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Share This PageWheat Scoop: Kaw Valley School District Earns “Make it Whole” Grand PrizeNov 13, 2009
The Kaw Valley, USD #321 School District, Rossville, won the 2009 “Make it Whole ” Recipe Contest, sponsored by the Kansas Wheat Commission. Two district cooks, Deb Satterwhite and Deb Ledeboer, won with “Pumpkin Bread Squares,” a dessert bar that uses whole grains to provide a nutritious, sweet treat for the district’s students. The recipe for Pumpkin Bread Squares was altered from a similar recipe in a cookbook owned by Beverly Newton, food service director for USD 321. The original recipe called for white flour, but school cooks began using 51% whole white wheat flour, according to Newton. A recipe containing at least 51% whole grain flour is considered a whole grain food, according to the USDA Food Pyramid. Pumpkin bread squares are a popular item in Kaw Valley district, often served with a chicken dish as the main entrée. “Once the kids tried these bars, they liked them. They are surprised it is made from pumpkins,” Satterwhite says. “This is a great recipe. You can make it ahead of time and freeze it, and once thawed it is just as moist as when it’s fresh.” For the winning entry, the Kaw Valley District receives $200 in cash from the Kansas Wheat Commission. The annual award was presented at the School Nutrition Association of Kansas annual Fall Conference in Wichita last month. “We were pleased with the number of entries this year. We’re hoping the number of entries continues to grow since products using whole grains are becoming so important in the school breakfast/lunch program,” says Mary Anne Shriwise, M.S., R.D., L.D., one of the Make it Whole Recipe Contest judges. Shriwise, who hails from Jetmore, is a Kansas Wheat Spokesperson. Other judges said the Pumpkin Bread Squares are, “…very flavorful” and “…a good balance of pumpkin, spices and 51% whole grains.” The recipes were judged on taste and quality; appearance; originality and ease of preparation and practicality for school food services. Newton says the Kaw Valley School District serves more than 1,100 meals per day, in addition to 225 breakfasts and 185 pre-school snacks. Twelve employees work out of the district’s food service headquarters, which is located at the Rossville Elementary School. Five locations in St. Marys, Rossville and Emmett are served by the school nutrition staff. Healthy, wholesome meals are vital to ensure a good learning environment for the area’s s children, Newton says. “If you have hungry kids, they are not going to learn,” she explains, adding that the district’s food service staff takes the time to talk to each child coming through the lunch line. “Our staff smiles at each child and knows all of them by their first name,” she says. Whole grain foods make up an ever-increasing portion of the menu at schools across the country. Young children are supposed to have at least 15 servings of grain foods each week. Therefore, Newton incorporates whole wheat flour into many of the district’s most popular foods, including chocolate cake, cinnamon rolls and pigs-in-a-blanket. The children don’t realize what they’re eating is good for them; they just think the food tastes good. She advises any home baker to begin substituting one-quarter of the flour of a baked good with whole wheat flour, to gain the health benefits of whole wheat foods, including additional dietary fiber. For many baked goods, Newton gradually incorporates whole wheat flour into the standard recipe. Several years ago, she began adding 25% whole wheat flour, then 51% when the revised Food Guide Pyramid was released a few years ago. School-aged kids throughout Kansas are being fed healthy meals that oftentimes begin right in their backyards. The central kitchen at Kaw Valley schools, for example, backs up to a farm field. “I grew up on a farm, so I do think about the connection between a farmer, living in a rural area, and feeding kids,” she says. Newton says the school nutrition staff will share the $200 award. “These ladies serve hundreds of people each day. I think it’s time for someone to serve us for a change,” she says. “I think we’ll go out to lunch.”
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