Experience of a Lifetime

Welcome to Oregon State University and University Housing & Dining Services!

At UHDS, we employ “stealth health” strategies, under the radar efforts to make the healthy choice the easy choice for those we serve.

A major stealth health strategy this year has been to offer inexpensive fruit, vegetable, whole grain, lean protein and dairy options. To this end, in all of our dining centers you will find a “mini” salad option available for just $1!  Also, sides of vegetables, grains and beans are 95 cents.  Non-fat and 2 percent milk is slightly less expensive than the chocolate version and apples, bananas and oranges are only 65 cents each!

Over the summer, the new International Living Learning Center building was completed and is home for a new Cascadia Market and Peet’s Coffee.  The Cascadia Market features a wide range of fresh produce, including organic produce grown right here on campus at the Oak Creek Farm. Also, there is a wide range of options for those with special diet considerations including gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan items.

Arnold Bistro’s Global Fare offers boldly flavored whole grains and legumes and you can design your own pasta special with healthy ingredients including whole wheat pasta.  At Nori Grill you will find a variety of hand-rolled sushi as well as other traditional Japanese cuisine options.  Build your own salad, Calzini or sandwich at Bings using an array of fresh veggies and whole grain breads and pizza crust.

Marketplace West and McNary’s Calabaloo’s restaurants feature the Pacific City Salad for just $1.95, made with local apples and dried cranberries and served with a splash of balsamic vinaigrette.  Calabaloo’s is also serving Corvallis’ iconic Nearly Normal’s Sunburger — a vegan veggie burger sure to delight carnivores and herbivores alike.  Marketplace West recently added a variety of freshly made salads at Cooper’s Creek.  Be sure to check out the Blackened Chicken, Grilled Vegetable, Southern Cobb and Beef Brisket salads!

McNary Dining’s Boardwalk Cafe features daily bean and grain specials such as Quinoa with Orange and Cuban Black Beans and Basmati Rice and Curried Garbonzo Beans for under $2.  Della Pasta will soon be offering a build your own “Benevita” Bowl layered with wholesome ingredients like brown rice, basil pesto and cannellini beans.

If you are looking for gluten-free options, vegan and vegetarian, or Halal options (for those who follow strict Islamic law), there are several available options for you in each dining center viewable at the following link.  Also, you can check online menus for nutrition, ingredient and allergy information.  If there are special dietary considerations that you need assistance with, I am here to serve you so don’t hesitate to contact me.

As always, if you have additional food service suggestions and ideas, we want to hear from you!

Be Well! Tara Sanders, UHDS Dietitian

Sushi chef at Arnold Bistro

Nori Grill at Arnold Bistro

I find it interesting that given the amazing differences in various world cultures that there is something so very similar in our foods. Take empanadas for instance. Almost every culture has food encased in pastry whether it is an empanada of Central and South America, pastels in Brazil, pasties in Ireland and Wales, boerek in Lebanon, samosas in South Asia, potstickers in China, and dozens of other varieties of meat or bean stuffed pastries. Read the rest of this entry »

On Wednesday, February 23^rd from 5:00pm to 8:00pm UHDS will host “Soul Food Cafe:  A Journey through Culture and Cuisine” at McNary Dining Center. Soul Food Cafe celebrates Black History Month and is one of several “Journeys through Culture and Cuisine” that UHDS has hosted over the last few years. It will feature slow smoked Virginia ham, Southern Fried Chicken, Tofu Creole, Collard Greens, Fried Okra, Bananas Foster, and homemade New Orleans -Style Beignets.

Each of these cultural events is an outgrowth of our Diversity Initiative which is a multi-faceted approach to creating communities that are open, caring, and supportive of students from all cultures.  As a department, our Diversity Initiative is aspirational.  We know we have more work to do to create inclusive environments, but we are dedicated and committed to the journey and we ask the rest of the campus community to join us and support us as we travel on our journey.

Working with our campus partners brings great energy to these events and I appreciate everyone’s involvement.  Come join us for at McNary Dining Center for Soul Food Café and mellow out to the blues of the Ty Curtis Band.

So, last Wednesday UHDS hosted Soul Food Café at McNary Dining for the 3^rd year in a row.  Soul Food Café is one of several “Journeys through Culture and Cuisine” that UHDS has hosted over the last few years and last week’s event was designed to celebrate Black History month.  Each of these cultural events is an outgrowth of our Diversity Initiative which is a multi-faceted approach to creating communities that are open, caring and supportive of students from all cultures.  As a department, our Diversity Initiative is aspirational.  We know we have more work to do to creative inclusive environments, but we are dedicated and committed to the journey and we ask the rest of the campus community to join us and support us as we travel on our journey.

Working with our campus partners brings great energy to these events and I appreciate everyone’s involvement.  The Tye Curtis blues band also brought energy to last week’s event and they rocked the house.

The menu created by our culinary team was also truly exceptional and coming up real soon will be available daily at Cooper’s Creek BBQ which will open next month at Marketplace West.

Rich Turnbull

Just another person loving the Cooper's Creek ribs.

I had a pretty busy week this time. I had two midterms already, one from chemistry and the other one from Math. I feel like I did well on those midterms, hopefully. You know sometimes we feel like we did 100% well on the exams, and at the end we get lower compared to what we expected. Like I said, I had a pretty busy weekend but it was good because I can say that really did something and not just being bored doing anything.

I want to talk about my experience at the Soul Food Café. My experience can be described in only one word, and that is amazing.  I went to the Soul food Café event after my CAMP class which ended at 6:00 pm. When I got out from the class, I was rushing to get the McNary dining. I was really tired and hungry that day, and I just wanted to get there to grab some food to eat. When I got there I was really surprised. As I was getting inside McNary I got the sense that that environment was so moving. I wanted to walk all around and see what was going on. I heard good music going on, people were walking around, and other people were eating, laughing and having a good time.  As I was getting in, I realized that a jazz band was playing live, and that got even more excited. I got really keyed up when I heard the keyboard solo as the band was playing. You know I love to play the piano, and seeing someone who plays the keyboard made feel really energized. That was one of my favorite parts of such event. Also, the food was great, and I loved those pieces of the meat, and the fried bananas. Many people were walking around McNary, and the environment was perfect as for someone who just wanted to have a good time, and forget about the stress from our classes, midterms, and just to have a good time, and get relaxed.

Roberto