Good Morning OU Housing and Food Fam!
These past two weeks have FLOWN by! Between finishing almost all of my projects for rotations and getting ready for Dot's and I events, it has been crazy!
Week 3 was spent doing some housekeeping in the office. I worked on my recipe development and finalizing steps for my Business plan. Wednesday, February 6, I had the opportunity to help Jet Li with his Chinese New Year menu. He made everything from pickle fish to Chinese BBQ pork. It was all extremely delicious. I helped him serve and for 4 hours we had a line almost out the door. By the end of lunch, we had run out of everything except the Chinese BBQ pork. It was crazy and amazing at the same time! I also had the opportunity to try out my menu for my business plan. The Cauliflower and Vegan "Ranch" were a huge hit! The truffles ended up being changed to chocolate chip cookie dough since it wouldn't hold the ball shape
Week 4 I spent at both Cross A &C. Monday and Tuesday I was at Cross C helping open Farmer & The Kale and making pizza at Basic Knead. The rest of the week I was at Cross A. Nathan and Tim were absolutely AMAZING in answering every question, letting me hands on with the logistics of running a restaurant, and letting me work right beside them. I learned everything from scheduling to account keeping. Plus, Credo is absolutely amazing! That loaded Mac & Cheese is what dreams are made out of!
Week 5 was spent in the office finishing up my projects, like employee in service and business plan. After thinking I had found the winning idea for my performance improvement, I found out that it had already been fixed. So, after talking to Dot, we decided to write out procedures for what to do with someone who self identifies an allergy. On Thursday, we had Dot's event for allergen awareness. It went swimmingly!
Sorry for not posting! This internship has been crazy busy, but I have loved every second!
Best,
Amber
Monday, February 25, 2019
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
Week 2
Good Morning Everyone!
This week, I had the opportunity to spend week 2 with Sam Ford at Couch restaurants. This cafeteria is one of the only all you can eat places on the OU Norman campus. The way that couch is run s incredible and takes a lot of coordination. It is very crucial that all members communicate and work together. It was very interesting to see how dietary restrictions are handled at Couch. They have a section of the buffet line that is top 8 free and a buffet cart that is top 8 free along with gluten. It is awesome to see how Couch accommodates all members of OU.
I spent time in many places of Couch including: front dining area, Chick-fil-a, Vegetation Station, Receiving, and La Roma. All places were very busy and required communication from all members. I was in the stock room on a Thursday which is weekly inventory, but it was also monthly inventory. I followed both Ronnie and Justin to see how they manage such a daunting task. On top of inventory, they also had to put up orders and keep all walk-ins/store rooms clean. I absolutely enjoyed talking to everyone and getting to see what they do everyday.
This week was very different than what I expected, but I absolutely enjoyed every minute! Sam invited me back to help with Lunar New Year on Wednesday, which will be interesting to see how they handle a big events. I will also try out my recipes for my Business Plan and Recipe Modification.
Talk to y'all next week!
Best,
Amber
This week, I had the opportunity to spend week 2 with Sam Ford at Couch restaurants. This cafeteria is one of the only all you can eat places on the OU Norman campus. The way that couch is run s incredible and takes a lot of coordination. It is very crucial that all members communicate and work together. It was very interesting to see how dietary restrictions are handled at Couch. They have a section of the buffet line that is top 8 free and a buffet cart that is top 8 free along with gluten. It is awesome to see how Couch accommodates all members of OU.
I spent time in many places of Couch including: front dining area, Chick-fil-a, Vegetation Station, Receiving, and La Roma. All places were very busy and required communication from all members. I was in the stock room on a Thursday which is weekly inventory, but it was also monthly inventory. I followed both Ronnie and Justin to see how they manage such a daunting task. On top of inventory, they also had to put up orders and keep all walk-ins/store rooms clean. I absolutely enjoyed talking to everyone and getting to see what they do everyday.
This week was very different than what I expected, but I absolutely enjoyed every minute! Sam invited me back to help with Lunar New Year on Wednesday, which will be interesting to see how they handle a big events. I will also try out my recipes for my Business Plan and Recipe Modification.
Talk to y'all next week!
Best,
Amber
Friday, January 25, 2019
Week 1
Good Morning Everyone!
My name is Amber Rinestine and I am the newest dietetic intern at OU Housing and Food. I just finished the school portion at OUHSC and am super excited to be starting my rotations. I have heard nothing but great things about this particular management rotation and was hoping I would be chosen for it. So I am sure y'all can understand my excitement to be here! I am very interested in seeing all the inner workings of this department (having to manage that many places must take a great deal of organization) and being able to apply it in the future.
It is my first week here and I am overwhelmed with how welcoming everyone has been. It is exciting that so many people want to offer their assistance and are so open with what they do/advice. Dot's job has been very interesting to learn about. It is incredible the steps that she takes to ensure every student has a meal plan that is safe for them. This week I was tasked with a food allergy awareness booth that will be happening on Feb. 19th. I have been planning the educational handouts and the menu, since we will be handing out free top 8 allergen free, gluten free, and vegan snacks. Today, Friday January 25, I am meeting Kevin Barker (Director of Business Operations) and go with him on a sanitation, safety, and quality inspection at Crossroads at the Student Union. This will be interesting to see since I have been on the other side before. It is very important that sanitation is being maintained and safety measures are in place to make sure everyone, students and staff, are safe here on campus.
As I mentioned above, I am very excited to be here and can't wait to take in every opportunity given to me! Have an AMAZING week and I will chat with y'all next Friday!
My name is Amber Rinestine and I am the newest dietetic intern at OU Housing and Food. I just finished the school portion at OUHSC and am super excited to be starting my rotations. I have heard nothing but great things about this particular management rotation and was hoping I would be chosen for it. So I am sure y'all can understand my excitement to be here! I am very interested in seeing all the inner workings of this department (having to manage that many places must take a great deal of organization) and being able to apply it in the future.
It is my first week here and I am overwhelmed with how welcoming everyone has been. It is exciting that so many people want to offer their assistance and are so open with what they do/advice. Dot's job has been very interesting to learn about. It is incredible the steps that she takes to ensure every student has a meal plan that is safe for them. This week I was tasked with a food allergy awareness booth that will be happening on Feb. 19th. I have been planning the educational handouts and the menu, since we will be handing out free top 8 allergen free, gluten free, and vegan snacks. Today, Friday January 25, I am meeting Kevin Barker (Director of Business Operations) and go with him on a sanitation, safety, and quality inspection at Crossroads at the Student Union. This will be interesting to see since I have been on the other side before. It is very important that sanitation is being maintained and safety measures are in place to make sure everyone, students and staff, are safe here on campus.
As I mentioned above, I am very excited to be here and can't wait to take in every opportunity given to me! Have an AMAZING week and I will chat with y'all next Friday!
Friday, October 12, 2018
Week 8
Hey y'all,
I can't believe it is already time for me to say goodbye. My internship here with Housing and Foods has come to an end. I have had such a good time here learning about food management. Everyone I have worked with was awesome and taught me something different that I can take moving forward in my career. I was able to participate in so many different activities and operations while I was here, but I know that there will still be more for me to learn in my career. I tried to soak up as much knowledge as I could from everyone here. This includes continuing to do new things all the way up until I left.
I was very excited this week that I got to sit in on one of Dot's famous food allergy awareness training classes. All new food services employees are required to attend a food allergy awareness training to help educate them on the proper procedures for helping customers with food allergies and specialty diets. This training covers not only proper procedures but educates employees on the signs and symptoms of food allergies, the seriousness of food allergies, and the proper responses to food allergies. This training also includes specialty diets students on campus may follow for religious or other medical conditions.
I also got the opportunity to spend some time at Wagner this week. Wagner dining hall is located inside the "athletic" dorms, Headington Hall. Forty-nine percent of the students living in Headington Hall are athletes. Because of the high volume of athletes dining at this operation the sports dietitian plays an integral part in menu planning. Unlike other dining facilities on campus the menu options in Wagner are served with a red, yellow, green light system to help athletes maintain proper nutrition for their sports and provide education on how to make a healthy plate. For example vegetables are a green light food meaning they are an important part of a healthy balanced diet, while bacon is a red light food meaning it should be consumed less often, 1-2 times a week. Along with the stoplight system many food items offered at Wagner offer healthy swaps to increase nutritional value at each meal such as baked chicken rather than fried chicken.
Finally, I went to the Union Market. There is a lot going on at Union Market. They offer a salad bar, soup bar, hot bar, grab and go retail items, and have a made to order grill station. Despite the large variety of food options available at the Union Market their kitchen space is not very big. Communication is key to this operation running smoothly and accident free. The staff was always talking to each other whether to communicate order specifications, walking around a corner, or walking with a knife or sharp object everyone knew what was going on.
Between visiting different operations on campus this week I was able to help with ingredient ID cards and finish talking with housing and food employees to finish up my internship assignments.
I have had so much fun learning about management here and working with the food service department. Everyone I have worked with during my time here has been so informative and a pleasure to work with. Thank you to everyone I worked with over the past two months for answering my millions of questions, showing me your jobs and helping me to increase my management knowledge.
