What's for Lunch - Tues., 1/10

BURRITO
Chicken Breast and Cheese
w/ Brown Rice & Zesty Black Beans

Vegetarian Taco available
Brown Rice & Zesty Beans

Salad Bar Veggie & Fruit Sides

I've had a bean and cheese burrito at our school before and thought it was really quite good.  So, you can get the vegetarian version or the chicken. Last time it looks like the chicken we used was a Tyson fully-cooked diced chicken meat product.

The beans are canned as is the pineapple. The cheese is Monterey Jack and the tortilla is white flour - not whole grain.

Plus choice of fruit and veggie sides.

Action Alert: Tell the FDA to Label Poultry Fairly

From the Center for Science in the Public Interest:

Some unscrupulous meat and poultry producers add as much as 15 percent saltwater to their products—and then have the gall to label such pumped-up products “natural.” The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is calling for public comments regarding such labeling practices.

The “enhanced” poultry adds significant amounts of unneeded sodium to an otherwise healthy food, adding to Americans’ already excessive sodium consumption and gouging consumers with exorbitant prices for salt water. Consumers should not be misled by a false “natural” label claim and they have a right to label information that allows them to make informed, healthful decisions.
Please send a message to the USDA today, urging an end to this deceptive-labeling practice.

Sincerely,

Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D.

Founder and Executive Director

What's for Lunch - Mon., 1/9

BURGER BAR
100% Beef Burger or Cheeseburger
Lettuce/Onion/Tomato
Baked Sweet Potato “Fries”
Warm Apple Crisp

This is USDA commodity beef - but without fillers. You may wish to read more about ground beef in our Meatless Monday posts here and here.

Fresh toppings and apple crisp.

The sweet potato fries are processed frozen  fries we buy from McCains's, a big food service vendor. They contain: Sweet potatoes, vegetable oil (contains one or more of the following: canola oil, soybean oil, cottonseed oil, sunflower oil, corn oil), potato starch modified, rice flower, dextrin, sugar, leavening (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate), salt malt powder (malted barley, wheat flower, dextrose), natural flavor, dehydrated sweet potatoes, maltodextrin, molasses, spice and coloring, xanthan gum, corn starch-modified, triglycerides, annatto (color), sodium acid pyrophosphate added to preserve natural color. The label indicates they have 6g of fat and 170mg of sodium.

What's for Lunch - Fri. 1/6

Homemade Chicken Cutlet Parmigiana
Whole Wheat Penne Marinara
Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Fresh Apple Slices

We prepare this chicken in -house with a new recipe this year which is worth a try. We use frozen raw chicken (unprocessed). Our staff breads it with flour, egg and breadcrumbs.  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 cheese is probably the USDA commodity part skim mozzarella.  Ingredients are cultured pasteurized milk, salt, enzymes. The sodium is 240mg/oz - I think we use 2 ounces. The noodles are whole wheat.

Plus, fresh apple slices and choose your own veggies.

What's for Lunch - Thurs. 1/5

WHOLE WHEAT PITA PIZZA
Plain Cheese or with Broccoli
Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Orange Wedges

Exciting News1 The pita pizza is now whole grain! AND - the broccoli is fresh.

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 cheese is a USDA commodity part skim mozzarella.  Ingredients are cultured pasteurized milk, salt, enzymes. The sodium is 240mg/oz - I think we use 2 ounces.

Plus fresh orange slices and choose your own veggies from the salad bar.

What's for Lunch - Wed., 1/4

BRUNCH FOR LUNCH
Homemade Challah French Toast w/Orange Rounds
Applegate Turkey Bacon
Cucumber Sticks
Cinnamon Applesauce

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.

There are alternatives - check out this one, for example.

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. Read more about nitrates here.

On the upside, there are fresh cucumber slices and carrots plus applesauce with cinnamon.

What's for Lunch - Tues., 1/3

Happy New Year and Welcome Back to School

Lunch Menu:
All White Meat Breaded Chicken Chunks
Oil & Garlic Tossed Penne
Cucumber slices with Ranch dip
Chilled pineapple in juice


Note: There is no salad bar today or soup

These are fried, frozen Tyson "quality" chicken chunks.  Here are the ingredients for the chicken nuggets so you can decide for yourself:  Chicken, water, salt, and natural flavor. BREADED WITH: Wheat flour, water, wheat starch, white whole wheat flour, salt, yellow corn flour, corn starch, dried onion, dried garlic, dried yeast, brown sugar, extractives of paprika, and spices. Breading set in vegetable oil.

For the penne, we use 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.

Cucumber slices are fresh with an organic Ranch dip from Chelten.  Pineapple is a canned commodity.