It’s been an exciting morning ’round here – I found out my other internship rotations!!!
The really, really good news is that the hour-away rotation at the school system is only for 5 weeks!!! I had thought it was for 2.5 months! I’ve decided that those 5 weeks are the perfect opportunity to download the Twilight series in audiobook form (if I can find it!) and make that commute as fun as possible.
I don’t know if I should get specific on the internet with my rotations, but I’m super excited!! The other 3 are all in Charlotte and the timing of everything looks ideal:
Jan 7- Feb 11 Foodservice rotation at a school system an hour away (5 weeks)
Feb 15- March 5 Community rotation at a health department that’s not too far away (3 weeks)
March 8 – April 2 Community rotation at a wellness center in a great location – I like wellness!!! (4 weeks)
April 5- July 1 The big shebang: clinical rotation the hospital I wanted with my friend Caitlin (and her team that now apparently reads KERF – hello guys!!) (13 weeks)
Orientation starts on January 4th! WOO HOO!
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Victoria was sick today, so I decided to workout at my YMCA so I could bike. I had a great workout, including 30 minutes of Stairmaster and 15 of some good lifting (tried to make up for missing Sculpt!)
Came home. Make a crunchy lunch. Since I apparently only eat mush.
Spinach salad dressed in EVOO + agave + salt
Veggies: carrot, purple cabbage, green pepper
Toppings: TJ’s hummus, blue cheese
Plus some leftover Oikos – there was only about 2 tbsp left in the container – with chopped apple, crunchy coconut granola, cinnamon and a tsp of Costco PB
Crunch. Crunch.
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Slow Cooked Frozen Chicken
Two readers pointed out that the USDA says it’s unsafe to put frozen chicken in a slow cooker. I investigated this and emailed my foodservice professor (who is the queen of food safety!) As I hypothesized, the slow cooker allows the chicken to remain in the temperature danger zone (40-140*) for too long since the temperature is just above the zone on low. How sad that we must first thaw in fridge ;( She also added that this would make a great master’s thesis project experiment!
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Ship Open Sky
The OS team announces that today is the last day of free shipping. If you’re holding onto a coupon or debating a purchase, today would be the day to act!
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Gotta conference call at 3. And house guests – Matt’s fraternity brother and his girlfriend – coming any minute. We’re going out to dinner at a new restaurant. Excited!
{ 74 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow you have really educated readers to know that about the chicken; I never would have thought of it!
I did not know that about chicken, I throw it in there frozen all the time!
Mush is GOOOOD!
so is lifting – I love it!
Thanks for the heads up as I put frozen chicken in the crockpot all the time. I have not had a problem doing that yet, but will be more careful in the future!
Jealous you are biking to the gym…it is -6 in Chicago! Enjoy the weather!
Courtney
adventures in tri-ing
Haha I guessssss sometimes crunch is necessary… Though MUSH is so deliciously ESSENTIAL.
WHA?! No frozen chicken in the slow cooker, not that I’m the queen of food safety (I strongly uphold the 5 second rule) but I’ve eaten a lot of frozen->slowcooker chicken and I’m alright…physically…
Have a good night! Congrats on the rotations.
Love the blue cheese – its my faaaave.
Great news about your internship rotations!
Wow! The salad looks so yummy!! I’ve been on such a blue cheese kick these days!
that’s interesting about the frozen chicken in the slow cooker. good to know!
Using an almost-empty oikos container is one of my favorite things! I like to chop up an apple and add cinnamon, nut butter, and Nature’s Path peanut butter granola. It’s often my post-workout reward
Yummy crunchy salad
That bleu cheese looks absolutely amazing…..does it come as a wedge or pre-crumbled? I can never find bleu cheese that is so…well…BLUE!
Wedge, which I think tastes SO MUCH better!
Mush is delicous:)
I have heard never to put frozen food in the crockpot as well but so far I haven’t had any problems!
Your rotations look totally exciting!
I’m looking forward to reading about lots of stories in the coming months!
And what a coincidence: I’m (trying) to study for my final exam tomorrow – on microbiology & immunology
lol. Thanks for the slowcooker warning! Also, I learned a tip while watching Nigella Lawson recently. To save time, she says to marinate the meat in a disposable ziplock bag before throwing it into the freezer for storage. That way, when you take it out and leave it in the fridge in the morning for a day of defrosting, it will defrost and marinate in there. I’ve tried that technique yet, but she swears that it enhances the flavour (and hopefully makes up for lost time in the slow cooker?)
Wow, that is interesting with the frozen chicken. I guess that goes for any frozen meat? If you end up researching more into this, please share more. I will be very interested to hear the details.
