Cooking Chili in Our Special Ed Class

No, no, no 3 Alarm Chili! Let's stick with templado.

Supremely versatile cooking tool.

 It is high school football season here in SoCal, and our Special Day Class is going to cook some chili--not the fancy,  competitive kind found in Chili Cook Offs--no, just pretty straight forward chili. At least until we get our STEM garden going and we have our own veggies and herbs.


Although we are considered a Life Skills class(Moderately/Severely Handicapped for Grade 9 and 10), we don't have access to a kitchen. So we will use a slow cooker and rice maker.

Woo-hoo, we're getting a new ricemaker!

I put rice on the lesson plan because my experience living at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, gave us a marvelous chili experience (with Zippy's Chili being a fast food franchise and the chili was always over rice.)

We will check the weight measurement of beans and tomatoes. We will measure the rice and liquid. We will discuss temperature and time.

We will discuss courtesy and custom while eating.


Then we will plan the space for laying out and eating in our classroom. Checking number of diners, and what each will need to eat. Time, again will be a consideration--actually, we will discuss these topics integrated throughout our academics for a few days prior to the event.

How to handle food while cooking, serving and eating? Wash hands. Don't forget the cleanup. Hygiene and sanitation.



We will follow the recipe on the seasoning packet, except for the little red onions from my own backyard herb/veggie garden. The students are starting their own Recipe Books, and will are also going to copy this recipe. I am hoping they will report back on chili discussions at home!

Will report back on our cooking project!

I am developing complete lesson plans for PDF on this series of activities for Cooking Chili in a Special Ed Class, and will make these available on my website. Will let you know when they are available!

My sweet little red onions from the Melanie Link Taylor Teaching Garden--including evidence of seeds--to be included in our classroom chili.

Nature, My Garden and Me: Plant Bulbs Now For Joyful Color in Winter!

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MzTeachuh's Enjoying Cooking and Gardening: Snacking During The Game

MzTeachuh's Enjoying Cooking and Gardening: Snacking During The Game: No, I wasn't actually at the game. In the background, that's my large picture of the most beautiful baseball field ever, home of...

Snacking During The Game

No, I wasn't actually at the game. In the background, that's my large picture of the most beautiful baseball field ever, home of the San Francisco Giants. The Giants played the Dodgers in LA, and it was televised. I don't mind the Dodgers, which is highly unusual for a Giants' fan, because their announcer, Vin Scully, is remarkable in accuracy and positivity.

Here are the rare treats we had.

Grilled Beef Panini

Prior to cheese.

My humble grill.

Using the George Foreman Grill, I placed
1. sliced sourdough bread slathered with jalapeno ranch dressing, top and bottom
2. sliced tomatoes
3. barbequed thin-slice beef (chuck steak) dappled with mustard
4. grated mild cheddar cheese
The thinly sliced chuck steak was grilled and saved from the day before.

 Quacamole Dip

Avacadoes--smooth texture.

Pringles Potato Chips because they are so uniform and perfect. (See photo at top.) And avocado is so creamy good and nutricious.

Mash together:

2 ripe avacadoes
2 tbs sour cream
Quacamole dip mix (until I create my own)

We also had gourmet Hank's Root Beer purchased at a locally run shop, Overland Meat and Deli here in Apple Valley, CAL. Buy local.

Happy to shop local here.

MzTeachuh's Soup Ebook is Out!

http://www.amazon.com/MzTeachuhs-Soup-Seasons-Family-ebook/dp/B00EUF51UK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377731110&sr=1-1&keywords=mzteachuh%27s+soup+for+all+seasons

Hope you all buy and enjoy this! It's only 99 cents! Such a deal.

Flower of the Week: Cosmos

This summer I purchased packets of wildflower seeds--and cosmos was included. I have also purchased cosmos in  flats, and even gallon containers with larger plants. Here are the basic three colors, white, pink, red. and occasionally, some combinations of colors.

This blossom was a surprise one beautiful summer's morning. But it is unusual, cosmos generally has a solid color, even if a blend of red and white creating some tint of pink or purple. This white blossom looks like a child got creative with a Crayola marker.

Bees love these flowers, butterflies, too. Cosmos is often included in seed packets for Butterfly Gardens. They have long delicate stems and the flowers poke out their faces like a curious kid. They are easy to grow.


This flower is indigenous to Mexico, also called the Mexican aster.

Here is a post I put up using the name Cosmos as a play on words linking to a William Blake poem.


The Cosmos in a Cosmos
http://mzteachuh.blogspot.com/2012/06/cosmos-in-cosmos.html?spref=bl

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