From chewy spiced chickpeas in a rice bowl with veggies or a crunchy snack, canned chickpeas are versatile and affordable.
The recipe in this post is designed to show how you can get very different results using the same ingredient. Changing the cook time is the way to control the texture of the chickpea – 20 minutes results in a just slight color soft texture- to 50 minutes to get a dehydrated crunchy texture. For a sandwich or rice bowl I like the texture to be in the middle.
For authentic recipe techniques and spice blends I look to food bloggers sharing their wisdom. Richa, a food blogger from Bangalore India, shares well tested recipes her family loves. When roasting chickpeas she suggests adding spices in the last 10 minutes to develop a good crunch with a longer cook time while avoiding burning spices and losing flavor. You can see her recipe here:
Recipe: Simple Roasted Chickpeas – Choose your texture based on cook time.
Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas, 1 TBS Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper, curry powder to taste (curry powder may be hot or mild in your recipe kit)
Preheat oven to 400F.
Rinse and dry chickpeas. They roast best if they have most of the liquid dried off.
Mix chickpeas with 1 TBS oil and salt and pepper.
Spread on a sheet pan or in a glass dish.
Think about what texture you would like to achieve. If you plan to cook them for 35 minutes or less add the curry powder to the chickpeas and toss to coat. Put in the oven and set a timer. Give chickpeas a stir partway through. If you plan to cook them for longer than 35 minutes, set aside curry powder and 2 additional tsp olive oil. Cook chickpeas for 35 minutes stirring partway through. At 35 minutes, pull chickpeas from the oven, carefully add the oil and and curry powder. Return to the oven and cook till desired crunchiness is achieved an additional 10-15 minutes. Watch for them starting to smoke/get done faster, ovens vary.
Other suggested variations. If making a chewy chickpea, add sliced peppers and roast with the chickpeas. Serve with rice or on a sandwich : )
rinse and dryspread in single layer to bakefor short cook times add spices and oil to start, save spices for last 10-15 mins and add a little extra oil for longer cook times texture by cook timeconsider adding chopped veggies like thinly sliced peppers or onions, -larger water containing pieces can make chickpeas less crispy- might want to cook veggies separately sometimesChewy chickpeas and peppersserving suggestion: Chewy chickpeas and fresh chopped veggiesserving suggestion: chickpea sandwich
When I worked at a soup kitchen we didn’t talk about fall we joked about zucchini season. Once the garden bounty of late summer sparked the generosity of the community we had abundant zucchini for weeks. We made zucchini soup, cold lightly dressed vinegar salad, roasted it in the oven, cooked it in eggs and most popular of all made it into soft and rich zucchini bread.
This quick bread smells like fall to me. A little bit vegetal with a mix of cinnamon. Quick bread is a funny term for a process that still takes an hour (or more!) but is fair in that using baking soda, a chemical leavener, eliminates the need for rise time and proofing required for yeast based doughs. Quick breads like banana bread, carrot bread, apple bread or ABC bread (apple, banana, carrot) rely on a basic formula of fat, flour, sugar, and sometimes egg + a mix-in.
With a basic formula that can be modified for ingredients on hand, a quick bread recipe is a useful part of your meal planning options. It can be produced easily and split into several calorie dense portions to bring with you on the go and can also be frozen for later. In my thinking about planning my food week, a quick bread can take the place of granola bars.
A Basic Quick Bread Formula:
1 pan = 1 cup flour, ½ tsp baking soda, ½ tsp salt, ¼ -1/2 cup oil or butter, and ¼-1/2 cup sugar or brown sugar, 1 egg + [1-1 ½ cups of a shredded or mashed fruit or veggie]
Mix wet and dry ingredients separately, then combine. Bake at 350F till a test poke comes out clean.
Tips: Banana bread can have less oil and sugar easily because the banana adds moisture and sugar. The zucchini bread has a little more because it has less moisture and sugar.
