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Food Foundations
In This Issue
Tips for Feeding Neurodivergent Kids
Webinar Recording: Positive Food Exposure Through Play Based Learning
Nourishing Little Minds Book List
Kitchen Tip: Balancing a Meal
Ingredient Substitution Tool
Menu Reviews
Next Week: Menu Planning in ECEC - FREE Workshop
2025 Food Safety Supervisor Courses
Recipe of the Month
Training Opportunities
Access Links
Tips for Feeding Neurodivergent Kids
Mealtimes can come with extra challenges for children who are neurodivergent. A child may have specific preferences around foods they like to eat, how they want food presented, or struggle to concentrate on eating their food at mealtimes.
There are lots of little ways that we can support these children and help make mealtimes a positive experience for them. Click on the link below to download this great resource from the Grow & Go website.
Webinar Recording : Positive food exposure through play based learning
This month we were joined by Leanne Elliston, CEO of Nutrition Australia ACT, who shared practical tips for how educators can create a positive food culture through play based learning. Click on the video below to watch.
Nourishing Little Minds Book List
Did you know that books can have a big impact on children's preference for different foods?
Here is our recommended list of books that have positive food messages, use neutral language to describe foods, foster children's curiosity around food, and are fun to read!
Click on the button below to download the list.
Kitchen Tip: Balancing a Meal
With ECEC menus, we aim to provide 50% of children's dietary requirements across morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea. When preparing cooked recipes for lunch such as pastas, curries, casseroles, or a stir fry, there are quantities of ingredients that can be used as a guide to help meet nutrition requirements. Here are our recommendations for three main food groups that are often part of these main meals.
Meat/ meat alternatives: ~60g
meat, poultry or fish (uncooked weight), or 90g of legumes/lentils per serve
Vegetables: 75-100g vegetables per serve
Grains: 1/2 cup cooked rice, pasta or other grain (35g dry weight) per serve, or 1 slice of bread (30g)
These quantities will not apply to all meals (e.g. sandwiches), but can be helpful for checking your current recipes that are built on these three food groups to check if they are meeting recommendations. For example, if you are cooking a spaghetti bolognaise for 60 children, does your recipe contain at least ~3.5kg of beef mince, ~2kg of pasta, and 4.5-6kg of vegetables?
Ingredient Substitution Tool
This tool from the All About Allergens Resource Hub provides a list of alternative ingredients that can be substituted for allergen containing ingredients. It includes substitution suggestions for wheat/ gluten, peanut, tree nut, eggs, cow's milk, soy, fish, crustacean, mollusc, sesame, and lupin.
You can download this resource as a word document and add your own ingredient substitutions to the list. This is a great resource to keep on the wall of your kitchen as a quick reference guide.
Menu Reviews
Have you reviewed your centre menu recently? Our Early Years Dietitian's can work with your cook/chef to ensure that your menu is meeting children's nutrition requirements and aligns with the National Quality Standards. We provide suggestions for improvement, ingredient swaps, and recipes ideas that are tailored to your centres unique environment.
For our Food Foundations subscribers, a menu review costs $390+GST. If you would like to have a menu review, click on the button below to download our menu review questionnaire, and send a copy of this along with your menu and recipe to foodfoundations@naqld.org.
Next Week: Menu Planning in ECEC
FREE Workshop
This 2hr virtual workshop is included in Food Foundations subscription for cooks and chefs who work in ECEC settings. The workshop will give you ideas for creating menus with nourishing snacks and meals, and managing dietary requirements of children at your service. We hold one workshop each month. Click on the button below to find out more and register for the July workshop. We look forward to seeing you there!
2025 Food Safety Supervisor Courses
We offer Food Safety Supervisor training for those working in early years, OSHC, aged care and disability settings. This practical course enables you to complete all assessment on the day, and is delivered by our team of experienced trainers who work within community settings. The course prepares food safety supervisors to supervise and oversee day to day operations and to prevent and recognise food safety hazards in their workplace through nationally recognised training.
Live Virtual and Face to Face Course Cost: $385
Click on the button below to register and find out more about the requirements for completing this course (please note the additional requirements for a live virtual course). The course runs from 9am-4pm. Upcoming courses available:
Tuesday 5th August (Live virtual)
Tuesday 9th September (Live virtual)
Tuesday 30th September (Face to Face - Northgate Hall)
Tuesday 21st October (Live virtual)
Tuesday 18th November (Live virtual)
If these options don’t suit, please don't hesitate to email us at training@naqld.org with your preferred date and time. We will try to accommodate your request if possible.
We also offer private courses delivered at your workplace for a minimum of 6 people ($385 per person). Please phone or email us to find out more.
Recipe of the Month
This month we are sharing four of our favourite dip recipes. These are great to serve for morning or afternoon tea with flatbreads, crackers or vegetable sticks. Try these recipes on your menu, or share these with families at your centre. Recipes yield approximately 20 serves each. Click on the button below to download the recipe.
Training opportunities
Online Training
We offer self-paced online training programs through our partner In Safe Hands. Click on the following buttons for more information and to register.
Level 1 - Safe Food Handling for the Early Years Sector
Mealtimes, Food, and Nutrition for ECEC Educators (0 to 5 year olds)
Mealtimes, Food, and Nutrition for Kindergarten & Preschool (3 to 5 year olds)
Coming soon:
Advanced - Safe Food Handling for the Early Years Sector
Access links
Once logged in to the subscriber section of our website, access the following:
Do you have a question for the Food Foundations team?
Feel free to give us a call (07 3257 4393) or email through your questions to foodfoundations@naqld.org
Nutrition Australia
Ph: (07) 3257 4393
Email: foodfoundations@naqld.org
Website: www.naqld.org
Nutrition Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land we work on and pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging.
