Author: Elizabeth

  • Grilling Tips from Crisco

    Grilled Chicken and salad photoTo kick off grilling season, Crisco.com is showcasing new recipes and how-to video tutorials to help answer all your grilling questions. Whether you are looking to try new grilling recipes or for helpful tips to prevent food from burning or sticking to the grill, the experts from Crisco® can help.

    We have an ancient charcoal grill that takes forever to heat up, but it’s better than none I suppose. I wish my husband would buy a gas grill so we could have more options for grilling food! I’d love to be able to grill veggies and make pizza on the grill.  With the grill we have, we like to do burgers and hot dogs, and we also light a small fire in it sometimes to toast marshmallows for S’mores!

    No matter what kind of grill you have, it’s a great way to cook without heating up your kitchen. Here are some helpful tips:

    • Always spray cool grill rack with Crisco No-Stick Cooking Spray before heating grill so that food will not stick. Remember to never spray a hot grill.
    • Make sure you have the right equipment and a clean grill prior to igniting the grill
    • Coat meat and vegetables with a light coat of Crisco Olive Oil to help your favorite seasonings adhere while grilling. Try using black pepper, kosher salt and a touch of lime or lemon juice.

    Log on to Crisco.com to see how-to video tutorials featuring delicious grilling recipes just in time for summer including:

    Coming in June:

    • NEW! Grilled Beef and Vegetable Kabobs
    • NEW! Barbecued Chicken with Grilled Asparagus

    I’m a big fan of Crisco products and I’m happy to be sharing these tips with MomCooks readers! disclosure: I received no compensation for this post.

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  • Fundraising ideas for non profit organizations

    Looking for a fun way to raise money for your non profit organization this summer? Your friends at fasttrackfundraising.com have a great suggestion – online magazine sales! Fasttrack Fundraising gives non profit organizations an easy and convenient way to sell a product without having to hand out catalogs or forms, add up orders, or collect any money!

    I don’t personally know anyone who doesn’t subscribe to at least one magazine. Non profit organizations can create their own magazine fundraisers and earn a percentage of the sales on a product most people pay full price for anyway! It’s a heck of a lot easier than a bake sale or a car wash 🙂

    If selling magazines doesn’t sound like the right product for your group, there are lots more great fundraising ideas for non profits, like selling popcorn, scented pencils, lollipops, even beef jerky! Register your non profit organization and get started on achieving your fundraising goals today!

  • Menu Plan Monday 5/24/10

    I’m in the mood for easy dinners this week. We’re working on decluttering the house and the last thing I want to do is mess up the kitchen! So, I’m going for quick and easy in this meal plan.

    Monday: Sloppy Joes, corn, watermelon

    Tuesday: Chicken Parmesan Alfredo, garlic bread, peas

    Wednesday: Campbell’s Slow Cooker Pot Roast, dinner rolls

    Thursday: Easy Chicken Enchiladas,  Chi-Chi’s Sweet Corn Cake*, chips and salsa

    Friday: Pizza Night

    Saturday: Clean out the Fridge night

    *Chi-Chi Sweet Corn Cake Mix is available on Amazon.com in packs of 12 or is at grocery stores.

    Get links to more weekly menu plans at I’m an Organizing Junkie, home of Menu Plan Monday!

  • EatSmart Precision Pro Kitchen Scale

    Have you ever come across a recipe that had the amount of an ingredient listed in grams and wondered how to measure it? Are you counting calories as part of a weight loss program and want to be precise about your serving sizes? Then you need the easy to use EatSmart™ Precision Pro Kitchen Scale! I know, I sound like an infomercial, but this scale really does rock.

    At $25.00, the EatSmart Precision Pro Kitchen Scale is a good value. It holds up to eleven pounds or five kilograms, and is accurate to +/- 1 gram. My favorite feature is the “Tare” feature, which means a button that lets you zero out the scale after you’ve put weight on it. Say you want to weigh something like cereal or blueberries. Put a bowl on the scale, press the Tare button, then add the food. The display will show you the weight of just the food in grams.

    The scale also comes with a guidebook to calorie counting that consists of a list of common foods and their Calorie Factor, meaning how many calories are in one gram of that food. So, let’s say you weigh dry roasted almonds and get a weight of 15. The calorie factor in the guidebook is 5.97, so your portion of almonds is 15 x 5.97 = 89.55 calories. There are also blank lines in the back of the book to put in foods you regularly eat that aren’t listed. The guidebook explains it all really well.

