What kind of tea if your children have hot lunch at school

[disorganisedmummy]

Hi.I'm after some advice.I have two boys 5 and nearly 7 who have a hot lunch plus pudding at school.I'm told and have it on good authority that they clear their plates most days.
My question is,would you then give them another big tea i.e.-spag bol/shep pie that kind of thing or sandwhiches/scrambled egg on toast/anything on toast/bagel?They normally have a lighter tea plus yoghurt of fruit but I'm worries that they're not getting enough variety in their diet.One boy eats anything and one is a fussy sod so it's quite hard to cater for both.They seem quite happy to have sarnies I think mainly cos it means they can get back to the tv quicker.
What would you all do?

[shoppingbagsundereyes]

Mine still have a main meal every day except Fridays when they have fish and chips at school and I know they will have both cleared their plates. Mine are often starving after a school dinner, bread and butter and sponge pud!

[disorganisedmummy]

Thanks for all your messages.I think I've got in a rut to be honest of doing the easiest option,sarnies.I think I need to make more effort with dinners.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Seconds are only available to year 6 at our school.

[MilkRunningOutAgain]

Mine get a hot evening meal on the days I pick them up for school . On the days they are at their childminders they get a "light tea" which might be soup, fruit, sandwiches, occasionally pizza. The childminder's tea isn't enough, they need a big supper when we get back home. Problem is the other minded kids manage perfectly well with just the light tea, so the childminder isn't going to start doing a hot meal just for my 2. Kids vary a lot, mine eat loads, some eat very little.

[Oblomov]

We have a hot dinner - spag bol, roast, curry, chilli, chicken and steamed veg etc.
Mty 2 are ravenous and I don't beleive the dinner portions are that big. Besides dh and I like to eat a proper meal so we all eat together at 6pm. They have a snack when they come home from school and then we all eat a proper dinner together.

[mindingalongtime]

The portions really are very small; although seconds are supposed to be available for those need it, they rarely are. I have seen the guidelines on what is the minimum acceptable and Teachers portions would just about fill up a junior child.

Soe are good, my DC's school cooked their own bread and biscuits and the veg were beautiful, but at a school where I was a governor, I always declined to stay for lunch!

My minded children get 2 cooked meals a day, the evening one is lighter, but still a good sized portion of home cooked food.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Mine usually have school dinners and then a hot meal in the evening. It never occurred to me to do anything else. I'm cooking for me and DH, why would I do anything different for them? Both are active and both are growing, I feel they need it. Like others have said, I wouldn't be happy with a sandwich and a yoghurt before 12 hours sleep, but then I like my food!

[Zatopek]

My DD is in reception and eats like a sparrow.

She has school dinners a couple of times a week(I imagine the portions would be massive for her) but everyday regardless of whether she has school dinner or pack lunch, she is too tired to eat much at teatime.

She usually needs a snack to get her home so I will give her a muffin or cereal bar and a small smoothie but once home she is normally lounging on the sofa until bedtime and whether I make toast or pasta she will just pick at it. I tend to offer picnic teas (toast, cubes of cheese and fruit) or a softboiled egg with lots of fruit and a yoghurt and she will pick at these.

When I have tried to offer something more substantial it has ended up largely untouched.

If I feel she hasn't had much I will offer a low sugar cereal at bedtime and often she will eat a small bowl then.

[Taffeta]

Fish pie. Not is pie.

[Taffeta]

I pondered this recently as mine have always had packed lunch p until last Autumn, when they switched to school dinners.

I thought I could give them a sandwich and it'd be OK as they had had a hot lunch. They thought I was insane. "Thanks Mummy. When's proper dinner?"

The nice thing about school dinners is that I don't feel as obliged, so once or twice in the week they will have dippy eggs or a bowl of rice and peas instead of a full on is pie or something. As a special treat as well once a month or so I do a high tea with sandwiches and scones, cut up fruit and stuff.

[snoworneahva]

gales that's my experience too, the menu sounds great, pictures look lovely, interesting even but when you get an eyeful of what they actually get - I was quite surprised and not in a good way!

[bigTillyMint]

When mine had school dinners, they generally had a cooked tea in the evening too. I don't think it matters if you do a more snacky tea though, as long as it is fairly balanced.

