Hello Choklits Community,
This is my very first Choklits Menu reveal! I’m Lauren and I’m the Chef at Choklits in Croydon. Choklits Croydon joined our family in late September this year, so this is not only my first menu reveal, it’s the first one at our new location too. Prior to starting here at Croydon, I was lucky enough to work at both Choklits Ringwood with Saliya and at Choklits Surrey Hills with Lai to begin to learn everything about the Choklits Menus and how we best take care of all of our early learners.
We’ve continued to add variety to our menus with the goal of introducing our children to new tastes and textures again this season. We really do understand the important role food plays in our lives and the opportunity we have to teach our children healthy habits that last a lifetime. As more and more research is revealing, the early years are (by far) the most significant development time in our lives because the learnings are carried into the subsequent years and form the foundation for everything else we do.
As every parent knows, children are very curious about new things and I have loved sharing more about food with them when they come to visit me in the kitchen. I often keep different foods and herbs for the children to smell, touch and try to identify. Rubbing herbs like mint together in your fingers helps to bring out the smell which is a key identifying method. I must say, we have some very fast learners here at Choklits! Along with more herbs you’ll find more grains in our summer menu, which is posted below.
As we are fast approaching the end of the year, there’s lots happening here at Choklits. It’s a particularly busy time for our kindergarten children as they are all getting ready for their next adventures at school. Part of our role is to help them all get ready for school which is quite different from the early learning environment. One of the key differences is that they need to start to become more responsible for themselves and that includes their food.
At Choklits we serve them healthy meals and snacks every day, but at school they need to take their food in their own lunch box. To help the children get familiar with packing and taking care of their food we have had many lunch box days recently. We ask the children to bring their empty lunch boxes from home to Choklits, I prepare typical lunchbox-style food for them and then the educators then help them pack their own lunch boxes. The idea is to represent the routine they often go through at home to help build familiarity and confidence.
Once packed, the children eat from their lunch boxes just like they will next year at school. It’s a wonderful time to observe the children as they turn their attention to school because they are often so excited and ask many questions about the coming year!
As we’ve welcomed many new families to Choklits in the past few months I wanted to mention our no packet, no added sugar policy which are foundational in our approach to serving healthy food. Nutrition is a complex topic but with a few basic guidelines it can become a lot simpler. That’s where our no packet, no added sugar policy comes in. If you don’t buy things in packets and you don’t add sugar to anything you prepare you’re almost guaranteed to have a much healthier meal. To read more about our approach to food, download a copy of our cookbook here.
If you have any questions about this summer season or would like to talk about food, please feel free to pop in and see any of us in our kitchens. Or, get in touch via the Choklits Facebook and Instagram accounts.
On behalf of Saliya, Lai and myself, here is the Choklits Summer Menu 2022. Enjoy!
Choklits Child Care Chef at Choklits Croydon
Our Centres
(03) 9879 5888