    Whether you want to be precise in your flour measurement for bread or want to find out how many potato chips are really in a serving, a good food scale is a must-have. My old twist-a-dial food scale is in the garage sale box and my EatSmart Precision Pro Kitchen Scale has taken it’s place! Thank you so much to EatSmart for sending me the scale to review. I love it!

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  • That’s right, it’s another theme change!

    A photo of a cup of coffee.
    Image via Wikipedia

    If you’ve been reading MomCooks for a while, you’ve probably noticed that I get bored with my blog theme really easily. I’m always on the lookout for new themes that fit what I need to have on the page and help me express my personality. This coffee theme is perfect!  I love the coffee cup icons, the coffee cup photo at the top right, I don’t even mind the sponsored links in the footer since they are for coffee products.

    I also changed the tagline under the blog title just for this theme, but I haven’t yet changed the 125×125 button. If anyone wants to make me a new button and doesn’t charge a fortune, let me know 🙂  It’s not that I didn’t like the graphic of the Mom wearing the chef hat, I just like the coffee graphic more.

    So, that’s it! My 4 year old and I are headed out to check out a new store that opened nearby called “Produce and More”, the sign on the front says “Eat more, pay less”, so that’s definitely worth checking out!  Since I started Weight Watchers 3 weeks ago I’m eating more fruit and veggies, so I hope this place has good prices and a decent selection.

    Have a great rest of your day!

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  • Catstudio Frosted Glasses Giveaway on Lisa Cooking

    Catstudio creates the most beautiful drinking glasses I have ever seen! Their 15 Oz. Frosted Tumblers are decorated with 7 colors and matte GOLD, and the designs represent cities, regions, states, and countries.  Enter to win a set of four by entering Lisa Cooking’s Catstudio Giveaway!  Lots of bonus entries are available, enter by May 4th, 2010 at 12:00 PM CST.

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  • Teaching Economics with Children’s Literature: The Berenstain Bears’ Trouble With Money

     9780394859170.jpg

    Introduction and Summary

    In Trouble With Money, by Stan and Jan Berenstain, Brother and Sister Bear are very good at spending money.  Any time they receive money from a grandparent or from a neighbor, they run to the Country Mall and spend it all.  One day their mother decides they should start receiving an allowance  so that they may learn the value of money.  Their father says that they should instead earn their money so Brother and Sister Bear decide to start doing odd jobs to make money.  They begin to make a lot of money.  When their father finds out that they start to sell the family’s secret location of the best honey trees he gets very upset.  At the end of the story the little bears give their father all of their hard earned money so that he won’t have any worries about money.  The cubs have learned a lesson!  Finally they get to go to the bank to put the money into a savings account to earn interest.  A great story for any child that is learning about the value of saving money.

    Curriculum Connections

    Trouble With Money could be a useful resource for first grade students that are learning about the value of money and about saving and spending.  Students could have this book read to them or try to read it themselves.  Then they could write a short passage about what they would do if they were given an allowance, save it or spend it.  Students should be encouraged to think about money in a postive way. (VA SOL’s 1.7, 1.8, 1.9)

    Additional Resources

    • Planet Orange – Virtual lessons on saving and spending money for kids.

    General Information

    Book:  The Berenstain Bears’ Trouble With Money
    Author:  Stan and Jan Berenstain
    Illustrator:  Stain and Jan Berenstain
    Publisher: Random House Inc.
    Publication Date: 1983
    Pages: 30
    Grade Range: K-2
    ISBN: 0-394-85917-0

  • Menu Plan Monday – 4-19-10

    I had an epic shopping trip on Saturday night, using a handful of free product coupons sent by PR firms hoping I’ll post reviews of the products (which I will, eventually). I bought $144 worth of food for $57.00! Chris still can’t believe it, he made sure to tell each of the boys and probably called a few friends 🙂 What was also great was that almost everything else on my list that wasn’t going to be free was on sale at Meijer, and I hadn’t even looked at the sale ad before I made my grocery list!

