Cooking From Scratch?

[littlemissmuffet]

My kitchen is right off my childcare room but around a corner so even though I can hear, I can't see and my group can't handle that. My group is kinda like -was it daycarediva-who posted about needing meals brought in.

They are able to only do something for like 5 min without me right there.

Yikes. I'm pretty sure I would have to quit daycare if I had any groups like this. Even though all my kids but one (who is now 3) are under 2, they are just awesome and I have very few behvaioral issues. I can turn my back, leave the room and so on with very few to no issues.

[spud912]

I suppose I do a mix of everything. Here is what I do:

1. Breakfast is 99% made completely from scratch, with the exception of bagels, tortillas for breakfast burritos and toast.
2. Approximately 80% of my carbohydrates are either whole grain or whole wheat. The only exception would be white rice instead of brown because I never take the time to make the brown rice.
3. My fruits and vegetables are always fresh, not canned or frozen. I serve a ton of berries too, which I think really sets me apart from many other child cares. I also make my own applesauce from fresh apples.
4. All of my meats are lean, fresh (or previously frozen) and all natural. The only exceptions I can think of (because they are processed) are sandwich meats (served twice a month), breakfast turkey sausage (which is mostly all natural, but does contain some preservatives), and turkey sausage (which I use to make red beans and rice once per month).
5. I do cook with some canned products. Mostly, this includes all natural tomatoes, beans, and corn.
6. I do not make regular sliced bread or tortillas, but I do use whole wheat products that contains a good amount of fiber. All other bread products are made from scratch (including rolls, biscuits, breads, muffins, pizza dough) and are made with whole wheat flour.
7. I also do not make pasta from scratch, but I only use whole wheat products.

[jen2651]

ok...so some of these bread recipes...I can do it while I watch my 'housewives of....' shows in the evenings...sad, but true.

I too:

Use only WW (pasta, bread, tortillas - in fact, one of my school agers asked me why we had chocolate bread?!)
Breakfast is 9 out of 10 days made from scratch - one day every 2 weeks we have cereal
No boxed/packaged/premade foods
All meat (except chicken but that will change next year) comes from our farm
75% of veges are from the garden (all in the summer, then until I run out of of the frozen stuff I have done)
HM applesauce

BUT, I would love to replace some of the breads for HM...that would be great!

[spud912]

I also wanted to mention that I make most of my food either during nap time for the next day, at night, or first thing in the morning. This makes meal preparation very quick and easy, which is essential because we do a lot of scheduled activities.

[Blackcat31]

I make all my own bread, but buy my pastas.

I do no canned fruits or veggies. We have a giant garden in the summer time so a lot ofit comes from there....beans, peas, carrots, squash, potatoes, peppers, asparagus, corn, tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, melons etc. I freeze quite a bit of that to utilize through the winter. If I want something else I buy it whole and fresh from the grocery store.

I don't buy anything super processed....things like chicken nuggets, corn dogs and what have you. I realize they are allowed via my food program if I provide a nutritional number but I don't feed that stuff to my own kids so I don't even have it in my house.

Favorite homemade dishes I like making and the kids love...crepes, muffins, omelets, enchilada's, vegetable or chicken soup, chili, shepherds pie, roasts...right now they're chowing down on mini-pizzas they made themselves

what she said. ^^^

We also make a lot of meals in bulk and freeze for later so when there is a night that we need a quick but healthy meal we have it at our finger tips. For example, my DH made 84 wild rice meatballs, a brisket, 3 racks of ribs and 2 pork butts in the smoker as well as made 3 batches of french onion soup on Sunday afternoon. ALL of it went into meal size packages and were froze for later use.

He does this often and it makes life after work and on weeks ends much less hectic.

I do the same with frequently used daycare items such as waffles, pancakes, bread and muffins and of course hotdishes. My mom always told me never ever make a hot dish for only one meal. Make it at least double and you will appreciate it later when needed.

[Willow]

For example, my DH made 84 wild rice meatballs, a brisket, 3 racks of ribs and 2 pork butts in the smoker as well as made 3 batches of french onion soup on Sunday afternoon. ALL of it went into meal size packages and were froze for later use.

He does this often and it makes life after work and on weeks ends much less hectic.

Does he offer tutorials for other's spouses?


I have dozens of bags of HM pancakes, belgian waffles and french toast in the freezer!!! They are fantastic for my older kids to just pop into the toaster as I usually don't manage to knock out breakfast before they have to get on the bus in the morning. Makes me not feel so guilty about that when they're at least getting a warm meal

[allsmiles]

about the babies and onlies..same here country kids!! all 6 of my dck's.. man its challenging dealing with the princes and princesses of the families.. LOL

[Leanna]

All our lunches are Sunday dinner style.

