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The fajita rice bowl has become a favorite of the staff and the public! We have not been able to serve this meal because we simply didn’t have enough staff to produce it. We use two large cast-iron skillets to sear the skirt steak, and that is a steady process that requires two dedicated people for about 90 minutes to two hours. For the fajita meat, I am using strips of inside skirt with 200 calories, 11 grams of fat (4.5 saturated), 65 mg of cholesterol and 400 mg of sodium per serving. Some of that fat will be rendered and, therefore, eliminated. Spanish rice is made using long-grain brown rice which along with the pinto beans are good sources of fiber and protein. Both the rice and pinto beans are meat-free (except for soup bases), oil-free, dairy-free and low in sodium. Both the rice and beans will fit into any diet on the healthy diet spectrum, including the plant-based whole-foods diet. We are serving the rice bowl with mini flour tortillas so you can make your own soft fajita roll and guacamole will be on the line too! The rice bowl also features sautéed onions and peppers, “fajita style.” Caldo de pollo is a very simple version of chicken soup featuring carrots, celery, onions, gold potatoes, corn, a few Jalapeño peppers with cilantro. The soup will be gluten-free, nearly fat-free and relatively low in sodium. The soup and the entire rice bowl without the tortilla are gluten-free.
Bierocks are a popular item in Nebraska and Kansas, almost exclusively. It’s a yeast-leavened sweet bread pocket filled with a savory mixture of ground beef, cabbage and onions, seasoned with garlic, vinegar and a hint of sugar. The portion size is quite substantial…these are big boys! Each portion contains approximately 500 calories, 10 grams of fat (3 grams of which are saturated), 40 mg of cholesterol and 700 mg of sodium. That compares with a bierock from Runza with 490 calories, 16 grams of fat (7 grams saturated), 40 mg cholesterol and 1,280 mg of sodium. This is obviously a treat item, but you can easily make it fit into the macro-nutrient parameters of a moderate diet, such as the DASH diet. We are serving it with a side salad, and you are welcome to use the smaller plastic container and visit the salad bar to build a salad to your liking. We’ll be making 315 bierocks. That’s all our very tiny kitchen and walk-in cooler will allow us to do at one time! I’m not placing a limit on purchases this time, but if you would like more than a couple, please give your name to any of the CDMs in the kitchen or the cashier, and we’ll take care of your request at the end of the meal. Wild rice is actually not rice but a grass. It is indigenous to North America as well as China. A popular variety grows along the shores of the Great Lakes in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. It is high in fiber and is an excellent source of non-meat protein. Four ounces has more protein than a cup of milk and you get six grams of fiber towards your goal of 30 grams for the day! For this soup, I’ll be using 2% milk, onions, celery, a few peppers, garlic, velvety chicken breast and garnishing with carrots. I will use a small amount of oil-based roux to thicken, which will slightly raise the calorie content, but not by much. The salad can be gluten-free if you make gluten-free selections from the salad bar. The Bierock and soup are not gluten-free.
If it’s Friday in Smith Center, it is fish day at the Hometown Café! The salmon is simply steamed with a little Smart Balance, salt and pepper. The catfish has just a bit of Cajun seasoning on it and is baked, not fried and is VERY low in sodium, coming in at under 20 mg per serving! The potatoes and asparagus are also steamed, making this a super healthy meal option no matter what fish you choose. The steak soup is for the non-fish eaters. It’s actually a stew and is a meal in itself! If you are watching fat and sodium, you will have to make room for the soup in your diet, though. The soup and the catfish are not gluten-free.
Open for dine-in or carryout weekdays from 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM. Due to supply shortages for some products, menus listed may change.
Full hot lunch (includes one cold side) – $7.99
Just entree – $3.99
Just vegetable or starch – $2.50
Pre-packaged side salad – $2.50
Full Salad Bar (unlimited trips, includes soup and roll) – $11.99
Children’s Salad Bar (8 and under, unlimited trips, includes soup and roll) – $3.99
Children’s Full Meal (8 and under) – $3.99
Senior Salad Bar (65+, unlimited trips, includes soup and roll) – $5.99
Senior Full Meal (65+) – $5.99
Salad only (unlimited trips) – $9.99
Soup only (unlimited trips) – $3.00
To-Go/One Trip Salad Bar – $7.99
Other sides priced specifically.
Chef Steve’s passion for delicious food is paired with a love for creating healthy options. Chef Steve was trained at the Culinary Institute of America and has opened 13 restaurants around the world. Most recently he was the executive chef at Coconut Grove in Nevis, West Indies.
Following a decision to make more healthy food choices in his own diet, Chef Steve became a registered and licensed dietitian. SCMH and Chef Steve have partnered to add nutrition education and support to patients and their families as a new service provided to those staying at the hospital.
Offering high-quality food in a healthcare setting is always a formidable challenge, one few healthcare facilities can tackle. The quality and service goals of a chef and food service professional do not always align with the nutrition concerns of a healthcare facility. Smith County Memorial Hospital has devised a unique solution to this problem in the person of a Chef-Registered Dietitian. By combining the responsibilities for creating food and delivering nutrition services we are able to maintain high quality standards of both food and service while filling the nutrition needs of patients and the community. The result is a food service department that is highly relevant to the medical team, the staff of the facility, patients in the hospital, and the community at large.
The Hometown Café is situated at the front entrance of the Smith County Memorial Hospital, located in North Central Kansas up near the Nebraska border. We are open to the public Monday through Friday from 11:30 am to 3:00 pm and serve approximately 100 staff members, 30 Meals on Wheels participants, 30 members of the public, and 10-20 patients and guests in the hospital daily. Our meals are based on the macronutrient parameters of the DASH diet, and we tailor food and nutrition to meet the needs of patients on an individual basis. As a Chef-RD, Chef Steve goes into patient rooms every day armed with 30+ years’ experience providing tableside service to patrons in high-end hotels and stand-alone restaurants, intimate knowledge of what is in the refrigerators in the Hometown Café kitchen and the skill to know what to do with it, and a dedication to the highest level of service called the Spirit of Hospitality.
Chef Steve’s community health partnership with Gene’s Heartland Foods makes finding exciting, healthier ingredients a breeze. Look for Chef Steve’s Grab Good labels on the ingredients he selects at Gene’s. Scan the QR code for instant access to Recipes, Pro Tips from a Registered Dietitian, and How-To Cooking Videos. It’s never been easier to cook healthy and tasty meals.
With Chef Steve’s Grab Good, making healthy lifestyle changes is not just easy, it’s a breeze!
“Chef Steve and his crew make awesome food!!”
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