Use oil if you don’t have butter, works equally well if not better
If you double the recipe the bread will fill a pan, but it is more challenging to bake and make sure the middle is cooked.
You can see in these variations that the amount of the cooking fat and sugar can vary. Judging this might take a little practice. Vegetables and butter can vary in water content as well so your results will vary each time a little.
Banana bread: 1 cup flour, 2 bananas, ¼ cup sugar, ¼ cup oil or butter, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp baking soda,½ tsp vanilla extract
ABC Bread (Apple Banana Carrot): 1 cup flour, 1 small very ripe banana, ¼ cup shredded carrot, ¼ cup shredded apple, ⅓ cup sugar, ⅓ cup oil or butter, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp baking soda, ½ tsp cinnamon
Zucchini Bread
Zucchini Bread with Orange Zest
Ingredients:
1 zucchini medium sized 1 cup flour all purpose, white whole wheat flour, or a mix of all purpose flour & whole wheat ½ tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt ½ tsp cinnamon ½ cup butter, melted and cooled to room temperature ½ cup brown sugar 1 egg
Optional: 1 Orange for Zest *see notes on how to zest, Honey to serve.
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350F.
Prepare pan by spraying with cooking spray or rubbing the inside with a small amount of oil or butter.
Peel zucchini, chop off the ends. Shred/chop the zucchini into thin and small pieces. You need about 1 loose cup. There are a few ways to do this. All these ways work well. Once shredded set aside.
Use a grater to shred the zucchini.
Use a vegetable peeler to make the whole peeled zucchini into long peeled shreds and then chop the pieces with a knife and cutting board.
Slice the zucchini on a cutting board into very thin slices, then dice the slices into a very small pieces
Use a food processor to shred the peeled zucchini
In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients, flour, baking soda and salt, with cinnamon.
In another bowl combine the brown sugar, butter, and egg. Mix until uniform consistency is achieved.
Mix zucchini into wet ingredients. If using orange zest or nuts add it here.
Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix till all of the flour is moistened. Don’t over mix or knead the batter though – the texture will become tough. Spread this thick batter into the pan evenly.
Bake on a middle rack for 25-30 minutes. It took 27 minutes in my oven. You can tell it is done by pressing the center slightly if it bounces back it is done. Poking the middle with a toothpick, wooden skewer or fork or knife to see if the batter is raw still and sticks is a good way too.
Allow to cool a little before slicing.
Storage: After cooling completely, wrap in plastic wrap or store in a sealed container – bread will keep 4 days on the counter. If you wrap pieces and freeze it, you can pull slices out for a month.
*How to Zest an orange: Zesting citrus means scrapping just the outside top layer of the peel of the fruit off and collecting this layer to be used in a recipe. This can be done using a zester, or microplane or side of some box graters. I like to use the side of a knife. Hold the fruit firmly in one hand keeping fingers tucked back away. Use a knife in a motion away from you to gently scratch the surface and remove the top layer, letting it fall on a plate or collecting it from the side of the knife. You don’t want the white area under the peel, it is bitter. You don’t need a lot of zest to make a big impact. Don’t throw away the fruit after, but do use it soon because breaking the peel is much like cutting it and it will spoil. In the picture below, you can see what the orange looks like as the peel is zested.
The food pantry is still here to serve you. This letter is to tell you about the changes beginning Monday March 30th.
Premade Boxes
We are getting food from Linn Benton Food Share/Oregon Food Bank in a different format.
Shelf stable items will come in a box assembled at the Food Bank. The boxes weigh about 27# and contain an assortment of shelf stable items. There will be some frozen meat/fish and some fresh produce.
The goal is for each household to pick up a box once per month. If you find you are running out of food, come back to the HSRC and we will work to figure something out to help you get by.
We will ask that you take the whole box with you and that
you do not open, sort, or leave items outside the building.
We will continue to work to respect cultural food practices.
