For lunch does it work best to have a set menu that is seperate from your family? Or to cook enough dinner to serve as the next days lunch. Only problem I find with the latter is how to let your parents know before hand?
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For lunch does it work best to have a set menu that is seperate from your family? Or to cook enough dinner to serve as the next days lunch. Only problem I find with the latter is how to let your parents know before hand?
I usually cook extra dinner and serve it the next day for lunch. I make up my menu a week ahead and give it to parents, then follow it.
When I was new I set up a menu, but I soon discovered that the parents hadn't posted it at home or looked at it more than a read over. So now I do a verbal update at the end of the day anyway and tell them what we ate for the day. I have one picky eater who won't eat the same food at night if she's already had it that day and the list of what she will eat is limited so I email the Mom everything I've fed the children all day so that she can think of different things to feed her daughter at night.
Forgetting about my menu really took the pressure off me because sometimes we have really busy mornings and I end up needing to serve something for lunch that I can make really quickly like cheese & ham chunks & veggie sticks & fruit & a bread item. Other times I'm too busy the evening before to do the food prep for what I want to make and it gets delayed a day. It's about what makes your life easier and less stressful. The first few years I pushed myself way too hard and now I give 100%, and my children receive all the food groups and proper nutrition at each meal, but their caregiver is not getting burned out!
I used to have a rotating 6 week schedule in my first year. And then I learnt to make my life a lot easier by just providing parents with a list of the foods/snacks they can expect their child to eat while they're here (given at time of signing contract). This way I have the flexibility to cook whatever I feel like that day (from that list) but if it isn't on there, I don't worry too much about it either. All our meals are high quality homecooked and include all the foodgroups. That's all that I found parents care about. (I used to think they would be using it as a reference when I had my list, but when I consulted them in regards to the change they pretty much said that the 6 week made me look super organized , but they were totally fine with one big list)
Thanks everyone. That was what I wanted...to make things simple and easy.
Sunnydays, when we had dinner this evening I said to myself that I need to get back to doing meal plans for my own family as it makes it so easy and less time in the kitchen for me. So I can see how it will help me to include enough for the children.
Dayhome, wow really? 6 weeks?? Good for you for keeping at it for one whole year. I am struggling with 3 weeks and i am not even open yet.
I have gone through all sorts of strategies with the menu to make life easier while meeting the needs of some parents to 'know' exactly what they are eating.
Started out with the 6 week rotational menu and quickly got bored myself as well as frustrated at throwing food in the garbage.
Than I would plan weekly and post it on my website for them for review ~ that was time consuming updating the website and than the hits on the page each week would be like 'one' sometimes no one so why do it?
Now I plan on Friday with the kids input for the upcoming week because I have found having them have input has resulted in A) us all trying new foods cause they eat different things at home than I would think to serve cause we do not eat them hear or they will pick things from the photo collection we use just out of curiosity wanting to know what it tastes like and B) less waste cause when they have a voice in meal planning they seem much more invested in trying what they chose and their peers want to please each other and try something their 'friend' chose. Than for parents who 'want to know' the menu is there on my fridge in a hand written form not so 'pretty' but I am not wasting my time uploading to the website or making it 'pretty' just in case there is a new parent who wants to know just eventually get to that point of trust and stop asking or caring as long as their kid comes home happy and thriving they assume they are eating and I will inform them otherwise if there is cause for concern.
This last strategy seems to be working best for me of all the versions I have opted for.
I don't post a meal plan and I try to make extra at night to serve the leftovers the next day but sometimes there aren't any leftovers so I just fly by the seat of my pants.
