Skip to content
Login

More Meal Pattern Minutes

Back to Blog

Meal Pattern Minute: Ounce Equivalency for Meat

January 19, 2024

If you are a Child and Adult Care Food Program provider and you prepare or plan the meals, knowing the measurements in ounce equivalency for meats/meat alternates is essential. Determining ounce equivalency for meat like beef, poultry and fish, these can be determined by weighing them out using a food scale. However, when cooking raw meat in a mixed dish or baking it in the oven on it’s own this can be tricky. Do you weigh and determine the ounce equivalency of raw meat before cooking it or after? 

 

Tune in to this Meal Pattern Minute, where Isabel Ramos-Lebron, MS, RDN, LD, discusses when meat should be weighed and how to figure out ounce equivalency in a mixed dish with meat. 

 

Find more information about meats/meat alternates and their ounce equivalencies by reviewing the resources highlighted below. 

  • Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs Interactive Web-Based Tool
    • The interactive Food Buying Guide allows for easy searching, navigating, and displaying of content. In addition, users can compare yield information, create a favorite foods list, and access tools, such as: 
      • The FBG Calculator 
      • Exhibit A Grains Tool 
      • Download Food Buying Guide 
      • Recipe Analysis Workbook (RAW), and 
      • Product Formulation Statement (PFS) Workbook 
    • You can create your own free account, search for specific foods that are creditable in the CACFP and even develop your own grocery list to help you shop your foods and stay in budget. 
  • Crediting Handbook for CACFP – Meats/Meat Alternates
    • This handbook helps you figure out if the meat/meat alternate you would like to serve is creditable in the CACFP. The guide provides explanations to commonly asked questions and if a food requires a Child Nutrition label or Product Formulation Statement.  

Recipes 

Add one of these credited, meat/meat alternate recipes to your menu. 

Want to share this video on Facebook? Click here, and then you'll find three icons along the right side of the screen. Click on the arrow, and you'll be able to choose whether you want to share it to your feed or to a group. You can also include a short note about why this Meal Pattern Minute is so important! Click on the "Post" button when you're finished, and that's it!