School cookery, very expensive

[Toomanyblanklooks]

I’ve just checked what DD needs for cookery tomorrow. 8 chicken breasts!
AIBU to thinks it’s too expensive and too much food?

On this occasion this looks like a mistake otherwise just insane, but generally the food tech ingredient lists drive me crazy and the expense infuriates me.
we had a recent one for dauphinois potatoes , cream , block of butter , 2 types of cheese , etc etc. The ingredients cost around a tenner in total and every kid in the class brought the same.
I just felt that if every kid was buying a tenners worth of ingredients that’s £300 spent on food in that lesson, which could have been put to far better use .
And don’t get me started in the fajita list which required everything from chicken breasts to the sour cream, the wraps, the individual spices, the guacamole made from scratch…. I could have fed a family for the price. Arghhhh

There are a very small number of students in the class, there is plenty of fridge space to keep the ingredients and cooked food fresh.

The cake looks out of proportion as it seems too many eggs for the amount of dry ingredients to me.

If you halve the ingredients just don't halve the spices or it will taste crap 😬

Yes, the cake follows roughly the 4 ounces of butter, flour, sugar to two eggs recipe. Oil replacing butter and the banana making up for the flour and sugar being under I assume. It's right for a family of 4 or 5.

Is there no flour or sugar in the cake?

She's feeding the whole class

The cake looks out of proportion as it seems too many eggs for the amount of dry ingredients to me.

It looks like it would be more runny than a Victoria sponge but I used to make a banana bread with lots of bananas and eggs (since lost the recipe) and it just took a while to cook but worked well.

Suppose there are 30 kids x 8 chicken breasts?!
What does the school fridge look like?!

That's a large family portion isn't it. 4 onions and 8 chicken breasts.
Might give it a go myself though =) thanks for the recipe 😉

4 cardamom pods in a curry with 8 chicken breasts? Bland bland bland.

As it’s not until tomorrow I think I’d message the teacher and query it.

@Ohthatsfabulousdarling , if you do, please let us know what you thought of it

I don't know why the school can't get the ingredients and then charge each family the £ it would cost via their school app.

Each family buying the ingredients for every recipe is so expensive and must put pressure on families who can't afford it. You rarely need the full amount, so you end up with leftovers at home of ingredients you dont need.

Why not just get a tesco shop delivered weekly to the food tech department and charge each family a couple of quid. I'd bet enough families would pay up to cover it, even if not all do.

Even so, 8 chicken breasts is bonkers for one meal, whoever is buying it!

Send her in with a large Tupperware and that’s dinner sorted 😉

Who is in charge of the recipes? They’re incompetent! Not just the number of chicken breasts but yy to lack the spices, double cream, addition of peppers. You also don’t need butter and vegetable oil. If its a family meal you can use oil, if it’s a dinner party - ghee. And the cake is very weird.

How much does that curry serve?!

For 4 people I’d maybe use 2 large or 4 smaller chicken breasts.

Also, cardamom pods?! Are they having a laugh? Yeah right that’s going to be in your store cupboards!

@Mirabai generally the recipes are good and the students are learning some great skills cooking a variety of dishes.

This has made me really disproportionately upset on your behalf! I would only ever buy free range chicken so that's about £35/40 worth. Why on earth would you want each child making such a large quantity?

Similar to you, I get Sainsburys taste the difference free range or whatever it is chicken and that’s shot up in price over the past few months.

@GonnaGetGoingReturns , I always have cardamom pods in my store cupboard. For a curry that size I'd probably use about 11 pods.

I don't think I have ever made a curry with cream, the nearwest would be creamed coconut.

I can't believe they expect each child to have so many different spices and then only use tiny amounts.

If you don't have an Indian grocer you are going to be buying over priced supermarket jars.

OP

Please let us know if it is a mistake.

I would have thought schools would make meals for one that can then be scaled up for feeding a family.

Back in my day I had three years compulsory 'domestic science' and mostly we had to bring ingredients but there was always a teacher who would offer to bring in ingredients and take home what had been cooked.

I was thinking maybe they mean an 8 ounce chicken breast, but they'd normally use grams now wouldn't they?

Either way, I'd not be sending 8 chicken breasts in.

My kids school has started providing all the ingredients. You pay £15 for the term, and provide a container to take the food home in. Saves spending £'s on things you wouldn't ever use, just so they have a pinch for cookery.

I agree, OP. 8 chicken breasts for a curry for 4 is far too much. I would honestly send 1 in and add more veg; just like I would if I were making it at home. There is absolutely no need for that amount of meat.

This seems a very odd way of doing cooking lessons. Surely it would be better to ask for £2 per child per term for basics like herbs and spices? These happen to be things I already have at home, but not everyone does and they are quite expensive to buy for a one off dish made at school.

I wouldn’t be eating a chicken curry that wasn’t kept in fridge. Do they get long enough to use chicken thighs?

They definitely mean thighs. You don't get bone in a chicken breast whereas you would in thighs to need boneless and skinless.