Yesterday the lunch at a local elementary school was:
BBQ Pork Sandwich
Coleslaw
Apple or Orange
I’m no expert, but I don’t think many kids like BBQ sandwiches and fewer yet like coleslaw. Reports indicate the kids were asking if they could have both an apple and an orange, and they were scraping the BBQ off the bun and eating the bread.
They used to make this stuff called Shepard’s pie at my school. It was mashed potatoes, cheese, and some sort of meat IIRC.
What are some bad menu choices you’ve seen at schools?
At least my high schools gave a choice for lunch; if one didn’t like what was being served on the west side, one could always go to the east side and get a burger or hot dog.
My kindergartener will eat anything covered in BBQ sauce, as would my two little ones if I let them. They all like cole slaw, too.
I was a little surprised to see turkey tetrazzini on the school lunch menu, and my kid wasn’t real sure what he was eating, but he didn’t care for it. He does have the option of getting a chef’s salad instead, if he hates the regular lunch.
You’d think, wouldn’t you? No, I’m sorry to report, usually Shepherd’s Pie in the US is made with ground beef. I keep telling people that’s Cottage Pie, but it’s a lost cause, I’m afraid.
The only weird thing on my son’s (HS) lunch menu this month was ‘Chicken Stick Salad.’
I don’t know, maybe kids like that, but it sounds repulsive to me. Otherwise it’s all pretty normal stuff, pizza, subs, spaghetti and meatballs, chicken tenders, etc. Today he had ‘Breakfast for Lunch’ - French toast sticks and hash browns and OJ, even though breakfast is also served at his school. He also had an iced tea. And a pretzel.
His school uses a pretty awesome data management software system that allows me to see exactly what he purchases every day. It also allows me to restrict certain items if I choose to, and I deposit money into his account online, making sure his lunch money is spent on lunch.
Ooh, ooh. This thread made me remember how, on special days like Halloween, the school cafeteria would serve their usual food but give it special, Halloweeny names on the menu.
I hated elementary school lunches so much growing up. The main thing I remember is that it came with a hot pack, a cold pack consisting of a piece of fruit, a cookie, and bread usually, and a milk. I used to just not get them since my best friend packed her lunch, usually a salad and other stuff, and I got to eat her tomatoes and anything else she didn’t particularly like. Plus they wouldn’t let me get just the cold option and I hate grabbing food i had no intention of eating. Oh memories… Luckily high school brought vending machines or I might have been screwed.
Okay, I’ve recovered now. You really didn’t like the pizzas? They were my favorite thing. I’d love to get my hands on some to see if I still like them. I know they’re not gourmet, but they were tasty.
Eh?!? I would have loved that lunch as a kid. I mean, okay, if the BBQ sauce was extremely spicy or something, okay, but otherwise… the sort of commercial BBQ sauce used in most institutional kitchens is just ketchup with delusions of grandeur.
Kids are expected to bring their own lunches to school in Norway; while secondary schools increasingly have an option to buy at least something, elementary schools generally offer a subscription deal for milk and/or fruit and that’s it. (By “subscription” I mean that parents pay for a month at a time, and you can’t opt to have it some days but not others - you pay for every day, whether you use it or not.) Totnak’s school has an agreement with a private catering company that delivers lunches to the school, again on a subscription basis, but they are cold. Last week’s menu was:
Monday: chicken meatballs, rice salad (whatever that is) with dressing, carrot sticks and sugar peas, bread roll.
Tuesday: fish cakes, cubed trout, oven baked potatoes, fruit salad, bread roll.
Wednesday: pasta salad with turkey sausage and a mild herb dressing, fruit salad, bread roll.
Thursday: ground meat patty, potatoes bell pepper sticks, pancake with jam, bread roll.
Friday: wheat tortilla with Tex-Mex spiced beef, corn, salsa and iceberg lettuce, coconut scone.
Totnak has opted to continue bringing lunches from home.
My school used to serve beef on wick/weck. Not many little kids like rolls with seeds on top. I’m with the people who say lots of kids like BBQ sauce. Especially since a lot of BBQ sauce is just sweet thick ketchup.
