What's for lunch 6/11/13 and 6/12/13

CHEF’S CHOICE
Entree of the Day Choice of Fresh Vegetables 
Choice of Milk Fresh Fruit/Juice
NO SALAD BAR 

Only two days left of full day of classes.  So the chef will pretty much be preparing whatever is left in the fridge.  And there will be no salad bar. 

Good luck on your exams and enjoy the summer !! 

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” 
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

What's for lunch 6/10/13

Trattoria Monday 

Whole Grain Rotini with Meatballs
or
Whole Grain Rotini Marinara 

Caesar Salad
Fresh Fruit
NO SALAD BAR 

The meatballs are processed, cooked and frozen by Tyson from commodity beef and although we've improved the beef in our hamburgers  the same is true for the meatballs. Ingredients are: Ground beef (not more than 20% fat), water, bread crumbs (bleached wheat flour, salt, yeast, dextrose, and soybean oil), seasoning (salt, dehydrated onion, dehydrated celery, garlic powder, spices, soybean oil), tomato puree (tomatoes and citric acid), grated parmesan cheese [(cultured part-skim milk, salt and enzymes), cellulose powder, potassium sorbate], grated romano cheese made from cow's milk [(cultured pasteurized part-skim milk, salt and enzymes), cellulose powder, potassium sorbate].   They have 9g of fat (3 are saturated) and 450 mg of sodium.

The sauce is a Red Pack vitamin enhanced tomato sauce.  Here are the ingredients: Tomato Concentrate (Water, Tomato Paste), Sugar, Soybean Oil, Potassium Chloride, Onion Powder, Salt, Citric Acid, Spice, Garlic Powder, Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid), Black Pepper, Vitamin E (DL-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate), Natural Flavor, Vitamin A (Retinol Palmitate).  The cheese is a USDA commodity part skim mozzarella.  Ingredients are cultured pasteurized milk, salt, enzymes. The sodium is 240mg/oz.

The pasta is  Barilla Plus. The ingredients are: Semolina, Grain and Legume Flour, Blend (Lentils, Chickpeas, Egg Whites, Spelt, Barley, Flaxseed, Oat Fiber, Oats), Durum Flour, Niacin, Iron (Ferrous Sulfate), Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid.

So happy summer is on the way !!  I made this easy yummy salad last night and the kids ate it up ! 

Cucumber and Coconut Salad

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Soaking the onions makes for a milder flavor.

Martha Stewart Living, June 2013

• Prep Time10 minutes
• Total Time40 minutes
• YieldServes 6

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Ingredients

• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced lengthwise (about 1/2 cup)
• 4 Persian cucumbers or 1 English cucumber, cut into thirds crosswise (about 3/4 pound)
• 1 cup unsweetened large-flaked coconut
• 2 tablespoons coconut water
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (from 1 lime)
• 2 teaspoons sugar, plus more for seasoning
• Coarse salt

Directions

1. Place onion in a bowl of ice water. Let onion stand 10 minutes, then drain.
2. Thinly slice cucumbers lengthwise with a handheld slicer or peeler and place in a large bowl. Add onion and coconut and gently toss to combine. Add coconut water, lime juice, sugar, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and gently toss again to combine. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours. Before serving, season with salt and sugar.

What's for lunch 6/7/13

BETTER THAN A PIZZERIA... Flatbread“Margherita” Pizza

Fresh Tomato Sauce, Basil and Local,FreshMozzarella

Cucumber Sticks w/Dip

Fresh Fruit

The pizza sauce (from Red Pack) ingredients are: Tomato concentrate (water, tomato paste), salt, citric acid, basil.

For the crust, the ingredients are: enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, barley malt, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, yeast, soybean oil,, dextrose, salt, calcium propionate, fumaric acid, dough conditioner (wheat flour, salt, soybean oil, l-gyssteine, ascorbic acid, enzyme) potassium sorbate.  The mozzarella is fresh and lowfat.   The cucumbers are fresh with organic dipping sauce. (Ranch salad dressing)

Only a few more days until finals.  They year is certainly winding down.  Only three more days of lunch and that will be pretty much what is left in the kitchen.  I will be posted recipes over the summer.  

Enjoy your weekend ! 

