 money-saving lunchbox hacks appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

I’m always asking myself two questions:

1. Will my children even eat this thing if I pack it in their lunchboxes?Ìý

2. Is it actually good for their growing bodies?

The second question is often more difficult to answer.Ìý

At ÌÇÐÄVlog, we’ve spoken about the issue of added sugars in children’s snacks at length. Huge swathes of pre-packaged foodstuffs use on-package messaging to convince parents they’re “healthy” or “natural” but the reality is often different.Ìý

Many of the snacks advertised as such are actually packed with sugar, and not the naturally occurring kind. A ÌÇÐÄVlog review of 78 packaged meals and snacks marketed specifically for toddlersÌýfound that over half contained large amounts of added sugar.Ìý

That’s worrying to say the least. In fact, many foods marketed as being “healthy” actually contain more sugar per 100 grams than jelly snakes. Allen’s Snakes Alive are made up of roughly 44% sugar. All of the snacks we’re about to list are hitting 60% at least and, worse, they’re being marketed to parents of toddlers as a healthy option, not a one-off treat.

The kids foods with the highest levels of added sugars

Here are some of the worst offenders we uncovered in our review.

2. Kiddylicious Smoothie Melts Strawberry & BananaÌý

67% sugar
The Kiddylicious brand is a repeat offender here. This snack comes a close second to the Fruit Wriggles in terms of sugar content.Ìý

3. Kiddylicious Crispy Tiddlers RaspberryÌý

63% sugar
Noticing a theme? The Kiddylicious Tiddlers Raspberry snack has 19% more sugar than the Allen’s jelly snakes.

4. Rafferty’s Garden Mixed Berry Yoghurt Buttons

62.9% sugar
Finally we’ve got a non Kiddylicious brand snack on this list. While yoghurt can be a healthy option for kids, these “yoghurt” buttons are mainly sugar.Ìý

5. Rafferty’s Garden Strawberry Yoghurt Buttons

62.3% sugarÌý
And the last offender on this list is another Rafferty’s Yoghurt Buttons product, just in a different flavour.

Now, we’re not saying kids shouldn’t be allowed to indulge in a sugary snack every now and then – that’s the stuff memories are made of. But if the snacks you thought were healthy are, in fact, packed full of sugar, you might as well give your kids the jelly snakes they’re begging for!

Another thing to be aware of: there’s an incredible amount of trickery involved in actually identifying sugar in an ingredients list. ÌÇÐÄVlog has identified a ludicrous 60 different names that essentially amount to added sugar.ÌýEverything from panocha to rapadura to [checks notes] turbinado? Are these sugars or Pokemon?

When it comes to added sugar, you definitely don’t wanna catch ’em all.Ìý

How to choose healthy kids’ snacks

So what should you give your kids as snacks? The answer may not be exciting, but it’s fairly simple –Ìý good old-fashioned whole foods. I try to stick to the stuff I know they’ll actually eat and is relatively easy to chuck in a lunch box – like grapes, blueberries or bananas.Ìý

But, as we all know, kids will complain. And sometimes it does make sense to grab some pre-packaged snacks. On those occasions it pays to scan the ingredient list.

Here are a few quick tips when you’re shopping for kids’ snacks:

• Smaller ingredient lists are typically better. It’s also worth noting that ingredients are always listed in order of greatest to smallest quantities. If some form of sugar is near the top of that list, beware!
• Look for whole food ingredients. Essentially, if an ingredient is a food you could easily identify in the fresh produce aisle (like apples, oats or nuts), it’s probably pretty good. Try to avoid foods with ingredient names your grandmother wouldn’t recognise.
• Try to avoid snacks with fruit concentrates, pastes, purees or powders in their ingredient lists if you want to keep sugar intake low. You’ll probably be surprised by how many kids’ snacks contain one or more of these sneaky ingredients that sound healthy but are actually added sugars.
• Health star ratings are a quick and useful guide if you’re busy and time is short. Just be aware that the star ratings are designed to compare food products within their category. You can’t compare biscuits to yoghurts, for example.

The post These ‘healthy’ kids’ snacks have more sugar than jelly snakes appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

It’s almost back to school time, which means packed lunches will soon be back on your daily to-do list.Ìý

Whether you consider it to be a tiresome chore, or you quite enjoy it, creating a lunch that your child might actually eat also involves putting it in something that will keep the food in edible, transportable and, hopefully, appealing condition.Ìý

The array of lunch box options on offer is staggering: different sizes and styles (lunch bag, box, bento-style, single compartment) as well as various materials (BPA-free plastic, stainless steel, bamboo) – not to mention how you’re going to keep the food insulated and safe to eat. It’s a culinary conundrum!Ìý

But parents can probably all agree we want to pick the best lunch box to encourage our kids to eat healthily and enthusiastically every day – plus one that’s easy to clean and won’t cause a mess at the bottom of a school bag.ÌýÌý

One lunch box that promises all of the above is Yumbox, a US brand of bento-style lunch box that’s become popular with Aussie parents. Here, ÌÇÐÄVlog parents give their take on the Yumbox, plus some other things to consider to help you pick the perfect lunch box.

What is a bento-style lunch box?

Bento-style lunch boxes such as the Yumbox are inspired by traditional Japanese bento boxes: single-serve meals packed into a box, usually based around rice or noodles.Ìý

Essentially, they’re boxes that open and close with a single latch, containing an inner tray with multiple compartments for different types of food. Some also have a silicone seal to prevent spills.

They’re designed to make it easy for parents to include a variety of tastes, textures and portion-controlled food groups for kid’s lunches, so are billed as a good choice for both fussy and adventurous eaters.

There are many brands of bento-style lunch boxes available in Australia, including options from Yumbox, b.box, Bentgo, Hippo Blue, Stuck on You, Seed & Sprout and Smiggle, plus several budget options from Aldi, Kmart and others.

Are Yumbox lunch boxes worth it?

With a recommended retail price of $44.95 for the Yumbox Original Bento Box Lunchbox, this is not a cheap option for housing your child’s Vegemite sarnie (for that price, you might be wishing it magically makes the lunch for you, but sadly it isn’t so).

So what do you get for the cash?Ìý

The Yumbox is dishwasher-safe, with a removable inner tray containing multiple compartments in different sizes, depending on which type you buy (more on that below).Ìý

They’re made from food safe, lead-free, BPA-free plastic, and contain no phthalates or PVC.Ìý

They have a silicone seal that makes the box leakproof when it contains things such as yoghurt or dip, but not liquids.Ìý

The newest addition to the range is the Yumbox Presto, which has a moulded stainless steel tray with compartments, as opposed to plastic (the Yumbox Presto has a much heftier price tag though, and will set you back $72.95).Ìý

What ÌÇÐÄVlog users say

ÌÇÐÄVlog parents who have used a Yumbox for their kids say that they’re lightweight, durable and easy to clean.Ìý

The option to include lots of different types of food without the need for plastic wrap or other packaging is also a plus.

Parent of two, Jane, says: “We have three Yumboxes and I think they’re great. They never leak, food looks more appealing in them, they eliminate the need for plastic wrap and individual packets/containers, and are easy for little hands to open and close.”

Another ÌÇÐÄVlog parent of two Amanda says: “We’ve had our Yumbox for three years and it’s still in great condition, worn but no leaks, no spills ever.”

