What's for lunch 10/22/12

 From the ranch to you beef tacos 

Season Local Beef, Brown Rice, Black Beans Romaine , Cheese & Salsa Sweet Corn

GF without Shell

Fresh Fruit

The tacos are 100% ground chuck with lettuce and a low-far govt cheddar cheese.  I other words, the ground beef does not have other additives like soy but is still subject to various quality issues ground beef typically faces.  The salsa is actually organic by Green Mountain and the ingredients are: tomatoes, fire-roasted chiles, onions, tomatillos, jalapeno peppers, pasilla peppers, apple cider vinegar, cilantro, parsley, garlic, sea salt, spices.

The black beans are flash-frozen Pride of New York beans with nothing added. The corn is canned - a USDA commodity. 

What's for lunch 10/19/12

Oven Baked Breaded Chicken 

Whole Grain Roll

Herb-Roasted Potato Wedge

 Mesclun Salad 

Fresh Fruit

The oven baked fried chicken is made here with a breading of corn meal, panko bread crumbs, flour, buttermilk and some salt and pepper. It is oven-baked and not fried - hence the quotation marks. (The new menus are a lot of work for the food services staff - thank you!)

The  potato wedges are government commodity potatoes (a cost savings - the staff has been trying to use our free commodity foods very carefully to avoid the worst products like chicken nuggets.). They arrive frozen. I was told they are completely plain potatoes that are only baked with our seasonings.  I actually tried htem last month and they were very good. I've asked for the label to confirm they are plain and not fried at any point int he process.

I am not sure what the meslcun salad ingredients are, but I am assuming they are fresh. These menu items minus the salad are not my favorites. Mainly because the chicken is not organic and the potato wedges are frozen. Luckily there is always the salad bar.

What's for lunch 10/18/12

Whole Wheat French Toast with Orange Rounds

Applegate Breakfast Bacon 

Sweet Potato Puffs

 Fresh Fruit

This is my fat my least favorite meal. It is a better option then the challah french toast from last year. But, still in my opinion french toast is dessert. 

An interesting development! Thanks in part to the new nutritional requirements for school lunch involving whole grains our challah french toast is now whole wheat french toast - a terrific improvement and one the nutrition committee has been advocating for. The question this menu leaves unanswered is: Will the kids still be served a syrup whose first and main ingredient is high fructose corn syrup?  I know the food service consultant has been trying to find an affordable maple syrup instead.


Ingredients for the bread in the french toast: We use Nature's Own Whole Wheat Bread for the french toast . The ingredients are: STONE GROUND WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, WATER, BROWN SUGAR, YEAST, WHEAT GLUTEN, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING: SALT, VEGETABLE OIL (SOYBEAN OIL OR CANOLA OIL), DOUGH, CONDITIONERS (SODIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE, CALCIUM, STEAROYL-2-LACTYLATE, MONOGLYCERIDES, CALCIUM IODATE, ETHOXYLATED MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, CALCIUM PEROXIDE, DATEM), CULTURED WHEAT FLOUR, VINEGAR, CALCIUM SULFATE, MONOCALCIUM, PHOSPHATE, YEAST FOOD (AMMONIUM SULFATE), SOY LECITHIN. Eggs and milk are used as well but they are not organic

The turkey bacon is by Applegate.  Here are the ingredients: Turkey (Turkey Used Never Administered Antibiotics, Growth Promotants or Animal By-products), Water, Sea Salt, Maple Sugar, Celery Juice, Onion Powder, Spices, Lactic Acid Starter Culture (not From Milk.)  They promote it as nitrate-free but this NYT article indicates otherwise - and cites the company saying their products have the same level (naturally) of cancer-causing nitrates as conventional brands. Readmore about nitrates here.

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. 

What's for lunch 10/17/12

Meatball Parmigiana Hero

or Meatball Parmigiana Plate (Whole Grain Dinner Roll) 

Broccoli with Oil & Garlic Caesar Salad 

Fresh Fruit

For the hero, unlike our hamburgers, this "beef" is from Tyson and  is a USDA commodity product (although we were allowed to opt-out of the "pink slime" meat the USDA used to ship.)  The meatballs are processed, cooked and frozen by Tyson from commodity beef.  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 broccoli is fresh and the caesar dressing is homemade. The fruit is fresh as well. 

What's for lunch 10/16/12

ARROZ CON POLLO Tender Strips of Chicken

Cooked with Brown Rice

Red Peppers and Onions 

Black Bean Salad

GF Fresh Fruit

I don't have the details on this chicken. It should be whole muscle white meat. Our other chicken products come from Tyson so they are likely the source.  The rice is brown not white.  The peppers and onions are fresh and the black bean salad is homemade. I believe the beans are from a can. This is a great Gluten free lunch. 

The salad and sandwich bar are available. Fresh fruit is always there as well. 

What's for lunch 10/15/12

Barilla Plus Rotini Pomodoro or Pesto Mozzarella

Freshly Toasted Garlic Bread 

Sauteed Zucchini w/Garlic 

Fresh Fruit

This is a good meal - but go with the plan pomodoro version. The sauce is a fresh tomoato and basil. The pesto is homemade and the mozzarella is fresh.  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.

The garlic  bread is homemade but not whole grain.  The zucchini is fresh but not organic along with the fruit. The salad bar and sandwich bar are available.  The side entrees are still quesadilla meatball hero. 

What's for lunch 10/12/12

Taco Tub Shredded Romaine-

Brown Rice Tomato, Cheese & Salsa Chipotle Vinaigrette

Add Chicken on Request

Zesty Black Beans/Sweet Corn 

Fresh Fruit

Gluten Free without the shell 

 The  "taco tubs" come from Smokewood Foods. The ingredients are described just as "enriched masa flour" and they look like a big rectangular corn chip. They have 5g of fat and no sodium. 

 The black beans are canned. The southwest-style chicken is from Tyson and described as diced, cooked "chicken meat." Read more about farm animals raised by industrial giants like Tyson,  antibiotics and hormones. The salsa is homemade.  

Salad bar and sandwich bar are available.  Along with meatball hero and quesadilla. 

The quesadilla has Monterrey Jack cheese and canned black beans served in a flour tortilla - no whole grains. The tortillas are from Tyson and contain:  Bleached Enriched Wheat Flour (Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Water, Soybean Oil, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (Contains one or more of the following: Cottonseed Oil, Soybean Oil), Mono- and Diglycerides, Contains 2% or less of the following: Salt, Baking Powder (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Corn Starch, Monocalcium Phosphate), Fumaric Acid, Sodium Bicarbonate, Dough Conditioner (Wheat Flour, Calcium Sulfate, Sorbic Acid), Preservative (Sodium Propionate and Potassium Sorbate).  Sodium is 380mg. 5g of fat (1 of which is saturated).