School Meals v Packed Lunch

Tribal

How lovely to see all watchers of Martins etc. totally concur with giving their children what nature intended! Incredibly heartwarming and gave a smile to the jaded. Well darn well done us. Makes one feel less out in the wilderness.

funky-footprints

joannasmum ..be prepared for the fact that your daughter will in the future go to birthday parties, or got to tea at a friends house and you wont be there, normally those children that are never allowed 'rubbish' swamp thier plates with the 'rubbish' first, its quite an education having 5 years old home for tea !!!!
My husbands sister isnt allowed anything bad yet unsupervised she is an absolute sod !!! a little in moderation never harmed anyone !!!

Josiegirl

fesdufun, you made me laugh thinking about cherry tomatoes, used to love seeing the expressions on my kids faces when they'd bite into a just picked tom and it'd squirt everywhere lol.

Re the fruit, although my kids are older now and left home, I now make rollups for my nephews and nieces for thier lunchboxes. I just puree apple, strawberries, kiwifruit, mango etc. whatever is in season (sometimes adding a little honey if needed) and pour it into trays in the food dehydrator. Same thing as the other kids have (only natural ) so they don't feel they're missing out on 'treats'. They will also keep for ages in an airtight jar.

So anyway, you go girl and be smug in the knowledge that you are feeding your kids right

AnnieH

When my dd2 was small she used to pinch bits of broccoli in ASDA and eat it while she was in the trolley.

jellyhead

raw broccoli is yummy my mum has always eaten raw peas.

we do buy junk in moderation and we eat at mcdonalds around once a month too (i don't think their food is any worse than what's sold in supermarkets to be honest) junk isn't banned it's just that they prefer other things, i'm fond of the junk myself but that doesn't mean the others have to eat it lol! i sneak off to the chip shop occasionally

i do buy fruit winders, school bars and fruit flakes but the fresh fruit is nicer and it's what my son prefers. when he was younger he couldn't manage it at school because he's very clumsy so he had raisins and the fruit flake type stuff.

i don't insist on my children eating fresh fruit and sometimes my son swaps at school (other children would swap anything for his strawberries, like the dairylea traingles adverts). there is a boy i know at school whose mum is very strict about his diet and he swaps everything (he doesn't tell her though!) because he sees junk food as illicit and exciting.

off topic a bit but did anyone watch channel 5 last night? there was a baby mind reader doing a reality tv show and he told an overweight woman that her baby is thinking 'i don't want chocolate and biscuits, i want grapes'!!

misty

What I find annoying is the fact someone decides to comment on what you feed your child - let alone the fact that you are giving them fruit. They should keep their opinions (particularly as they are talking !!!!!!) to themselves. The only time I discuss food with the other mothers is if I am having their child over to tea or they are having mine and then it's only to check they're are no allergies. You should have said - your absoloutely right - i am mamking a rod for my own back - I'll rush out and buy some salty snacks immediately.

funky-footprints

other than the alergy thing or main dislikes, (got caught out with lasagne as the boy refused to eat mince) i always also ask is there anything you dont like your child to have ? ? ive never had a mum actually answer the last thing, i think for a one off if my son goes to play with a friends and has a glass of coke i am not going to go off on one, as at the end of the day its me that does the grocery shop so me that decides what goes in our home cupboard. Shocked actually that someone did comment on you feeding your child healthily !! I shudder to think what meals times in thier home are like !!

misty

jellyhead wrote:

there is a boy i know at school whose mum is very strict about his diet and he swaps everything (he doesn't tell her though!) because he sees junk food as illicit and exciting.

This was me at school -I always had healthy stuff - that I would swap at the drop of a hat - I still like a bit of junk now (hangs head in shame)

My son is allowed sweets and crisps etc but he doesn't really bother because I think he doesn't see them as special. if we are having sarnies and I ask him if he wants some crisps he always says no - I would always have said yes because they were something that were bad for me or a treat.

Spendless

smarties and coke are banned for my boy cos it sends him yampy and believe me he needs no encouragement:rolleyes: . If he is offered them when I'm not about though he takes them cos he knows it is the only time he'll get them. There was a coupon for a free park of smarties from woolies in one of the Sunday papers. They say no articificial colours on them now. I realise they'll still have red cochineal in them cos that is natural. I picked up a pack cos they were free to see if these are ok. Has anyone tried them and how do they compare to how they used to be made

jellyhead

haven't bought smarties, but have noticed a few of the coloured sweetie manufacturers using natural colours now, i think fruit pastilles, chewits, fruitella, maoam, starburst and tutti fruities, but don't quote me on that because we don't buy them often. fruit pastille ice lollies are still full of sunset yellow and other nasties though. we have to be careful of colours, but coke (coca cola, not cheap stuff) is fine, the caramel colours don't have an adverse effect on spud. has to be part of a meal though, coke on its own is a sugar rush regardless of which colours are added.

i've found that allowing the bad colours on friday night and saturday rather than banning them completely has made spud more aware of what they do to his body, and to decide for himself that he very rarely wants them. they're not illicit, just something his body can't cope with on a weekday if he's to function well at school and not end up in detention. i suppose it's similar to alcohol, my husband can't handle it on a weeknight