On the downside (apart from the price tag), they do take up quite a bit of space in the dishwasher, and you may need to air-dry them afterwards.Ìý

What size lunch box or Yumbox should you buy?Ìý

Different children may require different amounts or styles of food to keep them satisfied. So when buying a lunchbox, consider how much you’ll need to pack (so how big it needs to be) and what kinds of foods you’ll need to fit in it.Ìý

For example, do you need space to pack a sandwich, wrap or bread roll, or is your child a more particular eater who likes lots of options to choose from?Ìý

Do they prefer the fruit cut up into smaller or larger pieces, or do they like it whole? Note that none of the Yumbox options have space to pack large whole fruits such as a banana or apple, so you may have to consider a different style of lunchbox or an insulated lunch bag for that.

Prepare for the future

If you’re considering a Yumbox or another lunch box that’s up there in price and you’d rather not buy multiple sizes, make sure the model you buy will continue to be suitable as your child’s eating habits change.

For example, one ÌÇÐÄVlog parent replaced their daughter’s Yumbox Original when she started school, because she needed a bigger size.

“I bought the Yumbox Panino, as sometimes she likes to take a sandwich or wrap as an option, and you can’t fit that in the Original. It’s a lot of money to spend on another lunch box, but it works better for me than having lots of little containers or plastic-wrapped products, and my daughter really enjoys eating from it.”

Yumbox is currently available in six different sizes and styles, ranging in price from around $30 for the MiniBox with two compartments and a dip well, through to the $73 Presto that holds 3 and a half cups worth of food.

How does Yumbox compare with cheaper alternatives?

We know not everyone wants to spend big bucks on a lunchbox. You can pick up a lunchbox from the supermarket or stores such as Kmart or Big W for as little as a few dollars.Ìý

This may also be a better option if your child is prone to losing items or they’re likely to get damaged.

ÌÇÐÄVlog mum of three Margaret has a tip: “My lunchbox days are behind me (thank goodness). But we had a rule in our house that the kids could choose a new lunch box at the start of each year, but if they lost it I sent them to school with their lunch in a plastic bag for the rest of the term and then they got a cheap plastic box from the supermarket. It really helped them be responsible.”Ìý

Budget boxes may not last

When it comes to the cheaper bento-style boxes, ÌÇÐÄVlog parents say some budget options don’t go the distance and can be more fiddly to use.Ìý

Jane says: “I bought two cheapo Aldi boxes as alternatives to our Yumboxes. They’ve been used only occasionally for less than a year, and already I’ve had to throw one out because a corner of the inner tray shattered and little pieces of plastic were breaking off into the food compartment.”

Another advantage of Yumbox is that the lid is attached. ÌÇÐÄVlog parent Emily says, “I’ve tried other lunch boxes (such as Sistema, Decor, Kmart) before the Yumbox. But the Yumbox has been the most reliable and, because of its design, I don’t have containers coming home with lids missing.”

Another parent says, “I like our Yumbox because the plastic insert is easy to get in and out for cleaning, and my daughter can open the latch easily herself (she is five). I also tried a much cheaper Aldi bento and it just feels less durable and the components don’t fit together as neatly or smoothly.”

And if a lunchbox is durable, you might be able to pass it down to the next child. As another ÌÇÐÄVlog parent says, “I can use them both for my son when he gets a bit older, too, which gives me more value for the money I’ve spent.”

What to look for when buying a new lunchbox

Whether you decide to splash out on a Yumbox or another brand/type of lunch box, here are some tips for what to consider before buying:

Size

How old is your child and how much do they like to eat? Keep in mind you’ll need to pack something for Crunch ‘n’ Sip (if they’re in primary school), recess, lunch and perhaps a snack for after school. Is there space to pack whole pieces of fruit, a yoghurt pouch or a fruit box, if this is what your child likes?

Insulation

Is there a freezer brick/cool bag included? How can you keep the lunchbox contents cool? If not, will it fit in an insulated lunch bag? Will you need an insulated product to keep meals warm in winter, such as soups or warm pastas?

How easy is it to clean?

Being able to pop it in the dishwasher is the most preferable option, as you’ll need to clean it every day. Be wary of little crevices that might trap food.

Ease of use

If you have younger children, can they open it themselves? A single box to open may be easier than lots of little containers.

Material

If you are buying plastic, look for products that are BPA- andphthalates-free. Plastic alternatives to consider include bamboo, which is considered more sustainable than plastic, or stainless steel, which can be pricier but is non-reactive and durable. There are also fabric lunch bags/wraps, or if you have an older, responsible child, you could consider glass (although it’s heavier and more breakable).

Durability

How likely is the lunchbox to survive being dropped or kicked around in a school bag? Is the lid attached or separate? Will it easily fly off or get lost? Are there detachable dividers that could get lost and, if so, can you buy replacements?

Is it leakproof?

Look for good-quality silicone seals if you’re concerned about leakage from things such as dips or yoghurt.

Do you want to buy more than one?

Cost may become more of a factor if you want to buy multiple lunchboxes you can prepare in advance and have ready to go in the fridge or freezer.

Design

You may want to choose a neutral design that will grow with your child – so you don’t have to buy a new lunchbox when they grow out of their lunchbox emblazoned with Frozen/Paw Patrol/Spiderman!

The post Should you buy a Yumbox lunch box? appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

The contents need to be quick, easy, cheap, healthy and tasty – and the whole thing needs to be secured in containers that won’t get sloshed all over library books at the bottom of a bag.Ìý

No wonder so many of us give up entirely and outsource the whole thing to the school canteen.

But if 2023 is the year you want to put a lunchbox system in place that actually works, the key is to be prepared.Ìý

Here, ÌÇÐÄVlog staff and supporters share their tried-and-tested lunchbox tricks that will help you win the Battle of the Box.

1. Freeze, please

Freezing sandwiches in advance is Lunchbox Hack 101, but there are a few things to consider to make sure you do it right. Mum-of-three Bek is happy to freeze her sandwiches whole, but ÌÇÐÄVlog product designer Emily warns they have to be wrapped “really well” or they can suffer freezer burn.Ìý

Ivonne, ÌÇÐÄVlog’s member engagement manager, suggests that instead of freezing whole sandwiches, you keep your bread in the freezer for convenience and then make your sandwiches the night before using the frozen bread. “It defrosts slowly overnight in the fridge and is fresh for the day,” she says.

2. Contain yourself

You could spend six hours preparing a Michelin-starred tasting menu for your preschooler’s recess, but it would all be a waste of time with the wrong containers.Ìý

Bek says that bento-style boxes are a safe bet for fussy eaters because “at least you know they’ll eat something”. But Kathleen warns against investing too much in fancy boxes that will almost certainly end up either lost or which won’t fit inside that tatty Bluey lunchbag that your preschooler simply can’t live without.Ìý

“It makes sense to have a few cheaper, different-shaped boxes for when they leave [their usual one] at school and you have to cobble together odd-shaped containers to fit everything in until it miraculously returns,” she says.Ìý

Another way to minimise container attrition? Invest in lunchboxes and drink bottles with attached lids. “Can you tell we lose a lot of things in our house?” Kathleen says.

