Mini S'mores

Did you know in my real non-internet life that I'm a teacher? Yes, it's true. Some of you have been reading this blog since I was still in school getting a teaching degree, inspired by this kid to do so. Besides cooking and eating, I also have a real passion for working with people with disabilities, which is why I teach special education.

This year I have five wonderfully diverse students and three educational assistants who keep me on my teaching toes. I don't talk about teaching much because this blog has actually become my escape from it, but you should know that I have a very real love/hate relationship with my job.

I love laughing everyday at work. I love kids. I love watching kids grow and learn. I love discovering their talents and skills. I love the other teachers I work with, they work so much harder than I could ever hope to. I love exposing other people to the fact that people with disabilities have just as much to offer as anyone else.

I hate paperwork. I hate having to watch my back every second of the day. I hate being told what to do by every adult who comes in my class (I do what I want, jeez!). I hate feeling like a marginal teacher because I teach special ed (can you imagine how the kids feel?). I hate enforcing stupid rules.

Is it getting too real here? I know I write with a lot of pronouns when I get all excited, so excuse me for that.

What I really want to share with you today is this fun recipe for mini s'mores that I did at school with my class. This recipe is really more of an activity to be shared with kids, friends, students, grandparents or whoever might be interested in miniature things. The reason I bring this up is because they do get pretty sticky and don't do well in a bag or bowl because they just clump together. Originally I was thinking of giving them out as goodie bags or gifts, but don't do that, it just turns into a mess.

Instead, find some time with your loved ones and just enjoy making these mini s'mores, it's a hoot and kids go crazy for them.

Mini S'mores
Makes as many as you want to eat!

Golden Grahams cereal
chocolate chips
mini marshmallows

Ingredient amounts are not listed because you'll decide how many to make.

Lay a single layer of Golden Grahams on a plate, giving each piece about 1/2 inch of room. Try to choose the unbroken pieces, it just looks nicer. Place a chocolate chip on each piece of cereal. Microwave for 10 seconds or until chocolate is a little melty. Microwaves vary so much, so keep a close eye it.

Now place a mini marshmallow on top in each chocolate chip, taking care to press down a little so the marshmallow will stick to the chocolate. Microwave for another 10 seconds or until the marshmallows are melty.

Top each s'mores with another Golden Graham and you have yourself a mini s'more.

Once again, I tried to store these so that I could give them away as gifts but it was a no-go because they just stick together. I also tried making them in the oven which also didn't work because of the super quick cook times. Just have fun with these minis and eat them right away!

Sustainable Sunday: Broccoli Leaves

Broccoli leaves

I struggled to find something to write about on this Sustainable Sunday. The truth is I haven't been cooking much this summer, for a couple reasons.

As some of you are tired of hearing about, we are putting new flooring in our entire house, which is amazing and long overdue, but has taken longer than predicted. While we (actually mostly my incredibly talented husband) toil away at cutting, setting, and grouting tile, our house remains a cluttered and dusty mess. We just don't like being at home right now, and for me, competing with all the dust in the kitchen is less than ideal.

On top of that, I have been uber busy with work this year. I am back teaching middle school after my position at the elementary school was cut. This change is exciting for me, as it brings different challenges and I get to work with many teachers I respect and enjoy. It's just a whole lot of work starting from scratch in a new position with new classes and new subjects to teach. What I really mean to say is, I'm having trouble keeping up and staying positive. I'd love to be that person who embraces change and challenge with lots of energy and enthusiasm. In real life, I'm about to turn 30 and am just kinda over the constant change and challenge that is my job. That's all.

Broccoli overthrow in my garden. Look at all those leaves!

Can we get back to eating sustainably? I've been experimenting in my garden this year with some big ticket items like cabbage, eggplant, and broccoli. The broccoli has grown very well, but every time I harvest the crowns I wonder if it's worth the real estate in my small garden. The yield is pretty small compared to the room it takes up.

It turns out the leaves of the broccoli plant are edible. Rejoice fellow gardeners! Although, maybe I am way behind and you already knew this. You'll want to pick the leaves while they are still small and tender, bigger leaves will be more bitter and fibrous. You can cook them as you would chard, kale, or collards. I don't juice, but this would probably be a great addition to a juice or smoothie. If you do decide to use the larger leaves, remove the stem which will be hard to chew. Or, add them raw to this salad.

