Fruit Pizza = SO MUCH FUN!

This is a simple, very fun recipe. Check out the student's creativity with their creations!

Fruit Pizza

Cookie Crust:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/3 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 beaten egg
• 1/3 cup plus 1 T. shortening
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1/2 tsp almond flavoring

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. sift together: sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt
3. Cut in shortening
4. Add milk, egg and almond flavoring and mix well with flat beater on mixer.
5. If needed, knead in enough flour for rolling consistency
6. Grease pan and press dough onto it evenly. Be sure there are no thin spots.
7. Bake for about 10 minutes or until it starts to brown around the edges
8. Cool before topping

Filling:

Make instant vanilla pudding. Mix 1/2 cups pudding with 1/2 cup cool whip. Spread evenly on crust. Top with fruit.

Good fruit choices: strawberries, grapes, blueberries, kiwi, raspberries, pineapple, bananas, mandarin oranges, apples with skin on.

Cowboy Salsa... Giddy Up!

This recipe was a personal favorite. I thought it was a good idea to get the 9th graders out of their comfort zone when it came to salsa. They needed a little CHUNKY salsa in their lives. Honestly, this stuff is tasty, so try it out! I'm sure you will want to be a cowboy just so you can have it all the time :)

Cowboy Salsa

• 1/2 can pinto beans, drained
• 1/2 can black-eyed peas, drained
• 1/2 can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
• 1/4 medium onion, chopped
• 1/8 green bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp garlic salt
• 1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Combine everything in a large bowl and mix. Enjoy with tortilla chips!

German Pancakes

The 8th graders have been talking a lot about protein, and lately more specifically about eggs. They learned all the parts of an egg, and we decided it was about time to cook with them. SO, we made German Pancakes. Some couldn't stomach the eggy taste, while others loved it! Maybe it is an acquired taste :)

Enjoy the recipe below! For a 9x13 pan, double the recipe.

German Pancakes

1. Heat oven to 450 Degrees
2. Place 3 tbsp butter in glass pan and let it melt in the oven

Blend in a blender:

* 1/2 cup milk
* 1 tsp salt
* 1/2 cup flour
* 1 tbsp sugar
* 3 eggs

Blend well and pour batter into hot buttered pan. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until desired doneness.

Top with desired toppings. (strawberries and whipped cream are fabulous!)

Protein! Chicken Pillows and Ice Cream :)

The 9th grade cooking classes have been talking all about protein. We learned about how protein is found in many foods including meats, eggs, milk and other products from the meat and beans group. We enjoyed these recipes, so I hope you do too!

Students tossing their ice cream in a bag to make it nice and thick!

Ice Cream in a Bag

2 T sugar
2 Cups milk or half and half
1 tsp vanilla
About 6 T rock salt
1 pint sized ziploc bag
1 gallon sized ziploc bag
Ice cubes

• Fill the large bag half full of ice and add rock salt
• Put milk, vanilla, and sugar into the small bag and seal it
• Place the small bag inside the large one and seal again carefully
• Shake until mixture is ice cream - about 5-10 minutes
• Wipe off the top of small bag before carefully opening. Make sure you don't get any salt water in your ice cream!
  
• Enjoy! (I like to add carmel or chocolate to make it a little better)

Chicken Pillows

1 chicken breast, trimmed

1 can crescent rolls

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/3 c. crushed bread crumbs

1/4 c. melted margarine

1/2 can cream of chicken soup

1/4 c. water

1/8 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/8 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. dried chives

1. Preheat the oven to 325°.

2. With kitchen shears, trim and cut chicken into small, bite-sized pieces.

3. In a heavily sprayed skillet over medium-high heat, cook chicken breast until brown and cooked throughout. Set aside.

4. With your electric mixer, whip the cream cheese until soft and creamy in a medium sized bowl. Add dried chives, salt, pepper and onion powder and blend until combined.

5. Remove electric mixer and with a wooden spoon, stir in cooked chicken. Set aside.

6. Open crescent rolls and separate into individual triangles. Press out the triangles so that they double in size.

7. Take a spoonful of the cream cheese/chicken mixture and place in the middle of each crescent roll until the entire mixture is evenly distributed.

8. Starting at the wide end, roll the crescent triangle toward the narrow end, pinching the dough together as you go, until all of the mixture is covered by the dough. (Make sure that all of the cracks are pressed together so that the mixture does not melt out as it bakes.)

9. Now, roll the entire chicken pillow in the melted butter and again in the crushed croutons.

10. Place on a greased cookie sheet, evenly spaced. Bake at 325° for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the crescent rolls are golden brown.

11. While the chicken pillows are cooking, in a small saucepan, combine the cream of chicken soup and water and whisk over medium heat until completely combined. It should be smooth, with no lumps.

12. When chicken pillows are done, remove from oven, place on individual plates and cover with cream sauce. Eat and enjoy!

Strawberry Blender Drink

While talking about fruits with my 8th grade classes, we made a strawberry blender drink. It was well loved and appreciated by all :) I've never seen so many "pink" mustaches in my life!

Strawberry Blender Drink

1 Cup Strawberries
1/2 cup Sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups milk

Blend all the above in a blender. Then add about 2 cups of ice. Mix until the drink is nice and thick. Enjoy!

Fettuccini Alfredo Goodness

We used this recipe during our fats and oils unit. The students loved this recipe, so I hope you have fun making it at home! Look out, it has a ton of FAT in it :)

Fettuccini Alfredo

3/4 c. butter

1/2 pkg. (4 oz.) cream cheese

2 1/2 Tbsp. flour

1/2 c. heavy whipping cream

1 1/4 c. whole milk

1/4 c. parmesan cheese

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

1 tsp. salt (to season noodles)

fettuccini noodles (enough for group)

To Cook Pasta:

1. Fill a large pot with water, about 3/4 full. Add salt to the water, place pan on high heat and bring to a boil.

2. When water is boiling, slowly add pasta and cook until it reaches the al dente stage-(soft, but not soggy).

3. Turn off heat and allow noodles to sit in water until they are ready to be served.

To Cook Alfredo Sauce:

1. In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Watch this carefully! Do not let the butter burn.

2. Soften your cream cheese in the microwave for about 30-40 seconds so that it will melt in the saucepan more easily.

3. Add the cream cheese to the butter and mix until smooth. Then, add flour all at once. Mix with a wire whisk until a paste forms. Allow flour paste to cook for about one minute.

4. Add 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream and whisk until smooth. Then add ONLY 3/4 c. of the milk. Save 1/2 c. of the milk to use later. Stir until smooth and allow to cook for 1 minutes, or until mixture thickens slightly.

5. Add grated parmesan cheese to sauce and stir until melted. Then, add the final 1/2 c. of whole milk. Add Italian seasoning. Stir until everything is smooth and combined. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve over warm pasta and eat. (You may also drain the noodles, place the noodles back in the pot and then pour the Alfredo sauce over all of the noodles at once.)

Halloween Cupcakes

This year for Halloween we had a cupcake decorating competition. It was so fun to see the creativity of all of my students! Here are just a few examples of their creations...

FUDGE!

This, my friends, is the best. Fudge. Ever. Enjoy!

Yes, that is a lot of fudge in my fridge

Bring to a boil:

4 1/2 cups sugar
1 can evaporated milk

Stir this CONSTANTLY for 7 minutes, then:

Immediately remove from heat and add:

2 squares REAL butter
2 twelve ounce bages of MILK chocolate chips
1 tbsp vanilla

Beat until creamy and then pour into an 8 1/2 x 11 buttered cake pan

***hint: cut the squares before the fudge is completely cooled! Enjoy!

Accidents Happen...

Yes, yes they do. And it's okay. Life goes on, and then you laugh later... :)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins!

HOoray for FALL! We finally got to make the chocolate chip muffins that I was so excited about. We have talked about the correct muffin method and so today we had a little competition to see who could make the perfect muffin. The students had a lot of fun, and it was great to see so many good lookin' muffins! Overall, this was a good day :)

The winners of the BEST muffin!

