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blueclouds29 11:12 AM 06-29-2011
I'm very frustrated with the amount of food i've been wasting everyday specifically at lunch. I was thinking of asking the parents to start providing lunch for their kids. Right now i have 2 kids that eat lunch.
Does anyone have their parents bring lunch for their kids? If so how does it work?
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Cat Herder 11:20 AM 06-29-2011
It would cost me all of my clients.

I recommend trying a "family style approach" first.

I also fear the frankenfood rebound from what will come in those cartoon character encrusted bags,,,

I envision chaos, I tell you.... The natives will go wild....
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blueclouds29 11:29 AM 06-29-2011
LOL.. i hear.. but i only have 3 parents altogether and 2 are table food. I have really great parents i just don't know how they will feel about it and how efficient it will be.
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PeanutsGalore 11:56 AM 06-29-2011
Originally Posted by blueclouds29:
I'm very frustrated with the amount of food i've been wasting everyday specifically at lunch. I was thinking of asking the parents to start providing lunch for their kids. Right now i have 2 kids that eat lunch.
Does anyone have their parents bring lunch for their kids? If so how does it work?
Everyone bringing their own might get chaotic, like cat said. Family style should work because you can control the amount they put on their plate and eat the leftovers yourself.
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blueclouds29 11:57 AM 06-29-2011
my table eaters are 2 and under. Is that too young for family style and how does that work?
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littlemissmuffet 11:58 AM 06-29-2011
Originally Posted by Catherder:
It would cost me all of my clients.

I recommend trying a "family style approach" first.

I also fear the frankenfood rebound from what will come in those cartoon character encrusted bags,,,

I envision chaos, I tell you.... The natives will go wild....
Agree with this 100%!
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sharlan 12:32 PM 06-29-2011
I tried that for a VERY short time and it was chaos for me. Johnny has Susie's most favorite pb&j, while she has yucky ham & cheese. Susie has a fruit roll up, while Johnny has apple slices. Mikey has a cupcake while the other two have graham crackers.

Nope, they both get the ham & cheese and apple slices. I get the cupcakes while they're down for their naps.
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PitterPatter 12:41 PM 06-29-2011
I wouldn't recommend having the parents bring their own. It will probably end up in disputes. When I first started I had a couple parents want to bring their own food for their kids. The food was usually junk like pb&j and a twix with a canteen of pop or koolaid. Another time it was a left over cheeseburger from a kids meal the night before and a 1/2 bag of doritos and a juice box. Then of course there were days where the parents would forget to bring the lunches and I had to scurry to provide it myself. The final straw for me was when a parent brought a 2 ltr of coke, a large bag of Doritos, 1/2 loaf of bread and 1/2 jar of peanut butter and said here is their lunches for the week. NOPE!! I finally told every parent they had to be enrolled in the food program so that I can supply the meals myself and make sure they were nutritious.

I make a family style and dish out the servings myself. Some may go to waste but if u have picky eaters just give small portions and allow 2nd later. Leftovers are sometimes a problem because I am not allowed to serve the food a 2nd time so if my family doesn't eat it then it does get tossed. I try to use a lot of fresh produce or frozen that way I can cook just as much as the kids will eat.
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PeanutsGalore 12:42 PM 06-29-2011
Originally Posted by blueclouds29:
my table eaters are 2 and under. Is that too young for family style and how does that work?
I would think that's a bit young to trust them to serve themselves, but you know your kids best so would have to judge that for yourself. I know that if I put a bowl of communal food on the table with my 15 month old son, he'd snatch it and go play in the corner, leaving a trail of food behind him!

You can still make it work; just "help" them serve themselves the appropriate amount of food (or a bit less so they can have seconds if they want) and then move the food bowls out of their way if necessary to keep them from messing with anything. Eventually, they'll get the hang of it and will be able to serve themselves.
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Cat Herder 12:49 PM 06-29-2011
Originally Posted by blueclouds29:
my table eaters are 2 and under. Is that too young for family style and how does that work?
I only keep 3 and unders. Once they turn 4, they age out to free state sponsored pre-school.

Just like family dinners have all your options in bowls ready to serve.

Pass out empty plates to the kids and serve each item one at a time.

I do veggies first (biggest serving of the meal), meat/protein, fruit, starch and then milk.

I always do it in that order walking very s-l-o-w-l-y to get the next item.

Typically by the time I get back with the next bowl they have finished that serving.

I keep going around, in that exact order, until they stop eating.

