It is critical to stop and pay attention, better than we do, to how well we are preparing meals, and how we present them on the plate.   Do we take seriously putting together menus that balance what the residents really prefer (not just what is easiest for us to prepare) as well as what will help them feel the best they can.

I often walk into facilities, even those I oversee, and watch as staff move rapidly through mealtime with minimal concern for product and service, let alone the perceptions and feelings of the “customer”.  With just a little more care and sensitivity for these details we would provide a better service and value, and significantly improve the quality of life for our residents.

My mother-in-law currently lives in a very nice assisted and independent living facility which presents itself as “upscale”.  If I can count on hearing one comment about her living situation every day, it is a complaint about the food.  No matter what is done well in that facility, if the food service and quality are not right, her experience there is tainted.

In this business we need to pay a little better attention to what our customers feel and think. And when they talk about things that seem of little importance to us, we need to remember it is of great importance to them.

The post The Little Things Matter Most appeared first on Grove Menus.

Fully Customizable Secondary Option – Available Now

You now have the ability to substitute any recipe in our database as a secondary option, opening the world of potential within the Grove Menus program.   To watch a short video of this feature click on the link below:

https://youtu.be/1VC0arLJkNw

Always Available/Restaurant Style Menus – Coming June 2013

Grove Menus is excited to announce Restaurant Style Menus.  You now have the ability to create a restaurant style menu with “Always Available” options and the flexibility is endless.

Restaurant style menus will be customizable in a number of ways:  1.  Any item from our database can be added to it and those items will fully integrate into the program including the shopping list.  2.  Category headings and recipe descriptions.  3.  A number of templates that you can choose or that can be downloaded to Microsoft Word for further editing.

Future Projects

Grove Menus Apps – In the coming months watch for an app that will allow you to easily access the shopping list via smart phone and tablet.  Further phases of the app will allow you to quickly access recipes so you can use a tablet in the kitchen for your recipes instead of printing every recipe.

Food Service Synching

We are looking into the ability to synchronize shopping lists with food service company lists so that our program will pull in their pricing and UPC codes.  Eventually we will have the ability to generate a report based on what you bought compared to what was supposed to be bought and other useful reports to help you control costs.

The post Restaurant Style Menus and More appeared first on Grove Menus.

Every grocery store has what they call their “loss leaders”.  These are items which the store sells at a loss.  Stores typically advertise these items heavily, and they are a tool used to get you in the door.  Stores also have items premium-priced where they make money.  For instance in my area, Walmart is extremely competitive with their canned goods and Great Value brand.  Their spices, dairy and meats aren’t so competitive, especially their spices.  Pay attention to prices and look around.  Typically you can save a lot of money by shopping at two different grocery stores and buying loss leaders.  A great combination is a regular grocery store and wholesale clubs like Sam’s or Costco.

2.  Buying in Bulk

Most people assume that buying the largest package is the cheapest.  This isn’t always the case.  Stores know that people assume “bigger is cheaper” and so they sometimes add on a couple of cents per ounce for the bigger bags/cans.  Sometimes bigger is cheaper, but you need to pay attention to the price per oz/lb and compare different sizes.  For example, I have found that buying the small store brand cans at Walmart is cheaper than the #10 cans at Costco or Sam’s Club.

3.  Take Notes

On the costly items that you buy frequently, take notes of the different prices at different grocery stores.  Write down the price per unit on your shopping list and compare them.  Below is a chart that illustrates what percent of a facility’s grocery bill is spent in each different category.  This can give you a place to start for comparing price

4.  Don’t Shop Hungry

When you go shopping hungry, you end up buying a lot more food.  Haven’t we all shopped hungry and come home with a cornucopia of frivolous food?

5.  Shop Healthy

Contrary to popular belief shopping for healthy items is often cheaper.  When health is our standard, we avoid many of the snack foods and drinks that are expensive.  Also, many processed, highly packaged and convenience foods are more expensive than non-processed foods.

6.  Don’t Rush

Grocery stores will place the more expensive items where they are easily seen and accessed.  The items at the end of the aisles are almost always more expensive than the items in the aisles. The same holds true along the aisles.  The items at eye level typically are more expensive.  Take your time and look around for the cheaper item.  It is almost always there, but may take a little more time to find.

7.  Sale Items

Be careful with sales.  Sometimes they provide great savings; sometimes they do not.  Make sure you have a basic idea of the non-sales price per oz/lb for an item before you buy it on sale.

8.  Fresh Products

In season, go ahead and buy the fresh product.  Out of season, buy canned or frozen.  Many people think that frozen fruits and vegetables loose much of their nutritional content.  This is not true and in many instances the opposite is true.  Fresh foods are often picked before full ripeness is achieved.  Frozen foods are generally picked in optimal state of ripeness.

Do you have some shopping strategies that help you save money?  We’d love to hear from you below in the comments.

The post 8 Secrets to Effective Grocery Store Shopping appeared first on Grove Menus.

Surprisingly, many of us do not recognize the opportunity we have in the kitchen to increase resident satisfaction and to control costs.   As managers, we often do not have the time to analyze costs, trends, and preferences.  We may not have the time to dissect a weekly menu and make a determination that the cost of that particular menu may put us over budget.  Further, we may not realize that there are other less expensive choices which are equally desirable. Sometimes all we say is,  “We’re getting by,”  without really paying close attention to the quality of our choices.  With a dietician’s sign-off on the menus, we do our best to negotiate pricing with a food vendor, and call it a day.  Sometimes, this is just what we do with our limited time.

Grove Menus recognizes these limitations and helps providers achieve greater success with minimal time expenditures.  This is the foundation of a dietary software program created to take the pain and complexity out of providing delicious, nutritious meals and at the same time attain significant savings.

