What's for Lunch - Tues., 2/12

Cup of Soup
APPLEGATE HOTDOG (Order Entree #1)
Whole Wheat Bun
OR
Whole Wheat Grilled Cheese Sandwich (Order Entree #2)
Cucumbers & Peppers with Dip
Applesauce with Cinnamon

I vote for the sandwich.

The soup is broccoli cheddar.  The ingredients are: Chicken Stock (Water, Chicken Base [Chicken, Salt, Rendered Chicken Fat, Dextrose, Sugar, Natural Flavoring, Roast Chicken Flavor (Rendered Chicken Fat, Flavor, Safflower Oil), Chicken Broth, Turmeric]), Broccoli, Light Cream, Water, Cheddar Cheese (Pasteurized Milk, Cheese Culture, Salt, Enzymes, Annato, Powdered Cellulose [To Prevent Caking]), Contains 2% or less of: Butter (Cream, Salt), Modified Food Starch, Wheat Flour, Carrots, Hot Pepper Sauce (Distilled Vinegar, Red Pepper, Salt) and Spice.  Plus - 850 mg of sodium and 19g of fat -- 11g of which are saturated.

The hot dogs are from Applegate Farms - so they are far better than many hot dogs but are hot dogs nonetheless. They have 8g of fat and 330mg of sodium. 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 grilled cheese sandwich is made with cheddar or American on whole wheat bread.  We use Nature's Own Whole Wheat Bread for these. 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.

Fresh cucumbers and peppers with a full-fat organic ranch dressing for the dip. We serve a lot of these two vegetables because they are kid-friendly but they are also notoriously high in pesticide residue. The Environmental Working Group recommends you buy organic for these vegetables in particular - but we can't do that with a $3 lunch. 

Commodity applesauce,