Reflections, Recipes and Rocking Hunger!

Donate Now to Aztecs Rock Hunger!

The Aztecs Rock Hunger campaign is officially underway! Aztecs Rock Hunger is an annual university-wide campaign led by A.S. with the goal of fighting food and nutrition insecurity and raising as much money as possible for the SDSU Economic Crisis Response Team, A.S. Food Pantry and the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank. 

The need to support food insecurity remains crucial, as basic needs are becoming more inaccessible with rising inflation. 1 in 4 SDSU students use our A.S. Food Pantry but no student should have to worry about where their next meal is coming from.

To finish off the campaign, we are excited to announce our Aztecs Rock Hunger A.S. Competition! Compete against the other A.S. departments through Nov. 5 with the winning department receiving breakfast on behalf of A.S. for their entire team!

All donations raised help fund the food for our A.S. Food Pantry, support students on campus facing unforeseen financial crises through the SDSU Economic Crisis Response Team and benefit over 400,000 San Diegans monthly through the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank.

We invite you to ask your friends and family to donate on behalf of your department. Please see below for more information on how to donate and make sure to include your A.S. department name in your donation to count for the competition!

3 Easy Ways to DONATE NOW:

1. Online through the SDSU Online Giving Portal
- Forward your receipt with your department name to associatedstudents@sdsu.edu.
2. Venmo @aztecsrock or CashApp $aztecsrock
 - Include your department name in the memo.
3. At all Starbucks, eateries and markets on campus
- Take a picture of your receipt with your department name written at the top and email it to associatedstudents@sdsu.edu.

To make teams as equitable as possible across all departments, the teams are as follows: 

• Business Services & Government Affairs
• The Children’s Center
• Aztec Recreation & MBAC 
• Viejas Arena
• Student Union (Including Student Union Facilities)

If you have already donated, you can still submit your receipt for the A.S. competition. Please contact Veronica Perondi if you have any questions about the A.S. competition.

For more information, go to the ARH website or follow ARH on Instagram. Thank you for your support of Aztecs Rock Hunger!

Holiday Recipes

Looking for a new recipe to add to your holiday meal this year? Well, look no further because here are some recipes from some of our A.S. full-time employees!

Eryn Juns, SDSU Children’s Center Supervising Teacher

These cheese beans have always been a staple for my family. My grandmother would make these every year. As children, my sisters and I were not fans which made all the adults happy (more for them!). Now that we are all grown with our own families, our tastes have changed and we all love cheese beans (our children, not so much). When I make this dish, I always double, or even triple, the recipe as the adults all love it and want leftovers. Enjoy!

Cheese Beans

Ingredients:

• 3 cans drained and rinsed green beans
• 8 oz shredded Swiss cheese
• 1/2 pint sour cream
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Add drained and rinsed green beans to a large mixing bowl.
2. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add in flour to create a roux. Mix in sour cream and salt to make a white sauce.  
3. Add the white sauce and shredded cheese to the bowl with the green beans and mix well.
4. Place in a greased baking dish and bake at 300 degrees for 2-3 hours until golden and bubbly. 

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Veronica Perondi, Assistant Director of A.S. Programs

My favorite thing to make is cornbread stuffing. It's technically dressing since we don't stuff it in the turkey. :) 

Cornbread Stuffing

The day before:

Make 2 recipes of cornbread: Either use cornbread mix like Krusteaz Southern Cornbread Mix or homemade. I use White Lily Self-rising but up to you. 

Make 2 recipes of biscuits:

• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup cold butter thinly sliced
• 1 cup cold buttermilk

Directions:

1. Bake biscuits on a sheet tray, not as individual biscuits. Break cornbread and biscuits up on separate cookie trays. Let them stay out all night to dry out. To help dry them out, place them in the oven as you warm the oven up the next morning. 
2. Chop equal parts onion and celery (about a cup and a half). Saute in a stick of butter.
3. Melt an additional stick of butter. While you're sautéing the veggies, warm up 4 cups of chicken broth (1 box). Measure with your heart and add in dry sage, poultry seasoning and Tony's.
4. In a very large bowl, temper five eggs with the chicken broth so they don't curdle. Slowly add in ladles of broth — not too much, just enough to warm the eggs.
5. Butter a 11x9 ceramic baking dish. Add equal parts of the broken up biscuits and cornbread to the large bowl. Don't add all at once, just in case you don't need all of it. Add in some sautéed veggies, broth and melted butter.
6. Continue to add in parts until you have enough to fill your baking dish and it's the consistency you want. You want it moist, but not soaking wet. Once you are happy with the amount and the consistency, add it to the baking dish and cover with aluminum foil.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour. Check the temperature — once it reaches 165, take the aluminum foil off so the top can brown. 
8. Cover it in gravy and yum :)

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Quentin Skaggs, Graphics Manager 

Creamiest Mashed Cauliflower (Vegetarian)

Serves 8 as a side dish

A quick, easy, delicious alternative to mashed potatoes. There is no actual cream in this “Creamiest Mashed Cauliflower” recipe, instead, a bit of the cauliflower’s cooking liquid is used to create a creamy emulsion. You can’t over-mash or over-whip cauliflower the way you can potatoes. Without potato’s starch to contend with, you can purée the cauliflower all day with no risk of gumminess.

Mashed cauliflower has an earthy, nutty flavor, which means it offers some complexity to the final dish that really needs nothing more than butter and salt to feel complete. Even with the addition of butter, each serving only has 67 calories.

Ingredients:

• 2 (16-ounce) packages riced cauliflower, or 1 large head cauliflower (about 3 pounds)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter*
• 2 cups water (approximately)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• Cracked black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. If you use a whole cauliflower, halve the cauliflower through the stem. Cut a "V" shape around the core to remove the core from each half. Finely chop the cauliflower. The smaller the pieces, the faster the cauliflower will cook and the creamier the finished dish will be.
2. Melt the butter in a 4-quart pot over medium-high heat. Add the cauliflower and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the cauliflower has lightened in color, 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Add the water and salt and bring to a boil. Cover and cook until the cauliflower is tender, 10 to 12 minutes. (The water should just barely cover the cauliflower).
4. Reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid. Drain the cauliflower.
5. Place the drained cauliflower back in the pot. Mash using an immersion blender, adding the reserved cooking liquid back in the pot a little at a time, until the desired consistency is reached. Serve hot. Add cracked black pepper to taste and add additional butter if you like.

*To make this recipe vegan, replace butter with vegan butter.

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Gema Rodriguez, SDSU Children’s Center Food Service Supervisor

Roasted Stuffed Bell Pepper with Chipotle Turkey 

Ingredients: 

• Bell peppers
• Ground turkey 
• Diced onion
• Diced tomatoes 
• Cilantro 
• Garlic powder
• Chipotle sauce 
• Salt 
• Pepper 
• Cayenne pepper 
• Olive oil 
• Mozzarella cheese 

Directions: 

1. Cut off the bell peppers tail and take out all the seeds. Set aside. In a bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients, mix well and stuff the bell pepper with it.  
2. Set the bell peppers on a tray that has olive oil and add olive oil all around the bell peppers. Sprinkle salt and pepper.
3. Set the oven on broil at 500F. Cook for 10 minutes and turn them; cook for an additional 10 minutes.
4. Add the mozzarella cheese on top of the bell pepper. 'Check for the internal temperature of the ground turkey, once it's 165F they are ready. Enjoy!
    

Autumn Salad Kale & Spinach

Ingredients: 

• Kale
• Spinach
• Roasted butternut squash
• Roasted Brussel sprouts 
• Cranberries 
• Sunflower seeds 
• Balsamic dressing 

Directions:

1. Dice butternut squash and chop brussel sprouts into four pieces. Set in a tray; sprinkle salt, pepper and olive oil.
2. Cook for about 30 minutes in an oven that is set at 365F. Cool and refrigerate.
3. Chop kale and spinach. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and enjoy! 

A.S. Book Club

At the October A.S. Book Club meeting, the members discussed “The Cruelest Month” by Louise Penny. The book received an A.S. Book Club Rating of 4 stars, out of 5.

Here is what we are reading next…

November 9: “Crime and Punishment” by Fyodor Dostoevsky

When Raskolnikov, an impoverished student living in the St. Petersburg of the tsars commits an act of murder and theft, he sets into motion a story almost unequaled in world literature for its excruciating suspense, its atmospheric vividness and its depth of characterization and vision. Dostoevsky’s drama of sin, guilt and redemption transforms the sordid story of an old woman’s murder into the nineteenth century’s profoundest and most compelling philosophical novel.

December 13 (new date): Readers Become Writers by A.S. Book Club Members

January 11: “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus

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Whether you read a printed book, listen to the audio version or read the ebook on your phone or tablet, join us for our lively discussions. The Club is open to all full- and part-time A.S. employees. If you have any questions or would like to join the club, please contact Quentin at 42303 or email qskaggs@sdsu.edu.

To learn more about the A.S. Book Club, visit as.sdsu.edu/bookclub.

New A.S. Employee

Mike Dils, Viejas Arena Associate Director of Operations

Hello Associated Students team, my name is Mike Dils and I am happy to introduce myself as the Viejas Arena Associate Director of Operations. I am excited to continue my career in event and facility management with Associated Students. This position is full circle for me as I started with A.S. in 2001 at Cox Arena (now Viejas Arena), departed the Aztec Center in 2009 and am very fortunate to return to A.S. in my current role.

I am originally from Phoenix, Arizona and completed my undergraduate studies in Business Administration at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. My event-focused career began while working game operations with the San Antonio Spurs, then through facilities within A.S. and most recently at the University of San Diego.

I enjoy listening to music plus following the ups and downs of professional Arizona sports teams. Disneyland is one of my favorite places to visit and upon retirement, I hope to become an engineer on the Disneyland Railroad.