I can't believe it is already time for me to say goodbye. My internship here with Housing and Foods has come to an end. I have had such a good time here learning about food management. Everyone I have worked with was awesome and taught me something different that I can take moving forward in my career. I was able to participate in so many different activities and operations while I was here, but I know that there will still be more for me to learn in my career. I tried to soak up as much knowledge as I could from everyone here. This includes continuing to do new things all the way up until I left.
I was very excited this week that I got to sit in on one of Dot's famous food allergy awareness training classes. All new food services employees are required to attend a food allergy awareness training to help educate them on the proper procedures for helping customers with food allergies and specialty diets. This training covers not only proper procedures but educates employees on the signs and symptoms of food allergies, the seriousness of food allergies, and the proper responses to food allergies. This training also includes specialty diets students on campus may follow for religious or other medical conditions.
I also got the opportunity to spend some time at Wagner this week. Wagner dining hall is located inside the "athletic" dorms, Headington Hall. Forty-nine percent of the students living in Headington Hall are athletes. Because of the high volume of athletes dining at this operation the sports dietitian plays an integral part in menu planning. Unlike other dining facilities on campus the menu options in Wagner are served with a red, yellow, green light system to help athletes maintain proper nutrition for their sports and provide education on how to make a healthy plate. For example vegetables are a green light food meaning they are an important part of a healthy balanced diet, while bacon is a red light food meaning it should be consumed less often, 1-2 times a week. Along with the stoplight system many food items offered at Wagner offer healthy swaps to increase nutritional value at each meal such as baked chicken rather than fried chicken.
Finally, I went to the Union Market. There is a lot going on at Union Market. They offer a salad bar, soup bar, hot bar, grab and go retail items, and have a made to order grill station. Despite the large variety of food options available at the Union Market their kitchen space is not very big. Communication is key to this operation running smoothly and accident free. The staff was always talking to each other whether to communicate order specifications, walking around a corner, or walking with a knife or sharp object everyone knew what was going on.
Between visiting different operations on campus this week I was able to help with ingredient ID cards and finish talking with housing and food employees to finish up my internship assignments.
I have had so much fun learning about management here and working with the food service department. Everyone I have worked with during my time here has been so informative and a pleasure to work with. Thank you to everyone I worked with over the past two months for answering my millions of questions, showing me your jobs and helping me to increase my management knowledge.
Friday, October 5, 2018
Week 7
It's OU/Texas week in Norman!
I started my week at the residential colleges. These twin buildings share a single kitchen that produces food for each college's dining hall. The college's were designed to house upperclassmen and the kitchen works very hard to make sure the food produced in each hall is of equal quality.
Monday I filled in at the salad station for lunch service. While the salad station was recently converted to self serve I had to make sure to keep all the salad items stocked and was responsible for making sandwiches and wraps when ordered. While my sandwich skills are decent, my wrap making skills could still use some practice. Luckily all the students were patient and I was able to hold down the salad station! Tuesday morning I got to help prep stir fry station and then during lunch I even got to try my hand hat preparing a stir fry order. It is funny how much different it is to cook for people other than yourself. I also spent some time learning about the grill and pizza stations. Residential colleges is the only place on campus where you can get freshly made pizza crust!
Next, I got to hang out with the food service dietitian. We worked on calculating calories that will be added to menu boards throughout campus, the Fitter Foods options in Couch Restaurants, and nutrition education. Look out for my blog post about gluten-free food and celiac disease on Fran's student nutrition education blog! We also got in the spirit of OU/Texas and helped serve longhorn ribs at the Bevo BBQ on Thursday.
BOOMER SOONER, GO OU!
I started my week at the residential colleges. These twin buildings share a single kitchen that produces food for each college's dining hall. The college's were designed to house upperclassmen and the kitchen works very hard to make sure the food produced in each hall is of equal quality.
Monday I filled in at the salad station for lunch service. While the salad station was recently converted to self serve I had to make sure to keep all the salad items stocked and was responsible for making sandwiches and wraps when ordered. While my sandwich skills are decent, my wrap making skills could still use some practice. Luckily all the students were patient and I was able to hold down the salad station! Tuesday morning I got to help prep stir fry station and then during lunch I even got to try my hand hat preparing a stir fry order. It is funny how much different it is to cook for people other than yourself. I also spent some time learning about the grill and pizza stations. Residential colleges is the only place on campus where you can get freshly made pizza crust!
Next, I got to hang out with the food service dietitian. We worked on calculating calories that will be added to menu boards throughout campus, the Fitter Foods options in Couch Restaurants, and nutrition education. Look out for my blog post about gluten-free food and celiac disease on Fran's student nutrition education blog! We also got in the spirit of OU/Texas and helped serve longhorn ribs at the Bevo BBQ on Thursday.
BOOMER SOONER, GO OU!
