ICE creams, salty snacks and fizzy drinks can start to dominate a family’s diet during the summertime. But with autumn peeping over the horizon and a new term underway, it’s time to get everyone eating their five-a-day once more.

The innocent team will be out on the road in their HGV (Hungry Grassy Van) durng the month of September to show that fast food needn’t be naughty

Anna Jones, the chef behind these recipes and the accompanying cookbook Hungry, says when working out what to feed your kids, a good rule of thumb is to half fill their plates with fruit and veg, and split the other half between starchy and protein-based foods, such as rice and fish.

Here are some meals and snacks to get your family’s mouths watering...

HONEY AND CINNAMON POPCORN (serves 2)

Ingredients

A splash of vegetable oil, sunflower or groundnut oil

2 handfuls of popcorn kernels

4tbsp runny honey

A pinch of ground cinnamon

Find a big pan with a lid. Add a tiny splash of oil and the popcorn kernels. Put the lid on and cook over a very low heat. At first you won’t hear a thing, but once the popping starts, keep giving the pan a gentle shake every minute or so until the noise stops. Then turn off the heat.

In another pan, heat the honey and cinnamon over a low heat for a couple of minutes.

Put the popcorn on to a large baking tray and pour over the honey mixture. Give the tray a good shake and stir with a spoon to make sure it’s well coated. Pop the tray back into the oven for three to five minutes, to set the honey, then remove and leave to cool.

Once cooled, either serve in little bowls straight away or keep in an airtight tin for up to a week, and have some sandwich bags ready for when you next pop out!

l HOME-MADE TORTILLA CHIPS AND SALSA DIP (serves 2)

For the chips:

8 flour tortillas (you can also use wraps or pitta breads)

Drizzle of olive oil

1tsp smoked paprika

Salt, if needed

For the Salsa Dip:

4 ripe tomatoes

2 spring onions

A small bunch of coriander

½ red chilli, deseeded

Juice of ½ a lime

Drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 180ºC/Gas Mark 4. Cut each tortilla into 8 triangles and place them on a couple of baking trays.

Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with smoked paprika and toss the chips to make sure they’re all coated. Add a pinch of salt if you like.

Bake for 10 minutes, until crispy, then remove from the oven.

To make your salsa, roughly chop the tomatoes, spring onions, coriander and chilli on a big board. Using a large knife, sweep and chop them all together until well diced. Place in a bowl.

Squeeze over the lime juice, drizzle with olive oil, season and mix together. Taste to see if the flavours are balanced, and add a bit more lime, oil or salt if you think it’s needed.

Alternatively, if you’re really short of time, you can bung the whole lot into a food processor and whizz until chunky.

Serve with the tortilla chips.

BUILD-YOUR-OWN BURGERS (serves 4)

For the burgers:

Drizzle of olive oil

1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

1tsp English mustard

50g Cheddar cheese, grated

Small bunch of parsley, finely chopped

2 handfuls of breadcrumbs

1 free-range egg

500g lean minced beef

4 bread rolls

For the topping:

3 tomatoes, sliced

Handful of round lettuce leaves

Handful of gherkins, chopped

Heat a pan over a medium heat, add a splash of olive oil and cook the onion and garlic for about 10 minutes, until soft.

Put the onion and garlic mix into a big bowl and leave to cool. Beat the egg and then add it – along with the mustard, cheese, chopped parsley, breadcrumbs and minced beef – to the onion and garlic. Use your hands to mix it all together, then divide the mixture into four and get everyone to shape their burgers.

Before you start shaping, wash your hands and then wet them in cold water to stop the mix sticking to your fingers. Take a blob of burger mix, then shape and mould it round and round into a burger shape. Flatten it out to about 1.5cm thick - it’ll shrink a bit during cooking.

Once shaped and flattened, pop your burgers into the fridge for at least half an hour to firm up.

Heat a dry frying or griddle pan until it’s nice and hot. Cook the burgers for four minutes or so on each side, until they’re cooked through, and pop them on to a plate covered with foil, to keep warm until they’re all ready.

Wipe out the pan, pop it back on the heat and toast your buns. Then put your toppings on to plates and lay everything out on the table.

Let everyone build their own burgers!

RAINBOW CHIPS (serves 4)

Ingredients

1 carrot

1 parsnip

1 potato

2 sweet potatoes

1 large beetroot

1 courgette

Drizzle of olive oil

Salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 220ºC/Gas Mark 6. Peel the carrot and parsnip, and scrub the potato, sweet potatoes and beetroot. Cut all the vegetables, including the courgette, into long chip-shaped pieces.

Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add the carrot, parsnip, potato and sweet potatoes, bring back to the boil, and cook for about five minutes. Drain and leave to drip dry in a colander.

Lay all the vegetables on a baking tray (use two if necessary). Drizzle with olive oil, season well with salt and pepper, and toss until the veg are well coated.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, until golden brown and crispy round the edges. Serve with ketchup.