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Save the Date
June 22-27, 2008

2008 Certification Institute
Augustana College

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Standardizing Recipes

Standardized recipes play a key role in ensuring compliance with the regulations of the School Meals Initiative for Healthy Children (SMI). Regardless of the menu planning option chosen by the school district, standardized recipes must be developed and used for all menu items. A standardized recipe must be developed for any menu item with more than one ingredient.

Benefits of Standardized Recipes
A standardized recipe is one that has been tested and adapted for use by a given food service operation and found to produce the same good results and yield every time when the exact procedures are used with the same type of equipment and the same quantity and quality of ingredients. Standardized recipes:

• Provide clear direction of what to do, when and how

• Help staff save time and work by enabling anyone to take the recipe and prepare the food with little supervision

• Ensure a uniform, consistent food product and a specific number of servings every time

• Ensure the nutrient analysis of a recipe is accurate

• Satisfy customers by providing consistent quality of the food item every time

• Make menu planning more consistent, yield is predictable, costs and inventory are easier to control

• Create confident foodservice staff who can produce good results each time with less supervision

• Ensure successful completion of state/federal reviews for meeting the USDA nutrient standards

Menu Items Requiring a Standardized Recipe
All food items with more than one ingredient must have a standardized recipe on file. Even simple items such as a tossed salad or grilled cheese sandwich must have a recipe and include yield and serving size.

Components of a Standardized Recipe
The new USDA Recipes for Schools (April 2006) provide good examples of the appropriate format for a standardized recipe. When working to standardize the recipes in your school district, these recipes should be used as a guide. Any modifications to the USDA recipes need to be specifically indicated to document how the recipe is made at your school. A standardized recipe should contain the following information:

Name of recipe: The name must clearly identify the recipe being used. If there are several recipes with similar names, consider using a numbering system.

Recipe category: Recipe classification based on USDA categories such as main dish, grains/breads, fruit/vegetables, etc.

Ingredient list: Ingredients are the foods used to prepare a recipe. Ingredient lists should include the form (i.e. fresh, frozen, canned, peeled, sliced, chopped, etc), packaging medium (i.e. canned in juice or light syrup, frozen with added sugar or plain), and fat content (i.e. 20% fat ground beef, 10% fat ground turkey). Standardized recipes list ingredients in the order they are to be weighed or measured.

Weight and measure: Ingredients in a standardized recipe are listed in both weight (pounds and ounces) and measure (i.e. tablespoons, cups, gallons). For dry ingredients (such as flour, peanut butter & shortening), weighing is always more accurate than measuring. Measure (volume) is used for liquid ingredients and small amounts of ingredients, such as 2 tablespoons.

Preparation and serving directions: The recipe should include clear concise step-by-step directions for combining and cooking the ingredients. Each step in the recipe is directly across from the ingredients to which it applies. Directions should include information on all equipment required to prepare, cook and serve the food, i.e. size of pan and type of portioning tools. Information on cooking times and temperatures should also be specified.

Yield: “Yield” is the amount of product at the completion of production that is available for service. For example, 400 1 cup servings.

Portion size information: The recipe needs to specify how big each serving will be. For example, 1/2 cup, 1 piece of a 5x10 cut cake, 2 ounces, etc.

Meal component contributions for food based menu planning: Identify the component (meat/meat alternate, fruit/vegetable, and/or grains/bread) the recipe contributes. To determine component contributions refer to recipe analysis worksheet in the SD numbered memo NSLP 80.

Where to Begin
Standardizing recipes can be a big job, especially if many recipes currently used are not in a standardized format. You may want to use the SD state prototype form from the SD numbered memo NSLP 80. Keep in mind that a new standardized recipe must also be developed for any recipe in which ingredients or preparation steps have been modified. To simplify the process as much as possible consider following these steps:

1. Consider using an existing resource of standardized recipes, such as the USDA Recipes for Schools before standardizing all school recipes from scratch. There may be recipes with similar ingredients and results that are already standardized.

2. Determine how many recipes are not standardized. Review each recipe for acceptability and frequency of use, and discard those that are no longer needed.

3. Try to consolidate similar recipes with slight variations. For example, if each of a district’s three schools has its own recipe for spaghetti & meat sauce, three recipes need to be standardized. To decrease the amount of work, try to agree on one or two basic recipes. Keep in mind that recipes can be flexible as far as spices and seasonings are concerned, as they will not significantly impact the nutrient content with the exception of salt or seasonings that contain sodium, such as garlic salt.

