Where Are They Now? Another Teaching Year Comes to a Close

Teaching.  Last week two of my teaching commitments came to a close.  As I was packing up my class supplies I began to reflect upon the year. I get so sentimental, so easily.  I realized this year how much I love teaching, not just teaching my kids, but others.  I really do love it!  Perhaps this is why I'm so passionate about homeschooling.  I love learning and presenting material in a way that hopefully appeals to students.

Reaching the end of yet another year has given me cause to reflect on my brief experience in the public school arena.  The first kids I taught are now in their 30's!!  How can that be!  I wonder what became of them?  What happened to those little 4th graders?  Also, when I look at the precious gifts given to me by dear Ukranian students and their families, I wonder if they made it in their new found country, America.  What happened to Yuri, Alexei, Nazar, Ludmila, and so many more?  Did they embrace the freedom they were seeking?  Did the kids who struggled in 4th grade, make it through and find a love for learning?  I often wonder where they are now.  Teachers spend a year with kids, pour into them, and then the kids have to move on.  Next grade, next teacher, next year.

Little Nazar, Travis, Olga, Travis, Antonio...1992

Paleo Banana Pancakes...YUM!

I've been trying to perfect the paleo pancake for a bit now.  I totally miss eating pancakes!  They're my FAVORITE breakfast item.  This may scare some people, but when I was in high school I would eat a stack of 6 large buttermilk pancakes along with 4 eggs many mornings.  And even with all that food, I'd be hungry by 10:00 am and struggle to make it to lunch.  I was the one with the growling stomach in class. SAD!  I used to be so embarrassed and am so glad my kids don't have to experience this.

Gluten-Free Currant Scones

My mom is visiting next week.  It's time to brush up on the gluten-free recipes.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, she has celiac disease, but fortunately there are so many gluten-free options.  I'm trying some home-cooked-from-scratch treats...all gluten-free.

Irish Soda Bread

Irish Soda Bread

Last week, our history study touched on the Potato Famine in Ireland during the mid 1800's.  During this time period nearly one million Irish died and another million left the country.  Approximately 800,000 of those who left, emigrated to the United States.

Today, my girlie made traditional Irish Soda Bread as a cooking activity wrapping up our Irish Potato Famine study.  This bread is SO TASTY!  It would be a great addition to a St. Patrick's Day meal also!  We'll remember this recipe next month as we plan our special Irish meal.

This Week: Moosewood Cookbook's Basic Corn Bread

Choosing a meatless cookbook to focus on seems rather counter to our mostly paleo lifestyle, but the popularity and appeal of the Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen cannot be overlooked.  Her recipes use healthy, natural ingredients much of which would fit in the Zone or Paleo food program.

The first recipe I'm showcasing this week is Basic Corn Bread.

Who doesn't love corn bread?

It's a must with chili or other hearty soup/stew.  Corn Bread screams comfort food!

This recipe is a variation from the traditional; it calls for buttermilk or yogurt instead of milk.

I used Arrowhead Mills Organic Yellow Corn Meal and 1/2 buttermilk, 1/2 organic vanilla yogurt.  For the sweetener I used coconut sugar.  It's subtle and went well with the sweetness of the vanilla yogurt.

Basic Corn Bread- The Moosewood Cookbook

Ingredients

Butter to grease the pan

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk or yogurt (I used 1/2 cup buttermilk and 1/2 cup organic vanilla yogurt)
1 egg
3 tablespoons sugar or honey (I used coconut sugar)
3 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8-inch square pan (or a 9-10 inch cast-iron skillet) with butter.

Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl.  Combine wet ingredients, including sugar/honey, separately.  Stir wet ingredients into dry, mixing just enough to thoroughly combine.  Spread into the prepared pan.

Dry Ingredients

Dry and Wet...combine

Batter, ready for the oven

The batter is relatively thick- much thicker than other cornbread recipes I've tried. No cause for concern; it turns out great!

Bake 20 minutes, or until the center is firm to the touch.  Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Fresh out of the oven

So moist...perfect!

Thank you Mollie Katzen for a GREAT recipe!

Enjoy!

Grub Recipe #3: Rosemary-Butter Biscuits

Sitting in my favorite rocking chic, inhaling the fresh scent of rosemary and slowly savoring recipe #3 from Grub.

This kids keep repeating in their best Martha pronunciation, "I smell a 'Herb'."

Yes , my loves, you do smell a herb.

Rosemary.

One thing I love about living in Southern California is the abundance of rosemary shrubs.  I love walking past a rosemary shrub and rubbing my hand along while activating the aroma.  It's heavenly!

It reminds me of what I dream cottage living in Avonlea would be like.  Specifically, when I think of such herbs I think of gardens and tea, leading me to think about Anne and Miss Lavendar Lewis.  I think Anne, Diana and Miss Lavendar Lewis would have loved these biscuits.

Today's selected recipe is truly scrumptious!

If I wasn't counting points and limiting wheat and gluten, I would have inhaled most of these delicious biscuits!  I'm practicing my best self-restraint right now!  It's difficult to say the least!

Rosemary-Butter Biscuits

Ingredients

3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon organic raw cane sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 tablespoons fresh minced rosemary (I used between 1-1 1/2 tablespoons)
6 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into bits, plus more for serving
3/4 cups organic whole milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Sift flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt into large bowl.  Stir in the rosemary.  I used less than the 2 tablespoons suggested because I wasn't sure how our kids would like the flavor of rosemary.  I didn't want the rosemary to overwhelm them.  If you or your kids love herbs go for the 2 tablespoons or if you're enjoying a hearty fall meal I think the 2 tablespoons would be great!  With a pastry cutter or fork, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like coarse cornmeal.

Sifting the dry ingredients

Cutting in the butter with a pastry blender.  A fork would work also.

Add the milk all at once and mix with a large spoon just until the dough forms into a ball.  With lightly floured hands, knead the dough on a lightly floured surface just a couple of times, until it all comes together.

Roll out the dough about 1/2 inch thick, and then cut with a 2-inch biscuit cutter or drinking glass.  We went with a drinking glass that measured about 2 1/2 inches in diameter.  Place the biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet a few inches apart from each other.  Bake until the biscuits are golden brown on top, about 15 minutes.

Remove from oven, cut a widthwise slit halfway into each biscuit and add a thin sliver of butter.  Serve hot.

We made 13 biscuits with our 2 1/2-glass.  If you're following Weight Watchers, each biscuit is 3 points.

December 20, 2011: 1st Day of Hanukkah- Celebrating with Cake Doughnuts

Today is the first day of Hanukkah.

We're not Jewish, so our kids don't fully understand the significance of the holiday. Introducing Jewish culture, history, and traditions are an integral part of Christian culture and history, so it's important we learn.

We've field tripped at Jewish Cultural centers, studied Jewish history, and we're currently reading the Old Testament in the Catherine Vos's Children's Bible.  I feel like the Old Testament is often forgotten and emphasis on Christian living is often too focused on New Testament living.  Both should be combined in their entirety as God's story is woven through the pages of the whole Bible.

For a couple resources in teaching your children about Hanukkah check out the following links:

http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson040.shtml

http://www.ehow.com/how_5890_teach-children-meaning.html

http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/hanukkah/about.html

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/hanukkah/teacher-resources/6627.html

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/celebrate-hanukkah-israel

http://www.ehow.com/video_4984614_teach-children-meaning-hanukkah.html

Food For Hanukkah

Okay, if you know me or follow this blog, you know I love to teach with FOOD!  We manage to relate most unit studies, books, and lessons to food.  As a result we can't forget FOOD today!

Oil

Food prepared for Hanukkah has a similar theme.  It is fried in oil.  If you don't understand the importance of the oil, see the above links.

In searching for a fun food to prepare in celebration of the first day of Hanukkah I stumbled upon a number of donut recipes at www.chabad.org

We chose to make the Cake Doughnuts.  The recipe was missing a couple key words, so it was a little confusing for the kids.  The recipe I'll post should be clear.  Let me know if there are any questions.

These cake doughnuts are AMAZING!  I think I want to become a doughnut maker now!  Thank you so much www.chabad.org for posting this recipe.

Be careful if preparing these with kids.  Our kids made the dough, and I fried them. I don't allow them to be around hot oil.  It's just too dangerous.

Hot Oil...Danger!

Cake Doughnuts

Ingredients

2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup milk
1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup), melted

Vegetable/Canola Oil for deep frying

In a large mixing bowl beat eggs, sugar and vanilla until thick and smooth.  In another bowl combine dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, spices and salt.  Whisk milk and butter together.

