Okay, here's the deal :-)

I'm trying to seriously revamp the cooking portion of my math, reading,
and fine-motor development curriculum. I usually have about 24
students, ages 5 and 6. When we cook, it's in small groups (usually 6
or so students, depending on what else is going on and how much adult
help I can get). I don't have ready access to either a stove or an
oven (we're an old building and our one stove was recently placed "off
limits" by the fire marshall). Losing the oven -- as old and
inaccurate and spotty as it was -- is going to mean that I have to get
rid of quite a few cooking projects that I've done in the past few
years.

In addition to the benefits to the reading and math programs, cooking
has also been an important part of my science, art, and health
curriculums. Alaska children rank pretty low, nation-wide, for their
overall nutrition and exercise levels, and my students are no
exception. A big part of what I do is to expose them to food
alternatives. Our cooking projects are usually the class snack for
that day, and ideally I try to do one majorish cooking project each
week.

So here's what I'm looking for -- recipes that are at least
semi-healthy (no more no-bake cookies <g>) and that can be prepared by
young children with adult help and that don't require either a stove or
an oven and which aren't too expensive to make for 24 children (the
cost is a *big* factor, because we're not allowed to use budget money
for any food products. Either it gets donated by parents - which
happens occasionally - or I buy it all myself.

In my classroom I have:

- bread maker (we make bread about once a month already)
- microwave
- hand mixer
- dehydrater
- blender (I don't have one yet, but I'll either purchase one myself
for my room, or bring mine in when we need it)
- toaster oven (Again, I don't have one yet, but it's going into my
newsletter as a "wish list" item. Hopefully someone will have one
they're ready to get rid of)
- hot plate
- minifridge and I have access to a full-sized fridge and freezer.
- crockpot

Typically we make things like stop-light jello when we're learning
about safety signs, alphabet pretzles (back when we had an oven <g>),
crockpot applesauce, loaves of bread, cut-fruit animals (this is an
expensive one -- fresh fruit in Alaska isn't cheap -- but the kids love
it and their creativity shines and they all eat the fruit once they've
turned it into a sea monster), fruit-bat snacks (generally fruit
kabobs, ditto the expense note) when we do our Stellaluna unit,
butter-in-a-jar around Thanksgiving (that's a great one for a
high-energy day <g>), energy bars, bear biscuits and honey to go with
Goldilocks (again though, the oven issue now) -- we typically do about
30 different cooking projects over the course of the year, and frankly
*I'm* getting bored with some of them.

I want things that involve preparation that students can do --
measuring, easy cutting (butter-knife stuff), recipe reading (with
heavy picture clues -- I do those myself when I make the student
materials for the project), mixing, timing, and assembly that can be
done by children. So many of the no-bake recipes I have and that I've
found are either desserts/cookies/pies or things that need the stove
(and that doesn't work well with a hot plate -- it's just not quite the
same. Also, I'm not thrilled with having my students use the hot
plate. If I were working with one or two students at a time it would
be different, but with a full class in the room I want to be the only
one working with the hotplate -- 90% of the time it would be no
problem, but if there were a burn-accident with the hotplate, well,
it's not an issue for which I want to be responsible).

Now, if I were being difficult already, I'm also trying to pull away
from peanut butter based recipes. I haven't had a peanut allergy in my
room for several years, but peanut butter is expensive and it's good to
have a solid file of non-nut recipes for when a student with a peanut
allergy is there.

So I'm drawing on the expertise here. Anybody have tried-and-true
favorites that fit the above criteria? I've done a lot of Googling,
but again so much of what I'm finding is dessert oriented.

Thanks, folks!

Alexis

PS -- here's a favorite I thought I'd share. I do a big art unit on
color and color mixing. To introduce the unit, on the first day we use
food coloring to make trays of ice cubes -- two trays each of red and
blue (there's a little science involved there -- changes of state,
water + cold = ice. It seems simplistic, but you'd be surprised at how
many of these littles don't really know where ice comes from -- even
here in the Great Frozen North). Then on the morning of day 2 I have
each table make a small pitcher of lemonade (reading the picture
recipe, measuring the mix [fresh lemons are *way* expensive here --
usually around $1.00 each] and water and rolling and squeezing a lemon
for each pitcher. In the afternoon, at snack time, each kiddo gets to
choose an ice cube color -- red or blue -- and we make predictions of
what will happen when they add it to their yellow lemonade. A *lot*
(most) of these kiddos have no idea about primary color mixing, so they
have no idea what the color change is going to be like. Then, all at
the same time, they put their ice into their lemonade. The ooohs and
ahhs are excellent -- and not one of them forgot what happens when you
mix yellow and blue or yellow and red. We put the leftover ice cubes
in a glass and set it to melt (there's that science again <g>). I left
the glass by the outside door, and they forgot about it until right
before we left for the day and one of them "discovered" that the melted
ice cubes made purple water.

If anyone is interested, I'll share the results of the flavor vs. color
science fair project my class did. I was thrilled with their premise
and truly surprised by the outcome.

