Some interesting articles

Here're two articles from National Geographic that can possibly be used as fillers in the classroom:

Reusing old tshirts!

Here's a cool idea that I came across on Pinterest: Making tote bags out of old tshirts.

I think this is something interesting that we can do for our Home Economics lessons to teach the students basic sewing machine work. To add on to the fun, they can bring their own tshirts from home or even convert their old PE tshirts. I believe this will be a hit with not only the girls but the boys as well!

Microwaving food - Yay or Nay?

For today's Home Economics microteaching lesson, one of our classmates talked about different cooking methods and one of the alternative cooking methods that is commonly used nowadays is microwaving.
Some comments brought up by my classmates was that using smaller sized food items will ensure faster cooking and microwave cooking may not be 100% safe. I remember being taught in detail about the principles behind microwaves during my Food Science and Technology in NUS but I could not remember the exact details. So I did some searching on the internet and here's a good link for anyone who needs some fast facts about cooking using microwave: USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Well I believe to most people microwaving would sound dangerous because it uses microwave radiation to cook the food. Just the sound of the word radiation brings about horrific images of nuclear bombs, Chernobyl Incident, Fukushima Nuclear Plant breakdown, etc. How can we even think of using such a technology on our food? Surely there must be residual radiation remaining on the food and consuming microwaved food will therefore inevitably cause cancer! And so on...

I believe this is a popular misconception that people usually have as they do not have the knowledge in physics to understand the principles behind microwaves. Well, let me attempt to provide a simple summary of microwaves:

What are microwaves?
Microwaves are radio waves that have a frequency of 2.45GHz or a wavelength of 122mm.
Ever wondered why the door of the microwave oven is made of one layer of clear glass with an inner layer of perforated material? Well, as long as the size of the holes are less than 122mm, microwaves cannot escape through the glass and you can still see your food when it is cooking in the oven.

How do they heat up food?
When microwaves are passed through the food item, dipolar molecules (molecules that has a positive and a negative moment) such as water, fats and some other food molecules, are forced to move continuously as they align themselves to the alternating electric field of the microwaves. These molecules move around in the media and therefore release heat energy in a process known as dielectric heating.

Are nutrients lost during microwaving?
Generally, microwaving does not destroy more nutrients in food as compared to conventional cooking methods because of the shorter cooking times employed. Of course, this will also depend on duration of microwaving, power used and amount of water used in the process.


What are the guidelines for microwaving? 

1. Microwaves will be more effective in food where the water is in the liquid state rather than the solid state as the water molecules will be mobile. 
2. Even distribution of water in the food will ensure even heating. 
3. Never heat homogeneous liquids in the microwave as this will the liquid to exceed its boiling point without boiling. Adding any dry solids to this super-heated liquid will then cause the liquid to start boiling explosively. 
4. Never use covered containers or enclosed food like eggs in the microwave oven. The build up of steam in the enclosed environment will cause it to explode. 
5. Do not use plastics. They will melt!
6. Do not use metals too. They conduct electricity and they will act as another heating element in the oven, causing uneven cooking. 
7. Give the food some "standing time" after microwaving so that the heat in the food can distribute. 

So to answer my classmate's question, no smaller pieces of food do not ensure that the food cook faster. The position of the food in the oven and how evenly the moisture in the food is distributed will be more crucial factors to consider to ensure quick and even heating in the microwave oven. 

And for the question of safety of microwaved food, the issues pertaining to the safety of the food does not lie with the possibility of "residual radioactivity", however, it lies on the time and temperature of the food. As the food is heated very quickly in the microwave oven, the general concern is that the food does not achieve the temperature and time required to kill the harmful bacteria in the food. 

Another concern is the presence of harmful chemicals such as acrylamide (lethal neurotoxin) and solanine (glycoalkaloid poison). Both are found in potatoes and microwaving potatoes do not produce acrylamide but it is not effective in reducing solanine levels in potatoes as compared to other methods like deep frying. 

So my answer is yes microwaves are safe BUT we do have to be careful when selecting the food and containers that we are using in the microwave oven. 

Hope this entry sheds some light on the common misconceptions of microwaves! 

