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Microwaves at school

post #1 of 14
10/14/07 at 2:07pm
Thread Starter 
How many of your kids have access to microwaves for lunch? I really wish we did. I'd love to send soup or something else that the kids could heat up. I hate that they can only get a hot lunch by buying that crap the school serves!
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post #2 of 14
10/14/07 at 2:37pm
As far as I know, my kids don't have microwave access at school. It would be nice but at the same time I can imagine it would be a headache for the teachers and staff. You would need a slew of them to guarantee that every child had time to heat their lunch and still have time to eat, not to mention that the younger children would need help running it, carrying hot food, etc.
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post #3 of 14
10/14/07 at 3:18pm
No, Tessa doesn't have access to a microwave. I use a thermos... Boil water, pour the water into the thermos to preheat it. While it's heating I heat up whatever food it is (soup, or leftovers) to a much higher temp than I normaly would (for instance I bring the soup to a boil) dump the hot water out of the thermos and put the food in the thermos. Tessa says it is still warm by lunch time. Not hot, but not cold either... It's the best option here.
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post #4 of 14
10/14/07 at 7:17pm
Not that I am aware of.
From the menu's that I have looked at, the lunch that is served at their school is mostly healthy. They have the occasional chicken nuggets and pizza, but only about once a month. Next year they will have to eat lunch at school and I will let them choose if they want to bring lunch or eat there, as long as it's not seafood. (Emily is allergic, we don't know if PJ is and we are not willing to give her some to find out.)
I pick up the girls at 11:15, and I have to wait in front of the cafeteria. I have seen the food and it looks & smells good.
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post #5 of 14
10/14/07 at 8:11pm
Not at my kids school and not at mine. I do have a microwave in my classroom and will heat up stuff for kids b/f lunch but it's a pain. I have to wait for it and then carry it downstairs to the cafe for them. It is not on a regulr basis...my kids will sometimes come across one of those microwavable meals or bring leftovers from home and it's like the best thing in the world for them so I do heat it for them. These are hungry kids who sometimes don't eat unless it's the food they get at school.

My own kids...Zach is in a public magnet and he can bring his own or get hot lunch from school. Like Heather I use a thermos and do it the same way she does. Noah's school will only heat food up for the babies. Once you are out of the baby room you have to bring cold lunch or food in a thermos. Their rationale is they are not equipped with food service workers...the teachers would be heating food when they should be watching the kids, etc. I agree and think it's a good idea. plus it forces the parents to send in stuff other than those little microwavable cups. Seriously, I'd see kids with stacks of those in their cubbies and THAT was their lunch. No fresh veggies or fruit or cheese or yogurt or anything.
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post #6 of 14
10/14/07 at 9:48pm
The boys don't, they're in a public school. Olivia is in a Montessori and has a microwave in her room. (13 kiddos) I've heard those funtainers thermos things at Target keep the food very warm, boil the water, let it set in the thermos and then drain and put in the food...
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post #7 of 14
10/14/07 at 10:45pm
as far as i know Liz does not have access to a microwave....although I sure wish she did some days. There is no option of buying a hot lunch either And the school is a peanut free zone.....so no pb&j sandwiches either.....It gets really hard to come up with ideas for things for her to eat at school. Lately she has not been eating much at school. I think she is getting tired of the same old same old
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post #8 of 14
10/15/07 at 1:22am
the schools here did have a microwave for lunches, but most of the kids spent their lunch hour standing in line waiting to use the microwave.

they have taken them out from what i understand
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post #9 of 14
10/15/07 at 12:09pm
My son's cafeteria does have a microwave out for the kids to use and I've seen the older kids using it - no line either so that's good. However, I haven't told my son he can use it and thankfully he hasn't asked if he can because: 1) at 7 I think he's too young to use the microwave without supervision, especially one he's not familiar with and doesn't know how long it will take to heat anything and 2) with only 30 minutes to eat he needs to spend the time eating, not trying to heat his food or wait for it to cool because it's too hot.

We use thermoses too but I've never thought to put boiling water in it first - thanks for the tip!
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post #10 of 14
10/15/07 at 1:39pm
Cori's school has a line of them in the cafeteria for them to use. Hailey can take things in her lunch and the lunch ladies will heat it up while she is standing in line.
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post #11 of 14
10/16/07 at 6:42am
Quote:
We use thermoses too but I've never thought to put boiling water in it first - thanks for the tip!
Goes to show what gets 'lost' between generations. Microwaves didn't come out until I was about 18 and we didn't get one until I was 19/20. If we wanted hot lunches thermos flasks were all there was, so we learnt very young from watching our mothers that you have to warm up the thermos first, just like you would warm the tea pot first. (oh yeah they didn't have teabags when I was little either )
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post #12 of 14
10/16/07 at 7:39am
The tea pot is where it came from for me. That and preheating Jim's thermos for coffee in the AM. I don't remember when microwaves came out... but I know that we didn't have one until I was over 10.
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post #13 of 14
10/18/07 at 7:59am
Raymond school has alternatives, if they dont like what the main lunch course is they have offering bars to chose from, like taco salad bar, bake potato bar, sandwich bar on different days. the salad/soup bar is there everyday for them. theyre main lunch courses are really good though. rarely do i come across something he wouldnt like. i think it depends on the area that you live in because Raymond cousin goes to school in another area and she says that theyve given the kids burn corndogs or something. =i im pretty pleased on what they serve
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post #14 of 14
10/18/07 at 9:14am
I am for the most part happy with the lunches our schools provide as well. There are always options and knowing that a lot of kids are picky, if all else fails they offer PBJ's as a main course. Because of time issues and the fact that we get free lunch, it is my childrens' only option BUT they have never complained about it.
When I was a child, there wasn't a free lunch program and I was a packer every day. I hated it... watching all the other kids eat a hot lunch while I ate my half squished PBJ and apple out of a brown bag. Makes me cringe just to remember. lol
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