Our Hot Lunch Program is a carefully designed learning environment to create independent “Chefs” who can provide for themselves, their family and community environments. The added benefit is that our preschoolers get to share a nutritious, delicious lunch together every day.
*Note: Our Hot Lunch Program is available to any student enrolled in a full day, preschool + daycare program. For program information please visit our Admissions page.
Roots & Wings aims…
- to engender skill and confidence in the important life skill of food preparation
- to teach a wide variety of food preparation skills, including clean up
- to teach the grace and courtesy of table-setting, polite table manners and serving each other
- to provide your children with a nutritious, delicious lunch
- to introduce new foods and encourage the expansion of their diets
- to reduce packaging and processed foods often included in packed lunches
- to give parents a break!
Preparing Meals for Healthy Living:
Our “Chefs” gain skills in measuring wet and dry ingredients, stirring and beating, or pouring waffles and pancakes. Cleaning the counter is often a favourite step! Plus, your children become expert at counting placemats and napkins and learning how to place plates, glasses and cutlery correctly in a place setting. They are learning to think about their neighbour’s needs, and enjoy serving others first, before themselves.
Our food sources are almost all organic, from grass-fed milk to veggies, and we make all our meals “from scratch”, without using processed or overly packaged foods. We are vegetarian, no meat, and are careful to observe any restrictions parents require due to custom or allergies. So far, we are fortunate to be able to include nuts. We watch ingredients very carefully and try to educate ourselves beyond the wiles of advertising.
Parent Feedback…
“We love the lunch program! I love the quality of foods provided, it’s what we strive for at home too. We always tell [her] the foods we eat are what help us grow strong, helps prevent and fight illness, so it’s very important we nourish our body with good quality foods!”
Dietary Considerations:
We constantly observe and experiment with possibilities, to determine the most appealing and healthy lunches for your children. Every meal is served with vegetables, such as carrot sticks, cucumber, celery, or broccoli – a favourite, or tomato or vegetable soup. The following have become standard main course favourites in our hot lunch program:
- Pizza – we make our own crust and top with home-made pizza sauce and cheese.
- Pasta – our pasta machine can create all shapes, from macaroni to spaghetti to lasagna. Children choose their own sauce, or just top with a little melted butter.
- Rice with fresh or sometimes frozen vegetables
- Sandwich varieties, such as grilled cheese, quesadillas, biscuits, naan or whole wheat bread, all home-made, with children’s choice of fillings
- Waffles with fruit toppings, and fruit yogurt smoothies – a Friday favourite!
We are constantly exploring ways to incorporate nuts and vegetables into loved foods, such as kale in the yogurt and fruit smoothies (don’t tell them!) or nuts in cookies.
We also regularly make desserts such as cookies, banana break, applesauce, custard or just fruit. Please send any recipes we could use!
If they do not wish to eat the main menu, bread and cheese, eggs or peanut butter are available at every meal. For sure, vegetables are the least favourite, which confirms our intent to have only vegetables and fruit available for snacks, when they will eat them. More on classroom snacks here: Snacktime: A Delicious Way to Learn and Grow!
Parent Feedback…
“Veggies is a hard one to get her to eat, so would love for her to be offered veggies and maybe seeing her friends eat them will help.”
Encouraging a Balanced Diet:
“My child is a picky eater!” We hear this a lot from new families, and look forward to surprising parents with how diverse their childrens’ palates can become.
We can help to foster a positive relationship with food by making mealtime an adventure rather than a battleground. Our hot lunch program creates engaging experiences that spark curiosity and reduce anxiety around unfamiliar tastes and textures.
By involving children in the cooking process, we empower them and build confidence. Think of it as planting seeds of adventurous eating that will grow over time.
Here are some ways we can achieve this:
- Make it Fun and Playful: We can transform food into art! Using cookie cutters for fruits and vegetables, creating colorful arrangements on the plate, or even giving foods silly names can make them more appealing. Imagine a “dinosaur broccoli forest” or “star-shaped cheese bites.”
- Cooks Love to Experiment: When meal creators feel a sense of ownership they want to try everything they prepare. From tasting as they cook (food that is safe to try), to enjoying a finished product, a chef is always developing their palate.
- The “One Bite Rule” (with no pressure): We can encourage them to simply try one small bite of a new food. The goal isn’t to force them to eat it all, but to expose them to the taste and texture without pressure. Celebrating the attempt to try is key.
- Repeated, Low-Pressure Exposure: We understand that it can take multiple exposures for a child to accept a new food. We can continue to offer new items alongside familiar favorites, without making a big fuss if they don’t eat it. Patience is our greatest ally here.
- Follow the Example of Others: We tend to model the eating behaviors of those around us. When classmates show genuine enjoyment and curiosity towards trying new foods, hesitant children are more likely to follow suit. Sharing our own passion and positive experiences can be very influential.
Using these techniques in our hot lunch program, we find that children are increasingly open to trying new foods, contributing to overall health and happiness. Parents are often surprised at how their child’s eating habits develop after some time at Roots & Wings.
Our hot lunch program is an important component of the wholistic education at Roots & Wings!
Are you looking for a Montessori school for your child? Download our handy checklist for reference during your next preschool tour: What to Look for In a Montessori Preschool.
Want to learn more? Contact us today for a tour!
