If Menu is prescribed by the School   there is nothing like it. Generally Mothers will be in a state of confusion what to prepare for lunch and keep in the children's Tiffin Box.'

usha manohar wrote:

Kalyani Nandurkar wrote:

Arunima Singh wrote:

usha manohar wrote:

I too feel that cooking a special dish for our family or close friends is in itself a relaxation. even daily cooking can be made more interesting by planning the menu the previous day instead of putting together at the last minute or run out of ingredients at the last minute. It is also good to try out different foods and go out for a meal that is different to what you cook  every day..I love all kinds of food and so does my family who can be very adventurous where food is concerned.

I have a weekly menu decided and put on my refrigerator. This helps me reduce the morning stress and rush when you run around packing dabbas and have to rush to work. We make a weekly menu on Saturday morning with inputs from all family members and then do the necessary grocery shopping accordingly. We try to stick to it to a great extent except for the unexpected situations like some guests or someone falling sick.  Sometimes some team lunch or some birthday treat in my daughter's school brings about a little change from the plan.

I have a fixed menu for lunch as it is decided by the menu given by my son's school. To ensure that children get to eat foods from all kinds of food groups the school has given us a menu for the tiffin and that is what I prepare for lunch every day. But dinner is not really planned and cooked by what my son or husband fancies, but I ensure that it is a satisfying meal and covers all nutritional needs. I love cooking and especially cooking for festivals and birthdays is something that I really enjoy. Also my husband helps me clean up afterwards so I can relax afterwards. That makes me look forward to cooking special meals often.

That is good system they have in your son's school. It makes things easier for the mother besides making sure tjat the children are eating healthy food.

It's good but suppose on a certain day the person who prepares the tiffin feels unwell and is unable to cook as prescribed then what happens? What's the alternative?

Arunima Singh wrote:

Surely "love" is an important ingredient. Even when I am not in a mood or too tired, the way my daughters demand for their favorite dishes fuels me up to enter the kitchen. And when you cook for that special person with full love and dedication, the food turns out scrumptious. I think that's what happens during festival celebrations when with full love and dedication we make prasadam as offerings for God. My modak tastes best on Ganpati. On other days it does not turn out that good.

I Think your's modak is always tasty and best one. When you make  it as prasadam than your mental state make it best one.

usha manohar wrote:

I too feel that cooking a special dish for our family or close friends is in itself a relaxation. even daily cooking can be made more interesting by planning the menu the previous day instead of putting together at the last minute or run out of ingredients at the last minute. It is also good to try out different foods and go out for a meal that is different to what you cook  every day..I love all kinds of food and so does my family who can be very adventurous where food is concerned.

Yes it is good to go out for meal for new experience and to give some relief to woman of house who cook everyday.

anil wrote:

usha manohar wrote:

I too feel that cooking a special dish for our family or close friends is in itself a relaxation. even daily cooking can be made more interesting by planning the menu the previous day instead of putting together at the last minute or run out of ingredients at the last minute. It is also good to try out different foods and go out for a meal that is different to what you cook  every day..I love all kinds of food and so does my family who can be very adventurous where food is concerned.

Yes it is good to go out for meal for new experience and to give some relief to woman of house who cook everyday.

True, also it is a welcome change or else the same old home cooked meal  can become monotonous to everyone, the person who is cooking and the others.

Once in a while,i and my wife go out to a hotel to avoid monotony.

Shampa Sadhya wrote:

usha manohar wrote:

Kalyani Nandurkar wrote:

Arunima Singh wrote:

usha manohar wrote:

I too feel that cooking a special dish for our family or close friends is in itself a relaxation. even daily cooking can be made more interesting by planning the menu the previous day instead of putting together at the last minute or run out of ingredients at the last minute. It is also good to try out different foods and go out for a meal that is different to what you cook  every day..I love all kinds of food and so does my family who can be very adventurous where food is concerned.

I have a weekly menu decided and put on my refrigerator. This helps me reduce the morning stress and rush when you run around packing dabbas and have to rush to work. We make a weekly menu on Saturday morning with inputs from all family members and then do the necessary grocery shopping accordingly. We try to stick to it to a great extent except for the unexpected situations like some guests or someone falling sick.  Sometimes some team lunch or some birthday treat in my daughter's school brings about a little change from the plan.

I have a fixed menu for lunch as it is decided by the menu given by my son's school. To ensure that children get to eat foods from all kinds of food groups the school has given us a menu for the tiffin and that is what I prepare for lunch every day. But dinner is not really planned and cooked by what my son or husband fancies, but I ensure that it is a satisfying meal and covers all nutritional needs. I love cooking and especially cooking for festivals and birthdays is something that I really enjoy. Also my husband helps me clean up afterwards so I can relax afterwards. That makes me look forward to cooking special meals often.

That is good system they have in your son's school. It makes things easier for the mother besides making sure tjat the children are eating healthy food.