Alexis wrote:
> Okay, here's the deal :-)

The deal is you should have been a politician, you're way, WAY TOO
VERBOSE to be a decent educator... your students must fall asleep half
way through class. Anyone needing more than 100 words has nothing to
say but BS. I bet you're 'talian. Sheesh, but you're boring.

<Alexis' Soggy Saga>

> I'm trying to seriously revamp the cooking portion of my math, reading,
> and fine-motor development curriculum. I usually have about 24
> students, ages 5 and 6. When we cook, it's in small groups (usually 6
> or so students, depending on what else is going on and how much adult
> help I can get). I don't have ready access to either a stove or an
> oven (we're an old building and our one stove was recently placed "off
> limits" by the fire marshall). Losing the oven -- as old and
> inaccurate and spotty as it was -- is going to mean that I have to get
> rid of quite a few cooking projects that I've done in the past few
> years.
>
> In addition to the benefits to the reading and math programs, cooking
> has also been an important part of my science, art, and health
> curriculums. Alaska children rank pretty low, nation-wide, for their
> overall nutrition and exercise levels, and my students are no
> exception. A big part of what I do is to expose them to food
> alternatives. Our cooking projects are usually the class snack for
> that day, and ideally I try to do one majorish cooking project each
> week.
>
> So here's what I'm looking for -- recipes that are at least
> semi-healthy (no more no-bake cookies <g>) and that can be prepared by
> young children with adult help and that don't require either a stove or
> an oven and which aren't too expensive to make for 24 children (the
> cost is a *big* factor, because we're not allowed to use budget money
> for any food products. Either it gets donated by parents - which
> happens occasionally - or I buy it all myself.
>
> In my classroom I have:
>
> - bread maker (we make bread about once a month already)
> - microwave
> - hand mixer
> - dehydrater
> - blender (I don't have one yet, but I'll either purchase one myself
> for my room, or bring mine in when we need it)
> - toaster oven (Again, I don't have one yet, but it's going into my
> newsletter as a "wish list" item. Hopefully someone will have one
> they're ready to get rid of)
> - hot plate
> - minifridge and I have access to a full-sized fridge and freezer.
> - crockpot
>
> Typically we make things like stop-light jello when we're learning
> about safety signs, alphabet pretzles (back when we had an oven <g>),
> crockpot applesauce, loaves of bread, cut-fruit animals (this is an
> expensive one -- fresh fruit in Alaska isn't cheap -- but the kids love
> it and their creativity shines and they all eat the fruit once they've
> turned it into a sea monster), fruit-bat snacks (generally fruit
> kabobs, ditto the expense note) when we do our Stellaluna unit,
> butter-in-a-jar around Thanksgiving (that's a great one for a
> high-energy day <g>), energy bars, bear biscuits and honey to go with
> Goldilocks (again though, the oven issue now) -- we typically do about
> 30 different cooking projects over the course of the year, and frankly
> *I'm* getting bored with some of them.
>
> I want things that involve preparation that students can do --
> measuring, easy cutting (butter-knife stuff), recipe reading (with
> heavy picture clues -- I do those myself when I make the student
> materials for the project), mixing, timing, and assembly that can be
> done by children. So many of the no-bake recipes I have and that I've
> found are either desserts/cookies/pies or things that need the stove
> (and that doesn't work well with a hot plate -- it's just not quite the
> same. Also, I'm not thrilled with having my students use the hot
> plate. If I were working with one or two students at a time it would
> be different, but with a full class in the room I want to be the only
> one working with the hotplate -- 90% of the time it would be no
> problem, but if there were a burn-accident with the hotplate, well,
> it's not an issue for which I want to be responsible).
>
> Now, if I were being difficult already, I'm also trying to pull away
> from peanut butter based recipes. I haven't had a peanut allergy in my
> room for several years, but peanut butter is expensive and it's good to
> have a solid file of non-nut recipes for when a student with a peanut
> allergy is there.
>
> So I'm drawing on the expertise here. Anybody have tried-and-true
> favorites that fit the above criteria? I've done a lot of Googling,
> but again so much of what I'm finding is dessert oriented.
>
> Thanks, folks!
>
> Alexis
>
> PS -- here's a favorite I thought I'd share. I do a big art unit on
> color and color mixing. To introduce the unit, on the first day we use
> food coloring to make trays of ice cubes -- two trays each of red and
> blue (there's a little science involved there -- changes of state,
> water + cold = ice. It seems simplistic, but you'd be surprised at how
> many of these littles don't really know where ice comes from -- even
> here in the Great Frozen North). Then on the morning of day 2 I have
> each table make a small pitcher of lemonade (reading the picture
> recipe, measuring the mix [fresh lemons are *way* expensive here --
> usually around $1.00 each] and water and rolling and squeezing a lemon
> for each pitcher. In the afternoon, at snack time, each kiddo gets to
> choose an ice cube color -- red or blue -- and we make predictions of
> what will happen when they add it to their yellow lemonade. A *lot*
> (most) of these kiddos have no idea about primary color mixing, so they
> have no idea what the color change is going to be like. Then, all at
> the same time, they put their ice into their lemonade. The ooohs and
> ahhs are excellent -- and not one of them forgot what happens when you
> mix yellow and blue or yellow and red. We put the leftover ice cubes
> in a glass and set it to melt (there's that science again <g>). I left
> the glass by the outside door, and they forgot about it until right
> before we left for the day and one of them "discovered" that the melted
> ice cubes made purple water.
>
> If anyone is interested, I'll share the results of the flavor vs. color
> science fair project my class did. I was thrilled with their premise
> and truly surprised by the outcome.

