Meal Pattern Minute: Zucchini Bread

Whenever a Child and Adult Care Food Program operator develops a recipe, a few key questions always need to be answered such as what meal components are creditable in the dish, how many servings per recipe for the age you are serving, and is there enough of a meal component to credit like when you make zucchini bread? You’ve calculated that there is enough grains but can you credit the zucchini in the bread as well? 

Get your question answered by listening to Isabel Ramos-Lebron, MS, RDN, LD, as she gives the key points on how the vegetable in the zucchini bread may or may not credit. 

Looking for more resources on this topic? Review the information below. 

• The Crediting Handbook for the CACFP is a companion document for the USDA Food Buying Guide, providing information about creditable and non-creditable foods. It is not an exhaustive list however is a good quick pdf resource to get quick answers on common meal components that may or may not be creditable in the CACFP.
  • If using this resource to look up zucchini bread, you’ll find this food listed in both the vegetable and grain meal component. Under the vegetable component, the handbook indicates that it might be creditable if the zucchini bread contains at least an 1/8 cup (2 tablespoons) of visible vegetable per serving. Document meal pattern contribution with a standardized recipe or a Product Formulation Statement. Generally, vegetable breads contain an insufficient amount of vegetable per serving. 
• Developing a zucchini recipe from scratch? Use the USDA Food Buying Guide by first creating your own free account. You will then be able to develop and save recipes with meal component crediting information. 
•  In addition, you can use the National CACFP Association template, Crediting Recipes in the CACFP, to help you get started in writing a recipe. 

Here are a few quick breads that could be added to your menu. 

• Banana Bread Squares (Child Care Center) 
• Orange Cranberry Quick Bread (Family Child Care Home) 
• Orange Cranberry Quick Bread (Child Care Center)
• Pumpkin Bread (Family Child Care Home)
• Pumpkin Bread (Child Care Center)

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