We will try to modify boxes to the best of our ability to accommodate dietary
restrictions. Please read food labels
carefully yourself before using items.
Peanut butter will be available, but will not be in the food boxes. We may sometimes get additional items such as Masa or Flour as available from the Food Share.
New 2020 Income Eligibility Guidelines
The eligible income levels to get food from pantries in Oregon are going way up. Share this info with folks you know who might be in need of assistance. These new guidelines will be for all pantries supported by the Oregon Food Bank beginning March 30th.
Family Size
Monthly
Annual
1
$3,190
$38,280
2
$4,310
$51,720
3
$5,430
$65,160
4
$6,550
$78,600
5
$7,670
$92,040
6
$8,790
$105,480
*For each additional member, add $1,120 per month or $13,440 per year
Coming Soon: Healthy
Beaver Bags
For OSU students and staff (those with a university ID) we will start offering a ‘Healthy Beaver Bag’ from the HSRC. This is our way of continuing cooking education for the OSU community as we pivot to provide services in a way that maintains social distancing. Participants will need to be able to pick up a bag from the HSRC in Corvallis. HBBs will be offered for pick up on a different day than the food pantry hours. There will be corresponding online material. You can sign up using this form. Please look for more info soon on our Facebook page “Human Services Resource Center – Oregon State University.”
Follow Facebook for Program Updates
We will post program updates including the pantry schedule, food assistance programs, textbook lending library, and basic needs navigation to our Facebook page:
Ingredients: – 1 Whole Chicken (about 4 pounds) – 1/2 cup butter or margarine – 1 small lemon, or 1/2 large lemon – 3 tablespoons thyme – 2 teaspoons salt – 1 teaspoon black pepper – Any vegetables you would like to roast
Important Temperatures: – Preheat Oven to 375°F – Final Temperature of breast: 165°F – Final Temperature of thigh: 180°F
Directions:
Step 1: Carefully remove the chicken from its packaging and place it stomach side down into a ovenproof baking dish. If you want to roast vegetables with the chicken, a 9 inch x 13 inch pan works well. It can be difficult to remove the chicken from its packaging, but grabbing both of the legs in one hand and using the other to remove the bag does a good job of keeping the chicken together.
Remove chicken from its packaging by holding both legs in one hand and removing the bag with the other.
Chicken on its stomach in baking dish
Step 2: Squeeze the juice from 1 small lemon, or 1/2 of a large lemon onto the chicken, making sure to get some on all exposed skin. Double check that there is nothing in the hole at the base of the chicken, then put the squeezed lemon into the hole. Be sure to wash your hands well after touching the raw chicken.
Soapy Hands
Step 3: Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of dried Thyme onto the outside of the chicken, until it is well covered.
Raw chicken covered in thyme
Step 4: Sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon of pepper onto the outside of the chicken, until it is well covered.
Raw chicken covered in thyme and pepper
Step 5: Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of salt onto the outside of the chicken, until it is well covered.
Raw chicken covered in thyme, pepper, and salt
Step 6: Carefully pour the remaining Thyme, Pepper, and Salt into the hole in the base of the chicken. Be sure to wash your hands well after touching the raw chicken.
Thyme being poured into the cavity in a raw chicken
The cavity of a chicken filled with lemon, thyme, pepper, and salt
Step 7: Melt 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter or margarine in the microwave using 10 second bursts until it is fully liquid. Pour over the top of the chicken.
Butter being poured over a raw, seasoned chicken
Step 8: Preheat the oven to 375°F, then put the chicken in the oven for 45 minutes.
Chicken sitting in an oven
Step 9: Use tongs to flip the chicken onto its back. If you have vegetables that take longer to cook, such as potatoes, they should go into the pan now. Put the pan back in the oven for another 45 minutes. Faster cooking vegetables like carrots and onions should go in 15-25 minutes after you’ve flipped the chicken.
