Second Day Lunch Menu

Day two, loaded baked potato! Was that a real sentence? Ah, I don't care its my blog.

The word on the street was there were no complaints today that anyone heard. Yesterday there were a few complaints but that was because I was hoping with all the emphasis on food, food shows, health, and Michelle Obama messing with the public school system lunches that these kids taste buds would have evolved to enjoy or try hummus. Not so much. I am not sure about the rest of the country but in the south its "Ranch Nation" or maybe "Ranch Country". We don't even bother saying Hidden Valley Ranch or Ranch Dressing. We love it on about everything!  That, and HOT SAUCE y'all!!!

Ok, back to the spuds. Baked potato, chili, cheese, bacon bits, butter, sour cream, and a side salad! And yes, with ranch! LOL!

My right hand man Roberto has had to learn how I do things at a fast pace. He's holding up well, but it is only day 2...

First Day Lunch Menu

Today was our first day out on the new menu of the new school lunch program! Busy!

**Yeah, this is probably not my best picture. I got some weird looking smile on my face which makes me look goofy! [[Shrug]]**

We had Mediterranean style chicken wraps with veggies and hummus today. Man! I feel kind of embarrassed that I didn't even remember to get a picture! Right now my sous chef Roberto and I are running the show in the kitchen. We feel like everything went pretty smooth today but we know for the office and administration it was pretty crazy trying to get all the orders in!

We have four lunches. The daycare runs infants to k4 and they eat at 11:00am. Then the school runs three lunches as follows: k5-2nd grade 11:25am to 11:55am, 3rd-6th grade 12:00pm to 12:30pm, 7th-12th grade 12:50pm to 1:20pm.

Its a bit unusual to me to have four lunches but I think its an excellent combination of fitting each group of kids thru the cafeteria in an expedient manner and managing the quality & volume of the food for each group. If your running behind this schedule gives you a chance to catch up before the next lunch comes thru and not bottle neck by trying to get the total amount of food out at one time! The kitchen is limited in space in both storage and physical work area.

I wanna give a shout out to my man Roberto! Excellent job today! I know its a steep learning curve...but I'll try my best to keep you from cutting off a finger or two!

Favorites This Week

Below are a few things I found this week I like. Each picture was borrowed from, and has a link to the original post so hopefully I am not breaking online etiquette. Merely trying to bring attention to some cool ideas and a few new things.[click pics for link back to articles]

Cheese & Herb Waffle BLT! Need I say more? Click the link and get the recipe.

The Pioneer Woman really spoke to my stomach on this one...Pepperoni Pizza Burgers!

Sweet Potato Pancakes from The Gingered Whisk!

Home made peanut butter(or any nut)! Love the recipe and instructional over at Michael Ruhlman's and of course all excellent photography done by his wife: Donna Ruhlman!

Kitchen is Open! Lunch Menu - Go!

Awhile back I posted that I started a new job. It was a 'startup' of sorts. I am working for a private academy that has a commercial kitchen but had not been in the position to start a school lunch program. Now they are.

We spent weeks on plans, lunch menus, instructions, manuals, lining up vendors, tweaking the way we do things, 'courting' the health department...I did not want to start posting on this venture till I knew we were in the clear and things were about to kick off. That's why I have not posted much this week. But now...

The kitchen was approved today by the Health Department for its permit to operate! There are still a few things to work on but they are mostly minor.

Starting Monday we will kick off our school lunch program for the Academy...its going to be BUSY, and CRAZY! If you want to check out the school and the lunch menu go HERE! (Right hand corner, read: Lunch Menu)

Woo-Hoo!

Favorites This Week

Below are a few things I found this week I like. Each picture was borrowed from, and has a link to the original post so hopefully I am not breaking online etiquette. Merely trying to bring attention to some cool ideas and a few new things. [click pics for link back to articles]

Over at The Girl Who Ate Everything Walking Tacos has resurfaced!

A great Idea that is really an oldie...Recipe & great pictures included! - Its like Frito-Pie in a bag!

Pod Rooms - Small $100 hotel rooms in NYC! Great idea, fun concept, brilliant design!

Black Kuro Burger (by Burger King!) - Bamboo charcoal ash mixed in with bun and black squid ink ketchup...Mmmm, mouth watering, eh?

 This brought back fond memories of a little restaurant in the North End of Boston called Limoncello! At the end of every meal it was customary to finish with a small drink of Limoncello. I like the idea of making my own just because of these wonderful memories but alas a small bottle would probably last for 10 years around our house!