March Menu

I think that we have a pretty healthy menu.  Especially with all of the fresh fruits and vegetables from Bountiful Baskets.  But I am just like everyone else and think that I get into the same ruts where we are serving the same things over and over and over again.  That is why I like to do our lunch menus up a month at a time.  

Making the menu up a month ahead of time allows me to bulk purchase our meats or wait for a really great sale, also.  How do you prepare your menus?  Do you feed the same food to your family that you serve to children in your care?  What is the number one stand by meal?  Ours is spaghetti.  

 Here is a link to my March Menu.  Hope you find some good ideas.

Health and Safety Checklist Week 2

Here is the second checklist just like I promised.  Hopefully it is in a better format for you!  Two more checklists to go, so come back next Friday for the next one.  Health and Safety Checklist #2

Tip for Feeding Healthy Food without Breaking the Bank

Who has heard of Bountiful Baskets?  What a God send!  Bountiful Baskets is an entirely volunteer lead group that brings produce "to the people" every week in a lot of communities. 

I first heard of it several years ago in a magazine, but it was nowhere close to being in my neck of the woods.  Then guess what happened?  It showed up in my home town in WYOMING!  No way!  My jealousy is over now because it is in my area.

I hope I can explain this well, because, I get so excited about it.  I think EVERYONE should do it!  This is how it works.  On a Monday, you login to your account at Bountiful Baskets.  There are several different things you can order, but we will just stick to the produce here.  You order a "basket".  Then on Saturday, you go to your Bountiful Basket site and pick up your "basket".  It is really two baskets.  One with fruit and one with vegetables.  At LEAST 5 different fruits and 5 different vegetables.  I DON'T mean you get five fruits and five vegetables, either.  You get a LOT!

I order two baskets every other week, because we have to drive in from our weekend house to pick up, but this is what we got at our last pickup:

• Blackberries
• Bananas
• Apples
• Oranges
• Lemons
• Mangoes
• Spinach
• Lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Yellow Squash
• Sun chokes

I forgot to tell you the best part!!  It is only $15.00 a basket.  We have fresh produce everyday for my family and the childcare/preschool.  I hope you check it out and I hope it is in your community.  Tell me how you like it!

In with Some New

Have you ever had one area of your preschool that you just hated?  Our entry way has always been a trouble spot for me.  We tried to make improvements a couple of times, but as time went on, it seemed like the improvements became more of a problem.

The problem with our entry way is that for one thing, it is just a cement floor.  We tried to fix this in the past buy laying down those rubber garage floor tiles.  Of course, very quickly, they contracted or expanded and became a tripping hazard.

The next big problem is that my furnace and water heater are exposed.  We've tried putting a screen in front of them with some dry erase boards glued.  That really was the best thing I could think of at the time.  But it was always getting knocked down to the point that it was hot glued together.

So....Last weekend....We painted one wall.  We laid down carpet tiles.  And we hinged together two doors and then a set of closet doors.  It has made all the difference in the world.  It went from an ugly room to a nice room that I like seeing children in.  What are some creative fixes you've done?

Water Bead are the Bomb!

 They start out really tiny, and then once water is added they start to grow.  Cold water makes them grow slowly, while warm water make them grow really fast.

 The preschool children started playing when they were this small.  One of the little girls told us they were fish eggs.  The daddy fish has to swish his tail to fertilize the eggs, she said.

 This is some we put in a baggie with food coloring.  More on that later!

 By this point the children were pretending they were diamonds.  They were mining them. 

 They've taken up all of the water now, and the children are still playing.  We skipped circle time, because they were so engaged in this play.  Over 2 HOURS!  Not one disagreement. 

 Here is the bag I showed earlier.  Our preschoolers like to draw pictures with them. 

Home Made Bread Every Day the Easy Way!

 

I came across an article one day on how easy it was to make Artisan bread.  It came with a recipe, and I tried it.  The article is here: Article for Bread in Five Minutes a Day

It was wonderful!  I had fresh bread for four days in a row!  Then I had to whip up a new batch.  At the same time I ordered the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day on Amazon.com.

 

 Oh, my!  I've tried wheat bread, bagels, pita bread, white bread, sandwich bread, cheddar bread...They are all wonderful, and I won't stop until I've tried them all. 

As far as the food program goes, a loaf is a quarter of the recipe, so it would be one and a half cups of flour.  Each loaf would serve 28 1 to 5 year olds a serving of bread. 

I really enjoy serving homemade bread to my childcare children.  I know exactly whats in it.  I like our families knowing that their children are getting food that was made for them without bogus unpronounceable ingredients.  It has become somewhat of an obsession with me, because for New Year's this year, I committed to all homemade bread products - including noodles.  What types of foods do you serve?  I would really love some new ideas and look forward to sharing some of mine!

Safety List (Part I of 4)

When you go through a big book of rules, trying to stay on the straight and narrow can be confusing.  If you check your regulations once a year like a lot of providers I know, you let things go a little because it's just easy to forget.  Our childcare takes care of 12 children and 4 more children for 3 hours a day (preschool).  I have three amazing but young and maybe a little forgetful women working for me.  I have taken our regulations (Montana) and divided it into four lists.  We do one list each week and more than one teacher over sees it.  That way, we don't tend to let things slide just a little.  I am giving the first list here, and will give each of our other safety lists on the next 3 Fridays.  Be sure to come back!!

Health and Safety Week One

1.  Emergency telephone numbers are posted for emergency services (for example, 911, poison control, fire department, police and children's protective services).
2.  Emergency procedures are posted for fire and earthquakes, and other regional natural disasters (tornadoes, floods, hurricanes) in each classroom.
3.  Emergency bag is stocked with 48 hour supply of food and water for each child and staff member.
4.  An evacuation map is posted in each classroom.
5.  Proper handwashing procedures are postd at all handwashing sinks, including food preparation and art sinks.
6.  Children's handwashing sinks are at child's level or accessible by a safety step.
7.  Staff wash their hands with liquid or foam soap and running water after each toileting/diapering of children.
8.  Staff wash their hands with liquid or foam soap and running water before food preparation and/or service.
9.  No perishables, including food brought in by children (for example, meat, fish, poultry, milk, bottles of formula/breast milk, eggs) are left out of the refrigerator for more than one hour.
10.  Food preparation areas are separate for the eating and play areas.
11.  Food preparation and eating areas, including counters, tabletops and floors are cleaned/swept before and after food preparation and meals.
12.  Food preparation areas are separate from the toilet, bathroom and diaper- changing areas.
13.  Indoor climbing equipment is over approved mats that extend at least 6 feet from the structure.
14.  Indoor climbing equipment is a maximum height (for example, 3 feet for 3 year olds, 4 feet for 4 year olds, 5 feet for 5 year olds).
15.  Toys and objexts have diameters equal to or greater than 1 1/4 inches and lengths equal to or greater than 2 1/4 inches.
16.  A complete and accurate diaper-changing protocol is posted in diaper-changing area(s).
17.  iaper area is sanitized after each diaper change.
18.  Bottles with Formula in the refrigerator are labeled with the individual child's name and dated with two days of the observation visit.
19.  Breast milk in the refrigerator is labeled with the individual child's name and dated within two days of the observation visit.
20.  Breast milk in the freezer is labeled with the individual child's name and dated within three months of the person checking this list.