Nicole Bando

07/09/2025

Here I am with the tools of my craft after a home visit with a new baby and parents. It’s a privilege to support families to feed their children.

(And for those observant folk, the next stop is footy training for my daughter!) ☺️
NEST Ormond Junior Football Club

07/09/2025

Practical tips to reduce lunch box workload and increase balance:

-Chop up a variety of vegetables at the beginning of the week:
Carrot (sticks or grated), cucumber, capsicum, cherry tomatoes, green beans, snow peas, etc. Make it easy to grab and throw into the lunch box for both children and adults).
- Fruit: Seasonal options and fruit canned in natural juice, sometimes dried fruit
- Add ‘healthier’ baked goods: No sugar or sugar reduced muffins (honey, brown sugar, coconut sugar, maple syrup are all the same). Choose one and reduce it or use fruit to sweeten the recipe.
- Use wholemeal flour to completely or partially replace white flour.
- Bake with the kids, or if they are old enough, delegate.
- Protein balls: peanut butter cacao or nut-free cacao and sesame or store bought (e.g. Tom & Luke)
See my blog for recipes and more ideas to lighten the lunch box load: https://lnkd.in/gyysAGPX

03/09/2025

My practical lunch box tips from experience as a parent and paediatric dietitian can help your family make some positive change:

*Fight the good fight*
- Yes, it is worth having standards about how the lunch box is built. Try to include fruit and vegetables, some dairy, a main item such as a sandwich, wrap or last night’s dinner.
- The benefits for your children’s growth, learning, mood, concentration and development are exponential.
- Start early and keep going: habits form in early childhood, so be heartened that sending the kinder lunch box packed full of colour and balanced choices makes a difference. If things have slipped a little over time, don’t despair, it is never too late to make positive change.
- Include sometimes foods, sometimes:
If the everyday lunch box is containing treat foods (chips, biscuits, lollies) think about winding it back to alternate days to begin with, or a couple of times per week. The rest of the time, replace these foods with healthier options.
- Consider healthier or less frequent lunch orders: what are the options at the school canteen?
More tips are in my latest blog: https://lnkd.in/gyysAGPX

02/09/2025

Make packing lunch boxes easier for yourself and/or your children with pre-cut fruit and vegetables. This encourages more volume and variety of colour as the work is already done and kids can easily grab and go (also great for accessible snacking).

See more tips in my new blog, link here or in bio
https://nicolebando.com/articles/kinder-and-school-lunch-boxes/lunch-box-wins-expert-tips-for-kinder-primary-and-high-school-kids-from-a-paediatric-dietitian/

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01/09/2025

A few tips for kinder and school lunch boxes?
*Fight the good fight:*
- The benefits for your children’s growth, learning, mood, concentration and development are exponential.
- Try to include fruit and vegetables, some dairy, a main item such as a sandwich, wrap or last night’s dinner.
- It's never too late to make positive change and small steps count.
- If the everyday lunch box is containing treat foods (chips, biscuits, lollies) think about winding it back to perhaps alternate days to begin with, or a couple of times per week.
- The rest of the time, replace these foods with healthier options.
- Consider healthier or less frequent lunch orders: what are the options at the school canteen?
See my latest blog for more practical tips on how to work towards balanced school lunch boxes.
https://lnkd.in/gyysAGPX

28/08/2025

Feel confused about who to see?
My latest blog will help you work out if you need a Paediatric Dietitian or Lactation Consultant, or perhaps both! With the combined qualifications, I can help your family with feeding, allergies, growth-related issues, at the breast, bottle, solids or all of the above. Link below and in bio on Instagram.
https://nicolebando.com/articles/all/about-me/when-do-i-need-a-paediatric-dietitian-or-a-lactation-consultant-in-melbourne/

27/08/2025

Do you need a lactation consultant, paediatric dietitian or both? See this table and my latest blog to work out which service would meet your needs. https://nicolebando.com/articles/all/about-me/when-do-i-need-a-paediatric-dietitian-or-a-lactation-consultant-in-melbourne/

25/08/2025

3 meal ideas to incorporate a rainbow of colour from breakfast to dinner with plant foods: rainbow porridge, a twist on avocado toast and rainbow pizza.

https://nicolebando.com/recipes/dinner/eat-the-rainbow-with-homemade-pizza/

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Gluten-Free, Low FODMAP options, vegetarian Have you ever looked at a 4-year-old’s outfit and thought, ‘I wish I could do that?’ You know what I’m talking about, stripes, stars, spots clashing all over the place, topped off with gumboots and sunglasses. Look, I know that I have and really, w...

21/08/2025

My patients are sometimes uncertain if they need to see a Paediatric
Dietitian or Lactation Consultant, or perhaps both. I integrate these two professions in my practice at .
My latest blog provides a summary and table to guide patients and referrers to the type of care they may be looking for and how I can help.

If you're unsure whether you need support from a Paediatric Dietitian or a Lactation Consultant, or both, in Melbourne, you are not alone.

18/08/2025

Nut-free cacao & seed butter protein balls:
Another one for school lunches or breastfeeding mums of babies with food allergies/intolerances. Also dairy and soy free.

Ingredients:
2/3 cup dates
2tb cacao
½ cup pumpkin seeds
2tb tahini
1 cup oats
½ teaspoon vanilla essence.

Method:
Blend ingredients in a food processor until combined. You may need to add a touch of water if the mixture is too dry. Roll into balls, coat in desiccated coconut if preferred. Refrigerate or freeze.
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11/08/2025

Nut and dairy-free muesli bars:

Great for:
- Nut-free school lunch boxes
- Children and adults with nut, dairy allergies
- Breastfeeding mums of babies with food intolerances and allergies.
These can be kept in the fridge or freezer and are great for that 3pm energy slump.
Adapt the recipe to suit dietaries.

Ingredients:
½ cup tahini, pumpkin or sunflower seed spread
½ cup honey
1 ½ cups rolled oats
1 cup sultanas or other finely chopped dried fruit
¾ cup mixed seeds (e.g. pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, chia)
¼ cup desiccated coconut
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Method:
1. Add dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon.
2. Mix tahini or other seed butter and honey in a small saucepan over low heat until smooth. Once it starts to gently bubble, turn down the heat to low and stir for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Pour hot seed butter and honey mixture over dry ingredients and mix until ingredients are coated.
4. Press into a 20cm square, lined baked tin, using the wooden spoon and your fingers. Refrigerate for 2 hours, until firm. Cut into 10 muesli bars or 20 smaller squares.

04/06/2025

This 9 minute video may change the way you view food. What has happened to our food system and how is that impacting us?