If you’ve been in the lunch line recently, you have seen the banner advertising Powerhouse, the new meal program providing different meal options, than the regular meals. Elior Independent School Dining is partnering with our school to launch Powerhouse, a menu for athletes and savvy students looking to count calories and eat a more balanced diet. The Elior company employs our meal staff and prepares the meals on the Linsly campus, and the new Powerhouse meal program will be an excellent addition to our school.
The Powerhouse meal program is perfect for athletes who need to count calories, keep track of vitamins, and reach their protein goals to fuel their bodies properly and excel on and off the court. Powerhouse allows athletes and students to get nutritionally balanced meals, differing from the more fried, student-prefered meals.
The Powerhouse meals are based around the bowl concept: athletes and students create a bowl by choosing a protein, a starch, and a vegetable. We can expect to see chicken, beef, fresh vegetables, and quinoa from Powerhouse later this year. Powerhouse breakfast meals include eggs and overnight oats. Lunch and dinner will also have Powerhouse options that will change on a day-to-day basis. Additionally, BeWell, Elior’s meal program, which is the umbrella concept that Powerhouse is under, recipes will be trans-fat free, use minimally processed ingredients, and be prepared to keep sodium content to a minimum and portions in check.
The Powerhouse idea was actually invented by the students of the Linsly DTE. The early idea was taken a step further and pitched to Elior by our food service director Ms. Michelle DeFazio. A panel of dietitians helped workshop the idea until the meals became the perfect source of well-balanced fuel for Linsly athletes.
Students can view a complete breakdown of calories and nutrients on the menu touchscreen nearby the lunch line. Unbeknownst to most students, students can select and deselect what they want to or do not want to eat and view the nutritional breakdown. This can also be used to avoid food such as dairy or gluten so that students avoid foods they are allergic to or calories they do not need. Every meal can be easily customized on the screen with the calories breakdown included. Students can even leave pictures of their meals! Powerhouse meals will be available every mealtime from its release a few weeks ago.
