Packed with Love!
When
it comes to my little one, everything matters. Being a working mother, time is
a luxury to me. A few Saturdays ago, I was thrilled to be joined MILO®’s Pack in the Energy for Champions Bento
Box Workshop with my little one.
The
room was bursting with much excitement and energy that morning. Parents and
their children gathered early, enjoying a light breakfast before the event took
place. Of course, we enjoyed one of Malaysia’s favorite leading nutritious chocolate malt MILO®!
MILO® was introduced in 1950 and is packed
with natural goodness of malt, milk and cocoa, enriched with Activ-Go®; a unique blend of vitamins
and minerals. Packed with all the goodness and energy to kick off your day, MILO®
has been fueling generations of champions since then.
The event took off with a talk on nutritional value of different food and how to prepare a healthy and balance meal for kids by Georgen Thye, a council member of the Malaysian Dietitian Association (MDA).
While
we all know that breakfast is one of the most important meal of the day,
finding time to enjoy a nutritious and healthy breakfast is nearly impossible
with our hectic work schedules and lifestyle. A balance breakfast can boost the
energy level we all need to kick start our day, therefore, it is crucial that
we do not skip this meal. Even if time do not permit, we can still grab easy
to-go food and beverage or simply prepare our breakfast the evening before.
Thye
cited that one in three children were found to have low physical activity
level, noted among breakfast skippers, from the findings of MyBreakfast Study
carried out by Nutrition Society of Malaysia (NSM). He proceeded to inform us
that skipping meals or poor food choices will lead our children to be energy
deprive throughout the day, thus affecting their focus and attention levels
during classes and activities.
A
healthy balance meal should consist of fruits, vegetables, lean meat, whole
grains, legumes, dairy, nuts and seeds as advised by Thye. He proceeded to
conduct a demonstration on 3 simple and easy 15-minutes recipes for healthy
meals to pack for the children. When it comes to creating bento boxes, we were
also joined by Hasnawati Yahaya a
member of the Kelab Bento/Bekal Malaysia, who showed us how to make pretty and
fun bento boxes with the 3 recipes by Thye.
First
recipe Thye made Whole Grain Tortilla
Chips with Pumpkin Tuna Mash. Not only is it healthy, its easy to whip up
and can be prepared in advance with minimal effort. Pumpkin is easy to cook and
can be steamed or microwave till soft. Mix the pumpkin with drained tuna from
can, add in a margarine, season with salt and black pepper and top with spring
onion. Tortilla chips can be baked or microwave till crispy.
Hasnawati
then proceeded to show up how to make this recipe super cute to entice the
little ones to enjoy their bento box. Using toothpick, its really easy to cut
out the shape of a bunny from a slice of cheese.
Add in some fruits and a pack of MILO® and this balance and nutritious packed bento box is done!
Add in some fruits and a pack of MILO® and this balance and nutritious packed bento box is done!
The
next recipe was Hawaiian Pasta Salad.
It’s a great recipe to get your children to eat some vegetables since most
little ones like pasta. Thye uses wholemeal pasta to add on extra goodness.
Cooked the pasta according to the package directions and rinse in cold water.
Add in drained canned tuna, shredded carrots chopped pineapple for sweetness
and a light dressing of light mayonnaise some Greek yoghurt, lemon juice and
season well.
Hasnawati
added an adorable kitty cat and fruits to complete the bento box along with MILO®.
The
final recipe is a Banana Peanut Butter
& Pumpkin Seeds Open Sandwich. Simply spread peanut butter on wholemeal
bread (toasted or not), topped with sliced banana, sprinkle with pumpkin seeds
and drizzle with a little honey.
Add
a super cute bear cut out from sliced bread, fruits and a pack of MILO® for the finishing touch.
Then
it was our turn on get creative with our own bento box. A lot of ingredients
was provided and me with the little one put on our thinking caps.
We made two bento box, one with our family sleeping on a bed made from bread and a blanket of cheese.
The second one we made about Olaf from boiled egg and fruit, add in some of that pasta salad and slices of lean grilled chicken breast with fresh berries.
We made two bento box, one with our family sleeping on a bed made from bread and a blanket of cheese.
The second one we made about Olaf from boiled egg and fruit, add in some of that pasta salad and slices of lean grilled chicken breast with fresh berries.
There were also a lot of other great bento boxes from the rest of the parents and their children. The judges were Angeline Lim, Senior Brand Manager of Nestle Malaysia with Thye and Hasnawati as well as all the children present that day.
“Our
kids are our champions and it is important for us to give them all the support
they need to take on their daily challenges. That is why we encourage parents
to provide their children with a balanced home-packed meal paired with a MILO® UHT to take to school, which
helps to efficiently release energy from food. This gives their children the
energy to go further and to perform at their best – mentally and physically,”
said Angeline.
My
little one and me managed to snag the winning prize of the day with our Olaf
bento box!
Congrats
to all the other parents and children with all their lovely bento boxes too as
they were all made with much love together.
The
most important thing that came out of that day was spending time with my little
one and learning how to pack him a balance meal with MILO®. MILO® UHT, always convenient and easy to enjoy, helps working
parents like us to ensure that our children are enjoying a balance diet and
adequate amount of energy to get through their day.
Now that’s what I call Packed with
Love!
For
more information on MILO® and MILO® Bento Box Recipe, visit www.milo.com.my
