Breakfasts need to include milk, fruit or vegetables (or juice) and a grain or bread component. Some of the menu options for breakfast include cold cereal with milk and strawberries, an English muffin sandwich with an egg and cheese, served with orange wedges and milk, or raisin toast with peanut butter, with milk and juice or fresh fruit. Blueberry pancakes, if made with fresh or frozen berries can meet both the fruit and grain elements, making that and a glass of milk an acceptable breakfast.
Lunches and suppers need to include two different fruits or vegetables, a meat or meat substitute (which can include beans, cheese, eggs, nut or seed butters, and yogurt), a grain or bread product and a glass of milk. Cheese and yogurt cannot replace the milk in these menus. Some acceptable menu items that meet these requirements are: Baked chicken or turkey breast, a wheat roll, corn on the cob and milk; spaghetti with meat sauce, green salad, cantaloupe and milk; broiled fish, peas, mashed sweet potatoes or yams, whole grain bread and milk; grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, fresh fruit and milk or hamburger on a bun, baked beans, apple slices, and milk. Lunches and suppers need to include two different fruits or vegetables, a meat or meat substitute (which can include beans, cheese, eggs, nut or seed butters, and yogurt), a grain or bread product and a glass of milk. Cheese and yogurt cannot replace the milk in these menus. Some acceptable menu items that meet these requirements are: Baked chicken or turkey breast, a wheat roll, corn on the cob and milk; spaghetti with meat sauce, green salad, cantaloupe and milk; broiled fish, peas, mashed sweet potatoes or yams, whole grain bread and milk; grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, fresh fruit and milk or hamburger on a bun, baked beans, apple slices, and milk.
In most day care settings snacks are served at midmorning and mid afternoon, so that the kids rarely go for more than two or three hours between having something to eat being offered to them. Snacks can be made up of any two of the four food types, so milk and bread, fruit and a meat equivalent, and so on. If milk is part of the snack, then fruit juice cannot be the other half. So, yogurt "sundaes" with granola, apple slices with peanut butter, fruit bars and milk, or crackers and fruit juice would all be viable options.