Sheldon wrote:...

> Alexis wrote:
> > Okay, here's the deal :-)
>
> The deal is you should have been a politician, you're way, WAY TOO
> VERBOSE to be a decent educator... your students must fall asleep half
> way through class. Anyone needing more than 100 words has nothing to
> say but BS. I bet you're 'talian. Sheesh, but you're boring.
>
> <Alexis' Soggy Saga>


Lol...if they paid this broad by the word she'd be a millionaire...

And for a "snack" project I recommend that she and the kiddies make
Spaghetti Putanesca...with a *full* explanation of it's culinary
"background" ;--p

--
Best
Greg

Alexis wrote:

> Okay, here's the deal :-)
>
> I'm trying to seriously revamp the cooking portion of my math, reading,
> and fine-motor development curriculum. I usually have about 24
> students, ages 5 and 6. When we cook, it's in small groups (usually 6
> or so students, depending on what else is going on and how much adult
> help I can get). I don't have ready access to either a stove or an
> oven (we're an old building and our one stove was recently placed "off
> limits" by the fire marshall). Losing the oven -- as old and
> inaccurate and spotty as it was -- is going to mean that I have to get
> rid of quite a few cooking projects that I've done in the past few
> years.
>
> In addition to the benefits to the reading and math programs, cooking
> has also been an important part of my science, art, and health
> curriculums. Alaska children rank pretty low, nation-wide, for their
> overall nutrition and exercise levels, and my students are no
> exception. A big part of what I do is to expose them to food
> alternatives. Our cooking projects are usually the class snack for
> that day, and ideally I try to do one majorish cooking project each
> week.
>
> So here's what I'm looking for -- recipes that are at least
> semi-healthy (no more no-bake cookies <g>) and that can be prepared by
> young children with adult help and that don't require either a stove or
> an oven and which aren't too expensive to make for 24 children (the
> cost is a *big* factor, because we're not allowed to use budget money
> for any food products. Either it gets donated by parents - which
> happens occasionally - or I buy it all myself.
>
> In my classroom I have:
>
> - bread maker (we make bread about once a month already)
> - microwave
> - hand mixer
> - dehydrater
> - blender (I don't have one yet, but I'll either purchase one myself
> for my room, or bring mine in when we need it)
> - toaster oven (Again, I don't have one yet, but it's going into my
> newsletter as a "wish list" item. Hopefully someone will have one
> they're ready to get rid of)
> - hot plate
> - minifridge and I have access to a full-sized fridge and freezer.
> - crockpot
>
> Typically we make things like stop-light jello when we're learning
> about safety signs, alphabet pretzles (back when we had an oven <g>),
> crockpot applesauce, loaves of bread, cut-fruit animals (this is an
> expensive one -- fresh fruit in Alaska isn't cheap -- but the kids love
> it and their creativity shines and they all eat the fruit once they've
> turned it into a sea monster), fruit-bat snacks (generally fruit
> kabobs, ditto the expense note) when we do our Stellaluna unit,
> butter-in-a-jar around Thanksgiving (that's a great one for a
> high-energy day <g>), energy bars, bear biscuits and honey to go with
> Goldilocks (again though, the oven issue now) -- we typically do about
> 30 different cooking projects over the course of the year, and frankly
> *I'm* getting bored with some of them.
>
> I want things that involve preparation that students can do --
> measuring, easy cutting (butter-knife stuff), recipe reading (with
> heavy picture clues -- I do those myself when I make the student
> materials for the project), mixing, timing, and assembly that can be
> done by children. So many of the no-bake recipes I have and that I've
> found are either desserts/cookies/pies or things that need the stove
> (and that doesn't work well with a hot plate -- it's just not quite the
> same. Also, I'm not thrilled with having my students use the hot
> plate. If I were working with one or two students at a time it would
> be different, but with a full class in the room I want to be the only
> one working with the hotplate -- 90% of the time it would be no
> problem, but if there were a burn-accident with the hotplate, well,
> it's not an issue for which I want to be responsible).
>
> Now, if I were being difficult already, I'm also trying to pull away
> from peanut butter based recipes. I haven't had a peanut allergy in my
> room for several years, but peanut butter is expensive and it's good to
> have a solid file of non-nut recipes for when a student with a peanut
> allergy is there.
>
> So I'm drawing on the expertise here. Anybody have tried-and-true
> favorites that fit the above criteria? I've done a lot of Googling,
> but again so much of what I'm finding is dessert oriented.
>
> Thanks, folks!
>
> Alexis
>

How about sprouting seeds? It is healthy, easy, fun, educational and
inexpensive. It is a project that would take two to three days. You can
then use the sprouts in a sandwich or a salad. I am sprouting now
sunflower seeds with my 4-year old daughter and she has a lot of fun
with that.