"Costco" Style Broccoli Salad
Also featured on Kahakai Kitchen 
serves 8-10 as a side

5 cups chopped broccoli
2 cups chopped broccoli leaves
1 cup shredded carrot
1 green onion, chopped
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup roasted & salted almonds, roughly chopped

Dressing:
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 white vinegar
3 TBL sugar
1/4 tsp red pepper
black pepper to taste

In a large bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients. Chop salad ingredients and toss them in the bowl to coat. Allow the broccoli to soak up the dressing in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Great as a potluck item. Enjoy!

Sustainable Sunday: Edible Sea Purslane

Last weekend, as part of the Ka Hua program I'm involved in as a teacher, we participated in a service project removing 'akulikuli, or sea purslane, from delicate anchialine ponds. This low-lying plant can be found sprawled out near shoreline areas, as it can tolerate brackish water and wind, salt, and sea conditions. Also known as pickle plant, it is indigenous to Hawaii, and probably got the nickname from the salty flavor of the leaves.

When maintaining anchialine ponds, a special and important feature of Hawaii's coastlines and ecosystem, the 'akulikuli are often removed from the edges of the ponds to prevent it from choking out the other native grasses that need to survive in order to maintain balance. The shallow ponds are found set back from the shore, usually surrounded by trees and shrubs and sometimes contain tiny red shrimp, or 'opae ula. If you see one of these ponds, please don't enter the water with any sunscreen on or bathe with soap or shampoo.

If you come upon the 'akulikuli plant, feel free to clip some leaves, wash them well, and toss them into a salad, poke, or any dish that needs a salty, crisp bite. I threw some in a watermelon salad for a sweet and salty combo, see the recipe below. If you'd like to help maintain the anchialine ponds too and see the plants growing near them, please check with the landowners or park personnel before removing them.

Sweet and Salty Salad
This recipe is featured on Kahakai Kitchen
serves 4-6

5 cups watermelon, chopped and deseeded, rind removed
1/2 cup cotija cheese crumbled (feta would work great, too)
1/2 'akulikuli leaves, roughly chopped

In a medium bowl combine watermelon, cheese, and 'akulikuli. Stir gently with salad tongs. Enjoy!

*Hawaii grown watermelon purchased at KTA, 'akulikuli found on Kona coastline, cheese is from Costco but is not locally sourced.

Easiest Peanut Butter Candy Ever

My friend Rachel put in a request for a peanut butter cookie recipe just as I was making these candies. Even though it's not a cookie, I'd call that perfect timing.

Time does have a knack for being perfect, doesn't it? That can be annoying, all that perfect timing business. Sometimes we just want to know ahead of time what the heck is going to happen.

I'm happy to share that next school year I'll be going back to teaching middle school. Tweens are the best. She might hate me for sharing this here but my sister is getting married! I'm heading off to New York in less than two weeks AND my dog and cat tag team just brought a live bird in the house. Timing is awesome! Let's eat some candy.

Easy Peanut Butter Candies
This recipe featured on Foodie Friends Friday
makes about 12

1 cup peanut butter
2 cups shredded coconut
1 cup chocolate chips, almond bark, or other meltable chocolate

In a small bowl combine peanut butter and coconut so that the coconut is completely coated. You can add more coconut or peanut butter at this point, depending on how sticky you want it. Using a spoon and your hands, form mixture into balls and place in mini cupcake papers or line them up on a waxed paper lined baking sheet. Mine were TBL size, but you can make them as big or small as you like.

In a microwave safe bowl, heat and melt chocolate according to package directions. Usually this entails heating for 1 minute, stirring, then heating again in 15 second intervals until melted. Spoon a little melted chocolate on top of each peanut butter ball.

Place in fridge for 30 minutes or so to allow the melted chocolate to harden up. Enjoy!

5 Reasons to Love Life

Nootropics

1. School is out for summer. Today was the last day for students and teachers in Hawaii and we are loving it. Looking forward to a break full of beach days, New York awesomeness, cooking galore, and with a little luck, some backpacking.

2. Nature brings you down to size. Last weekend I skipped over to Maui for a backpacking adventure with my girl Marie in the crater of Haleakala. There's something about hauling your butt and a heavy pack down into a really old rock formation to gaze at majestic mountain views, gawk at shooting stars, and share nips of whiskey with an awesome friend to bring the best of life to the forefront.

3. Limoncello. Lovely, lemony, liqueur. This drink embodies summer. While visiting my sister at an archaeological dig in Greece, we sipped gallons of the stuff. Except it was creamy, and I have not been able to score it in the states. Did you know there is a Mauicello? I will most definitely forgive it's lack of creaminess. Get on it. I guess this means I'll be making my own creamy limoncello. Recipe to follow(?).

4. Anchovies on pizza. I am a major salt and briny flavors fanatic, and anchovies gives you just that. Putting them on pizza, a little goes a long way, provides a punch of flavor. If you love all things briny, try it.

5. Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes. Friends move away. Jobs are iffy at best. School years end, summers begin. Books close. Windows open. Without changes our lives would be a dreary gray mass of unending time.  Let's embrace change, let's love it even. I love change. There, I said it.

How To Get More Energy

Fish Chowder (recipe below)

I'm going to let you in on a little trick. Many of you probably already know about this, but since this was news to me recently, it only felt right to pass the info along.

Earlier this year, I shared some of the struggles I had been going through in 2011. The aspect of depression I struggled with the most, and am still recovering from, was the lack of energy. I was dragging through life, without the energy to do the things I loved. 2011 was also the year of no meat.

My friend, who is also a nurse, prodded me about a possible vitamin B12 deficiency. Her concern centered around my lack of energy (a known side-effect of B12 deficiency) and shunning of meat, as B12 only naturally occurs in animal products.

Stay with me here. Over the past few months, I've been eating meat again, little by little. Almost immediately, I began to notice my energy levels going up. And up, and up. Shoot! I almost feel normal again. Here's where I'm going to make a leap and attribute this surge to vitamin B12, because "at levels only slightly lower than normal, a range of symptoms such as fatigue, depression, and poor memory may be experienced." Because I hadn't been taking a supplement or been eating meat, it's likely my levels were low, as my nurse friend had suspected.

So how do we make sure we're getting enough B12? If you are vegetarian or vegan, you should take a supplement or eat cereals and grains that are fortified with the vitamin. I did some research and there is no conclusive evidence that B12 occurs naturally in any plant-based source. The rest of us can get B12 by eating animal products such as meat, fish, milk, eggs, and cheese. The best natural source out there is liver, I might be giving that a go soon, never tried it.

Try these vitamin B12 rich recipes and let me know if this little trick works for you.

Fried Goat Cheese Salad

Fish Chowder

Veal Sliders

Breakfast Skillet with Spinach and Avocado

Steamer Clams

Breakfast Skillet

Witches Brew aka Broccoli Potato Soup

Sometimes I happen by a recipe that brings out the little girl in me. Little Gwen would have loved a thick green soup concocted in a pot with a handle. She would have also loved mashed purple sweet potatoes and homemade butterfingers.

Halloween is definitely the holiday that brings out little Gwen the most. It was a relief to see her this week, as things have been, well, less than cheerful around here. I was totally not into Halloween this year. Thank God I'm a teacher because, once again, the children have saved me. Little Gwen just could not resist dressing up for school, in a chef costume.

Dustin liked the hat, too. Yes, I made it.

The festive atmosphere at school spiraled. When I got home we decorated the house, carved a pumpkin and whipped up some witches brew. Sadly, we did not have any trick-or-treaters, but we had fun getting in the spooky spirit.

Halloween is over but that doesn't mean your little self can't enjoy some roasted pumpkin seeds, a scary movie on a stormy night, peanut butter hot chocolate, or all of the above.

Here's to our inner children. Let 'em out.



Witches Brew (Broccoli Potato Soup) 
inspired by Food and Wine
serves at least 6

2 TBL butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 lb broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces
4 boiling potatoes, peeled and cubed
6 cups water
salt & pepper
parmesan cheese

In a large soup pot, over medium heat, saute the onion until translucent. Add some salt and pepper.

Add the garlic, broccoli, potatoes, water and lots more salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then bring down to a simmer for about 10-12 minutes or until your veggies are soft enough to squish with a fork.

You can throw it in a blender at this point for a smooth soup, but we opted to just smash the veggies until it was the consistency we wanted.

Add some parmesan, a good handful should do in, and stir, tasting to see if you need more seasoning.

Serve with more parmesan. So easy. Enjoy!

Blog Action Day: Let's Talk About Food

At the beginning of this year, January 1st in fact, I went meatless. This was not due to wanting to save animal lives, or lose weight (in fact I think all the cheese has added to the old waistline). Really, I wanted to do more to preserve the environment. Composting just wasn't cutting it for me anymore.

The truth is, I'm an Oregon girl at heart. And Oregon people are full-on tree hugging, trail hiking, scat identifying, one with the Earth types. Full-on. And so it just became too difficult to justify my frozen chicken breast consuming ways.

Not only that, but after reading Julia Child's My Life in France and all of her wonderful descriptions of chickeny-chickens I realized that I'd never in my life had fresh chicken, and that wasn't going to change anytime soon due to what's available in my local grocery stores. Julia's fervent appreciation of food got me to pay more attention to what I was stuffing in my own mouth. And the reality is, flash-frozen chicken breast tastes like crap. So does the vast majority of grocery store meat. I don't like to eat food that tastes like crap. So I don't.

