Summer 2013... NACUFS Intern Style!: Week 3 at the University of Oklahoma, Times a Flyin!

Day 11:

Well we’re back to yet another Monday morning and I am a bit on the tired side. I was woken up last night by the scariest sound outside my window, winds and rain that sounded like a tornado! Yes, I do know that it was in fact nothing like a tornado BUT for someone from Canada who rarely experiences hurricane winds and rain, it sounds like a tornado to me! With the winds, heavy rain and lightning coming in through my window I barely got any sleep at all. At first I was nervous but after about 30 minutes of being awake at 4:00am I started to get frustrated and stopped even caring about the storm, I just wanted to be asleep! I had to put in earplugs and eventually I did fall back asleep, waking up to a dry sunny morning; Oklahoma weather, you amaze me.

We didn’t have anything planned for today so Kayla and I took this opportunity to do some research for our in-service project: topic will be revealed on a later date and we promise it will be interesting for all! We also received Stephanie’s menu demo for her vegan/vegetarian options for Couch. We will hopefully be working with her tomorrow to think of some new ideas for the menu and then we can go ahead and input them into C-board. I am so excited to be a part of this menu, and even more excited to do some of the taste testing for the various options. Overall another great day here at the University of Oklahoma :)

Day 12:

Today was another office day for Kayla and I but I enjoy the spare time as it lets us work on other independent projects we have going on. We took the time today to search for recipes for Stephanie’s vegetarian/vegan menu line at Couch. I focus on color and flavor when it comes to recipes, especially vegan because some of the food options can be so colorless. Recipes that include lots of vegetables are great for color but you can’t forget about protein, so I chose to look for beans, tofu, TVP and quinoa as excellent protein choices. . I’m hoping to do some recipe development with these recipes if we chose to keep any for the menu. I chose recipes with tofu and quinoa and I have never tried either one of these foods so now I am curious of how they taste.

Day 13:

This morning we went over to Crossroads with Kevin Barker to do a Food Service Operations Assessment Report. Kevin explained to us the procedure he follows when assessing an operation and how he mainly focuses on debris, surface cleanliness, bacterial accumulation, mold, cold/hot food temperatures and overall organization and tidiness. He looks for things like logs which keep track of dish area sanitation, cleaning schedules, ice machine cleanliness and temperature tracking. One piece of technology that Crossroads swears by is TempTracker. A small device is placed inside each freezer/fridge within the operation which is also connected to a computer program. How it works is if a freezer temperature rises TempTracker sends an email or text to the manager right away letting them know something’s not right with their freezer. This device saves food service operations thousands or even millions of dollars each year and ensures overall safety of their customers. Crossroads cleanliness was beyond our expectations; it was cleaner than my own kitchen! They keep such good care of their kitchen and follow protocol and policies better than I have ever seen. Their kitchens safe and their food is amazing, what more can you ask for!

Day 14:

Best part about today, WE GOT OUR BIKES! Even though I haven’t ridden a bike in about 10 years I was still excited to see that 2 wheeled machine waiting for me outside. Now instead of walking 15 minutes to work it only takes us 5, which is awesome! I am definitely going to appreciate this bike aka Lola J

Today we met with Jenn Doughty who is the Director of Operations Housing and Food Services Division of Student Affairs. She gave us the lowdown on her job and how she deals with more of the ‘housing’ part of Housing and Food here at OU. She explained where her job and food service overlap and it occurs when a student with a food allergy or special request applies for a meal plan. They put their meal plan request in through Jenn and if there is a certain food request it is sent up to food service. They work side by side to ensure all students can eat on campus. After our discussion Jenn arranged a campus tour for us which I was so excited for; Kayla and I were getting a little tired of getting lost on campus all the time haha. Even though it was 95 degrees and sunny outside I sucked it up and walked the whole tour, sweat or no sweat. Kala (our tour guide) was amazing! She took us in the coolest buildings like the library, all through the union and out to Canyon garden which houses turtles and poison ivy. She also took us into the stadium which I have been dying to see since I got here. (see picture below) There were no paint lines on the field due to it being summer and work being done to it but the stadium itself was HUGE! I was shocked when Kala told us that a ticket for a game against Texas was around $130-$160, and that people would sleep outside and wait to buy tickets! I wish I was here for September so I could see a game, I absolutely love watching football. After our tour we got back to the office to find out the power went out across half of campus. We lingered around for a bit but then got the word that we could just go home yeeHaa! Fabulous day :)

Day 15:

Today was recipe development day for Kayla and I. Dot chose 2 recipes that she wanted us to try out; Brownie Baked Oatmeal and Summer Cole Slaw. With Onnie’s help we made the Summer Cole Slaw first. It’s made entirely of vegetables ranging from zucchini, squash, onions, peppers and corn. Pared with an olive oil, lemon dressing it was delicious. This recipe is vegetarian/vegan friendly along with peanut and gluten free. Next we went over to the bakery to work on our Brownie Baked Oatmeal. We made 2 variations of this recipe, one original including 2% milk and eggs and one vegan friendly substituting the 2% milk for soy milk and the eggs for unsweetened applesauce. Both recipes turned out to be delicious and I may have even enjoyed the vegan recipe better! We let everyone in the kitchen try each of our recipes and everyone said they were delicious and they would eat it again. Hanging out in Couch for the day allowed us to get to know more people who work there and made for a day of jokes and laughter. Overall great reviews on the recipes and a great end to out Friday :)