WWYD:Weekly Menu

[mrsyecker]

Would you or do you have the same menu every week? I do not but a fellow provider does. She says it helps the kids know what to expect. They know and are excited for nugget Mondays.

I understand the ease of one menu every week but I kinda feel like they kids are missing out on lots of different food. What do you think?

[jojosmommy]

I do not have the same thing every week. I tell my kids after breakfast what we are having for lunch. If they ask again I remind them. I don't have picky eaters (well except 1) so nobody seems to mind what we are having. I would get bored eating the same thing every week plus I think my food program lady would frown on that. And yes I think there is alot more to serve than 5 days worth of food. I personally buy what is on sale or at the farmers market and fresh so the kids get a wide variety from week to week.

[countrymom]

that would be so boring having the same thing every week. There is some things I do serve every week and its soup. I make it from scratch so I always have different noodles for the kids. They all love it, but I only do it in the winter, once the warm weather comes we replace tues soup days with something else.

[DCMomOf3]

I agree, a weekly menu is not varied enough for the kids. I cycle through foods about once every 5 or 6 weeks. The kids may like nugget Mondays, but any kid would like nuggets once a week.

[daycare]

I stick with what I know they will eat. I don't have the same food schedule each week, but will change it about every two weeks. I also try to throw in different sides from time to time and if they Luke them I add them to my list of possible sides. I also allow them to cook once a week an item that pertains to our lessons. Letter a was about apples food from Africa and so on.
This way if they don't Like it at least they ate their other meals and won't go hungry.

I got tired of all the food waste

[SilverSabre25]

One week of meals...not enough variety.

I'm working on a four-week rotation for my own sanity--I have a baby due in 3.5 months and a picky group (not my fault; they came to me this way...the ones who've been with me from the youngest ages are the most adventurous eaters). I'm making a rotation to save on planning time and get the picky ones accustomed to some of our common entrees and sides. Once the baby is a few months old and the picky ones are not so picky, I'm going to broaden things again.

I like what some people mentioned on the thread I started on this subject recently--that family dinner one night becomes daycare lunch the next day. Love this...half the planning and half the cooking!

[KEG123]

Well obviously I'm a new provider, but I think at the very least the menu should be different every other week. Like one week its one menu, the next week its different. But that's the minimum, IMO.

[DBug]

I don't have any regs I have to follow, so I initially started out with a 4 week rotation, and realized that most of the kids didn't like much of what I was serving. I pared that down to 2 weeks over time, and now I'm down to a 7 day rotation. I picked 7 days, simply so that Mondays, etc. wouldn't be exactly the same every week.

I have picky kids and after finding out what they are most likely to eat, I whittled it down. We don't do hot dogs and nuggets, but we don't do gourmet food either. Just good basics that are healthy-ish and that the kids enjoy (grilled cheese, soup, chicken breast, pasta, mini burgers, scrambled eggs and baked ham with fresh, in-season fruits and veggies, and a bread product). And this way there's SOO much less waste than before.

I do revisit the rotation every few months and tweak it here and there, but really it's so much cheaper, and the kids eat so much better, that I don't change much. Grocery shopping is incredibly easy too -- it's just the same things every time.

It works for me, so I totally understand where your friend is coming from. I would suggest, though, that perhaps she might consider making those nuggets out of chicken breast, bread crumbs and a touch of seasoning .

[Rachel]

Last year when I had aftercare, I had a menu framework for the week, but the actual dish varied.

Sunday - ground beef (shepard's pie, meatballs, meatloaf, spaggetti bolonaise, etc)
Monday - dairy or veggie
Tuesday - chicken (baked or grilled w/ different sauces)
Wednesday - fish
Thursday - chicken breast (stir fry, cutlets, etc)

It gave me a framework, and the kids what to expect, but we never ate the same thing 2 weeks in a row.

[Unregistered]

Would you or do you have the same menu every week? I do not but a fellow provider does. She says it helps the kids know what to expect. They know and are excited for nugget Mondays.

I understand the ease of one menu every week but I kinda feel like they kids are missing out on lots of different food. What do you think?

I do the same menu every week also, its easy, always cost the same, and the kids know what to expect. Kids can try different foods at other times for dinner, on weekends, etc.

[SilverSabre25]

I do the same menu every week also, its easy, always cost the same, and the kids know what to expect. Kids can try different foods at other times for dinner, on weekends, etc.

Unfortunately, in this day and age, there's no guarantee that they are trying different food at dinner and on weekends. Too many people cook the same processed and packaged things day in and day out or hit the the drive through every night. Daycare might be the only place these children are ever given the chance to expand their horizons, taste new things, and eat something that has ever had a passing acquaintance with dirt and sunlight (i.e. a real growing plant).

[countrymom]

Last year when I had aftercare, I had a menu framework for the week, but the actual dish varied.

Sunday - ground beef (shepard's pie, meatballs, meatloaf, spaggetti bolonaise, etc)
Monday - dairy or veggie
Tuesday - chicken (baked or grilled w/ different sauces)
Wednesday - fish
Thursday - chicken breast (stir fry, cutlets, etc)

It gave me a framework, and the kids what to expect, but we never ate the same thing 2 weeks in a row.

thats what I try to do, but every week its different, same idea but different food. So even thou they know its chicken day, I can make nuggets, fried chicken, baked chicken....I think the op is saying that every week its the same stuff, so every week they eat the same nuggets.