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mama2many
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| Posted: June 07 2010 at 7:27am | IP Logged
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OK so I have no problem "putting my foot down" at dinner when I've COOKED.. but I feel like I am wearing a white paper hat for breakfast and lunch.
Everyone has a special order.. one wants this for breakfast, another wants this and another and another.. then repeat for lunch!!! 
How do I find things for lunch that are affordable, healthy and easy? (Keep in mind I'm in my third trimester with my 5th child, and we have a SMALL kitchen-for our family size)
I'd like to make things for lunch that serve ALL..
Oh and to make things just a little more "fun" I had the lap band surgery so there are LOTS of things I can not eat. 
TYIA for any help!!
God Bless
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Mimip
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| Posted: June 07 2010 at 8:12am | IP Logged
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There are a few previous threads that have been discussed for lunch menus but what helps us it that we have a certain menu each week.
Mond- sand (might be ham and cheese might be tuna)
Tues- Chicken nuggets and fruit
Wed- pasta
Thur- leftovers
Fri- pizza
The end- NO fights and not decisions
i do the same thing for breakfast too.
HTH!
Oh and we have a tiny galley style kitchen too and that is exactly why I decided this menu was needed.
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Mimi
Wife of 16 years to Tom, Mom of DD'00, DD'02, '04(in heaven) DS'05, DS'08 and DS '12
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LeeAnn
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| Posted: June 07 2010 at 10:34am | IP Logged
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Really, it is about being firm and simplifying the menu. If you serve everyone cold cereal for breakfast and one child won't eat it...let him go without. He won't die of hunger by lunch. Our usual breakfast choices are: hot cereal (oatmeal), cold cereal, or homemade bread with butter/jam/nut spread. On weekends we might have scrambled eggs and bacon. But whatever we eat, we ALL eat it.
Lunches are the same way and are usually leftovers from dinner. If there aren't enough to go around, then I make sandwiches. I rarely cook a meal for lunch. My general rule of thumb is only one cooked meal a day...usually dinner. Every thing else is either cold or reheated.
Fewer choices does not make you a mean mommy, it makes you a mommy who is keeping things manageable and simplified for everyone's sake. 
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my four children are 17, 15, 11 & 8 - all now attend public school - we read many 4Real recommended books at home
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Angi
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| Posted: June 08 2010 at 11:44pm | IP Logged
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My solution to that was to make the food, place it on the plates and then call the children to the table. They seem to realize that the choice is gone if the food is already served. 
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Michiel
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| Posted: June 24 2010 at 9:06pm | IP Logged
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Both of my boys have little jobs to do while I am making breakfast and making lunch. I have a rotating menu. if a child does not want to have what I make, he is free to make cereal in the morning or PBJ for lunch. Period. Note that HE makes the alternative. I am pleased that they have actually begun to eat some of the things that they used to turn noses up to, like eggs. But they also have a lot of peanut butter.
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Michiel
mom to two boys
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melanie
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| Posted: June 25 2010 at 7:20am | IP Logged
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I have a lunch menu too...a warm weather and a cold weather one. This is the warm weather one.
Sunday- snack lunch (cheese and crackers, hard boiled eggs, fruit, bread, popcorn, whatever...we eat a big fattening dinner on Sundays :))
Monday- BLT's
Tuesday- chicken wraps
Wednesday- hot dogs
Thursday- tacos
Friday- tuna/cheese/or PB sandwiches
Saturday- quesadillas (but very simple,,,just tortillas, refried beans, and cheese grilled in a skillet)
I grocery shop every other week and after shopping I will make a couple of pounds of taco meat to put in the freezer and cook up a package of chicken breasts for the wraps. On Sundays I will make an extra package of bacon to put in the fridge for the BLT's. This makes it all quick and easy when lunch time comes.
With all of this I sill have complainers. It seems to be a form of preteen/teen angst in our house, . I used to indulge it. Now I've taken a harder line, and the more I ignore it the less it happens. I tell myself that if they were in school they would have to eat what they got, period. Anyone that just absolutely will die if they have to eat what is served is welcome to help themselves to the peanut butter. 
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Melanie
homeschooling Maria (13yo), Kain (10yo), Jack (5yo), Tess (2yo), and our newest blessing, Henry Robert, born 4/23!
slightlycrunchycatholic.blogspot.com
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melanie
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| Posted: June 25 2010 at 7:21am | IP Logged
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Oh, and breakfast...I usually make eggs, oatmeal, and juice, with toast as an option for the oatmeal haters. Cereal or yogurt on the weekends.
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Melanie
homeschooling Maria (13yo), Kain (10yo), Jack (5yo), Tess (2yo), and our newest blessing, Henry Robert, born 4/23!
slightlycrunchycatholic.blogspot.com
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: June 25 2010 at 3:09pm | IP Logged
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No choices here either. "You git what you git and you don't have a fit." 
If they don't like it, they don't have to eat it, but they need to wait until the next meal for food. And if we have a snack as a family, they can have a fruit or vegetable, not nec. the snack that everyone else is having. They are still alive and healthy 
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Suzanne in ID
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jillian
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| Posted: June 25 2010 at 5:48pm | IP Logged
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some of the things we do for breakfast):
-cereal (we buy bagged cereal except for kix because I can't find a substitute at my stores for it in the bags)
-Fruit and peanut butter (we buy lots of bananas and apples and stick the pb on a spoon).
-oatmeal (cook this up the night before).
Lunch options usually:
-turkey dogs, bread and fruit/veggie
-pasta with veggies or fruit on the side
-sandwiches (whatever I have in the house) with fruit and/or yogurt
-i have done baked potatoes (in the microwave).
Dinner:
-a meat, veggie and carbohydrate.
I give two options and whatever dd says first is what she can have--i do not budge on this. It's easier because I only have one. I am trying to get us to a 4 week rotation.
DD is a toddler so we don't usually let her go without but if your kids are over 5 I would say let them go without--they won't let themselves starve. I would try to offer a snack a few hours after breakfast though. Some of the snacks we do:
goldfish
crackers
dry cereal
dried fruit
nuts
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Michiel
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| Posted: June 25 2010 at 8:14pm | IP Logged
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Some of our breakfasts: (these are favorites)
eggs, any style
bread with cheese on top and broiled
pancakes
frozen or homemade waffles
oatmeal old fashioned only takes about 5 min.
Lunch winners:
fried egg sandwich
hotdogs steamed
any leftovers from dinner
plain macaroni, sometimes served with milk, salt and pepper
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Michiel
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Topic: I don't WANT to be a short order cook....
