School dinner @ £1.20 vs a lunchbox meal?

Penelope_Penguin

CravingSaving wrote: »

Hmmmm... freezing sandwiches.... I have never thought of this. Are there some guidelines on what sarnies you can and cant successfully freeze?

Try this thread - freezing sandwiches

Penny. x

outrageous_monkey

£1.20, does seem good value. Its £2.00 a day at my sons school. What I have found interesting is how much the cost of school meals differ around the country.:rolleyes:

The parents at my sons school were invited in for a meal so we could see what the kids would be served. I had cheese flan, it was great, just like being back at school for me My son got a grey fish finger, boiled wedges and peas.... a piece of fruit and half a glass of water...... I thought that was taking the P asking us for £2.00 and thats all they got..... thankfully he asked to go on packed lunches, so its worked out well for me that way:T

I buy a salad bag from the local market for £2, which usually lasts about a week in those keep fresh bags. He has salad, cubed cheese and pasta. Fruit, yoghurt and maybe a packet of crisps.

I also pay 40p a week so he can have a slice of toast twice a week. It must be bloomin' expensive bread, if it costs 40p for 2 slices;)

281273

My dd aged 3 started having school dinners last week as she started full time nursey last week. She is a mega fussy eater, she wont eat food that has touched another food and at the mo will only eat dry food, even though she still gets a plate of what everyone else has to try anf tempt her. Anyway, I am keeping her on school dinners for a few weeks to see how she goes. She may eat it there and if she does I will be glad of the fruit and veg going in her. Her school does brill school meals, saying it's only a infants school they can have things like Quiche, Vegeatable Fajita, Fillet of salmon and Parsley Sauce, Mince beef and Yorkshire Pub and Roast Turkey Dinner and thats just from this weeks menu. No chips on it at all. It costs £8.75 a week.

Btw she is fussy we think due to Aspergers Syndrome. My DD 5yrs is a fantastic eater and once did a sitting protest after being in the nursery for three days because she was still hungry, and yes they did feed her more and did until she went on sandwiches in reception.

So after that long babble (Sorry). Just try your son a try on dinners and if it doesnt work go for the packed lunch.

moneysavingfamilycomp

just a quick reminder the cost of the school meal ( although it is subsidised by local authority ) has to cover the food the running of the kitchen and our wages (we have been on minimum wage just increased to £6 an hr) just something to bare in mind when costing packed lunches.

moneysavingfamilycomp

outrageous_monkey wrote: »

£1.20, does seem good value. Its £2.00 a day at my sons school. What I have found interesting is how much the cost of school meals differ around the country.:rolleyes:

The parents at my sons school were invited in for a meal so we could see what the kids would be served. I had cheese flan, it was great, just like being back at school for me My son got a grey fish finger, boiled wedges and peas.... a piece of fruit and half a glass of water...... I thought that was taking the P asking us for £2.00 and thats all they got..... thankfully he asked to go on packed lunches, so its worked out well for me that way:T

I buy a salad bag from the local market for £2, which usually lasts about a week in those keep fresh bags. He has salad, cubed cheese and pasta. Fruit, yoghurt and maybe a packet of crisps.

I also pay 40p a week so he can have a slice of toast twice a week. It must be bloomin' expensive bread, if it costs 40p for 2 slices;)

sorry i know im harping on
he should of had 3 fish fingers,oven baked wedges , peas , another veg, bread and fruit if thats what he asked for and water which staff would refil if he wanted it ( i agree about the fish fingers the new ones are much nicer but only on the menu once in 3 weeks and only to make meals child frendly aparently thats what parents want i dont know which parents the county officials asked ) also we sometimes only half fill water glasses for the little ones as they inevitably spill it but they can have it refilled as many times as they like. as for the bread as i said in my last post your paying for someone to toast it serve it and clean up afterwards not just for the bread

outrageous_monkey

moneysavingfamilycomp wrote: »

sorry i know im harping on
he should of had 3 fish fingers,oven baked wedges , peas , another veg, bread and fruit if thats what he asked for and water which staff would refil if he wanted it ( i agree about the fish fingers the new ones are much nicer but only on the menu once in 3 weeks and only to make meals child frendly aparently thats what parents want i dont know which parents the county officials asked ) also we sometimes only half fill water glasses for the little ones as they inevitably spill it but they can have it refilled as many times as they like. as for the bread as i said in my last post your paying for someone to toast it serve it and clean up afterwards not just for the bread

nope, just the one veg, but there were 3 on offer and just 1 fish finger. Actually, there was a quarter of bread too. We were never told the water was on refil either . If I remember right, Catowen said that at her childrens school they are only offered 1 veg too. Maybe the LA's all run differently, as I said the prices of school dinners seem to differ around the country. Sounds like I should move to Durham so my son would get more food and I would see more value for money:D

Penny-Pincher!!

DD used to have pack ups and we successfully froze the following sarnies:

Ham/Chicken/Beef
Cheese
Marmite
Jam
Peanut Butter

OH used to get reduced good quality bread for 20p a loaf then I would make the whole loaf into 3 different sarnies and freeze them in single bagged portions and it would be a lucky dip each day for her:D

We also froze Sausage Rolls, Quiche, Sausages, Chicken etc. She also like chicken and rice or chicken pasta.

As DD starts school at 8am, if running late, I make some toast and butter and wrap in foil for her to eat on journey over and pop in a banana.

HTH

PP
xx

moneysavingfamilycomp

youd be very welcome outrageous_monkey
im really quite shocked at some of the posts:eek: we have very strict guidelines to follow and have spot checks by whats known as the client (an official from the county council school meals department ) to make sure we are following them at least once every half term. i can appreciate that sometimes accidents happen but we always cook enough to cover any shortage of food due to something being dropped or us being told the wrong number of children to cater for :mad: and we always have something we can bring out as a back up in emergencies cheese tuna etc although iv worked for school meals for 9 yrs and only had to do this about 3 or 4 times. every child in the country should be getting a nutricious filling lunch i would hate to think what some of these cooks feed there own children we always work by the motto the child should get what the parents pay for so unless the parent requests that we dont give them certain things ( some children wont eat anything off there plate if say sweetcorn has touched it ) we insist that they take the full meal even if they dont eat it. its amazing how many stop saying i dont like vegtables after a couple of weeks ( and we even have quite a few who wouldnt eat any when they came to us but now eat some veg :j ) if you dont try you dont know :rotfl:

CravingSaving

moneysavingfamilycomp wrote: »

just a quick reminder the cost of the school meal ( although it is subsidised by local authority ) has to cover the food the running of the kitchen and our wages (we have been on minimum wage just increased to £6 an hr) just something to bare in mind when costing packed lunches.

Really???? Sorry to sound so astonished and now feeling totally stupid! I thought canteen staff would be paid in the same way as teaching staff. And I would have thought that the kitchen overheads would be covered in the same way as the rest of the school.

I am really quite amazed.

bellybabe_2

Penny pincher, I feel better knowing someone else has done the same thing! Anytime we've forgotten/run out, and I've had to get up and make them in the morning, it's made a miserable start to my day lol...
BB