My guys generally have for lunch what we had for dinner the night before. I don't post a menu any more I just write in their daily journals what they have. I found having the set menus way too much work and most of my families never read them either or could care less what their children ate so long as it was healthy. I like the flexibility now to just have whatever and not be locked into something just because it is 'week four, day two' on the menu :)
i have learned to "wing it", with meals. I used to pre-plan and realized it's so much easier to go with the flow. We often have left-overs from the previous nights supper, and the kids and I also decide what we will have the day of, I will ask what they would like and they come in kitchen help pick out the veggie and fruit, main part. Seems to help with over-all eating and helps them to feel like a big kid. making choices. no stress in this house...learned over the years to just relax and go with the flow. ;)
I'm just starting my second week, so take me with a grain of salt LOL. I created a beautiful menu and posted it, and gave the Moms a copy. They were delighted. I think it was important because one of my babies is vegan, so his Mom was very thankful that I had developed a vegan meal plan. Since I am not vegan, this was an education on my part, but now that I have a few favourites, it's not hard. I'm not doing dinners (that would be way too much work!) and since fresh fruits and veggies are already a staple, adapting a few lunch ideas was easier than I thought. My other children actually loved the vegan mac and cheese and declared it very cheesy. My hubby didn't even complain!
That said, not sure how long I can keep up the actual menu in that much detail! I think I'll switch to putting "fruit" instead of apple slices. I planned grapes, then found they didn't look that good in the grocery store and switched to pears etc. I'll probably simplify my menu and just list the lunch entree specifically, and just write "fruit, veggies, crackers" etc. instead of being so detailed. A lesson learned Week One already....
I go with the wing it method. That doesn't mean I don't plan but basically I plan the night before based on what is left over from our supper, what I have in the fridge, and how much time I want to spend prepping either that night or the next day. At the same time if we are having lots of fun with a morning activity or it is taking longer than planned and lunch approaches I know I can have grilled cheese with fruit and veggies on the table in under 15 minutes.
When I did post a menu it was just the lunch meal as in what the grain, meat, veggie fo the day was. The snacks were not posted.
Now I don't post and normally don't tell and parents are ok with that. They trust that they were fed appropriately. The know from the interview that it is a combination of what they should be eataing and what they will eat and that the onus is on the parent to raise their child as a good eater - ie don't expect me to waste broccoli and mango on your child if you ony give them peas and banana at home.
You may also find, as others stated above, "the parents dont really care what their kid eats as long as its healthy" I found that with ALOT of my families. For a while I had "anal" parents or kids that seems to have "tummy issues" so I would write on a dry erase board what we had for the day, just to help inform the parent, if there were issues later in the night, but even then, the meals were not "pre-planned" just wrote down what they had after the meal was served to help inform the parents. :)
I just did a month menu for the first time and I am LOVING it. Not only does it help with the daycare, but it helps with planning my own family meals too, as I DO serve my dinner from the night before to the daycare kids the next day. It took me for-cockadoody-ever to do it out, but it is well worth it. Grocery shopping has been easier the last two weeks, too. :)
I've begun doing menus now as well. So far, it's okay. I shop every 2 weeks and not making a tonne of money in this line of work, I follow specials. I do the menu for one week at a time so for the second week, as groceries are getting a bit low, I can meander through what we have left and top up where I need to. The kids all eat foods we'd eat in our own family (roast, chicken, mild curries, various pastas and sauces) rather than kiddie foods, so that helps too. There shouldn't be a problem with just listing 'fruit' or 'veg' rather than specifics. I've found some parents want to know in advance as they plan out their meals and don't want to double up....seems to happen more than I thought it would.
I think thats amazing you make vegan meals for your client. If any of my clients have special dietary requirements they have to provide themselves!Quote:
Originally Posted by treeholm
I agree. One of my contract policies states that any specialty food must be provided by the parents. However, I did have a little girl with a nut allergy and I read every label on every bread and cracker product, etc. to be safe for her but her parents provided the soy peanut butter for everyone instead of regular peanut butter. It wasn't bad at all since I cook almost everything from scratch. I have a little boy in care now with a lactose allergy and his parents bring his milk and cheese. It isn't in my budget for money or for my time to prepare specialty food.
I"m more with the wing-it ladies. As often as possible it's our night before's leftovers or whatever else I have in the fridge. I try to tell the parents a day ahead what we'll be eating tomorrow. If I'm having a SUPER organized week, they may even know 2 days ahead :p by their daily journals. On some days at 11:45 I throw on some rice and stir-fry a bunch of veggies....or anything else that easy that is healthy!
This is year is tougher now planning dinner, daycare lunch, hubbie's lunch and my 2 kids school lunches. Sometimes my dinner just doesn't stretch that far.