Lee 1st Impressions

[Anonymous]

I am hopeful that repeated exposure to healthy variety will broaden my child's preferences.

[Anonymous]

I am hopeful that repeated exposure to healthy variety will broaden my child's preferences.

[Anonymous]

what is all this healthy pizza stuff?. do we really want our schools reinforcing a life-long preference for crap food by providing slightly better versions of said food? Brown rice and beans. Lentil soup. Quinoa (maybe without the stuffed peppers part). These are great kid friendly foods!

[Anonymous]

Kids I know love quinoa, way it "pops" in your mouth. I really hope Lee doesn't "kidify" their menu to suit picky palates. Mine love lentils and kale but it could be a challenge to keep that up if there is a pizza option, too.

[Anonymous]

I'm so glad things are going well for Lee! The more quality seats for DC kids the better, I know it's to soon to judge...but sounds like things are off to a good start.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

(The quinoa stuffed peppers however were a no go. I hear the administration is asking Halsa to make some tweaks to the menu to make it more appealing to the kids while still healthy)

Lol. I commend them for their ambitions but it can be hard to find a balance between healthiness and still be in realistic about the average preschooler palate (notice I said average kid. Sure there are some parents of adventurous eating outlier preschoolers on this board)

well, I do understand the balance, but that is what the average preschooler eats because that is what the average preschooler is fed in the US. Yes some kids are picky, resisting a variety of tastes and textures, but that doesn't necessarily translate into "kid menu" food. In other cultures the picky toddler might eat rice and beans and 3 particular vegetables. DC is great for seeing this - toddlers of families I know from Bulgaria and Ethiopia eat all kinds of foods we would say the average preschooler wouldn't touch. And these aren't adventurous eaters - they refuse lots of what their parents eat. So the idea, I think, is to create a new cultural norm at school. I appreciate this and hope it works. Rather than dumbing down what is offered to a common denominator, I hope the balance tips in favor of good, basic, healthy foods (NOT pizza!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, perhapsb those would be more popular. But it's pretty amazing what kids will enjoy once they get used to it. I've only heard raves about Lee's food and comments like "why don't we eat stuffed peppers more at home?" Can't wait till the kid takes over meal prep completely! (Fwiw kid also loves hot dogs and chicken nuggets, definitely not a super taster.)

I wish there were options. My family doesn't eat pork and because there are no options, DC will always have to pack a lunch on pulled pork sandwich days. I also have to be on too if the menu to know when those days are. No requests for stuffed peppers at home and no go at school either. Healthy pizza, quesadilla, Caesar salad...those would work.

apparently there are vegetarian options offered that aren't on the menu yet - the menu is still a work in process. I just send some lentils or beans and rice to supplement. But I don't want my kid eating refined white flour on a daily basis (lots of new research about how refined carbs affect hormone levels and may be the real culprit in obesity and heart disease). I was so excited to see the original menu though the "tinkering" means that this menu probably won't last long. I imagine we'll end up where you want to be, and I'll end up in a struggle with my child to eat the lunch I send instead of the school lunch (he would happily eat stuffed peppers or "healthy" pizza, but he'd choose the pizza every time if it was a choice).

who says quesidillas or pizza have to be made with refined white flour?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

(The quinoa stuffed peppers however were a no go. I hear the administration is asking Halsa to make some tweaks to the menu to make it more appealing to the kids while still healthy)

Lol. I commend them for their ambitions but it can be hard to find a balance between healthiness and still be in realistic about the average preschooler palate (notice I said average kid. Sure there are some parents of adventurous eating outlier preschoolers on this board)

well, I do understand the balance, but that is what the average preschooler eats because that is what the average preschooler is fed in the US. Yes some kids are picky, resisting a variety of tastes and textures, but that doesn't necessarily translate into "kid menu" food. In other cultures the picky toddler might eat rice and beans and 3 particular vegetables. DC is great for seeing this - toddlers of families I know from Bulgaria and Ethiopia eat all kinds of foods we would say the average preschooler wouldn't touch. And these aren't adventurous eaters - they refuse lots of what their parents eat. So the idea, I think, is to create a new cultural norm at school. I appreciate this and hope it works. Rather than dumbing down what is offered to a common denominator, I hope the balance tips in favor of good, basic, healthy foods (NOT pizza!)

