Whole Wheat Pancake HAPPINESS!

We have been talking a lot about carbohydrates and the whole wheat grain kernel. The students have learned that one of the greatest ways to incorporate fiber into their diets is to make sure they are eating things that are WHOLE grains. Since most children have the skewed concept that whole wheat is nasty, I decided to fix that horrible misconception.

And did they love it? Yes they did :)

It may have helped that we also made BUTTERMILK SYRUP and homemade STRAWBERRY SYRUP. Most of the students just wanted to drink it, but I made them put it on the pancakes and they were just as happy...

Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Pancakes

1 Egg, beaten until light and fluffy
1 C buttermilk
2 Tbsp. oil
1 Tbsp sugar
1 C whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1. Beat egg until light and fluffy
2. Add buttermilk, oil, and sugar to egg and mix well
3. In a separate bowl, mix together whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add to egg mixture and blend well
5. Using a non stick pan, cook on MEDIUM heat.
6. When bubbles form on batter-side, flip pancake
7. Serve with butter and warm syrup (or topping of your choice!)

BUTTERMILK SYRUP:

• 1 C sugar
• 1/2 C buttermilk
• 1 stick margarine
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Bring sugar, buttermilk and margarine to a boil.
2. Turn off heat and add the remaining ingredients.
3. Syrup will foam up so make sure your pan is big enough. Make syrup just before you want to serve it because the foam will slowly disperse and the foam is the best part!!


STRAWBERRY SYRUP:

• 2 cups strawberry's
• 1/2 C sugar

1. Blend ingredients in a blender till smooth
2. Heat up in saucepan until warm.
3. Serve

The New "MyPlate"

This year the government did away with the "mypyramid" and introduced the new "myplate"! This has been a whole new teaching experience for me and the students as we are learning all about it together. Sunny days took us outside, and the students created their "plates" to show how much we should be eating from each of the five food groups:

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Protein
• Carbohydrates
• Milk

I think we are all starting to get the hang of this new plate!

Taco RINGS!

Well, this happens to be a class favorite each year, even though the 9th graders don't think it will be. Think of this: instead of having tacos on a tortilla....now we have it in a crescent roll! Crazy right?! Wrong. GOOD. Try it out!

Taco Ring

1/2 lb. hamburger 1/2 c. shredded cheese

1/2 pkg. taco seasoning 1/2 c. shredded lettuce

1/2 c. water 1 tomato, chopped

1 pkg. refrigerated croissant rolls 1/4 c. sour cream

1/2 c. refried beans 1/4 c. salsa

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Cook hamburger in a skillet over medium high heat, breaking it into small pieces as it cooks. Cook until it is no longer pink inside and out.

3. Drain off grease from cooked hamburger. Push the hamburger to one side of the skillet. Then, carefully tilt the skillet so that the grease drains to one side. Using a spoon, spoon the grease into the empty refried beans can.

4. Add taco seasoning and water to the hamburger and cook an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Then, reduce heat to low, stirring occasionally.

5. Open the croissant rolls and lay them flat in a circle on a round, greased pizza pan with the points facing outward. (It will look kind of like a sun.

6. On each croissant triangle, place a spoonful of refried beans. Slightly flatten the beans with the back of the spoon. Then, add a spoonful of the hamburger mixture. Use all of your beans and hamburger! Evenly distribute each of these two ingredients on all 8 of the croissant triangles.

7. Cover the ingredients by folding the pointed part of the croissant up and over the beans and meat. Press down slightly so that it doesn’t come undone while baking.

8. Bake at 375° for 11 to 13 minutes.

9. While the taco ring is baking, shred cheese, chop tomato and shred lettuce.

10. Remove the taco ring from the oven when done baking. Remove individual pieces to plates. Add lettuce, cheese, tomato, sour cream and salsa. Eat and enjoy!

Hence, the name taco "rings"

Bubbly Bubble Bread...Umhmmm.!

It's fast. It's Easy. It's microwavable. It's sweet. It's delicious. It happened.

Bubble Bread

1/3 C. Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp. margarine or butter
1 Tbsp. water
1 Can refrigerated biscuits


1. In a round glass dish, combine brown sugar, margarine and water. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Remove dish from microwave using hot pads, and stir ingredients until evenly combined.
2. Cut biscuits into 4ths using the pizza cutter. Place the biscuit pieces on top of the melted brown sugar mixture.
3. Microwave on high for 2-4 minutes or until the dough is not sticky to the touch.
4. Remove from microwave and allow for standing time

5. TO serve the bubble bread, place a plate on top of the round dish and turn both upside down. Pull the pieces apart with your fingers and enjoy eating!


Before....

After!

Taco Salad Goodness :)

My 8th graders all worked together to create the BEST taco salad ever! I don't want to give you my recipe because it feeds a LARGE crowd, but if you want to try this at home, you can use some of our ideas! Things we added:

• Lettuce
• Cheese
• Tomatoes
• Avocado
  
• Taco meat
• Olives
• Kidney beans
• Ranch
• Sour cream
• Salsa
• Chips

Have fun making your own creation! There is only one rule: Enjoy it!

My trusty T.A. enjoying his taco salad :)

Cookie Wars!

You've heard of cupcake wars? Well we do things a little bit different. Our battle is with the cookies...chocolate chip, peanut butter, and oatmeal. Each group made a different kind and the battles began! We may have had winners, we may have had losers, but we had cookies - so that made EVERYTHING better :)

Here is the recipe for chocolate chip, which seemed to be the voted favorite. Have fun with your own cookie wars!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2/3 C shortening
2/3 C butter
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3 C flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 bag milk chocolate chips
1/2 bag semi sweet chocolate chips

1. Cream fats and sugars together for 7-8 minutes
2. Add eggs and vanilla to creamed mixture
3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Slowly add dry mixture to creamed mixture
4. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-11 minutes

Enjoy!

No Bake Cookies :)

The 8th graders just LOVE to try new things that taste good, so here you go...happiness in an easy, simple, tasty, great, CHOCOLATEY form! Enjoy!

No Bake Cookies

• 1 1/2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 C peanut butter
• 1 C coconut (optional)
• 3 C oatmeal
• 1/2 C butter
• 1 1/2 C sugar
• 1/2 C evaporated milk

1. In a large bowl, place chocolate chips, peanut butter, oatmeal, and coconut.
2. In a saucepan melt butter, sugar, and evaporated milk
3. After mixture in saucepan starts to boil, pour into large bowl with other ingredients and stir until all melted and well mixed.
4. Drop spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet lined with foil or wax paper. Refrigerate until firm or set.

Keep refrigerated.