Food For Kids

Today's show is a real treat for anyone who finds that day-to-day bind of working out what to cook for tea tonight stressful, or for anyone who's finding shopping for food increasingly hard on a budget with everything that's going on in the world right now and the effect on prices.

The show is lucky enough to have an interview with Jo from This Mum Cooks who is a super helpful TikTok and Instagram creator and a single mum of three teenagers. She posts incredibly down to earth and practical videos to her hundreds of thousands of...

We've had a few episodes now on this podcast that are all about helping children with their relationship with food, including episodes on how we can talk to children about food, how we can fend off harmful food talk around children from other people and how we can work towards food freedom in our own relationship with food so that we don't pass on our issues with food to our children.

And it's that final piece that we are coming back to in today's episode, our own relationship with food. But today we're coming at this from...

This episode is for anyone out there whose child really isn’t keen on fish and is looking for ways to encourage them to explore and maybe accept more fish in their diet. I have called the episode how to get my child to eat fish, because that is a question that gets searched a lot online, but I need to start the episode by putting in two caveats.

Firstly, we don’t get our kids to eat anything. Pressure to eat, sneaking foods in without permission and trickery or bribery all are proven to have the oppo...

In this episode of the Food for Kids podcast, Joanne shares simple, family-friendly meal ideas using seasonal produce available in March. The focus is on easy-to-make recipes that require minimal prep time, making them perfect for busy families. Joanne discusses three main meals, a dessert, and a quick snack, all utilizing fresh ingredients that are in season. She gives suggestions on adapting recipes to suit children's tastes and some swap ideas too.

Links to all the recipe ideas are in the shownotes at https://thefoodies.org/ffk82

Music "Happy Days" by Simon...

If there was an Olympics of things that parents worry about, there would be a few contenders, but food and sleep would definitely be up there on the medals podium. And when those two things combine, there's a lot of room for self-doubt. So today's episode is an interview with Lucy Upton about children's food and sleep.

We discuss whether children need to eat a big dinner at night to sleep through properly, whether foods or lack of nutrients can cause issues with sleep and how to figure out whether food is a factor in your child's...

In this episode, Joanne runs through a list of fruits and vegetables which are in season in the UK in March, and offers tips for getting children to try each of them. There is also a short list of imported foods that are currently in season.

This will be useful if you want to increase your intake of seasonal fruits and vegetables, and want some ideas for helping to build your child's familiarity with them, whether they eat the end result or not!

Links in this episode:

List of foods in season in ​Ma...

If you're a family or an education setting that grows fruit or veg with children, then you will already be aware of many of the ways it can be helpful and magical.

But if you're new to gardening or you're not sure if it's for you, this is a quick episode to give you some ideas for ways it could be helpful for the children you care for and a couple of suggestions for super low key ways to start.

Links in this episode:

Episode on three growing projects for kids: https://www...

This episode is part of a monthly series where Joanne runs through some ideas to reduce food waste and save money by storing foods well and using them up effectively.

This episode is about brassicas (cabbages, broccoli and cauliflower) so there some ideas about how to store root veggies to make them last longer, and stop them going off. This includes how to store them in the kitchen, how to freeze them and how to dry them.

And then there are a few good ideas on how to use up leftover cabbages, broccoli and cauliflower...

Today's episode is the second part of our two parter about vitamins and supplements for children.

In the last episode we talked through the basic UK government guidelines for average families in average times, so that was the guidelines for vitamins A, C and D for babies and children, so if you haven’t listened to that one, it's highly recommend to go back and check that out as the advice is the broad government advice for everyone.

But all families have phases where life doesn’t feel particularly normal or average and some families have...

Today is the first of a two-parter about vitamins and supplements for children.

There's a lot of wellness information online for parents right now between ultra processed foods and gut microbiome information and allergies and deficiencies and picky eating advice. It's hard as a parent to know whether or not you're meeting your child's needs. And for sure, there is always someone trying to tell you something. And unless you have the time and skills to dig into the nutrition recommendation, you can be left thinking that maybe you're letting your child down if you don't investigate...