My kid is a picky toddler who eats (brown) rice, beans, tofu, (brown) pasta and a few specific vegetables on their own and several more when mixed in with other things. (He also eats pizza made with wheat flour and mac and cheese made from scratch but that's it for the typical "kid foods"). Unfortunately so far he's barely eaten anything at Lee except fruit. He typically likes quinoa, but the fact that it's salad and cold was off putting. And he doesn't like meat. Without meat most days it seems he's left with bread, fruit and lettuce or other green salad. If you guys have 3 year olds who eat lettuce and green salad enthusiastically I'm exceptionally impressed! I've never seen a preschooler in any culture (I'm not from the US) eat a plate of lettuce. I absolutely agree that I don't want it "dumbed" down but brown rice or pasta would go down well with many kids, there's nothing wrong with a cheese sandwich instead of pulled pork and skip the green salad in favor of other vegetables that kids actually eat -- carrots, cucumber, broccoli, celery.

[Anonymous]

Besides different views on the food, what do folks think about the school? My child seems to love the teachers and students.

[Anonymous]

According to my kid the other kids don't eat much food either, with the exception of one kid in his class. So the parents here must either have kids in a different class or are unrealistic about how well the food is working.

[Anonymous]

Where do your kids go to play outdoors. We're at IT and just wondering what the kids go to play pre-playground.

[Anonymous]

*where

[Anonymous]

They go to the playground on the other side of the field right next to the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

(The quinoa stuffed peppers however were a no go. I hear the administration is asking Halsa to make some tweaks to the menu to make it more appealing to the kids while still healthy)

Lol. I commend them for their ambitions but it can be hard to find a balance between healthiness and still be in realistic about the average preschooler palate (notice I said average kid. Sure there are some parents of adventurous eating outlier preschoolers on this board)

well, I do understand the balance, but that is what the average preschooler eats because that is what the average preschooler is fed in the US. Yes some kids are picky, resisting a variety of tastes and textures, but that doesn't necessarily translate into "kid menu" food. In other cultures the picky toddler might eat rice and beans and 3 particular vegetables. DC is great for seeing this - toddlers of families I know from Bulgaria and Ethiopia eat all kinds of foods we would say the average preschooler wouldn't touch. And these aren't adventurous eaters - they refuse lots of what their parents eat. So the idea, I think, is to create a new cultural norm at school. I appreciate this and hope it works. Rather than dumbing down what is offered to a common denominator, I hope the balance tips in favor of good, basic, healthy foods (NOT pizza!)

My kid is a picky toddler who eats (brown) rice, beans, tofu, (brown) pasta and a few specific vegetables on their own and several more when mixed in with other things. (He also eats pizza made with wheat flour and mac and cheese made from scratch but that's it for the typical "kid foods"). Unfortunately so far he's barely eaten anything at Lee except fruit. He typically likes quinoa, but the fact that it's salad and cold was off putting. And he doesn't like meat. Without meat most days it seems he's left with bread, fruit and lettuce or other green salad. If you guys have 3 year olds who eat lettuce and green salad enthusiastically I'm exceptionally impressed! I've never seen a preschooler in any culture (I'm not from the US) eat a plate of lettuce. I absolutely agree that I don't want it "dumbed" down but brown rice or pasta would go down well with many kids, there's nothing wrong with a cheese sandwich instead of pulled pork and skip the green salad in favor of other vegetables that kids actually eat -- carrots, cucumber, broccoli, celery.

See this is where it gets tricky - my 4 year old loves salad. He will choose salad over carrots any day. People ask me all the time how I get him to eat salads and I really have no clue. He loves croutons and Caesar dressing and blue cheese and ranch dressing too. He also likes got sauce. On everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:According to my kid the other kids don't eat much food either, with the exception of one kid in his class. So the parents here must either have kids in a different class or are unrealistic about how well the food is working.

+1 my kid tells me her class is more interested in the set up than actually eating the food. What's wrong with pizza?