Monday, August 11, 2014
Fare Thee Well
It's no secret that I'm a HUGE Mumford & Sons fan. I stumbled upon this sweet little cover of "Fare Thee Well" by Marcus Mumford and Oscar Isaac a few days ago. Take a minute and give it a listen. Happy Monday!
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Back to School: Syllabus & Classroom Sneak Peak
I've been working hard the past couple of weeks to prepare to school. Although I don't want summer to end, I can't help but feel a little giddy, especially with all of the back-to-school supplies front and center in many stores. I know the thought of going back to school and seeing all those bright school-bus-yellow signs advertising pencils for $0.50 makes many people a bit queasy, but I love it. I have always loved back-to-school shopping.
When I was younger, Mom would take us across the mountain to shop for supplies in Virginia on the tax-free weekend in Staples and Walmart. Mandy always insisted on buying the $3.00 Five-Star notebooks while I eagerly searched through the $0.10 notebook bin for one of every color. We would buy all of our supplies, and I would go home and sort it. I opened little plastic pencil bags and placed everything neatly in my bookbag and waited for the next 3-4 weeks to go by before school would start. Nearly every other day or so, I could hardly stand the anticipation of a new school year, and I'd go to my bookbag and take everything out. I loved the smell of it all--new and clean just like the school year I was about to take on. I would imagine what I was going to learn that year and what I was going to fill the notebooks up with. I even wished that I already knew the material or had a textbook at home so I could start taking notes and using my school supplies. After a little while, I'd pack everything neatly back into the bookbag and begin the whole cycle over again.
I'm still that way. I love back-to-school shopping and getting my classroom ready. Derek thinks I'm nuts, but even now I can hardly wait to get back into my room and back into the swing of things using my new dry-erase markers. Don't get me wrong, I love summer and really hate to see it coming to an end. And although I love my job, there are many days when I do. not. want to even think about creating lesson plans or begin tackling the 2' tall pile of papers that need graded. And even now, I'm so sad to see my students go because we had a great year and grew close, but I'm very excited to meet this new group of students.
I have my room pretty much finished at this point. I need to put on some final touches, but everything is in place to meet my students tomorrow evening for orientation.
I've also been working on my syllabus for the year. I took an online class in the Spring where I discovered infographics. If you are unfamiliar with infographics, they're basically just a poster with information presented in an easy-to-read visual manner. Here are a few I discovered from a quick Google search:
I have wanted to incorporate infographics into my classroom for a while, but I wasn't sure where to start. One day, it just hit me. Why not begin in the beginning of the year with an infographic as a syllabus?
I wasn't really sure where to start, but I figured I needed a template of some type. I have a little experience with Microsoft Publisher, so I decided to start there. I worked until I had all of the information included that I wanted and then began formatting.
While I'm not sure that it truly counts as an infographic (because it's three pages instead of one and largely text-based), it's much more visually appealing than what I used the previous two years. Take a look below.
When I was younger, Mom would take us across the mountain to shop for supplies in Virginia on the tax-free weekend in Staples and Walmart. Mandy always insisted on buying the $3.00 Five-Star notebooks while I eagerly searched through the $0.10 notebook bin for one of every color. We would buy all of our supplies, and I would go home and sort it. I opened little plastic pencil bags and placed everything neatly in my bookbag and waited for the next 3-4 weeks to go by before school would start. Nearly every other day or so, I could hardly stand the anticipation of a new school year, and I'd go to my bookbag and take everything out. I loved the smell of it all--new and clean just like the school year I was about to take on. I would imagine what I was going to learn that year and what I was going to fill the notebooks up with. I even wished that I already knew the material or had a textbook at home so I could start taking notes and using my school supplies. After a little while, I'd pack everything neatly back into the bookbag and begin the whole cycle over again.
I'm still that way. I love back-to-school shopping and getting my classroom ready. Derek thinks I'm nuts, but even now I can hardly wait to get back into my room and back into the swing of things using my new dry-erase markers. Don't get me wrong, I love summer and really hate to see it coming to an end. And although I love my job, there are many days when I do. not. want to even think about creating lesson plans or begin tackling the 2' tall pile of papers that need graded. And even now, I'm so sad to see my students go because we had a great year and grew close, but I'm very excited to meet this new group of students.
I have my room pretty much finished at this point. I need to put on some final touches, but everything is in place to meet my students tomorrow evening for orientation.
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| My classroom library this year. Books are sorted based on Lexile and author's last name, and they're recorded online through the classroom.booksource.com website. If you're a teacher, check it out! It's an incredible tool! |
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| I added a motivational quotes wall this year. I plan on having students add to it throughout the year. |
I've also been working on my syllabus for the year. I took an online class in the Spring where I discovered infographics. If you are unfamiliar with infographics, they're basically just a poster with information presented in an easy-to-read visual manner. Here are a few I discovered from a quick Google search:
I wasn't really sure where to start, but I figured I needed a template of some type. I have a little experience with Microsoft Publisher, so I decided to start there. I worked until I had all of the information included that I wanted and then began formatting.