Hooray that your schedule is working out fairly well for the spring . . . and I do say audio books are awesome, and so is Twilight so there, you’ll be fine on that commute!
There are now two things regarding slow cookers and food safety that I’ve learned from you that I don’t think I would have learned otherwise. Thank you!
Congrats on your rotations! It will be interesting to read about what you learn in each of them.
I downloaded the Twilight audiobooks for free from my little tiny public library’s website, so surely you’ll be able to find it, too! I actually listened to all four of the books before reading them. They are quite lengthy, so they should provide you with many hours of boredom-free commuting.
Congrats on your internships!
Is this your absolute last semester in school, or do you still have things to finish to get your Masters? If it’s the latter, will you be finishing that program in the same school or someplace else after you guys move? (Sorry if these are intrusive questions, feel free not to answer – just curious how the program works!)
Alex,
I’m not sure what will happen next. I’m done temporarily with my masters, but we’ll see when we actually move. I might finish it in Virgina at JMU. Or here if we take forever to move!
That is SOOO interesting to hear about the chicken in the crock – pot… I always just throw the chicken in the crockpot frozen and wait until it is cooked!! So you are saying that if I do that, I could be making myself sick?? I have never felt sick after eating the chicken???
Gee, they let you go on rotations when you go to that fake, lame-o, easy school? Isn’t that like validating your program?
(Sorry to be sarcastic, I’m still a bit peeved at that anonymous comment from a month ago or so when someone questioned whether your nutritional program was advanced/thorough enough. And today, I’m feeling cranky.)
Your rotations look great. The food too of course. Whenever I eat good crusty bread, I think about you guys heading to your new adventure as small business owners.
On the chicken thing…yeah, my best friend and I get a little creeped out that our moms thaw stuff on the counter, like they’ve been doing for years (but it doesn’t thaw very well in the fridge). On the other hand, that whole thing about having to eat leftovers within 4 days (also a USDA rec.)? I’m sorry, my rule is a week. And I’m sticking to it.
I thought you were her before I found the sarcasm!!
man I throw frozen chicken in the crock pot too…I wonder if you are cooking on High (in half the time, and losing all that great tenderness) if you then get above the danger zone?
I’m now singing Kenny Loggins’ “Highway to the Danger Zone….”
HAH! I love the mush comment. In yo FACE snarky commentors
did someone say something that you only eat mush?!
have fun at the new restaurant tonight!
jenna
That’s good to know– I know a lot of people who put frozen chicken in their slowcookers!
Have fun with your guests!
Thanks for looking into the slow cooker chicken. It would be an exciting master’s project. Can’t wait to hear your results – if you decide to pursue it further!
Who said you only eat mush? That’s just not true!
And good luck with your rotations. I work in both adult and neonatal intensive care units and we have RD’s on staff in both as part of our interdisciplinary team. They love their jobs and find them very challenging–especially with the super sick patients. At times it is the changes that the RD makes that enable compromised people to be able to finally wean off the ventilator. I think you’ll find the work really rewarding. Best of luck
I hope my internship is as rewarding
I’ve put frozen chicken in my crock pot for 20+ years and have never gotten sick. Maybe I’ve just been lucky!
Have fun at dinner tonight!
Congratulations on your internships! Enjoy the Twilight series!
Lucky break on 5 weeks vs. 2.5 months! Must be a relief
I am glad to hear that you are happy with your internship rotations. I bet that you will have a lot of fun learning hands on. Can’t wait to read about it on your blog! xoxo
SO exciting about your rotations! That is awesome that you know! Love the granola, too!
Uh oh… I always put frozen chicken in the crockpot… I wonder if setting it on high for an hour or so and then turning it to low would work… Will definitely be thawing it from now on!
Ha! I had almost exactly the same Oikos combo today.
Wanted to let you know that I am doing a giveaway on my blog today for a product I think you and your readers would really enjoy! Check it out!
(and please feel free to delete this comment if it isn’t kosher to post about your giveaway on someone else’s blog… what is the protocol with that?? i am new to all this…)
Thanks!
Wow your internships sounds so exciting!
RE. CHICKEN: You shouldn’t get sick if the chicken doesn’t have salmonella, but the thing is that you never know if it has it! So sure you might eat it 99 times without getting sick, but that one time would be pretty bad.
I use frozen meat in the slow cooker all the time but I don’t think I’ve done frozen chicken…I wonder if it’s the same for pork and beef. We’ve never had a problem here.
And the mush comment? I must’ve missed something.
Your rotations sound so exciting! Congrats!
