This post is sponsored by Nuffnang for Disney Junior.

Stories are wonderful imaginative gifts; food for our souls. We inhale characters as they are groomed. Stories feed us and our children. Stories teach us about kindness, joy, strength and sacrifice.

During October, Disney Junior is celebrating the magical art of storytelling told through its loveable character, Doc McStuffins.

Doc McStuffins is a six year old little girl who wants to be a doctor just like her mum, treating and caring for her toys out of her backyard ‘clinic’. Her magical stethoscope brings her toys to life when no one else is around. One of her toys, Hallie, becomes her medical assistant.

The Doc McStuffins TV series highlights the importance of taking care of yourself and others.

Doc-Tober: More Fun with Doc McStuffins

New Doc McStuffins games and activities have been launched this month on DisneyJunior.com.au to celebrate Doc-Tober. All these new fun activities are free and easy to access – just click here.

Here are some of our favourite new Doc McStuffins activities:

• Well Being Chart. Kids colour a heart when they have done a healthy activity, e.g. washed their hands, brushed their teeth, etc.
• Help Doc Dress for the Weather. A fun paper doll of Doc McStuffins.
• Doc’s Tools. DIY stethoscope, otoscope and reflex hammer.

Doc McStuffins Inspired Tomato & Cheese Heart Tarts

Inspired by Doc McStuffins and her heart for caring for those around her, we made some Doc McStuffins Inspired Tomato & Cheese Heart Tarts.

Ingredients:

• Puff pastry
• Tomatoes, cut into slices.
• Grated cheese.

You will also need two different sized heart-shaped pastry cutters.

 

Method:

 

Line an oven tray with baking paper.

 

 

To make a pastry case:

• Cut out two hearts using the larger heart shaped pastry cutter.
• With a fork, prick the base of the one of the hearts. Set aside.
• Then using the smaller cutter, cut a heart from the centre of the remaining heart.
• Brush a little water on the edges of the large heart before placing the heart cutout on top.

Use the smaller heart-shaped pastry cutter to make a heart shaped tomato slice.

 

Sprinkle a little bit of grated cheese into the middle of the heart pastry case.

 

Place the heart-shaped tomato slice on top of the cheese.

 

Bake your cheesy tomato tarts in the oven at 200C for 8 minutes, or until the pastry is lightly risen and golden brown.

I remember growing up with Disney stories as a child. I can still remember those characters to this day. It’s wonderful that Disney still creates endearing stories and characters for my children. 

 

Happy Doc-Tober!

K: 2 years, 10 months

E: 4 years 3 months

N&M: 6 years 4 months

October 2014

The post Doc McStuffins Inspired Tomato & Cheese Heart Tarts by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

The time has come. Miss K will begin daycare this week. Mr E will head back to preschool this week. Mr M and Mr N will be starting Kindergarten next week. I will be heading back to school as a Kindergarten classroom teacher this week. The thought of a strong cup of coffee has planted itself in my mind as I just typed all of that. There are uniforms to be washed, bags to be packed, kisses to given and lunches to be packed…. (for the next 15 years). Lunch ideas for the next 15 years. Again – a strong cup of coffee, please.

To start us off, here are 38 everyday snacks, tried, tested and loved by my brood of four.

These 38 everyday snacks are easy, quick, no cooking/baking required healthy snacks. Perfect lunch ideas to help fill those lunch boxes and tummies. Yummy goodness to keep those bodies and minds happy.

Most schools / preschools / daycares in Australia promote a nut-free environment. As such, I have not included nuts on our list, (even though Mr E loves them to no end). Some of the items below may contain nuts (e.g. muesli bars), but I have found nut-free versions of these items at the grocery store, and as such have included them on the list.

Fruit

1. Apples
2. Bananas
3. Combination Fruit Cups
4. Dried Apricots
5. Fruit Puree
6. Fresh Fruit Salad
7. Kiwifruit
8. Mandarines
9. Mangoes
10. Nectarines
11. Pears
12. Prunes
13. Strawberries
14. Sultanas
15. Watermelon
16. Rockmelon
17. Blueberries
18. Raspberries

Dairy

19. Yoghurt
20. Cheese
21. Custard

Biscuits

22. Crisp bread
23. Crackers
24. Rice Sticks
25. Fruit Slice Biscuits
26. Oatmeal Biscuits
27. Rice Crackers

Misc

28. Fruit Bars
29. Muesli Bars
30. Fruity Bites
31. Popcorn
32. Fruit Juice
33. Carrot & Celery Sticks
34. Hummus Dip (for carrot & celery sticks)
35. Beetroot Dip (for carrot & celery sticks)
36. Toast with vegemite
37. Raisin toast with jam
38. Cereal (eg cheerios, weetbix honey bites)

I’m sure this list will grow over the next 15 years. I’ve been having so much fun sharing our lunch ideas on Instagram and Facebook. Thank you to all of you who have commented or liked our lunch ideas. I would love to see your lunch ideas too. Please tag me on Instagram (@pauline_lessonslearntjournal) – 15 years worth of lunch ideas is a very long time and I can use all the help I can get. What other everyday snacks should I add to this list?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment; I’d love to hear from you. If you are new here, you might like to receive updates direct to your email. We have many fun ideas to share.

