GWL Nutrition Committee : April 2013

What's for Lunch - Friday, April 26th

MACARONI & CHEESE
Barilla Plus Pasta with Wisconsin Cheddar
OR
Breaded Chicken Caesar Wrap
Pepper & Celery Sticks w/Dip
More Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Pears in Fruit Juice

The noodles we're using for the Mac n cheese are 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 sauce is made from Wisconsin Cheddar.

The chicken caesar wrap is also made with Tyson chicken and the wrap is probably not whole grain. The chicken is Tyson. It is described as "1/2" diced chicken meat" and as "boneless, skinless, and fully cooked." It is chicken breast.

Fresh peppers and celery with an organic ranch dressing dip.

Canned pears are from China.

What's for Lunch - Thursday, April 25th

HOMEMADE BREADED CHICKEN CUTLET
Brown Rice & Black Beans
Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Strawberry-Yogurt Smoothie

I'm not sure about the homemade chicken cutlet. This will be chicken from Tyson and presumably we are breading it ourselves.

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 smoothie will be made with plain yogurt to which we add honey plus 1% milk and strawberries. The food service department says the strawberries are fresh -- we previously used frozen and have asked about the country of origin. Our fresh strawberries are from California

What's for Lunch - Wednesday, April 24th

BURGER BAR
NYS Local Beef
Burger or Cheeseburger
Lettuce/Onion/Tomato
Baked Potato “Puffs”
Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Fresh Fruit Salad

After much work, discussion and research, our district has discontinued the use of most USDA commodity beef for a variety of health reasons and contracted with a New York State farm to provide beef raised without antibiotics and hormones. It is more expensive and there is less beef on the menu as a result but it is a huge improvement in the quality of our lunches. So, enjoy your hamburger on a whole grain bun.

"Puffs" are commodity potatoes processed by McCain's into tater tots -- although they are labeled "frozen pre-formed potato rounds." They are flash-fried before they get to the frozen part. 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.

But -- there are lots of fresh fruits and vegetables on the salad bar. Don't the fruit and veggies look nice with the burger?

What's for Lunch - Tuesday, April 23rd

WHOLE WHEAT FRENCH BREAD PIZZA
Meatball Topping Available
Carrot Crunchers with Dip
Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Pineapple in Fruit Juice

Whole grain bread. The pizza sauce is from Red Pack and the ingredients are: Tomato concentrate (water, tomato paste), salt, citric acid, basil. We are making these pizzas - not frozen!

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.

Fresh carrots with organic full-fat Ranch dressing as the dip.

Canned pineapple in juice from China.

What's for Lunch - Monday, April 22nd

Whole Wheat Spaghetti w/Meatballs
Whole Grain Garlic Bread
Sauteed Zucchini w/Garlic & Oil
More Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Applesauce w/Cinnamon

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 noodles are whole wheat.

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.

We make the whole grain garlic bread ourselves. Fresh zucchini and other fresh sides. Commodity applesauce to which we add cinnamon

What's for Lunch - Friday, April 19th

What's for Lunch - Thursday, April 18th


Our Tacos

TACO BAR
NY State Ground Beef w/Lettuce,
Salsa & Cheese
Tortilla Shells -Hard & Soft
Vegetarian Taco available
Brown Rice & Zesty Beans
Veggie & Fruit at the Salad Bar
Petite Banana

Our district has contracted with a New York State farm to provide beef raised without antibiotics and hormones. It is more expensive and there is less beef on the menu as a result but it is a huge improvement in the quality of our lunches. We season and prepare this dish.

The hard taco shells from Mission foodservice contain: whole grain corn, water, vegetable oil (one or more of the following: cottonseed oil, corn oil or palm oil), contains 2% or less of niacin, reduced iron, thiamine, mononitrate, riboflavin lime. No sodium - 6g of fat (2 of which are saturated)

The soft shells 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).

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.

What's for Lunch - Wednesday, April 17th

Our Pizza Bagels

Latin-Style Chicken Strips
with Peppers & Onions &
Brown Rice
OR
Pizza Bagel w/Celery Sticks
More Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Orange Wedges

The chicken is from Tyson. It is described as "1/2" diced chicken meat" and as "boneless, skinless, and fully cooked." It is chicken breast.

We usually serve brown (whole grain) rice but in our facilities we cannot cook it per current recommendations to rinse repeatedly and boil in excess water which should be drained (like pasta) to remove as much arsenic as possible.

Pizza bagel is on a whole wheat bagel. 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.

Fresh celery, oranges and more from the salad bar

What's for Lunch - Monday, April 15th

APPLEGATE HOTDOG

Whole Wheat Bun

Whole Wheat Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Sweet Corn

Applesauce with Cinnamon

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.
The corn is canned and has added salt - 200mg per serving and the cans do contain BPA.

Applesauce and cinnamon.

OOPS!!! My bad...forgot to post Friday's lunch...it was Meatball parmigiana!!

What's for Lunch - Thursday, April 11th


Our French Bread Pizza

WHOLE WHEAT FRENCH BREAD PIZZA
With Broccoli or Plain
Sweet Corn
Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Fresh Fruit Salad

Whole grain bread. The pizza sauce is from Red Pack and the ingredients are: Tomato concentrate (water, tomato paste), salt, citric acid, basil. Fresh broccoli -- we are making these pizzas - not frozen!

The corn is canned and has added salt - 200mg per serving and the cans do contain BPA.

