Does this work as a menu? Or is it boring?

[KatyMac]

Lunch Baked potato, cheese & beans
Tea Burgers in rolls, salad
Lunch Chicken Nuggets, salad
Tea Poached salmon with carrots & green beans
Lunch Cowboy casserole
Tea Pasta with cheese, tuna, broccoli & sweetcorn
Lunch Sandwiches, salad
Tea Fish Pie with leeks & broccoli
Lunch Pasta with cheese & tomato salsa
Tea Sausage chips & beans
Lunch Fish Fingers, broccoli & cauliflower
Tea Mince, mash, with carrots & peas
Lunch Rice, with peas, sweetcorn & raisins
Tea Pasta with cheese & tomato salsa
Lunch Cheese & Potato Pie with beans
Tea Pitta bread with chicken mayo and salad
Lunch Sausage rolls & salad
Tea Curried meatloaf, cauliflower & peas
Lunch Pitta bread with chicken mayo and salad
Tea Rice, smoked haddock with peas & sweetcorn
Lunch Fishcakes, salad
Tea Toad in the Hole, with carrots & broccoli
Lunch Vegetable soup
Tea Cold meat, chips & beans

Thanks KMc

I'd only cook for evening tea

no need for the nuggets, fishfingers type lunchrs and then sausage and mash later

It's tricky isn't it balancing it

I'd hate sandwich every day

Sounds delicious!! Can I come too please?

I think it might be handy having a menu where you can prepare things in advance and then just pop it in the oven to cook so as to spend more time with the children.

But if I were a mum with a child in your care, I'd be over the moon. Loads of veg, love the fish!, sounds fresh, too!

A. x

Thanks - I do try to do fresh most of the time (not sausages or fishfingers but Chicken nuggets and tomato salsa are homemade as are cakes etc)

I do wonder if I rely too much on cheese but at least they like it & it often makes them eat something they aren't too sure of

Instead of the cooked meal at lunch (as compo says) what about something like wraps or Dutch crispbakes and rice cakes with various toppings, or (cold) pasta with pesto, tomatoes and peppers?

But it does sound lovely as it is :)

I was thinking toast ( beans on etc), veg batons and hummous, sandwiches, salad etc
mine have sandwiches and don't get bored!

I would put 'homemade chicken goujons' instead of chicken nuggets. I would also lose the sausage rolls and the sausages...processed c**p would put most of my prospective parents off from the off...Maybe thats just where we live!

A nice little description at the top about how you provide a healthy, balanced menu with everything made from scratch where possible from high quality produce. How water and fresh fruit are always available etc

Otherwise souds lovely :-) (Cheese and potato pie is my fav!!)

I don't list lunches - just have a bit on the bottom of my menu saying lunch will be sandwiches, pitta pizza, wraps, baby ploughmans, soup etc - makes it a lot easier if we're out and about unplanned...

Sounds wonderful! I'd be over the mion with that if you were looking after my DS. Would be happy with a variety of cold lunches as well too.

looks like a lovely variety but here:

Lunch Chicken Nuggets, salad
Tea Poached salmon with carrots & green beans

i cant see many carbs.

Looks yummy though. Agree with other comments of home-made breaded chicken goujans, sounding much better than chicken nuggets

I like jendot's suggestion
"A nice little description at the top about how you provide a healthy, balanced menu with everything made from scratch where possible from high quality produce. How water and fresh fruit are always available etc"

My immediate thought on reading chicken nuggets was processed - so definitely put homemade chicken goujons.

I did notice that it was quite heavy on the cheese though it wouldn't put me off.

Making me hungry!

What's cowboy casserole tho?

I must admit that:

Lunch Rice, with peas, sweetcorn & raisins

made me go no protein there
but overall sounds ok

Ds' nursery does cooked lunch and a lighter 'tea' of crumpets/beans on toast/sandwichs/ granola with youghurt (which i watched him eat though there is no chance in hell he would eat that at home)

Sounds yummy. I tried using a menu once, but found that I was always dashing off to the woods for the day, when the menu showed a hot meal, etc, etc, so we just wing it each day now, letting the parents know in the child's diary what they had for lunch. We do have an informal chat at the beginning of the week about what food we have in the house and how we can provide a varied diet. I also try to make sure each meal has carbs, protein, fruit/veg + calcium, as a guide to help me choose what to make.

Sounds fab but do you really want to cook hot food twice most days? I would either do cold lunch/hot tea or vice versa, maybe with the exception of substituting soup for the cold meal on a particularly cold day. I must admit the last CM I used fed her mindees a lot of processed "kiddy food" but, you know, she was a really lovely woman who was great with my kids and they were only there a few days a week so I wasn't that fussed. Better that than organic food cooked from scratch and a miserable cow! I guess we all have different priorities though

Remember guys I have a different set up to you, there are normally 3 of us & we take turns cooking.

