• SEB will be hosting Breakfast and Bingo in the Sports Zone between 9 and 11pm (yes, breakfast after dinner) every other week starting Tuesday, March 1st. The future dates are March 15th, April 9th, April 19th, and May 3rd. It’s free to play and free to eat! You can also win some sweet prizes. Click here.
• The Veg meeting will be held on Thursdays from 6 to 7pm in the Student Org Space starting this Thursday, March 3rd. They will be serving free food at each meeting as they discuss upcoming events such as the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale, Meatout, and the Baltimore VegFest. Click here.
• Immediately after that, the Guitar Hero Competition will kick off in the Gameroom at 7pm. Free pizza will be served, and competitors will go head-to-head and fret-for-fret trying to win tickets to a Rams Head Live concert of their choice. The Gameroom will be renting projection screens for the event. Click here.
• Thursday must be the day to eat, because at 8pm Cake and Karaoke will commence in the Sports Zone. Sing a song and enjoy freshly baked cake, the perfect dessert for your veggie entree and helping of pizza from earlier! Click here.
• Tuesday, March 8th is Fat Tuesday right here in Flat Tuesdays (they should just call the pub Fat Tuesday, at least for that day!). They will be celebrating their most beloved day of the year with a delicious selection of food and drinks between 7 and 9pm. Click here.
• Then, right before Spring Break on March 17th, Shamrockapalooza will be serving free Irish-themed dishes in the Sports Zone between 7 and 9pm. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia will be screened and craft tables will give you the opportunity to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in style. Click here.

Stayed tuned for more updates about free grub on campus. And if you sign up for the UMBCEats twitter alerts, you can have text messages sent right to your phone alerting you of where to find a free (or cheap) meal! Click here

I headed over to Au Bon Pain in the Commons and took advantage of their hot water to make myself a cup of tea.

After I was done, I was walking back to my table when, not one but two Commons staff members asked if I was going to pay for my drink. ( Don’t worry, now I make sure I let a staff member know that I have my own tea bag)

I suppose it is uncommon to carry around your own tea bags, but it does save money!

During the fall/ winter season I drink green tea every morning. Sometimes even twice a day when I am feeling a bit under the weather.

Green tea contains epigallocatechin gallate EGCG a powerful anti-oxidant that helps strengthen the immune system! It also has less caffeine than green tea!

Let’s hope my green tea habit helps me stay cold free this seasons and stays off my criminal record!

Will you be going Green this fall/ winter season?

Stir Fry Collard Green and Sundried Tomato Salad with Chickpeas

You’ll need:

Pre-cooked (canned) Chickpeas
Collard Greens
Sundried Tomato
Pre-cooked Brown Rice
Olive Oil
Lime juice (optional)

1. Chop the collard green into small square pieces. Stir fry the collard green in a pan with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add about 1/4 cup of  water (adjust the amount based on how much collard green you are using) when the oil is used up. Add a dash of salt. The collard green should appear dark green when it is finished.

2.  Keep your collard greens in the pan, add a handful of sundried tomato to the collard green. Add another 1/4 cup of water and stir.

3. Leave the stir fry in pan to cool.

4. Mix chickpeas and brown rice in a bowl.

5. Scoop the stir fry out of the pan and mix with the chickpeas and brown rice in the bowl.

6. add a tablespoon of lime juice to the bowl.

7. leave the bowl in the fridge to chill, then enjoy!

Not only palatable, this “salad” is also full of complex carbs, protein and fiber, a different yet refreshing choice for a light meal in a late afternoon. As I enjoyed my salad sitting on my lawn, I realized that what makes this salad wonderful is the combination of many different ingredients and of two completely different concepts. Sometimes the answer is not black or white, but rather a nuance of shades.

Please welcome our new blogger to the UMBC Eats team – Hua Shu.

Hua is a freshman double majoring in biochemistry and visual arts with a concentration in print media. She is a food lover who loves new and adventurous foods, and a big part of her life has been devoted to healthy living.

During her free time, she likes to listen to music, read and drink tea. She is also enjoying learning about food psychology and social neuroscience at her leisure. She is currently a staff member for the Office of Volunteerism and Awareness in the SGA and part of UMBC A-team.

Currently, she is working on living her life and trying all the different flavors of Odwallah drinks this campus offers.

If you wouldn’t even know where to begin in the kitchen, join the UMBC Chapter of Young Alumni on January 21st for a cooking class at For the Love of Food located at 20 Clarks Lane, Reisterstown, MD 21136.

The menu selected to be prepared, "Small Plates, Big Tastes," includes Sage Grilled Chicken Souvlakia and Olives, Tortilla de Berenjenas (Eggplant and Tomato Tortilla Sandwich), Caramelized Onion, Wild Mushroom & Goat Cheese Tartlets and Avocado Spring Rolls.
For more information or directions to the facility please click here.

Click here to register!

SAVE THE DATE!

CYA Cooking Class
For the Love of Food, Reisterstown, MD
January 21, 2010
7:00 p.m.

We’re looking for a blogger who can focus specifically on recipes. You don’t have to be a master chef. All recipes are welcome.

If interested, please send an e-mail to brhuber@umbc.edu. Thanks!