Food Photography

Hi All,

Previously Chewy had posted some photographs taken by her camera.

Now, I am showing you the photos taken by my iPhone. There are many differences when you take photos with a camera and an iPhone.  Photos taken by camera have a higher quality. Besides iPhone does not provide you with functions like a camera does. With camera, you are able to focus on the specific spot while the background is blurred.

Take a look at these photos which I took using my iPhone.

These two photos does not make the donut look appetizing. There focus is on both the strawberries and the donut. If the focus were mainly on the donut, the photo will look better.

Here, we tried to include the scenery so that it appears to be an afternoon tea photo. I think the photos here are quite good though it could have been better if the focus is only on the donut.

The following two photos appear flat. This is the usual angle that most of us will use when taking photos of food.

When taking photos, we should also take note of the background. Make sure that no irrelevant items are included like the weighing scale behind the cup in the first photo. To make this photo better, I could have use a real drink instead of tap water.

I feel that knowing the right angle to take photos will produce a better quality photos. Thus, the lesson on food photography was useful to me. Although it is better to take photos with camera, I think the 'triangle rule' tip is useful enough for taking photos with an iPhone.

Till next time. Cheers.

Micro Teaching - Halloween and Lunch By The Beach

Time is passing so quickly, especially during food lab sessions:)
Today is already the fourth group doing micro teaching!

Just to share with you some fun we had during our lessons :0 Enjoy!
3rd micro teaching group - Halloween  

This is the ghostly quiche Ms Liyana taught us :) Love it! Tasted so nice!

The word quiche originates from French.  It has a pastry crust and a filling of eggs and milk such that when it is baked it becomes a custard. As such, the coagulation of the liquid depends on the egg protein filling to set it into a custard. 

These peeps have been my good friends since poly days:) 

been three years, and still counting on!

lovely photo taken with the best of friends from micr teaching group:)

enjoyed every project we did together!

An intricate table setting set-up by group four! It was indeed a great efforts despite the errors. 

4th micro-teaching group - Lunch by the beach

I believed that each of us learnt different things that day. We could have gone through the same motion, but with different experiences received. 
For me, what I really brought back home was:

1. Importance of theory
We cannot teach without half-baked knowledge:)
Am certainly going to buck up on that and do more readings!

2. The way a teacher manages her lesson
Dr Mok mentions about having the students on the same flow as us. Our focus should not be on getting our food products cooked and well-presented and in the midst of it forgot or pay little attention to our students. If so, like what she said "We would have lost them,"
What she said daunted upon me. "If we teach, do our students understand?" I believe this could perhaps be the underlying reasons sometimes when students don't eat the food they make because its ugly. How can we do better as teachers to be?

What about you? What have you brought back home that day? :)

Second Micro Teaching Session - Poultry

The second micro teaching session was our turn to teach! We were so nervous before the actual day! We had a trial session of our recipes the Friday before our lesson and our tutors, Mrs Stevenson and Ms Soo kindly gave us feedback and pointers to note for each of our dishes. It was too bad that the supplier could not procure duck meat for our lesson and therefore our poultry dishes had to be limited to all chicken dishes. Our three dishes are Tandoori Chicken Waffle Club (Candice), Chicken Lasagna Rolls (Atiqah) and Chicken Meatloaf Muffins (me). The dishes were all prepared to suit children as our theme for the presentation was CIRCUS PARTY! :)

So here are our three recipes:

Tandoori Chicken Waffle Club

Yields 3 servings

Ingredients for Tandoori Chicken

200g small chicken breast ¼ onion
62.5g plain yoghurt 1 clove of garlic
½ tbsp vegetable oil 1 slice of ginger
1 tsp of lemon juice ¾tbsp garam masala
2 ripe tomatoes, sliced ½tbsp chili powder
1tbsp mayonnaise ½tsp salt
3pieces of lettuce leaves

Ingredients for Waffle/ Pancake

65g all purpose flour ½ large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 tsp baking powder 120ml milk
1/8 tsp salt 14g unsalted butter

Method: Tandoori Chicken

1. Cut chicken into 4 small pieces. Wash and pat dry the meat. Prick the flesh with a fork and cut deep slashes.
2. In a bowl, mix yoghurt, lemon juice and salt.
3. Chop the onions, garlic and ginger. Add in chilli powder and garam masala.
4. Add the chicken and mix well with the marinade.
5. Cover and leave it aside for 30 minutes.
6. After 30 mins, brush aluminium tin with vegetable oil. Grill chicken at 180 °C for 15 minutes.

