What is Kitchen Creations?
Arizona Department of Education (ADE) is excited to announce that we have been awarded a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) FY21 Team Nutrition Training Grant! This grant will support the initiation of the Kitchen Creations project that specifically focuses on creating standardized recipes for use in school meals programs. All recipes standardized this year under the grant will feature local, native foods as the primary ingredients. |
The ADE Recipe Development Team has begun the recipe testing phase as part of the Kitchen Creations project! There were numerous recipes submitted by our Community Engagement Members over the past couple of months and each of the recipes chosen include at least one of the featured ingredients for the project: |
There were over 40 recipes submitted for testing that came from teachers, parents, and community members from around the state. After the very difficult process of narrowing down the recipe list, the following 14 recipes were tested by the Recipe Development Team: |
- Blue Corn Muffins with Blueberries
- Blue Corn Muffins with Winter Squash
- Blue Corn Mush with Roasted Corn
- Blue Corn Mush with Roasted Squash and Pepitas
- Blue Corn Mush with Strawberries, Bananas and Honey
- Red Pepper Tepary Bean Dip
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- Soam Bav (Brown Tepary Bean) Bowl
- Three Sisters Enchiladas
- Tepary Bean, Chicken, and Winter Vegetable Stew
- Triple Berry Parfait
- Warm White Sonora Wheat Berry Pilaf
- White Sonora Wheat Chicken Nuggets
- White Sonora Wheat Tortillas
- White Tepary Bean Hummus
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The recipe testing was conducted at Osborn School District's Garden Café, which was equipped with a stove, oven, and all proper tools needed to prepare, test, and adjust the recipes. While there is still work to be done to ensure these recipes meet USDA's guidelines, the Recipe Development Team is excited to be able to move forward with performing more testing and determining which recipes will be the final submitted recipes! |
Clockwise from top left: Three Sisters Enchiladas, Red Pepper Tepary Bean Dip, Blue Corn Muffins with Winter Squash, Warm White Sonora Wheat Berry Pilaf, Blue Corn Mush with Roasted Squash and Pepitas, Triple Berry Parfait |
Recipe Standardization Training |
Recipe Development Team members Jessa Zuck, Jessica Krug, Chef Charleen Badman, and Chef Tamara Stanger had the opportunity to attend a two-day training on Recipe Standardization hosted by the Culinary Institute for Child Nutrition (CICN). In this train-the-trainer style training, Chef Patrick Garmong prepared them to be able to train others on how to identify, prepare, and standardize a recipe as well as use of the Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs (FBG) and Recipe Analysis Workbook (RAW). |
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Connections and External Partners |
The Recipe Development Team includes eight Community Engagement Members (CEMs) that are directly involved in the food service operations within their Local Educational Agency (LEA). The CEMs will be outreaching to their school communities for recipe ideas, hosting taste test events, providing feedback, and receiving training on how to prepare the recipes in school meal service throughout the course of the project.
The input from eight individuals could never really fully represent all of the diverse communities in our state. For this reason, ADE has connected with other external partners interested in this area of work and invited them to join our Recipe Development Team. ADE’s primary goals for collaboration with external partners are as follows:
- To gain awareness of existing efforts related to the use of local, native foods in schools already taking place and how Kitchen Creations can complement the work that has already been done
- To gain further insight and knowledge on the types of local, native foods that are used by different tribal communities across the state and which of these foods are available from local AZ farmers
- To establish connections with local AZ farmers who grow native foods and are willing/able to work directly with schools
ADE is excited that Arizona Department of Health Services AZ HealthZone and Ajo Center for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA) have partnered with us to make our goals even more attainable. If you would like to be involved in the success of this project, please contact us today! |
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Tepary beans are native to the Sonoran Desert and will be used to create side and entrée recipes for grade groups K-5, 6-8, and 9-12. Tepary beans are versatile and can credit as a vegetable or a meat/meat alternate in Arizona school meal programs.
5 Facts About Tepary Beans:
- The tepary bean crop is an extremely drought resistant and heat tolerant crop. It is so well adapted to the Sonoran Desert that it is capable of growing off monsoon water alone.
- Tepary beans are one of the legumes with the highest protein and fiber content..
- Tepary beans are capable of growing in poor and alkaline soil, and are a perfect summer crop for those who wish to enrich their soil due to the atmospheric nitrogen fixing as well as contribution of organic matter.
- Tohono O’odham and other Native American tribes traditionally use tepary beans cooked in soups and stews.
- In Tohono O'odham legend, the Milky Way is made up of white tepary beans scattered across the sky.
Photo and tepary bean facts provided courtesy of Nina Sajovec, Ajo CSA |
Arizona Department of Education
This project was funded using U.S. Department of Agriculture grant funds. The USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. |
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