You could make groups of two or three children and ask them to sprout
each a different type of seeds. I have only experience with sunflower
seeds, but I know there is a number of seeds that can be sprouted in a
couple of days.

To sprout sunflower seeds:


Sunflower sprouts

Category: Salads

1/3 cup hulled sunflower seeds

1. Take hulled sunflower seeds (raw ones, not toasted and salted!)
2. Separate the good ones (unbroken with germ) from the broken ones. My
daughter found out that it is easier to do by arranging them first on
one long row on the table.
3. Soak the good ones in water a couple of hours or overnight. Drain.
4. Rinse and drain (avoid using a colander as it can break the germs).
5. Put in an open container that you place on the side at a small angle
so that the water flows out but the seeds stay in. Let it rest out of
direct sun light.
6. Repeat 4 and 5 two or three times a day.
After one day, the seeds should have sprouted. Eat them before the
roots reach 1/4 inch, as they tend to become bitter when they are long.

----------

Exported from Shop'NCook 3.1 (http://www.shopncook.com)


Mite
http://www.shopncook.com
Shop'NCook - Grocery shopping and recipe organizer

Mite wrote:

> Alexis wrote:
>
> > Okay, here's the deal :-)
> >
> > I'm trying to seriously revamp the cooking portion of my math, reading,
> > and fine-motor development curriculum. I usually have about 24
> > students, ages 5 and 6. When we cook, it's in small groups (usually 6
> > or so students, depending on what else is going on and how much adult
> > help I can get). I don't have ready access to either a stove or an
> > oven (we're an old building and our one stove was recently placed "off
> > limits" by the fire marshall). Losing the oven -- as old and
> > inaccurate and spotty as it was -- is going to mean that I have to get
> > rid of quite a few cooking projects that I've done in the past few
> > years.
> >
> > In addition to the benefits to the reading and math programs, cooking
> > has also been an important part of my science, art, and health
> > curriculums. Alaska children rank pretty low, nation-wide, for their
> > overall nutrition and exercise levels, and my students are no
> > exception. A big part of what I do is to expose them to food
> > alternatives. Our cooking projects are usually the class snack for
> > that day, and ideally I try to do one majorish cooking project each
> > week.
> >
> > So here's what I'm looking for -- recipes that are at least
> > semi-healthy (no more no-bake cookies <g>) and that can be prepared by
> > young children with adult help and that don't require either a stove or
> > an oven and which aren't too expensive to make for 24 children (the
> > cost is a *big* factor, because we're not allowed to use budget money
> > for any food products. Either it gets donated by parents - which
> > happens occasionally - or I buy it all myself.
> >
> > In my classroom I have:
> >
> > - bread maker (we make bread about once a month already)
> > - microwave
> > - hand mixer
> > - dehydrater
> > - blender (I don't have one yet, but I'll either purchase one myself
> > for my room, or bring mine in when we need it)
> > - toaster oven (Again, I don't have one yet, but it's going into my
> > newsletter as a "wish list" item. Hopefully someone will have one
> > they're ready to get rid of)
> > - hot plate
> > - minifridge and I have access to a full-sized fridge and freezer.
> > - crockpot
> >
> > Typically we make things like stop-light jello when we're learning
> > about safety signs, alphabet pretzles (back when we had an oven <g>),
> > crockpot applesauce, loaves of bread, cut-fruit animals (this is an
> > expensive one -- fresh fruit in Alaska isn't cheap -- but the kids love
> > it and their creativity shines and they all eat the fruit once they've
> > turned it into a sea monster), fruit-bat snacks (generally fruit
> > kabobs, ditto the expense note) when we do our Stellaluna unit,
> > butter-in-a-jar around Thanksgiving (that's a great one for a
> > high-energy day <g>), energy bars, bear biscuits and honey to go with
> > Goldilocks (again though, the oven issue now) -- we typically do about
> > 30 different cooking projects over the course of the year, and frankly
> > *I'm* getting bored with some of them.
> >
> > I want things that involve preparation that students can do --
> > measuring, easy cutting (butter-knife stuff), recipe reading (with
> > heavy picture clues -- I do those myself when I make the student
> > materials for the project), mixing, timing, and assembly that can be
> > done by children. So many of the no-bake recipes I have and that I've
> > found are either desserts/cookies/pies or things that need the stove
> > (and that doesn't work well with a hot plate -- it's just not quite the
> > same. Also, I'm not thrilled with having my students use the hot
> > plate. If I were working with one or two students at a time it would
> > be different, but with a full class in the room I want to be the only
> > one working with the hotplate -- 90% of the time it would be no
> > problem, but if there were a burn-accident with the hotplate, well,
> > it's not an issue for which I want to be responsible).
> >
> > Now, if I were being difficult already, I'm also trying to pull away
> > from peanut butter based recipes. I haven't had a peanut allergy in my
> > room for several years, but peanut butter is expensive and it's good to
> > have a solid file of non-nut recipes for when a student with a peanut
> > allergy is there.
> >
> > So I'm drawing on the expertise here. Anybody have tried-and-true
> > favorites that fit the above criteria? I've done a lot of Googling,
> > but again so much of what I'm finding is dessert oriented.
> >
> > Thanks, folks!
> >
> > Alexis
> >
>
> How about sprouting seeds?


