What's for lunch 1/10/13

BETTER THAN A PIZZERIA... 
Flatbread“Margherita” Pizza
Fresh Tomato Sauce, Basil and Local Fresh Mozzarella

Caesar Salad 

Fresh Fruit 

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

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.

Caesar salad and other veggie sides are fresh options.    

The veggie lasagna was a mild hit. Three out of four liked it. But, one of my children was not a fan. I think when making this lasagna you need to use a mandolin to slice the zucchini and squash so they simulate noodles.  I loved it.  But then again I love almost all vegetables.  I would make it again. 

What's for lunch 1/913

Oven Baked Breaded Chicken
Whole Grain Garlic Toast
Smashed Garlic Potatoes
Sweet Corn 
Fresh Fruit 

The chicken itself is a pre-cooked breaded Tyson chicken product. The ingredients are: Boneless, skinless. chicken breast filets 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), modified corn starch, salt, dextrose, spices, garlic powered, xanthan gum, oleoresin, paprika and annatto.  BREADED WITH: Enriched wheat flour ( enriched with niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), salt, spice, garlic powder, extractives of paprika, natural flavors. Breading is set in vegetable oil. Their serving size has 10g of fat (2 of which are saturated) and 620 mg of sodium.  I am exhausted from writing all these ingredients !! In food service defense,  they are working on getting fresh chicken.  Tyson is a government commodity food.  If you do not know how Tyson raises their chickens you should check out the movie Food Inc.  

I watched it with my three children.  It really opens your eyes to the way food is produced in this country.

Back to the menu, the potatoes are fresh and the bread is partially whole grain.  The corn is frozen. And as always the salad bar is available for sides and as a full lunch.   

As part of a New Year's resolution I am trying to feed my family meatless meals more then once a week.  Tonight I am making a veggie lasagna. It happens to be gluten free and dairy free. You can always replace the dairy free cheese made from cashews with fresh ricotta. I will report back tomorrow with the reviews. 


This noodle-free, gluten-free veggie-packed lasagna is one of my favorite creations yet. It is definitely one of those recipes you might want to try out at your next dinner party to WOW family and friends who are vegan skeptics. Our recipe for Dairy-Free Ricotta Cheese layers with organic sweet potato, asparagus, spinach and peppers to not only create a beautiful lasagna, but one that tastes extra cheesy and noodley withoutcheese or noodles. It’s true. It tastes so indulgent, I actually caught myself feeling a pang of guilt after eating a piece last week. Then I giggled, remembering that it was all veggies and nuts and seeds. Joy.

Like traditional lasagna, this one is even better the next day after all the flavors settle in together. It reheats in the oven just fine and I usually bring some with me to work and eat it for lunch at room temperature (I am not a microwave user). It is delicious this way too.

Makes: 8-9 servings  |  Preparation Time: 2 hours

Tools:
2.75 quart/11 cup glass casserole dish (9.5″ x 7.5″)
Mandoline slicer (optional, you can slice veggies thin, but not mandoline thin, with a good knife)
Blender (for Dairy-Free Ricotta Cheese only)

Ingredients:One full batch of our Dairy-Free Ricotta Cheese
1 organic sweet potato, baked
2 cups of organic baby spinach, packed
10 stalks of organic asparagus, sliced into 2″ lengths
1/2 organic yellow pepper, sliced paper thin with mandoline
1/2 organic red pepper, sliced paper thin with mandoline
1 9oz. jar of organic tomato sauce (I like a tomato basil or tomato garlic)
5-6 fresh organic basil leaves, sliced thinly (optional)
1 medium-sized organic yellow squash, sliced paper thin (lengthwise) with mandoline
1 medium-sized organic zucchini, sliced paper thin (lengthwise) with mandoline

Let’s Get Started:
Before you do anything, make sure you bake that sweet potato in a preheated oven set at 350°F for about 45 minutes. I usually put it in the oven, then start making my Dairy-Free Ricotta Cheese and prepping my veggies, and by the time I’m done and have washed my dishes, it’s ready for assembly.

Slice your zucchini and yellow squash lengthwise with your mandoline and set aside.

Slice your peppers on the mandoline and cut your sweet potato into strips with a knife. If your potato is too soft for that, no problem, just remove the skin and set aside. Cut your asparagus into 2″ lengths and set aside.

Prepare your casserole dish by spooning some of your tomato sauce into the bottom and coating it entirely. Lay on alternating strips of yellow squash and zucchini to create one layer about one slice thick. These are your noodle replacements—you may be very surprised how similar they will taste to noodles once cooked with sauce.

Now lay on some strips of sweet potato, or if it is too soft, spoon some into your casserole dish leaving space between spoonfuls/strips. Place dollops of Dairy-Free Ricotta Cheese into those spaces between the sweet potato. Then place some asparagus and peppers evenly onto your layer.

Now lay down a layer of spinach leaves. I remove the stems beyond the leaf and create a gap-free (or relatively gap-free) layer of spinach that reaches all four sides of my dish. Then I spoon some tomato sauce on top, covering the entire layer of spinach. I repeat these steps all over again beginning with my zucchini and squash layer, filling my dish with veggies until I reach the top of my dish.

