Mama can cook

Tricks for sneaking in nutrients into your child’s diet to support their immune system

As we brace ourselves for the cooler months ahead, Australians have been warned to expect a surge in colds and flus this winter, after spending last year predominantly indoors. The pandemic’s social distancing measures and increased hygiene practices resulted in a significant decrease in the number of influenza cases recorded around the country and historically, record low years are followed by big flu years . With immunity at the forefront of our minds, it’s a great time to remind you that eating a healthy and balanced diet is integral for maintaining every single one of our body’s organs and cells, which includes our immune system. However, it can be tricky convincing our loved ones to eat more nutritious foods especially for those that are fussy eaters. While education about nutrition with our children is important, sometimes you just have to hide it amongst other foods they like! In winter it can be especially hard to stay away from indulgent, comfort foods, however comfort foods can be healthy too! Essential foods to add to your winter diet include spinach, strawberries, peanuts or a 100% natural peanut butter like Mayver’s, almonds, garlic, ginger, sweet potato and foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids assist in reducing inflammation within the body to support the immune system and are typically found in oily fish. There are also smaller amounts of plantbased Omega-3 in flaxseeds, linseeds and some nuts.

Mixing fresh fruit, nuts or peanut butter, ginger and certain vegetables like spinach into an after school smoothie is a great way to sneak in extra nutrients. And similarly for loaded jacket potatoes, swapping out normal potatoes for sweet potatoes that are still covered with your children’s favourite toppings is another option.” Oily fish is not always a favourite of small children but to help them get their Omega3’s via other foods, Mayver’s has launched it’s Omega-3 Super Peanut Butter for those who can’t stomach the fishy flavours, disguised in the taste of peanut butter kids know and love. Peanut butter also can be used as a dipping sauce for fruit and vegetable sticks to disguise the flavour of the vessel.

Add more vegetables to your stews and bolognaise sauces and if your child has a super talent for picking out vegetables, you can try cooking the vegetable elements first, like carrot, celery, spinach, sweet potato until they’re super soft and re-adding to your dish to be disguised in the sauce before serving.” Try my immunity hot chocolate with a hidden boost of Omega-3, thanks to Mayver’s Omega-3 Super Peanut Butter for an nutritious yet indulgent treat this winter!

Susie Burrell

Susie Burrell is a qualified dietitian with a masters in coaching psychology.

Makes: 10 cookies Time: 30minutes Ingredients:

2 cups almond meal 3/4 cup coconut sugar 1/4 cup maple syrup 2 eggs 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips 1/2 cup Mayver’s Crunchy Peanut Butter

Method:

Preheat oven to 190 degrees celsius fan-forced and line a baking tray with baking paper. Combine all ingredients and mix well until the egg and coconut sugar is fully incorporated. Place large dollops of cookie dough onto tray using a spoon, ensuring 2cm between cookies. Bake cookies for 13 minutes or until golden brown on the top. Remove from oven and enjoy hot or cold!

A big batch of both of these recipes would make fantastic, and delicious, party food options when you know nut allergies are not a problem with any of your guests.

Time: 60 minutes | Serves: 6 Gluten Free / Dairy Free / Vegetarian / Sugar Free

Ingredients:

Wet Ingredients: 1 ½ cups ripe smashed bananas 1/3 cup plant based milk (almond, coconut, soy) ½ cup Mayver’s Skin On Peanut Butter 1 flax egg (1.5tbsp flax powder mixed with 3 tbsp water) Dry Ingredients: 1 ½ cups spelt flour 1 ¼ cups + 2 tbsp coconut/ cane sugar 1 tsp baking powder ½ tsp sea salt ¼ cup raspberries (fresh/ frozen/dried) Toppings: Raspberry chia jam Extra Mayver’s Skin On Peanut Butter

Method:

Pre heat oven to 180C. Smash the bananas in a bowl until smooth. Add in all the wet ingredients together and stir to combine. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients together. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix to combine. Fold in the raspberries to the mixture. Evenly separate mixture into each muffin tin tray and bake muffins in the oven for 4550 minutes (check to see if ready by poking knife/skewer through the centre and if it comes out clean, it’s ready). When finished baking, transfer muffins to cooling rack and let them cool completely to room temperature. Once cooled, top each muffin with a teaspoon of the raspberry chia jam and extra peanut butter. This recipe was provided by @growthegrin

Thanks Mayvers for these awesome Winter warmers!

Immunity Hot Chocolate

Time: 15 minutes | Serves: 1 Dairy Free/Gluten Free/Egg Free Ingredients:

1.5 tbsp Mayver’s Omega-3 Super Peanut Butter 1.5 tbsp cocoa powder 1 tsp honey 2 tbsp boiling water 1 cup skim milk 15g 70% cocoa dark chocolate, grated (optional)

Method:

Combine the cocoa powder, honey and boiling water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk to combine. Add in peanut butter and whisk rapidly to form a thick consistency. Gradually pour in milk and continue to whisk over medium heat for a further two minutes. Pour hot chocolate mixture into a mug and top with grated dark chocolate (if desired). Serve immediately.