Helpful Reminders from the Kitchen
We continue to provide “to-go” meals for guests, two times a day, every day. Thanks to dedicated volunteers like you, our meal service has been uninterrupted during the pandemic. This is amazing! We appreciate your dedication and so do our guests.
- Our meal numbers are increasing and we are especially seeing an increase in our weekend meals. Remember that you can review the meal count on our website (link below) to help you track the trends and plan accordingly.
- We increased the number of volunteers allowed in the kitchen to five. The same protocols remain in place with each volunteer required to wear a mask and gloves, follow social distancing guidelines, and do a temperature check when entering the building.
- The next time you come to the kitchen you may see our new Kitchen Assistant Casey Beltran who started at Matt Talbot on September 8th. Please introduce yourself - we are so glad to have her on board!
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 Sydne at sydne.wirrick-knox@mtko.org or 402-817-0622.
We have many of the recipes available below. Happy meal planning!
Selected STRIVE Recipes
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Ground Beef Vegetable Soup (serves 150)
45 pounds ground beef
90 celery ribs, chopped
22 medium onions, chopped
90 medium potatoes, large dice
22 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
22 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
3 (72 ounce) bags of frozen mixed vegetables
2 3/4 teaspoon ground thyme
22 bay leaves
6 cups water, as needed
ground pepper to tasteDirections:
1. Cook and stir ground beef until crumbly and evenly browned. Drain off excess fat.2. Stir carrots, celery, and onion into ground beef, cook and stir until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add potatoes, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, frozen mixed vegetables; season with black pepper. Stir mixture until evenly mixed. Add thyme and bay leaf. Add water, replenishing as needed while cooking.
3. Bring soup to a simmer, place a cover on, and cook, stirring regularly, until potatoes are tender, about 1 hour. Remove bay leaves before serving.
Calories: 451
Sodium: 550 mg
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.
