All About Recipes🧑‍🍳

K12 Recipe Contest + CACFP Submissions

Take a bite into summer with delicious mushroom recipe inspiration – this newsletter is packed with recipe contests, spotlighting CACFP mushroom recipe submissions, and other ways to get featured in our newsletter and social media!

Kids Eat Mushrooms Too Recipe Contests

📣 Recipe contest alert! Do you have what it takes to inspire the next generation of mushroom lovers? Here’s your chance to show off your cooking skills – enter your favorite mushroom recipe in the Kids Eat Mushrooms Too recipe contest! 

Don’t miss your chance to enter – the Child Care contest closes on June 30th. 

Get ready for the K12 Recipe Contest Opening on July 30th (ends September 30, 2024). Submit your favorite recipe that utilizes fresh mushrooms deliciously and innovatively! 

Prizes for both contests include:

1. First Place Grand Prize: Registration for the National Child Nutrition Conference or National Head Start Conference (winner’s choice) in 2025
2. Second Place Prize: Two Mushroom Grow Kits and Five Mushroom T-Shirts 
3. Third Place Prize: Three Mushroom T-Shirts and Three Mushroom Sunglasses

Contest Guidelines + Tips

Use the online submission form to submit your most delicious mushroom-tastic breakfast or lunch recipe by the deadline (from April 30-June 30, 2024 for child care, from July 30-September 30, 2024 for K-12).

• Each submission must include the number of servings, serving size, recipe ingredients and quantities, preparation instructions, meal components, and a photo of the finished recipe. It does not need to be standardized or nutritionally analyzed. We will standardize it and run the nutritionals for your recipe if you do not have it done. 
• You may enter 1 recipe per school/location per contest (i.e. you may enter recipes in both the child care and K-12 contests). You may submit multiple recipes per district.
• While not required, it is strongly recommended that each recipe is served or tested with students prior to entering it into the contest. Bonus points will be awarded to entries demonstrating this!
• This contest is open to food service professionals working in child care settings or K-12 schools located in the 50 United States and D.C.

Judging Criteria:

• Deliciousness and flavor (10 points)
• Plate appeal (10 points)
• Use of fresh mushrooms (10 points)
• Creativity and innovation with mushrooms (5 points)
• Ease of prep and service (5 points)
• Nutritiousness (5 points)
• Tested with students (10 bonus points)

For more information, head over to our website here. Be sure to sign up for the School Nutrition newsletter or CACFP newsletter to stay updated with the latest!

Recipe Spotlight: CACFP Recipe Submissions

Thank you to everyone who submitted CACFP recipes! Spotlighting The Nature Explorers Nutritious Egg Cake recipe from Browns Family Childcare!

The preschoolers thought this recipe was eggcellent, and a perfect recipe to submit for the contest!

Want more mushroom inspiration? Check out the Mushroom in Schools website for a variety of delicious (and nutritious) recipes!

#KidsEatMushrooms2 

If you are planning to add more mushrooms to your menus, we would love to see what you and your students are cooking up!

Tag us on your Facebook and/or X (Twitter) post to win a Mushrooms in Schools T-shirt. 

Every time you share your recipes, we will feature you in our “Mushrooms on the Menu” newsletter (want to subscribe? Click here). We want to celebrate all the hard work you and your team do.