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.
This Vegans last meal…or is it?
March 7, 2014 By Leave a Comment
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.
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.
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.
Well 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!
Day 4 kosher
March 7, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Fourth day of kosher started as normal. Grabbed a reliable friend in chobani yogurt, can’t go wrong with yogurt for breakfast. For lunch, I decided to stay home and dine with my fellow managers at Bear Necessities. I had a very nice fresh take kosher salad produced at 104 west. It was a beautifully made with fresh greens, many vegetables, and a hard boiled egg. The Ken’s golden Italian dressing finished off my salad. I shared a bag of sea salt popcorners with my team captain Paul.
My dining partners that day consisted of Paul, team kosher captain, Steve, who had our Bear Necessities cooks make a beautiful vegan pizza full of fresh vegetables, and he didn’t even miss the cheese. Finally Gary, who was eating vegetarian, had a great tossed salad made by the deli of Bear Necessities. A fun and delicious lunch by all.
Kosher Day 4, Breakfast
March 6, 2014 By Leave a Comment
I didn’t expect to be working early today but as luck would have it I am here. Knowing Kosher was not open for breakfast, I decided to poke around and ask staff about what might at least be O/U certified. I was happy to find out that at the Bethe House Oatmeal bar,(a new station I highly suggest you check out) our Regular Oatmeal and our Steel Cut Oats are both certified. I added some Brown sugar and Cranberries to add some pizzazz… I completed the meal with a Banana. Not sure if anyone else is aware but I also found out today that our Pepsi products are all certified, so most anything you get through the soda dispenser is O/U, but feel free to ask the staff if you are unsure. Until lunch time…
Gluten & Dairy-free double checks…
March 6, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Staff members Bonnie Fenton, Charles Crispell, and Terri Silba check the ingredient label on breakfast sausage. Ground, processed meats often have dairy and wheat protein stabilizers, but the sausage on north campus is “clean”!
Oatmeal, although it does not contain wheat proteins, is usually processed with wheat, so unless the oatmeal label says “gluten free”, you should avoid it.
Staff checks labels for diary and gluten
“Clean” pork breakfast sausage, but be careful of oatmeal.
Gluten & Dairy-free Options
March 6, 2014 By Leave a Comment
There are plenty of breakfast options at North Star for breakfast especially if you are a high-protein type. Two kinds of eggs, home fries, and pork sausage.
Eggs 2 ways
Vegan Breakfast at Trillium
March 5, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Self serve sugars and cinnamon at the hot cereal bar
I went to Trillium this morning because I was told about a yummy tofu scramble. I looked on all the menu boards however I was not able to find it? I wandered a bit back and forth and most have looked lost.
Everyone behind the line was very friendly and said hello and I was asked if I wanted some hot cereal today. I said sure and just passed on the idea of asking about the scramble.
There was oatmeal and cream of wheat for my cereal options and I went for the cream of wheat as I actually have never tasted it before. I selected cranberries and golden raisins and they were cooked right into my cereal on the spot.
We chatted a bit while she made my cereal which didn’t take very long at all. Would you like a little cream on that? YES!!! I wanted say but I told her I was vegan! Another worker joked a bit with me and told me how he hated that non dairy cheese. I said well its not for everyone, but at least you have these options.
Toppings to add to the hot cereal. You get a choice of two then its .99 for each additional topping.
- I added a little bit of brown sugar and ground cinnamon to the top. The cereal was quite good and really reminded me of grits of which I am a huge fan. It was very filling and the portion was quite large. I actually only ate 1/2 of the container. Interesting how when they cooled the texture is very firm like polenta. I think I will try this at home with a savory version with some caramelized onions and green peas…Vegan of course 😉
Martha’s has to have Dairy free Breakfast….
March 5, 2014 By Leave a Comment
….Or Not! Surprisingly, my options were etremely limited for food choices. I could have had oatmeal or dry cereal once again, so I chose an English muffin with egg and pork. Didn’t even have vegan cheese to glue everything together. But don’t worry, they will tomorrow! Another day of pork made me start to think that it would be nice to have mushrooms or grilled vegetables on a breakfast sandwich instead of a pork choice. But considering that none of the retail units can cook their own food, adding something as simple as grilled mushrooms becomes a huge process. Since my taste buds revolted to soy milk earlier in the week, the Izze seemed like a fitting choice. 
Variety of Dairy Free Options
March 4, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Catching up on my Dairy Free Adventure.
Last night I attended Mardi Gras at RPME. There was a lot of great food to choose from Gumbo, Jambalaya, Dirty Rice, Jambalaya, and much more. I felt fortunate to have such a selection and everything was quite tasty. I did have to pass on the bread pudding which is one of my favorite desserts. Since I am staying true to a Dairy Free diet even when off campus for the week, I scoured our cupboards for a snack when I got home. I soon realized how much dairy is a sub component of many of the foods I eat on a daily basis. I finally settled on a granny smith apple which was quite good.
This morning I went to Trillium for a scrumptious breakfast burrito. The portion is generous! The staff were helpful navigating the options and even checked to ensure the potatoes were not grilled in butter! Not to worry…they aren’t
What’s for breakfast, day 2?
March 4, 2014 By Leave a Comment
I’d caught myself without a good breakfast yesterday, unless I wanted to take the time to cook some eggs, so I stopped at the store on the way home last night to explore my options.
I’m not sure what the cheetah has to do with breakfast bars.
The P&C Fresh supermarket on east hill has a large gluten-free section, including lots of cake mixes, tortilla chips, breads, pastas, and, yes, cereals and granola bars. I decided to try these Envirokidz Crispy Rice Bars from Nature’s Path, and I suppose I should have guessed that they would more or less be Rice Krispies Treats with little bits of fruit.
The crispy rice bar wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t very filling. Luckily, I’d also grabbed some single-serving yogurt containers at the store, and one of those did the trick. Most of Cornell Dining’s retail units offer single-serving Chobani yogurt, and some even have Cornell Dairy yogurt for sale now.