Nursery Meals for 50p

sjbm45

Hello can any of you wonderful people help? I have recently taken a job as a nursery cook and I am looking to revise the menu. I will be providing lunch and pudding for 30 children per day for 3 days a week at a budget of 50p per child per day. We have one kettle, 2 toasters, 2 microwaves, 1 fridge and 1 small freezer. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance.

Ginmonster

Sounds like you've got your work cut out for you without a proper cooker. There's a thread on microwave cooking that might be worth checking out to see if there are any recipes that either fit or can be adapted to work for young kids:


http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1369169


For puddings fruit and/or yoghurt is always a good bet (my son's nursery gives them that for one of their puddings every day).

PasturesNew

There were guidelines suggested in recent years.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nursery-food-new-guidelines

You might do well to seek out official recipes/nutrition guides rather than asking random home cooks what they think.

Children's Food Trust: http://www.childrensfoodtrust.org.uk/

Nurseries: http://www.childrensfoodtrust.org.uk/childrens-food-trust/early-years/nurseries-preschool-childrens-centres/

There's a menu checking service on there to check if your "menus meet the legal requirements of the school food standards, and that the food provided is offering children the nutrients and energy they need to do well."
http://www.childrensfoodtrust.org.uk/childrens-food-trust/schools/school-food-standards/resources/menu-checking/

And information on producing the necessary allergen information.
http://media.childrensfoodtrust.org.uk/2015/07/CFT-AllergenFactSheet.pdf

The new legislation requires food businesses including ..... early years settings providing non-prepacked food to provide allergen ingredients information.

These requirements are part of the EU Food Information for Consumers Regulations1, and apply across the EU. They are enforced in the UK by the Food Information Regulations 2014.2

Ginmonster

That's really good website PasturesNew - thanks for the link. I've been checking out the recipes for using at home with my son.


I'd hope that the OP already has a good knowledge of nutrition for nursery-age children given their job but having a service that will check menus for you sounds excellent too.

VfM4meplse

sjbm45 wrote: »

Hello can any of you wonderful people help? I have recently taken a job as a nursery cook and I am looking to revise the menu. I will be providing lunch and pudding for 30 children per day for 3 days a week at a budget of 50p per child per day. We have one kettle, 2 toasters, 2 microwaves, 1 fridge and 1 small freezer. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance.

This makes me very cross. The nursery my niece attends offers excellent facilities and I am satisfied that she is well looked after. They also have a dedicated cook, and offer 3 meals and 2 snacks a day over 12 hours, plus milk. I know what she's offered every day, its a variety of things, including plenty of fruit and veg. (She's not a big eater but she wouldn't go hungry if she was, as they offer seconds).

Nurseries charge a small fortune for their services - well over £1k per month for one child - and I would be very unhappy if this little was spent on food. I have no problem with the owners making a profit, but paying so little for food for developing children is irresponsible. For the 50p/day budget, they'll get carbs and little else.

sjbm45

Thanks for your replies, I probably should have explained it is a non-profit making nursery run by a Christian charity in an economically deprived area and its the parents themselves which provide the 50 pence per day for the meal. Obviously I am aware of Government guidelines but was just trying to think outside the box for suggestions which could maybe, be adapted. Thanks for your input.

Valli

My suggestion would be to get a cooker - or, at least, a hob. Because 2 microwaves is not enough, IMO.

Rosemary7391

Maybe a large slow cooker might be easier than getting a cooker/hob, for a bit more flexibility? Then you can do almost any soup or stew from fresh, frozen or dried ingredients, whereas with your current set up I'm struggling to get past beans on toast or sandwiches. You can get pasta, rice, lentils etc that go in the microwave but it costs a lot more.

Mr_Singleton

sjbm45 wrote: »

I will be providing lunch and pudding for 30 children per day for 3 days a week at a budget of 50p per child per day. We have one kettle, 2 toasters, 2 microwaves, 1 fridge and 1 small freezer.

Can you microwave turkey twizzlers? :mad

How utterly depressing that A) this is even a question and that parents would allow their children to eat whatever is produced.

Is asking parents for more money an option?

System

I think prisoners get a £2 a day budget...

sjbm45

Mr_Singleton wrote: »

Can you microwave turkey twizzlers? :mad

How utterly depressing that A) this is even a question and that parents would allow their children to eat whatever is produced.

Is asking parents for more money an option?

I have no intention of serving turkey twizzlers.

I was asking for some ideas that I could maybe adapt as I was struggling within the limitations. Asking the parents for more money is not an option due to their socio-economic status.

Thank you for your input.