Method: Waffle Mix

7. Melt the butter in a microwave for about 40 seconds.
8. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg and milk.
9. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture, all at once. Stir until combined then add in melted butter.
10. Brush the waffle maker with butter.
11. Add in a portion of the batter, swirl it till it forms a thin circle.
12. To assemble, divide lettuce leaves and place between 2 waffles.
13. Brush with honey mustard sauce. Top each with a spoonful of chicken mixture followed by the sliced tomatoes.

Chicken Lasagna Rolls

Ingredients

170g chicken breast meat
3/8 teaspoon chili powder
3/8 teaspoon ground cumin seeds
9g olive oil
Pepper to taste
3 lasagna sheets
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon oil
Shredded chicken meat
20g black beans
20g corn
20g red and green bell pepper, finely dice
20g onion chopped
1/3 teaspoon cilantro, finely chopped
2 teaspoon vegetable oil
50g mozzarella cheese
1½ cup pasta sauce

Directions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 150oC. Score the chicken and marinate with chili powder, cumin seeds, olive oil and pepper. Wrap the bowl with cling film and put aside for 20 minutes. 

2. Fill in the pan half-full with water and boil. Add in salt and oil. Once the water boil add in the lasagna sheets. Boil the lasagna until al-dente. Remove and dip into cold water before placing it on the plate. 

3. Heat 2 tspn vegetable oil in a frying pan. Brown the marinated chicken meat for about 3-5 minutes on each side on medium heat. Remove from pan and let it cool. Do not throw the oil. 

4. Chop the onions. Brunoise the red and green bell pepper. Finely chop the cilantro. 

5. Shred the cooled chicken meat and heat up the pan with the oil from step 3. Once heated add in black beans, corn, peppers, onion and cilantro into the frying pan. Stir the mixture for 3 minutes on medium heat. Remove and put aside. 

6. Lay one lasagna sheet on a chopping board. Put a generous amount of the filling on the edge of the lasagna. Do not over fill the lasagna. Drizzle a tablespoonful of pasta sauce on the filling.

7. Roll the lasagna slowly to avoid breakage of the sheets. Cut the lasagna into half and lay it in the aluminum tray. Repeat for the remaining lasagna sheets.

8. Once all lasagna sheets are in the aluminum tray, cover with half of the mozzarella cheese. Pour the remaining sauce onto the lasagna.

9. Bake the lasagna in the oven for 15 minutes. Take out the lasagna and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and bake for another 5 minutes or until cheese melts.

10. Cool and serve.

Chicken Meatloaf Muffins

Yields 6 muffins

Ingredients

150g raw ground chicken breast

½ egg

10g breadcrumbs

1 tbsp mix vegetables

1/8 tsp dried thyme

1/8 tsp oregano

1 garlic clove, minced

1 small onion, chopped

½ tsp salt

Dash of pepper

4 tbsp pasta sauce

45g parmesan cheese, grated

20g mozzarella cheese, shredded

Method

1.    Pre-heat the oven to 150^oC. Line a muffintin with aluminium muffin cups and set aside.

2.    In a large bowl, combine the ground chicken, egg, mixvegetables, breadcrumbs, thyme, oregano, garlic, onion, salt, pepper andcheddar cheese and lightly mix together. Do not over handle.

3.    Form the meat mixture evenly into the muffin cups.Spread the pasta sauce evenly over the tops of each muffin.

4.    Bake for 20 minutes and remove from the oven when theinner temperature of the muffins is at least 73^oC. Top each muffinwith about a tablespoon of shredded mozzarella cheese and then return to theoven for 2 to 3 minutes until the cheese is melted. 

We were lucky that everything went rather smoothly and the lesson went as planned, even when the class was instructed to be rowdy by Mrs Stevenson to make the classroom environment more authentic. Here're the feedback that the tutors gave us during our debrief session:

• Our voices were loud and clear.

