Menu for 500

1 DAY MENU FOR 500

 

BREAKFAST:

  • Breakfast burritos
  • Milk or water
  • Strawberries

 

 

LUNCH:

  • Spaghetti and meatballs
  • Green Beans
  • Cantaloupe
  • Garlic Bread
  • Water

 

 

DINNER:

  • Chicken Stir Fry w/ vegetables
  • White rice
  • Apples
  • Spring rolls
  • Water

 

SHOPPING LIST

 

 

625 eggs

36 gallons milk

30lbs ham

5 #10 cans corn

4 onions

10 tomatoes

12 green peppers

1 pkg mustard

4 32oz minced garlic

4lb pkg of salt

14 bags 40count tortillas

3 10lb salsa

34 packages 5lb strawberries

125lbs lean beef

2 40oz bread crumb packages

1 20lb bag of spaghetti

34 #10 cans Pasta sauce

25 #10 cans green beans

25 loaves French bread

2 4lb Garlic spread tubs

26 cantaloupes

5 25lb bags of white jasmine rice

2 gallons sesame oil

250lbs chicken

125 broccoli heads

375 carrots

3 #10 can mushrooms

5 #10 cans water chestnuts

125 heads bok choy

2-gallon teriyaki sauce

250 apples

7 cases spring rolls (72/case)

 

NARRATIVE

Trying to feed 500 patients with normal recipes is a daunting task. The idea of trying to make meals for a large crowd of people is typically thought of as 50-100, so the requirements for 500 patients seems much larger than what seems feasible to even imagine. I have some experience with foodservice in the realm of a hospital, but it was a much larger scale as it was an acute long-term care facility and there were less than 80 patients to feed as many of them were fed other routes via tube feed or TPN. Even just spending time in that kitchen environment and observing many of the requirements for hospital foodservice protocols, it can be a very precise task to be able to make sure that enough of the ingredients are ordered and that supplementations or alternatives are also available for patients with potential allergies or

intolerances.

For this idea of a hospital with 500 patients, there is likely a budget that governs how much the foodservice department can spend on the cost of food and material to adequately prepare meals. When figuring out these recipes, I used bulk/wholesale products and sizes recognizing that the hospital foodservice staff is likely not going to be ordering small cans and other small serving containers. For efficiency as well as storage purposes, the biggest container possible is the best idea and what I tried to find to implement in these recipes and the shopping

list.

An additional component of preparing for these meals is thinking about the desires and

satisfactions of the patients that will be served the meals. According to the majority of patients and their families, the quality of the hospital foodservice is among the highest relevant health care factors when considering satisfaction during a hospital stay.1 With this in mind, it is imperative that the food is appetizing and enjoyable. Finding a balance between meals that are simple in nature to be able to prepare at such large quantities but are also appetizing is going to be key to making sure that the patients are satisfied in the care of the hospital setting.       For breakfast I wanted to have a meal that was going to be filling for the patients, not have too many different components to overwhelm the kitchen, and also be somewhat simple in nature when preparing to setup and serve on what would likely be a tray-line production by the hospital staff. Lunch was also thought about along the same lines of appetizing and efficient for the mass production. I thought a pasta meal would be good for that, and spaghetti is typically a well-tolerated and enjoyed meal by most folks so meatballs were included to provide a protein component to the meal and green beans, cantaloupe, and garlic bread were added to be included as sides. Another important consideration for patient meals is providing elements of variation among the meals to also be included in patient satisfaction so they do not feel redundancy of nutrition they receive.2 This can be tricky when trying to create weekly or monthly menu. For this day, I made sure to include three different types of protein in all three different meals. Additionally, I ensured that the starch and type of meal was of a different variation. Chicken stir-fry can be mass produced as all the vegetables can be together on the grill at once and the chicken, rice, and spring rolls can all be cooking at the same time that this is occurring for means of efficiency.

The need to feed patients in hospitals will always be an important task for hospitals. Ensuring that the patients enjoy the meals and that the meals are prepared in an efficient manner is a very important consideration across the board. Additionally, making sure that the meal requirements and supplies fit within the means of the hospital budget as well as storing the food products being done in an organized manner.3

 

REFERENCES

 

  1. Dall’Oglio I, Nicolò R, Di Ciommo V, et al. A systematic review of hospital foodservice patient satisfaction studies [published correction appears in J Acad Nutr Diet. 2019 Jul;119(7):1210]. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2015;115(4):567-584. doi:10.1016/j.jand.2014.11.013
  2. Ottrey E, Porter J. Hospital menu interventions: a systematic review of research. Int J Health Care Qual Assur. 2016;29(1):62-74. doi:10.1108/IJHCQA-042015-0051
  3. Silverman MR, Gregoire MB, Lafferty LJ, Dowling RA. Current and future practices in hospital foodservice. J Am Diet Assoc. 2000;100(1):76-80. doi:10.1016/S00028223(00)00023-7