A question about food ....

[time_4_change]

Hi

This might seem really random but I am wondering what food you all serve at lunch and Tea?

Do you make your own sauces for pasta, gravy etc?

Do you prepare in the morning ready for when it is needed?

Do you stick to your menu?

Just after some inspiration, i tend to make things hard for myself , I want to provide really good meals that are not time consuming to make. I think as a family we eat reasonably well but i seem to live in the kitchen

thanks in advance x

[buzzy bee]

I do a monthly shop and spend a day in the kitchen doing batch-meals, then I freeze them into portion sizes and take out the amount I need each day. Bit lazy but it means I can spend more time with the kids.

With dinners, I do sneaky things like I make a big pasta sauce with tons of veg, then I blend it up so the kids think they're just having pasta with dolmio sauce Otherwise they just turn their noses up and pick out all the bits of veg!

[PixiePetal]

lunches usually sandwich/pitta/something on toast/jacket potato with filling

tea - only do 2 days for 2 mindees each week -

I use slow cooker a lot so they have what we are having later.

pasta and sauce - I make cheeses sauce/bol/tom sauce and freeze in portions to add to pasta

mini frozen pizza - a quick standby with frozen veg if we have been out for the day and need a quick meal

always fresh fruit and yog after, sometimes homemade cake/biscuit

usually have an idea of what they will be having but it changes quite often

[mushpea]

lunch are sandwich/wrap/sausage roll with fruit and yogurt this I prepare each morning
I dont cook dinners as found it to time consuming plus it meant we couldnt do as much after school as i had to be back to cook plus it meant i could do more with the children. if parents want their children to eat an evening meal here then the provide somthing I can reheat.

[Roseolivia]

Lunches are sandwiches etc, teas are a cooked meal. I only have 1 afterschoolie so her and Rose do an activity whilst i cook tea. Tea is usually quick like a curry, toad in the hole, cottage pie, i prepare veg usually when kids at school as we have tea at 4pm so as soon as we come in i cook it.

[miffy]

I often cook things in advance at the weekend and freeze them and I use the slow cooker a lot because you can just throw everything in and leave it all day

Miffy xx

[kel1983]

I dont supply lunches, parents bring these with them.

I have however just started hot dinners. I cook pasta, sausage and mash, Bolognaise. I usually ask the one I cook for the most what she would like that evening and go from there. There is 2 of us working here so usually one entertains the children while I prepare the dinner or the children sit at the dining table playing or drawing etc where I can see them

[lauren1979]

Only do lunches here, they are things I can put together easily while 3 2's and under are given breadsticks while they wait

So...omelette, cheese on toast, boiled eggs, scrambled egg, pasta pesto, pasta with cheese and tomato sauce (bit of passata and some grated cheese), spag hoops on toast, beans and vegetarian hot dogs, veg hot dogs and sweet potato mash, mini pitta pizzas. Plus plenty of fruit!

[Playmate]

We have a four week rolling menu. We cook main meal in the middle off the day and that is usually prepared irst thing in the morning, either in slow cooker or some days cooked nearer lundh time if we are not going out. I quick chill and re heat for my family in the evening. at 4.30 I serve tea instead of pm snacks which consists of sandwiches, wraps, soup etc.

[rickysmiths]

Golly I must be rare!

I do cooked lunch and dinner. The only time I do a sandwichy lunch is in hot weather if we have a picnic out or in the garden.

I do roasts, casseroles, fresh fish pie, cottage pie, curry, pasta in various forms, lasagne, bangers and mash, minted lamb all with fresh veg. I also will do omlette, scarambled egg, poached egg. I always have fresh fruit on offer, sometimes fromage frais, sometimes a homemade cake or pudding like rice pudding, semolina ground rice, fruit crumble, bread and butter pudding.

I have some portions in the freezer for quick meals in a hurry but I normally make fresh for the day. The mindees will often have what we will be having later or have had the night before with fresh cooked veg.

I prep the veg when I get up in the morning and have never found it difficult or taking time out from the children particularly, they often enjoy watching what I am doing and they are learning where there food comes from and that it takes time for someone to get it ready for them.

[Flisspaps]

I have a two week menu, which changes seasonally. The summer menu had sandwiches and wraps etc for lunch, but the winter menu has things like 'on toast' and stew for lunch. I try and cook meals that are quick and easy to prepare, but I can do the majority of the prep when the children nap in the morning.

I also have a cooked meal for tea on the menu, but I use that for our own family menu as well. At the moment I don't have any children staying for tea.

I make as much as I can from scratch, and as a rule don't buy packets or jars of sauce, except for pesto.

[time_4_change]

Thanks sooo very much for the replies, great advice and ideas!

I am hoping to make sauces etc and freeze them! also hoping I will make time in the morning to prepare foods. I want to offer as much fresh food as i can (with the odd 'quick' lunch/tea)

Feel so guilty at the moment on my husband and 15 month old! Ive started using jar sauces a bit more because I am busy - my husband can not/will not cook and also works a 2-10pm shift. I am currently working in the mornings (at my office job) and trying to set up my childminding business, normal house/family things and spend time with my little boy - im finding it hard juggling my time.

I have a slow cooker - i should use it more lol

x