Recipe/Menu Assignment for Food Insecure Population
Day 1
Breakfast
Top Your Own Toast
(Serves 1)
Ingredients:
- 2 pieces of Arnold Stone
Ground Whole Wheat
Bread
- 2 TB Hampton Farms Ingredients:
Creamy Peanut butter
- 1 small banana, sliced
- 1 cup 2% Milk
Directions:
1. Toast your bread to
preferred doneness
2. Spread 1 TB of peanut
butter on each piece of
toast
3. Top with banana slices
4. Enjoy with a glass of
cold milk
Recipe/Menu Development Food Insecure Population Community Assignment
Lunch Snack Dinner
Build Your Own Bean Quick Protein & Simple Sunflower Seed
tacos with Veggies Salad
Homemade Corn (Serves 1) (Serves 4)
Salsa
(Serves 4) Ingredients: Ingredients:
-1 Egg - 1 package Dole Chopped
-5 carrot sticks Salad Kit- Sunflower Crunch
- 2 ears corn on the -5 celery sticks - 1 package Market Street
cob, fresh -2 TB Helluva Good Classics Premium Chunk
- 1 Anaheim chili Dip - French Onion Chicken
pepper Flavor - 1 cucumber, sliced
- 1 lime - 4 dinner rolls
- onion, diced Directions:
-- 1 tomato, diced 1. Place egg in pot of Directions:
- 1 can Mothers Maid cold water, put heat on 1. Combine salad kit, chicken
Vegetarian Beans high and boil. Once and cucumber slices with
- 8 flour tacos boiling, cook for 12 kits included citrus dressing
- cup cheddar minutes. Remove egg 2. Serve with a dinner role!
cheese, shredded from water and
- cup shredded immediately put under
romaine cold water.
-4 TB sour cream 2. Peel egg, use salt and
pepper TT for egg and
Directions: use dip for carrots and
1. Boil corn until celery.
cooked, cool.
2. Char Anaheim
pepper on a burner until
blackened, once cooled,
peel skin off and dice.
3. Cut corn kernels off
cob, combine with juice
of 1 lime, diced pepper,
diced onion, and diced
tomato.
4. Warm beans through
in a pot and flour
tortillas in the oven.
5. Assemble tacos with
tortillas, beans, corn
salsa, shredded lettuce,
cheese, and sour
cream.

Breakfast
Green Eggs Breakfast
Sandwich
(Serves 1)
Ingredients:
-2 cups Fresh Express
Baby Kale Mix
- 2 eggs
- tsp vegetable oil
- 1 slice cheddar cheese
- 1 Thomas Nooks &
Crannies Light English
Muffin, toasted
- 2 slices of cantaloupe
- 1 cup 2% milk
Directions:
1. Steam baby kale in
microwave until wilted
2. In a small bowl whisk
eggs and wilted kale
together
3. Use oil to coat the inside
of a small circular Tupper
ware, add egg/kale mixture
4. Microwave for 1 minute,
top with cheese and
microwave 30 more
seconds until eggs are
cooked and cheese is
melted
5. Flip eggs out onto
toasted English muffin and
make sandwich
6. Enjoy with glass of milk
and cantaloupe
Recipe/Menu Development Food Insecure Population Community Assignment
Day 2
Snack Lunch Dinner
Yogurt Parfait Classic Grilled Ratatouille Chicken
(Serves 1) Cheese & Tomato Fettuccine
Ingredients: Soup (Serves 4)
-1 Light Peach Activia (Serves 2)
Yogurt Ingredients:
-1/4 cup pineapple, Ingredients: - 2 TB vegetable oil
cubed - 1 can Great American - 1 # chicken drumsticks
-1 Belvita breakfast bar Tomato Soup -1 small eggplant, cubed
crushed - 4 pieces of Arnold - 1 zucchini squash, sliced
Stone Ground Whole - 1 bell pepper
Directions: Wheat Bread - 2 cloves garlic, minced
1. Combine all - 2 TB butter - onion, chopped
ingredients in a bowl - 4 slices cheddar -2 cans Furmans Tomato
and enjoy cheese Sauce
- 2 TB fresh basil, chiffonade
Directions: - 1 package of Buitoni
1. Warm tomato soup in Fettuccine
a large bowl in the
microwave Directions:
2. Heat saut pan to 1. Heat vegetable 1 TB of oil
medium in large pan over high heat.
3. Spread butter on one 2. Sear chicken drumsticks on
side of each slice of all sides, remove from pan
bread and place on plate to side.
4. Use 2 slices of cheese 3. Turn heat to medium high,
for each sandwich, add rest of vegetable oil and
combine with buttered eggplant. Cook until mostly
side on the outside tender, about 7 minutes
5. Cook sandwiches 3. Add zucchini squash, cook
until browned on each 4 minutes more
side and cheese is 4. Add bell pepper, garlic and
melted. onion, cook until pepper is
6. Slice sandwich tender, and onion is
diagonally and serve translucent, about 5-7
with bowl of tomato minutes.
soup 5. Add 2 cans of tomato
sauce and chicken
drumsticks, turn to medium
low heat and cook until
chicken is cooked through,
about 45 minutes, add basil
in the last few minutes
6. Boil fettucine according to
package directions
7. Combine fettucine and
ratatouille chicken sauce,
enjoy!

