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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To make a "packed lunch" dinner

68 replies

PearlyWhites · 28/07/2013 18:41

My dc's all have a hot dinner either at school or nursery and my dh has a canteen at work. Evenings can be very stressful due to dd2 hfa. WIbu to serve sandwiches etc on paper plates for dinner monday to Friday and only

OP posts:

Original poster

PearlyWhites · 28/07/2013 18:42

Posted too soon.
cook dinner at the weekends( also cook a hot lunch the days my younger dc's are not at nursery) ?

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Llareggub · 28/07/2013 18:43

My German neighbours do this. They have a very simple evening meal of bread, cheese, tomatoes and salad. I am very tempted to copy them.

WaitMonkey · 28/07/2013 18:44

Sounds lovely,especially in this warm weather. Far too hot to eat much in the evenings.

Original poster

PearlyWhites · 28/07/2013 18:44

That's interesting I know logically one hot meal a day is plenty but I can't help feeling like it would be unfair on them/me being lazy.

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blibblibs · 28/07/2013 18:44

My DC's have been having a picnic tea since the weather got hot.

Ham, cold chicken, quiche, tomatoe, cucumber, cheese, crackers etc and thats without a hot lunch.

Doesn't seem to have done them any harm

Whitershadeofpale · 28/07/2013 18:45

I think yabu to do this every weeknight but once a week is fine. The paper plates seem unnecessary though. I'd just go for low effort food like jacket potatoes, a frittata, pasta etc.

I don't know what hfa is though.

WorraLiberty · 28/07/2013 18:48

Sounds perfect for this hot weather

Just a tip for the future though. Ask the Head if you can pop into school to see the actual school dinners (some Head's will be happy/some won't).

Most parents are surprised (around here) at how super tiny they are and they're little more than tepid.

I hate cooking in this heat though and the DC's prefer a cold dinner.

neontetra · 28/07/2013 18:50

Don't think anyone needs two hot meals a day. We never have that. Not sure paper plates are great for the environment, though, but I could be wrong (I mean, versus the environmental cost of a plate being washed).

londone17 · 28/07/2013 18:51

Yanbu. I do this most nights.

Mabelface · 28/07/2013 18:51

I used to do this, without the paper plates though! My kids had a very good dinner in school (I worked there, so saw what they were fed). Food doesn't have to be hot.

Tommy · 28/07/2013 18:52

we often have that for tea - we call it a "choose tea" - out everything on the table and everyone chooses what they want. No need for a "hot" meal when most small children wait until their food is cold before they eat it anyway

tinierclanger · 28/07/2013 18:52

We have "buffet" tea once a week. It's really nice actually - everyone likes it and no work involved! Nice bread, cheese, salad, sausage rolls, quiche etc. you could easily do a different variation with cold pasta salad and stuff for another night. Then there's nothing wrong with beans on toast or a boiled egg and soldiers once a week, IMO

littlewhitebag · 28/07/2013 18:52

You don't need to give your children hot meal in the evening. They will thrive on cold foods. However, it is wasteful and lazy outting on paper plates. How difficult can it be to wash a few plates?

littlewhitebag · 28/07/2013 18:53

*putting not outting

CocacolaMum · 28/07/2013 18:53

Yes do your homework on the meals from the school. My dd had school dinners during an especially busy period for my work so that I could free up more time in the evening by just doing sandwiches. This came to an abrupt halt when I found out that although the school do offer plenty of veg they don't actually police the childrens food choice at all - at 7 my dd thought pasta, a pastry cheese whirl and mashed potato was a pretty good choice. I was pretty pissed off and felt awful that she had been eating so badly.

There is nothing wrong with 1 cooked meal per day in my opinion

EhricLovesTeamQhuay · 28/07/2013 18:57

Yanbu
My DS has a picnic dinner most days after nursery as he has a cooked lunch and sometimes cooked tea there too. I do a sandwich or toast, nuts, fruit and cheese usually. He's a fussy boy as it is and I eat my dinner after he is in bed so I'm not cooking a proper meal for him to refuse to eat. I make sure that it's balanced so I can't see the difference between that and a cooked meal really.

badguider · 28/07/2013 19:01

I think cold meals are fine but wouldn't do sandwiches every night - salads? Wraps? Cold quiche?

beamme · 28/07/2013 19:02

We quite often do this. I'll usually do a selection of meats, salad, cheese, nice bread or crackers etc Kids love it and it's nice and healthy.

defineme · 28/07/2013 19:07

There is no nutritional difference between hot and cold food. As long as you have veg/protein/carbs etc what's the harm? We often have a sandwich/salad/fruit and yoghurt.
Ds1 has asd and evenings can be very hard work. We have perfected the 5 minute meal eg stir fry with ready cut veg/straight to wok noodles or beans and eggs.
Someone is bound to suggest a slow cooker at some point-if you like stew it's a good suggestion-that and some bread and you have a meal.
Some supermarkets do reasonable ready meals-check the ingredient list for nasties and the salt content.
I agree that school dinner can be tiny-my lot require substantial straight from school snack annd then a large tea, but doesn't mean it's hot-can be 2 rounds of sandwiches or large portion of pasta salad!

defineme · 28/07/2013 19:10

Also, I would do anything I can to lower the stress levels in our house of an evening. If that means cold meals so be it. I think it's far more damaging for kids to live in stressful situations than miss out on hot tea.

Do whatever it takes to get you through-paper plates if necessary

superbagpuss · 28/07/2013 19:13

we use the beans on toast option when we have little time. no more than once a fortnight but very useful

BackforGood · 28/07/2013 19:18

I wouldn't want to have a sandwich on a paper plate every night.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's necessary to have a full cooked meal every night either, but I think there's a massive area inbetween the two - things on toast, jacket potatoes, pasta with a tomato sauce, eggs, soup, pizza, etc.etc.
Agree with poster who suggested pooping in to see the school meals - my dd2's school meals are lovely, but I know that's not replicated everywhere.

YouStayClassySanDiego · 28/07/2013 19:41

I've just done a term as a nursery nurse in a school nursery providing lunches.

From what I saw , the majority of the children ate very little and it was warm at best on presentation.

As a parent, if I could have seen what they were eating they would definitely be eating a decent hot evening meal and also stop paying for a rubbish school lunch.

Original poster

PearlyWhites · 28/07/2013 19:44

It can be difficult to get chance to wash a few plates as my dh has to do dishes due to my disability also my dd has hfa and meltdowns every dinner time as my dh is trying to bath and put our baby and toddler to bed.

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Original poster

PearlyWhites · 28/07/2013 19:45

Hfa is high functioning autism

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