USDA Agriculture Marketing Boards Help Utilize USDA Foods with Tasty Recipes
Malissa Marsden, SNS, collaborates with agriculture marketing boards (or USDA Commodity Boards) across the country, using her child nutrition expertise and Meals Plus Menu Planning software to create recipes and cycle menus for use in school districts. When new USDA Food becomes available, organizations, such as the Mushroom Council and American Egg Board send their products to Malissa, who creates recipes with three main goals – to create recipes that will meet USDA requirements, will not be labor intensive and that kids will love! She also aims to create recipes that decrease labor and are speed scratch simple, can be eaten with a spork and utilize packaging that schools already use.
Malissa’s “test kitchen” is actually her local church’s kitchen. It is equipped with a six-burner stovetop and four-rack convection oven, similar to what many school kitchens use. She is able to test her recipes when there are church functions, such as Vacation Bible School, which means feedback from a variety of people, including school-aged children .
One of her most recent success stories was a breakfast pancake parfait, which she created by layering (1) USDA whole grain frozen pancake, ½ cup vanilla yogurt and ½ cup frozen USDA Tart Cherries in a parfait cup. This is a “make today, serve tomorrow” concept for Grab-and-Go or Breakfast in the Classroom entrees that are prepared in-house and not prepackaged. Malissa was able to create an item that uses USDA Foods in a new way while using packaging schools use, and the kids loved them!
The newest USDA Food Malissa has been experimenting with is IQF Diced Mushrooms, which are now available for direct delivery. Malissa especially likes the IQF Mushrooms because a large amount of them can be produced with a small carbon footprint, they are sustainable and are never “out of season.” They are also low in calories and a great option for vegetarian recipes. Click here for all of their mushroom recipes, including Malissa’s newest recipe: Margherita & Mushroom Pizza.
Through these partnerships with agriculture marketing boards, Malissa educated the boards on how the schools can use the products and what tools and information the schools need to incorporate the product into school meals. Using Meals Plus Menu Planning and Nutrient Analysis software is a key tool in achieving a winning partnership because it allows her to create recipes that she is confident will be useful for schools. With the software, she can determine meal equivalents and nutrients, provide benchmarks, and remain confident that the recipes can be standardized by the school for their operation.
Malissa’s recipes will be featured in our upcoming Meals Plus Customer Cookbook; stay tuned to our blog and e-newsletter for more information and helpful recipes as they are available!
