Read Your Recipe!
I wanted a great pasta salad that was more than just the standard mayo or Italian dressing version. I do love pesto! I came across an America’s Test Kitchen recipe that discussed pesto pasta salad. It said that often the salad turns a yucky color (which we know pesto will do if kept much longer than a half hour, even in the fridge) and also that the oil often separates out and it gets greasy.
Fish Tacos used to be just a California (and Mexico, obviously) thing but clearly they are becoming more mainstream as the faces that greeted me in first period were suprisingly placid.
Switch from Mexican to all-American. Can you beat chicken noodle soup? I don’t really think you can. Now, you might be thinking, 40 minutes? I can heat up Progresso chicken noodle in 2 minutes. Yes, you’re correct. Why make it yourself? You can use the exact ingredients you want, there is almost ALWAYS less sodium, and there is definitely a soul-soothing component that cannot be overlooked. Soup is comfort food and a big pot of soup on the stove on a Sunday afternoon makes everyone happy.
So glad Bari came back so I could snap this… the bell rang simultaneously with the timers so our title had a chance to live up to it’s name.
Today we’re doing notes on calcium and dairy intake, but I snapped a few photos last night of the salad my husband and I have been devouring lately.
Continuing with the dairy unit. Last week we got down with the Italian trinity (parm, mozz, ricotta) and today we met some Mexican/southwestern cheeses.
Bulgar sounds like booger but it definitely doesn’t taste like booger. Ew. No it’s SO GOOD! This is actually my favorite recipe from “buffet of grains” day. I heartbeat bulgar wheat.
This recipe was kind of an end of the unit “freebie” recipe because I gave them a pop quiz but I also wanted to teach a few important lessons.
Do you know how microwaves cook food?
The magnetron converts electricity to electromagnetic energy. The stirrer disperses the microwaves which are then attracted to the fat, water, and sugar molecules in food. The waves penetrate the food about 1 inch, causing the molecules to vibrate a billion times a second. The vibrating molecules create friction, which causes heat! The rest of the food cooks by heat induction.
You are now almost as smart as my high school students, who today are taking their microwave test!
Since we didn’t cook this morning, I thought I would throw up some pics I took this weekend. Sunday night my friend Kristen hosted a “make your own calzone” night. There were six of us plus two little boys. I brought the dough, Kristen made the fillings. It was FAB and delish.
Today is less of a recipe, more of an idea. You can create a totally delicious, satisfying, comforting, and complete meal entirely in the microwave! This would make a great dinner or lunch.
OK, so the whole taco is not microwaved. I kind of cheated here. The CHICKEN is cooked in the microwave, but that’s it. YES, you can cook chicken in the microwave (any meat, really). If you aren’t concerned with your chicken being crisp or brown, microwave. It goes from raw to cooked in under 5 minutes. It is tender and moist. Good for chicken salad, shredding chicken (in sauce), or any other time you will be tossing it with other ingredients for flavor. I ALWAYS microwave chicken when I make myself a quick quesadilla on weeknights.
This is my FAVE pizza dough out there. I searched long and hard to find this, and now that I’ve found it, I will share it with you! It is a chewy, crunchy, delicious tasting crust. I’ve made pizzas, calzones, and stromboli with it and it’s not failed me yet!