Grove Menus originated 20 years ago when Diane Fager, a licensed and registered dietician, and her husband purchased an assisted living facility.  Diane began writing menus for their facility and soon discovered her innate talents and gifts for creating menus.  Other facilities discovered her work and the demand for her menus increased.   As time passed, it became apparent that the “one-size-fits-all” menu was not adequate.  Diane realized there was great need for customizing and tailoring capabilities within a menu.  With this realization, Diane formulated the premise for Grove Menus, an online software program that prepares menus according to differing needs and preferences.  The heart of the program is a vast data base of recipes, tested and scrutinized over the years, by many users all over the country.

The program was created as a web based software program which allows facilities to adapt menus, while at the same time, having their options controlled to meet state nutritional guidelines.  This software has since evolved to be a full service dietary management program.

Grove Menus provide drop-down lists which allow users to select recipes that work best in their particular facility.   Users can designate the number of clients being served, which in turn adjusts the recipes, shopping lists, and cost estimates according to that number.   All selections are automatically integrated into every aspect of the program .   The program provides nutritional analysis, therapeutic diet extensions, and financial tools to assist the user in estimating costs.

Menus are the focus at Grove, not a secondary attraction.  The program simplifies the kitchen, brings down food costs, and increases resident satisfaction.    The company is constantly striving to improve the product through better menus and better tools.   Diane remains the creative force in Grove Menus and she personally oversees the ongoing review and selection of the recipes, and the formulation of the weekly menus.  The company has learned that the quest for perfection demands constant attention and refinement.  Grove Menus is committed to this continuous advancement.

The food we eat is one of the most important parts of our day.  For those who can no longer fully care for themselves, meal time becomes the highlight of the day, second only to visits from loved ones.  Meal time affects the quality of life for the elderly and the dependent in multiple and significant ways:  meal time is a diversion and meal time brings pleasure and comfort.  Yet in our effort to provide pleasure and satisfaction, we still need to be vigilant.  Food must support health and physical well-being.

While there may be no such thing as a perfect menu, there can be a balance of time, resources and client satisfaction.  Residents can enjoy delicious, nutritious food and providers can realize savings in time and money when we pay a little more attention to opportunities for improvement in one of the most critical aspects of our business.

The post The Case for Quality Menus appeared first on Grove Menus.

A = Beta-caroten (provitamin A) – Foods high in this include red, orange, deep yellow, and some dark green, leafy vegetables. Examples are tomatoes, carrots, spinach, Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, winter squash and broccoli. Beta carotens are part of the carotenoids group that includes lycopenes and luteins. Just know that these big confusing words are potent antioxidants that may slow down the aging process and protect against artherosclerosis (hardening/thickening of the arteries). Maybe the fountain of youth is full of Vitamin A!

C = Vitamin C – Probably the best known antioxidant, it protects against infection and bruising.  It also helps in the absorption of Iron. Excellent sources of Vitamin C are oranges, grapefruits, tangerines, strawberries, broccoli, and sweet peppers.

E = Vitamin E – Go nuts for nuts! Walnuts, pecans, almonds, and pistachios contain Vitamin E as well as the germ in the whole grains.

Selenium – A trace mineral found in broccoli (This is 3rd mention of this vegetable – may I suggest more broccoli in your diet?), garlic, and brussels sprouts. This final punch in the knock-out combo protects against certain cancers.

While these antioxidants are good in any form; it is proven they are more effective when provided in food instead of supplements.  So you can get more bang for your buck!

As a bonus, foods higher in antioxidants are also high in fiber, low in saturated fats and low in cholesterol. Go Carbs!

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Fiber and GI are buddies and are usually referenced together. One of the major players influencing the GI is the amount of fiber per serving. A good source of fiber per serving is 2.5 g; and excellent source is 5 g and will lower GI even more. The higher the fiber, the lower the GI. Nutrition labels will tell you amount of fiber so you can look for good and excellent sources.

Glycemic Index of Common Foods

• Low GI — 55 or below: Beans; legumes; intact grains – wheat, oats, brown rice, barley; most vegetables – broccoli, cabbage, carrots; most sweet fruits with skin on  – peaches, strawberries, apples.
• Medium GI — 56-69: Not intact whole wheat or enriched wheat, pita bread, potatoes, grape juice, raisins
• High GI — 70 and above: White bread, most white rice, corn flakes, glucose, pretzles

Now that you’ve learned about GI, let’s throw a wrench in the wheel. Here are GI limitations:

• GI doesn’t take into account foods eaten – with other foods.
• There is a wide GI variation in fruits and vegetables depending on the ripeness and variety (Toh-may-toe vs. toh-mah-toe has a whole new meaning!)
• Different people may have a different GI response to the same food.
• GI only measures food’s carbohydrate content. It would be easy to eat too much and fat and calorie just trying to avoid “the carbs”

Tired of reading yet? I am sure your blood sugar is just too low :). When your blood sugar dips down you feel tired and hungry. If it gets too high, your brain signals your pancreas to secrete more insulin which will drop your blood sugar level. It primarily does this by converting excess sugar to stored fat. The quicker your blood sugar rises, the more your pancreas works to pump insulin into your system. Think twice before your next soda pop: at first you may feel a burst of energy, but then comes the storage along with fatigue, irritability, and, alas, more hunger.

Some people will tell you to avoid all carbohydrates because of the “ups and downs” they cause, and focus on the GI instead, but as we learned, all carbohydrates are not bad and avoiding all “carbs” will lead to a variety of health problems. The solution is to aim for a variety of fruits, vegetables, beans, and unrefined grains and don’t forget to check that label for some “excellent” fiber!

The post Fiber and Glycemic Index appeared first on Grove Menus.