Breakfast
Fall for Oatmeal
(Serves 1)
Ingredients:
-1/2 cup dry oats
-1/2 apple, chopped,
skinned
- 1 cup 2% milk (more or
less depending on
preferred consistency)
- cup Libbys pumpkin diced
puree
-2 TB Orchard Park
Original Syrup
Directions:
1. Microwave apple in a
microwave safe bowl for 1
minute
2. Mix oats, milk and
pumpkin puree with apple
3. Microwave for 1-3
minutes until desired
consistency is achieved
4. Top with maple syrup
and enjoy!
All recipes developed by myself with ingredients available at the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, 6735 E Black Horse
Pike, EHT, NJ 08234.
Recipe/Menu Development Food Insecure Population Community Assignment
Day 3
Lunch Dinner Snack
Egg Salad hoagie & Black Cherry Chili Stir Chocolate Covered Fruits
Side of Squash Fry (Serves 4)
(Serves 2) (Serves 4) Ingredients:
- 1 container Dolci Frutta
Ingredients: Ingredients: Hard Chocolate Shell
- 4 eggs - 2 cups rice, cooked - 1 cup strawberries
- cup Maple Hills - 2 TB vegetable oil - 1 cup pineapple, cubed
Plain Whole Yogurt - 1 red bell pepper, - 2 bananas, sliced
- 2 stalks of celery, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled, Directions:
- 1 cup romaine, chopped 1. Melt chocolate in
chopped - 1 can water chestnuts microwave according to
- 1 long hoagie roll - can Early Garden directions
- 1 TB vegetable oil Sweet Peas 2. Dip fruit and lay on a sheet
- 2 zucchini squash, - 1 package Franklin pan or plate
sliced Farms Edamame 3. Refrigerate until chocolate
- 1 TB Mrs. Dash - 1 package Tsang shell hardens.
Lemon pepper Black Cherry Chili 4. Enjoy!
Simmering Sauce
Directions:
1. Place eggs in pot of Directions:
cold water, put heat on 1. Cook box of rice
high and boil. Once according to package
boiling, cook for 12 directions, set aside 2
minutes. Remove eggs cups for this meal (save
from water and the rest for leftovers)
immediately put under 2. Heat vegetable oil in
cold water. saut pan over medium
2. Start side dish by high heat
sauting zucchini in 3. Cook peppers and
vegetable oil until carrots until tender,
tender, season with about 5-7 minutes
Mrs. Dash. 4. Add water chestnuts,
3. While thats cooking, peas, edamame, and
chop hardboiled eggs simmering sauce and
and combine with cook until all ingredients
yogurt, and celery. are hot
4. Make hoagie with 5. Serve over rice!
egg salad mix and
chopped romaine.
Serve with zucchini
squash.
 Day 3 Nutrient Analysis

