Time to read. It’s a rarity after the sleep, eat, repeat baby phase or until you ship them off to nursery & find a slice of your work commute to indulge in the lost day dream of sinking into a good book. Or, in this case, a damn fine magazine.
Say ‘hello’ to Lunch Lady. A ‘food & family’ once monthly magazine from the sunny shores of Australia. Colourful, creative, beautifully printed and filled to the brim of honest parenting essays, delicious seasonal recipes and fun ideas and activities for your littles.
Why do we love Lunch Lady?
How long have you got? (Time is precious, we know.) How long could we ramble on and on like a love struck teen? (Probably for hours, but we’ll try and keep it short.)
1) The design. Each issue is is covered and filled with beautifully fun and punchy patterns. Individual to each issue, you’ll never find a repeat from one month to the next. It pops out from the shelf, it’s a mini work of art that makes you want to pick it up and explore what else is hiding in the simply designed but engaging pages.
2) Photography. There’s something personal and intimate feeling about the images used throughout. Wether they are the editors or other contributors kids, we don’t know, but they draw you into the time and place with them. Which, let’s be honest, is really what good photography should do. At the very least, it evokes memories of your own kids and the wonderful days spent by lakes, on beaches or simply hanging out in your own gardens or homes. Which here at the Mumma Collective, we really love. We want to be transported away from the cold weather, packed bus on our work commute or living room floor covered with toys for a short time.
Along with all of the above, ways to keep the kids (and parents) entertained and engaged are another key element to making Lunch Lady a keeper. You’ll find various themes running through the pages which inspire many of the DIY craft ideas and recipes or essays; carrots and all they encompass – how red heads became ‘carrot tops’, how to make your own wrapping paper with carrots as paint stamps for pattern, different kinds of carrots and their flavours or how to grow them. Dens and cubbys for kids; how to make them, how to decorate them, what you can use around the house to build the ultimate hide away and healthy ‘midnight’ snacks for the kids to chow down on while day dreaming their pre-bedtime hours away in their forts. For days when our parenting play inspiration is running low, you can always find something to light a spark of creativity in the magazines pages.
3) Content. Okay, so this is a slight no brainer. We wouldn’t be reading the magazine cover to cover if the content wasn’t up to scratch, but we’ve all fallen pray to buying a publication just to flick through, look at the pictures then dump it in a pile to be forgotten. Lunch Lady isn’t like those other girls.
As stated on the cover, ‘food and family’ are the focus. Filled with seasonal (for us Brits Summer in our Winter, Winter in our Summer) recipes, the Moto seems to be fresh and healthy without compromising flavour or fun. Recently, they’ve offered up some amazing ways to make various, colourful home made tacos from the actual tacos themselves to fillings kids and adults wouldn’t turn their noses up at. But of course, they’d never forget the desserts and over the last few months have included mini cheese cakes, floral filled ice pops and breakfasts to make anyone rush out of bed.
All in all, without forgetting to mention it’s wonderfully honest (brutally honest at times) essays on parenting, Lunch Lady is a lady we want to be best friends with for a very long time. The lady we will insist you hang out with ‘at least once’. Yes, it’s pricier than your average magazine, coming in at £13.50 including postage (which you can purchase in the UK from Newsstand.co.uk) but worth every penny. It’s 160 pages of pure joy, and leaves us feeling that if even for a short time, happiness can indeed be bought.
You can visit their lovely website here and buy directly from their online store here.
Images care of Lunch Lady Magazine.
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