While I'm not sure that it truly counts as an infographic (because it's three pages instead of one and largely text-based), it's much more visually appealing than what I used the previous two years. Take a look below.
Do you use infographics in your classroom? How do you set up your classroom syllabus? Share your thoughts below.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Thai Chicken Peanut Noodles
If you're anything like me, you have a style and preference of the kinds of foods you generally cook. I tend to make American/Southern-style food with a little Italian thrown in, but I don't really venture outside of that realm much. For example, I love Chinese food, but I never cook it. Why is that?
A few months ago when I was menu planning, I stumbled upon a recipe in one of my Taste of Home magazines. (I strongly recommend looking into Taste of Home. The magazines are fantastic!) This recipe was called Thai Chicken Peanut Noodles, and it sounded easy enough to make. I asked Derek if he'd like to try it, and I threw it on the calendar.
A few weeks later when we began cooking, Derek was in charge of making the sauce while I cut vegetables. He had just finished the sauce and placed it on the counter when I turned and somehow hit it which sent the bowl flying across the room like a spinning saucer. We were both so shocked that we just stood and watched it fling sauce across the entire kitchen before it landed in the middle of the kitchen rug. We were frozen. There was sauce on the counters, across the cabinets, all over the floor, on top of the refrigerator, on the walls, and all over our clothes. Everywhere. We were speechless, and then we laughed. We probably laughed harder than ever before as we began trying to clean up the mess and continued laughing till it hurt.
After getting the kitchen cleaned up and cautiously making the sauce for a second time, we were able to continue with dinner. Everything else went rather smoothly, and when we finished, it was delicious! I was a little weary of the peanut sauce (I'd never tried a peanut sauce before), but it all ties together really well. We've made it several times since that first messy experiment, and it's been tasty every time since.
The last time I made this recipe, I didn't have a red pepper or green onions, so I tweaked it a little bit to fit what I had at home. Feel free to do this with what you have around the house too! I added 1/2 cup chopped onions, 2 chopped banana peppers, and 2 small chopped green peppers to the vegetable/ground chicken mixture. Also, if you don't have or can't find ground chicken, you can grind your own with chicken breasts and a meat grinder. We've tried this recipe both ways, and it tastes the same either way.
Find the original recipe below:
Thai Chicken Peanut Noodles
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
4 teaspoons Sriracha Asian hot chili sauce
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (add more or less for your heat preference)
12 ounces uncooked multigrain spaghetti
1 pound lean ground chicken
1-1/2 cups julienned carrots
1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup finely chopped unsalted peanuts
4 green onions, chopped
1. In a small bowl, whisk the first six ingredients until blended. Cook spaghetti according to package directions; drain.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook chicken, carrots, pepper and garlic over medium heat 5-6 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink, breaking up chicken into crumbles; drain.
3. Stir in peanut butter mixture; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 3-5 minutes or until sauce is slightly thickened. Serve with spaghetti. Top with peanuts and green onions. Yield: 6 servings.
Give it a try for dinner tonight!
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| This is what a happy husband looks like after eating this meal. :) |
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Veggiesss!
If you're a frequenter of this blog, you're probably very aware of my love for my family--especially my grandparents. Some (probably most) of my most cherished memories come from the days I spent on the farm. One such memory occurs during the summertime in the garden.
My grandparents had what I believed to be one of the biggest gardens in the world. Obviously this isn't the case, but it was still pretty big. They grew everything, and the best part was that at the back of the garden, there were rows of berry bushes and fruit/nut trees. I loved going berry picking and running around under the fruit trees, that is, until I stepped on a chestnut shell. Ouch!
But I also loved walking through the rows of the garden. I always kicked off my shoes and walked through barefoot (something I still do today) feeling the dirt mush between my toes. We never vacationed at the beach when I was younger, so I would daydream and imagine that the dirt must be what sand felt like at the beach. I would stare in awe at the giant sunflowers and help pick green beans and cucumbers, being very careful of my feet as Grandma always reminded me not to step on the cucumber leaves.
When we finished in the garden in the evenings, we would all sit around the meat house (yes, the meat house... where all of the butchering took place) with buckets full of beans beside us and empty buckets in front of us. Grandma and Mom used sharp silver knives to cut out the bad parts of the beans while they and everyone else strung and snapped them into the empty buckets for Grandma to can later on.
I can remember these days so very clearly in my mind, and the happy memories have probably played a big part in why I've always wanted to grow a garden. It's amazing to watch something form from a seed into a huge plant from which we are able to pick and eat food!
For the past two years, 2012 and 2013, we rented a house. We didn't really have many options for where to plant a garden, but we wanted one anyway. We carved out a small patch right beside the house and were able to plant tomatoes and jalapenos the first year. Last year, we tried to dig out a little more and managed to add bell peppers, lettuce, and cucumbers to the mix. They produced, but it wasn't anything spectacular. It certainly wasn't enough to can and preserve with the exception of the jalapenos. (Derek LOVES spicy food.)
