Foost

I have just restocked the veggie snack box. The veggie snack box is something I started last year. A box of washed and ready to eat raw veggies so we have veggies to grab for snacks or add to a meal. Just open the tub. (Add a dip optional).

Over summer our eating has been more at hoc. I have inconsistently filled the veggie box and the fruit bowl. Whilst I have enjoyed a quieter pace, I do think I eat more fruit and veggies and more variety when in routine.

With back to school, this week is back to routine.

Do you tend to eat more variety and more fruit and vegetables in the routine or on holidays?

It’s my birthday! Celebrate with me with 44% off the entire Foost website for 44 hours!

Body, weight, aging…it’s big business! Businesses make lots of money making people feel insecure. Telling people what to wear, what to look like, and how to look younger than your age. I say be proud! So I’m embracing this birthday!

Use the code “birthday44” at the checkout at www.foost.com.au/shop. If you don’t need anything please share this with anyone with children aged 2-10 who might love a kids safe knife or veggie loving books.

Yesterday I attended a memorial service for the victims of the Bondi tragedy. It was lead by Chabad communities in Melbourne. The rabbis leading the event were good friends of the rabbis murdered (that was a Chabad organised event). There were prayers and words. Names and images of the passed away and injured. It was also attended by local MPs. There was police and private security on the door. But there was a few others elements that showed the strength and beauty of the Jewish people that I thought I would share….

After the prayers, there was singing. After the singing there was the lighting of the Chanukah menorah. There was the overarching message that in the darkness, we must continue to make light. Whilst the candles burned, there were donuts. It’s a strange feeling, to have such grief and mourning, with some anger and at a time that is usually celebration.

After some MPs spoke, one rabbi thanked them for their support but also highlighted the failure by the government for the Jewish Australian people. Since October 7, antisemitism has grown in Australia and hate has been allowed to reign. So many of the victims came to Australia for a safer home, and Australia has failed them.

At the end of the event it was mentioned that the upcoming Chanukah event at Westfield Southland has been cancelled (allegedly by Westfield). I looked up the website and all I can see is a statement of support. I also read somewhere that Westfield had apparently provided the menorah at Bondi. I have many questions and not many answers. And thinking verbal support is not enough, it needs to be supported by action.

On the drive home I received a voice memo from a wife of a rabbi in Melbourne. She was talking about the difficult decision to move another Chanukah event from a public park into a non public closed indoor space. It was a hard decision because they want people to feel safe, well more than that, they want people to be safe. But when we start to change our actions from threats of violence, the evil starts to win. But without adequate support, safety can’t be increased.

In modern Australia, how are people not safe and free to harmlessly celebrate their culture?

I’ve spent the last 24 hours not knowing what to do, not knowing what to say. My thoughts and love go out to the families affected by the tragedy at Bondi. To the first responders and upstanders. To the entire Jewish community who feel this pain, in th present and the past trauma it triggers. And to anyone who has experienced prejudice and discrimination.

I’m not sure what to say, so I’ve decided to share a little of my family’s story. Because I think many of my followers are not Jewish, and perhaps this is a chance for a little deeper understanding.

It seems unbelievable, yet also expected. Gun violence is so rare in Australia, but sadly Antisemitism is not. Chanukah is the most public of Jewish holidays. Growing up we often went to big public Chanukah events in the park. My mum would always feel uncomfortable, a little unsafe. She would say to me “it’s too many Jewish people at once place, too much of a target”. I never actually thought her words would ring true. Not here in Australia.

It’s a fear always just under the surface. My family are Holocaust survivors. Two of my grandparents endured the war in a Russian labour camp they physically built. I had an aunt who died in the camp at two years old of starvation. And they were “lucky”. Their train went to Russia, not Auschwitz like most of their family. It took them seven years travelling from liberation to “freedom” in Australia where they continued to hide their Jewish identity. My grandma wasn’t free, she was completely traumatised. There was no therapy. There was hard work and survival. My other grandparents left Europe just before war broke. They came to Australia via Singapore. Arriving in Australia they were interned in a camp in rural Australia. Living behind fences, but in a safer country.

Growing up in school, people would say to each other “don’t be a Jew” as an insult. Later I would walk past security guards when dropping my children at kinder. On October 7, I had many missed calls from my dad checking I was okay (even though we live on the other side of the world). This is living trauma. Living discrimination. And it just got a whole lot worse….

Foost’s Black Friday sale is here! 25% off storewide! Everything needed to help children have healthy eating habits! Books, children safe knives and more.

Our Foost knives cut fruit and veggies but not little helping hands! Children just love their own “special knife” both in the kitchen and at the table! And parents, carers, grandparents, educators and teachers can entertain the children whilst also preparing a meal or snack!

Check out our products now www.foost.com.au/shop

Use the coupon blackfriday25 at the checkout for 25% off storewide.

Yesterday was a big day, over 400 children interacting with healthy ingredients without pressure, without expectations but with a lot of fun. When you focus more on connection and interaction rather than nutrition preaching, amazing things can happen.

We received some amazing feedback “I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to your incredible team for their outstanding efforts yesterday. They were an absolute pleasure to work with - friendly, professional, and dedicated throughout the entire day. The edible bracelet activity was a hit with our community and we’re truely grateful to have patterned with your organisation to promote healthy food choices in such an engaging way”.

So festival, schools/elcs/kinders and school holiday program organisers please reach out if you want to both entertain children and support healthy eating within your community!

