THEME - HEALTH AND WELLBEING FOR EDUCATORS AND STAFF

Educator Resources - Building a Balanced Meal

Educator Resources - Lunch Ideas

Healthy Lunchbox Week 2023

Recipes

Events and Training Opportunities

How to Download your Subscription Certificate

How to Access Previous OSHC E-newsletters

Monthly Update from Nutrition Australia Qld

The fourth and final theme for the subscription year is
Health and Wellbeing for Educators and Staff. 

This very important topic will be explored in depth by the Nutrition in OSHC team over the coming months up until March 2023. Encompassing the National Quality Standard, such as Quality Area 4 focusing on staffing arrangements, this theme will support educator and staff health and wellbeing. 

We hope you enjoy this newsletter and the targeted information for your setting.

Focusing on health and wellbeing, this month's eNewsletter aims to provide a variety of nutrition strategies to support educators and staff.

As a practical model for adults, the below healthy eating plate represents how much of our plate should be filled by each type of food. It is important to note that your plate doesn’t need to be too rigid – you might have a mixed meal such as a spaghetti Bolognese where these portions are mixed into one meal. Here are our top tips to help educators build themselves a healthy, balanced meal:

Fill HALF of your plate with colourful vegetables or salad
- Think about colour and variety here, as well as different cooking methods to mix up your vegetable intake

Fill a QUARTER of your plate with a source of protein
- A serve of protein is approximately the size of the palm of your hand and includes foods such as lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs, tofu and legumes

Fill a QUARTER of your plate with starchy vegetables or wholegrain foods
- These are our carbohydrate-rich foods which provide us with energy and includes foods such as bread, rice, pasta, noodles, cereals and potato

Add a small amount of healthy fat
- Important for taste as well as the absorption of fat soluble vitamins and includes foods such as extra virgin olive oil, avocados, nuts and seeds

Click here or on the image below to download. 

When it comes to keeping your energy levels up throughout the day, a nutritious, balanced lunch using the above healthy eating plate (e.g. vegetables, quality protein and grains) can help enormously.

Here are some of our favourite lunch ideas that are simple and delicious, all great to prepare at home and take to work for a lunch meal! Click on the links for different recipes to have a go at. Remember if you discover a favourite recipe, share the love and pass it on to a friend or colleague!

• Frittata, fritters or zucchini slice – a great way to use up left over veg in your fridge and can be modified for gluten and dairy free if needed
• Homemade pizza – use this 2 ingredient pizza dough recipe and top with veggies, lean meat and cheese. Tip: extra self raising flour may be needed if the dough is too wet
• Vietnamese rice paper rolls – experiment with your favourite fresh fillings
• Balsamic bean salad
• Stir fried rice
• Chicken noodle salad
• Herb and potato fish cakes
• Chicken cauliflower grain salad
• Beef and lentil bolognaise

Plan ahead, make extra food at dinner for leftovers the next day, and find time for meal prep so that you can have your lunches organised throughout your week.

Healthy Lunchbox Week is almost here, kicking off in Term 1 from 5th - 11th February! 

The Healthy Lunchbox Week website features a range of user friendly recipes, fact sheets and guides, as well as videos. These resources may also be useful within OSHC services as you utilise lunchboxes during vacation care. Be sure to inform families of this great annual initiative led by Nutrition Australia, which inspires Australian families to create healthy lunchboxes for their children.

Here are two recipe ideas you might like to try - great for the lunchbox, a breakfast on the go or an afternoon snack. Please feel free to share these recipes with families.

Online Training

We offer a suite of online training programs through our partner In Safe Hands. Click on the following buttons for more information and to register.

Remember to download your certificate of subscription to display on your centre wall by clicking on the button below.

To download your certificate you must be logged in to the subscriber section
of the website.

To login, please click on the green 'Subscribe / Login' button on the top right hand side of our website. Your email to login is the email which this newsletter is sent to. If you do not know your password, click on the 'Forgot Password' link.

Did you know you can access previous OSHC E-newsletters on our website?

To access these E-newsletters you must be logged into the subscriber section
of the website.

Click on the link below and then scroll down to 'E-newsletter'. Enjoy!

Interested in our upcoming events and some more recipe ideas?
Check out our Upcoming Events eNewsletter via the link below and please feel free to forward on to families!

Nutrition Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land we work on and pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging.