Shabbat Dinner with friends

March 8, 2014 By Leave a Comment

I don’t think we could have picked a better way to finish the 5 day challange than to have shabbat dinner at 104 West. Team kosher was well represented with our team Captain Paul Muscente, then Chef Nery, Murray LaLonde, and of course, myself(Harry Ashendorf). Team Vegetarian was represented with Richard Anderson joining us, as well as team Dairy free with Ed Stinchcomb and Matthew Johnson rounding out our table.

Chef Kevin was a great host, entrees were extremely flavorful(brisket, roasted chicken, and tofu kabobs). The side dishes included one of my favorite in the potato kugal, then corn on the cobb, 104 West’s hummus, and a host of housemade salads. To finish this meal off was a beautiful cake.

This was a great eye opening experience to have to “travel” to get the meals necessary for my diet for the week,and not be able to just eat anywhere.

photo (5)

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The Reluctant Celebrity: Living with dietary restrictions or how I’m learning to embrace my inner Rock Star

March 7, 2014 By 1 Comment

Many individuals living with dietary restrictions don’t want to call attention to themselves. For me this was the hardest part of our challenge.

My 5 day experience commenced with donning my Cornell Dining issued fluorescent yellow 5 Day Challenge t-shirt identifying me as a member of the Gluten Free-Dairy Free Team. We were instructed to wear these shirts on Monday and Friday. It took a great deal to psych myself up and into the shirt. I am a shy individual and do not like calling attention to myself and was in agony as I went about my day dressed like a traffic safety device. I found myself repeatedly apologizing for blinding people with my attire. And then I made a really interesting connection as I apologized for having a staff member double check some ingredients for me–an article I read in preparation for the week suddenly resonated so deeply with me that I felt it may have been intentionally planned by the Challenge organizers.

In the article the “Ten Things Children with Food Allergies Want You to Know (©2011 Gina Clowes)” number 1 is “I would like to look, act and eat like everyone else.” While quite content with eating a gluten free-dairy free diet I was very uncomfortable being singled out or feeling as though personal information was being broadcast to the public. I in no way mean to trivialize something as serious as dietary restrictions by comparing it to a briefly endured unfortunate fashion moment but the situation did clarify for me what can be difficult for many in food service to fully appreciate. People with special dietary needs aren’t necessarily comfortable with the perception of being “special.” They may not want to bring attention to themselves or have their friends know about their dietary restrictions. They just want to be included—to look, act and eat like everyone else. There are some that can embrace their inner rock star and can sport their fluorescent yellow shirts as though they were in the fashion vanguard– hot off the Paris Fashion Week runways, capable of demanding special accommodations of the most extreme kind without batting an eyelash—but many with dietary restrictions just want to be normal, buy their clothes off the rack, if you will, and blend in.

Eating the food or living without isn’t necessarily the most difficult part of the challenge—coming to terms with being seen as special, having to ask for accommodations, setting one’s self outside the norm—that can be infinitely more challenging.

I understand that now and am grateful for the lesson.

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Friday lunch at 104West!

March 7, 2014 By Leave a Comment

Friday lunches at 104West are known as the “man” (with a pardon from the ladies) lunch, it’s a festival of meat. All the other days of the week are typically dairy. So it would seem risky for someone from team vegetarian. Actually I found a Dr. Praeger’s vegetable burger with all the toppings including guacamole. I added some French fries, mixed vegetables and a salad from their salad garden. I finished the meal with a great baklava. Who knew on a double meat day.

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Day 5 Kosher Lunch

March 7, 2014 By Leave a Comment

Had a great lunch at 104 west today

Nice spicy Kosher Chili

Hand cut Fries

Kosher BBQ wings

Kosher Dog .

Salad Bar

Of course great company , Chef Kevin came and greated us along with some Gluten free friends vegan friends  . This has been a great experiance for all  . Great team building  experiance between all folks involved .Had  many folks asking” what we are doing “?  Why we are doing this ?  When answered everyone was very happy to hear what we were doing .

I have really enjoyed the experiance and now off to Shabbat at 104 West .

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Kosher Diet

March 7, 2014 By Leave a Comment

It has been a challenging week. The breakfast and lunch options are very few if you are not eating at 104 west or Appel… I’m looking forward to my last kosher dinner and reporting my dining experience to our Dining Leadership.

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Gluten Free at the Ivy Room

March 7, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Made with 100% Pure Awesome. No Gluten. 'Nuff Said.

Made with 100%  Awesome. No Gluten. ‘Nuff Said.

Lunch yesterday was at the Ivy Room in Willard Straight.  Normally I like to go with the burrito station, so I was wondering what I would find here without gluten.  It took me very little time to find a quality bowl of rice noodles, chicken broth, tofu, and assorted veggies!   Yum!

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One last Gluten-Free lunch on campus

March 7, 2014 By Leave a Comment

“Finally Friday” has even more meaning for me than usual, as it’s the last of 5 Days eating all my meals and snacks without gluten. This has been a tremendous education for me, and I can tell from the dozens of other blog posts this week that it has been for my colleagues in Cornell Dining, as well.

No bun? No problem!

No bun? No problem!

For my last 5 Days lunch, on such a nice day, I decided to head to West Campus and 104West!, Cornell’s remarkable multicultural dining room. It’s not just Kosher but Halal, as well, and I’ve enjoyed my meal every time I’ve been there. Best of all, Friday is burgers and dogs day!

