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Daycare Menus, Breakfast, Lunch and Snack Ideas>Do You Use A Rotating Menu? What's It Look Like?
flossie 05:09 AM 10-02-2018
I have had a 6wk rotating menu for a few cycles. But due to the way our preschool center's set up I have been looking to make things easier for myself. (Second preschoolers room is a separate building and is taking about 30mns or more of my time just to deliver/pick-up their food and dishes.) So I have dropped to a 5wk, which I have read in a couple of places is a common schedule, in order to weed out some of the less popular and more time consuming meals. I believe our elementary school is doing a 5wk menu, too. I'd love to see what other menus look like. Currently, this is mine:

*Cheese ravioli w/marinara, green beans, peaches
*Chicken nuggets, baked tots, cooked carrots, vegetable sticks
*Taco pita pocket w/lettuce & tomato, bell pepper strips
*Hot dog w/bun, broccoli, mandarin oranges
*Quesadilla w/cheese & salsa, vegetable sticks, applesauce

*Grilled cheese, tomato soup, peaches
*Mashed potatoes w/gravy, fish sticks or wedges, corn, applesauce
*French toast sticks, sausage patty, strawberries, vegetable sticks
*English muffin pepperoni pizza, vegetable sticks, pears
*Ham/turkey & cheese sandwich, vegetable sticks, fruit cocktail

*Mac'n'cheese, baked beans, carrots & peas, honeydew
*Hamburger w/bun, lettuce & tomato, tots, vegetable sticks
*Chicken Alfredo, cooked carrots, mandarin oranges
*Tator-tot hotdish, dinner roll, cucumber slices, applesauce
*PB&J sandwich, broccoli & cauliflower, pears

*Bosco stick w/marinara, lettuce salad, fruit cocktail
*Sloppy joe w/bun, raw snap peas or green beans, pineapple coleslaw
*Pancakes, sausage links, citrus fruit salad, vegetable sticks
*Fish sticks, dinner roll, bell pepper strips, applesauce
*BBQ chicken quesadilla, corn & black beans salad, banana

*Cheese pizza, vegetable sticks, applesauce
*Hot ham'n'cheese sandwich, tortilla chips w/salsa, cantaloupe
*Goulash, cooked carrots, vegetable sticks
*Chicken patty w/bun, cooked green beans, pears
*Corn dog, vegetable sticks, peaches

All is served with milk everyday. I have been removing tots and fries and believe I am down to just one time, with the exception of tator-tot hotdish which I will keep. I've also been trying to remove fruit from lunches a little at a time as it opens up more snack options.
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storybookending 08:17 AM 10-02-2018
Corn on the Cob is a huge hit here. I usually serve it with fresh kiwi and baby red potatoes.

Spaghetti with garlic bread and pear and veggie sticks.

Cucumbers are a current hit for my kiddos. Tomorrow we are having them with buttered noodles, blueberries and meatballs.

I’ve got 3/6 living black olives and the other 3 are at least trying them every time now.

I do lunches with breakfast foods too as I don’t serve breakfast, I see you listed some but you might also want to add in Toast/English muffins with jelly, hard boiled/scrambled eggs (great place to add in those veggies), cottage cheese, yogurt parfaits, waffles, bagels etc

We do a Chinese meal with honey or sesame chicken, stir fry rice and veggies.


Also my kiddos are obsessed with any type of soup so lots of different options there.
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flossie 01:26 PM 10-02-2018
Thanks for the reply. Some of the items you listed are actually things that we have at snack. For instance, yogurt with granola, or fruit, or fruit & granola, is a once per week snack. Breakfast breads, such as mini bagels, raisin toast or English muffins are being added in for snacks as well. They had been a breakfast option before, though I recently went to just cereal with milk and juice for all breakfasts.

The two breakfast lunches were also a breakfast option before. The kids liked them so much that it was obvious that they should be offered for lunch. I've considered eggs for lunch, as they also liked them at breakfast before. But our set up is such that I don't know how well they'd hold... though I will give that more thought and consideration. I'm not sure if crockpots are allowed in our preschool & daycare center. I do not have any warmers to hold things at temp either. I've tried hard boiled eggs once. What a time consuming mess that was, ha ha! Any tricks?

Rice hasn't gone over real well, though I'll admit I only tried a few times in the past year. I only have one skillet, so I'm not sure how best to approach making enough of a stir-fry to feed, on average, 60 kids. Maybe on a sheet pan in the oven? Done more like roasted veggies, but after they've cooked until tender I could toss them with a light teriyaki or sweet & sour sauce. Another thing to consider, thank you! Our elementary school makes a mandarin chicken stir-fry and my friend, who is a lunch lady there, said the kids really like it (and so does the adults). I'll see how they're doing theirs, too.

Corn on the cob has been requested by a few kids and has been on my radar. But I think the preschool owner thinks it's too expensive. But I'll ask her to check into it again.
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storybookending 07:59 AM 10-03-2018
For the hard boiled eggs make sure you are using older eggs to help them peel nicer. You can also add salt to the water when you boil them.. my grandma says that helps. I only have 6 kids so I’m making significantly less at a time. As for the scrambled eggs I typically make them in the morning and then microwave right before lunch and they hold up great, but again I’m only making about 6 eggs at a time.
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