    Based on my shopping trip, here’s what we’re eating this week:

    Sunday: Tyson breaded chicken strips (FREE), steamed green beans, flaky layer biscuits

    Monday: Hamburger Helper Stroganoff, peas, garlic toast

    Tuesday: Tyson breaded chicken patties (FREE) on buns, baked french fries, salad

    Wednesday: Beef burritos, chips and salsa, refried beans

    Thursday: Cheese tortellini (from frozen), marinara sauce, corn, garlic toast

    Friday: Pizza night

    Saturday: Cooks Spiral Sliced Ham (FREE), Betty Crocker Scalloped potatoes, steamed peas

    What are you eating for dinner this week? For more menus, visit I’m an Organizing Junkie.

  • New York Style Snacks Giveaway for National Garlic Day!




    Today is National Garlic Day, and to celebrate, New York Style, the makers of original Bagel Crisps and other crunchy deli style snacks, is offering MomCooks readers the chance to win four bags of yummy garlicky snacks!

    If you love garlic, you are going to want to enter this giveaway for sure! The winner gets four bags of New York Style snacks in these varieties:

    ·         Garlic Bagel Crisps

    ·         Parmesan & Roasted Garlic Risotto Chips

    ·         Roasted Garlic & Herb Focaccia Sticks

    ·         Garlic Pita Chips

    New York Style sent me a bag of each to review, and boy are they good! The Risotto Chips are made from whole grain brown and arborio rice and are gluten free, a nice option for those who need to avoid gluten. All four flavors had a good garlic taste without being too overpowering.

    BUY IT: Visit www.NewYorkStyle.com and become a member of the Central Park Club to receive a $0.75 off coupon toward a New York Style garlic snack.

    WIN IT: Enter to win four bags of New York Style garlic snacks in honor of National Garlic Day! For your main entry, leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite food that contains garlic. Enter by Monday, April 26 2010 at 12:00 PM EST. I’ll choose the winner using random.org and email them for their mailing address.  Open to U.S. addresses only please.

    BONUS ENTRIES: You can earn additional entries in this giveaway by doing any of the following after you’ve posted your main entry. Leave a separate comment for each that you do or have done –

    • Mention this giveaway in a blog post with a link back. Not a blogger? No problem! Add the giveaway URL to any giveaway “round-up” and leave the URL in your comment.
    • Tweet the giveaway, you can do this ONCE PER DAY, leave a separate comment for each tweet. Here’s a sample tweet you can use:
    • Enter to win 4 bags of New York Style garlic snacks from @mom_cooks, enter by 4/26/10  #giveaway  http://bit.ly/ce7fur

    • Add the post to StumbleUpon, Digg, Kirtsy, or any other social bookmarking site. Leave the URL where you post it.
    • Subscribe to MomCooks in a reader or by email, links are in the middle sidebar under “Kiss the Cook”
    • Link to MomCooks in your blogroll or by grabbing the badge code. Leave your URL in a comment.
    • Follow MomCooks on Twitter using the TwiBadge in the right sidebar.
    • Follow me on Facebook. Add a message that you’re entering my giveaway so I approve your friend request 🙂

    Get your entries in by Monday, April 26. Thanks for entering and good luck everybody!

  • Don’t Fah Get™ Freezer Bags

    I stopped at the Don’t Fah Get™ booth at the International Home & Housewares Show because I wanted to know what it was exactly that they wanted me not to “fah get”, and learned that Don’t Fah Get is a line of very cool products. Don’t Fah Get freezer bags have a patented labeling system with spaces to write in the contents of the bag, and then the year, month, date, day of the week, and time you froze it. 

    This is perfect for people who do bulk freezer cooking, or for freezing leftovers, and you’ll always know that your frozen food is safe to eat.   The freezer bags are designed to protect food from freezer burn, and have a secure seal to prevent leaks. And best of all, they aren’t expensive.  20 quart size freezer bags are $3.49, 15 gallon size freezer bags are $3.49. Other sizes are available, as well as food storage bags in sizes ranging from snack size to gallon size.

    Visit Don’t Fah Get’s freezer bag page to see a complete list of sizes and prices. You can even pay with PayPal!  Although I did snag a sample freezer bag from Don’t Fah Get’s VP of Sales & Marketing during the home show, I’m not being compensated in any way for this post. I just really think this is a cool product! Check it out for yourself 🙂

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  • The Serotonin Power Diet Giveaway

    Last month, I told you about the book The Serotonin Power Diet, and now I’m happy to be hosting a giveaway for the book. One lucky MomCooks reader will get a copy of The Serotonin Power Diet, the eating plan that boosts levels of the feel-good chemical serotonin, which improves mood and can help with weight loss too. The recipes are for meals and snacks that use ordinary grocery store items and foods you probably already buy. It’s just a matter of eating them at the right times of the day to boost serotonin.

    WIN IT: For your main entry, read my previous review of  The Serotonin Power Diet,  then come back here and tell me which of the serotonin- friendly snacks listed in the post are your favorites.  Enter by Friday, April 16 at 1:00 PM EST.

    BONUS ENTRIES: You can earn additional entries in this giveaway by doing any of the following after you’ve posted your main entry. Leave a separate comment for each that you do or have done –

    • Mention this giveaway in a blog post with a link back. Not a blogger? No problem! Add the giveaway URL to any giveaway “round-up” and leave the URL in your comment.
    • Tweet the giveaway, you can do this ONCE PER DAY, leave a separate comment for each tweet. Here’s a sample tweet you can use:
    • Win the book “The Serotonin Power Diet” from @mom_cooks, enter by 4/16/10 http://bit.ly/ba3LG6 #giveaway

    • Add the post to StumbleUpon, Digg, Kirtsy, or any other social bookmarking site. Leave the URL where you post it.
    • Subscribe to MomCooks in a reader or by email, links are in the middle sidebar under “Kiss the Cook”
    • Link to MomCooks in your blogroll or by grabbing the badge code. Leave your URL so I can check.
    • Follow  MomCooks on Twitter using the TwiBadge in the right sidebar.
    • Follow me on Facebook. Add a message that you’re entering my giveaway so I approve your friend request 🙂

    Get your entries in by Friday, April 16th. Thanks for entering and good luck everybody!

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  • Teaching Ancient Civilizations with Children’s Literature: Mansa Musa: The Lion of Mali

    mansamusa.jpg

     Introduction and Summary

     Mansa Musa:  The Lion of Mali, by Khephra Burns,  tells the story of young Kankan Musa, who vanishes from his village in Mali after slave traders kidnap him.  His mother and brothers were devastated.  Kankan was only fourteen when he was sold to a mysterious man dressed so heavily in robes that only his eyes could be seen.  The mysterious man befriends Kankan and shows him the ways of living and surviving in the desert.  Kankan goes on a journey of self-discovery while traveling thousands of miles with him around Africa.  He learns about the pyramids in Egypt, confronts genie’s that transform themselves into lions, and learns about self-control and maturity.  Seven years later, when he is twenty, he makes a journey back to his village to find that his brother has been named King.  He approaches his family and they learn that Kankan has finally returned to the village after all these years.  Kankan becomes a great adviser to his brother and later he himself becomes King.  Many parts of the story are true while the author, Khephra Burns, used fictional stories to detail parts of Kankan Masa’s life.

     Curriculum Connections

     Mansa Musa:  The Lion of Mali would be great for a third grade class learning about Ancient Mali.  A teacher could read Mansa Musa:  The Lion of Mali aloud to students as it is a long book with some difficult words.  Students could go online and do a webquest to learn about the journey that Mansa Musa took and about the culture of Ancient Mali.  (Va SOL 3.2)

     Additional Resources

    • Ancient Mali Scavenger Hunt – An online scavenger hunt where students can find clues and information on Ancient Mali.  Directions are included for students.
    • Mansa Musa Webquest – Online resource for students to learn about Mansa Musa and the journey that he went on.

     General Information

     Book: Mansa Musa:  The Lion of Mali

    Author:  Khephra Burns

    Illustrator:  Leo and Diane Dillon

    Publisher:  Harcourt Childrens Books

    Publication Date:  2001
    Pages: 
    56

    Grade Range:  3-6

    ISBN:  100152003754  

  • Chicken Parmigiana with Fresh Tomato Sauce

    Chicken Parmigiana with Fresh Tomato Sauce

    INGREDIENTS:

    1/3 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese
    1 pkt. SHAKE ‘N BAKE Extra Crispy Seasoned Coating Mix
    4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)
    1 small onion, chopped
    1/4 cup KRAFT Tuscan House Italian Dressing and Marinade
    2 tomatoes, chopped
    2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
    1/2 cup KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese

    DIRECTIONS:

    HEAT oven to 400°F.

    ADD Parmesan to coating mix in shaker bag; shake gently to combine. Coat chicken with Parmesan mixture, then bake as directed on package.

    MEANWHILE, cook onions and dressing in large skillet on medium-high heat 4 min. or until onions are crisp-tender. Stir in tomatoes; cook 2 to 3 min. or until heated through, stirring occasionally. Stir in basil. Keep warm.

    TOP chicken with sauce and cheese.

    Serving Suggestion:  Serve with hot cooked rotini and steamed Italian-style vegetables.

    Substitute:  KRAFT Finely Shredded Italian* Five Cheese Blend for the mozzarella.

  • Menu Plan Monday posted on Tuesday – oops!

    Yesterday was a weird day and I didn’t get anything on my schedule done. Chris took the kids out to eat and I had a DiGiorno 200 calorie pizza which was disgusting. Sigh. I wish I had someone who would do my grocery shopping for me! Here’s what I have planned for this week.

    Tuesday: Ham and Broccoli Divan, Crescent Rolls, pudding for dessert

    Wednesday: Shake N  Bake Chicken, Creamy Italian Noodles, peas

    Thursday: Sloppy Joes, mixed veggies, cookies

    Friday: Pizza Night

    Saturday: Lunch – Deli Sandwich Ring, Carrots & Dip Dinner – ??

    Sunday: Easter – Dinner out with Family

    Find more meal plans at I’m an Organizing Junkie.

  • Book Review: Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day

    This book was sent to me for my personal review. All opinions are mine. Recipe reprinted by permission.

    Two years ago, Jeff Hertzberg M.D. and Zoe Francois published “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day”, a revolutionary way to prepare high quality bread dough with no proofing the yeast, no rising/punching down/rising, not even any kneading! The mixed and risen high-moisture dough can be stored in the fridge for up to two weeks (dough is cut into pieces and popped in the oven for fresh loaves as desired). The authors also created a blog where they posted more recipes and answered readers’ questions, and what they learned is that readers wanted recipes for breads that used fruits and vegetables, and recipes that were gluten-free. So, the authors took their method and came up with Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients.

    One master recipe forms the foundation for nearly all the 100 recipes in the book, including sandwich breads, pizza crusts, pita bread,  baguettes, bread sticks, snack crackers, even chocolate espresso “cupcakes”. Here’s a recipe for Pumpkin Pie Brioche:

    Pumpkin Pie Brioche

    by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D., and Zoë François,
    Authors of Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients

    “In the autumn I bake pies using freshly roasted sugar pumpkins. My kids love the flavors and I love that pumpkin is full of vitamins. It struck me that the same amazing flavors could be used in a sweet and spiced brioche. The pumpkin makes wonderfully moist dough and the bread is so fragrant and tender. It is great with butter and cinnamon-sugar or cream cheese icing.”–Zoë

    Makes enough dough for at least two 2-pound loaves. The recipe is easily doubled or halved. Use any leftover dough to make muffins, crescent rolls, or pinwheels.

    INGREDIENTS:

    3 cups white whole wheat flour
    4½ cups unbleached all- purpose flour
    1½ tablespoons granulated yeast, or 2 packets
    1 tablespoon kosher salt (increase or decrease to taste)
    2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten
    1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    ½ teaspoon ground ginger
    ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
    ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
    1¼ cups lukewarm water
    4 large eggs
    ½ cup honey
    ¾ cup neutral-flavored oil, or unsalted butter, melted, or zero trans fat, zero hydrogenated oil margarine, melted
    One large pie (or “sugar”) pumpkin to yield 1¾ cups pumpkin puree, or use one 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
    Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water) for brushing on the top crust
    Raw sugar for sprinkling on top

    DIRECTIONS:

    1. If making your own fresh pumpkin puree: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Split the pumpkin in half, starting at the stem, and place it cut side down on a lightly greased cookie sheet or one lined with a silicone mat. Bake for about 45 minutes. The pumpkin should be very soft all the way through when poked with a knife. Cool slightly before scooping out the seeds.

    2. Scoop out the roasted flesh of the pumpkin and puree it in the food processor. Set aside 1¾ cups for the dough and use any leftover in your favorite pumpkin pie recipe.

    3. Mixing and storing the dough: Whisk together the flours, yeast, salt, vital wheat gluten, and spices in a 5- quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container.

    4. Combine the liquid ingredients with the pumpkin puree and mix them with the dry ingredients without kneading, using a spoon, a 14-cup food processor (with dough attachment), or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with paddle). You might need to use wet hands to get the last bit of flour to incorporate if you’re not using a machine.

