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View Full Version : hot meals yes or no?



mushpea
09-07-2009, 11:59 AM
I have been providing hot meals for the past 2.5yrs and now have a lady comming from the enviromental health comming to visit me tomoro, it has made me wonder wether it is worth doing hot meals or not, i know they can visit wether you do hot meals or just snacks so its not cause i dont want them to visit just got me thinking. at the moment i am the only one i my area who provides hot evening meals so i guess it gives me a bit more of an edge with a new parent as they might not want to go home late and cook for their kids, the children dont go home till 6m so then to go home and eat its quite late for them, plus i have to feed my own kids although my parnter has now changed jobs so we could eat together once the others have gone home, its also a nice sociable event but at the same time it does mean i spend time in the kitchen when i could be spending that time with the kids and also some 2 nights a week i cook for only one child he comes every day so cant really say you can have a hot meal on the days the other r here but not on the days its only you!
do you cook hot meals for your mindees if so what are some quick healthy easy ideas that kids would eat and if you dont may i ask why you decided not to please? just trying to decide what to do for the best.

sarah707
09-07-2009, 12:21 PM
I have always included mindees in our tea times!

Some nights I have up to 9 at the table... other nights just a few.

We have a good giggle most day =s and children learn about talking and listening skills at the same time.

We play games sometimes and other days like at the end of the week we just sit and eat companionably.

I am lucky though.. the chef comes and cooks for us! :D

newandlearning
09-07-2009, 12:28 PM
hi.. I've done a food hygiene course as linked from this website.. got my 'safer food, better business' book..from the Food Standards Agency (I think).. I cook occasionally depending on the mums' needs.. the children always want to eat .. yesterday I got the 22month chopping the peppers etc and then gave him a plastic knife to cut his own courgette.. I think its lovely for children to be able to see you preparing food if possible and to be accessible when doing this (if you can) so they can ask questions and take part.. as I've got students at mo.. tonight I'm cooking for 4 LOs and 4 adults .. and having a staggered dinning rota.. here's hoping all goes well..:) .. I would love a cook .. how lovely Sarah!

Twinkles
09-07-2009, 12:32 PM
I have always done a cooked tea because I've never trusted school meals to be very nutritous.
Sometimes it's a pain. Yesterday I got out chicken drumsticks to cook but when I came to cook them I didn't think they smelled right. So I ended up giving them beans on toast for tea.
I did give them a 'starter' of carrot sticks , cucumber and cherry tomatoes and a pudding of apple, banana and blueberries just to make sure they had their vitamins.

Daftbat
09-07-2009, 01:11 PM
I do a cooked meal for mindees but only if they are still here at 5.30pm. I do a substantial snack around 3.45pm. I used to cook for everyone and do it for 4.30pm but i felt in so much of a rush after school and tied to the cooker. Its much calmer now and the children have loved the larger snacks - most of which can be prepared beforehand too.

mum26
09-07-2009, 06:08 PM
This is interesting as it's a dilemma I'm currently having. I only cook for 1 extra child on a Tuesday and Thursday, whereas when I first started minding I cooked for 2 children every evening. I have been thinking about offering to provide food for the under 5s that I care for during the week. I am finding that they are looking at each others foods and not wanting to eat their own! I'm not too sure I want to do it though as I find it difficult enough feeding my own family without adding to my work. I wouldn't know what to charge for the extra food either - suppose I would have to work out average costs. Must admit when I stopped cooking every evening for minded children it was a big relief, but now I am finding that I am cooking later for my own children 3 days a week and my youngest daughter (5 years) isn't eating very much as she has had a snack when she comes in from school.

Sorry for the muddled post - haven't been much help either!

mushpea
09-07-2009, 06:16 PM
thats ok, i cook for mine cause they go home so late and i feel guilty that they wouldnt eat untill about 6.30pm plus my two have to eat although they are now old enough to wait till they others have gone home.
i have the enviromental health comming tommoro so it may be taken out of my hands anyway if she says too much has to be done to let me cook for the kids.
I dont charge for the meals as i find i can claim back more through my books and you cant claim and charge parents.

Louise_Oaktree
09-07-2009, 07:43 PM
I found I was not able to supervise 3 under 5's and 2 over 5's at the same time as dealing with collections, fees, receipts, invoices, signing registers AND cooking a hot meal :eek: .

Some days we all eat a hot meal if I have prepared something easy such as a roast in my slow cooker etc, other days the mindees have sandwiches or something on toast. I always make parents aware that we only have a light tea - then anything else is a bonus :)

I don't provide lunch either as I found I had 3 children who wouldn't all eat the same foods so I was preparing 3 different meals :panic:

mushpea
09-07-2009, 09:37 PM
i have 3 under 5's and 4 over 5's and basicly i make sure they are either in the living room or kitchen/dinning room so i can either see or hear them, they help prepare the food and lay the table and i have never had a problem supervising this.
I want to give them a hot meal as they go home quite late to then eat at home and also its a nice social event.
i have made the decision that if the enviromental health lady says yes i can still do hot meals then i will but if she says there are things i need to do and i feel they are too much then i will stop cooking for them all.
i try to cook meals that dont need a lot of prep and can be done in the oven or slow cooker so its a case of quickly checking the food then the children etc.

mushpea
09-07-2009, 09:39 PM
oops forgot to say that as for the the lunch i make them all the same (i know roughly what they all like) and if they choose not to eat it then thats their choice but they then get nothing till teatime.