Day 3

On today's menu:

Chicken Tenders (was offered) OR

*Hamburger or Cheeseburger on Whole Grain Bun (these surprisingly were not offered) OR

Chef Salad w/ Crackers

*Baked Tater Tots

Variety of Fresh Fruit (which included: apple, orange or nectarine)

Mixed Vegetables

*Baked Apple

An asterisk(*) denotes components of Balanced Choices meals that meet strict nutrient parameters for calories, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, fiber, sodium, and other key nutrients. All Balanced Choices meals include a choice of 1% or less milk.

The lunch line looked pretty good again. This time about four chef salads were on display and as you can see only one tray of fresh fruit.

So far in the adventure, this was the worst day.

The chicken tenders were anything but tender. They were stiff with grainy breading on them. I remembered to pick up some ranch for dip. I mistakenly picked up BBQ sauce thinking it was ketchup. It didn't matter. Neither were able to entice me to eat all of the chicken. I am shocked that I now prefer the chicken rings from last week which were at least soft like you'd expect chicken to be.

The tater tots looked good and like tater tots. Nevertheless, if you had blind folded me and put one in my mouth, I would not have been able to identify it by taste. They were flavorless.

Nectarine was my fruit choice today. It looked so juicy delicious. I saved it for last; my reward for eating the lunch. One bite and my love affair was over.

It was frozen and tasteless and discolored.
Very disappointing.

The highlight of the lunch for me today was the mixed vegetables. Still had on oily taste to them, but was not over cooked.


I've included a picture of another lunch tray with a chef salad. On closer examination, it really looks good. It was colorful, with tomatoes, purple cabbage and some darker green leaves of lettuce (not sure if it was still iceberg or not). I forgot to ask what kind of meat was on it, but probably ham.

I found it interesting that I felt like I was cheating today. I didn't take the milk, but instead took an iced tea. I didn't eat in the cafeteria, but rather went to the teachers lounge. I also had to really give myself a "pep" talk to go back up to the school to have the lunch.

I also want to report that after today's lunch I was still hungry. And remained hungry. I wonder if this was caused because I didn't drink a milk. Maybe that's the reason for the big push for kids getting milk, not only for the vitamins and minerals, but purely for the calorie count.

That's it for today. Join me again tomorrow.

Day 2

The food was not as appealing as it was yesterday. The colorful display of Chef salads were gone and there wasn't as much fresh fruit on the shelf/counter. While I waited in line they had two Chef Salads on the shelf. After I left the line, so did the display of Chef Salads.

Without a visual cue, I'm not sure how the kids (or myself) would know that there is a choice of main course. Unless the line server remembers to ask which item you want.

I didn't make a note of my arrival time today, as the line was rather short and we all got through much quicker than yesterday.

I apologize for the blurry picture. I think you can still make out what everything is. Canned fruit was right next to the fresh fruit today. The fresh choice consisted of banana, plum or (maybe two types of) apple. That silver tray on the top shelf is filled with saltine crackers for the Chef Salad found just to the left of the tray.


Today's meal choices:
Chicken Rings OR Chef Salad w/ Crackers
Whole Grain Dinner Roll
Baked Beans was on the menu. Actually served: peas
Potato Salad was on the menu. Actually served: mashed potato with white gravy
Chilled Pears OR Variety of Fresh Fruit

I chose the Chicken Rings and fresh apple. The lunch tray comes with milk. However, adults (and only adults) may choose to skip the milk and pick iced tea. Today, I chose to take the milk and pay extra for an iced tea. Total cost: $3.10 ($2.60 for lunch, .50 for the tea).

I found out today it's best to bring exact change for lunch. I was holding up the line a bit waiting for change to be made.


The chicken rings were bland. At the suggestion of one of the students (who was obviously an old pro at this), I dipped the rings in the gravy, and when that didn't satisfy, the gravy AND potatoes. I really would have preferred something with more flavor to dip into. Ranch dressing was available for the salads -- next time I will make a point of getting some for the chicken rings.

The roll was tasty but kind of dry. I looked for some butter or butter substitute to no avail. I ended up dipping it in the mashed potatoes and gravy too.

Peas were over cooked and had the feel of some sort of fat (butter?, oil?) on them.

Today I learned that as a student you must choose one of the main courses, and that you must take at least one side item. I watched one student choose the chicken rings, mashed potatoes with gravy, dinner roll and milk. That was it.

I sat near another student who chose almost the same thing, but included a banana. He didn't eat any of it. Not even the banana. He may have drank his milk.

Yesterday I was impressed with the food, today . . . not so much.

Tomorrow is Parent/Teacher Conference day. That means no school and no school lunch. I'll pick back up on Monday.

Have a great weekend.

Day 1

What an adventure it was today.

It was 11:23 when my daughter's class arrived at the cafeteria. I stood at the back of their class line as it moved more slowly than usual. I didn't sit down to eat until 11:47. By 11:55 her class began getting up and throwing their trash away. The entire class was gone by 12:00.

Confusion and the stalled line was caused by "allowing the kids an option of fresh fruit" according to the cafeteria manager. In the past, they simply had a choice between an apple or canned fruit of the day. Beginning today, the kids had the choice of canned fruit, a banana, a plum, an orange or a choice from three varieties of apples. WOW!! It was lovely to see all the fresh fruit and the many lunch trays with fresh fruit on it. Even better, most of the students ate the fruit or at least tasted it.

It was quite chaotic in the lunch room. Our cafeteria manager had three (3) of her supervisors there. Apparently they got word that I was coming to take pictures today. They all pitched in to help get the lunch ready. Normally we have a total of three adults doing all of the lunch prep and serving. Having six must have been a breath of fresh air for the regulars.

A food delivery service showed up while I was in line. He unloaded three hand-truck loads of frozen food while I ate.

Our cafeteria manager just took it all in stride and didn't skip a beat. I on the other hand was overwhelmed by the whole experience.

As for food today? It was a pretty good day. Soft Taco w/ Lettuce, Tomatoes and Cheese OR a Chef Salad w/ Crackers was served. Beans, rice and fruit were the sides. I picked the soft taco. I couldn't stomach the idea of an iceberg "Chef" salad with beans and rice on the side.



You'll notice that the lettuce, tomato (that's that pinkish/orangey stuff there with the lettuce) and cheese were on the skimpy side. That red stuff in the middle was "salsa", looking just like ketchup. The cost: $2.60

It was suggested that I use some sort of criteria each day to make a fair assessment of the lunch. I will contemplate this idea and get some input from others and may start that tomorrow.

Thanks for joining in the adventure. Come see what we have to eat tomorrow.