to think its a bit tight when parents count a school dinner as THE main meal of the day

[MariahScarey]

all other things being equal (money activities etc)

have a colleague who makes her kids have sandwiches for tea " as they eat at school"

they have money, they can cook - is this laziness?
I know they wont starve or out, but I wouldnt count a tiny school meal that is then burned off as a main meal.

USUAL DISCLAIMERS

Yes there are worse things to worry to about
YEs its none of my business
Yes I am judging

Is this a <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=blogs.smithsonianmag.com/food/files/2009/10/sandwich.sakurako-kitsa.1407449118_3fe2c84f35-377x400.jpg&imgrefurl=blogs.smithsonianmag.com/food/2009/10/sandwich-savings/&h=400&w=377&sz=56&tbnid=ejJAmw1WDTE7zM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=85&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dsad%2Bsandwiches%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=sad+sandwiches&usg=__5330_xHOys9cct0u0f0u2E8mBec=&docid=FXjc499rKY8-fM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7GrTUILWKefJ0AX7hIDADw&sqi=2&ved=0CEgQ9QEwAw&dur=897" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">sad sandwich?

I could see the point of freezing sandwiches if you put something nice in them that takes a long time to put together, but it doesn't take me that long to make a cheese/ham sandwich.

Coming back to this thread waaaay late but never mind! Flippinada... You are the one sounding rather aggressive there. I was genuinely confused as to whether people were referring to a school lunch (that is served as early as 11:30 at my DD's school) or whether they meant an after-school club meal.
Don't see anything sad face post or passive aggressive about that at all.

And no, a sandwich is just not enough for an evening meal.

Whichever way you dress it up, Down or sideways.

How about that for Sad faces.

Can't believe this is still going. Who says you need a big meal in the evening ? On some nights my 2 have a hot lunch, substantial snack at 4 ish and some toast or soup at 730just before bed. Because we are all running about all evening.

teajunkya sandwich [or equivalent] was always enough for me and my brothers and sisters when we were growing up, with a homemade cake. No other snacks until bed time when we were given a bowl of cereal. There was no obesity in our house[and actually very little in any houses at that time]. No sad faces either.

Teajunky - that's a daft statement. A sandwich is a bread based meal, that's all.

YABU. I don't necessarily count a school dinner as a main meal but I also don't see anything wrong with serving up sandwiches/ soup at tea time. In fact my 2 dc's regularly ask for sandwiches, yoghurt, fruit for a table picnic at tea.

I wonder if those who think sandwichs aren't somehow food with nutritional value and worthy of being called a meal actually like sandwiches? I still can't see why it matters whether your food is hot or cold, cooked or uncooked, artfully arranged or stuffed between two slices of bread. It is all just food.

So it makes me think that if people don't regard sandwiches as decent food, then perhaps they don't like them (in the same way that I don't regard curry as decent food and therefore wouldn't serve it for dinner as I can't stand it) or, I suppose, they just don't know how to make a well balanced, tasty sandwich.

And yes cooking is a chore - somebody further down said it wasn't and should be joyful. It is a chore which I have been doing for nearly 35 years - I used to have to cook tea for the whole family from about the age of 12. But, just because cooking and preparing food is a boring chore which I really would rather not have to bother most of the time, it doesn't make sitting together as a family eating a chore. They are entirely separate things. The eating is very much secondary and to fulfill a need. Spending time together is what is important.

DD1 has breakfast & a hot meal at school for lunch. For tea it's completely up to her if she wants a sandwich or what hot meal me & DH are having. She has snacks straight after school. I wouldn't force her to have 2 hot meals a day.

Sandwiches lovely

Guess what I'm having for lunch

Bigbauble I love sandwiches. Have just eaten a rather fine bacon one (with brown sauce) curtesy of DS.

But I still wouldn't think them a subsitute for a proper home cooked family meal most evenings after school.

Look I don't care a kipper if that's what people want to feed their families. Like I said, sarnies, bowls of cereal, M&S pre cooked meals...fill your boots.

If it was me, I didn't say cooking was a joy. I said food was a joy. Sometimes I hate cooking. Sometimes I love it. But then since I think curry is one of the basic foodstuffs of life and frequently produce it on the occasions when it is my turn to cook, I suspect we have fundamentally different attitudes towards food.

I don't live in UK. Here (similarish, but colder winters), it is considered normal to have a cooked meal at lunch time and bread and cold meats, cheeses etc for evening meal. WHen other mums find out I cook an evening meal they are astonished and think it's weird and unnecessary (as already had hot lunch).

And I greatly envy them. My dc haven't adopted that cultural trait unfortunately. And for me, cooking is no joy. I hate it with a passion.

You know, funnily enough I'm actually not mad keen on sandwiches myself and don't actually make or eat them very often.

TeaJunky - sorry if you took my post to be aggressive. Honestly, feed your DC what you like, sandwiches, a hot meal - it's not important as long as they're healthy and happy. Cooking a hot meal doesn't confer superior parenting status.

If you like doing it, great - that's lovely and no doubt your DC appreciate it. I certainly appreciate it when people cook for me.

If you don't, it's really not that important - lots of people don't like cooking and see it as a chore. Again, as long as kids are healthy and happy and being fed - it doesn't matter.

Flip - no worries ! Nobody said cooking a hot meal makes you a superior parent - at least I didn't, and if that's what you gathered from my post then I'm afraid you're being a bit paranoid! I'm confident and happy that I do my best for my child, and she is thriving. I know that my child will not thrive on sandwiches as her evening meal - and not the children of my immediate family either. So I cook, and i can safely say ALL of the parents among my family and friends cook in the evening for their dc.

And sandwiches are still a lame evening meal.

Yes, I think anyone reading your posts gathers that you don't think sandwiches are a nice meal and it doesn't work for your family TeaJunky. Jolly good for you.

The thing is...what works for you and yours might not work for other families. That doesn't mean your way, or their way, is wrong - just different. Radical concept, I know.

How can you 'know', TeaJunky? I thrived as did all my sisters.

Three meals a day including one main meal plus snacks is plenty. Does it matter if this main meal is at lunch or tea time? If my DCs have a roast dinner plus pudding at school I don't think another big meal is needed. Sometimes it sandwiches, cheese on toast, beans on toast for tea. What's the problem?

Teajunky"And no, a sandwich is just not enough for an evening meal."

Depends how old and fussy your kids are. If I cooked a curry, a chilli, a shepherd's pie, a fancy pasta dish etc, it would take too long (with kids fighting, under my feet and demanding a poo, a wee etc) and probably just end up being refused and end up in the bin.
If I cook plain pasta, toast, make sandwiches, boil an egg, cook an omelette there's a good chance it will get eaten but even that will get picked up when they are tired.

I do cook them roast at the weekend/ jacket potatoes/ risotto etc. It gets picked at and some gets eaten and I'll polish off the leftovers.

When they get older I'll try to start cooking more family meals- until then I just try to get them fed- and get lots of fruit into them

Well needs must, really I could knock myself out cooking hot family meals at 5 pm, and dd's portion would go to complete waste as she doesn't do 'grown up' food, she really likes plain, cold, sep

separated food.

Even a sandwich is too radically 'melded' for her.

btw she is well nourished and healthy, despite having her innards chilled by food that's not terribly warm.