Thursday 3/18: Chicken Parm

Menu reads: Chicken Parm, Pasta, Ceasar Salad, Garlic bread and Orange.

Here's how I feel about this one:  Chicken parm is not a kid-friendly meal. You tell me how 3/4/5 year olds are supposed to eat a slab of chicken that's breaded and drenched in cheese without proper cutlery?  Sadly, many chicken parms made it to the trash. I am really startled  to see how much food is being wasted daily and it really irks me that we are not being mindful of such things!

Okay, lets talk about this meal from a nutritional point of view. Again, I must reiterate, I am neither a dietician nor a nutritionist, so all my comments are based on my research, knowledge and instinct. My instinct drove me to start taking a closer look, and my knowledge raised a giant red flag when I saw what our children were consuming. But, back to this meal. Here is my problem: it's full of carbs and protein and not enough fruits,vegetables and whole grains! They did get applesauce, which I'm guessing was a sub for 'Orange'. Please note that it was the only thing this one particular child ate. The meal also came with some shredded iceberg lettuce, which coincidentally was meant to be the Caesar salad. To see what value iceberg lettuce has, click here: http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2476/2 
You will find that it's not much, but I guess something is better than nothing!
This meal was a little more 'attractive' than the rest of this weeks meals, however not enough for the kids to want to eat it! I must say some of them did scoff down the pasta with sauce, while others only ate the half-baked garlic bread.

I would really love to see an ingredient list on the foods that they provide. When I asked Chartwells if something like that already existed, their response was that it would be very difficult to find! Really? Doesn't all packaged food come with an ingredients list? Shouldn't we as parents have access to the information on what our kids are eating?