This year we were really excited to have an actual decent-sized garden. I began planning it probably in late January/early February (we had a LOT of snow... I was looking forward to spring!) and determined that we could try several new plants.
We began with herbs inside in March; I had always wanted to try to grow fresh herbs but was intimidated by them. Let me tell you, don't ever be intimidated by growing herbs. These plants GREW! We tried Oregano, Cilantro, Parsley, Basil, and Dill in a container indoors. I haven't tried planting them outside, but I imagine it wouldn't be difficult either.
I planned our garden based on square feet. I hoped to have four different sections in the garden with pathways through the middle. I planned for lettuce, onions, carrots, cucumbers, peppers (bell, banana, & jalapeno), cabbage, corn, green beans, and tomatoes (early girls & romas).
When planting, we realized that my measurements (estimates) were a bit off, so we just improvised. We also messed up a bit because we planted at different rates, so the actual garden doesn't follow the chart exactly. I don't think that it has mattered much except maybe for the cabbage. For the second year in a row, I don't think our cabbage is going to make much of itself. I think they're just planted too close together this year (part of the improvising I mentioned earlier).
Our cucumbers have been exploding, and the tomatoes aren't far behind. We just had our largest harvest, and I think the beans will be ready for a picking this week.
Although our little garden isn't anywhere near the size and excellence of Grandma and Grandpa's garden, it's nice to be able to have the space to grow veggies anyway. Do you have any particular techniques you use in your garden? What are your favorite veggies to grow? Share below! :)
My grandparents had what I believed to be one of the biggest gardens in the world. Obviously this isn't the case, but it was still pretty big. They grew everything, and the best part was that at the back of the garden, there were rows of berry bushes and fruit/nut trees. I loved going berry picking and running around under the fruit trees, that is, until I stepped on a chestnut shell. Ouch!
But I also loved walking through the rows of the garden. I always kicked off my shoes and walked through barefoot (something I still do today) feeling the dirt mush between my toes. We never vacationed at the beach when I was younger, so I would daydream and imagine that the dirt must be what sand felt like at the beach. I would stare in awe at the giant sunflowers and help pick green beans and cucumbers, being very careful of my feet as Grandma always reminded me not to step on the cucumber leaves.
When we finished in the garden in the evenings, we would all sit around the meat house (yes, the meat house... where all of the butchering took place) with buckets full of beans beside us and empty buckets in front of us. Grandma and Mom used sharp silver knives to cut out the bad parts of the beans while they and everyone else strung and snapped them into the empty buckets for Grandma to can later on.
I can remember these days so very clearly in my mind, and the happy memories have probably played a big part in why I've always wanted to grow a garden. It's amazing to watch something form from a seed into a huge plant from which we are able to pick and eat food!
For the past two years, 2012 and 2013, we rented a house. We didn't really have many options for where to plant a garden, but we wanted one anyway. We carved out a small patch right beside the house and were able to plant tomatoes and jalapenos the first year. Last year, we tried to dig out a little more and managed to add bell peppers, lettuce, and cucumbers to the mix. They produced, but it wasn't anything spectacular. It certainly wasn't enough to can and preserve with the exception of the jalapenos. (Derek LOVES spicy food.)
 |
| Beginning of Garden 2013. |
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| Mid-Garden 2013. |
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| Toward the end of summer 2013. (Yes those are cabbages in the yellow pots. They didn't amount to anything.) |
This year we were really excited to have an actual decent-sized garden. I began planning it probably in late January/early February (we had a LOT of snow... I was looking forward to spring!) and determined that we could try several new plants.
We began with herbs inside in March; I had always wanted to try to grow fresh herbs but was intimidated by them. Let me tell you, don't ever be intimidated by growing herbs. These plants GREW! We tried Oregano, Cilantro, Parsley, Basil, and Dill in a container indoors. I haven't tried planting them outside, but I imagine it wouldn't be difficult either.
 |
| 3-4 weeks after planting |
When planting, we realized that my measurements (estimates) were a bit off, so we just improvised. We also messed up a bit because we planted at different rates, so the actual garden doesn't follow the chart exactly. I don't think that it has mattered much except maybe for the cabbage. For the second year in a row, I don't think our cabbage is going to make much of itself. I think they're just planted too close together this year (part of the improvising I mentioned earlier).
Our cucumbers have been exploding, and the tomatoes aren't far behind. We just had our largest harvest, and I think the beans will be ready for a picking this week.
 | |
| Pre-planting (with Mom's plants too) |
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| Loads of Cucs! |
Although our little garden isn't anywhere near the size and excellence of Grandma and Grandpa's garden, it's nice to be able to have the space to grow veggies anyway. Do you have any particular techniques you use in your garden? What are your favorite veggies to grow? Share below! :)
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