(photo from http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page8237)
Well actually I had dinner at my son's nursery on Monday. I must admit I wasn't looking forward to it - the state of his clothes on the days that he stays for lunch speak to me of food fights.
The menu was Vegatable Lasange and Garlic bread followed by Peach Crumble.
I was a bit anxious about the lasagna - I'm not vegetarian, I do cook some vegetarian dishes but lasagna isn't one of them. I was pleasantly surprised - it was yummy (my son's phrase). He cleared his plate and ate 3 pieces of garlic bread, though none of the side accompaniment of broccoli (you'd have been proud of me as I forced 3 stalks down as a good example). My son likes his food but I've never seen him clear his plate like that.
When the crumble arrived it was a disappointment - the peaches had been strained of any juice there had been in the tin and the crumble was made without any hint of sugar (ditto the custard). I'd expected the type of pudding I got at school. My son, bless him, finished his and asked for more. I said that he could share mine and he promptly pushed his plate aside and grabbed mine leaving me holding my spoon mid-air.
What did impress me was the cook. My son's best friend ate hardly anything and his mother was bemoaning the fact that he didn't eat at home either. 'In fact he won't eat his breakfast, he had half a packet of Quavers for his breakfast today ...' - If you don't know already Quavers are a cheesy crisp - despite the claims of reduced fat and salt content I'm sure they are not designed as breakfast food. Whilst the other mums and I recovered from our shock and tried not to scream out 'what possessed you to give him ...' the cook sat down and shared some constructive tips on helping getting children to eat proper meals. It was really practical advice and I was reassured that she knew her stuff.
We've already seen the menu at the school my son will be attending from January - on Tuesday it's venison burgers and Wednesday it's chocolate pudding with chocolate custard (minus the chocolate I expect).
1 comment:
They have a day each year at my sons' primary school where parents can come for lunch. I was impressed when I went. Then afterwards the boys all said that the lunch was ten times better on that day than it was usually!
And chocolate sprinkles have been banned apparently! How ridiculous is that. Because I am not a chocolate person my children never get chocolate at home but I assumed they would get some at school - but no, not even a sprinkle. As if that is going to stop childhood obesity!
We spent a few months in France a year or so back and they do it properly there - none of these plastic trays, they have proper cutlery, napkins and a cheese course. Very civilised indeed.
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