Needing some new lunch ideas...

[heyhun77]

Wow! Some of those foods I've never heard of. Do you guys make big batches and then have it for dinner that night or do you make a whole different dinner? How long does it take everyone to make lunch-I in my mind picture all morning. It is all I can do to get sandwiches, fruit, and vegies served before there is some catastrophe going on. All those foods sound very expensive also. What does it cost everyone to buy food for their childcare?

I do most of my food prep on Sunday afternoons for the week. For the fall/winter menu rotation I do lunch for the daycare kids which is also dinner for my own family. I eat something else after the kids are napping so I only eat it once a day as well (and my own kids are in school during the day).

I actually have breakfast and lunch/dinner started and ready for the most part by 7 am before the kids arrive for the day. At most I have something in the slow cooker by then or have something on a cookie sheet or in a pan in the fridge to go in the oven for lunch.

My food cost per week with 8 daycare kids, 2 of my own kids, dh and myself including evenings and weekends is about $150-200 per week. this is the higher end of it during the summer when I do all fresh fruits and veggies. It's more like $100-$150 during the winter when fruits and veggies aren't really in season so I switch to frozen (either from the store or from our garden stash in the freezer).

I do make everything homemade (okay there are a few things that aren't but I don't do processed packaged foods). I personally am really limited on sodium intake and try to make sure the kids are getting high fiber, whole grains, low fats and low sugar. It's mostly hard trying to balance the quality of food with making things the kid will eat so the menu posted on my website is the final product of a LOT of taste testing. It's the Tried and True (TNT) for fall/winter.

[nannyde]

It's 100 degrees and about 113 heat index. We are probably going to not have to start the grill!!!

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This is when crock pots and bread machines REALLY come in handy.

[dEHmom]

Your menu sounds wonderful!!! Steak with potatoes or rice? Yum!!!

Thanks, but I don't have a menu. . I just wing it daily, depending how our day is going, I might not have time to make waffles, so it'll be sandwiches instead. Or just a bunch of left overs from last nights supper piled on the plates.

Chicken Penne Caesar is a great one, I posted the recipe in the menu section, but now I use Renee's Caesar dressing in the jar instead of the other stuff. Super easy to make, I whip up a double batch sometimes and we munch on the leftovers from lunches and other suppers.

[CheekyChick]

I do charge $15 more per week for care than others in my area and that helps. It comes out to 150 a week extra. I use that for activities, supplies and food. Plus im on food program so that's roughly 350-400 per month depending on attendance. It helps.

In this instance, you definitely get what you pay for. $15.00 per week extra is worth every penny.

[CheekyChick]

Thanks, but I don't have a menu. . I just wing it daily, depending how our day is going, I might not have time to make waffles, so it'll be sandwiches instead. Or just a bunch of left overs from last nights supper piled on the plates.

Chicken Penne Caesar is a great one, I posted the recipe in the menu section, but now I use Renee's Caesar dressing in the jar instead of the other stuff. Super easy to make, I whip up a double batch sometimes and we munch on the leftovers from lunches and other suppers.

Well, your winging it is a lot more than what I do. Oh, and the Chicken Penne Casesar sounds delicious. I need to look in the menu section ASAP.

[dEHmom]

Well, your winging it is a lot more than what I do. Oh, and the Chicken Penne Casesar sounds delicious. I need to look in the menu section ASAP.

what do you do?

My biggest thing is to cook big dinners enough for leftovers for my family or for the kids. We either use those for lunches or if there's enough we have a 2nd dinner with it.

I grew up fairly poor (still am ), and my parents always made leftovers for several reasons....

you are using the energy anyways, might as well use the oven while it's on, or stove whatever. saves water too because your dishes are getting dirty anyway.

if my parents made mashed potatos, they made a huge pot, then they would be used for shephards pie, or fried up on the side.

taco meat was always used for shephards pie as well.

macaroni w/ ground beef one day, and left overs coated in tomatoes for a ragu style meal??? yuck!

left over roast beef would then become hot roast beef sandwiches

turkey sandwiches same thing or chicken

roasted potatoes would always be cooked with the roast, even if my parents made mashed to go with the meal, since the oven was on anyways. then potatoes would be chopped and fried for hashbrowns

you get the idea. you can always mix random leftovers to make another meal. This is one way we've saved money, but sometimes leftovers just get thrown away eventually.

[MissAnn]

Can you please share a few things you serve your daycare kids for lunch. I do not do an organic menu and I try to stay "kid friendly". I serve pizza if it's homemade and with turkey sausage. I serve homemade chicken tenders in place of chicken nuggets. I do serve french fries maybe once a month etc.

I plan my entire menu a month in advance and was hoping to expand the lunch menu. The kids are getting bored with grilled cheese, turkey and gravy, bowties & meat sauce, Tuna & noodles, Hamburgers, tacos and meatloaf. (That's not our whole menu but you get the drift.)

If you are willing, please send me some suggestion...on main menu lunch items.

I'm also looking for dessert/fruit and vegetable ideas...preferrably vegetables that can be hidden within a food. My kids only like corn and green beans!

My kids absolutely love chicken breast cubes cooked in cream of mushroom soup and cheese and served over brown rice. Yesterday they wanted to lick the plates clean.

[dEHmom]

My kids absolutely love chicken breast cubes cooked in cream of mushroom soup and cheese and served over brown rice. Yesterday they wanted to lick the plates clean.

another alternative to this is browning either chicken or pork chops and then simmering them in cream of mushroom or cream of cheddar soup till they are tender and melt in your mouth. MMMMMMM i'm hungry now!

or I do swiss steak........brown the inside round beef steaks lightly then simmer in tomato soup with some water (if you used 2 cans soup than 1/2 can water)....add in celery and anything else you want to add into the soup mixture or just the soup alone.

[Country Kids]

From what I'm understanding with our FP about leftovers is something I'm unable to do. You need to put in a seperate container, labeled with date, and then placed in a seperate refrigerator/freezer from your family one. Also they have to be used within two days I believe. I don't have a seperate refrigerator/freezer to use. I use to use leftovers all the time but now its with my understanding and me not having a refrigerator seperate I can't.

[wdmmom]

From what I'm understanding with our FP about leftovers is something I'm unable to do. You need to put in a seperate container, labeled with date, and then placed in a seperate refrigerator/freezer from your family one. Also they have to be used within two days I believe. I don't have a seperate refrigerator/freezer to use. I use to use leftovers all the time but now its with my understanding and me not having a refrigerator seperate I can't.

If that's a requirement your state has in place, why not spend $100 or so and get a mini fridge or an apartment fridge?! You would still be compliance and not spending what you would on a full size fridge!