Mark 17 May in your diary…

We are going to be part of Jamie Olivers Food Revolution Day to celebrate real food, where it comes from and how to cook it!

I will be running an afternoon cooking session at 4pm 17 May on this site.  It will run pretty much like our school holiday cooking program and will be a short, sharp and seriously fun session!!

More details will follow – but  I will have you cooking up a meal that your family will LOVE – I am thinking of something that is totally iconically Kiwi!

This will be our second year of supporting this day!

On Thursday I was lucky enough to attend the launch for Anchor’s big news – hey I’m a student I was impressed. The ‘Triple layer, light proof bottle’ is a new bottle which is cool and smart thinking!

Milk goes bad for one of two reasons – heat (the one we all know about) but also light. Anchors new bottle that is three layers and lets in absolutely NO light. This way milk can stay much fresher for longer!! I tasted it, and let me tell you, it was AMAZING! Be sure to get your hands on one of these babies when it comes out on the 8th of April!!!

Studies show that we should be drinking more milk, so to help you guys out, check out my simple smoothie recipe that will come out in the It’s My Turn To Cook Tonight Bosch School Holiday Cooking Program, on the 22 to 24 April (perfect timing to use Anchor’s new milk!!!)

Join me in the program – we are having a milk mustache competition!

Wow I’ve done it – I have my first book in the iTunes Apple iBookstore!

I’ve spent much of my university holidays working on a series of new publications for you – this first one is now available.

You are going to love this – for any of you are iPad fans this is so so cool! This first book is summer stuff – light summery food, barbecues, salads and in of course there are some sweet treats too!

I have five review copies to give away – if you would like a free copy to review please email  glenda@foodsavvykids.com and she will send you a code.

Click here to see the blurb etc in iTunes…

Teenager Claire Gourley shares her food discovery journey with easy, quick recipes and tips to get kids food savvy. For kids aged 9 – 16, this book reflects Claire’s food motto – “I don’t do complicated” and is all about making cooking fun and achievable.
Claire recipes work, taste great and are really really easy. If she didn’t find them reliable, tasty and easy, she ditched them! She has added lots of photos, tips and things kids will probably want answered as they are cooking… for anything a bit tricky she links to her YouTubes.

Claire wants to know enough about food to take good care of herself. She figures lots of kids are the same as her – they love eating food but they’re always busy with friends, school and sport, so they can’t really be bothered spending too much time cooking – but that doesn’t mean want to settle for average food!

It’s My Turn To Cook takes kids on Claire’s food journey as she has worked out what she needs to know to get food savvy! She has gathered quick, easy recipes made a lot of YouTubes, and asked a lot of questions. She intertwines food and nutrition tips so that while kids are cooking they also get skills to make good food choices.

Many cookbooks are written by adults for adults and while they may look beautiful they are often boring… Claire doesn’t do boring!! This informal chatty approach has much appeal with kids of all ages.

The other two titles are now finishing off are

• It’s My Turn to Cook Quick Food and
• It’s My Turn to Cook Bread

This is the perfect time of year to clean up your lifestyle and start fresh. (I know January is over – but I am only finishing my holiday!) I’m  into goals because they help me move towards achieving what I want.

Life is all about setting goals and defining who you want to be. Dream your goals, then do them. Martin Luther King said a ‘I have a Dream’ speech not an ‘I have a Plan’ speech. Similarly you don’t need to plan out every step of the way in order to achieve your goals. Take each day at a time, start small and then build big.

The healthy living experts say it takes about 21 days for your New Year’s resolution to become a new habit. So, if you actually do want to do it, you have to stick to it. Don’t try to hard, just do it. Surround yourself with positivity and believe in yourself. “Whether you believe you can or you cant your probably right.” Henry Ford So I dare you, take out a pencil and sheet of paper right now and just dream.

Do you want to be a better cook, try more foods, eat healthier, create masterpieces, experiment more or become a chef? Whatever you decide, ACT NOW. Look around my site – I can help you!

Hey I have just finished the holiday program… it was heaps of fun and I am really pleased how much everyone liked my new eBook – the Christmas edition – you can download a copy here if you want one – it will give you lots of great of recipes to make over summer.