Much less waste and mess. No eating only 3 biscuits for lunch.
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mac60 01:01 PM 06-29-2011
I would never serve meals family style, I can see that being a disaster waiting to happen here. I make sure there are at least 3 choices each day on their plate. I have a good idea who will eat what. If Johnny won't eat green beans and that is what I am serving, I will put 2 beans on his plate. Minimum waste, and if he chooses to not eat those 2 beans, in the trash they will go and he will get saltines for snack, not the fun snack the rest will get. Kids use food as a poswer struggle, and I don't put up with it. I don't deal with picky eaters at all. We have a lot of fun foods here for snack, but you have to eat the good stuff before you get the fun stuff. Simple rules here.
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lpperry 01:02 PM 06-29-2011
I have the 2 and under crowd and would never want parents to pack the lunch. Too many disputes over wanting someone else's lunch!

I make lunch and then give small portions to each child. If they eat it and want more, I refill the plate. I never waste food this way, but I do have to do a lot of serving! For my big eaters, I give bigger portions. If I know someone doesn't like something, I just put a tiny amount on their plate so they can try it if they want, but I don't waste it.
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Cat Herder 01:12 PM 06-29-2011
I did not address the food dislike issue. I generally plan around the kids, here.

If I have one who does not like green beans, on green bean day, I make green beans AND offer a few raw broccoli florets with ranch dipping sauce.

My goal was to get a "green" veggie in the belly

The biggest "offender" here is cooked carrots. On cooked carrot day I also offer mashed sweet potato. Same "yellow" nutrients, I am happy.

I only make alternates for veggies, though. IMHO, that is the one food group they don't get enough of away from my house.
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Meyou 01:23 PM 06-29-2011
Originally Posted by Catherder:
I did not address the food dislike issue. I generally plan around the kids, here.

If I have one who does not like green beans, on green bean day, I make green beans AND offer a few raw broccoli florets with ranch dipping sauce.

My goal was to get a "green" veggie in the belly

The biggest "offender" here is cooked carrots. On cooked carrot day I also offer mashed sweet potato. Same "yellow" nutrients, I am happy.

I only make alternates for veggies, though. IMHO, that is the one food group they don't get enough of away from my house.
What do you do for a child that holds out eating his veggies knowing something "better" is coming next? I'm really interested in trying family style but I have one dcb who would try and work the system by just not eating until we go to what he liked.
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Cat Herder 01:55 PM 06-29-2011
Originally Posted by Meyou:
What do you do for a child that holds out eating his veggies knowing something "better" is coming next? I'm really interested in trying family style but I have one dcb who would try and work the system by just not eating until we go to what he liked.
I am fortunate in that I have been with all my DCK's since infancy so they are very good veggie eaters, first and foremost. They had them as their "baby food" just hand pureed. I am not a magician... and I am starting from a stacked deck, so to speak.

The only thing I know to work 100% is consistency and no rewards for unwanted behaviors. I think that is an across the boards answer...

If they don't eat that first serving of veggies (or veggie alternate) and I make an entire round of items he simply would not get seconds of anything.

It goes around in exact order...all seconds are dependant on them having eaten the first round.

My serving sizes are enough for a complete balanced meal, above the food program recommendations, so no one would be going hungry...before unregistered pops up.
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CheekyChick 02:18 PM 06-29-2011
I have 12 preschool aged children and if they were all to bring their own lunch, there would be non-stop tears and complaining because they would want what everyone else had instead of their own lunch.
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familyschoolcare 04:27 PM 06-29-2011
Originally Posted by mac60:
I would never serve meals family style, I can see that being a disaster waiting to happen here. I make sure there are at least 3 choices each day on their plate. I have a good idea who will eat what. If Johnny won't eat green beans and that is what I am serving, I will put 2 beans on his plate. Minimum waste, and if he chooses to not eat those 2 beans, in the trash they will go and he will get saltines for snack, not the fun snack the rest will get. Kids use food as a poswer struggle, and I don't put up with it. I don't deal with picky eaters at all. We have a lot of fun foods here for snack, but you have to eat the good stuff before you get the fun stuff. Simple rules here.
I would be careful about serving something different to a child because of any reason it could be thought of as 1 special treatment and CPS might think it is neglectful as it is border line with holding food I know of a day care provider that got in trouble for this do not want to go in to details just be careful.
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mac60 04:56 PM 06-29-2011
I do not and never have withheld food from any child. But when a child wastes food and refuses to eat what is on his plate, he is not getting that special snack that everyone else gets when they have ate their lunch and he hasn't. He will get saltines instead of the cookie bars we made. The so called regulations that some of you are forced to follow are absolutely rediculous.
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familyschoolcare 09:44 PM 06-29-2011
Originally Posted by mac60:
I do not and never have withheld food from any child. But when a child wastes food and refuses to eat what is on his plate, he is not getting that special snack that everyone else gets when they have ate their lunch and he hasn't. He will get saltines instead of the cookie bars we made. The so called regulations that some of you are forced to follow are absolutely rediculous.
I did not mean to offend you and I understood that you where not denying a child food what you describe is exactly what my friend got in trouble for doing I am not saying I agree with the regulation nearly making sure that you and other are aware that they are out there
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Meyou 03:05 AM 06-30-2011
Originally Posted by Catherder:
I am fortunate in that I have been with all my DCK's since infancy so they are very good veggie eaters, first and foremost. They had them as their "baby food" just hand pureed. I am not a magician... and I am starting from a stacked deck, so to speak.

