Blog
Follow the ABCs of School Nutrition blog to see what school nutrition programs in Illinois are doing and get new ideas! Here we will talk about everything from Illinois State Board of Education updates to food waste prevention strategies.
Have an idea for a blog post? Drop us a line at schoolnutrition@illinois.edu .
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Published: May 20, 2025Reducing added sugars in baking recipesIf you are already baking in-house, you may be able to reduce sugars in certain recipes to help you meet the weekly limits for added sugars.
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Published: May 5, 2025Tips for using canned, frozen, and dried fruits in school mealsBesides cereal, milk, and yogurt, fruit products can have hidden added sugars. Frozen, canned, and dried fruits are convenient and have consistent quality. Here are tips to incorporate these options while minimizing their added sugar impact.
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Published: April 18, 2025Weekly menu limits for added sugars: Evaluating a current menuHow do you evaluate a current menu to see if it meets the weekly added sugar limits? Let's walk through the process.
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Published: April 9, 2025Weekly menu limits for added sugars: What will they generally look like?Effective school year 2027-2028, added sugars will be limited to 10% of calories across weekly menus for the School Breakfast Program and National School Lunch Program. How will that look during menu planning?
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Published: March 22, 2025Product-Based Added Sugar Limits: Evaluating YogurtUnder the new product-based added sugar limits, yogurt will be limited to 12 grams or less of added sugars per 6 ounces. Let’s review how to evaluate your current offerings as well as other potential products from your suppliers.
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Published: March 7, 2025Product-Based Added Sugar Limits: Evaluating Flavored MilkUnder the new product-based added sugar limits, flavored milk will be limited to 10 grams of added sugars per 8 fluid ounces (or 1.25 g per fluid ounce). Let’s review how to evaluate a flavored milk option.
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Published: February 21, 2025Product-Based Added Sugar Limits: Evaluating Breakfast CerealsUnder the new product-based added sugar limits, breakfast cereal will be limited to no more than 6 grams of added sugars per dry ounce. Let’s review how to evaluate your current offerings as well as other potential products from your suppliers.
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Published: February 12, 2025Get fresh with Farm to School to benefit your whole communityWorking in school nutrition, you’ve probably heard of Farm to School. But if your school doesn’t participate, you may not know some key facts about it.
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Published: January 10, 2025Cut down on sugar by making condiments into ingredientsCondiments add a fun hit of flavor to menu items that might otherwise be a bit plain. Left to their own devices, students can get a bit saucy with sauces and dips, like barbecue, ranch, honey, and more.
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Published: December 20, 2024Unexpected products to watch for added sugars, and how to use themAs part of USDA's final rule issued in April 2024, added sugars in school nutrition programs will now have specific limits for breakfast cereals, flavored milk, and yogurt. There are other products to pay attention to as well.
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Published: November 20, 2024360 degree evaluation is key to scratch cooking successSchool nutrition is truly an all-hands-on-deck effort! Let's look at ways to involve the whole team and take stock of resources before moving to more homemade menus.
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Published: November 6, 2024Add more scratch cooking to the menu for holiday-like magic all year roundThere's nothing quite like a special, home-cooked meal to warm you from the inside out. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, now is a great time to think about adding more scratch-made items to the menu and keep the magic going!
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Published: July 5, 2024Herbs and spices: Ideas for the school kitchenHerbs and spices can be used in many types of recipe applications.
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Published: June 20, 2024Herbs and spices: 5 things to know before you get cookingHerbs and spices add flavor and variety to school meals without adding salt. They can be used during the cooking process and may also be used to season food just before eating.
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Published: January 3, 2024Preventing food waste with prep and serviceIn the preparation and service steps of your operations, several strategies can be used to prevent food waste.
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Published: December 14, 2023Cut food waste (and costs) with tighter planning and procurementWhen it comes to food waste, many people think of unwanted or leftover food being tossed in the trash. Tighter planning and procurement strategies can help!
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Published: October 21, 2023Strategies to slash sodium: Label reading and balancing the menuLabel reading is an essential skill to identify sodium in foods and find ways to balance it as part of a meal.
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Published: September 9, 2023Deconstruct tasty treats for parfaits that work for grab-and-goGrab and go inspiration from colleges? Why not!
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Published: March 13, 2023Cycle menus offer big benefits for school nutrition programsMenu planning can be a real challenge, especially if you’re writing menus on a month to month basis. Why consider transitioning to cycle menus?
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Published: March 9, 2023Tweak the menu for strong meal participation until summer's out!Spring is just around the corner, and soon the school year will be winding down. How can you keep students interested in school meals?
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Published: January 13, 2023Demystifying the math of culinary conversions (part 2!)See how to use dimensional analysis to scale up a recipe and make adjustments based on the measuring equipment you have.
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Published: December 13, 2022Demystifying the math of culinary conversionsDo you struggle with math in the kitchen and get confused with tablespoons, cups, pints, and quarts? Learn the skill of using "dimensional analysis" to make conversions easy!
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Published: December 7, 2022Master your measurements to bake up success in the kitchenIf you’ll be baking in your home kitchen this holiday season, why not make the most of it and brush up on your math skills?
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Published: November 29, 20224 ways to send the year out on a high note (and get students excited for the post-break menu!)December is just a few days away - can you believe it? Even if your menu is already set for the last few weeks before the holiday break, there’s still time to add extra sparkle and cheer to the cafeteria.
