Heart protection: Avocados have numerous benefits for the circulatory system helping to prevent both heart disease and strokes. Not only are avocados cholesterol free but they can even reduce cholesterol levels. They contain no sodium and very low levels of sugar. High levels of folate also contribute to reducing the risk of a stroke.

Eye health: Whilst carrots have a reputation supposedly helping you to see in the dark, avocados contain 81 micrograms which help eyes including the carotenoid lutein which protects against macular degeneration and cataracts.

Nutrition: Avocados support your diet with nearly 20 vitamins (including high levels of vitamin E), minerals and beneficial plant compounds. Not only that, high level of carotenoids in the fruit help the body to absorb more of the nutrients that are consumed.

Cancer prevention: One variety of avocado called the alligator pear helps to reduce the chance of developing prostate, breast and oral cancers.

Whilst conducting the research for this article I decided that there was no one better to talk to than Louise Maddy who set up The Avocado Café in London. That’s right avocados in every dish. Louise sells a combination of wraps, salads, salsas and dips at markets around England’s capital. For Louise, eating an avocado is just like eating a pot of clotted cream with their creamy texture and nutty taste but without any of the guilt. She cites their versatility as a major reason why she chose this as her main ingredient:

There are so many different things you can do with an avocado. It lends itself well to being the base of many dishes. Not only is it a fantastic base for dips, it can be married up superbly well with hot food such as fishcakes too. During the summer avocados are great to eat in salads and not only are they very filling they are full of nutrients. They can also be used in smoothies and desserts including chocolate mousse.

Louise has convinced me that avocados can be eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner with no fear of ever getting sick of them. With hundreds of varieties available from around the world, they are always available in season in both markets and supermarkets. They can even be used as a butter substitute in sweet treats such as icing and cupcakes reducing levels of saturated fat and including protein, turning an empty calorie treat into something delicious with nutritional benefits. The Avocado Café wants to inspire us all to incorporate avocados in much more inspiring ways such as accompanying smoked mackerel and horseradish fishcakes with a pickled beetroot and avocado dip. We can also access the benefits of avocados without eating them but by putting them on our face or including avocado oil in our hair care routine. It truly is a versatile wonder food. But what about Louise’s favourite avocado dish? “Over the summer months I have been thoroughly enjoying an avocado cut in half with the stone removed and filled with almonds, raisins and honey. This is not only so nutritious but also really filling. Overall though my favourite would be a mango, chilli and avocado salsa with salad and BBQ’d sea bass.” Working with this superfood every day has enabled Louise to achieve perfection in preparing and keeping avocados. Fortunately she shares her top tips with us: “The Oxo Avocado slicer is an absolute Godsend! It takes me about 30 seconds to slice one up (from a perfect tennis serve to slicing, practice makes perfect). To ripen an avocado, put it a brown paper bag with a banana which releases ethylene and ripens the avocado in no time. Also temperature is important, leave in a warm place to ripen but not in direct sunlight as they will mark from the sun. If you avocados have become too ripe too quickly, store in the fridge and this will prevent them from getting any riper.” Both the health benefits and the possibilities are endless, so, in the words of The Avocado Café: ‘Avo Go. You’ll be green with envy if you don’t. What are your favourite avocado dishes? We would love to hear your ideas too.

The post What makes avocados a superfood? appeared first on Novak Djokovic Foundation.

By the time they leave primary school seven years later, a third of children are in the overweight or obese category¹. If children are not taught they skills and knowledge to make informed choices about what they eat and how much they should eat, this trend can only continue.

Right from the start children are absorbing messages about food and establishing eating habits which can last a lifetime. To be able to implement healthy food choices however, children need to develop the skills and confidence to cook and prepare food. Cooking with children tends to be centred on baking and whilst this can be great fun and a bit of a ‘treat’, I am suggesting some fun food recipes that can teach children to prepare meals for them to use every day later in life. There are also lots of ways to widen the educational potential of cooking without children necessarily considering it to be “work”. They might help compile a family recipe book of their favourites complete with secret ingredients (great for developing instruction writing) or they might set up a family restaurant in the kitchen complete with menus. Cooking is a great way to develop children’s understanding of weights and measures and even converting them. So many ways to extend cooking a simple lunch!

Once children develop confidence in some simple dishes ask for Chef’s considered opinion to encourage them to try new flavours or combinations. Go with it! There may be a few odd tasting combinations but this encourages children’s independence and confidence to try new things out as well as expand their palate. Children are much more likely to eat something that they themselves have cooked, a great way to encourage fussy eaters.

Always remember though that kitchen safety is so important. Think carefully about access to hot utensils, boiling pans or kettles and hobs. Also think carefully about where you leave knives. Children love to taste things but be careful if you have raw ingredients that they are not picked up and eaten and never is it more important to make sure that pan handles are not hanging over the edge of work surfaces but facing in when children are moving around the kitchen.

1) Make it tactile: Make sure there is lots of touching involved and that may mean eating with fingers too. Remember that, although it is messy, touch is another sense for children to experience their food through. Homemade pizzas are great for this. Using strong white flour, yeast, water and oil they are cheap and there are lots of opportunities for little hands to get stuck in kneading and rolling and that’s before you get to the toppings. The great thing about pizza toppings is that children have so many choices of flavours and so many ways to manipulate the recipe to suit them. It’s also fantastic for them to see how simple ingredients such as flour can be transformed. Then there’s the presentation side of it! Pizza faces anyone?! Chapattis make a great alternative to pizzas for older cooks and are great to mop up a hearty stew.

Pizza Cutter by dinner series

2) Support children’s motor skills development: By getting children to do their own mixing, chopping, stirring and spreading they are learning all the time about applying pressure to implements to achieve a desired result. Of course there will be the odd messy accident but think about the ingredients you give your child. You will probably find that a lot of your kitchen implements are not suitable for little hands but there will be plenty available in shops. If necessary, plastic knives don’t do too bad a job of chopping lettuce or spreading soft butter onto bread. The more children can do things for themselves in the kitchen, the more independent they will feel and it is also building strength in their hands and wrists; perfect for writing and other tasks further down the line. Tasks can be simple. Making a sandwich, adding a spoonful of muesli to yoghurt, designing a salad. Yes making a sandwich will take time to begin with (!) so don’t do it if you’ve only got a quick half hour for lunch but practise makes perfect.

3) Celebrate festivals: This is a great way to widen children’s cultural awareness as well as introduce them to foods from around the world. Pancake Day/Mardi Gras last week was a great opportunity to introduce my pupils to French crêpes. Even better if you can allow children to flip the pancakes themselves or have a family pancake race to work up an appetite. Just like pizzas, children can personalise their pancakes with an array of toppings.

Don’t forget that cooking is not just the chopping and stirring but includes laying the table, clearing and washing too! Get children into the habit early and try to resist the urge to redo the washing up or clearing (whilst they are looking!). It will give the impression that you don’t trust them and make them more unlikely to volunteer next time. You might need to encourage them to check but, depending on their age, if you feel they have done it to the best of their ability praise their efforts. You can always give things a final wipe later when they are out of the kitchen!

Matteo by Roberto Taddeo

What do you like to cook with your children and what are your top foods to teach them to use? We would love to hear your ideas.

References

1  http://www.hscic.gov.uk/searchcatalogue?productid=10135&q=title%3a%22national+child+measurement+programme

The post Kids and Cooking Skills appeared first on Novak Djokovic Foundation.