Meghan Keenan

Sodexo Dietetic Intern 2019

Recipe/Menu Assignment for Food Insecure Population

Day 1
Meal Ingredients
Breakfast: 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
Oatmeal – 2 serving 1 cup milk
Orange Juice 1 cup water
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp honey
Dried fruit or sliced almonds

1 cup of orange juice

Morning Snack: 10 white crackers
Crackers 5 slices of cheddar cheese
Cheddar Cheese 1 cup of grapes
Grapes
Lunch: 1 can tuna packed in water
Tuna and White Bean Salad – 4 servings 1 can no-salt-added white beans
1 large carrot
1 celery heart with leaves
1/4 cup red onion
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp black pepper
8 slices of bread (if making 4 sandwiches)
Snack: 1 apple, cored and sliced
Apple, Pretzels, and PB – 1 serving ~15 pretzels
2 tbsp peanut butter
Dinner: 1.5 cups of brown rice
Baked Chicken and Brown Rice – 4 servings 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
Milk 3 cups chicken stock, boiling
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
12 oz bag frozen mixed peas and carrots

1 cup of milk
Sources:
https://www.cookinglight.com/recipes/basic-oatmeal-recipe
https://www.capitalareafoodbank.org/2019/01/27/tuna-white-bean-salad/
Day 2
Meal Ingredients
Breakfast: 1 cup of cereal
Fortified cereal—1 serving 1 cup of milk
Milk 1 banana, sliced
Banana 1/4 cup blueberries
Blueberries 2 tbsp almonds, sliced
Almonds
Lunch: 1/4 cup mayonnaise
Curried Chicken Salad – 4 servings 1/2 tsp curry powder
1 can chicken, drain and reserve liquid
1 carrot, peeled and shredded
1 small apple, cored and chopped
2 tbsp chopped red onion
8 slices of wheat bread (if making 4 sandwiches)
Snack: 2 tbsp olive oil
Homemade Popcorn – 4 servings 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
Add salt to taste
Dinner: Turkey Meatloaf
Turkey Meatloaf -- 8 servings 1 lb ground turkey
Mashed Potatoes – 4 servings 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
Garlic Green Beans – 4-5 servings 1 small onion, chopped
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk of LS chicken broth
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Mashed Potatoes
1 box of instant mashed potatoes
2/3 cup water
1 tbsp butter or margarine
1/3 cup milk

Garlic Green Beans

1 bag frozen green beans
2 tbsp butter or margarine
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Sources:
https://www.capitalareafoodbank.org/2018/10/02/turkey-meatloaf/
https://www.capitalareafoodbank.org/2019/01/30/curried-chicken-salad/

Day 3
Meal Ingredients
Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs
Scrambled Eggs – 2 servings 1 tbsp butter or margarine
Wheat Toast 4 eggs
Grapes 1/4 shredded mild cheddar cheese
Milk 1/2 cup green or red pepper, chopped

1 slice of wheat toast with 1 tsp

butter/margarine

1 cup of grapes
1 cup of milk
Lunch: Chili
Veggie Chili -- 6 servings 2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 can no-salt-added black beans
1 can no-salt-added kidney beans
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste

Optional: Add some cheddar cheese or oyster

crackers on top
Snack: 2 cups rolled oats
Homemade Granola – 8 servings 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
Greek yogurt 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Banana 2 tbsp canola oil
4 tbsp honey
1/2 cup raisins

1 cup of Greek yogurt

1 Banana
 Dinner: 1 medium onion
Roasted Vegetable Pasta – 6 servings 1 small yellow or green squash
1 green or red bell pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
3 cups uncooked, whole wheat pasta
1 can tomato sauce
Sources:
https://www.capitalareafoodbank.org/2018/11/17/homemade-granola/
https://www.chelseasmessyapron.com/vegetarian-chili/ -- inspiration, not full recipe

DRIs:

Needs  Original Day 1 menu  Day 1 menu with morning snack added

Women: 30 years old, not pregnant/lactating, 5’6”, 130#, mod activity level
 Kcal: 2398 kcal/d  UNDER (1801 kcal)  2008 kcal
 CHO: 270-390 gm  UNDER (233 gm)  279 gm
 Pro: 47 gm  Meets needs (103 gm)  105 gm
 Fat: 53-93 gm  Meets needs (64 gm)  67 gm
 Fiber: 25 gm  Meets needs (31 gm)  34 gm
 Ca: 1000 mg  Meets needs (1080 mg)  1113 mg
 Na: 1500 mg  Meets needs (1070 mg)  1126 mg

Child: 8 years old, 4’5”, 70#, mod activity level

 Kcal: 2220 kcal/d  UNDER (1801 kcal)  2008 kcal
 CHO: 250-361 gm  UNDER (233 gm)  279 gm
 Pro: 30 gm  Meets needs (103 gm)  105 gm
 Fat: 62-86 gm  Meets needs (64 gm)  67 gm
 Fiber: 25 gm  Meets needs (31 gm)  34 gm
 Ca: 1000 gm  Meets needs (1080 mg)  1113 mg
 Na: 1000 gm  Meets needs (1070 mg)  OVER 1126 mg
If your menu analysis results in under-nutrition, explain in a paragraph what changes might
be helpful to get you closer to the target values. Make recommendations for excesses or
deficiencies.

My Day 1 menu resulted in undernutrition for total energy and carbohydrate needs for both the
woman and son. Even though the menu seemed like a large amount of food, the nutrient
analysis determined it to be below the calculated DRIs and my solution was to add another
snack in the morning to increase caloric intake. By doing this, my subjects were able to reach
their recommended carbohydrate intake but their total energy intake was still low. Another
idea to increase caloric intake is to add more nutrient-dense items (i.e. fats, oils, butter, peanut
butter, dairy, sour cream, etc) to the recipes and on top of food items. Other ways to add
calories to the diet is to slightly increase portion size, incorporating more starchy vegetables,
sprinkling some granola on top of cereal, and/or consuming more fatty fish (i.e. salmon). All of
these options could help to increase total energy intake and keep the subjects’ intake within
recommendations.

Submit the assignment for review: submit menu, nutrient analysis and a brief paragraph
describing 1-3 triumphs, challenges, and observations in developing the finished product.

Overall, I found that finding and creating recipes that incorporate food bank staples to be fun to
do. I enjoyed picking recipes that a whole family could potentially enjoy. I was pleasantly
surprised how many of my recipes, over the 3-days, used many of the same ingredients – which
made it more affordable and realistic for food insecure populations. One difficult aspect of this
project was trying to meet the DRIs for grown adults AND young children, since their needs
differ. But I understood the need for this exercise, as many food insecure families may not have
the time or money to make different meals for the children and themselves. Another obstacle
to this project was meeting caloric needs for both the woman and child. When I was creating
the menus, it seemed like a large amount of food to be served but it fell below recommended
needs. Part of this problem could be because I do not generally measure my own portion sizes –
so, I could be pouring what I think to be 1 cup of cereal but in reality, it is 1.5 cups. Maybe if I
accounted for larger portion sizes when completing the nutritional analysis, the subjects would
have met their total energy needs. After finishing this project, I do see how being resourceful,
both economically and creatively, is necessary when families rely on those limited ingredients
from food banks to feed their families.