Sprinkle some fresh chopped basil on top of your lasagna. I keep a basil plant in my kitchen so I am not forced to buy too much basil at the store. A little plant is perfect to just pluck off a few leaves. They grow back quickly and I know where my basil is grown. Bonus.

On top of your lasagna, after your basil sprinkle, place some asparagus around and some Dairy-Free Ricotta Cheese ’til it looks purty. Then place the lasagna uncovered in the oven preheated to 325°F to bake for 1 hour.

After an hour, remove your lasagna, and let it cool down for about 20-40 mins. It is important to be patient so your ricotta will set—you want theDairy-Free Ricotta Cheese to become texturally similar to dairy ricotta and the cool down time does this. If you are impatient, like I am sometimes, you can scoop it out hot and eat it up. It will taste the same (deeelicious), but it won’t hold it’s pretty layers as well. Once set, your lasagna will be beautifully layered whether it is cold, reheated or room temp. It is actually the tastiest and prettiest the next day after sitting in the fridge overnight. Once set, you can reheat in the oven and the cheese will still hold shape.

Gluten-free, Dairy-Free Vegetable Lasagna will keep in your fridge for a little over one week. Be sure to store it in an airtight glass container. I baked the lasagna in a glass container that already comes with a lid, so once cool, I can put the lid on and pop it in the fridge.

Be sure to look for organic veggies at your local Farmers’ Market.

What's for lunch 1/08/13

Brunch For Lunch
Cinnamon Challah French Toast
Applegate Sunday Bacon
Potato Puffs
Apple Crisp 

                                             

We have made so many great changes with the lunch in our district but, it pains me to see this back on the menu.  Say "No" to 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 tater tots -- although they are labeled "frozen pre-formed potato rounds."  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.

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.

Raisins are domestic. Apple crisp is a dessert.

There's really nothing fresh or healthy in this meal. Get the salad bar:

Or Choose This Lunch

What's for lunch 1/7/13

Taco Tub
Brown rice, Tomato, Cheese, 
Salsa and Romaine
Chipotle Vinaigrette
Add Chicken on request
Zesty Black Beans
Fresh Fruit 


The taco tub  is a new item this year.   The brown rice is a great whole grain. 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 bowl comes 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 cheese is Monterrey Jack cheese and the beans are canned.   The corn is frozen and as always fresh fruit is available.  

This is a gluten free meal if taken without the tub.  The salad bar and pepper jack quesadilla are available.  

After over indulging during the holiday season, I have been thinking a lot of getting rid of meat in my diet. I am concerned about getting enough protein. I stumbled upon this chart. ©YumUniverse_Plant_Protein_Chart2.jpg.  Take a look. You might be surprised at the fact that you really don't need to eat meat to get protein.  I am a big fan of yumuniverse.com.  She has great recipes for gluten free plant based diets.  

What's for lunch 1/4/12

Meatball Parmigiana
Hero or plate
Whole Grain Dinner Roll
Broccoli with Garlic and Oil
Caesar Salad 
Fresh Fruit


For the chicken, the sauce is a Red Pack vitamin enhanced tomato sauce. The sodium at 140mg is much lower than we previously used.  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 chicken itself is a pre-cooked breaded Tyson chicken product. The ingredients are: Boneless, skinless chicken breast filets 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.  Their serving size has 10g of fat (2 of which are saturated) and 620 mg of sodium.  The broccoli, caesar salad, and fruit is fresh. 

There is soup available everyday this month with a half a sandwich. Not completely sure what the soups are that are being served.  But, the soups are homemade. And what I hear delicious.  

What's for lunch 1/3/12

Applegate 
Great Organic Beef Hotdog 
Oven baked shoestring fries
Sauerkraut
Baby Carrots 
Fruit

GF if taken without the bun.
Alternative lunch is pepper jack quesadilla, meatball hero and of course the SALAD BAR.


If your child is going to eat this lunch I would advise them to load up on veggies from the salad bar. Take a look at the ingredients. 

The hot dogs are from Applegate Farms - so they are far better than many hot dogs but are hot dogs nonetheless. The ingredients are just: beef, water, sea salt, less than 2% of the following: celery juice, sodium lactate (from beets), lactic acid starter culture (not from milk), onion powder, spices, garlic powder, paprika. They have 6g of fat(2.5g saturated) and 380 mg of sodium. They are dairy-, casein- and gluten-free. They promote it as nitrate-free but this NYT article indicates the nitrate issue is tricky - and cites the company saying their bacon has the same level (naturally) of cancer-causing nitrates as conventional brands.  You may also not want your kids growing up thinking hot dogs are a good lunch given the potential link between processed meats and cancer. The bun is whole wheat. The Oven baked shoestring fries are made from potatoes, canola oil, salt, natural color and sodium phosphate.   Adding sodium phosphates to food increases the shelf lsodium phosphates to food increases the shelf life of the food; maintaining the texture and appearance of the food. 

Another informative article was in the NY Times today regarding energy drinks.  Take a look. Energy Drinks

Another good idea...........

Always find a way to incorporate veggies. Even on pizza !