[IsabelleRinging]

My dd has a school dinner, but seeing as I am cooking a proper dinner for DH and I in the evening she has same as us, which is usually pasta, pork chops and veg and potatoes, stir fry, fish and chips and peas, casserole, chicken breasts with vegetables and rice, risotto, etc etc depending on this weeks menu. School dinners are ok, and better than a packed lunch, but I also like to make sure she has had her 5 a day, and a cooked meal in the evening is the easiest way to do this as I can't gaurantee that she has eaten all her school dinner or chosen a balanced meal.

[missorinoco]

I mainly do beans on toast/soup/sandwiches, and just keep going with it if my (Y1) child is hungry.

I read the menu, and there were a few options that made me grimace, so I also suggested if he hadn't liked what was on offer he should tell me and I would make sure there was a bigger tea. There was some kind of a as-long-as-it's-not-something-you-normally-like type disclaimer in there from me.

[CMOTDibbler]

I don't cook for ds in the evening - his school dinners are plentiful and nutritious, so a sandwich or something else is fine

[Cakecrumbsinmybra]

DS1 has school lunch maybe twice a week, and I don't treat those days any differently - I still give him a normal cooked tea. Not sure what timing has to do with it, surely you have time for dinner if you're not doing after school clubs etc? We even have a hot dinner on the night we get back from swimming at 5.20. They still go to bed at 7. If you're sure they're getting everything they need though, then I'm sure it's fine - do they have fruit, protein etc with their sandwich teas?

[AnameIcouldnotthinkof]

Mine usually have a jacket potato or omelettes or a little bit of what me and DH are having i.e a smaller portion of rice and curry or pasta bake and then a yogurt or some fruit afterwards (or treat if it's fridays)
Our school lunches aren't bad depending on what they are serving.
DCs get in at about 3:30 and we have tea between 5 and 5:30 then they either go to an activity or chill until bed (My 5 and 6 year olds go to bed at 8pm and my 8 year old goes at 8:20pm)
If they want something when they get in they have some apple,orange or bannana pieces and some juice. When it's cold they have hot chocolate when it is warm they have ice pops.
It sounds like what your going is fine and I am sure they will tell you if they want food. Mine bloody do

[Gales]

Yes that's exactly what I mean disorganised. The menu sounds great, but the reality is that the lasagne will be a small portion and mostly pasta, hardly any meat, roast will be one small slice of (possibly processed) meat and 2 small potatoes, fish and chips actually means a couple of cheap fish fingers or minced fish in batter.

The portions are small and the quality poor, it's not an adequate main meal, unless your experience is different and your children genuinely aren't hungry for dinner in the evening.

[disorganisedmummy]

Ok there does seem to be lots of differing opinions here.The kinds of things they have for lunch are roast dinner on a wednesday,fish & chips on fri,lasagne or other pasta on mondays-you get the idea.Some days they will have a bigger tea like pasta & pesto.I tend to be guided by them a bit as they don't always want another big meal.Sorry to be anal,I'm always worrying if I'm doing it right.

[prettymum]

My 8 and 6yr old have hot dinners in the evenings aswell as hot meal at school, we eat around 5.30pm- 6pm and bedtime is at 8pm.

[MintyyAeroEgg]

I give mine a "proper" hot meal.

[EggBasket]

Mine have sandwiches or similar for lunch most days but when they do have a hot lunch, I usually do something light like muffins/crumpets/cheese on toast. They don't have the appetite for two hot meals a day so it would be a waste of food and effort!

OP, sounds like what you're doing is fine. If they're anything like my boys, they'll soon let you know if they're feeling underfed!

[Gales]

I work in a school. Looking at the menu e.g. pasta bake, roast dinner, chicken casserole, I would give "lunch" at tea time, something like sandwiches or egg on toast.

However, having seen what they actually get at school they really do need a dinner when they get home IMO. What's served at school is really not an adequate main meal, I don't care how many guidelines it meets, it's just not

[sjupes]

Dd is 8 and almost always has a hot tea - it's only if i'm feeling ill that she ends up with sausage rolls and beans/beans on toast/a sandwich.

I don't enjoy cooking but it's how i was raised so i'm used to it.

[Wishihadabs]

Often word of the day then .