Healthy lunchboxes. Can you feel your heartbeat rising as you contemplate those words? Packing a healthy lunchbox can feel like a stressful task, but the truth is, once you’ve got the basics covered and have taken a few mins to plan ahead, it can be very simple. To show you just how simple, I wanted to show you how I make varied, balanced, healthy lunchboxes for a week from 3 cooked items (and a handful of pre-prepped or simple prepped ones). This is the formula I use almost every week! Let’s start with the 3 basic recipes: Simple roast chicken (or simple cooked dried beans for a veggie versio ..read more

Schools are going back, and caterers are scarce, meaning some parents are more comfortable with sending food in, and some schools are actively requesting more packed lunches. Say whaaaaat?! Yes, parents all over the country (and world!) are breaking into a collective sweat as we realise time is running out to figure out how to pack a healthy lunchbox our kids will eat, and how to fit it around life, work and Covid! Fortunately, there are some amazing people out there (and little ole’ me) who have been working hard to make sure parents have all the help they need when it comes to packing a heal ..read more

This vegetarian lasagne is every bit as tasty and creamy as the classic version, but packed full of veggies and made simpler with a cheat’s white sauce and a dump-and-run approach using the slow cooker. Perfect for a busy weeknight dinner. As busy parents trying to get our kids to eat more healthily, I think one of the biggest pitfalls for many of us is not having the time to cook healthy meals from scratch every.single.night. Enter three magical phrases: Freezer Cooking Batch Cooking …and possibly my favourite… Slow Cooking Freezer and batch cooking are great, and I will discuss them proper ..read more

These naturally sweetened apple raisin muffins are sweetened with only fruit and are soft, fluffy and delicious! Made in one bowl or blender, these low sugar muffins are as simple to make as they are yummy to eat. Hands up if you love muffins! ? When I need an easy snack and we have got a little bored of plain veg or fruit snacks all week, I nearly always turn to low sugar muffins as a quick and easy solution. They tick all my boxes: naturally sweetened one-bowl so easy my kids can make them quick – 30 minutes from start to finish allergy-friendly (dairy free and gluten free options included ..read more

These easy corn fritters are the simplest way to start the day with veg, and they are in a form the whole family will love: sweet, crispy, fluffy pancakes! What if you could start your day off with 2-3 serves of vegetables? And do it all with just a few minutes of stirring and frying? Yep, these corn fritters are saving my life at the moment. My motivation to prep healthy food in the morning is low and usually doesn’t extend beyond stirring milk into oats for a bowl of porridge or scrambling a couple of eggs for 20 seconds. It makes a healthy, if occasionally boring, breakfast. Although I tr ..read more

Easter is a good couple of weeks away still, but when has that ever stopped the shops from lining their shelves with sugary goods before Lent has even started?! If you are finding it hard to resist the yearly display of hot cross buns stuffed full of sugar and dried fruit already, I have the perfect solution for you: my low sugar chocolate orange hot cross buns. I first attempted low sugar hot cross buns a couple of years ago based on an I Quit Sugar recipe and they were so soft, sweet & delicious that I never looked back. I have tweaked them to our tastes and adapted them until I feel ..read more

I hope we have all understood by now that there is no real need to panic buy and stock up on toilet roll during this pandemic. Shops have enough, as long as we are sensible and empathetic and buy only what we need. But while shops are re-stocking and the shelves look a little bare, I hope these recipes will help to show you that pantry recipes can be delicious, easy and healthy, as well as good for the purse strings. So whether you are just looking to sharpen your cooking skills during the lockdown, or are looking at an empty fridge and wondering what you can make with a couple of cans a ..read more

This immune-boosting vitamin-C packed 15 minute red pepper soup is made from just 3 storecupboard ingredients in no time. It is sweet, sour, and delicious! It warms you through, fills you up, and is perfect for an almost-instant lunch or Thermos-to-school-in-no-time on busy days. What’s an average morning like for you? In the hours between the alarm going off and lunchtime rolling around on an average day, I usually have to squeeze in: drag myself out of bed, shower, get dressed, breakfast pack lunches and school bags get the kids fed, dressed and ready for school have a last-minute ru ..read more

Valentine’s Day is very different with young children in the house. If you are lucky, they sleep enough and you have enough of a support system where you live to get a babysitter in and have dinner out alone, but often the day is filled with the usual busy-ness, mayhem, hilarious misunderstandings and tantrums that make up our lives as parents. Sadly, young children tend not to know when it is a special day, holidays, or even a weekend! But it can be really lovely to celebrate Valentine’s Day with our kids. To show them we love them and do activities with them. To have a family day out, a spe ..read more

Are any of you thinking of joining Pinch of Yum’s, Buttered Side Up’s or one of the various blogs’ “Sugar Free January” this new year? If so, I thought I would put together a round-up of 31 recipes (one for every day of the month) to help make planning for it a little easier! And of course, do have a browse through the rest of our recipes to find plenty more low sugar, high veg, healthy recipes for the month (and year) ahead. Breakfasts Veg-Packed Baked Eggs – one of my favourite breakfast recipes ever. Sugar Free Green Monster Muffins – gluten and dairy free as well as sugar free, these veg ..read more