I have been involved with the Food Program for almost 5 years. This year we decided to plant a raised bed garden. The kids love watching things grow and then harvesting them. And since I am a big fan of making things homemade this works great with our meals. I honestly don't know how I would be able to offer such variety of foods if it wasn't for the Food Program. Since the grant (WI CACFP Child Care Wellness Grant), we have been trying a different fruit/veg that the kids don't normally have once a week. And we have also put more dancing into our schedule. The scarves work great for this. This is a really great program and easy to follow. Wouldn't have my daycare without it!!!!

(My Food Program sponsor) has been a positive influence on me and the children in our program. We planted a daycare garden this spring that the children help water, weed and of course harvest! One of my children commented how "good green beans are out of the garden compared to in the can". I have included physical fitness into our daily schedule two times a day (once in the morning and then again in afternoon). The children love all of our micro grant items. My older daughter has also come up with some good ideas for our new physical activity equipment. The children's favorite has got to be the scarves or the parachute...definately a toss up!

Try it Tuesday new recipe..... took a sour cream banana recipe for my Belgian waffle maker, swapped the flour for whole wheat, swapped the sour cream with plain Greek yogurt, and topped it with sliced bananas, and a few craisins for color, big hit! (Becky is a pilot provider for the CACFP Wellness Grant)

I just wanted to let you know that because of this grant, I decided to try feeding the children family style lunches. I was skeptical that it would be a process that the children could handle. I was pleasantly surprised by how great it worked. The children are learning to make choices about how much food they want to eat. They can help themselves to more if they want it. It is more pleasant for me-I have time to sit down and eat with the children instead of playing waitress non-stop. On the whole, I am very pleased with this style lunch and will continue to do it.

I have been increasing the variety in my meals and making a lot of new meals from the CACFP Menu Planning Guide we received.  Some dishes the kids liked better than others, but that is to be expected.  One recipe they liked was Mario's meal on page 60.."

I have been hyping up "try it Tuesdays" which the kids are really into. It is on the calendar I send out to parents. This week we will be trying parsnips! I have been serving at least one whole grain daily, sometimes more. I keep the page from the Healthy Bites booklet we were given at training in my purse so If I have any questions on labels I do not get confused. I have been changing some recipes as well. My micro grant items have been arriving, so we have hop scotch and a balance beam type items for indoor large motor and new balls for outside play. I am beginning "Fitness Fridays" trying new activities as well.

I signed up for the Food Program as soon as I was licensed and extremely enjoy being a part of it. The Wisconsin CACFP has helped give me the education needed to meet licensing standards on meal planning and education of early childhood nutrition. The conferences that are provided gives me a chance to meet other providers in the state as well as learn about nutrition topics and struggles facing our children and providers. My sponsor is always helpful and gets me the information I need as soon as they can. The money you get back for being a part of the Food Program is just the icing on the cake, or should I say the yogurt on the grapes.

Without the Food Program I don't think I would be able to give the children as much variety and quality of food as I have been able to provide. I will be forever grateful to the Child and Adult Care Food Program. Wish I would have started many years earlier.

I love that the Food Program helps you with great ideas of meals and snacks that are healthy and kid friendly.  It also helps me buy good, nutritious food that my children want each month.  So if you are thinking about doing it, PLEASE just give it a try. You will see for yourself how easy it is.  And if you ever have a question, these guys are GREAT; they are there for you anytime and respond very quickly to questions asked. 

The CACFP is an easy way to earn extra income to help provide the most nutritious food for the children in my care.  It is fast and easy to record online and my monitor is kind, caring and respectful.  I enjoy her visits and look forward to continuing participation in this great program.

I like Patty's carrots and juice. They're the best.

The food Patty makes is really yummy.

My son loves vegetables.  What child goes to a restaurant and asks for beets?  He does all the time and he started eating them at daycare.  It's awesome!

The kids are so lucky, to have such a great daycare provider.  She takes great care of them and cooks really nutritional meals.

I am always impressed by the variety and nutrition of the food provided.  Sometimes I get ideas for meals or snacks to serve at home.

The daycare primarily comprised of three year olds, planted a garden as a class project this year.  As one of our final parts to this project, the kids all chopped and helped make homemade marinara using the vegetables from the garden.

I love that my kids get homemade food at daycare and not the mass produced processed food that a lot of places serve.

The Child and Adult Care Food Program has been a positive experience for me. Even though I only watch my grandchildren, it's a great relief to know that I can get reimbursement for the food that I provide them. The Program also helps me know what is healthy food to provide for them and the amount needed. (My sponsor) has always worked with me as far as supplying me any information I need and they are always professional and courteous.

The Child & Adult Care Food Program is an excellent program to be on. I have learned so much about what to serve children and adults. I feed my daycare kids, my own children & myself better food because of it. It is also nice to receive money every month for doing so. It also helps with the tax part of it. They send me a form saying how much I was reimbursed so I don't even have to worry about saving reciepts & figuring it all out on my own. All of the employees are very nice and helpful if you ever have any questions or concerns. I would highly recommend this program to anyone. Not just for the money every month but for the knowledge & support you receive with it! It's awesome!

I love the WD food program! Sandy and Cathy are always super easy to work with. I'm comfortable asking the entire staff any questions I may have. They really try to make it as easy for me as possible. The constant documentation makes me feel more secure if I were to be audited. Online entry and submitting take only a few minutes a day and I get money back for it! I even enjoy the trainings, I like learning better ways to feed my kids, I walk away with things I can really use and do.

The Wisconsin Food Program has helped me to organize my meals to include all of the food groups. It also gives me more ideas for what to serve everyday, which sometimes can be the hardest things about making a meal.

I have been a part of the Food Program since I started doing daycare over 7 years ago and would not run my daycare WITHOUT it. I have heard in the past, providers complain about doing the paper work, but honestly that is nothing. You have to keep the records anyway, so why not get paid each month to do it! I am a family provider and, even on my full days with 8 children, at the end of the day the food program takes me less than 5 minutes to do.  It is SO easy!