3. Hit the health vs hunger sweet spotÌý

The dilemma: your children would happily live on Twisties and chocolate bars if you’d let them, but the school health police will rap you over the knuckles unless you make them quinoa flatbreads and acai smoothies – which they’d never touch, even if you had the time and energy.Ìý

Every child is different, but there are a few store-bought snacks worth having on hand that should tick both boxes. Baby sushi is a good one, according to ÌÇÐÄVlog whitegoods expert Ashley, and Bek says seaweed strips and baby bocconcini both pass muster.Ìý

4. Thermoses: think beyond soup

A hot lunch on a cold day is a wonderful thing, and a great way to use up last night’s leftovers.Ìý

Kathleen likes to pack heat-holding thermoses with zucchini slices or leftover bolognese, which she says is a “good way to get them to eat veggies without them realising”.Ìý

Parent-of-two Jess regularly packs her fifth-grader’s thermos with tri-colour vegetable spiral pasta, which is much easier to eat than long strands.

5. Get half-baked

ÌÇÐÄVlog money and travel expert Uta has a brilliant way to include fresh-baked snacks in her daughter’s lunchbox. She buys frozen ricotta and spinach pastries or veggie sausage rolls. She then bakes them in advance until they’re done but not quite browned, before putting them back in the freezer.Ìý

“Each night I take one portion out and put it in the fridge and in the morning I finish it in the sandwich press,” she says. Fresh and fabulous.Ìý

6. Make a moving menu

All hail ÌÇÐÄVlog engineering lead Andrea, who has to have one of the most comprehensive – and she says failsafe – kid-friendly lunchbox systems we’ve ever encountered.Ìý

“I make a lunch menu using magnet-backed lamination sheets and pre-set menu options we know they like,” she says. “Usually on a Sunday afternoon I get them to pick out everything they want for the week, then I plan grocery shopping to suit.

“We’re not generally very organised, but this was the one setup I felt was worth the effort, as it makes lunch prep so much smoother. They are usually more invested in eating lunches they’ve picked out themselves.”

7. Manageable chunks

Cut, slice, prep, store. The more of that you can do in advance, the easier your mornings will be. Emily, ÌÇÐÄVlog product designer, is a ninja on this front.Ìý

“On the day of a weekly grocery run I will prep the veg: carrots, cucumber (deseeded) and celery, all chopped into sticks and packed into old takeaway containers that I reuse,” she says. “Then, when I prep the lunchboxes in the morning, it’s grab and go.”

8. Systemise it

ÌÇÐÄVlog test coordinator Mostafa says the key to lunch prep for his four boys is having systems, and sticking to them with military precision.Ìý

He breaks his sons’ lunches into five categories: sandwich, fruit and veg, drink, recess and special extras. Then, he has three or four options in each category that he rotates – such as a choice of pepita seeds, grated coconut or dried cranberries under the ‘special extras’ heading. The idea is to minimise decisions and stick to things the children like.

9.Ìý Eat and repeat

Children are simple folk, and will generally eat the same thing ad nauseum if it’s something they like. The upside for you is that repetition means you can buy in bulk and cut down on both prep time and the mental load of creativity.Ìý

“Parents worry a lot more than kids about eating the same thing over and over,” says Stacy. “You can easily make the same lunch for the whole week – or two, depending on the kid – and they won’t care or notice.”

The post Lifesaving lunchbox hacks to make back-to-school easy appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

You can fill them with ingredients of your choosing, such as natural yoghurt or homemade purées. And they’re better for both the environment and your hip pocket than the single-use supermarket versions.

So how easy are they to use? How long do they last? And how much money can they save you? Our triallists (and their kids) put seven reusable food pouches through their paces to find out. See how we test for details.

Which is the best reusable food pouch?

Here are the products we trialled, ranked from the highest score to the lowest.

ChooMee

choomee.com

Score: 4.7 out of 5

Size: 148mL

Price: $27.95 for eight-pack ($3.49 per pouch)

Good to know:

• Rated well for ease to fill, ease to eat from, ease of removing and replacing lid, ease to clean and ease to dry
• Comes with child-safe (anti-choke) lids
• Freezer and dishwasher (top rack) safe
• Free from BPA, phthalates, lead and PVC.

Triallist comments:

“The picture is very cute, which would make it appealing to kids. The pouch felt like it was decent quality (i.e. plastic was thick).” “Easiest of the bunch to fill, had a wider opening.””Very easy to eat from. Ergonomically designed for little hands. Didn’t require much squeeze for yoghurt to come up and out through the lip.” “Large lid, easy to use and not lose!” “Rounded edges means no corners food can get stuck in – it’s easy to pop in the dishwasher and dries well on the drying rack.”

Little Mashies

littlemashies.com

Score: 4.3 out of 5

Size: 130mL

Price: $35.95 for 10-pack ($3.60 per pouch)

Good to know:

• Rated well for ease to fill, ease to seal, ease to eat from, ease of removing and replacing lid, ease to clean and ease to dry
• Most expensive pouch in our trial
• Comes with child-safe lids
• Freezer and dishwasher safe
• Free from BPA, phthalates and PVC.

Triallist comments:

“The packaging was very cute with the little monster picture – kiddo loved it. It looked much more appealing than some of the plainer pouches, which might make it easier to get your kid to eat.” “Opening allowed me to fill up with very little mess.” “I found this seal quite easy to use/rigid” “No crevices/corners for food to get stuck into – easy to pop in the dishwasher” “Easy to air dry.”

Squooshi

squooshi.com

Score: 4.1 out of 5

Size: 147mL

Price: $23.49 for 12-pack ($1.96 per pouch)

Good to know:

• Rated well for ease to seal, ease to eat from, ease of removing and replacing lids, ease to clean and ease to dry
• Cheaper than average
• Comes with child-safe lids
• Freezer and dishwasher safe
• Free from BPA, phthalates, lead and PVC.

Triallist comments:

“Fun looking packet – attractive to kids””Easy enough to seal and didn’t require a second push to lock in. Noticed the lock seal was the most secure and firm.” “The kid found it easy to eat from and liked it.” “Easy to open and close without any assistance. The large lid is great for little hands to do themselves.” “Easy to dry with or without a towel.”

Sinchies (top spout)

sinchies.com.au

Score: 3.7 out of 5

Size: 150mL

Price: $25.50 for 10-pack ($2.55 per pouch)

Good to know:

• Rated well for ease to fill, ease to eat from, ease to clean and ease to dry
• Equal lowest rating for ease of removing and replacing lids
• Pouches come with a standard lid but you can buy child-safe lids separately
• Freezer safe, not recommended for use in a dishwasher
• Free from BPA, phthalate and PVC.

Triallist comments:

“Great big size, great packaging design” “It’s a bit wider than others so easy to fill and it has a ‘max fill line’ so you know where to fill it to” “Super easy to clean as there were no nooks or hard to reach places in the pouch.” “The shape of the pouch made it easy to dry with either a towel or air drying.” “Hard to undo the lid and seal.”

Cherub Baby (top spout)

cherubbaby.com.au

Score: 3.5 out of 5

Size: 180mL

Price: $14.99 for 10-pack ($1.50 per pouch)

Good to know:

• Rated well for ease to seal, ease to eat from and ease of removing and replacing lid
• Lowest rating for ease to fill
• Cheaper than average
• Comes with child-safe lids
• Freezer and dishwasher safe
• Free from BPA, BPS, phthalate and PVC.

Triallist comments:

“Cute pineapple design and you can see the contents of the pouch. Slim design that looks easy to hold. Large lid is easy to remove.” “As the seal is shorter than some of the other pouches (the pouch is slimmer) I felt it was quite easy to seal.” “It was hard to fill without spilling because it was narrow.”