A person flipping a chicken over using tongs
Step 10: Use a meat thermometer to take the temperature of the chicken in the thickest part of the breast and thigh. The breast should reach 165°F, and the thigh should reach 180°F. Put back in the oven if below those temperatures. Wait at least 5 minutes to serve once completely cooked. Enjoy!
Major: Undeclared but taking courses towards Computer Science
Career Aspirations: I’m still exploring my options but my aspiration is to work as a software engineer within growing companies such as Nike, Google, etc…developing great technical skills and gaining new perspectives of problem solving. I want to make the world an easier place for other individuals through the access of technology in a simpler, more efficient way. Potentially developing a new app in the future!
Why did you want to work at the HSRC? I wanted to work at the HSRC because I want to get more involved with Oregon State community, providing assistance and resources to others. Being a part of the amazing HSRC team allows me to make a difference for students and the Corvallis community who are seeking any necessary needs.
What will you be working on this year? Throughout the year,I will be working on organizing the food pantries coming up with ideas, recommendations and improvements in maintaining safety. I aim to make it a welcoming environment with all resources given to the community. I will also be working on SNAP helping others to register.
What do you like to do in your free time? I love being outdoors, going to the beach, playing volleyball & basketball. Currently, I’m learning how to play the ukulele!
What’s your favorite yummy and cheap meal? A good ol grilled cheese sandwich made with sourdough bread and a side of warm tomato soup, it’s my favv and it’s so easy to make!
Do you have any tips for students on saving money? My tip for saving money is just simply asking yourself if it’s a need or a want. Keep a budget for everything and know your limit.
What is your favorite thing to do in Corvallis? Trying new places to eat, going to the parks and taking pictures with friends.
What is your favorite spot to relax on campus? The Student Experience Center is a nice spacious space where I like to get most of my studying done and where I like to hang out with friends and let loose.
If you are ill or you need to stay home to stay healthy, food is still available to you.
You can have someone you know pick up a food box from the food pantry for you. You will need to fill out a form saying you meet normal income eligibility guidelines. Download and print this Authorized Representative Form. The person picking up food will turn it in at the pantry and be given your food. The pantry can keep this form so that you don’t need to print a new one each time you send that same person to pick up food for you.
This is the common form for Oregon Food Bank pantries and should work at the pantry you normally visit, not just at the OSU Food Pantry.
Note: An updated version of the form will be uploaded to the link above March 30th so check back if you need it after that. At that time if you have the older version on file, it is ok and you will still be able to receive food. You will be asked though to submit the new form for the next visit.
Hey SNAPpers! If you were able to obtain SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits download the Fresh EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) app! All you have to do is create an account with your EBT card information.
The Fresh EBT app displays your balance in real time.
You can also access your transaction history.
The live, interactive map shows you all the grocery stores in range that accepts SNAP benefits.
Coupons are available to be added directly to your EBT card from retailers such as Safeway, WinCo, Dollar General, etc.
Looking for inspiration on what to cook? Preview or print hundreds of recipes directly through the app.
The “Earn” tab is a fantastic tool that job searches for you and gives you tips on how to obtain stable employment.
Check out the app today and stay tuned for more fun SNAP tips & tricks!
Major in Public Health, Health Promotion, and Health Behavior
Minor in Environmental and Occupational Health
Career Aspirations
I am passionate about the safety perspective of human interaction in their environment. Ideally, I would like to pursue a Masters degree in Public Health specifying in Environmental and Occupational Health. I see myself pursuing a career as a health and safety engineer, but I’m open to exploring different opportunities as well.
Why did you want to work at the HSRC?
I resonate with the vision of the HSRC, centering on community efforts to create opportunities that will provide the necessary tools leading to success. I wanted to be part of a team actively working towards providing more resources to students and community members.
I first completed my health practicum (H310) here, and after I was eager to continue my connection at the HSRC.
What will you be working on?
