LIMESTONE, Maine —FLICK Independent School Dining and their staff at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics who also cook up meals for the students of the Limestone Community School recently received honorable mention in the 2010 Whole Grains Challenge for their creativity in incorporating whole grains into their menus.
While the school’s culinary staff fell just shy of winning, the Whole Grains Council felt FLIK and the MSSM/LCS dining staff displayed so much creativity that the school deserved special recognition in the K-12 Public Schools Division.
One of the “secret’ healthy ingredients that the staff has successfully introduced into the students’ meals is the incorporation of the whole grain quinoa, (pronounced ki-nwa) which is a grain-like crop grown for its edible seeds.
Jeffrey Smith, director of dining services at the school have found that quinoa can be added to a variety of dishes like rice without creating a noticeable difference to taste and texture.
Smith and his staff uses a blend of whole grains (that includes quinoa) because “it takes on the taste of whatever we put it into,” he said.
Any time they think they can sneak some healthy whole grains into a menu item, in goes quinoa or barley. Members of the kitchen staff even shake the menu up by adding healthy deviations to standard recipes; instead of using regular garbanzo beans in their humus, for example, Smith will make black bean humus or to entice students to enjoy some yogurt and granola, he’ll add some enticing M&M’s.
Because all the cooking at the schools is done from scratch, Smith has been able to make popular dishes healthier, like serving pizza with a whole grain crust and offering more wheat bread to students (and Smith isn’t even certain that students have noticed the difference in the pizza crust).
“The hard part is getting students to try new things,” Smith said, and most parents are sure to understand his challenge.
Some of the menu-changing ideas are health conscious in more ways that one; the school has gone nut-free, for example, to better serve students with nut allergies.
Instead of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, students are presented with SunButter — a peanut butter alternative that is made from sunflower seeds. The switch wasn’t the prettiest, as kids tend to covet their PB n’J, but the 320 LCS students and the 118 MSSM students seem to be coming around to the SunButter.
While the school didn’t win first prize, the fact that the non-profit Whole Grains Council felt compelled to grant the MSSM/LCS menu honorable mention for their creativity says a lot about the hard-working folks who strive to keep students healthy and well-fed.
“It’s nice to be recognized,” Smith said, “there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes.”