Sinchies (side spout)

sinchies.com.au

Score: 2.7 out of 5

Size: 140mL

Price: $23 for 10-pack ($2.30 per pouch)

Good to know:

• Rated well for ease to eat from
• Lowest rating for ease to seal and equal lowest rating for ease of removing and replacing lids
• Pouches come with a standard lid but you can buy child-safe lids separately
• Freezer safe, not recommended for use in a dishwasher
• Free from BPA, phthalate and PVC.

Triallist comments:

“It looks small and very plain””Different to others with spout on the side””Took me multiple attempts to seal it properly. However, it didn’t leak even when I squeezed it.””Gets a little harder the more you wash it, the plastic is less flexible.” “Hard to grip the small lid and tight to open”.

Cherub Baby (side spout)

cherubbaby.com.au

Score: 2.1 out of 5

Size: 150mL

Price: $19.99 for 20-pack ($1.00 per pouch)

Good to know:

• Rated well for ease of removing and replacing lid
• Lowest rating for ease to eat from, ease to clean and ease to dry
• Cheapest pouch in our trial
• Comes with child-safe lids, name labels and measuring guide
• Freezer and dishwasher safe
• Free from BPA, BPS, phthalate and PVC.

Triallist comments:

“The pouch was very basic compared to the other designs.” “Love that it has measurements (mL and oz) on the packaging, but it’s odd to see a pouch with the spout on the side.””Given the angle of the lip it was very awkward to squeeze the contents out. It required a rolling effort. The pouch was not ergonomically friendly for little hands given its shape and location of lip.” “It’s easy enough to rinse out but I found yoghurt residue around the base of the pouch which wasn’t easy to remove.” “Longest of all pouches to dry.”

How long do they last?

According to the manufacturers, you can expect a reusable pouch to last anything from six months to more than a year – although it does depend on what you use them for and how you care for them.

For example, the Sinchies website says: “We have had some customers using the same batch for years and some only for six months as they’ve constantly been heating the pouches, freezing them and washing them in the dishwasher (please note, we do not recommend putting pouches through the dishwasher). Generally we say six months is a good life, due to the low price point of the pouches ranging from $1 to a few dollars.”

The Cherub Baby website states: “Our pouches are built strong and designed to last. Cleaning the pouches in the dishwasher will wear them out faster, so we recommend hand washing them using a bottle brush and drying on a rack. This way you’ll find the pouches bounce back really well after each use. Most customers find they get at least six months use out of the pouches with many using them for years from the infant stage through to yoghurt pouches as bub grows through to a toddler and beyond.”

The Squooshi website even specifies a one-year guarantee. “Our pouch is leak proof and made to last. If you find your pouch has a fault within a year of purchase, we’ll happily replace it.

The way your child eats from it can also affect a pouch’s lifespan, as one triallist found: “One thing I noted about all of the pouches [we trialled] is that kids can chew on the spout and flatten it, so the lids don’t fit. Therefore while these are definitely reusable many times, I see them not lasting years as the spout will deteriorate over time.”

How much money and plastic waste could you save?

If your child prefers to eat their food purées and yoghurts from a pouch, ditching the single-use supermarket versions for reusable ones can cut food costs and reduce plastic waste.

We crunched the numbers and found that if your child takes a squeezy yoghurt to daycare or school every day, switching to a reusable pouch could save you nearly $160 a year, not to mention a mountain of landfill.

The post Best reusable food pouches for children appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

And it’s not just children. The most recent national nutrition survey found that less than four percent of the population – and less than one percent of children – regularly eat the minimum recommended number of servings of vegetables and legumes/beans.

During your trips to the supermarket, you’ve probably noticed a number of food companies leveraging this issue, making claims on the label about the number of vegie serves in their products. Everything from chips to chicken nuggets seems to be fair game. If it’s an uphill challenge getting your kids to eat more vegies, these products hold obvious appeal. So can these foods really make a meaningful contribution to their five-a-day?

All talk and no substance

On the surface, the claims sound promising. Six serves of veg in a pasta sauce – bring it on! But a closer look reveals that many of these claims are little more than marketing puffery.Ìý

For example:

• A standard serve of vegies is 75g, but food companies sometimes use creative accounting when converting the amount of veg in their products to a number of serves on the label.
• The claims tend to reference the whole pack/bottle/tin, but realistically you’d only be eating a portion of it at any one time.

Also, more often than not the ‘veg’ in question is tomato (closely followed by carrot, then onion). Now, there’s nothing wrong with tomatoes – in fact, they’re incredibly nutritious and versatile (and for the purpose of this article, we won’t quibble about their categorisation as veg rather than fruit).Ìý

But the recommendation to enjoy plenty of vegetables in your diet is as much about including different types and colours of vegetables as it is about eating big enough servings. So you can’t rely on these packaged foods to provide this diversity.

To make matters worse, the ‘serves of veg’ claims are often on the labels of highly processed food. So along with the (often scant) vegies, you tend to be getting less desirable ingredients too, such as salt and added sugar.

Here are some examples.

Masterfoods Tomato Sauce Hidden Veg

Pack claim: “5 serves of veg in every bottle”

Masterfoods isn’t the first to hide vegies in food – parents worldwide have been hiding vegies in their kids’ meals since the dawn of time. The ‘hidden veg’ in this sauce includes carrot and sweet potato, as well as the ubiquitous tomato.Ìý

But each 15mL serve (about three teaspoons) of sauce contains just 12g – or 0.2 of a serve – of vegies. So unless you’re adding liberal quantities of sauce to everything from sausages to salad, you’ll barely scratch the surface of the five-a-day target.

Heinz Spaghetti The One For All

Pack claim: “A tomato squeezed into every serving. Contributes to your 5+ a day*” (“*Contains 3 serves of vegetables per can”)

Three serves of vegetables – that’s only two away from your daily target. That said, it’s three serves of tomatoes, which isn’t exactly the wide variety of veg you should be aiming for.Ìý

Plus, the can is meant to feed four, so if you eat just one portion, you’re getting only 58g (0.8 of a serve) of veg. Eat the whole can, and you’ve had 1605mg sodium, which isn’t far off twice the 920mg you need in a day. Not an ideal outcome if what you’re actually trying to do is eat more vegies.

Steggles Chicken Breast Nuggets Boosted with Veggies

Pack claim: “Boosted with veggies.” “1/4 cup of veg per 10 nuggets.” “Hidden cauliflower and potato.”

This product sounds like a win-win. Nuggets to keep the children happy, with hidden veg to keep their parents happy. That ¼ cup of veg in every 10 nuggets may seem impressive, but when you check the ingredients list it’s actually just 14g in a 100g serve of nuggets – 0.2 of a 75g serving of vegetables.Ìý

That means you’d need to eat the entire 400g pack of nuggets plus a portion of a second pack to get a whole serving of vegies. And anyone who could stomach that quantity would be getting double the sodium and more than half the kilojoules that the average adult needs or consumes in a day.

Annabel Karmel Macaroni Cheese

Pack claim: “1 serve of veggies”

Mac ‘n’ cheese, another surefire hit with children, with bonus broccoli. This single-serve 200g product contains 20% broccoli, which by our calculations equals just 40g – somewhat short of a 75g serve.Ìý

Sure, the recommended number of serves of veg for the age group this product is marketed to is half that of adults, but it’s still not the “1 serve of veggies” it promises on the pack.

Macro Lentil Bites Cruzin Carrot

Pack claim: “5% Carrot + 41% Chickpea & Lentil Flour = Yummy, Hidden Veggies”

On the face of it, 46% veg (5% Carrot + 41% Chickpea & Lentil Flour) sounds pretty reasonable.Ìý

But these puffed-up snacks are actually so lightweight that an individual pack weighs just 18g, which means that 46% is a paltry 8g – about 0.1 of a standard serve of vegies.Ìý

Perhaps that’s what they mean by “hidden”.