How about SPROUTING a BRAIN, moron - that way you just might learn how to
properly
quote in Usenet. That way others won't have to scroll through the SCORES of
lines of excess baggage verbiage such as you chose to quote in your post
above...

--
Best
Greg

Gregory Morrow wrote:

> Mite wrote:
>
> > Alexis wrote:
> >
> > > Okay, here's the deal :-)
> > >
> > > I'm trying to seriously revamp the cooking portion of my math, reading,
> > > and fine-motor development curriculum. I usually have about 24
> > > students, ages 5 and 6. When we cook, it's in small groups (usually 6
> > > or so students, depending on what else is going on and how much adult
> > > help I can get). I don't have ready access to either a stove or an
> > > oven (we're an old building and our one stove was recently placed "off
> > > limits" by the fire marshall). Losing the oven -- as old and
> > > inaccurate and spotty as it was -- is going to mean that I have to get
> > > rid of quite a few cooking projects that I've done in the past few
> > > years.
> > >
> > > In addition to the benefits to the reading and math programs, cooking
> > > has also been an important part of my science, art, and health
> > > curriculums. Alaska children rank pretty low, nation-wide, for their
> > > overall nutrition and exercise levels, and my students are no
> > > exception. A big part of what I do is to expose them to food
> > > alternatives. Our cooking projects are usually the class snack for
> > > that day, and ideally I try to do one majorish cooking project each
> > > week.
> > >
> > > So here's what I'm looking for -- recipes that are at least
> > > semi-healthy (no more no-bake cookies <g>) and that can be prepared by
> > > young children with adult help and that don't require either a stove or
> > > an oven and which aren't too expensive to make for 24 children (the
> > > cost is a *big* factor, because we're not allowed to use budget money
> > > for any food products. Either it gets donated by parents - which
> > > happens occasionally - or I buy it all myself.
> > >
> > > In my classroom I have:
> > >
> > > - bread maker (we make bread about once a month already)
> > > - microwave
> > > - hand mixer
> > > - dehydrater
> > > - blender (I don't have one yet, but I'll either purchase one myself
> > > for my room, or bring mine in when we need it)
> > > - toaster oven (Again, I don't have one yet, but it's going into my
> > > newsletter as a "wish list" item. Hopefully someone will have one
> > > they're ready to get rid of)
> > > - hot plate
> > > - minifridge and I have access to a full-sized fridge and freezer.
> > > - crockpot
> > >
> > > Typically we make things like stop-light jello when we're learning
> > > about safety signs, alphabet pretzles (back when we had an oven <g>),
> > > crockpot applesauce, loaves of bread, cut-fruit animals (this is an
> > > expensive one -- fresh fruit in Alaska isn't cheap -- but the kids love
> > > it and their creativity shines and they all eat the fruit once they've
> > > turned it into a sea monster), fruit-bat snacks (generally fruit
> > > kabobs, ditto the expense note) when we do our Stellaluna unit,
> > > butter-in-a-jar around Thanksgiving (that's a great one for a
> > > high-energy day <g>), energy bars, bear biscuits and honey to go with
> > > Goldilocks (again though, the oven issue now) -- we typically do about
> > > 30 different cooking projects over the course of the year, and frankly
> > > *I'm* getting bored with some of them.
> > >
> > > I want things that involve preparation that students can do --
> > > measuring, easy cutting (butter-knife stuff), recipe reading (with
> > > heavy picture clues -- I do those myself when I make the student
> > > materials for the project), mixing, timing, and assembly that can be
> > > done by children. So many of the no-bake recipes I have and that I've
> > > found are either desserts/cookies/pies or things that need the stove
> > > (and that doesn't work well with a hot plate -- it's just not quite the
> > > same. Also, I'm not thrilled with having my students use the hot
> > > plate. If I were working with one or two students at a time it would
> > > be different, but with a full class in the room I want to be the only
> > > one working with the hotplate -- 90% of the time it would be no
> > > problem, but if there were a burn-accident with the hotplate, well,
> > > it's not an issue for which I want to be responsible).
> > >
> > > Now, if I were being difficult already, I'm also trying to pull away
> > > from peanut butter based recipes. I haven't had a peanut allergy in my
> > > room for several years, but peanut butter is expensive and it's good to
> > > have a solid file of non-nut recipes for when a student with a peanut
> > > allergy is there.
> > >
> > > So I'm drawing on the expertise here. Anybody have tried-and-true
> > > favorites that fit the above criteria? I've done a lot of Googling,
> > > but again so much of what I'm finding is dessert oriented.
> > >
> > > Thanks, folks!
> > >
> > > Alexis
> > >
> >
> > How about sprouting seeds?
>
>
> How about SPROUTING a BRAIN, moron - that way you just might learn how to
> properly
> quote in Usenet. That way others won't have to scroll through the SCORES of
> lines of excess baggage verbiage such as you chose to quote in your post
> above...
>
> --
> Best
> Greg

Well, in the second paragraph the OP says he (she?) wants a cooking
project that doesn't require an oven, in the third that it must be
nutritious, in the fourth cheap, in the sixth educational, in the
seventh easy and not dangerous, in the eighth without peanut butter and
in the ninth not a dessert. Since my post answered all these
requirements, I had to quote it all. I cut the part about colored
drinks.

