Tuesday, January 22, 2013

the lunchbox revolution

Only a matter of days mamas before we wake up to...empty lunchboxes. Holidays over what to fill school or work lunchboxes with? Well, I was excited to find Mona Hecke's (pictured) fabulous book 'The Lunchbox Revolution' sitting on the counter at my local health food shop last week. I bought a copy, love it and am now very happy to share it with you because I think Mona's tips and recipes will make your life easier and keep your family happy and healthy.

Mona lives on the sunny Gold Coast in Queensland where she works as a naturopath and is a mother of three beautiful teenage children, so Mona is well qualified to fill a book with fantastic, nutritious recipes for school and work lunches.

In addition to great recipes, the book includes really useful info about allergies and food intolerances plus tables detailing mineral rich foods and Mona's top 10 best and worst foods for health.

I talked to Mona about sharing a recipe here and she told me that her recipes for chocolate balls and protein balls are really popular. I made the chocolate balls for dessert last week when we had friends over for dinner and they were a hit, super chocolatey and sugar free!

Thanks Mona for sharing your recipe here and for writing your book. Here's to the Lunchbox Revolution and providing nutritious wholefood and great health for us and our families.

The Lunchbox Revolution by Mona Hecke $10.95 available at health food shops or online

If facebook is your thing you can find The Lunchbox Revolution page here, like it and receive more great tips and recipe ideas


Chocolate balls


This chocolate delight is sugar free, deliciously rich, packed with super antioxidants and will satisfy that chocolate craving. Fresh Medjool Dates provide a high source of energy, fibre, vitamins and minerals and are perfect for people on the go.

250g (or 12) Medjool Dates (pitted)
2 tablespoons Raw Cacao
1 cup Almond Meal
2 tablespoons Agave Syrup
Shredded or Dessicated Coconut for rolling

Blend all ingredients together in a food processor until well combined and moist.
Roll into approximately 22 heavenly chocolate balls, tossing in coconut or raw Cacao before refrigerating.

Note: Use the raw Cacao Powder available from Health Food Stores.

13 comments:

  1. Hey Nikki! Thanks for this. I have another year before I need to be making up lunchboxes but this won't go to waste! 2013 is the year I totally clean up my family's diet (that's why I love your blog). I shared this post today on my fb. xxx

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    1. Thanks for the share Fiona. I recommend this book even if you aren't packing lunches yet, there are delicious salad and dip recipes that are good for family snacks and meals at home and sweet treats like coconut and buckwheat pikelets, Granny's apple muffins, zucchini and corn fritters and so on. I like the simplicity of the recipes, it makes them accessible especially if you are starting out making changes to your family's diet. If there is anything in particular I can help you with in your change this year please let me know - and remember progress not perfection! :) small changes add up to big changes xx

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  2. yum! I came up with a similar recipe over xmas because I hate eating those rum balls made from crushed biscuits and condensed milk. I'm not sure that the agave syrup is necessary, I'd be interested in your thoughts, as its still high in fructose, its still not great as far as I know. I found that the dates were sweet enough.

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    1. Hi Liz, thanks for your comment. I agree, from what I have read the 'criticism' of agave is that it is high in fructose. Personally, I have a bottle of agave in my kitchen cupboard that I use sparingly and rarely not in particular because of the fructose thing but because if I bake I use powdered stevia and for other desserts I would opt for local raw honey as the sweetener. Great idea to omit it altogether as you are right the dates are sweet, I hadn't thought of leaving it out, you would possibly have to add a splash of water though to help with blending the dates...did you add any liquid in your recipe?

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    2. In reply to the use of Agave Syrup in the recipes, there has been a little contraversy about Agave recently due to the fact it was initially blended with HFCS, however the pure syrup has been shown in trials to reduce blood sugar spikes (especially helpful for diabetics). As with any sweetener, Agave as well as Honey, Stevia and Xylitol should not be used in large amounts. A healthy balanced diet is not about replacing poor food choices with an abundance of alternative sweeteners. The focus should be on a diet of wholefoods and when this is achieved, a small amount of suitable sweeteners is perfectly fine. The amounts used in these recipes in proportion to the ingredients is minimal....and we all need a little sweetness in our lives....yours in good health, Mona

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    3. Thanks so much Mona for your expert words here and for being such a voice of reason. I wholeheartedly agree in promoting a sensible approach to the amount of sweet food we eat. Unfortunately I think there is misleading information out there that just because you are not eating refined sugar that eating stevia, honey or xylitol makes it ok to eat alternative sweeteners more often than you would sugar. Thanks again for this post and your sensible approach to nutrition.

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  3. I'll have to try this! Looks so yum. And that picture alone has given me some ideas about school lunches already. This is the year for me to detox and clean up my life with food and other areas of my life too. Whole family included! Got a blog post about it this afternoon coming up!

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    1. Good on you Virginia! Mona's book is a great place to start 'cleaning up' your families diet because it is packed with such easy to read information about nutrition and simple appetising recipes that everyone in the family will enjoy. I look forward to following your detox journey on your blog and if there is anything at all I can provide here to keep you motivated along the way let me know. x

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  4. i just cannot get enough of lunchbox inspirations, thank you, will definitely check that book out. Scott and I take turns packing the lunchboxes and they are always pretty good but often we fall in a rut and then it gets dull. Poe is a picker so we have quite a few different 'tastes' in there for him; hummus, sushi, wraps, boiled eggs with shells on and smiley faces, carrot, capsicum, cucumber sticks, nuts (at our school we can have nuts, just no peanuts), pancakes packed full of goodness, leftovers, falafels, koftas, spinach pies, pasta, yoghurt. Hmmm, okay, brain has gone blank now. xx

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    1. All great suggestions here Jay, I especially like the hard boiled eggs with smiley faces on shells :) kids like 'fun' food no doubt about that! xx

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  5. Just ordered the book and posted the link on Mornington Peninsula Kids FB page who are discussing the same question - what to put in children's lunchboxes. I've never had a problem with thinking up savoury snacks for school; it's been the sweet treat that I have battled with, and would rarely include one. As a result, I was told Tiarny would often be 'scrounging' treats from other children's lunchboxes, and that I really should 'go with the crowd' so he wouldn't be left out. My response would be that perhaps those parents should rethink their food choices, and rather than me give in and include unhealthy snacks, they should take their's out! So I am looking forward to packing a little homemade sweet into T's lunchbox this year, which I'm sure will delight him. A group of Grade One mums have also decide that maybe tackling the issue of lunchboxes at a whole school level is too big a task, so we have decided to start encouraging change within our classroom, set up a model which hopefully other classes will follow. It's a huge issue, and being both a teacher and parent I see the consequences and impact on learning high sugar diets create.

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    1. A big hello Anthea! Where did the holidays go?! Thanks for this great comment I think there is a lot in it that readers can relate to and also great to have your experience both as a parent and a teacher. Wishing you the very best of luck with your new school lunch model, fantastic idea to start with your class. I do hope to see you soon I have your birthday present in my bag for oh about 6 weeks now! xx

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    2. Hi Anthea, thank you for your order and I hope you enjoy the simple tasty recipes I have put together. There is a lot of work to do in schools to help parents understand the importance of making healthy choices. My goal is to 'change the world one lunchbox at a time' and with support from passionate people as yourself it inspires me to continue the work I do. There is an opportunity for a fundraiser with the book if your school is interested. I can send you information if you like. Please email me on mona.65@optusnet.com.au Have fun making some sweet treat with Tiarny. Yours in good health, Mona

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Thanks for your comments. I read every one!

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