jan 26

breakfast---whole wheat bagels with fresh peanut butter(the coolest and easiest thing i have discovered, literally a tablespoon of oil and peanuts...that's it! And you know what is in it as far as sugar and salt.)
fuji apples
milk

Lunch---
cheeseburgers (one of two menu items that we serve beef in, and it is 91-9 meat to fat with nothing added)
                        they are also served on a whole wheat sandwich thin with a thin slice of cheddar cheese
stir-fry veggie mix
cubed pears

snack--
yogurt,granola,fresh blueberry parfait

jan 25

breakfast was delicious and very well recieved
hens on a nest(finely scrambled eggs topped on a whole wheat english muffin and topped with cheddar cheese lightly toasted and melted........mmmmmmmmmmmmm)
bananas
milk
lunch is a work in progress in the whole idea of creating an idea of food to the children....because most children dont eat fish....or asparagus
lemony baked talapia (the more they try it the more they like it....informal forcing of the ideas i guess, but they are starting to enjoy it more and more, i am sam i am)
steamed asparagus
cubed canteloupe melon
brown rice

snack time

• finger pancakes made with left over pancake batter from last week (did you all know that you can keep most things in the refrigerator for alot longer than you think with out it going bad or turning sour.)
• and orange slices and water

and back on the topic of water..........please, please, please,please make sure your kids arfe getting water on a constant basis throughout the day, i actually heard a teacher say one time that its about changing diapers or having to take to many trips to the bathroom.  Come on, did you ever think that the more the bladder is stimulated the more opportunity for potty-training and contenence control.  And fruther more in the defense of water and its necessity in the well being of all of us, is it not a small price to take s few extra trips to the bathroom or waste a few extra minutes and diapers and gloves for the over all weel being of the clarity of thought and of our children, which will allow them to take our guidance and remember more effectively, not to mention that it will allow for their busy muscles that are constantly growing and moving and building the proper hydration as to decrease the amount of soreness when experiencing "growing pains" or muscle grwoth and development. 

how bout this

lunch is deffinately one of the best out of all of them.....every lunch needs to have this kind of reception
fresh 6 veggie red sauce with ground turkey(i mean really, the children dont know any different from this not being store bought or the equivalant from home and they are eating vitamins and nutrients from 6 different vegetables............Come on! does it get better than that)
bug shaped wohle grain and veggie pasta
spinach salad with fresh yogurt ranch dressing
pineapple and melon fruit salad
milk
This lunch was about a 95% hit in every class room, very well recieved, they loved it and all have happy brains and bodies.

monday, monday

Good morning Monday,
soooo b-fast today
Cheerios (usually on monday we try to have a fairly low stress prep breakfast)
blueberries(frozen, which are very close to the nutrient value of fresh)
milk

Jan 21...lunch

lunch menu
       bbq turkey cowboy muffins--ground turkey browned with onions stirrred with bbq sauce...(onestly this was a bad day for me to start this blog, this is the only recipe, honestly, that we use a product that comes from a jar or can)  spooned into a buscuit cup and topped with cheese--protien and carbs..iron and vit C
       celery and carrot spears with fresh yogurt ranch dip--- cooked and chopped for the 1's and 2's..vit C,A,D...good fiber
       fresh pinapple--- chopped for the 1's and 2's..fiber, vit A,C,E
       milk---calcium, vit A,D
Ad guess what, aside form the few picky pickers....all loved it and teachers were involved in discussing the meal.....that is a proud site.

for afternoon snack we will have left over apple/cheddar muffins from yesterdays b-fast and a fruit salad with random fruit from the week to ensure its good use before the weekend is here.

Jan 21 2011...

Soooooo, this is today's menu
Breakfast--  Cream of Wheat
                   sliced fresh kiwi and strawberry fruit salad
                   milk---1% for 3-5 year olds....whole milke for 1's and 2's
           Very simple and to the point, protien and fiber and good feelings in the warm cereal, vitamin A, tons of vitamin C in the fruit, calcium, vit A,D in your milk
               And they loved it!  As we speak there are happy energized children dwelling the classrooms in this center.

What's the dilema? Or should i say who?

There is a concern that is, as of late become, of actual concern across the land.  Food and how we view it as parents and teachers(as a society really) in context to how we will guide our children to view the value of it.  I will not get into a rant on this but my first post, but i will say that we all have the right and capability to be concerned, voice those concerns and make something happen. 
Brief intro...
i am a father of two school aged children, 11 and 13..boy and girl....$eth and Skyllyn(dollar sign is his signature..not sure why..cause we're broke).  I am a college student in my last quarter to completing my EarlyChildhoodEducation associates degree. I have always felt that i had a knack for guiding children, so I decided, about two years ago to hang up the chef coat of about 12 years and get a degree in teaching, always being an intelligent, socially conscious and pethetic bleeding heart, this is somewhere i feel i should have been a long time ago.  Along my journey here of classroom teachings and computer research, I have been blessed with the opportunity to be indirectly mentored by some amazing people, while working in the learning center with the children, who have all the new approaches to teaching and guiding our young children in their hearts and minds at all times.  Through these experiences i have been givin the opportunity to find my place... and that would be food (its like the old cliche' about the mafia..i keep trying to get out..but they keep pulling me back in).  Through my workstudy hours i slowly had been moving closer and closer into the kitchen, before i knew it, there i was and am with all the best intentions to make a difference and sset it in stone for our children to have and become part of someday.  Its not just the food. Its talking, planting, harvesting, singing, painting, peeling, crushing, squishing, tasting, reading, smelling, touching, chewing, crunching, asking,discussing, its all of everything that is entaiiled in the education process...and it is based around the food we offer our children. HOPE is what i think when this topic is on my tongue..or fingers.so here is part of my goal with this blogging thing.


I am basically gonna post what our menu consisted of on a daily basis here at the Bates Early Childhood Learning Center and point out why i feel these items are necessary down to how we prepared them and how they were served.  I want as much feed back and resource as possible.  Starting tomorrow.