I got my FREE Crock-Pot yesterday thanks to your big Open Sky promotion recently. It was pretty exciting!
Hi Kath,
I noticed you have been reading Wicked and I thought I would let you know that the musical is coming to the Durham Performing Arts Center in May/April of next year!
I am going there to see Mamma Mia! in January so I get e-mails about upcoming shows. Have a great evening!
I don’t know with my internship if I’ll be able to make it, but I’m going to investigate!
So excited to see how the rotations are going (as much as you can tell us anyway
My sister is going to be doing that in about a year!
Lovely salad! Texture is good!
About the frozen chicken in a slow cooker, as long as the entire pot (chicken included) comes up to a safe bacteria-killing temp before you serve, there is no risk of getting sick.
I never even thought about food safety in the crockpot! I always used to cook with frozen chicken. I’ll just have to plan ahead (thaw ahead!) now – thanks for the heads up!
We all love the mush
Thanks for the frozen chicken info. I would have never guessed.
Your internships sound awesome Kath!!! I love how you’re able to put a positive spin on the one that isn’t quite so great. I’m sure you’ll enjoy them all!
Congrats on the internships! They sound like they are going to be so fun yet interesting
Congratulations!
And what a gorgeous, colorful salad.
YUM! Another great looking salad!
Your rotations sound like they’ll be a lot of fun! When I was in the schools (I’m an Elementary Ed major) I would get SO excited to go every day. Have a fun evening!
YAY! I’m glad that it’s only for 5 weeks. And that it’s the first five-you’ll get it out of the way! And it’s good that clinical is last… it’s easiest that way! HAVE FUN!
Kath – check you local library which I assume is Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County. They have the Twilight series for FREE download for both iPod and MP3. It’s in their digital media section, under the Overdrive tab. I am the director of a library here in Alaska, and we offer this service as well. It’s free from home with your library card. Enjoy!
Yes! This is the same service my public library offers, and I love it!
Pat,
I found it, but I’m not sure how this all works. It looks like there’s a waiting list? Once I DL it, will I have it forever, or just for a few weeks before it goes inactive? Thanks so much for letting me know!!
There could be a waiting list, if so the entry will ask you if you want to place a hold. You get an email notification when your hold is available, then you go and check it out. (and I just checked, these are all checked out at the Charlotte library so you would need to place a hold). Checkout times vary, and once it’s up the item is inactivated on your PC, BUT once it’s on your portable device it’s yours until you delete it. I download mine and immediately put it on my MP3/iPod so I don’t have to worry about losing it before I do that. If you have a highspeed internet connection, the download is fast, but the transfer to you device is always pretty quick. You might give it a try while you’re off school to see how it works. I’m also betting that the library has the audiobook on CD that you could borrow to listen in your car. We loan ours for 4 weeks, with a renewal option of another 4. I hope you like the service. It’s very popular in our library network.
Awesome!! I put it on hold
Do you have any other audio book recommendations in the meantime?
Gosh, I have a ton, but it’ll have to wait til another day. I’ll email you a few.
I’m so excited for you that you found out the rest of your internship rotations! I will be graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Dietetics in December 2010, so I really enjoy hearing about your classes (we even have the same Metabolism book!) and the internship that you will be starting soon!
Mush lovers unite!
Just as a side note–I proudly pranced into WF today to pick up a choco bar to start my very own choco chest. The true test is to see if I can leave the stash alone so it can get full and varied.
Written with mush love,
Jill
Haha
have fun out at dinner!
Hmmm didnt know that about the chicken thing either. I also do my crockpots the night before with half frozen chicken…then put the crockpot on for a long slow cooking during the day. Never gotten sick before
Your internship schedule sounds *awesome!*
Internships are super competitive right now, so that’s great that you have one lined up! I’ll be applying in the spring, so I’m excited to hear all about your experiences. 
Congrats on your internship rotations… Trust me, they will fly by!
congrats on the rotations!
spinach salad is seriously my favorite. I don’t even need other lettuce in it.
just from reading your blog it seems like your RD schooling was quick and your internship is quick! I’m studying to be an RD where I live and it’s going to take me 3-4 more years of schooling + a 1+ year long internship + 1 or 2 more years if I want a masters! long process
I’m so jealous of your quick progress.
Christine,
It will take me 2.5 years to get the R.D. and will/would have taken another 1.5-2 to finish my masters. I took a cram-packed summer school and I was also allowed to take the sciences (Chem 1+2, Physiology, etc.) along WITH the nutrition classes, so I was taking 5-6 classes a semester and a full load of summer school. I crammed it in!! Winthrop’s internship is one of the shortest, which is very lucky.
K