    5. The dough will be loose, but it will firm up when chilled. Don’t try to use it without chilling for at least 2 hours. You may notice lumps in the dough, but they will disappear in your finished products.

    6. Cover (not airtight), and allow the dough to rest at room temperature until it rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.

    7. Refrigerate the dough in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 5 days. Beyond that, the dough stores well in the freezer for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. Freeze it in 2-pound portions. When using frozen dough, thaw it in the refrigerator for 24 hours before use, then allow the usual rest/rise times.

    8. On baking day, grease a brioche pan or an 8½× 4½-inch nonstick loaf pan. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 2-pound (cantaloupe-size) piece of dough. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball. Place the ball in the prepared pan and allow to rest, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for 1 hour 45 minutes.

    9. Thirty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 350°F, with a rack placed in the center of the oven. If you’re not using a stone in the oven, a 5-minute preheat is adequate.

    10. Just before baking, use a pastry brush to paint the loaf’s top with egg wash, and then sprinkle with raw sugar.

    11. Bake near the center of the oven for approximately 45 to 50 minutes. Brioche will not form a hard, crackling crust. The loaf is done when it is medium brown and firm. Smaller or larger loaves will require adjustments in resting and baking time.

    12. Remove the brioche from the pan (see page 50) and allow it to cool on a rack before slicing or eating.

    The above is an excerpt from the book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D., and Zoë François. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.

    Copyright © 2009 Jeff Hertzberg, M.D., and Zoë François, authors of Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients
    Author Bios:
    Jeff Hertzberg, M.D., coauthor of Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients, is a physician with twenty years of experience in health care as a practitioner, consultant, and faculty member at the University of Minnesota Medical School. His interest in baking and preventive health sparked a quest to adapt the techniques of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day for healthier ingredients.

    Zoë François, coauthor of Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients, is passionate about food that is real, healthy, and always delicious. She is a pastry chef trained at the Culinary Institute of America. In addition to teaching baking and pastry courses nationally, she consults to the food industry and is the creator of the recipe blog www.zoebakes.com. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two sons.
    The authors answer bread questions at their Web site: www.healthybreadinfive.com.

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  • Teaching Civics with Children’s Literature: The Story of Ruby Bridges

    ruby.jpg

    Introduction and Summary

    The Story of Ruby Bridges, written by Robert Coles, is the true story of a little girl in New Orleans that became the first African-American student to attend Franz Elementary School in 1960.  When the parents of the other students in the school found out that Ruby was attending school too, they pulled all of their children out of class.  Every day an angry mob of people would stand outside of the school in protest and yell hateful things at Ruby.  Ruby was the only child in her class and her teacher realized that she wasn’t scared and she wanted to learn.  The Story of Ruby Bridges is bittersweet as she tries to bridge the gap of equality in the south by becoming the first African American child in an all-white school.

    Curriculum Connections

    This book is a wonderful story to introduce equality and respect for individual rights and freedoms (Virginia SOL Civics 3.12).  It would be great for students to read to learn about the principles of the civil rights movement and why it was such an important time in the history of our country.  Students could read The Story of Ruby Bridges and then write a reaction journal to how they would feel if an angry mob tried to scare them from coming to school everyday because their skin was a different color.  A great way to add in writing skills for language arts while learning about civics.

    Additional Resources

    • Word Wall – An activity to make a word wall using the words from The Story of Ruby Bridges.
    • Video Clip – Video of The Story of Ruby Bridges as retold by a child.

    General Information

    Book:  The Story of Ruby Bridges
    Author:  Robert Coles
    Illustrator:  George Ford
    Publisher:  Scholastic
    Publication Date:  1995
    Pages:  25
    Grade Range:  1-3
    ISBN:  978-0-439-59844-6

  • Menu Monday 03/22/10

    This week, I’m making two recipes from The Stocked Kitchen, an absolutely brilliant cookbook/pantry system I picked up at the Home Show in Chicago last weekend.  The book, which has a spiral binding so it stands up or lays flat on the counter, contains over 300 recipes, all of which use only items on The Stocked Kitchen Grocery List.  A pad of Grocery Lists with a magnetic backing is included.  The book is out of stock on Amazon, but you can sign up for an email when it becomes available.  Trust me, you are going to want it!  Tomorrow, I’m going to post the recipe for Baked Penne, including step by step photos. I made it last night and to say my family loved it would be a huge understatement. They ate it like they had never had food before!

