Mrs Bhogal’s top tips on nutrition

As this week is Nutrition and Hydration Week, we asked our catering manager, Mrs Bhogal, about her role in ensuring the children eat healthily and drink plenty while they’re at school. She also shares her top tips on how to make healthy meals at home.

What are your top tips to making your meals as nutritious and tasty as possible?

Adding pureed vegetables to sauces is a great way to make meals more nutritious. I would recommend using seasoning and herbs to add flavour instead of adding salt. We also reduce the amount of sugar in our cakes wherever possible. By offering fresh fruit for snacks and prepared fruit and natural yogurt for dessert, the children always have a healthy option on offer.

What’s your favourite vegetable to cook with?

Courgettes! Courgettes are an excellent nutritious vegetable to use in sauces and they make a gorgeous cake too! You can find the recipe for our courgette and lemon cupcakes on our website.

What’s your favourite meal to make and what is the most popular meal with the children?

I love making a traditional chicken curry at home. The most popular meal with the children is bolognaise!

How do you encourage children to eat their five a day?

We always encourage them to at least try different pieces of fruit and our reward tokens help.

What’s the best way to encourage pupils to stay hydrated?

Water is always available to the children. Main school children have their own water bottle in class so they can drink and replenish them throughout the day. There is also a popular water fountain! Even the younger children in Little Pilgrims and Pre School have their own named beakers so they can help themselves to a drink whenever they need one.

What’s the best thing about your job?

The children! I particularly love to see their eating habits change as they move on through the school. It’s lovely to see how keen they are to try new flavours and they get excited when they see their favourite dishes on the menu. They’re not shy to ask for extra portions either!

Remember to look out for our ‘recipe of the month’ which is shared on our Twitter and Facebook pages. You can also download Mrs Bhogal’s recipes from the ‘What’s for lunch page’ on our website.