It's good but suppose on a certain day the person who prepares the tiffin feels unwell and is unable to cook as prescribed then what happens? What's the alternative?

I guess we take it that there are always exceptions to a rule and afterall one cannot be rigid all the time ..

Once, I had an opinion that Hotel food is not healthy. Very recently, my son who lives in Kakinada, a place in AP brought a few food packets. I reluctantly tasted it. To my utter astonishment, I found the food  is tasty and delicious. It was then my son clarified that there are many such eateries in Kakinada that prepare food as good as home made food or may be better.  in these eateries  food is prepared by non- professionals, who love cooking. They give top priority to Hygiene and the ingredients like vegetables grown in their vegetable gardens. The cost is a bit higher, but it is worth trying. Because families would not go everyday to these hotels.

Shampa Sadhya wrote:

usha manohar wrote:

Kalyani Nandurkar wrote:

Arunima Singh wrote:

usha manohar wrote:

I too feel that cooking a special dish for our family or close friends is in itself a relaxation. even daily cooking can be made more interesting by planning the menu the previous day instead of putting together at the last minute or run out of ingredients at the last minute. It is also good to try out different foods and go out for a meal that is different to what you cook  every day..I love all kinds of food and so does my family who can be very adventurous where food is concerned.

I have a weekly menu decided and put on my refrigerator. This helps me reduce the morning stress and rush when you run around packing dabbas and have to rush to work. We make a weekly menu on Saturday morning with inputs from all family members and then do the necessary grocery shopping accordingly. We try to stick to it to a great extent except for the unexpected situations like some guests or someone falling sick.  Sometimes some team lunch or some birthday treat in my daughter's school brings about a little change from the plan.

I have a fixed menu for lunch as it is decided by the menu given by my son's school. To ensure that children get to eat foods from all kinds of food groups the school has given us a menu for the tiffin and that is what I prepare for lunch every day. But dinner is not really planned and cooked by what my son or husband fancies, but I ensure that it is a satisfying meal and covers all nutritional needs. I love cooking and especially cooking for festivals and birthdays is something that I really enjoy. Also my husband helps me clean up afterwards so I can relax afterwards. That makes me look forward to cooking special meals often.

That is good system they have in your son's school. It makes things easier for the mother besides making sure tjat the children are eating healthy food.

It's good but suppose on a certain day the person who prepares the tiffin feels unwell and is unable to cook as prescribed then what happens? What's the alternative?

True Shampa, it happens often with many kids but then the school asks us to give roti-sabji or nutritious snacks such as rajgira laddoo or chikki etc, but they never allow us to give wafers, kurkure, Maggi etc as many mothers do that to make their jobs easy, but the kids do not get any nutrition from such stuff.

Kalyani Nandurkar wrote:

Shampa Sadhya wrote:

usha manohar wrote:

Kalyani Nandurkar wrote:

Arunima Singh wrote:

usha manohar wrote:

I too feel that cooking a special dish for our family or close friends is in itself a relaxation. even daily cooking can be made more interesting by planning the menu the previous day instead of putting together at the last minute or run out of ingredients at the last minute. It is also good to try out different foods and go out for a meal that is different to what you cook  every day..I love all kinds of food and so does my family who can be very adventurous where food is concerned.

I have a weekly menu decided and put on my refrigerator. This helps me reduce the morning stress and rush when you run around packing dabbas and have to rush to work. We make a weekly menu on Saturday morning with inputs from all family members and then do the necessary grocery shopping accordingly. We try to stick to it to a great extent except for the unexpected situations like some guests or someone falling sick.  Sometimes some team lunch or some birthday treat in my daughter's school brings about a little change from the plan.

I have a fixed menu for lunch as it is decided by the menu given by my son's school. To ensure that children get to eat foods from all kinds of food groups the school has given us a menu for the tiffin and that is what I prepare for lunch every day. But dinner is not really planned and cooked by what my son or husband fancies, but I ensure that it is a satisfying meal and covers all nutritional needs. I love cooking and especially cooking for festivals and birthdays is something that I really enjoy. Also my husband helps me clean up afterwards so I can relax afterwards. That makes me look forward to cooking special meals often.

That is good system they have in your son's school. It makes things easier for the mother besides making sure tjat the children are eating healthy food.

It's good but suppose on a certain day the person who prepares the tiffin feels unwell and is unable to cook as prescribed then what happens? What's the alternative?

True Shampa, it happens often with many kids but then the school asks us to give roti-sabji or nutritious snacks such as rajgira laddoo or chikki etc, but they never allow us to give wafers, kurkure, Maggi etc as many mothers do that to make their jobs easy, but the kids do not get any nutrition from such stuff.

That's good that there is no rigidity but one has to follow the nutritional value. This rule should be followed in every school. I remember, in my son's school too it was a rule to avoid pickles, jam, maggi, pastry, burger and so on because of lack of nutritional value as well as to maintain a parity between each student till they were in primary department.