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?

vegetable based meals which we live on. Salads, vegetable soups, ratatouille, and so on

It's been said already but it's worth saying again - kids need carbs and protein.

I'd prefer the menu to include more veg and maybe less of a formal pudding at each meal - but happy with the carbs and protein.

As nursery menus go that looks like quite a good one. The first meal my dc had a nursery aged one was: sausage roll, baked beans and potato croquettes. I neary hyperventilated at the amount of salt and processed crap, and that was before we get onto the sweet stodgy pudding pretty much every day.

It did her no harm as she still likes fruit, veg and home made food, and it made me lighten up a bit at home as well which was no bad thing.

Menu looks fine. Most nurseries have a dietician help then design their menu although obviously there will be some variation in nutritional value depending on each child's choices and the amount they eat. Presumably your child would eat a (maximum of) 10 out of 28 meals per week at nursery so you can balance out at home according to your dietary preferences.

Good grief that isn't an appalling menu at all.

Ok it isn't upto your standards but it's definitely not appalling.

The way you were carrying on I was expecting a Bernard Matthews theme menu, turkey dinosaurs, twizzlers etc, not avocado, broccoli and fish on brown rice.

Seriously, calm down.

Everyone who's saying it's fine... I take it none of you are vegetarian? It's Quorn 4 days a week! That is appalling!

Although I agree the non-veggie options are pretty standard.

I dislike it when parents push their food beliefs on kids.

No kids should be vegan/low carb/gluten free and so on unless intolerant or allergic.

Kids need everything in moderation and that will give the good base for a healthy diet for life. They should be encouraged to try every thing they can with lots of different textures tastes and all kinds of menu.

Limiting a child to any type of certain diet is a recipe for disaster as they get older.

There is nothing wrong with a bit of processed ham, or red meat, or occasionally cookies and sugary sweets. Living off vegetables is hard work. Kids need energy, all the protein, carbs and vitamins they can get.

How old is your son OP?

Kids need more carbs at a young age. In fact as a veggie one of the things you need to be aware of is that it's a high fibre diet and one has to ensure that there's enough energy before the child is full. Yes a child doesn't need pudding every day. As a veggie I would be unhappy if the V option included fish as vegetarians don't eat it. Also Quorn is not recommended for very young kids more than once a week as it's not nutrient dense enough. You need to get enough nutrients and calories in before they are full. Check the vegetarian society for info. It's got a good guide. My child has been veggie all along and is perfectly fine.

"Everyone who's saying it's fine... I take it none of you are vegetarian? It's Quorn 4 days a week! That is appalling!"

What would your suggestions be?

I'm genuinely interested as I try to make a good veggie option for each dinner.

I.e.
Meat Bol/veg Bol

Turkey roast/quorn chicken fillet

Sausage casserole with onions mushrooms and peppers/vegan sausage casserole with the same

Pizza night we do margerita or messy feast

Chicken curry / lentil and squash curry

Bear in mind you can't use nuts, or any nut based products, and it needs to be cooked in bulk.

Messy feast should be meat feast. But it sounds rather good lol!!

It sounds normal and balanced. What did you expect, salads with chia seeds dressing? From your title I expdeted pizza, chips and sausages every day.
I wish I had your worries.

Am I the only one amused at people's outrage at "pudding" every day?! It's fruit and yogurt. They're hardly giving children jars of Nutella to smash back after lunch.

How old is your child?
They are going to be undernourished on a plant and white meat based diet. They need plenty of carbs and fat. Low fat is not healthy for anyone and it's incredibly unhealthy for a growing child.

Or letting them snort a line of Tate and lyles finest!

Crispbutty
Put lentils in the veg Bol to get good protein. Most mass catering ignore pulses. And good fats. I am fighting with my son's after school club who give him a cheese sandwich four days a week. It's not ok. It's salty, saturated fat. There's an obsession with protein when even kids need very little, one egg is all the protein my 5 year child needs a day, and protein is in a lot of foods.
Most people eat too much. But forget about eating the five a day veg and fruit. I think falafel wraps with veg and hummus, chickpea curries, lentil and veg stews, mac and cheese with veg, tofu and veg stirfry with rice or noodles are really great menu options for young kids. Well my boy loves them anyway. I don't really like him getting pizza as it's basically bread. Not every week anyway. People tend to think protein and carb and forget about all the other nutrients.

There is nothing wrong with carbs. Children need carbs to fuel all the growth and development that is occurring. Chill out op!

So from your stalking your old posts I see that your child hasn't actually been born yet. There's every chance that exhaustion will see you reaching for Ellas pouches or whatever is easiest that your child will eat. It's good to have the best intentions but don't put too much pressure on yourself or your child.

Well Crispbutty you've said lentil & squash curry not quorn, so that's the sort of thing I'd expect. I do a black bean and sweet potato chilli which is lovely, veggie lasagne. I'm not vegetarian myself, but I think there is too much red meat on that menu especially in week 2 and it's short on vegetables. I would also expect to see oily fish included, maybe in a fish pie or fish cakes.

We're vegetarian and the nursery we use has generally great food, but they do use too much Quorn than I'd like really. I wish they'd use more pulses and beans, or even tofu, pretty much as Runssometimes describes.

Good suggestion re the lentils. I use them in curries but will add some to the bolognaise and the sausage casserole.

I'm going to suggest we alternate lunch baguettes with wraps as I think that would be a healthier option as well.

I get a lot of dairy intolerant kids and coeliac, so rather than making lots of different meals for groups and also making the kids stand out, I try to make a meal which covers more than one of the limited dietary requirements.

E.g. Veg bolognaise will be gluten free and vegan, as will curry.

Crispbutty for vegetarians, DS's nursery do pasta with mixed beans in, risotto with chickpeas and a lentil loaf, they also have a tofu dish but I can't remember what it is as DS has allergies and can't have that one. Like you they tend to match them with the equivalent meat dish. They have quite a few children who are veggie or eat veggie outside the home due to religious dietary requirements.

Our lunch choices are ham/cheese/tuna/egg at the moment. I do occasionally make hummus but it is never very popular and gets left.

I do a nice cottage pie with lentils too, far nicer than horrible quorn.

I wonder if it's easier to feed toddlers at nursery than the age groups I get where they have much more say over what they will eat. I imagine it is really.

I tend to find the juniors are less fussy and if they see their mates eating it, will try it. The teens are another species!! It depresses me when the teenage girls are refusing to eat carbs. They are on outdoor activities all week and need them! And it's like a chain reaction, as soon as one says "no potatoes" you can guarantee her mates next in line will follow suit..

The nurseries we have used have been fine about us requesting no sugary desserts, in fact lots of parents request that. Kids get fruit instead usually, don't feel left out.

I think the meals will be fine OP, your child will need lots of energy (carbs) as nursery is simply exhausting!