Amanda Ostrout

I was hired as a home health aide for an elderly lady with early alzheimers with mobility issues. My duties include light house keeping, food prep assistance, bathing, grocery shopping trips and other like needed activities. Grocery shopping trips consist of making a food list for the week and then bringing home and food prepping for each meal. Each meal prepped goes into to the fridge or the freezer labeled or put in a specific spot for easy meal access. Client has allergies/dietary plan they follow that we base the meal planning around. I am also required to do companionship care that includes sitting and talking, doing puzzles, word searches/find and occasional walks.

I was hired at dollar tree as a cashier. My daily duties were assisting and cashing out customers, stocking front end freight and cleaning the front end of store. After three months of working there i was asked to be a Operations manager. Those duties included counting safe, cash drawers and operating the registers and making sure to cash out cashiers when their shifts were over. I did some closing shifts each week and had to fill out deposit paperwork each evening and put all numbers into the computer, as well as bringing deposits to the bank. I assisted the store manager on ordering supplies and putting in work orders as needed or fixed things myself when I could. My primary job was unloading truck every monday onto a track then onto a u boat. When truck was done I had to put out a minimum of 35 cases of product and hour and that case number was a daily requirement. On average i put out about 200+ cases a day. I had to stock food items in the freezers/cooler and shelves so had to pay special attention to the first in first out and checking dates on all stocked and ready to stock products. A little over a year and a half I was promoted to Merchandise manager which entailed the same duties as my other position but added on assisting with making of schedule three weeks in advance and doing interviews for the store manager with potential new hires. I also checked in vendors for Pepsi, Coke, Frito Lay, Redbull as well as other vendors for store repairs making sure they signed the vendor log, signing in product matching numbers and then putting said deliveries into the computer system.

As a RSA i was required to serve two of the three main meals of the day restaurant style table service. I took drink, main meal and dessert orders table side for 4-5 tables that held 2+ people each table. During and after meal service i would have to run dishes thru the dish machine and then take care of them in their proper place. I catered special events for residents and resident families. This included helping plan, prep, cook and serve tableside soups, appetizers, main meals and dessert. At times when the cook did not come in to work I would voluntarily step in and prep the meals for the day cooking, baking and whatever desserts needed to be prepared so the night cook did not need to pull an extra shift. My other duties were to clean resident apartments general housekeeping duties and running the morning and afternoon activities for the day. These activities sometimes consisted of baking or cooking some sort of food/snack so i would need to prep all the ingredients as well as supervise the cooking process. A few months into working there i was asked to be the lead RSA in the dementia/Alzheimers unit where i would have to individually plate and serve each of the 15-20 residents meals adhering to strict allergy and nutrition plans for each one. I would serve meals and snacks and then supervise the activities times for the unit spending some one on one time occasionally taking a walk in the units garden and sometimes coloring one on one and just talking.

I was hired at Oxbow High School as the kitchen cook. My duties were to cook and serve breakfast of the day, cook the main meal of the day, cook the prepped pizza of the day, cooking two more food options as main meals and cooking the soup of the day. I would prep my ingredients for the soup of the day and while that was cooking i was expected to prep and cook the main meal. The school offered a variety of meals which included the main meal, a grab and go item, three different flavored pizza options, and one vegetarian dish. I was responsible for calculating the number of students and prepping enough food for three meal periods. I used a double convection oven set up, steamer machine, a giant pot on a lift for easy maneuvering as well a a conventional oven, two hot boxes, three tiered pizza warmer box, and a cooktop with a flat top and 6 burners. I was expected to multi task cooking, cleaning and serving throughout my shift. I also prepped meat, cheese and cut vegetables for our salad bar and sandwich station. When service was over I would be in the dish room cleaning trays and whatever dishes i had not had a chance to clean before service started. I had to make sure students were served the nutritional value requirements in each meal and served them with A La Carte items available to them for purchase. This included having cashier experience handling money and charging to student accounts. After my first year my kitchen manager became a district manager and i was asked to step up as the new kitchen manager. I was still the main cook at the time so i had the above stated duties but added on scheduling for 5 people, food ordering, food temperature logs, calculating food percentages of food served vs food leftover and inputting numbers into the computer system for each individual meal item prepared and served. I was required to meet with my district manager to go over any menu changes or food related issues on a daily basis. I was also helping other school kitchens in the area such as Waits River Valley School, Piermont Elementary School, Orange Center Elementary and Lisbon Elementary/High School.

When first hired at Kendal I was a Cafe Attendant where my duties included Line cook for breakfast making sandwiches omelets and a special chef menu item made to order. I used a flat- top grill, charbroiler, convection oven, conventional oven, steamtables, steamers and hotboxes for equipment. I had to prep the coffee and juice bar as well as make a type of flavored water option using fresh cut fruit I did myself. I helped make pre-made sandwiches and sandwiches to order, served hot food from the cafe line, serve pre-cut pre-plated desserts I prepped before service as well as cash out customers, staff and residents. Main job during Lunch and/or dinner service I was head of the Chef special of the day made to order station that included omelet bar, panini sandwiches and other like item specials that I prepped ingredients for myself. I was transferred into Kitchen as a salad bar chef prepping all necessary salad bar items as well as making my own specialty salads to showcase and add to main menu if received well. In that time i was also trained to cook under the head chef in case of staff shortage. I was trained to cook breakfast and lunch/dinner menu items for four different dining rooms which included the Cafe, Fine-dining dining room, Health Center and Dementia unit. While cooking I was trained to handle food allergies and special dietary needs of the residents and our customers. Not only did I cook for these dining areas I also filled in serving these meals in all four dining locations. There were two different occasions that I was pulled from the kitchen to become the Cafe interim Manager where i was responsible for scheduling 25-35 different employees. I also was I charge of ordering bread, coke products, paper products and working with kitchen chef on ordering food related items for our menus. While acting as interim manager i was also prepping and serving food/ beverage items for catered events such as board member meetings and facility wide outdoor cooking events. As Interim Cafe Manager I would take feedback received by residents, staff and customers and use it in implementing the construction of the daily menu. When needed I was asked to help serve residents and their families when we had holiday meals where we had to take reservations for times and number of guests as well as serving during said meals. While performing these jobs i had to follow all food safety and handling procedures and that included getting my ServSafe certification as well as CPR certification and knowledge of DNR procedures for our health center residents. When serving in the dementia unit I not only plated the food but I also was trained to serve and help feed the residents based on their dietary needs. At times i would sit and visit with these residents and gently coaxing some of them to actually eat their meals.

I operated deli equipment such as slicer to slice meats and cheeses, Industrial air fryer for frozen fried foods as well as two ovens for pizzas and hot sandwiches. I prepped sandwiches to order either in person or over the phone, all made with fresh cut vegetables, meats and cheeses done by me during my shift. I made pizzas from scratch by making/hand stretching dough and then baked them in the oven as well as hot sandwiches. I prepped deli salads in bulk and portioned them out for individual purchase. I operated an air fryer for our fried food selection all while adhering to proper food handling and safety guidelines. I was also trained to fill drink cooler, stock product on shelves using the first in first out method and run the cash register. Another job requirement was to prepare, and put on platters, meats, cheeses and vegetable that were used for catered events. I learned a lot about proper food handling and safety as well as learning customer service skills.