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CNCentral
The instructions below assume that the Vendor Item Upload is complete, Item database is loaded, and Item set up summary has no warnings. A best practice when creating recipes is to first have all items and ingredients that go into that recipe be items already created and entered into the local Item Database. This way, all GDSN or Generic data associated with the ingredients is available for use without further data entry.
Building Recipes
From the Home screen, click the Add a Recipe quick link, you can also Add a Recipe by clicking on Recipes from the left-hand side navigation panel, then click the blue plus sign button > Add New Recipe. From the Add Recipe flyout, you will need to fill out all required fields. Select whether the recipe is an Entree or Side, Recipe Name, Recipe #, Meal Session, Yield, Weight, and Measure. Then click the Save & Continue button.
Once saved the page will load to the Recipe Info Tab you can enter optional recipe information for this recipe like Customer Facing Name, Recipe Category, HAACP Category Cost Per Serving, and Image. The information is not required but is beneficial in customizing for your staff. Once completed to your liking click Save.
Click over to the Ingredients & Directions Tab. You can Toggle the "Manually Override Nutrients & Meal Components at the Recipe Level" into the ON position if necessary or leave it in it's default position of OFF. When the toggle is in the ON position, menu planners will have to manually enter the nutrition information and meal components for the recipe. When in the OFF position, the software automatically performs this process. When the Manual Override toggle is ON, users will be able to use the Add Ingredient button. The Add Ingredient button allows users to add an ingredient to a recipe that ISN'T an item first entered into the Item Database however for the purposes of standardized menu planning, this is not the recommended process for adding ingredients to recipes.
To add an ingredient, make sure the Manual Override toggle is ON. Requires user to enter ingredient name manually and assign a weight or measure manually. This option will not search the local Item Database for an item or ingredient. Enter weight and/or measure for how much of this ingredient will go into this recipe and click the Add button to add it as an ingredient. Repeat for each ingredient in the recipe until all ingredients have been added. Type any directions and notes for the recipe in the Directions and Notes box at the bottom of the screen then Save.
Click over to the Nutrients & Meal Components Tab. If you have the Manual Override toggle ON, review/enter the nutrition and meal component information for the recipe. If the Manual Override toggle is OFF, all data will be read-only. Then click Save. For more detailed information on how to add a recipe please visit Creating New Recipes
Ingredient Swap
CNCentral makes the process of swapping out recipe ingredients for similar recipe ingredients quick, easy, and intuitive! Instead of deleting the ingredient and re-adding a new one, they can choose to [Swap Ingredient] and CNCentral will suggest other items from the item database that are similar to the item being swapped out. Once the desired item is selected from that ranked list, the recipe quantity for the new ingredient can be entered and the process will delete the original Ingredient and add the new Ingredient. From your recipes database, click on the recipe you'd like to swap an ingredient in and Click on the Ingredients & Directions tab. Then click the three dots icon on the right hand side of the ingredient you'd like to swap for a different ingredient. From the menu, choose Swap Ingredient to open a window displaying all equivalent ingredient options.
Compare the original ingredient to the new ingredient. Displayed for the old and new ingredients will be the weight, measure, calories, saturated fat, sodium, carbohydrates, and meal components for a single serving. Click the Swap button when ready to swap out the ingredient. When asked to confirm the ingredient swap, click the Swap button. Click to Save the changes to the recipe or select Save & Close to save the changes to the recipe and return to the recipe database.
For more detailed instructions on how to swap ingredients please visit Recipe Ingredient Swap
Building Base Menus
Base Menus in CNCentral are intended to provide menu planners with a template for their cycle menus organized by grade group and meal session. The Base Menus Module makes copying menus out to future weeks streamlined and easy saving menu planners time in the menu planning process. Select Base Menu on the left-hand side in the Navigation panel then select the Blue Plus sign to add.
Name your Base Menus something consistent such as MASTER Week 1 Elementary Lunch Menu, MASTER Week 1 Middle Lunch Menu, etc. Select the appropriate meal session, grade range, and operating days. If you have an elementary breakfast and lunch menu, a middle breakfast and lunch menu, and a high school breakfast and lunch menu and your cycle is a 4 week cycle, you should create 24 Base Menus. (4 elementary breakfast menus, 4 middle breakfast menus, 4 high school breakfast menus, 4 elementary lunch menus, 4 middle lunch menus, and 4 high school lunch menus). Once satisfied with the selection click the Create button.
Make sure to enter planned servings of each item and recipe according to what you think is the closest guess of how many students will take each of the offered items. For example, if you feed 1000 students a day for lunch and you offer 2 entrees, you'll want the total of both entrees to equal 1000.
It’s best practice to add your common everyday items to Monday and then copy them to the rest of the week. This would be items like Milk and Chocolate Milk, Fruit, etc., add the remaining items and recipes to each day of the week.
For more detailed information on Base Menus please visit Creating, Copying, Editing, and Deleting Base Menus
Entering Cycle Menus into the Base Menus Module Best Practice
Admin Review Reports
The Admin Review Report is a series of reports intended to be used by Menu Planners to document compliance with program guidelines during an Administrative Review. The Admin Review Report covers a single week and a single Base Menu and will provide users with a report of Items details for any item input onto a Base Menu, Recipes details for any recipe input onto a Base Menu, Recipe Ingredient details for all ingredients in the recipes used on a Base Menu and Full compliance report by day and averages over the week of the Base Menu. To access the Admin Review Reports on the base Menu Module, select the paper icon.
Posted Weekly Menu gives you a PDF copy of your weekly menu this can be posted in the cafeteria or printed out.