New meals from left to right: chicken salad, brisket with beans and cornbread, glazed umami salmon.

 

In January, Mama’s Kitchen launched a new client menu featuring 40 new recipes, including Miso Salmon, Beef and Vegetable Burrito Bowl, Chicken Korean-Style Meatballs, Pork Tenderloin, and more. This new menu was created by our culinary operations team in collaboration with our registered dietitians, who carefully crafted meals that are more nutrient-dense, include new ingredients and flavors, and represent a wider variety of cultural flavors.

Our chefs have even added smart menu upgrades, like adding quinoa to mashed potatoes and to brown rice, instantly increasing the fiber content of a dish!

This menu upgrade was prompted by our recent losses in federal funding and the need to evaluate one of our single largest expenses – food. While Mama’s Kitchen has always provided clients with a variety of healthy pre-packaged snack items along with our scratch-made meals, these individually packaged items are more expensive. By replacing these items with more fresh ingredients, it reduced costs while allowing us to prepare more nutrient-dense, fresh meals. The result — the same complete daily nutrition, more nutrient-dense healthy meals, and an overall savings in food costs.

Our client’s experience is paramount in the healing process they go through with Mama’s Kitchen. So we have welcomed all feedback on the new meals, as it has provided us with a roadmap to best serve our clients and future San Diegans in need of services. Since transitioning to our new offerings, we’ve received an influx of positive feedback on favorite meals, seasoning ideas, and the positive effects on our clients’ health.