Over the year we have had a few episodes talking about how to encourage your child to branch out a bit with their tastes, how to help picky eaters and how to help kids relax at the table with their safe foods while exposing them to new foods over time.

In this episode we are going to talk about one of the tools parents can use when their child is reluctant to try things that look or feel different from their safe foods, which is a technique called food chaining.

Emma Shafqat is a qualified...

In this episode of the Food for Kids podcast, Joanne shares simple, family-friendly meal ideas using seasonal produce available in February. The focus is on easy-to-make recipes that require minimal prep time, making them perfect for busy families. Joanne discusses three main meals, a dessert, and a quick snack, all utilizing fresh ingredients that are in season. She gives suggestions on adapting recipes to suit children's tastes and some swap ideas too.

Links to the recipes:

Meal 1 – ​Cabbage wedges with tomato sauce - ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtSO3K61Q​​​

Meal 2 – ​Cheese and leek...

Today's episode is a fairly speedy run through of 25 practical ideas for saving money on family food.

Chances are you'll know a lot of them, but it never hurts to refresh your memory about something you might have stopped doing if you've got in a rut and you might pick up one or two new ideas to try. so pick and choose what you want and there'll be some links in the show notes to additional information for them too.

Links in this episode:

Website to find meals in your cookbooks to use...

In this episode, Joanne runs through a list of fruits and vegetables which are in season in the UK in February, and offers tips for getting children to try each of them. There is also a short list of imported foods that are currently in season.

This will be useful if you want to increase your intake of seasonal fruits and vegetables, and want some ideas for helping to build your child's familiarity with them, whether they eat the end result or not!

Links in this episode:

List of foods in season in ​Fe...

Today’s episode is an interview with Dr Anna Colton who is a leading clinical psychologist specialising in the psychology of food, eating, and emotional wellbeing in children and adolescents. She works with families on everything from fussy eating to eating disorders and body image concerns and recently published a book called How to Talk to Children About Food.

We have had some episodes dealing with the way we talk to children directly about food, but one of the very interesting things in Anna’s book was the psychology around how we have to be aware of our...

This episode is part of a monthly series where Joanne runs through some ideas to reduce food waste and save money by storing foods well and using them up effectively.

This episode is about root vegetables so there some ideas about how to store root veggies to make them last longer, and stop them going off. This includes how to store them in the kitchen, how to freeze them and how to dry them.

And then there are a few good ideas on how to use up leftover carrots, parsnips and beetroot either surplus from...

Do you need to be caring about your child's gut microbiome?

At this time of year our feeds are filled with a lot of wellness adverts and one of the things you see a lot of adverts for is probiotic supplements, and intolerance and microbiome test kits. You might be thinking it’s hard enough just keeping everyone at the table happy and fed with the food you’re putting on the plate, so should you now be listening to these adverts and podcasts and news articles and worrying about your child’s gut microbiome? And if so, ho...

This episode is full of suggestions for small ways that you can pack in a little extra goodness to foods that you already eat.

Over the last week we talked to Maeve Hanan about why we shouldn’t hyperfixate on the label or category that one individual food or one meal fits into, but instead we should zoom out to the overall picture of the variety and benefits of the foods we are eating across a week or a month of meals. And coming up we have an episode with a gastroenterology dietitian who will also talk ab...

Today’s episode is the second of our two parter talking about ultra processed foods. If you haven’t listened to the first part, I would urge you to go back and listen to that as some of the information in that will help you to understand today’s discussion more. Today we are going to talk about whether being more relaxed about some processed foods in the diet can actually help with being more consistent, and whether we should set goals about processed foods in our resolutions or not.

Maeve Hanan is a Registered Dietitian who specia...

Today’s episode is the first of a two parter talking about ultra processed foods. I wanted to have some information about this topic at this time of year because there is so much food talk around, and so much resolutions and setting food goals and for parents there is the added weight of being responsible for your child’s health as well as their long term relationship with food.

One of the things that will often come up on lists of food goals, especially for parents, is to eat less processed foods. Over the last couple of y...

