Help lunch time mess!

[hujh2012]

hello everyone

My lunch time is so stressful for me. Right now in my care are a 4yr old that is in school in the morning his brother who is 1yr a 19mo and 3 yr old. plus my own kids 4 (who is in school in the morning as well) and my 21 mo old. lunch used to be at noon in the summer time and it went well now with my son and the other four yr old that goes to school in the morning that dont get off the bus til 12:05 so by the time i get all their stuff off and prep lunch the younger ones are screaming because they are hungry! most of them arrive no earlier than 8 and 9 so it makes it really difficult to have a AM snack time when i have circle time, art etc... with them. Anyone can think of fast healthy meals that are quick to make or slowcooker meals? as i dont prepare boxed or processed food. Or make ahead meals that i can freeze? any ideas



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[ECE53]

Been there. I remember having this struggle when my children were younger... Then the next year it switched and they had to be on the bus by 12 ... First I would bring in a healthy morning snack that is filling and serve it around 9:30-9:45. I learned early on there is no point doing art and circle if you are not able to have snack or diapers and outdoor play etc.... I alternated art and circle times....one day art the next circle....when I can't fit it in... Also move art to the afternoons just before your afternoon snack.. As for meals sloppy joes in the crock pot on whole grain buns with veggies on the side....have sandwiches per made in the fridge and then your soup in the crock pot warm and ready to dish out.... Put a casserole in the oven before you go out to the bus a Mexican tamale casserole is popular hear ...as well as tuna noodle ...lasagna all can have veg on the side and be served in minutes.... Sometimes serving a veggie appetizer will help little ones on the edge...

Hope this helps.....

[Skysue]

You could also do your own version of lunchables on these busy days, with cold slices of roasted chicken, turkey breast, or roast beef. Whatever roast you make on Sunday night just buy a bigger one with leftovers for lunches for a few days. Also you could do: Chicken salad or egg salad wraps.

Slice up veggies the night before and put in a container with water to keep crisp, you could make homemade pasta salad and serve with fresh whole grain buns or crackers with cheese cubes & cut up homemade fruit salad cups.

[sunnydays]

I would definitely make sure you serve a morning snack. I have to pick up my son at preschool at 11:30 every day and we don't get to have lunch until a bit after noon as well by the time everyone is changed and hands washed etc. But, I serve a good morning snack at around 10am when the morning nappers have gotten up from their naps. I don't do circle time, but I do have art time in the morning many days (not every day). Most important, we go outside between morning snack and lunch most days. My kids also arrive between 8 and 9 like yours and they need a morning snack and are still hungry for lunch, but not screaming with hunger. Be careful not to overschedule activities at expense of the basics such as snack and free play.

[Inspired by Reggio]

I agree with ECE53 a morning snack is a must - sadly many children do not have breakfast at home so to have to go until lunch time without anything - that would make some seriously grouchy kids :(

My routine roughly goes like this most days:

7:30 – 9:00 Exploring in the Family Room / Sensory Explorations offered

9:00 – 9:30 Hand washing / Snack Time / Washroom Reminders

9:30 – 10:30 Outdoor Adventures / Field Trip Outings

10:30 – 12:00 Exploring Playroom / Field Trip Outings **

12:00 – 12:30 Hand washing / / Lunch Time

12:30 – 12:45 Circle / Story time

12:45 - 1:00 Washroom Reminders / Tooth brushing

1:00 - 3:00 Rest time / Quiet Time living room activities or Treehouse as waking

2:45 – 3:45 Hand washing / Snack / Washroom Reminders / Creative Art

3:45 – 4:45 Backyard Adventures / Indoor Creative movement on inclement days

4:45 – 5:00 Small Group Quiet Activities & Stories before home time

** so during this period if we are home in the playroom - I would duck up a little before 12 and come up to prep lunch if it was something 'time consuming' or to do things like toss some sweet potato fries into the over and come back to playroom but when we go on a field trip or outing - I either prepare a crock pot lunch, a 'cold plate' lunch or something that you just heat and serve (aka leftovers I cooked the day before).

I tend to do a lot of cook once eat three times so I would make A LOT and a third would go into the freezer for a meal and the rest would serve the daycare once and my family once that way I can cook from scratch and serve healthy - but it is occasionally 'thaw and heat' .... that way I can place something 'frozen' into the oven with the timer so it turns on to cook itself and be ready for noon or same with the crock pot - toss it back into the crock pot frozen at 7am and by noon it is thawed and heated to the perfect temp for serving.

