Power Up Your Menus

Let’s take your recipes and make powerful breakfast menus. Before beginning the menu planning phase, first identify how the current menus are budgeted. This will help you to identify what type of products you can add in, and of course, how (or what type) many of the new specialty products can fit into your breakfast menu.

To begin, let’s start with the cycle menu. If you are not familiar with this phrase, the cycle menu is based on the number of weeks the menu will be used uniquely, and then the menu repeats itself using the same recipes. For example, if you select a four week menu cycle, then each week in that month will have a new menu, and starting the next month the cycle and menu will repeat itself. Cycle menus really do help with cost and waste as the menu planner can ensure food products are used well throughout the cycle.

Power Up Your Service Line

Now that you have your menus ready to hit the stage, let’s create some eye appeal on the serving line. These diagrams are intended for the traditional meal service model, but you can also take this concept to a grab and go cart or BIC.

When creating these diagrams consider the meal’s color, texture, and placement of each item on the boat or plate. The placement of foods in your serving line can assist with the speed of service as well as maintaining your budget without losing options. These diagrams are perfect for providing students with a simple customization meal, or creating your own station. The benefit of utilizing customization serving lines is that it allows you to get the most out of recipes and products while empowering students to make their own healthy decisions.