10 ways to help reach five serves a day

Processed foods with added vegies may have more nutritional benefit than comparable processed foods without, but they’re no match for actual vegies when it comes to making a dent in your five-a-day target. Nor do they encourage the healthiest of eating habits, which is particularly important for children.Ìý

Nutrition aside, the added bonus of buying fresh or minimally processed vegetables is you get more bang for your buck, particularly if you’re buying in season. The trick is getting your kids to eat them.

So we turned to nutritionists – and ÌÇÐÄVlog parents – for inspiration. Here are their top tips:

1. Encourage children to help shop for and choose vegetables, as well as helping with their preparation – e.g. shredding lettuce, grating carrots and packing vegie sticks in school lunchboxes.
2. Offer vegies throughout the day and start early. Trying to get your kids to eat five serves in their evening meal can be tricky, if not impossible.
3. If they’re vegie-averse, “hide” lentils in their bolognese sauce, cauliflower in their mashed potato and grated carrot, pumpkin or zucchini in their scones and banana bread, and foods such as meatloaf and rissoles.
4. Keep offering your children vegetables, even if they reject them at first.
5. Add extra diced vegetables to kid-friendly foods such as fried rice and frittata, and increase the amount of vegetable toppings on their homemade pizzas.
6. Let kids serve themselves at the table, choosing what and how much they want. This works well for dishes such as Vietnamese rice paper rolls, Mexican fajitas and Korean barbecue lettuce wraps.
7. Eat your vegie-filled evening meal together at the dinner table. Vegetables have traditionally been eaten mainly at dinner in Australia, and with many families no longer having a family meal, the vegetables have become casualties.
8. Try a tasting-plate approach with your children, offering them a few favourite veg, alongside some less familiar options. Examples include celery sticks, capsicum strips, cherry tomatoes, edamame beans, whole button mushrooms, carrot (sticks or grated), snow peas, beans, olives, cucumber or steamed asparagus. Pair these with vegetable or pulse-based dips such as hummus.
9. Help your kids grow their own vegetable garden. If you’re in a flat or have limited space, sprouts, herbs, lettuce and cherry tomatoes are easy to grow in pots on a window sill or balcony.
10. Set a good example yourself. Regularly tuck into and be seen to enjoy vegetables and salads in front of your kids.

The post Added vegetables in processed foods appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

And not only are they incredibly convenient, but they’re healthy too. At least, that’s what the labels would have us believe, with their claims of ‘locked in goodness’, ‘no added junk’ and ‘made with real fruit’ alongside wholesome images of children and fresh fruit and veg.

But things aren’t always as they seem. We reviewed 78 packaged meals and snacks marketed specifically for toddlers and found that:Ìý

• more than half contain sugars that are harmful to health
• many are highly processed
• what’s in the pack often bears little resemblance to what’s promised on the label.Ìý

See our analysisÌýbelow.

Sugars in toddler food

Most parents would tell you that their children are sweet enough. But manufacturers of toddler foods seem to think otherwise.

Of the products we looked at, 58% contain added sugars that are harmful to health.

Almost half (45%) could be classified as high in sugar, with at least 15g of sugar per 100g.

And the worst offenders are more than 60% sugar.

Toddler foods with most sugar

• Rafferty’s Garden Strawberry Yoghurt Buttons (62.3% sugar)
• Rafferty’s Garden Mixed Berry Yoghurt Buttons (62.9%)
• Kiddylicious Crispy Tiddlers Raspberry (63%)
• Kiddylicious Smoothie Melts Strawberry & Banana (67%)
• Kiddylicious Strawberry Fruit Wriggles (68.8%)

As the toddler snack with the most sugar out of all those we looked at, the Kiddylicious Strawberry Fruit Wriggles was a worthy recipient of a 2021 Shonky Award.

There are several reasons why sugary toddler foods are a concern, not least of which is that having too much sugar in your diet can contribute to health problems.

Health risks to children

Jane Martin, executive manager of the Ìý(OPC), tells us: “Regularly eating sugary foods puts children at risk of tooth decay and unhealthy weight gain. As they grow older this can lead to increased risk of diseases such as type-2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.”

Influencing children’s taste preferences

More insidious is that when children regularly consume sugary foods and drinks, their palates and taste buds adjust in response.Ìý

“Children can develop a preference for sweet foods which can result in a diet high in sugar and missed opportunities for the child to develop a taste preference for healthier, unsweetened foods,” says Martin.

Worryingly, sweet products outnumbered savoury products by almost two to one across the 78 toddler foods we found on supermarket shelves.

But avoiding products with harmful sugars and choosing healthier options is far from straightforward. Obstacles include sneaky marketing and weak sugar labelling requirements.

‘Healthy’ labels are often misleading

More than half (54%) of the toddler products we looked at have images of whole fruit on their packaging, but in many instances the ingredients list tells a different story. Often the fruit ingredient is actually a fruit concentrate, paste or puree – used to sweeten the product – and bears little resemblance to the whole fruit from which it’s derived.

“Many snacks marketed for toddlers are sweetened with processed fruit ingredients which are high in sugar,” says Martin. “In a lot of cases, it’s actually sticky, sugary paste, extracted from fruit. This is done by sieving it, boiling it, and removing all its water, until it’s barely more than a pile of sugar.

“Consumption of these products should be limited, but instead manufacturers are trying to dupe families into thinking they’re healthy.”

Fruit or concentrated fruit sugar?

Most products that claim ‘made with real fruit’ or purport to contain a certain percentage of fruit on the label – 14% of the products we looked at – are referring to a fruit concentrate or puree rather than whole fruit.

But not everyone has the time (or inclination) when shopping to pore over the ingredients lists. And Martin is concerned that these front-of-pack images and claims can be confusing for caregivers.

“These processed food manufacturers are misleading parents into thinking that these products are healthier than they are, when in fact they are often full of sugar and are packed with cheap sweeteners – shaping our children’s preferences from a very early age,” she says.

Misleading parents

Alice Pryor, Campaigns Manager for Parents’ Voice, is concerned that the availability of these types of products, which are rarely the healthiest choice available, will reinforce the message that toddlers need special food.

“Parents want to give their children the best start to life, and these products lead parents to believe they are healthy and nutritional snacks and meals for their children when the reality is that many of them are actually laden with hidden salt and sugar,” says Pryor.

“The report that 45% of these products are high in sugar is concerning given that most parents of toddlers would struggle to find time in the supermarket to read and compare the small print on the backs of these items.”Ìý

Snacks for healthy development

Another strategy food manufacturers use to market toddler foods is to appeal to a parents’ desire to support the healthy development of their child. This is done at both brand level and product level.

“Our snacking range has been developed to encourage your child to discover new tastes, textures, aromas and shapes,” says the label on Cub brand snacks.

Whole Kids assures us it “is committed to making yummy, nourishing food for your family using real ingredients. No artificial stuff. No funny numbers. And no added junk”.

Mamia (from Aldi) asserts that its food range “has been lovingly developed for your little one to ensure they receive a varied start to their food adventure” and reminds us that “Exploring new textures, aromas and tastes is a vital part of your child’s early development.”