Unfortunately, unlike some of the eateries I’ve been to this week, 104West! doesn’t have any gluten-free alternative bread, such as hamburger rolls, available. There is such a thing as Kosher gluten-free bread, but that may be too niche a market for Cornell Dining to stock it. No worries, I’ve had a burger without a bun before! This time, I topped the delicious hand-ground beef patty with some tomatoes and fresh guacamole.

One nice thing about eating Kosher meat is you know there are no fillers added. This was a great burger! Veggieburgers are available, too, but those are labeled as containing wheat, so that’s out for today.

Great salad bar at 104West!... but no bacon bits or crispies for me!

Great salad bar at 104West!… but none of these faux “bacon” bits or crispies for me!

I also availed myself of 104West!’s extensive salad bar, which includes tofu and hard-boiled eggs to boost the protein of your meal if you’re not having meat. But wait! Are those bacon bits?! Bacon wouldn’t be Kosher even at a meat meal, such as Friday lunch here, so the 104West! salad bar features soy “bacon” bits! I was curious to try these, but since they’re processed or manufactured food, I figured I’d better ask if they were gluten-free. Sure enough, they’re not. They contain wheat flour.

The dessert table also had lots of temptation, including some beautiful-looking baklava, but I had to pass. I’ll come back for some of that baklava another time, though. Of course, I realize hundreds of people on the Cornell campus can’t just stop eating gluten-free, the way I can after this week. I’m lucky, and after 5 Days, much better informed.

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Gluten Free at Synapsis

March 7, 2014 By Leave a Comment

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A couple days ago, I got the chance to eat at Synapsis… but what can a person with a gluten intolerance eat here?  I took the advice of my fellow teammates from their experience the day before and went with the pasta bake prepared with pasta lacking gluten.  I must say that I was impressed with the quality of the penne!  Food science has come a long way over the years in improving on the textural experience with gluten free pasta.  In the past, I have experienced lesser products- ranging from grainy to rubbery, but I can honestly say that I didn’t miss the wheat this time.

 

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This Vegans last meal…or is it?

March 7, 2014 By Leave a Comment

trillium wrapmatt Trillium

I decided to get back to Trillium this morning to try that breakfast burrito with tofu scramble instead of eggs. Matt helped me navigate the options to have in addition to my tofu…I added potatoes, roasted peppers & onions, salsa, and some vegan cheese. This breakfast burrito is one that will satisfy! Additionally there was a fresh cut fruit bar, hot cereal station, as well as some whole fresh fruit and cold cereal options to be had…Nice job Chef Jacob and Jill! Trillium has plenty of options for a vegan breakfast and the entire staff was very friendly and helpful!

Vegan vegetable Soup at Synapsis.

Vegan vegetable Soup at Synapsis.

So on campus we serve a lot of fish on Friday and did you know almost everyone has Clam Chowder? But wheres the vegan minestrone? Well Synapsis delivered this afternoon and with the help of Sarah and her team I was able to find lots of options when I originally thought there wasn’t much to be had.

But seriously was I wrong. Sarah pointed out that there were lots of options for a vegan lunch. She directed me towards the soup crocks and told me they were serving a vegan vegetable soup jam packed with veggies which smelled and tasted great. She told me that they can make vegan versions of almost all of the pizzas and pastas as well as with the magic of some vegan cheese they make a vegan grilled cheese sandwich as well. A nice selection of salads were available for additional choices along with fresh cut fruit, vegan snacks, and some veggies and hummus from the grab and go area.

Tuscan Vegan Pizza from Synapsis. Lots of veggies, tomato sauce, and vegan cheese on a crispy thin crust.

Tuscan Vegan Pizza from Synapsis. Lots of veggies, tomato sauce, and vegan cheese on a crispy thin crust.

I ended up deciding on the Tuscan flat bread pizza with fresh tomatoes, red peppers, onions, & artichoke hearts and some melted vegan cheese. I have to say it was good combination of veggies on the wood fired thin crust, but I would probably save the vegan cheese for the grilled cheese sandwich as it had more the texture for that application. I do want to go back at some point for the grilled “cheese” and try with a cup of tomato soup.

cookie monsterWell in closing on our last day I wanted to say thanks to Cornell Dining for allowing me to participate in this experiment. I loved this experience! It has opened my eyes to how great of a job Cornell Dining is doing already and also made me aware of those areas of where we can improve to help our dining community! I look forward to hearing everyone’s feedback and experiences. I do have to admit I am OK its day 5, and while I enjoyed my entire experience and will continue to eat certain vegan meals…I will also be enjoying a big juicy burger that I will be grillin’ up tonight…along with some chocolate chip cookies and a big glass of milk!

 

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Gotta read the label !

March 7, 2014 By Leave a Comment

In our quest for gluten AND dairy free foods, we discovered that everyone needs to read the ingredient labels because gluten, especially, is an ingredient in everything from salad dressings to chicken stock to ground meat products. It’s not just in the obvious cookies, bread and pasta.  Here, staffer Dagmar Ryan recommends 2 sweets that are labeled gluten-free, but are also dairy-free.  Staffer Brian Santos and I read the label for turkey burgers. They were “clean”–no gluten or dairy.

Dagmar checks labels on sweets

Dagmar checks labels on sweets

Brian Santos shows me the label for burgers.

Brian Santos shows me the label for burgers.

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