By Kerri Lambie, Registered Homeopath & Holistic Nutritionist

Food was an integral component to my upbringing. I have great memories of sitting around the kitchen table for hours with my family laughing and enjoying the meal prepared for us.

Going to school I had the same enjoyment from opening my brown paper bag (yes I am aging myself) and eating with my friends. Although there were many times I was envious of the cakes and cookies my friends had, as my mother opted for healthy snacks. I used to think that times had changed, however now as the mother of two boys I see the same lunch comparisons coming up much like I had those years ago.

Soon after beginning kindergarten, my eldest son came home asking why he didn’t get cookies in his lunch like his friends (up until that point his sugar intake was pretty minimal aside from some natural sugars). I knew he was referring to those multi-coloured sprinkle cookies that attracted kids like a magpie to a shiny object! It dawned on me that in addition to making sure he was getting nutritious food for lunch, the snacks also needed to be trendy food that he and the other kids could relate to, so that he didn’t feel deprived and left out.

Here are a couple of my boy’s favourites:

Easy Chocolate Avocado Pudding

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 ripe medium sized avocado
  • 2-3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 3 tablespoons of pure maple syrup (or honey if you prefer)
  • 5 tablespoons your choice dairy or non-dairy milk. A favourite in our house is coconut!

DIRECTIONS:

  • Cut open and scoop out entire avocado into a blender
  • Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until the desired consistency is achieved.
  • Place into single serving dishes for school lunches and keep in the fridge until ready to eat!
  • If your pudding seems too thick slowly add milk liquid while it is blending until you get what you are looking for

Add toasted coconut and dark chocolate as a topping ups the nutrient value and is a nut free safe addition to school lunches.

Having your pudding as an at home snack? Almonds and other nuts always taste delish with chocolate!

Healthy “Goldfish Cracker” recipe

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 cup cassava flour (or any whole grain flour)
  • 8 ounces of organic cheddar cheese
  • 2-3 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
  • 4 tablespoon of grass fed butter
  • 5 tablespoon of water
  • ¾ teaspoon of Himalayan salt
  • 2 tablespoon of turmeric (without it the crackers are more brownish and not the familiar orange-y colour, but just as tasty!)
  • 1 teaspoon of olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

  • Grate cheese and put in a food processor
  • Cut butter into small cubes and add to processor
  • Add flour, salt, turmeric, nutritional yeast and olive oil
  • Blend all in food processor until a dough starts to form
  • Slowly add water while continuing to blend
  • Take dough out, cover and place in fridge for 20-30minutes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Take dough out and roll to 1/8thof an inch thick

cut into squares or use a mold (fish cracker molds can be made by cutting a strip from a tin can and bending it to a fish shape)

place each cracker onto parchment and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes

***TIP*** take a toothpick and make an eye and smile prior to cooking

Let cool and enjoy!

Join Kerri Thursday October 11 at 6:30 for a free talk at Innate Wellness where she will share more of her Relatable Lunchbox recipes. Kerri welcomes dialogue when it comes to healthy eating and encourages people to bring their own ideas and experiences to her talks.  Please RSVP as space is limited.

As Homeopath & Holistic Nutritionist, Kerri offers a natural approach to health. Instead of focusing on one aspect of a person, or taking a one size fits all methodology, she evaluates the complete health history, emotional state, lifestyle choice and diet of the individual to determine the root cause illness.. 

Please contact Innate wellness to book a consultation.