And Rafferty’s Garden Strawberry Yoghurt Buttons are claimed to be “perfect for little mouths” while Only Organic Yoghurt Rice Cakes are “the perfect size and shape for little hands to hold”.Ìý

Alternatively, you can simply head to the fruit department and find plenty of in-season fruits that tick all of those boxes.

Highly processed, no substance

Sometimes the problem with packaged toddler foods isn’t just about what’s in them – such as harmful sugars – but also what’s not in them.

Kiddylicious Veggie Straws, for example – which are essentially puffed-up potato starch, with added veggie powders, salt and oil – have minimal added baddies, it’s true. But the point is they’re so highly processed they offer little in the way of nutritional value – just empty kilojoules.Ìý

They’re also reminiscent of mainstream snack products such as Burger Rings and Cheetos, a similar look and feel that isn’t ideal if it leads to a taste and preference for those types of snack foods.

Better sugar labelling still needed

At the moment, it’s difficult to decipher how much sugar has been added to a food by looking at the label.Ìý

Added sugars can be disguised by going under more than 60 different names, some of which are perhaps more familiar (cane sugar or treacle, for example) than others (such as maltodextrin, corn syrup or fruit juice concentrate).Ìý

As they aren’t grouped together in the ingredients list, they’re not always easy to identify. And the total sugar listed in the nutrition information panel doesn’t differentiate sugars that have been added by the manufacturer from those that are intrinsic to the food or one of its ingredients. This makes added sugars even harder to quantify.

ÌÇÐÄVlog has long lobbied for clear and meaningful added sugar labelling on foods, so that consumers can make informed decisions about the products they buy.

The OPC is advocating for improvements too, urging food ministers to implement higher standards and make added sugar labelling mandatory.

Crucially, Martin explains, “We want to see added sugars clearly defined to capture all sugars that are harmful to health, including highly processed fruit ingredients like pastes and concentrates which are often in products marketed as healthy, such as toddler foods.”

‘No substitute for whole fruit’

Pryor would also like to see more truth in labelling. “Fruit concentrates, pastes and purees are added sugar and no substitute for whole fruit,” she says.

“Companies should not be associating these products with whole fruits, and should display clearer front-of-pack labelling for busy parents.”ÌýÌý

Currently there’s some regulation around foods for infants, including sodium limits, but not for toddlers, or relating to sugar content.Ìý

“Most parents would be surprised to hear that there is no regulation of toddler foods,” says Pryor. “Governments should set a better standard and regulate the contents of foods formulated for toddlers.”Ìý

Martin agrees:Ìý“We also want the government to regulate the amount of added sugar that food companies can put in infant and toddler foods to protect the health of our youngest Australians.”Ìý

How to be snack savvy

Nutritious, whole foods that are simple to prepare make the best snacks – fresh fruit pieces, veggie sticks, cheese cubes, plain yoghurt or wholemeal toast fingers, for example.

“When shopping for foods for toddlers, look for the healthy whole foods which tend to be located around the outside of the supermarket,” says Martin.Ìý

“Most processed packaged foods including those for toddlers tend to be in the aisles.”

Four top tips

But there’s no doubting the convenience of a packaged snack. So if you do decide to buy one, follow these tips to make an informed choice:

• Read the ingredients list first – ingredients are listed in order of greatest to smallest quantities. As a rule of thumb, the shorter the list, the better. Aim for products with a small ingredients list consisting of whole foods and no added sugars and salt.
• Check for real fruit ingredients, not just fruit concentrates, pastes, purees and powders.
• Don’t be swayed by marketing claims that the snack will “encourage self feeding” or is “easy to grasp with little fingers”.Ìý A cucumber stick, a crust of wholemeal bread, a rice cracker or a banana can all do the same job.
• Consider all packaged snacks to be ‘sometimes’ foods, not regular staples.

Finally, think twice before heading to the baby and toddler food section of the supermarket. You can often find a healthier – or at least cheaper – snack if you choose from a different aisle. See our examples below.

Snack swaps

Veggie snacks

Toddler snack: Kiddylicious Sour Cream & Chive Flavour Veggie Straws (Price/100g: $12)

They may be ‘easy to grasp’ and in a format that ‘encourages self feeding’ but they’re still flavoured, puffed-up snacks that offer little nutritional value.

Alternative snack: Cobs Sour Cream & Chives Corn Puffs (Price/100g: $2.92)

Also a flavoured, puffed-up snack, but without the extra plastic and price mark up of a multipack. Why spend more than you need to?

Best snack: Baby Corn spears (Price/100g: $0.24)

High in fibre, naturally sweet and just as easy as a ‘veggie straw’ for toddlers to grasp.

Rice snacks

Toddler snack: Little Quacker Rice Biscuits Strawberry Flavour (Price/100g: $7.50)

Made from organic sugar (and rice), but their ‘organic-ness’ doesn’t mean they’re nutritious. Plus you’re paying a premium for a product that’s ‘conveniently wrapped in packs of 2’.

Alternative snack: Sakata Stars Plain Rice Crackers (Price/100g: $3.85)

Still in convenient snack packs but about half the price, and without the added sugar.

Best snack: Ceres Organic Brown Rice Crackers (Price/100g: $2.70)

Brown rice means more fibre, and these crackers don’t come with the price hike (or extra packaging waste) associated with individually wrapped servings.

Apple snacks

Toddler snack: Kiddylicious Strawberry Fruit Wriggles (Price/100g: $15)

These Shonky Award-winning ‘Fruit Wriggles’ are 74% apple puree and juice concentrate, and 24% strawberry puree – and almost 70% sugars overall.Ìý

Alternative snack: Angas Park Dried Apples (Price/100g: $2.20)

Dried apple slices are a fraction of the cost, and you get the benefit of fibre, among other nutrients that are lacking in the Fruit Wriggles.

Best snack: Apples (Price/100g: $0.39)

A perfectly delicious, nutritious fruit packaged by nature. Cut into wedges or ring slices for little hands.

Yoghurt snacks

Toddler snack: Rafferty’s Garden Strawberry Yoghurt Buttons (Price/100g: $15.71)

These snacks are 97% ‘yoghurt’, but the second biggest ingredient of the yoghurt is sugar, resulting in a product that’s more than 60% sugar overall.

Alternative snack: Farmers Union Greek Style Yoghurt With A Hint Of Real Strawberry (Price/100g: $1.15)

In a squeezy pack that appeals to toddlers, you get the benefit of protein and calcium from yoghurt in this form. It’s lower in sugars (just over 10%) but is still sweetened (with strawberry puree and reconstituted juice).

Best snack: Farmers Union Greek Style All Natural Yoghurt (Price/100g: $0.55)

Made from milk and live cultures, natural yoghurt is a good source of protein and calcium, and the only sugars present are those naturally found in milk. If you want to sweeten it yourself, simply add some chopped fresh fruit.

Grain snacks

Toddler snack: Whole Kids Organic Farm Animal Biscuits (Price/100g: $3.43)

These are lower in sugar than many commercial biscuits, but they’re still 22.7% sugars. The cane sugar and other ingredients are organic, but there’s nothing healthy about organic sugar or organic cornflour.

Alternative snack: Arnott’s Shredded Wheatmeal Biscuits (Price/100g: $0.92)

Arguably less fun than biting the ears off a rabbit or the snout off a pig, but certainly cheaper. These biscuits also have less sugar (16.8%) and higher fibre from their wheatmeal ingredient.

Best snack: Wholemeal toast fingers (Price/100g: about $0.30-$0.40)

High in fibre, free of added sugar, and tasty. Just add sliced banana for natural sweetness!

