Scottish mum to launch healthy food school for kids

Kirsty Fraser has revealed her plans to open the first dedicated cookery school of its kind in to help families with mealtimes and nutrition.

When, following the birth of her first child, Kirsty Fraser experienced health complications, she found the answers in food.

Now on a mission to help other mums-to-be and families, she will launch a healthy food school dedicated to helping children and parents get inspired by food.

Launching her business Little Bon Food online initially, Kirsty will host workshops and events, and hopes to next year open a venue in the north which has parents and kids in mind to support them as well as teach them new life skills like cooking.

Kirsty and her eight-year-old son Caeleb have already gathered a following by sharing ways to make food fun for kids by cooking, baking and doing activities like vegetable printing together on their Facebook and Instagram pages.

The former interior designer lives in Bucksburn, Aberdeen with her husband Calum, who Kirsty has transformed into their videographer, director, and photographer.

She said: “I actually spent around 10 years in commercial interior design which is totally different to what I’m doing now. For me, the journey into building a passion behind good healthy food really started when I fell pregnant with my son Caeleb, who is a big part of Little Bon Food.

“Before having him, I never really thought much about what I was putting in my body. When I fell pregnant I really started thinking about nourishing my body and looked a lot more into how food impacts our overall health.

“After I gave birth I ended up being really unwell and suffered from bad thyroid issues, chronic pain and fatigue for years. It was really difficult and took a lot of visits to different specialists and trying alternative therapies and nothing ever really seemed to work.

“I looked to food and went to see a nutritionist. I think chronic illnesses and disease is totally on the rise along with undiagnosed issues. I didn’t realise how much of that was related to the food we eat. When I started looking after myself properly and nourishing my body, I really then experienced the magic of food. It completely turned my life around. I’m not 100% there yet, but what a huge difference it has made.”

At 31 weeks pregnant, Kirsty says that even despite Covid-19, the classes she has planned for the school will launch next year, however she is organising a range of online sessions and events for everyone across the country to take part in.

Focused on helping families make simple, healthy food kids will engage well with and love, she said that it is important that parents don’t put themselves under too much pressure when it comes to food and getting it right every time.

“I’ve always strived to feed him the best I can, but as a parent there’s so much pressure around feeding our kids the right food,” said Kirsty.

“There’s so much information out there and I know, being a busy parent working full-time, you don’t always have time to look into these things or slave over a pot for hours to make meals from scratch. I want to help families like mine to make healthy food fun and simple – it doesn’t have to be complicated. For kids as well, encouraging them to build positive experiences with their foods and get really excited about it.

“The main part of this will be focused on physical classes, but with Covid-19 just now we’ve put them on hold. I’m 31 weeks pregnant just now too, so until those classes start, which I anticipate will be early next year, we’ll support families online.

“We’ve spent a lot of time with our kids recently and with the summer holidays, people are looking for things to do – so why not look to food? I want to help give people some ideas, meal ideas, fun activities, and online events as well. The first one will run shortly.”

Running events suitable for pre-schoolers and primary school children, Little Bon Food will feature everything from sensory play sessions, cooking classes and more to inspire kids to get in the kitchen from an early age – and also develop positive experiences with food, too.

She said: “The food school will run events and workshops for families and kids. We’ll have food sensory classes with pre-schoolers, helping them lay those foundations from a young age and just having fun with food through play and their five senses. For primary school children and maybe beyond, we’ll do cooking classes and teaching the practical life skill, but cooking really fun, interesting, healthy dishes.

“I want to discuss the whole journey of family and motherhood from pre-natal all the way up. Our children’s health really does start in the womb. I’ll also be doing things on breastfeeding and covering the whole thing.

“We tend to have a lot of fun around food. We’ve been making some healthy drinks and experimenting with different flavours. Caeleb loves to make his overnight oats and trying things.

“We also do things that don’t necessarily entail eating. We do a lot of fruit and veg printing using the produce to have fun. We’re going to experiment with some edible play-dough. My husband always gets involved, too.”

With plans to open her own family-centred healthy cafe in the future, Kirsty is looking forward to finally being able to make her dream of creating a safe, positive space for children to connect over food a reality.

She said: “We have aspirations for Little Bon Food to have its own venue. We’ve looked into a family-centred healthy cafe and I just want to build a positive community for the kids of Aberdeen surrounded by other things like mental well being. It’s all about making kids feel good and supported, especially just now as our kids need something positive. Connecting through food is a really important aspect of what we’re trying to build, like meeting and socialising over food. It’s this whole feeling of feeling good.

“The main venue for our classes will be in the Aberdeen area. We’ll also be holding events all around the north-east and potentially further afield, too. The response we have received so far has been amazing. We’ve had so many people get in touch which has been fantastic. The support has been great, especially when starting a new business.”

---

Caeleb’s Nutty Choco Banana Overnight Oats

Ingredients

• 1 serving of old fashioned or rolled oats
• 2 tbsp chai seeds
• 1 tsp cacao powder
• 1 tbsp smooth peanut butter
• 1 small ripe banana, mashed
• Small drizzle of honey
• Milk (just enough to cover the ingredients in the bowl)

Method

1. In a bowl/ jar/container mix together a serving of old fashioned or rolled oats, chai seeds and the cacao powder.
2. Add the smooth peanut butter, mashed banana and a little honey and mix.
3.  Add milk of your choice to just over the top of ingredients and mix. Cover and bang in the fridge and leave overnight. If your oats are a bit thick in the morning just add more milk.

---

Little Bon’s (Shh… Hidden Veg) Mac & Cheese

Ingredients

• 3 cups macaroni
• 1 small butternut squash
• 1/2 cauliflower
• 1 courgette
• 250ml milk
• 2 tbsp cream cheese
• 3 cups cheddar cheese
• 1 tsp mustard
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Method

1. Chop the butternut squash into small cubes and the cauliflower and courgette into small pieces.
2. Put the butternut squash and cauliflower into a pan with some boiling water and simmer on a medium heat for 10 minutes.
3. Add courgette and simmer for another 10 minutes.
4. Drain the veg, leaving a little water. Blend with a hand blender until it is smooth.
5. Add the milk and cream cheese and stir. Add two cups of cheddar cheese and stir on a low heat until you get a smooth sauce.
6. Add the mustard, salt and pepper.
7. Transfer cooked pasta into a baking dish, add the sauce and combine.
8. Sprinkle the last cup of cheese on top of the dish and grind some pepper on top.
9. Cook in the oven for 25-30 minutes at 180°C and serve with a side salad.