4. Start by choosing the recipes that are used most frequently and in the most schools. This allows for greater impact as each recipe is completed.

5. Make a goal of completing a certain number of standardized recipes each week or month, instead of trying to do them all at once so it isn’t so overwhelming.

6. If possible, divide up the work by assigning a certain number of recipes to each kitchen manager or kitchen.

For more specific details on the process for standardizing recipes, refer to some recent USDA resources Measuring Success with Standardized Recipes, the Menu Planner for Healthy School Meals, and USDA Recipes for Schools. SD numbered memo NSLP 80 Standardizing Recipes and Calculating Component Contributions has detailed information and state prototype forms for recording your recipes as well as the recipe analysis worksheet for determining component contributions in the recipe.

MyPyramid Corner: Choosing Snacks Wisely

Snacks can be a tasty treat, but if not chosen wisely, they can contribute to obesity. Students as well as the rest of us often make poor choices for snacks when presented with choices such as pop, cookies, candy, chips, donuts, etc because these foods taste especially yummy and because we really don’t grasp the long term health consequences of eating too much sugar, fat, and calories.

What can a school or childcare provider do? Only serve food for snacks that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans indicate should be promoted. This includes fruits, vegetables, and nonfat or low fat milk or its equivalent without added sugar. If food and beverages are available in vending machines or school stores, make sure that they fit with the Dietary Guidelines and that portion sizes and calories are kept low as children and teens only have about 100-200 calories available for the entire day for snacks. (Many children and teens may have already used up their “snack calories” for the day in meals that had more calories than they needed).

Fruits and vegetables are excellent snacks because they are very low in calories, high in vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytochemicals, and because almost all of us need to eat more of them to help prevent cancer, heart disease and obesity. For more information please visit the following web pages of MyPyramid.gov.

• Dietary Guidelines for Americans
• Fruits 
• Vegetables 

Taxes and School Food Service

Question: When does school foodservice have to charge tax?
Answer: This question was referred to the SD Department of Revenue & Regulation. The following information was provided.

Concession Stands: As long as the school pays tax when purchasing the items to be sold, there is no additional tax due from schools when they sell the items to the public. When the concession stand is operated by a school organization, the gross receipts are exempt from sales tax if tax was paid on the food at the time of purchase. When they place the order, they should stipulate that tax should be charged. If the organization purchases the items exempt from tax, they will need to report and pay sales tax on the gross receipts. If this is the case, the organization will need a tax license.

Catering: If a school is catering for events other than the school, they need a sales tax license. They can purchase their food exempt from tax, and then charge state tax, applicable municipal and applicable municipal gross receipts tax on the gross receipts. Public and private schools are treated the same. If there are times when a student or teacher will pay the outside catering company directly, the exemption in 13-35-3 no longer applies.

Senior Citizen Meals: Per 13-35-6, if the school serves meals to eligible elderly persons no tax applies. School lunch programs are exempt from tax even if provided by an outside catering company when sold directly to the school.

13-35-3. Sales tax exemption. The school district shall be exempt from paying the retail occupational sales tax in purchasing food and supplies for the school food services programs and meals served from such food shall be exempt from sales tax.

13-35-6. Extension of food services program to elderly persons. Any school district contracting with the Division of Education Services and Resources to establish school food services programs pursuant to this chapter may extend such program for the purpose of serving nutritionally sound meals to eligible elderly persons at a place or places in a manner as determined by the school board.

Resource Corner

On the Road to Professional Food Preparation has been updated by the National Food Service Management Institute (NFSMI). It is a BLT (Breakfast Lunch Training) intended for Food Service Managers to teach food service assistants the basics of food preparation. There are 4 lessons that are each intended to be 60 minutes in length. For more information, please visit the NFSMI website at http://www.nfsmi.org/epubs/et73-07/index.html.

Kids in the Kitchen

Winter Fruit Salad -

from Recipe and Activity Book – Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

• 1-21 oz can Peach pie filling

• 2-11 oz can Mandarin oranges, drained

• 3 small  Bananas, sliced

• 1-16 oz bag Unsweetened, frozen strawberries, halved or chopped

• 1-20 oz can Pineapple tidbits, drained

• 2 tsp.  Poppy seeds

Combine all ingredients. Chill and serve warm over waffles or pancakes.

Serves 20

Kids on the Move 

Read, Run, and Race About -

 from Recipe and Activity Book – Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Select a favorite action storybook and inspire the child to mimic the actions and expressions of the characters as the story is read aloud.

Little Bits of Wellness Wisdom