Or with things like 'mac and cheese' for example I would boil the noodles and hot dogs in the morning and pop em back in the fridge and while they were boiling I could grate my cheese, dice some onion and so forth so everything is 'ready to go' than at 12 all I have to do is whip up a cheese sauce and toss back in the noodles and wieners to heat them up - mac and cheese from scratch but less than 5 minutes of the kids 'waiting' for it so to speak:

This is a list of some of our favorites for snacks and meals ...

Am snacks
Cold cereal – rice crisp, shreddies, corn bran, alphabets, mini wheats
Pancakes / Waffles / French toast
Warm Oatmeal
Toast/Bagels/English muffins with PB or Cream Cheese or Cinnamon
Eggs … mini quiche, scrambled in mini pita pockets, hard boiled, Omelettes, A bird in the nest (toad in hole)
Cereal Bars
Yogurt / Cottage Cheese with fresh fruit
Mini Muffins … Pineapple coconut, peanut butter banana, apple raisin, pumpkin raisin, carrot raisin, raisin bran, cranberry lemon etc.
Cheese cubes and fruit

Summer Lunch ideas
Cold Chicken, Pita bread & Fruit Salad
BBQ Hamburgers, Home fries, Grilled veggies & Orange slices
Tuna Salad Wraps & Fruit kabobs
Meat & Cheese Pizza’s, Raw Veggies & Dip & Applesauce
Cold Turkey, Caesar Salad & Peaches
Roast Beef Slices, Potato Salad & Red Applesauce
Tuna Melts On English Muffin, Vegetable Salad & Pears
Egg Salad Sandwiches, Cold Veggie Tray & Pineapple
Greek Chicken Salad with Pita and Hummus, Mixed Fruit
Taco Salad With nachos, ground beef and cheese & Mixed Fruit
Chicken Breasts, Baby Spinach Salad, Pita Bread & Oranges
Greek Pasta Salad, Feta, Tomato & Melon
Roast Beef Wraps, Coleslaw, Carrots & Mixed Fruit
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Veggie Tray with Dip & Pears
Ham Salad Wraps, Potato Salad, Carrot sticks & Oranges
Kabasa & Cheese Kabobs, Crackers & Fresh Fruit tray
Cold Tuna Noodle Salad, Sliced Tomatoes & Banana
Chicken & Veggie Wraps, Carrot Raisin Salad & Strawberries
Cold Roastbeef, Macaroni Salad, Sliced tomatoes & Banana
Peanut Butter Banana Dogs, Apple / Carrot Salad & Melon slices
Tuna Salad in a Pita, Cheese & Tomato, Sweet Pickles & Apple
Chicken on a Bun, Cold Pea & Carrot Salad & Kiwi
Ravioli with Meat Sauce, Tossed Salad & Peaches
Turkey on a Bun, Pasta Salad & Mango
Meat / Cheese Tray, Coleslaw, Rice Crackers & Mixed Fruit
Pizza muffins with a side salad
Chicken Sonoma Salad and Garlic sticks

Winter Lunch Ideas
Chicken Rice Casserole, Mixed Vegetables & Pineapple
Sloppy Joes, Cheese & Tomato, French Fries & Orange
Fish Sticks, Sweet Potatoes, Corn & Fruit
Meat & Cheese Pizza’s, Raw Veggies & Dip & Applesauce
Penne with Turkey Sausage, Caesar Salad & Peaches
Chicken Nuggets, Mashed Potato, Corn & Red Applesauce
Tuna Melts On English Muffin, Vegetable Soup & Pears
Franks & Beans, Toast, Vegetables & Pineapple
Turkey Stew, Peas / Carrots, Bread / Bun & Mixed Fruit
Vegetarian Chili with Nacho Chips, Vegetable Sticks & Fruit Salad
Homemade Soup, Ham Sandwiches & Apple
Pork Chops, Rice, Vegetables & Pineapple
Veggie Filled Lasagna, Garlic Bread & Oranges
Beef Stew, Potatoes, Carrots & Fruit
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches & Vegetable Soup & Pears
Ham, Scalloped Potatoes with Onions & Oranges
Swedish Meatballs with Rice, Broccoli & Pineapple
Tuna, Noodle & Cheese Casserole, Stewed Tomatoes & Banana
Shepherd’s Pie, Mixed Veggies, Bread & Butter & Apples
Cheeseburger Macaroni casserole , Stewed Tomatoes & Banana
Mexican Bean Pie, Rice, Salad & Pineapple
Tuna Melts, Cheese & Tomato, Sweet Pickles & Apple
Chicken on a Bun, French Fries, Corn & Kiwi
Greek Pizza, Veggies & Tatzikki Dip & Applesauce
Ravioli with Meat Sauce, Tossed Salad & Peaches
Thai Turkey Stir-fry, Egg Noodles & Mango
Tuna Rice Casserole, Peas / carrots & Pears
Sausage, Pancakes, Broccoli & Red Applesauce
Pork Chops, Peas / Carrots, Sweet Potatoes & Mixed Fruit
Cabbage Roll Casserole, Garlic Bread, Grapes
Chicken Carbanera with Caesar Salad and fruit
Homemade Mac-n-cheese, 100% all beef wieners, stewed tomatoes, fruit