The only thing I know to work 100% is consistency and no rewards for unwanted behaviors. I think that is an across the boards answer...

If they don't eat that first serving of veggies (or veggie alternate) and I make an entire round of items he simply would not get seconds of anything.

It goes around in exact order...all seconds are dependant on them having eaten the first round.

My serving sizes are enough for a complete balanced meal, above the food program recommendations, so no one would be going hungry...before unregistered pops up.
He does like veggies...he's just striking just for the heck of it from what I can tell. lol I'm going to try family style out next week and see how it helps my food waste and if it can cue my striker. Thanks.
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Cat Herder 05:35 AM 06-30-2011
Sure...

Give him the veggies first when he is really hungry then take a good amount of time (2-3 minutes) to get the next food on his plate.

Sometimes I stop to fake tie my shoe, re-wash my hands, check the seals on all the sippys, slop the hogs... Just look busy and don't make eye contact.

It has worked really well here.
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nannyde 05:54 AM 06-30-2011
I do bowl in one stew meals: Protein, starch, and two veggies. I also serve some kind of sauce for desert. Today we will have peach and pineapple sauce.

The kids go through phases when they eat small amounts and then need big amounts. I keep track of how they do on the amounts (if I get a bowl back with anything in it... I find out who didn't eat as much) and what they do and don't like.

If I have a kid that is going thru a phase of needing less I just give them less. If they are a big eater I give them a bowl filled to the top until they start backing down. If they want seconds there is always extra for them.

I've had these guys since babies and know pretty well what they will eat and what they won't. I don't get too involved in worrying about times when they need less. It's not that big of a deal.

99 percent of the time they all eat everything. We don't have food battles here. I want meal time to be pleasant.

If I'm giving them something they aren't familiar with I do mutlple small exposures mixed in with something I know they DO like. We had mango's a couple of weeks ago and some of them balked at them. I just smashed them and mixed them in with some strawberry sauce. I added a bit more to the sauce over the week and by the end of the week the ate them straight. Sometimes you just have to go EASY and use a preferred food to get them to consider it.

I love feeding kids. It's something I love so much about my job. The cooking does get to be a bit much at times so I make sure I get stuff done in advance so I can have a break from it when I need one.

It makes me sad to hear over and over again how food is wasted by picky eaters. We should cherish our food and meal time should be the hottest ticket of the day.
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Meyou 06:33 AM 06-30-2011
How do you make the sauces? I want to eat at your house. Mmmm.
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Sunshine44 07:59 AM 06-30-2011
I've never had a child besides my own kid want what the others have. It is like they all know they get what their parents send them.
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nannyde 08:35 AM 06-30-2011
Originally Posted by Meyou:
How do you make the sauces? I want to eat at your house. Mmmm.
I just cook the fruit in organic apple juice and puree it in my food processor. I store it in bags and freeze. I cook veggies that way too when they come in season. We use fresh until it's getting to the point of needing to be used. Then I cook, puree, and freeze.
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Meyou 08:49 AM 06-30-2011
Originally Posted by nannyde:
I just cook the fruit in organic apple juice and puree it in my food processor. I store it in bags and freeze. I cook veggies that way too when they come in season. We use fresh until it's getting to the point of needing to be used. Then I cook, puree, and freeze.
Is there anything that doesn't freeze well?
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nannyde 10:20 AM 06-30-2011
Originally Posted by Meyou:
Is there anything that doesn't freeze well?
potatoes if they aren't blended in.

Been pretty successful with all kinds of fruits.
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Crazy8 11:00 AM 06-30-2011
I've been providing daycare in my home for 10 years and have ALWAYS had children bringing their own lunches. I've never had a problem with them wanting what the others have - many of them help to pack their lunch so they know what they are getting. I don't believe there are too many daycares near me who provide lunch though so maybe its regional.
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Tags:feeding - infants, feeding - toddlers, food, lunch, meals
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