The post Lunch Ideas: Everyday Snacks by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

I’ve recently touched base with some old high school friends, who are now mothers. I haven’t seen most of these girls, (now women), since high school. Seeing photos of all our kids, somewhat solidifies the fact that we are indeed in a new stage of life. (I just sighed as I typed all that).

We are about to enter what feels like another stage of our family life. In about two weeks, Mr N&M will be starting Kindergarten, (their first year of formal schooling). There will be many changes to our family life, and with that, and what strangely stresses me out a bit, is the thought of making school lunches every day. How on earth will I come up with school lunch ideas, every day? (Insert huge sigh).

I’ve known people who have gone through years of the same school lunches. While I love that concept – not having to struggle with new school lunch ideas everyday – I just can’t stomach it. When I was dieting, to simplify things, I would eat the same things every day to stick to the calorie count. Drove me batty. Given the right combination of food though, I’m pretty sure my kids would love to have the same school lunches every day – (their combo being chocolate bars, cookies, lollies, etc – you get the idea). Pity their suggested combos don’t rate highly, nutrition wise.

My game plan for lunch ideas is to have a bunch of staple lunch options that’s healthy and that I know my kids will eat, and to mix and match various lunch ideas everyday. These honey muesli slices will be one of our staple lunch ideas, to include as a snack in those school lunch boxes.

It’s super easy to make. You probably have all the ingredients in your kitchen right now. This is one of those kid friendly recipes too, so kids can be involved in making it too.

It’s delicious and healthy. In the words of Mr 3yo… “Mmm… smells just like honey!”. For diabetics, it’s low GI and a serving is also just a single carb exchange (15g carbohydrates), making it a great snack or sweet treat to include in those school lunch boxes.

The slice will keep in an an airtight container for three to four days.

What are your tried, tested and loved lunch ideas for school lunch boxes?

**An updated note about this recipe: Most Australian schools encourage students to NOT bring in food with nuts because some students can have anaphylactic reactions to nuts. Please note that most muesli products available at supermarkets include nuts. If you are making these honey muesli slices for school lunches, please check the muesli ingredients and choose products that do not have nuts in them.

Honey and Muesli Slice

2014-01-15 23:30:34

Serves 16

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62 calories

12 g

23 g

1 g

1 g

0 g

27 g

105 g

9 g

0 g

1 g

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size

27g

Servings

16

Amount Per Serving

Calories 62

Calories from Fat 11

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 1g

2%

Saturated Fat 0g

1%

Trans Fat 0g

Polyunsaturated Fat 0g

Monounsaturated Fat 1g

Cholesterol 23mg

8%

Sodium 105mg

4%

Total Carbohydrates 12g

4%

Dietary Fiber 0g

1%

Sugars 9g

Protein 1g

Vitamin A

1%

Vitamin C

0%

Calcium

2%

Iron

3%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Does this look wrong?

Ingredients

1. 1/2 cup honey
2. 100g Olive Grove spread (or margarine of choice)
3. 2 eggs
4. 2 cups natural muesli
5. 1/2 cup self raising flour

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 170C / 339F.
2. Melt butter in a pan on the stove over low heat and mix honey in until well combined.
3. Take butter and honey off the heat, allow to cool a little before pouring it into a mixing bowl.
4. Add the eggs into the mixing bowl and stir well.
5. Add the muesli and flour and stir well.
6. Pour into a baking pan lined with baking paper.
7. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden.
8. Set aside to cool and cut into 25 pieces.

By Pauline @ Lessons Learnt Journal

beta

calories

62

fat

1g

protein

1g

carbs

12g

more

Lessons Learnt Journal http://lessonslearntjournal.com/

More Activities for Preschoolers

Three to Five: Playful Preschool is stuffed to the brim with tried, tested and loved playful learning ideas for preschoolers. There are 25+ ideas for preschoolers, ten printable resources and additional links to over 50 more activities. A great resource for parents. Download your copy here.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment; I’d love to hear from you. If you are new here, you might like to receive updates direct to your email. We have many fun ideas to share.

The post Lunch Ideas: Honey Muesli Slices by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.