Our analysis

In 2019 theÌýOPC published the results of its analysis of food products marketed for infants (babies under 12 months) and toddlers (aged 12 to 36 months), excluding formula, available from Aldi, Coles and Woolworths. For the current review, ÌÇÐÄVlog updated and expanded on the original data to reflect packaged toddler food products available in 2021.

We’ve focused on products in the baby-food aisle and freezer section (not the snack food or chiller aisles) and labelled specifically as being for children aged 12 months and above. Details we recorded include brand, price, nutrition information, ingredients list, pack claims and pack imagery.Ìý

Packaged toddler food overview

• 78 products reviewed, from 15 different brands
• 73% were snacks (puffs, bars, biscuits, cakes, straws, buttons etc), 17% meals, 10% fruit and veg
• 63% sweet, 37% savoury.

Our thanks go to the OPC for kindly giving us access to the original dataset.

The post Sugars in packaged toddler foods appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

On this page:

• Nut-free muesli barsÌý
• Squeezy yoghurt pouches
• Vegemite
• Juice boxes
• CrackersÌý
• Sliced white bread
• Butter
• Sliced ham
• Shredded cheese
• Other pre-packaged processed snacks
• More lunchbox tips

And in the middle of all that, you’re trying to figure out what to pack in their school lunch box.Ìý

It can be hard to know which snacks and drinks are nutritious and delicious, so we’ve compiled a list of some of the healthiest and tastiest lunch-box friendly foods we’ve found through ÌÇÐÄVlog testing.Ìý

Here’s the lowdown on which products aced our tests, as well as advice on choosing healthy options.

Nut-free muesli barsÌý

Muesli bars tend to have a healthy image – after all, what’s not to like about a bar full of wholegrains and dried fruit?Ìý

But they are often loaded with sugars (to hold them together) and fat (to make them taste good). And of course if your school has a nut-free policy, many of the bars aren’t suitable for lunchboxes.

So we scoured the supermarket shelves in 2019 to find lunchbox-friendly options, then compared them nutritionally.

These lunchbox-friendly products scored highest for nutrition as well as being less than 600kJ per serve (the recommended energy intake for snacks):*

• Uncle Tobys Chewy Choc Chip
• Coles Choc Chip Muesli Bars

When choosing a muesli bar, look for ones with whole grains, fewer additives, lower sugar and higher fibre levels. Find out more – including which is the most indulgent option – in our muesli bar buying guide.

*Woolworths Chewy Muesli Bars Choc Drizzle was also one of the healthiest bars we reviewed, but does not currently appear to be available.

Squeezy yoghurt pouches

These individual pouches of yoghurt are a firm favourite of kids, and can even be frozen and used instead of an ice block to keep lunch boxes cool (although the yoghurt’s texture will change once thawed).Ìý

But with hundreds of products to choose from in categories including high protein, Greek and Icelandic style skyr – how do you know which yoghurt is best for your kid’s lunch box?

The good news is that when it comes to nutrition, you could certainly do worse than picking almost any squeezy yoghurt pouch. But if you want to avoid added sugars and additives, it’s hard to beat regular natural yoghurt which is made up of just two ingredients: milk and live yoghurt cultures.Ìý

Of the 118 products we looked at in ourÌýkids’ squeezy yoghurts reviewÌýtwo were natural:

• Farmers Union Greek Style Yoghurt Pouch
• Rafferty’s Garden

Or, you can buy natural yoghurt in larger tubs and pour into reusable squeezy pouches.Ìý

Find out which yoghurts are a good source of calcium, low in fat, contain the most sugar and more in our yoghurt pouches review.

Vegemite

The humble Vegemite sandwich has been a staple in children’s lunch boxes for decades. But how does the Aussie icon stack up against other vegetable or yeast extract spreads?Ìý

We taste tested nine products and compared their nutritional information. The runaway winner was…

Vegemite Reduced Salt with a ÌÇÐÄVlog score of 82% – 11 percentage points higher than the ‘original’ version.Ìý

Find out what our taste testers thought of the other ‘mites’ in our review or learn more about cooking with vegemite.Ìý

Juice boxes

Many kids love fruit juice (despite water being the best drink for them), but there are many brands out there and some are far healthier than others.

So if your child is hankering for a fruit juice in their lunch box from time to time, consider one that contains no added sugar and is a lower kilojoule option (e.g. 370kJ or less per pack).

Our comparison of apple and orange juice boxes found five products that meet this criteria:

• Golden Circle No Added Sugar Orange JuiceÌý
• Just Juice Orange JuiceÌý
• Nudie Nothing But 2 Oranges
• Just Juice Apple JuiceÌý
• Prima Apple No Added Sugar.

Read our full review to learn more about what to consider when choosing juice boxes.

CrackersÌý

Crackers are a popular savoury recess snack, often topped with hummus, cheese or vegemite. But our research finds that not all crackers are equal when it comes to nutrition.Ìý

In 2016 we calculated the Health Star Rating for over 300 crackers and the following categories came out on top:

• corn cakes
• wholegrain crispbreads
• wholegrain rice crackers

So if you’re shopping for a healthy option, look for these products first and compare crackers using the nutrition information panel on the pack. (Use the 100g figures, as serving sizes differ between products.)

Sliced white bread

When choosing a healthy bread, products containing wholemeal or wholegrain are best.Ìý

But if white bread is what your kids prefer, consider loaves that contain fibre – the higher the better. (According to the Food Standards Code, a product is considered an “excellent source” of fibre if it contains at least 7g of dietary fibre per serve.)

So which white bread is best? We putÌý30 supermarket options to the test and scored them based on taste and nutrition.

Wonder Wholegrain White Smooth Wholegrain had the highest ÌÇÐÄVlog score, topped our taste test and has the added benefit of containing wholegrains.

Three other white breads also performed well and are recommended:

• Coles Gluten Free White Bread
• Wonder Active Low GI + Protein
• TipTop The One White Sandwich

Read more aboutÌýhow to choose the healthiest bread.Ìý

Butter

Want some butter to go on that bread?

Despite being made primarily of cream, our review of supermarket butters found that not all are made equal – with one butter receiving a ÌÇÐÄVlog expert score of just 51%.

If you’re after the best unsalted option for your kid’s lunch box, Beautifully Butterfully Butter Unsalted and Lurpak Unsalted Butter tied for the top spot in our review of supermarket butters, with both earning an expert score of 83%.Ìý

Find out which other butters (salted or unsalted) we recommended in ourÌýfull review – Ìýor get the kids involved and have a go atÌýmaking your own butter.

Sliced ham

According to the 2019 Retail World Annual Report, the ham market is worth over $744 million. But with so many options available on supermarket shelves it can be difficult to knowÌý which ham is best to use in lunch box-friendly sandwiches, wraps or a ham and cheese slice.Ìý

So in 2019 we tested over 30 packets of sliced ham and rated them on taste and nutrition.Ìý

The winner? D’Orsogna Premium Sweet Honey Leg Ham topped our test* with a ÌÇÐÄVlog score of 74%.Ìý

Find out which other sliced hams we recommend and learn more about our testing process in our buying guide.Ìý

*Don Traditional Premium Thick Cut Ham off the Bone did score higher in our 2019 review (76%) but appears to have been discontinued.