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Week 6
Heyo,
It happened guys...Monday was the opening of Credo to the public. Despite the fact that there are still some procedures that need to be ironed out and that it was all of the students first day working at Credo, things went very well. Students living in the building seemed happy to finally have a food option in their building and a few said they would be back for dinner. Monday was also the first day anyone got to really play with the POS system and the students working the register seemed to pick up on the procedures pretty quickly. It was fun seeing all the preparation and planning come together and being able to serve the public. Rumor has it that Glow will be opening the first week in October and I can not wait!!!
After seeing Credo up and running it was time for me to get ready for the food sustainability fair. This event helps educate students on the marketing labels used on food packaging. What does Organic really mean? Is it important if the word Natural is on the label? Is No Hormones Added milk worth spending extra on? It is illegal to add hormones to milk, thus making all milk free of added hormones. As always we had some delicious free samples to give away during this event.
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| Mexican Hummus |
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| Chocolate Cobbler |
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| Mexican Quinoa |
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| Savory Cake & Guacamole |
This week I also had the opportunity to learn about the department of Talent and Organizational Development (TOD). This department is responsible for the recruiting, on-boarding, development, and off-boarding of staff for Housing and Food Services. They help provide many development opportunities for employees such as classes, training, and seminars. They also run the applaud program used to help recognize people for their hard work and going above an beyond in the work place.
I ended my week learning more about the ordering products at Couch Express. This brought back a lot of information from class. It was interesting to learn how the ordering process changes every year with new groups of students to reflect the current student populations preferences and needs.
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
Week 5
Hey Hey!
It's week 5 and still so much more to learn. I got to spend this week at Cross A. This is going to be the first retail operation to open on the Cross complex. Cross A is home to Credo, Glow (Top 8 allergen & gluten free), and Milkflower. It was an amazing opportunity to learn about what goes into making and preparing a business for operation. The week was spent preparing to open all while construction was still finishing up in the area. Due to some delays, Credo will be the first operation to open.
To start the week I learned about all the tasks and paperwork a general manager has to do to get an operation started and running. I learned a lot about scheduling and the intricacies of making schedules around college life. Next I spent time with the kitchen manager. His job was very different from the general manager. He makes sure the food is ordered and being prepared uniformly in the kitchen. He also has to make sure that the food is being made with quality and following the health code in the restaurant. Teaching employees how to plate meals and use different equipment.
To prepare for opening, a couple of soft openings were conducted this week. This was a vital part of getting ready to open and provided lots of insight about being prepared for all things. In preparation for this, it was discovered that some of the equipment was not working as expected. This is where I learned the importance of having heat sensors and thermometers on a flat top and that all hood vents do not work equally. I learned that if you want to have a certain look to your kitchen, it is best to consult a kitchen consultant for equipment and design ideas but alas the show must go on. As a manager I learned the importance of being flexible, problem solving, and good communication.
In addition to my time at Cross A this week I also presented my In-service at this weeks managers meeting. As an advocate for people with celiac disease and food allergies I was excited to be able to present on cross-contact and food preparation.
Next week Credo is finally opening. I am looking forward to seeing Credo in business and learn new management skills. Hopefully Glow will be open soon too!
It's week 5 and still so much more to learn. I got to spend this week at Cross A. This is going to be the first retail operation to open on the Cross complex. Cross A is home to Credo, Glow (Top 8 allergen & gluten free), and Milkflower. It was an amazing opportunity to learn about what goes into making and preparing a business for operation. The week was spent preparing to open all while construction was still finishing up in the area. Due to some delays, Credo will be the first operation to open.
To start the week I learned about all the tasks and paperwork a general manager has to do to get an operation started and running. I learned a lot about scheduling and the intricacies of making schedules around college life. Next I spent time with the kitchen manager. His job was very different from the general manager. He makes sure the food is ordered and being prepared uniformly in the kitchen. He also has to make sure that the food is being made with quality and following the health code in the restaurant. Teaching employees how to plate meals and use different equipment.
To prepare for opening, a couple of soft openings were conducted this week. This was a vital part of getting ready to open and provided lots of insight about being prepared for all things. In preparation for this, it was discovered that some of the equipment was not working as expected. This is where I learned the importance of having heat sensors and thermometers on a flat top and that all hood vents do not work equally. I learned that if you want to have a certain look to your kitchen, it is best to consult a kitchen consultant for equipment and design ideas but alas the show must go on. As a manager I learned the importance of being flexible, problem solving, and good communication.
In addition to my time at Cross A this week I also presented my In-service at this weeks managers meeting. As an advocate for people with celiac disease and food allergies I was excited to be able to present on cross-contact and food preparation.
Next week Credo is finally opening. I am looking forward to seeing Credo in business and learn new management skills. Hopefully Glow will be open soon too!
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