    So, on to this week’s menu:

    Sunday: Baked Penne, fresh bread (baked from frozen bread dough)

    Monday:  Leftover Baked Penne (it makes 8 servings) bread & butter, steamed veggie

    Tuesday: Chicken Enchiladas, chips & salsa, refried beans

    Wednesday:  All-American Burgers, oven fries

    Thursday: Easy Salsa Chili, corn muffins

    Friday: Pizza Night

    Saturday: Clean Out The Fridge Night

  • Betty Crocker Creamy Chicken and Rigatoni

    Betty Crocker Creamy Chicken and RigatoniCreamy Chicken Rigatoni

    Prep Time: 10 min
    Total Time: 30 min
    Makes: 8 servings

    INGREDIENTS:

    1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
    1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch pieces
    2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
    2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
    2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
    2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) Muir Glen® organic diced tomatoes, well drained
    2 cups whipping (heavy) cream
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
    1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
    2 1/2 cups rigatoni pasta (8 ounces)
    1 package (16 ounces) frozen broccoli, red pepper, onions and mushrooms, thawed and well drained
    Shredded Parmesan cheese, if desired

    DIRECTIONS:

    1. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook chicken, garlic, basil and oregano in oil about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until chicken is no longer pink in center.
    2. Stir in tomatoes, whipping cream, salt, pepper and red pepper. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered about 10 minutes or until slightly thickened.
    3. Cook and drain rigatoni as directed on package. Stir rigatoni and vegetables into chicken mixture; cook until hot. Serve with cheese.

  • Teaching Geography with Children’s Literature: Geography from A-Z: A Picture Glossary

     geography.jpg

    Introduction and Summary

    Geography from A-Z: A Picture Glossary, by Jack Knowlton, is a great resource for elementary students that are trying to learn the difference between a plateau and a plain or a knoll and an atoll.  This wonderfully illustrated book defines sixty-three key geographic terms and includes a picture example to go along with each child-friendly definition.  It introduces recognizable terms such as marsh, rain forest and coastline and then explains terms hardly known by adults such as oxbow lake, escarpment and promontory.  This book is perfect to help children understand geography vocabulary terms in your classroom!

    Curriculum Connections

    This book would be a great resource for geography lessons where children must identify key geographic terms (Virginia SOL US 1.2 D).  A fun activity would be to give each student several geographic terms and then have them illustrate the terms and present them to the class.   They could also be made into foldables to place in an interactive notebook.  Younger grades could learn the more basic terminology and older grades could have fun learning new terms such as isthmus, strait and butte.

    Additional Resources

    • Geography Terms Lesson – A great lesson that teaches meaning and spelling of key grade geographic terms.  Incorporates language arts with geography as students mini passages that have the key terms in them.
    • Atlas Vocabulary Game – Fun online game that allows students to match a geography term to its definition.

     General Information

    Book:  Geography From A-Z:  A Picture Glossary
    Author: 
    Jack Knowlton
    Illustrator:  Harriet Barton
    Publisher:  Harper Collins Publishers
    Publication Date: 
    1988
    Pages:  48
    Grade Range:  3-5
    ISBN:  0-690-04616-2

  • Pace Picante Chicken and Rice Bake

    Picante Chicken & Rice Bake

    From: Campbell’s Kitchen
    Prep: 10 minutes
    Bake: 45 minutes
    Serves: 4

    Ingredients:
    1 jar (16 ounces) Pace® Picante Sauce
    1/2 cup water
    1 cup whole kernel corn
    3/4 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice
    4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound)
    Paprika
    1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

    Directions:
    Stir the picante sauce, water, corn and rice in a 2-quart shallow baking dish. Top with the chicken. Sprinkle the chicken with the paprika. Cover the baking dish.

    Bake at 375°F. for 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the rice is tender. Sprinkle with the cheese.

    If you don’t have Cheddar cheese on hand, you can substitute an equal amount of shredded Monterey Jack or a Mexican cheese blend.

    Nutrition Information

    Nutritional Values per Serving using Pace Picante Sauce: Calories 381, Total Fat 8g, Saturated Fat 4g, Cholesterol 81mg, Sodium 1015mg, Total Carbohydrate 43g, Dietary Fiber 5g, Protein 31g, Vitamin A 11%DV, Vitamin C 0%DV, Calcium 13%DV, Iron 15%DV