Nursery Meals - appalling?

[TheBlushBaby]

I have been looking at nurseries and the meals provided. I plan to raise my son plant-based with white meats occasionally, and with no processed foods. I like to cook everything from scratch and can happily make extras. I make all sauces, seed loaf, and everything else I can.

Of course this works under our roof as it's how we eat, but this isn't the way for everyone.

I was very shocked reading the meal plan for the nursery. Can I send my son with packed lunch? Does their menu seem very carb heavy to anyone else? It's all cheese, breads, pastas, potatoes! Am I overthinking this?

I'm going to teach DD the wrong words for food so that I can smugly performance parent in public.

Darling shall I make you burger (broccoli) and chips (mung beans) for dinner?
No!!! I want salmon (chicken nuggets) and quinoa (beans).

Rather rude user1493022461
For your info I don't eat quinoa. And what's wrong with squash (the vegetable not the drink). I'm just giving my opinion on food, no need to take it personally.

People like you, clearly. You've gone so far up your own arse with your organic squashes and gluten free quinoa that you have no clue what real food is anymore.

It's the superiority of the entire thing that does it for me. Like on another thread somebody said "I only feed my child organic food & so can't possibly feed them what's in cafes". Just makes me think 'have fun with children's parties and play dates'.

I can see the threads already.
"My DS (7) Samuel has made friends with Kayden when I would much have preferred him to have a play date with Tarquin. Anyway I'm very open minded and totally don't care about this but I did notice his mother doesn't look the Boden type.
I did the right thing and had Kayden round but he looked at my organic cauliflower rice like he'd never see a carbon substitute! Now DS is asking to go round to Kayden house and whilst he's a nice, polite child, I'm just sure that his mother MUST BE feeding him some kind of non organic, e number filled rubbish that will set off Samuel's non-medically diagnosed justification for our faddy diet.
What should I do?"

• carb substitute even!

Only on mumsnet could children eating foods which have been cultivated throughout human history be referred to as 'faddy', and factory foods be recast as 'real'.

Just to echo - As a veggie, I think both lists you've shown have too much quorn.

See I think that only on Mumsnet could the menu initially linked to be described as 'appauling'. In fact can you imagine in how much bad taste that is to people in the UK and abroad who can't afford to eat?

It's got fruit, vegetables, protein (albeit poor veggie options) and variety, it's not appalling, it might not meet the needs of Gwenyth Paltrow types but it's a perfectly adequate menu.

It's got fruit, vegetables, protein (albeit poor veggie options) and variety, it's not appalling, it might not meet the needs of Gwenyth Paltrow types but it's a perfectly adequate menu

Shouldn't we be aiming for better than adequate though?

We all know catering company stuff can honestly be cheap rubbish. I've worked in puns I've seen a fair bit.

Otger countries manage alot better.

Childcare isn't cheap either costs hundreds per child per month.

I know their are other expenses bit surely that's all the more reason where possible to buy seasonal local produce rather than buy in frozen pre prepared stuff.

It's not the worst me u ok the world but we can do better than cheese and quorn for veges surely?

And something a bit fresher and more appealing sounding than magic pasta

And we all know what things like "magic pasta" salmon "surprise" etc mean.

In other words there's not actually enough of anything in it to be able to make it with the ingredients eg chicken and veg pasta or tuna pasta

Make it.
Name it

Might mean a change in policies though.i realise some places are bound to having to order in from certain companies regardless of what's on their door step for h&s reasons.

Revisiting this and maybe allowing staff to utilise what their local area has to offer may mean that they can access a bit more variety and some fresher ingredients etc

What's wrong with carb heavy for a child?

Unless you're toddler is a 15stone 3 year old you are massively overthinking this.

They're a kid, they'll run the carbs off anyway.

If that were true then so many children wouldn't be starting school obese.

I'm not saying we should do carb free diets and all that stuff but we do need to remind ourselves that all the stuff we give them.on the pretence they will run it off adds up and as a natiom.is causing problems.

I think the obese children are probably eating more than just potatoes and bread every day though. More likely McDonald's and takeaways!

Honestly, if people think that children eating salmon and brocolli is 'performance parenting' rather than normal nutrition then I despair.

And we wonder why our kids are obese?

There are about 200 kids at our primary school, there us one who appears to be obese and four or five who are probably over weight. Lunches are pizza, burgers, fish and chips, roast etc. with pudding everyday. I'm pretty sure more than six kids went to nursery and most of them eat school lunches (at least for the first couple of years). Those menus are not going to produce fat children in isolation - not when the child is feed low carb low fat meals at home, with a side order of you must look young, 'pretty' and thin to have self worth and child nutrition is really important but breast feeding is less important than injecting poison into yourself to stop you being able to do facial expressions.

It's the attitude though isn't it uni

All the "we ate puddings every day when I was a kid" we lives off spam fritters and chips and we weren't fat" etc

But people walked more and played out more.

Now everything's changed. It's door to door by car, more time in the buggy because they can be taken everywhere more easily now,

Now it's all "kids need X" to excuse some less than ideal choices "They will run it off" when they get picked up shoved in a car and taken home.

"The meals are only small have you seen them?" So the meals everyone's claim are perfectly fine are now longer not perfectly fine as they are not enough to the point they need snacks between the door and the car etc

Im.not saying that's true for every parent of course it's not.

But the idea it's all going to be run off or they are growing kids etc is causing things to build up enough that now at school many kids have a weight problem.

Don't be that guy

Your child is not an overweight middle aged woman, carbs are essential for brain function.

Trying to exert quite such control over what they eat will be a frustrating battle which you will ultimately lose.

It looks fine to me
Maybe you need an "alternative" type of childcare? Our neighbours are veggie, grow their own food and keep chickens. Their kids all went to a hippy alternative place which they were happier with. It wasn't very flexible but they have 2 sets of retired, willing and able GPs to step in.

But that's not why our kids are obese is it? Eating too many calories through snacks and big portion sizes and getting too little exercise causes that.

School are nursery portion sizes are small and calculated. Excess calories are highly unlikely to be an issue.

I don't think you being unreasonable to ask about the menu. I was shocked to see the our DS nursery menu had pudding everyday. I've told the nursery he doesn't eat pudding daily, only special treats or occasions. He can have fruit and plain yogurt. Yes there will come a time when we can't control what he eats, but I'll be glad to know that we have given a good start. We have explained the reasons to him, why we don't want him eating sweets, crisps and other junk food. What's great is when is offered sweets and junk he will mostly now so no himself, 'it's got too much sugar which is not great or healthy for your body'. We get the look from parents that say 'you that parent' and people will read this and say Im being smug. I try not to let that bother me, and as I want DS to understand what differnet foods do for him. Salt is the other thing, unfortunately I can't control how much goes into his food at nursery.
OP good on you for making healthy choices for you dc, as long as its balanced do what you feel is right.

OMG Vipbaba you sound insufferable. And your username - sweet Jesus

They need their carbs at that age. 2yr olds are constantly burning off energy they are so active. Maybe look at the diet you are giving your child?

Sorry BlushBaby I think your OP was lost on the majority of people on here!

The ignorance is quite frankly frustrating.

I'd like to reply to all the responses individually, but I am too busy blanching alfafa sprouts or whatever it is us 'hippy' parents do.