That is not to say I will not eat meat ever or that I'm above cheating. You can call me a meat cheat if you want as my will-power is sometimes too weak to resist a SPAM musubi. If I can get my hands on some locally caught fish, the best is from the guy who sells it on the road-side, I'm totally game.

See what I'm getting at here? I'm just trying to do my part for the environment.

Not convinced or not ready to give up meat? There are so many other ways you can do your part:

-Write your own post about food.
-Get inspired. Get informed.
-Boycott high fructose corn syrup.
-Plant something. Anything.
-Compost your food scraps.
-Feed a kid in need. 
-Buy and eat local.
-Try not to waste food.


This rant is done! Thanks for reading.

Positive Self-Talk Potato Salad

"I is kind. I is smart. I is important."

I made a kid write this today over and over for kicking another kid in the nads. True story. Oh but I substituted "am," because as a teacher I feel grammatically responsible. This quote is from "The Help," which I saw last night with some book club gals. A heart warming flick with deep roots. Should have read the book, which is actually staring at me right now from the coffee table, but I have a hard time reading a book when I already know what happens.

So let's eat some potato salad instead.

I am kind...

to my husband, for making him a potato salad. 

I am smart...

for adapting my recipe from Paula Deen's.

He didn't want "crunchy stuff," so I omitted the bell pepper and onion and added hard boiled eggs.

I am important...

enough to eat all the asparagus and not share it with anyone. 

Positive Self-Talk Potato Salad

serves 8-10

12 cups cubed red potatoes

5 hard boiled eggs, chopped

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

2 TBL dijon mustard

2 TBL mayo

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp (at least) fresh ground black pepper

Boil the potatoes in a large pot, covered, for 10 minutes or so, until fork tender. Drain and allow to cool. Boil eggs for about 17 minutes. Cool, peel, chop. Meanwhile, whisk oil, vinegar, mustard, mayo, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Once potatoes have cooled, transfer them and the eggs to a large bowl. Pour dressing over all and mix. Allow the flavors to meld before serving, at least an hour, mine sat overnight. Perfect for a beach bbq. Enjoy! 

Philosophy of Sick

I've been sick the last couple of days. Some sort of flu bug began attacking my joints, then my head, then eyeballs, and then next thing you know even my clothes started to hurt. The worst is over now, which I'd like to attribute to my current Philosophy of Sick.

Sbritt

1. Medicine of any kind is not allowed unless absolutely necessary. For example, I popped some extra strength Tylenol before going to work on Wednesday (don't worry there were no children to endanger, just a teacher work day) so I could get through the day. The reason for this is if you have a) the flu, you gotta give your body a chance to burn it out of you, after all that's what a fever is doing* or b) a cold, taking cold medicines only suppress the symptoms, sometimes making them worse and pretty much always making your cold last longer than necessary. And yes, being sick without medicine is miserable, but worth it if it means I can get better faster.

2. Drink lots of clear pop. And fluids, especially tea with honey and lemon if you have a cold or sore throat type of illness. In case you were wondering, I've recently re-adopted the word "pop" in place of soda because I always said pop growing up and you now how I like to keep it real. Sugar is probably a bad choice, but my mom always gave us clear pop when sick, so I just gotta have it.

3. The Neti pot. Please, please try this if you have any sort of cold. It is a wonderful, natural way to clear your sinuses and nasal passages and really works. The best part is it prevents the whole green snot condition.

cindyletz

4. Rest. This one took me too long to learn and succumb to. But the reality is, you ain't gettin' better if you don't sit your butt down and take it easy for a bit.

*Since I'm not a doctor, please do your own research or consult your doctor before taking any of my advice, these are all just my opinions.

What am I missing here? What are your magical tricks for getting well?

Back to School!

Leslie Peterson

Today was my first day back to school as a teacher. Our first day with students is on Monday, so I'm gearing up.

I'm thinking of doing an "All About Me" poster with the kids. We'll take pictures of them and have them write or draw about things they like and hang them up. Art activities seem to be a good place to start with kids.

We'll also be making a "Good Choices" board (thanks to my mentor teacher for the idea!) after a discussion about making good and bad choices. I'm hoping this will be a way to facilitate a discussion about my expectations without lecturing. You know like, "giving a hi-five is a good choice, punching is a bad choice." Ha. Special education is always (thank goodness) an adventure.

Here are some other great first day activity ideas: Kid Activities

I'm looking for some good learning type music to play for the kids. Ideas?