What's for lunch 6/6/13

All White Meat Chicken “Bites”

Freshly-Baked Whole Wheat Breadsticks

Sweet Corn 

Fresh Fruit 

The chicken is a Tyson "fully cooked chicken breast nugget fritter with rib meat" with 10g of fat and 420mg of sodium.  The ingredients are: Boneless, skinless chicken breast nuggets with rib meat, water, modified food starch, sodium phosphates, salt. PREDUSTED WITH: Enriched wheat flour (enriched with niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), wheat gluten, salt. BATTERED WITH: Water, enriched bleached wheat flour (enriched with niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), modified corn starch, salt, dextrose, spices, garlic powder, xanthan gum, oleoresin paprika and annatto. BREADED WITH: Enriched wheat flour (enriched with niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), salt, spices, garlic powder, extractives of paprika, natural flavors (spice extractives). Breading set in vegetable oil.

The breadsticks are whole grain, the corn is frozen and the fruit is fresh.

You all know how I feel about Tyson and the whole concept of the chicken nugget. But, I will say that we do not serve this nearly as much as other districts.   The key is getting our kids to eat and love only real chicken and then they won't buy them anymore ! Supply and demand - simple. 

What's for lunch 6/4/13

BRUNCH FOR LUNCH
Cinnamon Challah French Toast
Warm, Smoked Ham Slices
Fresh, Herb-Potato 
Wedges Fresh Fruit 

I'm really curious as to why we stopped serving whole wheat french toast to go back to the meal declared to be "cake" for lunch by our committee's nutritionist - basically white flour bread.  The syrup is basically HFCS.  They are looking for an affordable maple syrup but do not have one yet - but they will be limiting the serving size this year in the meantime.  Actual lunch from our schools above. This meal has a lot of sugar, simple carbohydrates -- no whole grains.

Then there are the commodity potatoes processed by McCain's into wedges-- although they are labeled "frozen pre-formed potato rounds."  They are flash-fried before they get to the frozen part.  They have 7g of fat (one of which is saturated) and 190mg of sodium. Ingredients are: potatoes, vegetable oil (contains one or more of the following oils: canola, soybean, cottonseed, sunflower, corn). Contains 2% or less of dextrose, salt, sodium acid pyrophosphate added to maintain natural color. 

Do not like this lunch at all. Last time being served this year. Go straight to the salad bar. 

What's for lunch 6/3/13

Oven-Baked Breaded Chicken

Whole Grain Pasta with Oil & Garlic

Sweet Potato “Puffs” 

Fresh Fruit 

The chicken is a Tyson flash-fried "fully cooked chicken breast nugget fritter with rib meat" with 10g of fat and 420mg of sodium.  The ingredients are: Boneless, skinless chicken breast nuggets with rib meat, water, modified food starch, sodium phosphates, salt. PREDUSTED WITH: Enriched wheat flour (enriched with niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), wheat gluten, salt. BATTERED WITH: Water, enriched bleached wheat flour (enriched with niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), modified corn starch, salt, dextrose, spices, garlic powder, xanthan gum, oleoresin paprika and annatto. BREADED WITH: Enriched wheat flour (enriched with niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), salt, spices, garlic powder, extractives of paprika, natural flavors (spice extractives). Breading set in vegetable oil. 

The pasta is Barilla Plus. The ingredients are: Semolina, Grain and Legume Flour, Blend (Lentils, Chickpeas, Egg Whites, Spelt, Barley, Flaxseed, Oat Fiber, Oats), Durum Flour, Niacin, Iron (Ferrous Sulfate), Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid. 

And then we have The Return of the Tater Tot - a product we thought we had sent packing years ago.   This processed potato product comes from McCain's - a product called Harvest Splendor Bites.  The ingredients would then be: Sweet Potatoes, Vegetable Oil (Contains One Or More Of The Following Oils: Canola, Soybean, Cottonseed, Sunflower, Corn). Contains 2% or less of Corn Starch - Modified, Dehydrated Potatoes, Dextrin, Maltodextrin, Molasses, Salt, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate Added To Maintain Natural Color, Sugar, Tapioca Starch - Modified, Xanthan Gum.  We do bake them but I don't know yet if they are pre-cooked (fried?) before being frozen and shipped to us.

The fruit and the salad bar are fresh.  Make sure your kids are loaded up on water on this hot days in school. Watermelon also provides a lot of water for them. Try to have them stay away from caffeine/sugar filled drinks. They only dehydrate them more.