Spring Session 2011- Week Seven

Let's Make Pasta Salad!

Now pretty much everytime I see or hear the word salad that Wiggles tune goes off in my head...fruit salad yummy yummy. Is it possible to delete that tune from my brain somehow by using the delete key. Oh one can dream. It is too bad though since I do enjoy a good salad be it fruit, green, or pasta. Trying to get my kids to eat veggies isn't horrible, they do okay, but as I say it can improve. So, since so many kids seem to LOVE pasta, we thought we might try to sneak some veggies in by making a pasta salad with them this week. So we brought along many different veggies to add to their pasta salad, and we gave them the choice of two different dressings. We made both dressings in class. First, we made the pesto dressing and we had all of the kids help make it by adding all of the different ingredients. Our pesto dressing included basil, spinach, parsley, olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon, and garlic. I brought along my food processor to mix all of the yummy ingredients up. We didn't add any nuts or cheese to the dressing because we wanted to be more like a dressing rather than a sauce. Plus, they had the choice to add some Parmesan to their pasta salad during the mix up if they wanted too. The second dressing we made was the balsamic vinaigrette dressing. We used olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic, lemon, and some mustard. I hand whisked this dressing all together. After we made both dressings we let the kids taste test most of the veggies with each dressing. We had a whole buffet of veggies in the offering. Cauliflower, Cheddar Cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, carrots, purple onion, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, tomatoes, celery, and olives. Most kids did a great job creating a nice pasta salad with a decent amount of veggies in it.

We also had the kids draw their own placemat pal. We sewed up a bunch of placemats with a small pocket on them that the kids could then draw their own pal on using fabric markers. They can use the pocket to put their utensils and napkin in when they set the table (wink, wink).

Winter Session 2011 Week Ten

Sushi Spectacular- Kids Make Sushi

This week is all about sushi. We discussed what the different types of sushi are, and how it is prepared. The kids were able to roll their own maki rolls. We offered 4 different types of fillings, carrots, cucumber, avocado, and crab stick. For those kids that might not be so into using the sushi nori for the wrapper we also offered a soy wrapper. The soy wrappers are a fairly new product, and they don't add much flavor to the roll. So for those that are not a fan of the seaweed flavor from the nori this is a great alternative. Though we have found that they are a bit more difficult to stick together. We also had the kids make inari, which is fermented tofu that is essentially marinated in soy sauce, sugar, and a couple other things. You then open up the pouch and fill it with rice, and fold it closed. My daughter calls them pillows which they look very much like them. We offered the kids some Korean style roasted seaweed that for most people is much easier to eat I think because of the sesame oil and salt which makes them delicious. When we sat down to eat our sushi spectacular we had green tea, miso soup, and then dug into our sushi. The children were given chopsticks if they were adventurous, and if they were extremely adventurous they could try wasabi which is a hot japanese horseradish. Afte the meal they got to try some homemade sweet mochi, and a store bought fruit stuffed mochi. It was a super fun way to end the winter semester.

Halloween Spectacular

Every year Halloween comes around faster and faster it seems, but loaded with fun and yummy treats everytime. This week the kids got to put some of their cooking skills to use. On the docket are Mummy pizzas and Frankenstein marshmellows. We can't forget to throw in the some fun games, and then call it a day. First up are the Mummy pizzas. We saw this ideas when doing research for Halloween ideas, but I remember making these little pizzas as a birthday activity when I was little. There is definitely a lot you could do with this one, and it is easy for the kids to partake in, and many different age levels can do it and have fun doing it! All you need are a package of the biscuits in a tube, pizzas sauce, mozzarella cheese and whatever toppings you or the kids like. For our project we only needed an addition of sliced olives. You take one biscuit and with your fingers press out the dough until it is the shape and size you like. Then just put 1-2 tsp. of pizza sauce on top of the dough. I sliced up the mozzarella cheese into thin slices and laid them out criss-cross leaving some space across the top of the pressed out biscuit, and then added two sliced olives for the eyes of the mummy. You bake them by the instructions on the biscuit tube. We did 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, but the packages differ. They turned out like little mummy heads. We gave them the option of saving their pizza or eating it for their snack during class most kids couldn't refuse. They are super easy and pretty tasty kid treats. It's a great idea for at home parties because kids can make a few and it can be pretty cost effective.

We also made chocolate covered marshmallows to look like Frankensteins. All you need are green colored melts. Michaels usually carries a nice lime green color during Halloween, and they are made by Wilton. You could also color your own white chocolate melts to whatever color you would like. Wilton carries so many colors it is just easier unless you are trying to achieve a specific color. So back to the plan, green melts, chocolate (dark or bittersweet) chips, lollipop sticks, large marshmallows, and black frosting. Just melt both chocolates in bowls over simmering water. You could also melt them in the microwave in glass bowls or coffee mugs. First you dip or spread the green melted chocolate over the marshmallow and then let dry. You could place it on wax paper and put in refrigerator for a few minutes and it will harden very quickly. After the green chocolate is hard then dip just the top into the chocolate. You might need to use a knife or small spatula to smooth out the top, and let harden. Once the chocolate is hard take some black frosting (I bought mine, but you could make or color your own), and place a small tip on the end of the applicator. Squeeze out small dots for the eyes and side neck bolts on the marshmallows and draw a mouth on and your Frankenstein is ready to eat! The kids did a great job doing this. Since we didn't have a fridge in the classroom we took a cookie sheet and placed ice packs under it and then placed the cooling/hardening marshmallow treats on top to speed up the hardening process.

We also played a Monster Walk game with the kids and Hangman using only Halloween words. We had some prizes for all of the kids. It was a fun class.