And now, for the same reason, I just had to quote everything again.
:-)

Mite
http://www.shopncook.com

In article . com>,
"Alexis" > wrote:

> Okay, here's the deal :-)
>
> I'm trying to seriously revamp the cooking portion of my math, reading,
> and fine-motor development curriculum. I usually have about 24
> students, ages 5 and 6. When we cook, it's in small groups (usually 6
> or so students, depending on what else is going on and how much adult
> help I can get). I don't have ready access to either a stove or an
> oven (we're an old building and our one stove was recently placed "off
> limits" by the fire marshall). Losing the oven -- as old and
> inaccurate and spotty as it was -- is going to mean that I have to get
> rid of quite a few cooking projects that I've done in the past few
> years.

Will knives and other utensils be available? If so, how about salads?
There are practically an infinite number of different salads in
different ethnic cuisines that can be prepared with either cold
ingredients and/or ingredients that can be heated in a microwave oven.

Since part of your curriculum is motor development, teaching the
children recipes that involve hand-eye coordination, such as chopping
vegetables would seem appropriate. Salads fill that requirement.

Just google for "salad" recipes and I am sure you'll find enough recipes
for several years worth of classes. For example, if you are teaching
this class now, tomatoes are in season (at least in my area) so you
could cover some recipes that involve uncooked tomatoes or perhaps pasta
dishes. You can cook pasta in the microwave, or perhaps cook it at home
before the class to use in cold pasta dishes.

Just one idea that comes to mind along those lines in a tomato basil
appetizer. You have each kid place round crackers on a serving plate and
then slice plum tomatoes and put, mozzarella cheese. Put one tomato
slice on a cracker. Put a slice of cheese on top of the tomato. Put a
basil leaf on top of the cheese and drizzle with a bit of EV olive oil.

You could also show the kids how to make snacks such as nachos with
chilly and cheese on top. Not the healthiest snack in the world, but its
fine as an occasional treat and preparing the ingredients is a great
exercise for motor development.

Alexis wrote:

> If anyone is interested, I'll share the results of the flavor vs. color
> science fair project my class did. I was thrilled with their premise
> and truly surprised by the outcome.
>



Please do share the information.

You have covered my two suggestions--applesauce and butter.
Kids really don't know where some of these things come from.

You might try sliced pickles, bread-and-butter style. Barb
Schaller may have a recipe for you that sticks to the equipment
you have.

A young realtive taught kg in the wilds of northern Vermont to
really low-income kids and they had no idea what pickles really
were made of, or butter or applesauce.

gloria p

On Fri, 26 Aug 2005 16:43:04 GMT, Puester wrote:

> Alexis wrote:
>
> > If anyone is interested, I'll share the results of the flavor vs. color
> > science fair project my class did. I was thrilled with their premise
> > and truly surprised by the outcome.
> >
>
> Please do share the information.

> A young realtive taught kg in the wilds of northern Vermont to
> really low-income kids and they had no idea what pickles really
> were made of, or butter or applesauce.
>
They are all good social studies lessons: From farm to table.

I used to read Pancakes for Breakfast while my students passed around
a small jar of cream, shaking it 10 times each before passing it to
the next person. We were learning to count by 10s at the time, so
that's how we figured out how many shakes it took to make butter. The
book is also a good introduction to telling time because of the clock
in the background of each picture.

Applesauce is easy, easy, easy and no cooking involved... just chop up
some raw (peeled) apple, toss them into a blender with the juice of
1/2 to 1 whole lemon and blend until it turns into applesauce.
Sweeten to taste and add a tiny bit of cinnamon, if you wish.

Puester wrote:

> Alexis wrote:
>
>> If anyone is interested, I'll share the results of the flavor vs. color
>> science fair project my class did. I was thrilled with their premise
>> and truly surprised by the outcome.
>>
>
>
>
> Please do share the information.
>
> You have covered my two suggestions--applesauce and butter.
> Kids really don't know where some of these things come from.
>
> You might try sliced pickles, bread-and-butter style. Barb
> Schaller may have a recipe for you that sticks to the equipment
> you have.
>

I have a freezer pickle recipe that is quite good. The pickles sit on
the counter after mixing and then are packed into containers for
freezing. The pickles taste good before they're packed so the kids
could taste them then.