Shredded cheese

Shredded cheese saves you valuable time in the kitchen and can be used to create a variety of lunch box favourites – from sandwiches and salads to pizza and pasta bakes.Ìý

If you’re looking for a tasty and nutritious option, our shredded cheese reviews can help you sort the tasty from the tasteless.Ìý

Of the 36 products we reviewed:

Perfect Italiano Mozzarella topped our mozzarella category with an overall score of 84% and nutrition score of 100%.

Of the cheese blends we looked at, Mil Lel Shredded Baking Blend (a mix of mozzarella, cheddar and parmesan) performed well, scoring 80% overall and 100% for nutrition.

The cheddar/tasty cheeses we tested generally scored lower for nutrition because of their high fat and salt content.Ìý

But of those tested, Woolworths Australian Light Tasty Shredded Cheese scored highest overall (74%) with an 80% nutrition score.

Read our buying guide for more advice on choosing, storing and using shredded cheese.Ìý

Other pre-packaged processed snacks

You don’t have to look far at the supermarket to find all kinds of pre-packaged processed foods claiming to be great for school lunchboxes, but not all lunchbox snacks are equal.

When choosing a pre-packaged, processed snack, keep these tips in mind:

Choose popcorn over chips and sweet biscuits.

Less processed cheese sticks or wedges are often a more nutritious option than a packet of crackers and cheese “dip”.

Dried fruit is a better choice than other high salt, high saturated fat products but it is very high in sugar. For fruit strips, look for more than 90% fruit and no added sugar.

Buy diced fruit in juice rather than syrup.

Rice cakes aren’t particularly nutritious but are low in fat and sugar and can be used as a base for healthy toppings like cheese, avocado or hummus.

Check the Health Star Rating (if displayed). These can be used to compare snacks in the same category – the higher the rating, the healthier the snack.Ìý

Finding the right balance

It’s unrealistic to expect to pack the perfect lunchbox for your child every day, but we’ve put together a guideline of what’s important and what you should aim for in the mix.

For more information, read our guide toÌýWhat makes a healthy lunch?

More lunchbox tips

Food safety

Kids in Australia typically start the school year at the hottest time of the year so food safety is a top priority. Keep things cool by using an insulated lunchbox or bag.

Keep food cool

Pack a frozen drink (the best choice is water) and pack it in with the food to help keep it cool until lunchtime, especially for yoghurts, cheese, meats or salad.

Make lunches in bulk and freeze

Consider making your child’s lunches ahead of time and then pop them in the freezer until it’s time to pack them into the school bag. Bread, cheese, vegemite and meats such as ham all freeze beautifully.

Lunchbox love

When the lunchbox comes home (hopefully empty), be sure to wash and dry it carefully, and turf out any cracked or broken boxes and water bottles.Ìý

Be aware of allergy policies

Many schools now have a policy of banning nuts and nut-based foods due to children with allergies. Be sure to familiarise yourself with your school’s policy and learn to read food labels if you’re buying lunchbox snacks.

Practice makes perfect

Little kids starting school often struggle with unfamiliar lunchboxes and tricky packaging. If you have a new school starter make sure they get some practice opening their shiny new lunchbox before their first day. And if you do include packaged food, consider opening it for them beforehand. Not only will this ensure your child won’t go hungry, but thousands of kindergarten teachers across the land will thank you.

The post School lunch boxes – which snacks and drinks are best? appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.

On this page:

• Is fruit juice healthy?
• Which juice boxes are best?
• What to consider when choosing juice boxes
• Water is the best drink

Fruit juice boxes – also known as juice poppers – are one of those convenient items that you can buy in bulk and store in the cupboard, fridge or freezer. But are they a good option?

We compare the nutrition and ingredients of 30 apple and orange fruit juice boxes from the supermarket, and highlight what you need to consider before you add them to the lunchbox.

Is fruit juice healthy?

Fruit juice (100% juice)

Fruit juice tends to have a healthy image, and 100% juice can give you valuable nutrients such as vitamin C and folate.Ìý

But on the downside, it doesn’t have the fibre of fresh fruit, it’s energy (kilojoule) dense and it’s high in sugars, albeit the naturally occurring (intrinsic) variety.ÌýÌý

The Australian Dietary Guidelines advise that we only occasionally substitute 100% juice for other fruits as counting towards the recommended two serves a day. The guidelines define a serve of juice as 125mL (half a cup) – but many juice boxes contain double this amount. And not all juice drinks are 100% juice.

Fruit drinks (20–25% juice)

Fruit drinks contain minimal juice (just 20–35% across the fruit drink products in our review), water and usually added sugar too.

Like soft drinks, sugar-sweetened fruit drinks offer plenty of kilojoules but few nutrients, and for the most part deserve the status of treats only. There’s mounting evidence that drinking sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with an increased risk of weight gain.Ìý

ÌÇÐÄVlog tip:ÌýSugary drinks contribute to dental decay. And drinks that are both sugary and acidic – such as fruit juice, fruit drinks, and fizzy and energy drinks – tend to be the worst offenders.

Which juice boxes are best?

If you’re after the convenience of a juice box, one with no added sugar is preferable. And if it’s a lower kilojoule option, even better.

Of the 30 apple and orange juice boxes we compared, the five products below:

• contain no added sugar
• deliver 370kJ or less per pack – roughly the equivalent of a medium (150g) apple or orange, the fruits the juices in our review are based on.

What to consider when choosing juice boxes

Size

It’s worth remembering that a serve of juice is defined as 125mL (half a cup), and many single serve juice boxes contain twice this amount (and consequently double the kilojoules).

Additives

A priority for many parents when choosing food and drinks for their kids is that they’re free from artificial additives. It’s not surprising then that a common claim on the packs of juice boxes is “no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives”. But that doesn’t mean the products are additive-free.

Many juice boxes contain natural colours and flavours, and several contain preservatives too. Food acids/acidity regulators (usually citric acid) make a regular appearance. And four of the products we reviewed contain added sweeteners, the non-nutritive varieties which offer the sweetness of sugar with fewer to no kilojoules.

Vitamin C

Fresh fruit juice is a source of vitamin C, but it’s a water soluble vitamin that’s sensitive to light, heat and air, so levels are depleted during processing – presumably why about two thirds of the products we looked at, both juices and fruit drinks, have vitamin C added.

The recommended daily intake of vitamin C for children up to eight years old is 35mg, and the products we compared have between 20 and 87.5mg of vitamin C per pack. But most Australians exceed the recommended dietary intake of vitamin C, so don’t let vitamin C claims or content influence your choice.

‘A serving of fruit’ claim

Many products are labelled ‘a serve of fruit in every pack’, or similar. While this isn’t inaccurate, bear in mind that Australian dietary guidelines advise that we only occasionally substitute 100% juice for other fruits as counting towards the recommended fruit serves a day. Chugging down two juice boxes a day doesn’t cut it!

Water is the best drink

Experts recommend that we limit our intake of sugar-sweetened drinks, so avoid sugary fruit drinks when packing lunch for your kids.Ìý

The occasional fruit juice is fine, and can add variety to their lunchbox. Choose a small juice box and give your child a bottle of water as well for extra hydration. Or make up your own juice bottle with a 125mL serve of juice, and dilute with water to provide better hydration.

But as any dietitian will tell you, water is the best everyday drink for children – and it costs you next to nothing.

How we compared

• We recorded label details of orange and apple juice products (juice and fruit drinks) in Aldi, Coles and Woolworths in December 2020.
• We focused on single serve products, sold both individually and in multipacks.
• We included both chilled and shelf-stable products.

The post The best juice boxes for lower kJ and no added sugar appeared first on ÌÇÐÄVlog.