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 was shocked when I sent my little one to nursery and they gave him 4 biscotti for a snack and Angel delight for pud.

This looks ok though.

It is fine for you, you are cooking for a couple of people,nursery have a lot of children to cater for.

He can eat all the baked potatoes, corn, squash and pumpkin he can get his hands on

Mine are only just getting back into eating all that stuff now and they're tweens!

I weaned on whole foods and thought I had it all nailed LOL… before the years of refusing to eat anything except "clean" pasta! And I don't mean "clean eating" pasta, I mean processed white pasta with absolutely no sauces or nutrition added in any way LOL

The Quorn is a protein which is why it is there to replace each meat dish.

I don't use it often on my menus as apart from the quorn chicken fillets which are ok, I think the mince and pieces are too bland.

Kids need carbs and fats for growth and energy.

Low carb isn't healthy for growing kids.

My kids were weaned on a variety of veg with their meals and snacks but now my eldest only eats 2 kinds of raw veg no cooked veg and younger eats bowls of salad veg for a snack but no cooked veg either. You can't guarantee what your kids will eat they are out to make fools of us at every turn. We all start off with idealistic views of how we will raise our kids but they will pull the rug out from under you at every opportunity.

They are a bit low fat aren't they? Really poor vege options

Very normal menu

You're not giving your child what they need if you're giving a nursery age child low carb and low fat.

I think the meat options are fine. There will be vegetables in there. The vegetarian meals are a bit quorn heavy.

It looks like the menu from the nursery my boys went to - Ofsted Outstanding, food was great, boys ate tonnes. They still eat salad, steamed salmon and broccoli at home, so it clearly hasn't damaged them.

The food will probably be supermarket basic ranges, by the way. I was steaming organic carrots at home, and they were eating white sliced basic range bread at nursery.

I mean quorn is low fat

Primary school with sushi? How much were the meals?😲

"The food will probably be supermarket basic ranges, by the way. "

That's a hell of an assumption. Most nurserys I know have a proper commercial kitchen and a cook. They batch cook from scratch.

When I was younger our school had a salad bar, sushi, steamed veggies and so on.

Sorry can't bold!!! What school did you go to? . I'm afraid mine was like flossy. Maybe that's why I'm the way I am

I did a bit of work in nurseries last year. It felt like wheat comprised at least 50% of what they ate. Cheap fodder

Not blaming the nurseries as such, they have very limited food budgets

Are you for real?
This looks like a really good menu for young children to me.
I spat my cup of tea at the thought of a toddler relishing all the squash and pumpkin he can get his hands on.

Have you started weaning yet?

We looked at nurseries before Ds was weaned and I remember thinking the menu's (a lot like that one) seemed unhealthy. Oh the nutritious plans I had for his diet 😂

He's 18 months now and I think it looks incredibly healthy compared to what I can get him to eat!

I'd be a bit annoyed with all that quorn if he was vegetarian though.

Regards to Quorn OP, the mince and pieces are pretty bland, I don't like any of the Quorn products except the mince and my DS won't eat any meat-subs at all.
When he was weaned he ate everything, vegetarian replacements included but now (he's 4) and won't eat any of that stuff at all.

I remember once politely asking nursery whether Angel Delight was going to become a permanent regular fixture, as I was a bit wary of the sugar content. They pointed out that it was sugar-free Angel Delight, so...count yourself lucky, basically.

Plant based?

Very nice menu. And magic pasta!

Gives the children what they need and is appealing enough for them to eat it. Just got to watch the portions they give the children, and that it's cooked nicely.

Sushi . (Nothing helpful to add sorry)

Oh for fuck's sake - what on earth is wrong with bread and potatoes? Faddy eating is the new religion - people think if they eat in the special prescribed way they're somehow going to live forever.

Eat a range of different foods, all in moderation. Simple.

It looks fine to me but I would take issue with the only veggie option all week being Quorn.

Crispybutty might have changed in last 10 years or so, but our nursery had a proper kitchen and, for a while, a French Chef who did amazing things with garlic.

I used to help the Tescos delivery van unload on a Monday. I know what was in the shopping bags.

When I was younger our school had a salad bar, sushi, steamed veggies and so on.

Same, except for the sushi. But there was a soup bar instead (insanely popular, as you may have already suspected )

Anyhow, it seems fine to me, OP. But pudding every day? :=0? That is pretty appalling, tbh. Who does that?!