Gifts

It's the time of the year again to make truffles! Here's the recipe ....

A variation from the previous recipe is - coat it with coconut flakes or bits of crushed pepper mint candies. (Pipe the chocolate mixture from piping bag and place them in the freezer. OR, leave the mix in the refrigerator for about an hour, then use icecream scoops to scoop out balls of it, roll it with hands.)

Wrap them in different pretty boxes, place them in nice glass bottles and give them as gifts! :)

Christmas breakfast for nurse managers

Some pictures of the set-up...

Every person had a card with 4, one-word phrases that describes them...


Topping for the freshly-made Waffles

Waffles and Turkey Sausage

Happy Holidays!

Cooking Demonstration for the CHIP Program

The cooks and I did a cooking demonstration for the CHIP ( Coronary Health Improvement Program ) few weeks ago. It focuses on vegan, low sodium, heart healthy foods.
The menu includes roasted garlic herbed potatoes, baked broccoli, scalloped potatoes ( vegan) and roasted acorn squash soup.

Here's the recipe for one of the demos:

Roasted Acorn Soup
Yields 20-30 servings

Ingredients:
3 cups vegetable stock
3 medium sized acorn squash
2 cups carrots
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 T ginger
5 cloves garlic
2 cups chopped garlic
1/2 tsp chopped thyme
1 cup cashew nuts
1 cup heavy cream ( OPT)
1 cup low-fat milk ( OPT)
fresh parsley- topping

Directions:
Roast Vegetables in the oven
Puree the soup in small batches ( 1 cup at a time) using a food processor blender. Add in cashews into the blender.
Add to the stock. Slowly incorporate milk into the puree and stock ( opt)
Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low; and simmer.
Garnish with fresh parsley.

Not bragging but the soup was really good! :) You got to try making it! :)

We wanted to show them simple ways to cook healthly at home. Adding garlic and herbs flavors foods tremedously. Eating well is a choice that you have to make. God bless! :)

BMC Christmas Breakfast 2009

It's my favorite season of the year again! :) I have not been updating my blog for the last several months but will be posting more about what had been happening in the next few posts.
This post is about CHRISTMAS BREAKFAST. Basically, it is the time of the year where Adminsitration serves food to employees...here are some pictures of what our kitchen did- despite having limitation of only having a refrigerated truck on our dock. Phase 2 of the construction ( where we will get out bigger walk-in refrigerators and freezer back) will be completed most likely at the end of the year of early next year. It's been raining a lot and hence, delaying the project...

Our 3-tier Christmas Cake - 2 flavors: fresh strawberry mousse and chocolate mousse

Bread Station- pastries, tea breads, mini cupcakes, bagels, and freshly baked breads ( baked that morning!)


Maple syrup butter, brown sugar butter, apple butter, whipped cream cheese to go along with the breads...




Beverage Station- Hot Chocolate and Coffee

Chocolate-dipped Strawberries, marhsmallows, roses on cones

Fruit Display
Omelet Bar! - Individualized just for you! Another item on the menu is garlic herbed roasted red potatoes..

Pick and Choose:Veggies and toppings

Merry Christmas! :)

Sysco Food show

As usual, we ate a lot at the Sysco food show.

I have to say that it was not as nice as I had expected it to be....

Miscellaneous pictures that were taken...

A decoration idea---

Another update of the construction project

Half way through the project, Administration wanted to thank all the East Campus and Behavioral Medicine Center Employees for all the hard work and dedication. Hence, a party was thrown, along with gift certificates for everyone. :)

We received the "A PLAYER" award for great team work during this construction period. :)

A picture of how we transport food from East Campus to BMC...via truck and cambrio containers, several times a day!

Picture of the walk-in refrigerator and freezers work in progress...

Going back to the kitchen, finally, the pipes have been replaced!

Cement is poured onto the sand...

Waiting for it to dry out...

Update of BMC Kitchen Renovation

Finally - the sewage pipes are replaced...

More plannings of the type of tiles and carpet to be used in the cafeteria...

BMC Kitchen Construction Project

I am not lamenting but last Monday, I worked from 4.30 Am to 8.30 PM.
Last week's working hours amounted to 75. On top of that, I was on call that weekend too.
I've been working non-stop since the start of our construction project on July 13. It's been a long waited project that needed approvals from various governing boards. We finally received the last blessings and was able to start the sewage waste line repair, along with the addition of a walk-in freezer. It will take approximately 44 working days to complete.

In the meantime, the whole kitchen is shut down and we do not have access to water, ice, or any food in our kitchen. All the food production is done off site at East Campus and brought over in the van. A lot of food safety measures are taken to ensure that the food served is safe for consumption and within regulatory guidelines.

A temporary wall built at the previous hot deck to separate the cafeteria from the kitchen. Patient tray line is done in the cafeteria. It almost seems like we are "camping" with limited space and have to make do with simplicity.
This is a wonderful learning experience. I am glad for wonderful staff who are supportive and willing to adapt to the new working arrangements. :) May God bless this project as we pull through this together. The results will be worth it!
A brand new walk-in refrigerator and freezer. :)

Student's test recipes

Dietitian Student, T, is rotating with me this whole summer. I am excited to have her because unlike other students, she is a Chef with a culinary background working on her masters in Public Health Nutrition. She has been testing recipes, analyzing them and modifying it so as to fit it into the cardiac wellness guideline. So far, the food she has made made were simple but delicious!

Here are some pictures of what she made today. (These pictures were taken from my iphone...)

Same hummus used for sandwich and Vegetable dip.

Grilled Salmon's "fishy" taste is mellowed with the cucumber yogurt dill sauce.

This low-fat applesauce brownie is moist. Definitely a keeper-recipe.