PM snacks
Mexican Pinwheel Wraps
Homemade Cookies …. Oatmeal raisin, PB, Ginger snap Cookies, Hermits, Macaroons,
Cheese, Fish Crackers & Craisins
Pita triangles & Pate & Grapes
Crackers, Cheese and pears
Fruit kabobs and yogurt dip
Devilled Eggs and Apples
Mini muffins … cranberry lemon, Zucchini carrot, Banana Chocolate chip, Cherry Oatmeal surprise
Mini cheesecakes …. Graham wafer and flavoured cream cheese with raspberries stuck on top
Rice Crisp Squares and fruit puree
Mini Ice- cream Cones with banana sliced into cone
Vanilla pudding and mandarin oranges
Homemade Bits and Bites with Craisins
P&B crackers and Apple slices
Ants on a log
Veggies and various Dip
Pita and hummus
Pretzels and spinach dip
Peanut butter banana dogs
Nachos with salsa
Popcorn

[Skysue]

UMMMM Reggio that post would have taken all of my quite time! LOL

[sunnydays]

wow! I am copying and pasting that entire post Reggio for future reference! Lots of great ideas!

[michellesmunchkins]

Thanks to Reggio for some new great snack and meal ideas!!!!! :)

[Cookie]

Thank you Reggio! I've copied this post too for ideas!!

[Inspired by Reggio]

LMAO - I did not retype all that ... copy and pasted my schedule from my website and the same with the 'menu list' .... so only took me a minute or two for that post ladies ;)

[Inspired by Reggio]

Hello my name is Reggio and I am a hoarder ... a hoarder of childcare information that is ... I have everything I have ever done program wise, every letter I have had to write to resolve a conflict or address an issue and so forth saved on my computer somewhere so often my long posts unless 'specific' to someones unique problem are a copy and paste of a document on my computer somewhere ... there I fessed up :o

[Crayola kiddies]

Bahahahaha ..... Reggio ...... That is hilarious !!!! But very ingenious ... You rock

[Skysue]

Thank God Reggio I was beginning to doubt my abilities and I was really feeling like an underachiever! LOL

[mlc1982]

Wow, thanks for that post Reggio. I am copying it too ...!!

[mom-in-alberta]

I would DEFINITELY make sure I serve morning snack. The challenge with parents giving the kids breakfast is that so often it's a rush, the kids are still groggy and therefore don't eat that much, and quite frankly, it's not always quality food that is served (because that sometimes takes too much time!).
I would say that instead of doing one of your structured activities, slide in some snack time. It will hold them over a little bit longer at lunch. And in the grand scheme of things it's more important to have kids that are content and don't have growling tummies!
:)

[sunnydays]

I also would add that often kids get up very early (I have some who get up at 6am and arrive at my house between 8 and 9am)...so they eat breakfast very early and are hungry by mid-morning...even if they did eat a good breakfast.


I would DEFINITELY make sure I serve morning snack. The challenge with parents giving the kids breakfast is that so often it's a rush, the kids are still groggy and therefore don't eat that much, and quite frankly, it's not always quality food that is served (because that sometimes takes too much time!).
I would say that instead of doing one of your structured activities, slide in some snack time. It will hold them over a little bit longer at lunch. And in the grand scheme of things it's more important to have kids that are content and don't have growling tummies!
:)

[Momof4]

I serve breakfast here for any child arriving by 8am because I sincerely believe it is much better for me to feed them healthy food than for a child to have a poptart or some other crappy sugary breakfast, even cereal is full of sugar.

I also want the children and parents to be less stressed and happier that way. I remember the days trying to get my children fed and out the door and myself to work and it's HELL!

[Inspired by Reggio]

Also just wanted to add you do not need to 'give up' a portion of your program in order to offer a snack period ... remember that outside time is RIPE with programming options too - we often do creative exploration and sensory outside and when weather is nice I do EVERYTHING outside including circle/story time under the tree on a blanket.

If you are standing at the bus stop 'waiting' for the kids to get off the bus - you can do a circle time there ... I have finger puppets and books packed in my back pack and when we take 'bus field trips' I do a circle time while waiting for the bus so the time passes quicker and they do not get 'silly' while waiting.