In this episode of the Food for Kids podcast, Joanne shares simple, family-friendly meal ideas using seasonal produce available in January. The focus is on easy-to-make recipes that require minimal prep time, making them perfect for busy families. Joanne discusses three main meals, a dessert, and a quick snack, all utilizing fresh ingredients that are in season. She gives suggestions on adapting recipes to suit children's tastes and some swap ideas too.

Links to the recipes:

Meal 1 – Root veg crumble: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialAinsleyHarriott/photos/ainsleyrecipe-vegetarianreciperoot-vegetable-and-nut-crumblethis-is-a-great-dish/459959764138333/

Meal 2 – Cauli mac and cheese: https://www...

In today's episode I'm talking to Ailsa McHardy of Little Nutrition about the guidelines for weaning a baby in a plant based family.

In January information about plant based diets are everywhere and I wanted to ask Ailsa what the current best advice is for parents who want to raise their children with less or no animal products.

Ailsa is an expert Paediatric Dietitian with 15 years of experience across NHS, academic and private settings. She is the founder of Little Nutrition, a freelance children's nutrition consultancy which supports families with weaning, fussy eating, food allergies...

In this episode, Joanne runs through a list of fruits and vegetables which are in season in the UK in January, and offers tips for getting children to try each of them. There is also a short list of imported foods that are currently in season.

This will be useful if you want to increase your intake of seasonal fruits and vegetables, and want some ideas for helping to build your child's familiarity with them, whether they eat the end result or not!

Links in this episode:

Rhubarb cookies recipe: https://www.thefoodies...

The podcast has been running for seven months now. So as we come to the end of the year,we wanted to bring you seven messages from those seven months that might make you feel more confident about your child's eating as we head into the new year.

So coming up are seven short clips from some of our guests and I hope after you hear them you'll feel reassured that you're doing a good job. And we hope it gets you fired up to keep going on your journey to help your child develop a good...

A short message to wish you a happy Christmas or other happy holidays, whatever your family is doing, I hope it involves some happy eating!

Music "Happy Days" by Simon Folwar via Uppbeat

This is the last episode before Christmas and chances are that the bit of your brain that you reserve for interesting food things is overwhelmed with holiday prep. So today's episode aims to bring you something that might help you to enjoy this holiday season a little bit more, enjoy sharing food and fun with your loved ones, and give your children a different kind of gift, the gift of a household where food is relaxed and joyful at celebration times.

For today’s episode Joanne is interviewing Maeve Hanan, a dietitian who runs a company called Di...

This episode is part of a monthly series where Joanne runs through some ideas to reduce food waste and save money by storing foods well and using them up effectively.

This episode is about Christmas and other holiday foods so is focused on planning ahead to make sure you have space and containers to store foods before you need them, advice on safely storing leftovers after the celebration meals, and ways to use up common Christmas leftovers.

Links in this episode - the links for freezer tips and individual recipe ideas are all at the...

Today’s episode is slightly different but very timely because I am talking to Bracha Kopstick about how to protect your older children from harmful food and diet talk during the holidays. Bracha works with tweens and teens to improve their relationship with food and their own bodies in a weight neutral way.

Our families are not islands and we live in a culture of so many negative conversations about food and weight. So this episode is about how to insulate our children from the comments of other people especially at a time of year when food is...

On this episode Joanne is talking to Liz Priest who is a qualified midwife and health visitor and runs a support service for parents called Infant and Wisdom.

There’s so much information and judgement around about food and eating, and we get very anxious about whether we are feeding our children “right”. And if our children don’t eat exactly the way we think they’re supposed to it can make us feel incredibly vulnerable.

Liz talks about how to approach weaning if you're feeling anxious, how to trust your own judgement a bit more, how...

In this episode of the Food for Kids podcast, Joanne shares simple, family-friendly meal ideas using seasonal produce available in December. The focus is on easy-to-make recipes that require minimal prep time, making them perfect for busy families. Joanne discusses three main meals, a dessert, and a quick snack, all utilizing fresh ingredients that are in season. They're all dead quick and easy to save energy for all the cooking at the end of the month.

She gives suggestions on adapting recipes to suit children's tastes and some swap ideas too.

Links to the recipes:<...