.

A few people have referred to "Sunday Dinner style" meals. At the risk of sounding dumb, what does this mean exactly? Can you give complete examples of what you serve? Or is it more about place settings, manners, etc.? I don't mean to hijack, but I am working on improving our meals and would love LOTS of examples of CACFP friendly breakfasts, lunches, and snacks!

[SilverSabre25]

I cook extra dinner most of the time and serve that for lunch.

I buy bread, pastas, and crackers. I make pancakes, waffles, muffins, french toast, crescent rolls etc.

I but LOTS of in-season stuff, but when it's not in season...

I buy canned tomatoes, beans, peaches, pears, pineapple, and fruit cocktail. Occasionally mandarin oranges.

I buy frozen veggies. I buy frozen fruit for smoothies, frozen blueberries for pancakes/muffins and sometimes for snack.

I'm trying to start making double batches of things and freezing them.

[Country Kids]

I cook extra dinner most of the time and serve that for lunch.

I buy bread, pastas, and crackers. I make pancakes, waffles, muffins, french toast, crescent rolls etc.

I but LOTS of in-season stuff, but when it's not in season...

I buy canned tomatoes, beans, peaches, pears, pineapple, and fruit cocktail. Occasionally mandarin oranges.

I buy frozen veggies. I buy frozen fruit for smoothies, frozen blueberries for pancakes/muffins and sometimes for snack.

I'm trying to start making double batches of things and freezing them.

I buy lots during the summer fresh but after that the selection is terrable.

[LK5kids]

I do homemade and very few convenience foods but many of you outshine mehappyface This has been a VERY interesting thread. Thanks!

I stay away from anything canned. I use fresh and frozen fruit and veggies. I buy pkg. pasta, bread, tortillas and crackers. I do buy whole grain frozen waffles. I usually serve the more involved breakfasts at noon instead of for breakfast.

I have a garden and buy local also. I buy/serve organic milk, yogurt, frozen veggies,apples, raw carrots, butter, baby greens, some cereals and oats because that's what's available in my area. My state does not allow home-canned food to be served. I like to freeze garden produce any way. I make my own applesauce and freeze it or make it the day we have it in a crockpot.

I don't use boxed mixes and make homemade macaroni and cheese and casseroles. I do buy tomato sauce in jars not cans. I do use canned pumpkin and olives. I soak and cook dried beans in my crock pot and freeze the extra. I make hash browns ahead and freeze them. I make my own pancake mix and try to use oat flour in lots of recipes. I use real maple syrup...no I don't make my own! No pkg. muffins, quick breads, cookies. I make my own pizza dough.

I do buy Kashi fruit and grain bars and Organic Valley yogurt in the tube. I make my own biscuits and scones. I don't buy ground beef. I don't do chicken nuggets, etc. We eat real turkey breast, chicken, shredded beef.
I make my own soups.

[AnneCordelia]

I serve a hot lunch daily.

I use store bought breads, pasta, crackers. I do make my own bread once a week or so but I save that for my own family to use. I make my own biscuits, pancakes, muffins and most baked goods regularly for both family and daycare.

I buy fresh or frozen produce only. Dry beans. I will buy canned tomatoes if the low sodium are on sale.

We grow a large garden and eggs. We can our own tomatoes, apple sauce, peaches, jam, etc.

I don't serve processed foods...fish sticks, chicken nuggets, KD, kraft singles, etc.

I make all my family's meals from scratch (aside from pasta) and double the recipe to use for daycare lunches.

[spud912]

I commend those of you who grow your own garden. I have a special ability with plants that results in death. I can kill any plant in a matter of weeks. No matter how much I'm on top of watering them and keeping up with it, everything dies for me. I have tried to grow a garden soooo many times and it never works out. Grow the plants from seeds? They never make it past the sprout stage. Grow the plants from the pots? They usually die within a few weeks. Grrr, I wish so badly that I could just keep a plant alive for long enough to get some use (or beauty) out of it!

[mema]

I do my own pizza dough, breadsticks, muffins, pancakes, waffles, but not bread (with the exception of banana bread...mmmmm!) or pitas and such. I would love to tho if it is not super time consuming. We love tortillas, pitas, biscuits, crescents. If anyone has any go to recipes for these that they are willing to share, that would be great! I look them up online and never know which one to choose. I will pick one and it either doesn't turn out or no one likes it.

I don't use can fruits/veggies normally. I do keep a few cans on hand tho for emergencies (power goes out, snowstorms, etc). I try to do fresh only, but there are somethings that I buy frozen because of season.

Anyone have any alternatives to cream soups???