But kick back and what this little snippet of what kids got up to! hope you can join me next holidays!

One thing that never ceased to amaze me in South Africa was their beautiful presentation of food. Each meal was served on an oversized platter and arranged perfectly. Even simple things like potato chips were stacked up beautifully, with two thin strips of chives served on a large round white plate with zig zagged plum sauce. SO SO simple, but SO SO effective – instantly its presentation turned it into a much nicer snack.

Another night I had a Salmon steak for dinner. Again it’s presentation was superb. It was served on a large white plate with a stack starting with stir fry vegetables, then a circle of mashed potato and then the juicy salmon. The presentation transformed a simple meal into something amazing!!

Presentation is KEY. It can transform any meal into something soo much better.  Whenever I serve a meal to people I am always trying new new ways to present it nicely however these few tips are always helpful.

1. Serve on an oversized plate – it always creates the impression that the food is a delicacy.

2. Make sure to wipe up any ‘spills’ – when you arrange the food on a plate and it makes a bit of a mess be sure to fix it up with a paper towel (this makes it look more professional!!)

3. Don’t be boring – try new ways to present food all the time!

November is 5+ A Day Fruit and Vegetable Month here is the 5+ A Day Challenge  - it’s simple - add an extra serving of fresh fruit and vegetables to your day and feel the difference. Check it out on Facebook via Fredge’s Facebook page. Eating an extra serve each day is so easy…(isn’t it awesome not to be told to eat less of something!!!)

In our last school holiday program we put it to everyone to produce a 5+ A Day movie – check these out! Not only have we got some keen fruit and veg eaters – I reckon we have some movie producers in the making!!

Dont you love the cool car!?! ( and the banana phone!)

wow – this is hard hitting – eat well and you will be better at sport!

I had the most amazing time in South Africa, learning about and tasting exotic foods.  One of my foodie rules is a try new foods – don’t be boring –  by eating a little of lots of different foods  your body will get everything it needs.

Well I took this very literally and seriously in South Africa. On day three I tried my first ever Crocodile carpaccio, its finely sliced raw Crocodile meat served with rocket and a mango chutney. Sound bizarre? I promise you it was one of the nicest things I have ever tasted!! Thumbs up for Crocodile!!

Another new thing for me was the waitress who served me the crocodile all dressed in traditional costume, painted some African art on my arm. So cool!!
On day five I visited a school on the outskirts of Pretoria, South Africa. Here they were serving chicken feet for the children for lunch. They were cooked in a large pot with spices. Luckily for me they went cooked yet so I didn’t have to try one – I think I would have struggled a bit!!! However, as said don’t be boring – so I have to do what I say…  if they were , I would have mustered up the courage to try one.

Closer to home and a lot more ‘normal” in the last School holiday Cooking program I issued a challenge to all the kids to try new-to-you foods. Wow I was blown away with how some kids totally got into things and tried foods which they had never tried before…

I am totally convinced there are hundreds of potential favorite  foods out there just waiting for each of us to find…  and even if you have tried something  a long time ago and didn’t like it then you might just like it now! ( see my blog on Mushrooms!!) A lot of kids take up to 12 times tasting a food before we like  a food!!  So don’t  give up!!

My little brother William pointing to himself!!!

I am just back from an amazing trip to South Africa… I went with my mother to promote this project and share what we have been doing. So while I was there I got to do a cook-off with some local farmers and celebrities, I did some radio and TV interviews. They liked my ‘I don’t do complicated’ theme!

A highlight for me was that  I got to visit schools and talk to groups of kids about healthy eating. Wow – they were so friendly and hungry to learn!! It was was humbling, exciting and I learnt so much about how other cultures eat. All important stuff on my food journey. I got to eat crocodile (tasted a lot like salmon), discover biltong (the dried meat that they eat so much of!) – I even saw their school lunch of a pot full of chicken feet – phew it wasn’t ready for me to sample!!!

AND I got to go to game park, see some zebras up close and ride an elephant!!!

And as you can see from the photo the elephant was so close when he lifted his trunk and blew out my hair went everywhere… very funny!! I love elephants!!! but just look at this cute meerkat  - he sat on my shoulder!!!

I will share more from my trip with you over the coming months!