Topic ID 2005
Sitting watching Jamie Oliver's new series of School Dinners, I started wondering what the Little Dudes will be eating when they are old enough to go to school. Then I realised that I had no idea what our local primary and secondary schools serve up. Can some parent share what the local schools are up to and what the costs are these days? Can you still get chips, beans and a roll for 26p like you could 5 days a week at Richard Hale 20 years ago????? [:)]
Reply ID 26262
We send Lemon Jr to school dinners Monday & Tuesday (Reception age). £4.50ish a go I believe & his accounts are mostly about the things he had on his plate - not what he ate. He takes after his Daddy like that. Being an absurd food-o-phobe, I find it difficult to lean on kids who appear fussy. I've managed to string it for 39 years and I'm every bit the the roughly hewn out of igneous rock, 9 stone papier mache leviathan I've always wanted to be. Mmmm, mint cracknel!
Reply ID 26277
I remember my primary school dinners ... superb ... Cowboy Hotpot, roast pork,.... and steam pudding with real creamy custard (and one kind dinner lady used to save the skin for me)..... that was pre-pizza and chips days,.. I was a very lucky child it seems!
Reply ID 26299
One of the lads I care for (year 6, or 1st year seniors, in non-teacher speak) has a card which can be topped up in bulk and then used to purchase dinners when he chooses. At about £1.35, he descibes such things as chicken wraps and sausage and beans in yorkshire pudding. The other younger lad normally says, "pasta", "sausages" or something like, when asked. It's not easy getting an answer on what a child eats when out of your sight. What's Cowboy hotpot?
Reply ID 26305
'Cowboy hotpot' was a wonderful dish containing kidney, brazing steak, liver, carrots, onion, in a delicious hot creamy gravy .... I guess it was a wonderful bit of marketing .. I would have hated it if it were called ..'Offal Stew' !!
Reply ID 26309
Bring back the pineapple fritters I say. Also, was I the only one who liked Cowboy Hotpot at primary school (Hollybush)? I used to go up for fourths as there was so much left!
Reply ID 26323
"Cowboy Hotpot". That sounds more like a lifestyle than a lunch.
Reply ID 26324
Damn! I just realised I'm too old to remember Cowboy hotpot. In my day it was spam fritters or liver and bacon with added bunsen burner gas pipe and lime green potato which was always somewhere between whole and mashed.
Reply ID 26326
Is Cowboy Hotpot on the menu at the Prince of Wales in Hertingfordbury? Oops!
Reply ID 26331
quote:More like Hot sausage and lashings of mayo !
Originally posted by Herbert Lemons
Is Cowboy Hotpot on the menu at the Prince of Wales in Hertingfordbury? Oops!
Reply ID 26333
quote:Only if you wear chaps......
Originally posted by Herbert Lemons
Is Cowboy Hotpot on the menu at the Prince of Wales in Hertingfordbury? Oops!
Reply ID 26344
Crikey! Is there an emoticon for bashful chuckling? Pah! Stupid social networking
Reply ID 26347
It's a shame school dinners have lost their "goodness" it seems. In my day steamed fish and boiled potatoes would be available alongside cooked meats and vegetables. Today's kids will suffer for these faddy diets. Jeremy Oliver, I think his name is has tried so hard to improve our childrens diets. Well done I say.
Reply ID 26350
Landy - I talk nonsense, but at least it's deliberate. Vive le sausage roll.
Reply ID 26367
What happened to strange pink stuff in copper jugs that was allegedly custard?
Reply ID 26526
quote:Jeremy Oliver.......Jamie Irons....?[;)]
Originally posted by Landy
It's a shame school dinners have lost their "goodness" it seems. In my day steamed fish and boiled potatoes would be available alongside cooked meats and vegetables. Today's kids will suffer for these faddy diets. Jeremy Oliver, I think his name is has tried so hard to improve our childrens diets. Well done I say.
Reply ID 26532
quote:I forgot all about the copper jugs! Custard and Water never tasted right out of those things! Oh the pink custard skin!
Originally posted by Leo Densian
What happened to strange pink stuff in copper jugs that was allegedly custard?
Reply ID 27140
quote:Having seen the Jonathon Ross TV programme last Friday I realise now I mis-spelt the chef's name, so yes 60sDJ it should be Jamie Oliver. Smug now?
Originally posted by 60sDJquote:Jeremy Oliver.......Jamie Irons....?[;)]
Originally posted by Landy
It's a shame school dinners have lost their "goodness" it seems. In my day steamed fish and boiled potatoes would be available alongside cooked meats and vegetables. Today's kids will suffer for these faddy diets. Jeremy Oliver, I think his name is has tried so hard to improve our childrens diets. Well done I say.
Reply ID 27156
quote:Dude - you can go and have a school dinner at the school. I did this last term when the jnr. Battys were collectively giving me grief about wanting a packed lunch. I was told I could turn up on any day and I paid about £2.50 (the adult rate). Unfortunately for the Batty children, it was a beautiful lunch! I think the school lunches at Mill Mead School are excellent - although obviously I've not tried every dish. The menu for the term is sent home with the children in advance, so parents know what their choices are every day, and they have to select a food from each colour coded food group e.g. 1 from the reds (protein) etc. There is always salad, bread, fruit and yogurt on offer so even if the kids don't like the cooked option they can choose cucumber, cheese, bread, banana, yogurt. In addition, they get a raw fruit or vegetable snack at first break every day. The elder Batty junior's only gripe now is that the little ones get to choose lunch first, so all the chocolate pud has gone by the time he gets there! Another nice thing they do is reward children that are well-behaved and well mannered at lunchtime by allowing them to eat outside under the trees at picnic tables, weather permitting. The Headteacher has been working with the catering company (outsourced by County) to replace the dishes that were very unpopular with alternatives.
Originally posted by Dude
Sitting watching Jamie Oliver's new series of School Dinners, I started wondering what the Little Dudes will be eating when they are old enough to go to school. Then I realised that I had no idea what our local primary and secondary schools serve up. Can some parent share what the local schools are up to and what the costs are these days?
Reply ID 27219
Useful link: http://www.hertsdirect.org/scholearn/atschool/meals/food/ There are some changes which are a direct result of J Olivers campaign - for example I understand that there are now strict guidelines in place to ensure that dinners are cooked on the school premises rather than providing re-heated meals from a central kitchen, and that highly processed and fried foods are now very limited.
Reply ID 27419
I thought about creating a distinct thread on the matter but felt it might be too (even for me) indulgent. So, I'm gonna try & use the topic-faithful momentum of this thread and embellish it.... Jamie Oliver - he doesn't even measure his doses of food. Cocking-a-snook at cosy recipe units like the 'cupful' or the 'nob'. How could he ever hope to make anything tasty? Also - happy 15th Wedding Anniversary for Tomorrow to Nora Batty (should probably extend same to Y-chromosome sidekick too). I could have bought a card - but then so could Mr Batty.
Reply ID 27474
quote:Nor do you have to. Recipes are there to be adapted to your palate and I beleive that virtually all receipe books are watered down to match an assumption of the average palette. The more you cook, the more you know what will and won't work and how far you can push things without messing up the dish completely. The only area you have to be careful with is baking as it's all about chemical reaction.
Originally posted by Herbert Lemons
Jamie Oliver - he doesn't even measure his doses of food.
Reply ID 27480
quote:Absolutely right except for that last statement - *all* cooking is a chemical reaction [:)]
Originally posted by farrowandfarrow The only area you have to be careful with is baking as it's all about chemical reaction.