UK’s School Chef of the Year’s Free School Meal voucher concerns and top tips for nutritious dinners

THE Havant-based School Chef of the Year has voiced his concerns about the new voucher system for children eligible for free school meals and has unveiled his top tips for parents to ensure children are getting a nutritious meal.
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Schools are closed to limit the spread of coronavirus but the government says that parents can obtain a £15 weekly voucher for each eligible child, including over the holidays. Schools will be emailing parents with a code which they can then use to obtain a supermarket voucher.

The country’s official top school chef, Steven Cross, who runs the kitchen at Park Community School in Havant, feels the £3 a day budget is sufficient to provide a nutritious meal but ‘only if the parent knows how to cook’.

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Steven said: ‘After seeing what some children bring to school with their packed lunches I’m massively concerned at putting the responsibility into the hands of some parents. We’ve worked hard to develop children’s understanding of food and I worry this could be a step back.’

Park Community School headteacher, Chris Anders, alongside UK School Chef of the Year,  Steven Cross.

Picture: Sarah StandingPark Community School headteacher, Chris Anders, alongside UK School Chef of the Year,  Steven Cross.

Picture: Sarah Standing
Park Community School headteacher, Chris Anders, alongside UK School Chef of the Year, Steven Cross. Picture: Sarah Standing

The chef is particularly concerned about the constraints of time.

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Steven said: ‘It’s more than the £2.40 we currently get and it’s certainly possible to put together a nutritious meal for that price but it’s dependent on parents, many of whom are working from home, having the time and expertise to do so. Preparing a meal from scratch can take over an hour.

‘If people buy fresh meat, fruit and vegetables then it’s certainly doable but if families buy over-priced ready meals then it won’t be enough. My concern is that people will go for the easy option such as crisps, sandwich fillers and chocolate bars.’

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With the vouchers redeemable at Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer’s, the chef, who at one time cooked for the royal family, is concerned by the absence of budget options.

‘Some of these options are not really affordable. I’m surprised the likes of Aldi and Lidl are not on the list as you tend to get more for your money,’ said Steven.

Like many schools, Park Community have been offering a grab-and-go packed lunch during the interim period. While the voucher scheme is not thought to be compulsory, headteacher Chris Anders, believes under the current circumstance it’s the most popular choice with schools.

‘All the comments I’ve heard from secondary headteachers suggests most schools are going to be using the government’s voucher option,’ he said. ‘Very few families were collecting packed lunches as people are anxious about going out.

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‘To make food in school also requires more staff coming in which could be a potential issue as more people have to isolate. We set up our own voucher system at Farmfoods which gave each family a £12 weekly store card,’ said Mr Anders.

He also feels the the voucher system is a ‘safer financial option’ for schools rather than potentially having to claim money back.

One area of concern for Mr Anders is a lack of regulation on how money is spent.

‘I do worry that when you are effectively giving people cash upfront that money could be spent on other things,’ he added.

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Portsmouth City Council’s cabinet member for education, Suzy Horton, has said the majority of the city’s schools will use the voucher system or a fortnightly food parcel.

‘Food parcels can be collected once every two weeks to reduce the number of people going out,’ she said.

Cllr Horton also shared Mr Anders concerns over a lack of regulation on what could be purchased with the vouchers.

AWARD-WINNING CHEF’S TOP TIPS

The UK’s School Chef of the Year, Steven Cross, has been offering his top tips to parents on how to create value for money nutritious meals for children while schools are closed.

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1 ‘See this as an opportunity to cook with your children and learn more about food.’

2 ‘Preparing a meal for the whole family is far more cost effective. Get all the children involved in the process of making the meal.’

3 ‘Don’t purchase over-priced ready meals. If possible, cook all meals from scratch using fresh fruit, vegetables and cuts of meat rather than frozen products.’

4 ‘Make lot of soups which are easy to make and accompanied with crusty bread can be filling and nutritious.’

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5 ‘Try to think of food products which can be used twice. For example you can make a chicken dinner and then use the carcass to create a stock for a soup.’

TOP THREE MEAL MENUS

Steven has shared three tasty meal ideas to serve a family of four along with average supermarket costings.

1 Sausage Hot Pot with Wedges

• 8 sausages – £2.50

• 400g chopped tomatoes – 0.35p

• 410g baked beans – 0.29p

• 400g mixed beans – 0.65p

• 2 onions – 0.20p

• 3 peppers – 0.99p

• barbecue sauce

• 2 chicken stock cubes

• 2kg potatoes - £1.00

• 18g mixed herbs – 0.30p

Total: £6.28 - £1.57 /person

METHOD

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees ready to add your hot pot.

• In a large hot sauce pan begin by heating one teaspoon of oil.

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• Dice and add your onions to the hot oil, cook until soft and caramelised. Now slice

and add your pepper to the onions and cook until soft.

• Add the sausages to the onion, pepper mix and colour in the pan.

• Now add the chopped tomatoes, baked beans, mixed beans, stock cubes, four

tablespoons of barbecue sauce and half a pint of water.

• Bring to the boil and then add the mixture to an oven proof dish and return to the oven

to bake for 30-40 minutes.

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• Cut your potatoes into wedges, coat in some oil, season with salt, pepper and mixed

herbs and bake on top shelf above the hot pot.

• Serve once the hot pot is thickened and the wedges are crispy.

2 Chicken Pie with mash and peas

500g puff pastry – £1.00

• 500g diced chicken – £2.60

• 2 onions – 0.20p

• 2 carrots – 0.20p

• 500g peas – 0.50p

• 326g sweetcorn – 0.47p

• 170g gravy granules – 0.60p

• 1 chicken stock cube – 0.39p

• 1kg potatoes – 0.50p

• 50g butter – 0.29p

Total: £6.75 - £1.68 /person

METHOD

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees in readiness for your finished pie.

• Heat up a large pan or pot and then add one teaspoon of oil.

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• Dice your onions and carrot and begin to cook in your hot oil, once soft add the

diced chicken and colour.

• Now add half a pint of water and allow to simmer. Add a chicken stock cube and

thicken with your gravy granules.

• Finish the pie mix with the drained sweetcorn and pour the mixture into a heat

proof dish.

• Allow the mixture to cool then top with puffed pastry and bake in your hot oven.

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• Peel and dice the potatoes evenly then boil until very soft and almost breaking apart,

remove from the heat and drain.

• Mash the potatoes with the butter and seasoning.

• Heat up the peas in either the microwave or in boil water and serve all together.

3 Chicken Balti with rice and naan bread

• 500g diced chicken – £2.60

• 2 onions – 0.20p

• 3 peppers – 0.99p

• 1 garlic clove – 0.50p

• 283g balti curry paste – £2.28

• chicken stock cube

• 500g basmati rice – £1.00

• naan bread – 0.49p

Total: £8.06 - £2.01p

METHOD

• Preheat your oven to 180 degrees ready to warm your naan bread.

• In a large sauce pan preheat and add three tablespoons of oil.

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• Slice your onions, peppers and three garlic cloves and begin to fry in the hot oil to get some good colour.

• Now add the chicken and continue to cook with some colour.

• Add four large teaspoons of the curry paste to the mixture and allow to cook for a few

minutes, top with half a pint of water and the stock cubes.

• Allow the curry to simmer for 15 minutes and while this is happening cook your rice in a

large saucepan of boiling water.

• Once the rice is cooked, add the naan bread to the oven to heat. Drain the rice and

allow to steam and serve with your curry.

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