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[Butterflies]

Hey I was wondering how you guys decided breakfast, lunches and snacks? I could use some info and ideas.
Thanks a bunch!

[Blackcat31]

We have an entire section for snacks and menu ideas. Definitely worth checking out!

https://www.daycare.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=6

[Willow]

I really try to challenge myself to maintain a good variety of foods and a fun variety of ways to serve the main staples.

Even small changes can keep things fresh and kids interested.

We eat pancakes a fair amount here. They're super fast and easy to throw on the griddle and they're pretty tough to burn which is a huge plus . I don't want anyone getting bored with pancakes so I make sure to offer a different fruit each time I serve them...one morning I'll offer pancakes with blueberries sprinkled on top, another morning pancake "sandwich" with peanut butter and bananas, another morning pancakes with applesauce and cinnamon cooked inside of them...you get the idea. Or think eggs, there are so many ways to serve them...hard boiled (we dye eggs year round here which makes it that more fun to choose your own color), sunny side up is great for dipping toast, scrambled with ham, scrambled with cheese, scrambled and wrapped up in a tortilla etc.

For lunches, five days in a week I shoot for five different proteins, usually beef, chicken, turkey, fish, pork and vegetarian are my basics. So out of the four times a month or so I serve chicken I'll serve chicken four different ways, which if you break it down like that isn't hard at all. If you can come up with four different meals with beef as main protein, four with chicken, four with fish and four with pork and four veggie there's an entire months worth of a menu.

Snacks....animal crackers pair well with peanut butter one day, cream cheese the next, pudding the next etc. Same with graham crackers and pretzels and so many different fruits. Throw melted cheese or ranch on any raw veggie here and the kids inhale them.


I may on occasion serve the same food two days in a row, but it's never served the same way. That helps me to save on groceries because I'm able to buy in bulk all while still being able to offer a great variety.