My internship is split between the fall and winter term of this year. In the fall, I focused on a few projects including hazard identification, literature review, food story, and SNAP application workshops at the HSRC and the Wellness Nook at the MU. In the winter I will be elaborating on some of these concepts while working on a variety of other projects including a mobile SNAP workshop and updating food pantry policies.
I am also at the HSRC to be a helping hand, I’m often around during food pantries, food deliveries, and other events to provide extra support.
What are your favorite things to do in Corvallis?
One of my favorite things to do in Corvallis is to go to the Darkside Cinema in downtown Corvallis. They usually play smaller independent movies, and the atmosphere is so cozy without being overly pretentious.
The Human Services Resource Center’s Food Pantry is a non-profit dedicated to providing food for students and community members struggling with hunger and food insecurity. It is funded by donations and maintained thanks to the help we receive from the community. $1 buys 13 pounds of food!
We are supplied by Linn Benton Food Share and Oregon Food Bank; food is ordered and delivered on a bi-weekly basis. Donations are made directly to our center at Champinefu Lodge or to our account with the OSU Foundation. Many community members and on/off campus groups donate regularly to our pantry. We also receive, on average, 104 lbs of bread a month from Panera’s Albany location. Last November, we received 2,182 pounds of donated food!
The Center for Engagement and Leadership’s Growing Food Security Program hosts garden parties and with the help of volunteers, they plant and harvest fruits and veggies in the HSRC garden that supply our pantry with fresh produce. They also help pick up and process produce donations from other local gardens.
Our distribution of food is based on the Oregon Food Bank’s household distribution guide. On average, we give 17 pounds of food per person and 7 pounds of fresh produce per household. We are able to provide a variety of foods including canned, packaged, frozen, dried, and fresh foods, thanks to the contributions we receive.
A huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to the Human Services Resource Center and its programs. We are eternally grateful!
Visit our website for details on how to get involved!
Halal is an Arabic word meaning lawful or permitted. In reference to food, it is the dietary standard, as prescribed in the Qur’an (the Muslim scripture). The opposite of halal is haram, which means unlawful or prohibited. Halal and haram are universal terms that apply to all facets of life. These terms are commonly used in relation to food products, meat products, cosmetics, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, food ingredients, and food contact materials. While many things are clearly halal or haram, there are some things which are not clear. Further information is needed to categorise them as halal or haram. Such items are often referred to as mashbooh, which means doubtful or questionable.
Muslims are supposed to make an effort to obtain the best quality nutritionally. It is mentioned in a Hadith that the prayer of a person is rejected by Allah if the food consumed is prohibited (haram). All foods are considered halal except the following (which are haram):
Alcoholic drinks and intoxicants
Non-Halal Animal Fat
Enzymes* (Microbial Enzymes are permissible)
Gelatine* – from non-Halal source (fish gelatine is Halal)
L-cysteine (if from human hair)
Lard
Lipase* (only animal lipase need be avoided)
Non-Halal Animal Shortening
Pork, Bacon / Ham and anything from pigs
Unspecified Meat Broth
Rennet* (All forms should be avoided except for plant / microbial /
synthetic – rennet obtained from halal slaughtered animal is
permissible).
Stock* (a blend of mix species broth or meat stock)
Tallow* (non-Halal species)
Carnivorous animals, birds of prey and certain other animals
Foods contaminated with any of the above products
(*May be consumed if derived from Halal animals.
Islam places great emphasis in the way in which an animal’s life ends, which has to be in accordance with Islamic regulations. Life is a sacred blessing of God to creation, animals as well as humans. If the life of an animal has to be ended for human survival, then its life should only be taken in the name of God. Hence, the phrase bismillah (‘in the name of God’) must be uttered just before slaughtering an animal. Muslims cannot consume the meat of animals that are sacrificed in a name other than God.HSRC does get halal meat from the Foodbank sometimes and that food is kept in a different refrigerator
