Happy Holidays!

No School Lunch until Jan. 2 -- we'll see you then!

What's for Lunch - Fri., 12/21

Chicken Bites, Sweet Potato Puffs and Roll as served in our school

Cup of Soup
All White Meat Chicken “Bites”
Whole Grain Roll
Sweet Potato Puffs
Fresh Fruit Salad

No Salad Bar

We have a lot of good lunches in our school but this is not one of them.

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.

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.

We serve a variety of soups. Please note that the broccoli and cheese soup at least does contain chicken stock and rendered chicken fat.  The lentil soup is vegetarian. It looks like we may also have served a turkey soup and a roasted vegetable soup.  I suspect today will be broccoli and cheese - which is not vegetarian. 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.

Plus, giant whole grain-ish roll and fresh fruit.

What's for Lunch - Thurs., 12/20

BETTER-THAN-A-PIZZERIA (Order Entree #1)
Thin Crust Pizza with Homemade Sauce, Fresh Mozzarella & Basil
OR
Cup of Soup with 1/2 Pizza Slice (Order Entree #2)
Caesar Salad
More Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Pears in Fruit Juice

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.

We serve a variety of soups. Please note that the broccoli and cheese soup at least does contain chicken stock and rendered chicken fat.  The lentil soup is vegetarian. It looks like we may also have served a turkey soup and a roasted vegetable soup.  I suspect today will be broccoli and cheese - which is not vegetarian. 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.

Canned pears.

What's for Lunch - Wed., 12/19

Whole Wheat French Toast (Order Entree #1)
Applegate® Turkey Bacon
OR
Scrambled Egg & Cheese Wrap (Order Entree #2)
Herb-Roasted, Long Island Potatoes
Strawberry-Grape Cup

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. Read more about nitrates here.

The potatoes are local, and we make this dish ourselves.

I do not believe the wrap used for the egg and cheese is whole grain. 

The strawberries and grapes are fresh but unfortunately these fruits are some of the worst in terms of pesticide residue - but a $3 lunch cannot include organic fruits and vegetables.

What's for Lunch - Tues., 12/18

Previous Year's Chicken Burrito - Not Currently Served with Chips

BURRITO (Order Entree #1)
Brown Rice, Black Beans & Southwest-Style Chicken
Rolled in Whole Wheat Tortilla
w/Salsa/Lettuce/Cheese
OR
Rice & Black Bean Taco Tub (Order Entree #2)
Lettuce/Cheese/Salsa
Celery Sticks ~ Fresh Apple

The brown rice is a whole grain but as previously discussed cannot be cooked in a way that minimizes the arsenic content.

The black beans are canned and the ingredients are "BLACK BEANS, WATER, SALT, AND CALCIUM CHLORIDE" with 140mg of sodium.

 The southwest-style chicken is a processed USDA commodity food from Tyson and described as "fully cooked boneless skinless chicken dark meat chicken fajita strips -smoke flavor added." Here are the ingredients: "Chicken dark meat, water, seasoning [salt, spices, dehydrated garlic, dehydrated onion, sugar, chili powder (chili pepper, cumin, oregano, salt, garlic powder), lemon juice powder (corn syrup solids, lemon juice, lemon oil), modified corn starch, natural mesquite smoke flavor (maltodextrin, natural smoke flavor), natural flavor (from partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil)], modified food starch and sodium phosphates."  The "partially hydrogenated" oil is a source of trans fat.  Chicken has 7g of fat (2 of which are saturated) and 490 mg of sodium.

I do not have the details on the whole wheat tortilla.


Cheese is Monterrey Jack and the Green Mountain salsa is organic.

Read more about farm animals raised by industrial giants like Tyson,  antibiotics and hormones. 


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. So you can skip the chicken and go with the tub.

Fresh celery and apple.

What's for Lunch - Mon., 12/17

PASTA MONDAY!
Whole Wheat Rotini w/ Meatballs (Order Entree #1)
OR
Whole Wheat Rotini w/ Mozzarella & Broccoli (Order Entree #2)
Baby Carrots with Dip
Pineapple In Juice

This is a whole grain rotini by Zerega.  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, Spices, Salt, Citric Acid, Garlic Powder, Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid), Black Pepper, Vitamin E (DL-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate), Natural Flavor, Vitamin A (Retinol Palmitate)

The meatballs are are processed, cooked and frozen by Tyson.  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.

So, go with the fresh broccoli and the mozzarella (part skim.)

Carrots are domestic and served with a full fat organic ranch dressing.

Pineapple is packed in juice and is a product of Thailand. 

Weekend Reading -- and Local Fun

Reading

It happened. The USDA has caved and is relaxing the IOM recommendations for school lunch in response to lobbying by big food. Read more here and here. 

Childhood obesity rates have finally started to drop a little here and there.

Still need to send gifts to far-flung relatives? I like this list on Take Part of mail order food gifts you can feel at least less bad about about shipping.

Consider some healthier latkes recipes over at the NYT for the last night of Chanukah. 

Newsday did a nice round-up of where you can still get fresh, local produce here on Long Island. 

The Wall Street Journal had a great article on heirloom grains if you're looking for something new to try.

Fun

Bailey Arboretum is hosting a family nature adventure Sunday at 1pm  called "Nature Art" - kids make sculptures from things found in the woods.