And because every teacher, parent, and student needs a good laugh: Happy Place

OMG

Black Out Dance Team

A major perk of teaching middle school is that I get to teach an elective course the school calls a "wheel class" every Wednesday afternoon. The teacher gets to pick any topic they want and the students choose the class they want to take. Last quarter my topic was Dance Team. We had a group of 14 girls who learned a dance I choreographed with a student helper and my sister. On the last day of school the girls performed it at the talent show assembly. They danced to "OMG" by Usher.

Despite the sometimes weary middle school melodrama of teaching 14 girls how to dance, this class is what often got me through the work week. I feel so lucky to have gotten to know so many amazing young women, not to mention it was just downright fun seeing them get so excited about performing all. And as you may remember from last year, I do love a good talent show!

I had so much fun with dance team this year, I can't help but dream about what we will dance to next year! Any suggestions? 

Lesson Plan: StoryCorps Interviews

Every Wednesday our 8th graders have what's called "Self-Directed Learner" Day where the kids rotate in one hour blocks and do supplementary activities that are related to what they are working on in their core classes. I taught my first series of these last month.

flapperdoodle

Since the kids are gearing up for a giant research project due in April, I wanted to do something related to that. One component of the project requires them to interview a mentor or someone in the community who is an expert in the field they have chosen for their topic. I thought of the "StoryCorps" interviews broadcasted every Friday on NPR and did some research to find out if this could be developed into a lesson plan. If you haven't heard these interviews before, visit NPR's website or the StoryCorps site, where you can listen to truly great interviews of ordinary and extraordinary Americans.

Sure enough, right on the StoryCorps website, there are free, downloadable lesson plans. They even come complete with suggestions of which interviews to play and an awesome "Great Questions" list to help the interviews along.

I ended up have the kids listen to 3 or 4 interviews (about 3 minutes each) then had a brief discussion about oral traditions, the purpose of the interviews, and what makes a good interview. Then they broke off into pairs and came up with a minimum of 10 interview questions to ask their partner. I borrowed some Ipod Nanos from our computer lab so the kids could record their interviews. The next week, when we reconvened, the kids got a chance to listen to some of their friend's interviews, which they loved, and finished up recording their own.

All in all, it was a fun experience, however there were definitely some problem areas. Some of the kids did not want to interview or had a bad attitude about their interview partner, some kids finished really quickly and didn't have anything to do, which created the dreaded "dead time." Next time, I would have them do a worksheet or something else, while half the class did their interviews, then switch.

The best part of doing this lesson was listening to the interviews they did of each other. The class was immediately engaged when I played the recordings of their peers, no matter who the recording was by, which led me to believe they were developing some appreciation for the diversity of their classmates. 

Inclusion

There is quite a controversy (at least in Hawaii) over whether or not children with severe disabilities should be included in the regular education setting. Since I am a one on one for a child with a severe disability in a public school, I'm confronted with this controversy everyday.

The child I work with is in fifth grade and has autism. He has always been in a fully self-contained (FSC) classroom, which means that aside from recess and lunch, he basically spends the entire day in the Special Education classroom, with only severely disabled peers, working one on one (not in groups) with an adult. This year we (the SpEd teacher and I) decided he was going to spend at least part of his day "included" with his regular education class. The reason I'm advocating inclusion for this particular child is because I've noticed he is happier, displays fewer problem behaviors, and communicates more when surrounded by and engaged with his neuro-typical peers. Not to mention this is the only way to attempt to improve his social skills.

So far, it's been great. He makes transitions easily (a shock) and has been much more flexible with changes. Granted, we are only in the second week of school, but these are outcomes I certainly didn't expect.

Where it gets controversial is with the other teachers. They seem uncomfortable, scared, unsure with his presence. They place him in the back of the room and rarely talk to him. A few have voiced concerns with the Special Education teacher, claiming it is a detriment to the other children to have him in class. Today the school counselor saw us in math, he came up to us and asked why we were there. I tried to explain that it's good for him to be around his peers more, that being in this setting fosters independence, well it didn't matter. After class, he went straight to the SpEd teacher, telling her that independence was one thing, but this was crossing the line.

I haven't quite been able to wrap my head around why this is crossing the line. It's not hurting anyone, in fact it is probably a really good thing for the other kids to have contact with their severely disabled peers. Once again I'm completely humbled, these are the attitudes these children have to deal with daily. They really are Special people, much stronger than me.

On a lighter note the trout turned out pretty good. Popped the whole fish, stuffed with thyme and sliced lemon, in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes. Should have done 35 minutes, it was a little over cooked.