Some children only have lunch & some only tea

Maybe 'homemade' should be a bit more prevalent

I do have a statement at the top, can't remember what it is just now

I did think peas had protein in (like beans) but I may be wrong, I'll look at that day again

The chicken nuggets have bread as a carb, & that day snack will be either hot cross buns or digestives with philly maybe with beans & hash browns for breakfast?

Cowboy casserole is fried onions, pineapple, beans & sausages (one of my favourites)

I'm thinking of setting breakfasts but I quite like to choose but if there are 4 of us doing breakfasts & we each choose cereal it will all go wrong

I honestly think its an odd meal but if the kids eat it and enjoy it you would be mad to change it because some random woman on the internet wouldn't eat it

It was always a big favourite - but tbh I haven't cooked it for ages.....I think it being 'odd' came up the last time I asked for menu help here (at least MN is consistent)

Do you use couscous - I always find it a big hit with children. And you can serve it hot or cold, as a side to a meal or as a whole meal if you put veg and protein in.

I Used too but I haven't for a while; some of the children went off it so it went off menu

I may add it as a side (iyswim) to reinstate if enough eat it

I serve something 3 times before it goes off menu if not enough children eat it

Lunch Baked potato, cheese & beans - good
Tea Burgers in rolls, salad - good
Lunch Chicken Nuggets, salad - sounds like no carbs, should list the bread if you are serving it.
Tea Poached salmon with carrots & green beans - sounds like no carbs
Lunch Cowboy casserole - sounds like no carbs
Tea Pasta with cheese, tuna, broccoli & sweetcorn - good
Lunch Sandwiches, salad - good
Tea Fish Pie with leeks & broccoli - good
Lunch Pasta with cheese & tomato salsa - pasta two days in a row if you have any mindees who do consecutive days
Tea Sausage chips & beans - ok, but I would doubt the quality of sausages
Lunch Fish Fingers, broccoli & cauliflower - sounds like no carbs
Tea Mince, mash, with carrots & peas - good
Lunch Rice, with peas, sweetcorn & raisins - peas count as a veg, not protein to me so not a ful meal.
Tea Pasta with cheese & tomato salsa - again
Lunch Cheese & Potato Pie with beans - good
Tea Pitta bread with chicken mayo and salad - good
Lunch Sausage rolls & salad - not a fan of sausage rolls
Tea Curried meatloaf, cauliflower & peas - sounds like no carbs
Lunch Pitta bread with chicken mayo and salad - good, but two days in a row
Tea Rice, smoked haddock with peas & sweetcorn - good
Lunch Fishcakes, salad - sounds like no carbs, but I guess the fishcakes have potato in them. Are they homemade?
Tea Toad in the Hole, with carrots & broccoli - good
Lunch Vegetable soup - I would not be confident about this being a complete meal, any carbs?
Tea Cold meat, chips & beans - an odd mixture

I would say that there seems to be a lot of cheese in there, but perhaps this is because I don't like cheese and hope my DD won't either as it is quite fattening. You don't sound like you have used eggs at all - they are cheap and good for you.

Do you also do desserts or snacks? While I don't generally feed DD dessert, so I don't think you have to, it is worth your while listing them or doing a general "all meals are followed by fruit or yogurt" if you do offer them.

Actually - where I put 2 days in a row, I can see now that there is a gap of 1 day, so not an issue.

Isn't it fascinating how people see things differently and eat differently.

Lunch Chicken Nuggets, salad - sounds like no carbs, should list the bread if you are serving it. Nuggets are coated in bead
Tea Poached salmon with carrots & green beans - sounds like no carbs I find salmon so filling I can't manage any
Lunch Cowboy casserole - sounds like no carbs - it's beans - I thought they were multi purpose
Tea Sausage chips & beans - ok, but I would doubt the quality of sausages (Tesco finest - pork & apple
Lunch Fish Fingers, broccoli & cauliflower - sounds like no carbs - followed by rice pudding (sorry haven't finalised all the puds yet but it's what I'm doing atm)
Lunch Rice, with peas, sweetcorn & raisins - peas count as a veg, not protein to me so not a ful meal. I know this is an odd one
Lunch Sausage rolls & salad - not a fan of sausage rolls - homemade but it's something you love or hate
Tea Curried meatloaf, cauliflower & peas - sounds like no carbs - bread & egg in the meatloaf, but maybe I should add something
Lunch Pitta bread with chicken mayo and salad - good, but two days in a row; yep changed to pizza toast with salad
Lunch Fishcakes, salad - sounds like no carbs, but I guess the fishcakes have potato in them. Are they homemade? no - again Tesco finest (haddock normally)
Tea Toad in the Hole, with carrots & broccoli - good - eggs
Lunch Vegetable soup - I would not be confident about this being a complete meal, any carbs? Sorry it's homemade soup & bread
Tea Cold meat, chips & beans - an odd mixture it's my favourite either ham or beef or chicken (never lamb oddly) yum!!

Puddings being done & thinking about snack & breakfast atm

Thanks for the suggestions so far; it is a work in progress

Aaarrrgghh

This is so hard