> A young realtive taught kg in the wilds of northern Vermont to
> really low-income kids and they had no idea what pickles really
> were made of, or butter or applesauce.
>
> gloria p

"Alexis" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Okay, here's the deal :-)
>
> So here's what I'm looking for -- recipes that are at least
> semi-healthy (no more no-bake cookies <g>) and that can be prepared by
> young children with adult help and that don't require either a stove
> or
> an oven and which aren't too expensive to make for 24 children.

Kinda lame ideas here, but my little guy is on my lap, so I can't get up
to look at any of my books.

Well, do you have a lot of coffee cans? Have you seen those recipes for
ice cream in a coffee can? You put the ingredients in a small can, pack
it into a larger can w/ ice and salt, and have the kids roll it around
for half an hour.

Or you could do ziplock instant pudding -- pour the pudding mix and milk
into gallon ziplocks, zip them up, and have the kids toss 'em around for
5 minutes or so.

Family Fun Magazine (familyfun.com) might have a few suggestions. Their
family cooking expert, Lynn Fredericks, has written a book called
"Cooking Time is Family Time" that is pretty good. Some of her recipes
for home use call for pricey ingredients, but she also includes some
cheaper recipes that she used when she was a teacher and did classroom
cooking.

At first glance through my "CT is FT" book (toddler is now running and I
managed to fetch the book), I see tabbouleh, fruit smoothies, and
meusli. There are more recipes, but most need an oven or stove...There's
papaya date compote, but I"m not sure how many papayas and mangos you
can get your hands on. Yogurt/fruit parfaits, balsamic strawberry
yogurt soup, English trifle, strawberry-banana yogurt trifle...if you
want any of these recipes, let me know.

Good luck -- I"d better get my little guy settle for his nap, or he'll
never go to sleep for the sitter tonight!

Chris

On 26 Aug 2005 01:01:06 -0700, Alexis wrote:

> Now, if I were being difficult already, I'm also trying to pull away
> from peanut butter based recipes. I haven't had a peanut allergy in my
> room for several years, but peanut butter is expensive and it's good to
> have a solid file of non-nut recipes for when a student with a peanut
> allergy is there.

Alexis... We had a "nutritian guy" who went into classrooms doing
exactly that at our school last year. He even did a vegetarian
Thanksgiving spread with a couple of classes. Give me a couple of
weeks (school begins Monday for me) to gather some information/recipes
and I'll email them to you... contact me: sfpipeline at gmail.com

One really easy and nutritous way to begin is with yogurt and a bag of
whole frozen multiberries (partially or fully thawed). Just mix the
berries into the yogurt (we used Greek yogurt from Trader Joe's) and
sprinkle with some granola cereal for crunch.

Right now, I'm not coming up with much more.... just vague
recollections, but they were nutritious, delicious and of course
wouldn't break the bank.

Post your query to k12.chat.teacher. A couple of regulars there will
have some ideas for you.

Did you find these sites when you Googled?
http://www.dltk-kids.com/nutrition/
http://www.dairycouncilofca.org/edu/edu_prog_bhm.htm
http://www.popcorn.org/frames.cfm?main=kids/index.cfm

sf wrote:
> On 26 Aug 2005 01:01:06 -0700, Alexis wrote:
>
> > Now, if I were being difficult already, I'm also trying to pull away
> > from peanut butter based recipes. I haven't had a peanut allergy in my
> > room for several years, but peanut butter is expensive and it's good to
> > have a solid file of non-nut recipes for when a student with a peanut
> > allergy is there.
>
> Alexis... We had a "nutritian guy" who went into classrooms doing
> exactly that at our school last year. He even did a vegetarian
> Thanksgiving spread with a couple of classes. Give me a couple of
> weeks (school begins Monday for me) to gather some information/recipes
> and I'll email them to you... contact me: sfpipeline at gmail.com

<snip>

I'd love that, thank you. There's no rush -- I start on Tuesday, but
students don't start until after Labor Day, and I'm set for the first
month or so.

(advance warning -- this is going to be more than 100 words. I want to
respond to everyone at once instead of individual posts.)

Pickles. Of course -- I hadn't thought about that one. Applesauce is
one we do several times a year for various reasons, and it's always a
kid favorite. Butter in a jar is one that we do every year to go with
our Thanksgiving family potluck (in the same way mentioned in this
thread). We also do ice cream, but not in the coffee cans mentioned in
this thread -- we do them in ziplock bags (another favorite <g>).

A lot of the suggestions here were excellent, thank you all. Again,
one of the big challenges is that I want to focus not just on healthy
snacks (although that is a big part of it) but on the *processes*
involved in cooking -- that's where the math skills are reinforced.
Veggies and dips, cut fruit, those are great for foods that the kids
can prepare and eat (and we all know that having kids help prepare the
healthy food leads to them being more likely to eat it), but the
hands-on cooking involved is very limited. Doesn't mean we don't do
them, but I don't generally include them as a "cooking" project. The
expense of the fruit or veggie projects is truly the biggest barrier.
As urban as Anchorage is, this is still Alaska, and during the fall
through spring months vegetables and fruits are very expensive. Most
don't grow here, even in controlled environments - and the prices
reflect this.

