Nutrition
At Mentone Park Childcare and Pre School, nutrition is one of our highest priorities. We pride ourselves on the high quality menu that we offer children and we have an excellent nutrition policy.
We provide breakfast (7.30-8.30am), morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and supper/late healthy snack (5.00pm).
-
Children have the choice of milk at all meals
-
All dairy products are full cream
-
All eggs are grain fed and organic
-
All bread is wholemeal
-
Water is available at all times
-
Fruit juice is not served unless it is freshly squeezed
-
Children are able to have second helpings of all snacks and meals if they wish
-
Menus are planned to give the children a wide range of choices from highly nutritious food
Favourite Meals
Chickpeas with tomato, dill and fetta
Ingredients:
1 red onion (chopped)
1 large red chilli (chopped)
1 clove of garlic (chopped)
400g canned chopped tomatoes
1½ cups of water
3tbsp tomato paste (optional)
300g can of chickpeas
Dill
100g of fetta
Directions:
Heat a splash of olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook the red onion, chilli and garlic for 5 minutes. Add the chopped tomato, water and chickpeas (drained and rinsed). Season well and simmer for 10 minutes or until thickened slightly. Stir through one handful of chopped dill.
To serve spoon chickpeas over steamed rice or cous cous and then crumble fetta on top.
Malaysian Fish Curry
Ingredients:
185g jar Malaysian curry paste
400 ml can coconut milk
½ cup water
1 stem lemongrass, white part only, bruised
600 gm butternut pumpkin, peeled, cut into 2cm cubes
100g green beans cut into 5 cm lengths
500g basa fish fillets, cut 3 cm pieces
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon brown sugar
Steamed jasmine rice and coriander leaves, to serve
Directions
Combine curry paste, coconut milk and water in a deep wok or saucepan and bring to the boil. Add lemongrass and pumpkin and simmer, partially covered, over medium heat for 15 minutes until pumpkin is tender.
Add beans and fish and cook for a further 5 minutes until soft. Stir in lemon juice and sugar. Serve curry with steamed rice and garnish with coriander and serve with yoghurt.
For children with allergies use a de-seeded red chilli instead of curry paste.
Fabulous Fish Tacos with Guacamole and Red Cabbage
(serves 6-8)
Ingredients:
1kg white fish fillets Coriander Leaves
½ cup of plain flower ¼ Red Cabbage
2 eggs, beaten with a splash of milk Sour Cream or Greek Yoghurt
Cornflakes Mexican Sauces
Soft corn tortillas
Guacamole:
2 ripe avocados
2 ripe large tomatoes chopped finely
½ red onion, finely diced
1 glove of garlic, minced
½ bunch of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
1 can of corn
Juice of 1-2 limes
1 red chillies, finely minced
Method:
Cut fish into long fingers. Place flour in a freezer bag and season well with salt and pepper. Whiz up the cornflakes to make corn crumbs. Place fish in flour freezer bag and shake well to coat. Dip the fish into egg milk mixture and then press into corn crumbs. Lay crumbed fish on a tray and refrigerate until required. Heat a frying pan to medium and a splash of oil and fry the fish until golden. Warm the tortillas in a microwave. Assemble the tacos by dolloping the guacamole onto the tortillas, layer of red cabbage. Place fish on top of the cabbage and dollop of sour cream or greek yoghurt. Garnish with coriander and Mexican sauce
Making the guacamole:
Mash the avocado, then add the tomato, lime juice, garlic, corn, onion, chilli and coriander leaves. Mix well to combine. Taste and season accordingly.
Kale, Chorizo and Lentil Soup
Ingredients:
1 brown onion, finely chopped
1 carrot
1 celery stick
1 tbs olive oil
2/3 cup of passata
3 cups of chicken stock
3 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
2 x 400g cans of lentils
250g finely chopped chorizo
90g baby kale leaves
Method:
Finely chop 1 brown onion, 1 carrot and 1 celery stick. Heat 1tbs olive oil in a sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add vegies. Cook for 5 minutes. Add passata, chicken stock and chopped fresh rosemary. Bring to the boil. Add lentils, simmer for 10 minutes or until slightly reduced. Cook chorizo in a frying pan over high heat, stirring for 5 minutes. Use a stick blender to partially puree soup. Stir in kale leave, cook for 5 minutes. Stir through chorizo and serve.
For important tips to encourage children to eat fruits and vegetables, visit this website.