Meals Analyzed for 1 portion includes:

Fall for Oatmeal, Egg Salad Hoagie & Side of Squash, Black Cherry Chili Stir Fry, & Chocolate
Covered Fruits

Adult Female
Nutrients Day 3 DRI Child 6-8 DRI
Total 1693 1,642-1,742
Calories kcal 2,403 g kcal
Protein 58 g 46 g 19 g
Carbohydra
tes 224 g 130 g 130 g
71 g
Fat (38%) 20-35% 25-35%
Fiber 28 g 25 g 25 g
Calcium 719 mg 1,000 mg 800 mg
4,067
Sodium mg 2,300 mg 1,900 mg
(Nutrient Analysis conducted on USDA Super Tracker)

Explanatory Paragraph:

According to my nutrient analysis, most categories are either over or under the DRIs. For
total calories, the DRI is based off active people. The 2015 dietary guidelines, however, say an
adult womans total energy requirement could range from 1,800-2,400 kcal and a child
(male/female) 6-8 could range from 1,400-2,000 kcal depending on their level of activity. There is
so much variability in total calories that the 1,693 kcal found could either be extremely low for a
person if they are very active or it could be enough if they are very sedentary. If in fact it is low,
the Food Bank offered boxes of Kashi granola bars and fresh oranges, which would make a
delicious second snack and add approximately 366 kcals, whole grains and extra nutrients. For
macronutrients, carbohydrates were low while fat and protein were high for both the woman and
child. This day included a dessert as a snack, which added more fat from the chocolate than did
snacks from the other days so I do not believe the fat would always be this high. As for carbs and
protein, the menu could scale back on protein and add in more oats or rice for carbs. The calcium
was definitely lower than it should have been, this could be fixed by an additional cup of milk
with their chocolate covered fruit. Finally, the sodium was extraordinarily high which can mostly
be attributed to the Asian sauce in the stir fry for dinner. While a low sodium teriyaki sauce would
have been preferable, it was not available at the Food Bank. The sauce came in a packet though,
so instead of using the whole packet, the family could use only half and save the rest which
would reduce the amount of sodium consumed and provide more flavoring for another meal later
on. However, as there were a lot of canned goods at the Food Bank, sodium will always be a
concern. Families should rinse canned foods like vegetables and reduce the amount of added salt
theyre using on their food.

Triumphs, challenges, and observations:

I was really proud of the fact that I was able to create every recipe myself in a composed
menu that was not only pretty healthy, but also not lacking in flavor. The shoppers at the Food
Bank came from different backgrounds, so I attempted to make meals that appealed to different
cultures to show that it was possible to satisfy different families preferences. Prior to working in

Recipe/Menu Development Food Insecure Population Community Assignment

the Food Bank I thought itd be difficult to get a family enough fruits and vegetables, fiber and
protein, but it was surprisingly easy as there was an abundance of fresh/canned produce,
frozen/canned meats and whole grains. It is important to note though, that a family is at the
mercy of the inventory. For example, there was only a certain amount of rice available at the
beginning of the day so families who arrived later did not receive any. The most important thing
they could do is try to arrive at the beginning of the day to have access to a larger variety of
options. Finally, this menu does assume that the family has access to a stove, microwave and
refrigerator, which seemed to be true based off shoppers comments and food choices. However,
the menu could be adapted if any of these appliances were not available.
References:

United States Department of Agriculture. Reference Tables. Food and Nutrition Information
Center.
https://fnic.nal.usda.gov/sites/fnic.nal.usda.gov/files/uploads/179-193.pdf. Published 2003.
Accessed September 17, 2016.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2015 2020
Dietary Guidelines for
Americans. 8th Edition. http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/. Published
December 2015. Accessed September 17, 2016.

United States Department of Agriculture. Food Tracker. Super Tracker.

https://www.supertracker.usda.gov Updated
2016. Accessed September 17, 2016.

Recipe/Menu Development Food Insecure Population Community Assignment