I think I may have solved my baking/oven problem though - at least I
will have solved it by November. I found this propane oven in the REI
catalogue: http://tinyurl.com/dpzfj. it's a portable camp oven that
uses regular bottled propane. According to the description, it will
cook up to 400 degF for up to 4 hours -- much longer than I ever need
for a school cooking project. Does anyone have any experience with
these?

The science fair project -- we were making Jello one day and one of my
kids asked me why raspberry Jello is always red. We talked for a while
about different food flavors and the colors that they usually are and
several of my kiddos thought it would be funny if Jello and fruit
rollups and the like were colors that were very different from what is
expected. After more discussion the class science fair project they
decided that they wanted to see if the color really had an effect upon
the flavor that someone tasted.

With the help of our 6th grade buddy class, we made a large batch of
cherry-flavored hard candy. We split it into six smaller batches and
colored each one of those using one of five different colors of candy
coloring (we left one batch clear) -- red, green, yellow, purple, and
black.

The kids surveyed 150 people of various ages from 6 through 82. Each
person sampled the candy and told what flavor they "tasted" for
each color. I don't have the exact numbers in front of me right now,
but out of 900 responses (150 people x 6 samples) only about 7% of the
responses correctly identified the flavor - and all but about five of
the correct identifications were for the red candies (the others were
all for the clear candies). Only 2 of the 150 (one adult and one
10-year-old) people thought that the candies were all identically
flavored. The green ones were most often identified as being
"sour" and the black ones were most often identified as being
"bitter" or "gross". The clear candies were most often
identified as being the sweetest of the six.

We had hypothesized that there would be a direct connection to the
color of the candy and the flavor "tasted" but none of us expected
the influence of color to be nearly as dramatic as it was in this test
group.

Thanks again, folks.

Alexis.

Alexis wrote:

>
> I think I may have solved my baking/oven problem though - at least I
> will have solved it by November. I found this propane oven in the REI
> catalogue: http://tinyurl.com/dpzfj. it's a portable camp oven that
> uses regular bottled propane. According to the description, it will
> cook up to 400 degF for up to 4 hours -- much longer than I ever need
> for a school cooking project. Does anyone have any experience with
> these?
>

No, but in my first apartment straight out of college (an attic), the
landlord provided a two-burner hotplate, a toaster, and one of those
big electric roasters. I managed to bake successfully in it.

>
> With the help of our 6th grade buddy class, we made a large batch of
> cherry-flavored hard candy. We split it into six smaller batches and
> colored each one of those using one of five different colors of candy
> coloring (we left one batch clear) -- red, green, yellow, purple, and
> black.

results snipped
>
> We had hypothesized that there would be a direct connection to the
> color of the candy and the flavor "tasted" but none of us expected
> the influence of color to be nearly as dramatic as it was in this test
> group.


Try this with mashed potatoes sometime! You should get similar results.

gloria p

Hello Alexis,

I think you have more requirements than I can find answers to. If I were
you, I would consider cutting down on requirements or finding ways to
have all the equipment that would make teaching easier.
I do have one suggestion, though: have a look at the food lab on
www.bbc.co.uk/food. There, you can find fun experiments that show you
properties of food and things about the chemistry of cooking. Maybe some
of the home experiments they show aer of itnerest to you.

jake wrote:
> Hello Alexis,
>
> I think you have more requirements than I can find answers to. If I were
> you, I would consider cutting down on requirements or finding ways to
> have all the equipment that would make teaching easier.
> I do have one suggestion, though: have a look at the food lab on
> www.bbc.co.uk/food. There, you can find fun experiments that show you
> properties of food and things about the chemistry of cooking. Maybe some
> of the home experiments they show aer of itnerest to you.

Thanks, Jake -- I've bookmarked the site for reference.

I know the "requirements" are daunting -- that's exactly my problem. I
have plenty of nutritious snacks that don't really involved any cooking
per se, and I have plenty of cooking projects that meet all of the
requirements except for being nutritious. We use both sets of recipes,
but I don't want to encourage the idea that the only kind of fun
cooking is preparing unhealthy foods or desserts.

Hopefully, by second quarter I'll have figured out the baking/oven
problem. Having the equipment isn't necessarily something I can
control -- I can't exactly order an oven and stove installed in my room
or my building :-)

Thanks for the site!

Alexis.

I have a few ideas:
Rock candy (ok, not so nutritious, but fun to watch the crystals grow
over time, and it lends itself to talking about/looking at crystals
with magnifying glasses)
Deviled eggs - maybe also making homemade mayonnaise in the blender
Homemade tofu
Homemade soft cheese - either a drained yogurt cheese (no cook) or
ricotta or paneer. Or start by making yogurt.
Beef jerky in the dehydrator
Granola/granola bars in the dehydrator
"Stone" soup - each child brings in a vegetable and it gets added to
the crockpot. There's a great story by the same name that you could
read to go with the lesson.
Sorbet - effects of different concentrations of sugar on freezing,
different frequencies of scraping on texture, etc.
Spiced cider in the crockpot (maybe compare to cold cider with cinnamon
sticks to talk about the effects of temperature)

Melissa