Meal components: The original building blocks As a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, I am passionate about people eating well and love what they eat simultaneously. That is why I am proud that Zee Zees® better- for-you snacks have been specifically designed to meet K12 meal component requirements and are approved for most school meal programs. They are made to be the building blocks of a great menu that students will want to participate in.
What blocks do we need to make a perfect meal at school? The blocks that we all work with collectively consist of protein in the form of meat or a meat alternate, fruit, grains, dairy, and vegetables. We know students who eat balanced will learn better and have more energy for fun activities like recess. How do we feed our kids when food and labor costs keep increasing? We have to make sure students eat more delicious and nutritious food while making the service of that food easy on staff. The first building block for any good menu is finding the right source of protein. More children and families are looking to plant-based protein options as their main protein source. To answer that call, my team has various on-trend shelf-stable plant protein options for meal planning with nut-free facilities, grab-and-go choices like savory hummus cups and bean dip, sunflower kernels, and Cruncherz roasted chickpeas. One of our newest options is Zee Zees Kettle Corn Roasted Chickpeas – which has a touch of sweetness that most children enjoy. The best part is that the roasted chickpeas are individually wrapped to easily add to grab-and-go boxes or on the line at school. There are also the additions of two trail mixes which consist of sunflower kernels and a dried fruit. Speaking of the fruit building block . Applesauce, diced fruit cups, and dried fruit are the quickest options to make meal planning easy when adding fruit to your menus. Zee Zees reduced-sugar applesauce comes in fun flavors like Rock’N Blue Raspberry and Wild Watermelon. We also have unsweetened applesauce with delicious
flavors like mango-peach and strawberry-banana. Zee Zees diced peaches, diced pears, harvest mixed fruit, and mandarin oranges are packed with 100% fruit juice, not syrup. And Zee Zees Mixzees dried fruit, regular raisins, fun sour raisins, and soon dried pineapple are a tasty and portable way for students to get their fruit servings in the classroom or on the go. Adding whole grains to school meals is such an important foundation for students to have sustainable energy throughout the day. My team has soft-baked bars, wheat crackers, and graham crackers to help with this. Our popular line of wholesome and delicious soft baked bars with fun flavors like Campfire S’mores, Birthday Cake, Cocoa Cherry, and Blueberry Lemon, to name a few. The whole-grain graham crackers are r ready for dipping or a quick snack on the go. I have seen many schools pair them with yogurt. The graham crackers also come in four flavors – Original, Strawberry, Birthday Cake, and French Toast. Zee Zees wheat crackers are great for dipping into our Zee Zees hummus and original Bean Dipz. Here are some ideas for reimbursable meal kits: • Dried fruit or a fruit cup,yogurt,and graham crackers • Hummus/bean dip, wheat crackers, and a salad • Trail mix, string cheese, and a soft-baked bar I am excited to see more innovative solutions coming out soon to make your life in food service as easy and enjoyable as possible – and keep making the students excited for breakfast and lunch at the same time.
Michele is a registered dietitian with a B.S. in Dietetics from Michigan State University, where she was also Vice President of the MSU Food and Nutrition Association. She originally started her career as a Food Service Director for a couple of districts in the Midwest and now is an Account Manager for National Food Group. Michele also serves as a committee chair for IL-SNA. She is passionate about reshaping the idea of school lunches and works hard to help food service and nutrition directors find creative and healthy menu solutions that fit the budget, kitchen capability, and USDA nutrition standards they all face daily. National Food Group Michele Clark, RDN SN
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