Add flour mixture and milk alternately to egg mixture, in about 3 additions of each. Stir to form a stiff dough.

Roll dough our to about 1/2-inch think.  Using a doughnut cutter or biscuit cutter cut out doughnut shapes.

Heat oil in a deep-fryer to 360 degrees.  Fry doughnuts in batches, turning several times, until golden all over.  Using a slotted spoon or tongs, remove doughnuts to drain.  We placed ours on paper towels.

Sprinkle immediately with powdered sugar or cinnamon and sugar.

We made a Chocolate Glaze and I dipped our doughnuts in the glaze.

Chocolate Glaze

4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (we used chocolate chips)
3 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

In a heavy sauce pan or double boiler, melt chocolate with butter.  Whisk in sugar, a little at a time.  Whisk in about 3 tablespoons water to thin to desired consistency. Glaze doughnuts immediately.

We sprinkled powdered sugar on the doughnut holes

Happy Hanukkah!

Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin Sour Cream Pancakes

Pancakes are one of my favorite foods.  I grew up enjoying stacks and stacks of pancakes.  They were one of the only foods that could fill me up and satisfy my hunger pangs until lunchtime when I was in school.  I remember my mom serving stacks of 4-6 pancakes and scrambled eggs for breakfast almost every morning. Her pancakes, made from scratch, were filled with wheat germ, bran, oat bran and whole wheat flour.  They were HEAVY DUTY pancakes!

I also have many memories of my Papa whipping up pancakes on Sunday mornings. He and my grandma would eat some type of hot cereal (Cream of Wheat, cornmeal, oatmeal, farina, etc) every weekday morning.  On weekends my Papa would make pancakes from scratch.  We'd sometimes sneak little surprises into the pancakes, unbeknownst to our patrons.  Sometimes we'd stick a chocolate chip or a raisin in them. Other times we'd be really sneaky and we'd cook a piece of thread inserted in the batter in a circular motion.  The recipient of this pancake would find they couldn't easily cut the pancake.  It was a bit like an April Fool's joke.  We chuckled many times over this trickery.

Although these days I rarely eat grains, since limiting intake, I still love to make and experiment with all types of pancakes.  I make them, but don't get to enjoy them. Bummer!

My family still enjoys them.

On Halloween, I woke early to make the kids Pumpkin Pancakes.  We enjoy these every fall!  I found the recipe in a magazine about 15 years ago.  The recipe comes from Cambridge House Inn, a bed and breakfast in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

I've never had a problem with this recipe, but I have heard people struggle with it. Some people have tried it and their pancakes turn out raw in the middle.  Keep this in mind. Our pancakes have turned out great, so I'm not sure what advice to offer.  Give them a try and see what happens.

Pumpkin Sour Cream Pancakes

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 tablespoon oil

1.  Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together in medium-size bowl.

2.  Combine remaining ingredients in small bowl.  Slowly whisk liquids into dry ingredients.

3.  Spray a grill pan with cooking spray (I use a non-stick pancake griddle (at 300-325 degrees), so there is no need to spray).  Our pancakes are pretty thick and fluffy.  I usually pour the batter on the griddle then spread it out a bit.

4.  Serve with butter and syrup.

I miss pancakes!

Good Morning Blueberry Muffins

Today our kids started Vacation Bible School and I wanted to make the morning a little special.  Fresh blueberries are in season and we've been enjoying them to the fullest.  We love to eat them by the handful as a snack.  The kids also enjoy blueberry pancakes and blueberry waffles.  This morning I decided to make blueberry muffins for their mid-morning VBS snack.

Blueberry Yogurt Muffins
From the Complete Cooking Light Cookbook

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (8-ounce) container vanilla yogurt (I used plain- they tasted fine)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed
cooking spray
1 tablespoon sugar

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.  Lightly spoon 2 cups flour int dry measuring cups;  level with a knife.  Combine flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl;  make a well in center of mixture. 
combine orange juice, oil, vanilla, yogurt, and egg;  add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moist.  Don't over mix.  Gently fold in blueberries.

3.  Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups or 6 Large muffin cups.  Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar evenly over muffins.  Bake muffins at 400 degrees for 18 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Remove muffins from pans immediately, and place muffins on a wire rack.

A great way to start off the day!

Enjoy!