Healthier Ingredients for Healthier Kids
October 25, 2022 | By
We’ve all picked up a snack at the store and discovered that the nutrition label contains a plethora of mystery ingredients - often additives and unfamiliar ingredients we can’t pronounce. Sometimes we’ll put that box back on the shelf and make a healthier choice. But many foods don’t come with a nutrition label, like lunch trays. Those same additives & processed ingredients often find their way into school meals, and into the growing bodies of our kids.
Scratch-Made Mac
Mac and Cheese is a kid-favorite dish just about everywhere! Common mac and cheese recipes come from a prepackaged box that is usually high in sodium and contains numerous preservatives, artificial food colorings, and fake cheese products.
Our homemade cheese sauce recipe allows you to control the sodium content by seasoning it yourself. It also incorporates simple dairy ingredients and whole grain pasta for a creamy, nutritious made-from-scratch dish.
Scratch-Made Mac
Mac and Cheese is a kid-favorite dish just about everywhere! Common mac and cheese recipes come from a prepackaged box that is usually high in sodium and contains numerous preservatives, artificial food colorings, and fake cheese products.
Our homemade cheese sauce recipe allows you to control the sodium content by seasoning it yourself. It also incorporates simple dairy ingredients and whole grain pasta for a creamy, nutritious made-from-scratch dish.
French Toast Makeover
French toast sticks are a fast-food-style school food staple and are often high in preservatives and sugar. Our recipe remixes these sugary sticks into a homestyle casserole dish.
This French Toast Casserole incorporates whole grain bread, fresh dairy products, and limited amounts of sugar and cinnamon for a yummy take on this traditional breakfast dish. We recommend serving with a fruit sauce for a healthier alternative to syrup products, which can often be loaded with high fructose corn syrup. Preparing this delicious casserole and fruit sauce from scratch can also help phase-out single-use packaging from your students’ lunch trays - a win for your students’ health and the environment.
French Toast Makeover
French toast sticks are a fast-food-style school food staple and are often high in preservatives and sugar. Our recipe remixes these sugary sticks into a homestyle casserole dish.
This French Toast Casserole incorporates whole grain bread, fresh dairy products, and limited amounts of sugar and cinnamon for a yummy take on this traditional breakfast dish. We recommend serving with a fruit sauce for a healthier alternative to syrup products, which can often be loaded with high fructose corn syrup. Preparing this delicious casserole and fruit sauce from scratch can also help phase-out single-use packaging from your students’ lunch trays - a win for your students’ health and the environment.
Dressing it Fresh
Making your own ranch dressing is such an easy win, since kids absolutely love ranch with their favorite veggie sticks and salads. Our recipe calls for blending together zesty herbs along with fresh dairy products into a creamy, delicious dressing.
This recipe is great to make in a large batch - it’ll stay fresh when refrigerated for up to two weeks. Making salad dressings from scratch also eliminates single serve packets from your food program. We’ve seen firsthand that kids eat more veggies when they have this homemade ranch to dip them in!
Dressing it Fresh
Making your own ranch dressing is such an easy win, since kids absolutely love ranch with their favorite veggie sticks and salads. Our recipe calls for blending together zesty herbs along with fresh dairy products into a creamy, delicious dressing.
This recipe is great to make in a large batch - it’ll stay fresh when refrigerated for up to two weeks. Making salad dressings from scratch also eliminates single serve packets from your food program. We’ve seen firsthand that kids eat more veggies when they have this homemade ranch to dip them in!
Pizza to Be Proud Of
Another great method to start transitioning away from a highly-processed menu item is to assemble your own pizzas. You can prepare your own pizzas by simply purchasing a high quality, whole grain, oven rising crust and topping it with homemade marinara sauce, shredded cheese and any kind of toppings. The options for what you can put on a pizza are endless - especially when it comes to veggies! Kids will love this speed scratch recipe and staff can feel good about both the quality and taste of the pizza.
Pizza to Be Proud Of
Another great method to start transitioning away from a highly-processed menu item is to assemble your own pizzas. You can prepare your own pizzas by simply purchasing a high quality, whole grain, oven rising crust and topping it with homemade marinara sauce, shredded cheese and any kind of toppings. The options for what you can put on a pizza are endless - especially when it comes to veggies! Kids will love this speed scratch recipe and staff can feel good about both the quality and taste of the pizza.
Fried Chicken - Simplified
Our oven fried chicken recipe is a healthier version of a traditional fried chicken dish - a comfort food classic. When you make a recipe like this from scratch, you can choose where your food comes from, control the seasoning, and oven roast rather than fry the chicken.
We recommend sourcing organic chicken from a local farm if possible and hand breading in-house for a perfectly crispy, flavorful dish. The final product is not only delicious and satisfying, but you can feel good about serving this high quality, healthier chicken to your students so they have the proper fuel to make it through their school day!
Fried Chicken - Simplified
Our oven fried chicken recipe is a healthier version of a traditional fried chicken dish - a comfort food classic. When you make a recipe like this from scratch, you can choose where your food comes from, control the seasoning, and oven roast rather than fry the chicken.
We recommend sourcing organic chicken from a local farm if possible and hand breading in-house for a perfectly crispy, flavorful dish. The final product is not only delicious and satisfying, but you can feel good about serving this high quality, healthier chicken to your students so they have the proper fuel to make it through their school day!