This episode is designed to give you some information to help you explore the colours of fruits and vegetables with kids and to encourage them to try to eat lots of different colours. The idea of eating a rainbow has been around for a long time and you probably know that each colour brings something different to your table and your health. But do you know which ones have which benefits?

For each of the rainbow food colours, I am going to tell you what the properties are that are associated with that food colour, and the...

In this episode, Joanne runs through a list of fruits and vegetables which are in season in the UK in December, and offers tips for getting children to try each of them. There is also a short list of imported foods that are currently in season.

This will be useful if you want to increase your intake of seasonal fruits and vegetables, and want some ideas for helping to build your child's familiarity with them, whether they eat the end result or not!

Links in this episode:

List of foods in season in ​De...

At this time of year we are all thinking about getting together with family over the holidays and sometimes thinking about what our children might or might not eat. But for some families there are additional things to take into account when their family comes from a mixed cultural heritage and need to balance different food traditions too.

Today’s episode is an interview with Rachel Mujanovic who is a Paediatric Clinical Lead Dietitian in the NHS, she comes from a family with Caribbean heritage, her partner’s family are from Bosnia, and they live here in the...

This episode is part of a monthly series where Joanne runs through some ideas to reduce food waste and save money by storing foods well and using them up effectively.

This episode is about apples and pears so there some ideas about how to store apples and pears to make them last longer, and stop them going off.  This includes how to store them in the kitchen, how to freeze them and how to dry them.

The episode includes our monthly Q&A with Kate Hall from The Full Freezer on how to freeze apples a...

On today's episode I'm talking to Emma Fitzgerald who's a paediatric feeding therapist with 16 years of NHS experience helping children with their eating and we're talking about whether it's sometimes okay to use screens to help our children with food.

When we have children, I think we all have an ideal of what we want our family meals to be like. In previous episodes with dietitians we have touched on lots of good reasons why this style of eating is a good thing to aim for if we can. That family style of eating where people can...

Today's episode is all about how to find sources of fibre for your child's body in everyday foods.

We have a couple of episodes coming up about children's digestive systems with two fabulous dietitians. But because both of those interviews cover the fact that we need to make sure our children are having adequate fibre in their diet, this episode will have lots of practical ideas for how to get fibre into our kids' food.

NHS article on fibre: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/digestive-health/how-to-get-more-fibre-into-your-diet/

Music "Happy Days" by Simon Folwar...

However you celebrate over this holiday period, one thing is certain, there will be lots of food, and that food will need preparing, and depending on whether you host or are hosted, some of that might be stressful.

So this episode is all about how to use this slightly grey and flat couple of weeks at the end of November to think about making your holiday season a bit easier, food wise.

Joanne runs through some ideas about preparing your kitchen, some ideas about preparing some food, and a short interview with Kate Hall from...

In this episode of the Food for Kids podcast, Joanne shares simple, family-friendly meal ideas using seasonal produce available in November. The focus is on easy-to-make recipes that require minimal prep time, making them perfect for busy families. Joanne discusses three main meals, a dessert, and a quick snack, all utilizing fresh ingredients that are in season.

She gives suggestions on adapting recipes to suit children's tastes and some swap ideas too.

Links to the recipes:

Meal 1 -Sausage root veg tray bake – https://lostinfood.co.uk/sticky-sausage-tray-bake

Meal 2 -Tray bake okonomiyaki– http...

Today’s episode is a super helpful interview with Natalie Fox about how ADHD can affect children's relationship with food and how parents and carers can help.

Natalie Fox is a Registered Dietitian and content creator who helps ADHDers cultivate a joyful, shame-free relationship with food and figure out how to work WITH their brains to make eating well easier and more ADHD-supportive.

Natalie’s content is really good at breaking down why food related routines and aspirations come off the rails so often for ADHDers when they try to follow standard food advice. And she...

In this episode, Joanne runs through a list of fruits and vegetables which are in season in the UK in November, and offers tips for getting children to try each of them.  There is also a short list of imported foods that are currently in season.

This will be useful if you want to increase your intake of seasonal fruits and vegetables, and want some ideas for helping to build your child's familiarity with them, whether they eat the end result or not!

Links in this episode:

List of foods in season in ​Nov...