We have some fun free events coming up!

Wednesday 15 October preschool kids cooking class for ride2work week. Children will be making veggie bike crackers! It’s free and there will be some walk in spots but bookings are recommended to secure your spot! Bookings through

Sunday 19 October. Make your own edible bracelets at Family Fun Day. These are drop in sessions, so just come along and join the queue! This is a free event but you need to grab a free ticket by googling Monash Family Fun Day.

Stocktake sale at foost.com.au/shop! Amazing deals on foost children safe knives!Great for home, presents, kinders and schools! Packs with knife sets, books and aprons and hats also on sale!

Foost knives are a great way to build independence, great for motor skills, totally safe, an excellent off-screen way to entertain children whilst you cook and they help children learn to love fruits and veggies!

Our knives will cut fruit and veg but not fingers! Kids love having their own special knife and they are worry free knives for parents! We suggest the first knife for children 18 months-ish to 3 or 4. And next knives for around 4+

Please do this small business a favour and tag your friends with little ones and also tell your kinders or schools to grab a set!

Any questions? Comment below…

Connection is a word that resonates a lot with me lately, both personally and professionally.

A few weeks ago, I learnt Wirrimibirra Ngauramanguu is an Indigenous Australian word translating to “caring for country”. This is more than just care and connection to land, it is all living things including people.

I was also listening to a fascinating Ted Talk by Johann Hari entitled “everything you think you know about addiction is wrong”. It stated that the opposite addiction is not sobriety. The opposite of addiction is connection.

One of my favourite things about food is the connection. The connection when a family eats together. The connection over a shared meal during a workplace wellness session. The connection of children all cooking together. When food is diluted down to nutrients and serving sizes, we risk losing this connection. When parents and carers lovingly focus on how many bites of carrots have been eaten, or if the chicken has been tasted, we again risk this connection. And focusing more on connection, and less on the food eaten, can actually increase the likelihood of new foods being accepted. This week at your family meals, try focusing a little less on number of bites eaten and more on connection.

Connection is also to yourself. When it comes to food, this is feeding yourself foods you enjoy. Feeding yourself foods that you know help you feel good. Taking the time and energy, when you have it and because you deserve it, to feed yourself regularly. Creating a nice eating environment, slowing down and listening to your body’s hunger and fullness queues.

Nutrition, food and connection, can sit all side by side. We just need to maintain the balance.

What does connection mean to you?

Image: our dyi dinner from the other night.

It’s our Black Friday Sale! 24% off storewide with the code BlackFriday24.

Foost children’s knives that cut fruit and veggies and not helping hands are awesome for allowing children safety help in the kitchen! Kids just LOVE using knives, and our knives allow this. They are totally safe so anxiety free for parents! Our audience say their children love having their own special knife. Also great for fine motor skills, helping children learn to love fruits and vegetables and building independence at mealtimes.

Also on sale are our packs including a hat and apron, Foost’s awesome books and rainbow plates.

Shop now: www.foost.com.au/shop

(Offer valid till end November).

I find feeding teens can have similar challenges to feeding younger children. Both little children and teens (us adults too) love some autonomy. To have involvement in food choices. My teens will often grab a frypan, pull out the sandwich press or head to the air fryer when they have enough hunger and inclination but they also love easy grab and go snacks. Whilst we do have packaged snacks in the house and there is also the trusty fruit bowl, I do try to have some things prepped to grab.

My children like chia pudding, but not always the effort of spooning it out the tub and adding some fruit apparently. So recently I have been making these individual ones (and to be honest I love them too). It’s chia pudding (full recipe on foost website, these are per little tub: 1/2 cup milk, 2 tablespoons chia seeds, dash vanilla and dash maple syrup, give a big mix and into the fridge). Leave them 30 mins. Mix again and top with yoghurt and/or fruit and/or nuts or muesli.

Last week I also dehydrated the sad fruit and made fruit chips. You can use a dehydrator or the oven.

This week the kids are enjoying this Mexican avocado dip (bought after they had it at a friend’s house). So I’m chopping up some veg in a tub and leaving it next to the dip in the fridge.

Last week I made some chocolate balls (not the foost bliss ball version, the Marie Biscuit and sweet and condensed milk nursing mothers book from the 80s version). This week I made some banana bread (because I enjoy baking).

In the past I’ve also kept boiled eggs in the fridge. Recently I’ve been enjoying blue cheese on grainy crackers usually served with some sliced apple but my children aren’t joining me yet.

What snacks do you and your family like?

I’ve started getting into the routine of food shopping on Sundays. When I get home, before restocking with the fresh stuff, I go through the sad looking fruit and veg that’s not going to make it through the next week and try and save it. Last week I peeled the bananas, cut up the kiwi fruit and stuck them in a freezer bag for smoothies. The week before I stewed up the apples. This week I made some fruit chips. I used a dehydrator but you can use your oven on low. Veggies I’ll often steam and make top with cheese to make into a grattin, grate up into bolognese sauce or made a blended soup (recipes on foost website). I also go through the fridge and check the state of any leftovers, freezing things if they are still okay and composing anything that’s not.

What are your top tips for using up sad fruit and veg and leftovers? (Not only does this reduce food waste, it also helps the food budget).

Did you know Foost has an ebook full of more ideas to use fruit and veg. 101+ fruit and veggie snacks. It’s currently only $9.95, and use the code BlackFriday24 for another 24% off.