Various resh fruits and vegetables

What's for Lunch - Wednesday, April 10th

White Meat Chicken Tenders
Whole Grain Roll
Herbed-Potato Wedges
More Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Pineapple in Fruit Juice

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.

I have no information about the potatoes except you probably don't need a giant roll and potatoes with your breaded chicken.

Our potatoes generally come from McCain's Foodservice and are typically a flash-fried and frozen fry, etc.

Canned pineapple in juice from China.

What's for Lunch - Tuesday, April 9th

Homemade Baked Ziti
Whole Grain Garlic Bread
Sauteed Zucchini w/Garlic & Oil
More Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Applesauce w/Cinnamon

The ziti is a white flour pasta with some protein by 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 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).

Whole grain garlic bread is made in-house and by all reports yummy. Zucchini is fresh and also made here.

Commodity applesauce to which we add cinnamon.

What's for Lunch - Monday, April 8th

BRUNCH FOR LUNCH
Cinnamon Challah French Toast w/ (Order Entree #1)
Applegate® Turkey Bacon
OR
Scrambled Egg & Cheese Wrap w/ (Order Entree #2)
Potato Puffs ~ Orange Rounds

I'm really curious as to why we stopped serving whole wheat french toast to go back to the 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.

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.

I do not believe the wrap used for the egg and cheese is whole grain. But they do use actual eggs like you would use at home.

Fresh oranges.

Then there are the commodity potatoes processed by McCain's into tater tots -- although they are labeled "frozen pre-formed potato rounds." They are flash-fried before they get to the frozen part. 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

What's for Lunch - Friday, April 5th

MACARONI & CHEESE (Order Entree #1)
Barilla Plus Pasta with
Wisconsin Cheddar
OR
Breaded Chicken Caesar Wrap (Order Entree #2)
Carrot Sticks with Dip
Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Fresh Apple Slices

The noodles we're using for the Mac n cheese are 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 sauce is made from Wisconsin Cheddar.

Chicken is a flash-fried product from Tyson with 10g of fat and 620mg of sodium. Ingredients: 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.

Fresh carrots with full-fat organic ranch dressing. Fresh apples. Lots of good stuff on the salad bar.

What's for Lunch - Thursday, April 4th

Our Chicken Burrito

BURRITO!!
Southwest-Style ChickenS trips, Brown Rice (Order Entree #1)
& Black Beans
OR
1/2 Cheese Quesadilla (Order Entree #2)
Sweet Potato Puffs ~ Salsa
Petite Banana

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 chicken is from Tyson. It is described as "1/2" diced chicken meat" and as "boneless, skinless, and fully cooked." It is chicken breast. But sometimes...we get chicken with "grill marks" or "added smaoke flavor" but hopefully everything will go well....

I think we use Tyson's whole wheat tortillas. They have 4.5g of fat and 320mg of soidum. The ingredients are: Whole Wheat Flour, Water, Potato Starch with Monoglyceride, Soybean Oil, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (Contains one or more of the following: Cottonseed Oil, Soybean Oil) with Mono- and Diglycerides and/or Citric Acid, Honey Wheat Seasonong (Dextrose, Wheat Germ, Caramel Color, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Sucralose, Tricalcium Phosphate), contains 2% or less of the following: Vital Wheat Gluten, Salt, Leavening (Sodium Bicarbonate, Calcium Acid Pyrophosphate, Monocalcium Phosphate), Dough Conditioners (Wheat Flour, Calcium Sulfate, Sorbic Acid, Fumaric Acid), Preservative (Sodium Propionate (Propionic Acid, Sodium Hydroxide (for pH adjustment), Water and Potassium Sorbate).

The quesadilla has Monterrey Jack cheese and the beans and tortilla described above.

And then we have The Return of the Tater Tot - a product we thought we had sent packing years ago. This processed flash-fried 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.

Fresh banana.

What's for Lunch - Wednesday, April 3rd


Strawberry-Yogurt Smoothies served from the Salad Bar


"Bites" shown here.

All White Meat Chicken“Bites”
Fresh Garlic Bread
Oven-Baked Potato w/Toppings
More Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Strawberry-Yogurt Smoothie

The chicken is a Tyson flash-fried "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.

We make the garlic bread.

The smoothie will be made with plain yogurt to which we add honey plus 1% milk and strawberries. The food service department says the strawberries are fresh -- we previously used frozen and have asked about the country of origin. Our fresh strawberries are from California.

"oven-baked potato w/ toppings" may make you think fresh baked potato - like you would get in the produce aisle. But probably not. Most likely commodity quartered white potatoes shipped frozen to us from a company like McCain's

What's for Lunch - Tuesday, April 2nd

BETTER THAN A PIZZERIA
THIN CRUST PIZZA
BBQ Chicken (Order Entree #1)
OR
Plain Cheese (Order Entree #2)
Sauteed Broccoli with Garlic
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.

The chicken is some kind of frozen Tyson product. I believe it is supposed to be Tyson's diced chicken breast but we also sometimes get "dark meat strips with grill marks" which have 7g of fat and 340mg of sodium, Ingredients are: Boneless, skinless chicken leg meat, water, seasoning (dextrose, salt, brown sugar, chicken stock, maltodextrin, flavors, yeast extract, molasses, disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate), soy protein concentrate, modified food starch, sodium phosphates. BUT we have also gotten diced chicken breast for both Tyson and a company called Pierce before. Read more about farm animals raised by industrial giants like Tyson, antibiotics and hormones.

Canned pears are from China. Lots of good vegetable choices.