News From the Kitchen

Announcements from the Kitchen

• *All kitchen inquiries should be directed to Victoria O'Neil at 402-817-0623 or victoria.oneil@mtko.org until further notice.*

  If teams know of any dates they cannot volunteer, please let Victoria know as soon as possible.

• Our first nutrition class is in February. At least one representative from each team is highly encouraged to attend. Please see the first page for more details.

• Please use the blue plates for second servings. For new teams or members this is what we did prior to COVID-19.

• We have some meat in the freezer. If you need some for your meals please reach out to Victoria.

• We give guests cream and sugar outside of meal times. Please do not put the containers out for them to help themselves. If they ask for something and you are busy, please ask them to wait until you have a free moment.

• We have 2 cases of paper dinner napkins we can't use in our dispensers. If there is a school or church that can use them please contact Victoria.

• We have approximately 750 stainless steel dinner knives available to donate. Please contact Victoria if interested.

Reminders from the Kitchen

• Please make sure to complete daily reports. They are outside of the Kitchen Manager's office.

• In-Kind Donation forms need to be turned in as soon as possible. They can be found at mtko.org or at Matt Talbot.

• We are still using to go containers for guests that choose not to dine in. These containers are very costly and we would like to minimize the amount we are using.

• Please use food prep gloves at all times when cooking meals.

• Doors should never be propped open.

• Matt Talbot is still providing milk for our guests.

• If you run out of your meal please keep serving until the end of the hour. There is emergency food in the cooler and pantry including bread, lunch meat, peanut butter & jelly, and fruit.

Important Facility Update

Bold Hope Expands - our facility expansion project - is underway! We are building office space on the front of the facility (near dish room) and a new garage on the north end of the property. A fence is placed around the construction area and parking will be limited to the east side of the lot or on west side of N. 26th St. Access to the parking lot is through the second entrance only. Thanks for your understanding and patience!

Kitchen Pantry Clean Up

All teams should take food they no longer need out of the pantry and clearly label the remaining food with their team name (labels are provided outside of the Kitchen Manager's office). Please have all food labeled as soon as possible. There is assigned shelving in the pantry where each team can store their food. We hope this will make things easier to find and prevent the occasional mix-up of food items. Please contact Victoria O'Neil with any questions at 402.817.0623 or victoria.oneil@mtko.org.

Special Note for Weekend Teams

• Keys that have been previously given to Hunger Relief teams no longer work for the back door of the kitchen. Please turn in all keys to Victoria O'Neil, Director of Hunger Relief and Volunteerism. A new system will be installed shortly and entry information will be communicated to all team captains. In the interim, Casey will be providing codes to team captains that need entry after hours. Any questions, please reach out to Victoria O'Neil at 402.817.0623 or victoria.oneil@mtko.org.

• The weekend answering service is 402-473-2828.

• Please wait for the weekend police officer before allowing guests to come into the dining room. However, if weather is severe and the officer is not there yet, you can open the dining room if someone is able to monitor the dining room from your team. Safety is our main concern. Thank you for your cooperation.

STRIVE COOKBOOK NOW AVAILABLE

This cookbook was inspired by our STRIVE Program (which started in 2014) and includes recipes for main course, soup, side dish, salad, dessert, and dressing & seasonings - all to serve 150 people!  We hope these recipes encourage and inspire you to prepare healthy meals. All recipes follow the STRIVE Guidelines:

· Seasonal (or frozen) fruits and vegetables make up half the plate

· Only lean meats are used

· At least 1/2 of the grains are whole grains

· Fat-free or low-fat calcium-rich foods are offered

· Foods served are low in sodium

There is a laminated copy of the cookbook in the Matt Talbot kitchen for anyone to use. Since we would like to keep this copy in the kitchen, we would be happy to produce a copy for your individual teams. If you would like your own copy, please contact Victoria at victoria.oneil@mtko.org or 402-817-0623.

We have many of the recipes available below. Happy meal planning!

Selected STRIVE Recipes

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA.