Fans of afternoon milkshakes at Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center will have to settle for flavorful smoothies made from fresh, whole fruits and vegetables.
The hospital’s Terrace Café recently ditched its sugary, high-calorie milkshakes and frozen yogurt-based smoothies for the more healthful fruit- and vegetable-based offerings. The change is part of a larger effort at the Salmon Creek medical center to offer its staff and visitors more healthful menu options.
“We’re a hospital,” said executive chef Edward Helbig. “Lead by example.”
In the past several months, the hospital’s food and nutrition department has been tweaking its menu offerings and food preparation practices to reduce the fat content and calories of the food sold in the cafe.
Before, the cafe used prepared food. Now, more menu options are made from scratch, Helbig said.
Instead of using pot roast that had been prepared — and sodium-injected for preservation — the kitchen now prepares its own roast, braising the meat in the kitchen and controlling the amount of sodium used, he said.
The same goes for stock and soups. Before, the cafe reheated frozen soups. Now, all soups are made from scratch in the hospital kitchen, Helbig said.
“The soups are very, very popular,” he said.
The cafe has also added ingredient lists for regular menu offerings and daily specials — something that wasn’t possible before.
“That’s because we know everything that’s in it because we’re making it from scratch,” said Serena Markanen, food and nutrition manager.
In addition, the cafe reduced the number of fried food options, added a self-serve salad bar and swapped the milkshakes for smoothies. Soon, the cafe will begin offering protein powder for those who want the smoothies as a meal replacement.
The smoothies come in three flavors — Fruit Salad, Raspberry Rendezvous and Basic Green — and have significantly fewer calories and less fat than the milkshakes, Markanen said.
The Basic Green smoothie — made with banana, grapes, pineapple, spinach, apple, agave nectar and ice — contains 145 calories and .5 gram of fat per 1 cup serving. The same size serving of vanilla milkshake has 240 calories and 12 grams of fat, Markanen said.
Moving forward, the hospital wants to replace more of its convenience food with made-from-scratch offerings, reduce the number of sugary drinks and limit the fried foods, Markanen said. In addition, the hospital wants to add nutrition labels to all of the items in the cafe, she said.
The changes will continue slowly in the next few years, Markanen said. In 2016, the hospital will make similar changes to the hospital patient menu, replacing previously prepared foods with made-from-scratch options, she said.
The changes are a point of pride for Helbig and the rest of the kitchen staff. Many of the menu items were created by cooks who wanted to try a new recipe or share a family favorite. Bringing those ideas to life is more fulfilling than serving previously made food, Helbig said.
“Personally, it’s something to be proud of,” he said.