She just couldn't wait till they were done...

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 C flour; sifted
1/2 C sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 C butter
1 egg beaten
1/2 C canned pumpkin
1/2 C evaporated milk

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Sift flour, mix with sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in medium bowl.
3. Cut in butter until mixture resembles cornmeal
4. Combine egg with pumpkin and evaporated milk
5. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients and stir JUST UNTIL MOIST! Batter will be lumpy
6. Add chocolate chips
7. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full
8. Bake at 400 degress for 18-20 minutes

Enjoy!

Yeast Bread Happiness = Breadsticks

Well the 9th grade foods and nutrition 1 class were finally able to make breadsticks. We have been talking about quick and yeast breads, and this was our first lab in the unit. The students made either garlic or cinnamon sugar breadsticks with a frosting drizzle. This lab ended up right in the middle of spirit week, so many of the students were dressed up in the lab. It was great to see so many people from different decades cooking! Enjoy the recipe below :)

Breadsticks

1 T yeast
1 C warm water
1/4 C sugar
1 tsp salt
1 egg
1/8 C oil
2 1/2 - 3 C flour

1. Dissolve the yeast in the 1 C of warm water and let rise. (A pinch of sugar will help)
2. Mix yeast, water, sugar, salt, egg, and oil together.
3. Add flour mixing in one cup at a time.
4. Knead dough for a couple of minutes, until texture is consistent and firm.
5. Place dough in greased gallon sized ziploc bag, removing as much air as possible. Place in the fridge over night to rise.

6. Open bag and punch to release air.
7. Roll on floured counter top with floured rolling pin.
8. Spread melted butter on dough and sprinkle with seasoning of choice. We used either garlic salt spread, or a cinnamon sugar mixture.
9. With a pizza cutter, cut into strips and place on greased baking sheet.
10. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes. Enjoy!

Soft Pretzels - Easy and Yummy!

The students really enjoyed making these pretzels. They are easy and fun to make! Putting cinnamon and sugar on them is a fun addition, as well as just putting on salt. Several students liked to dip their cinnamon/sugar pretzels in a frosting drizzle. No matter what you like on them, they are pretty easy to enjoy!

Soft Pretzels

Preheat oven to 375

Mix together:
1/2 egg (or 2 Tbsp of a mixed egg)
2 tsp yeast
3/4 C warm water
2 tsp sugar

Let ingredients sit in a kitchen aid bowl and measure the following in a separate bowl:

1/2 tsp salt
2 C flour

Add to yeast mixture and knead for 3-5 minutes.
Cut dough into about 9 pieces and roll into strips between your palms. Roll into pretzel shape.

Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes! Hooray!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had a student request that I put up this recipe, so here it is! Enjoy!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 C butter
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 C flour
1 1/4 C quick oatmeal
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 C (about) chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugars together. Add egg and vanilla. Ina separate bowl, combine flour, oatmeal, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.

Add dry mixture to wet. Add chocolate chips by hand.

Scoop small-medium spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake at 375 for 8 minutes.

Enjoy!

Whistle While You Work...

One of the jobs we have in our kitchens is called the "extra job assistant". This person is in charge of completing any extra jobs that need to be done in the classroom. On one particular day, several students asked me what they could do to help. I turned around, and low and behold the windows needed washing! Good thing I had so many students willing to help. They enjoyed themselves, and I sure enjoyed watching them learn how to wash windows. Thanks guys!

Spirit Week!

What could be better than clashing nerds? I don't think anything. I'll tell you one thing, it was hard to take the kids seriously when all I saw when I looked out was a bunch of glasses. Needless to say, the students had a hard time responding to me as well. Just take a look at those sweet pants of mine - you can't blame them for being distracted :)

The students were so much fun, and we all had a great time with spirit week! We had clash day, decade day, and nerd day. It was a week I will never forget. Thanks to everyone for making it fun! I love my nerdy students :)