• We provided good explanations for the questions raised by the "students".  

• It was good that we got the students to help us with some of the steps when demonstrating the recipes. It displays good teamwork! 

• Any points that we have missed out during the lesson can always be covered again in subsequent lessons. 

• Inform the class about how the food is portioned to avoid confusion during the practical. 

• There should be proper queuing system when students are collecting food. 

• The common ingredients in the three recipes can be collected together rather than separately. 

• Use food or ingredients that are already prepared to the point where we would like to demonstrate specific methods to the students. 

• Use ready-made food to show the desired final effect of the food. 

• It is always good practice to place a damp cloth under the bowl when mixing to provide stability. 

Definitely good pointers provided by both tutors and we'll take note of them in the future! This micro teaching session reminded me of my lessons in Chong Boon and how much I miss them! Practical sessions have always been fun for me and I believe I should allow the students to have fun during the lessons as much as possible (that's if they do not misbehave). :)

Anyway, the pictures of our children circus party are posted below. I made small party favours using the DIY paper bags that I've posted in the previous blog post. How can any party be complete without party favours right? Ms Soo has an adorable little trolley that she loaned to us and it was perfect for filling with all the party favours. Besides that, to add a special touch to the party, I made napkin bags containing the napkins and cutlery so that guests can pick them up individually. This certainly makes things more convenient in a buffet line, don't you think? Again this is another idea from my previous blog post and this is definitely one idea I will be using for my future house parties. Other items DIY-ed was the popcorn paper cups and also the muffin aprons! It was such a mad rush on the actual day of the micro teaching and I regret that I did not get any close up pictures of these items. I hope the pictures below suffice!

A lot of DIY went into the prep for me because it's something I enjoy doing in my free time. Its mid-semester break for the Home Economics course now and I'm taking this break in the course to catch up with assignments and also with my own wedding stuff. No guesses there I'm DIY-ing quite a few items too! I've made use of some of the techniques learnt during our textiles class to create presonalised gifts for my bridesmaids so stay tuned to that! :) 

Here's a picture of the overall set up. 

Our group! Finally at the end of our micro teaching lesson. Phew!

My meatloaf muffins with the cupcake aprons

Fruit punch bowl with my party favours

Popcorn and napkin bags!
Atiqah made adorable carnival tents for the dish names!

Another view of the set up!

PGDE-mates!

First micro teaching session - Vegetables!

We went through our first micro teaching session conducted by our classmates and the food commodity for the lesson was vegetables. It will always be a challenge to get students to be appealed by preparing dishes using vegetables as the main ingredient but I have to say Group 1 did a fantastic job of putting together three dishes that not the conventional dishes that come to mind when one mentions vegetables.

Here're the three recipes we used (all credits go to Group 1):

Vegetarian Pizza

Ingredients

Pizza dough:
11g dry yeast
1 tsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
125 g plain flour
3/4 cup warm water
1tbs olive oil

Pizza toppings:
1 tbs tomato paste
1/2 tbs dried basil
1 tomato, sliced
1/2 yellow capsicum, julienned
6 button mushrooms, sliced
3 tbs mozzarella cheese
6 pineapple cubes
1 tbs olive oil

Method

Pizza dough:

1. Combine 3/4 cup warm water, yeast, sugar and salt in a bowl. Whisk to dissolve.
2. Set aside in a warm place for 5 minutes or until bubbles appear on the surface.
3. Sift flour into a bowl. Add yeast mixture and oil. Mix to form soft dough.
4. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until elastic.
5. Cover with damp cloth. Place in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until dough has doubled in size.
6. After 15 to 20 minutes, punch the dough down using your fists. Knead on a lightly-floured surface until smooth.
7. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough evenly.
8. Cut out shapes on the dough using the cutter.
9. Mix the tomato paste with the dried basil and spread evenly on the pizza dough.

Toppings:

1. Arrange the toppings on the pizza dough.
2. Top with mozarella cheese.
3. Bake in the oven at 180oC for 15 to 20 minutes.

Eggplant Patty Bruschetta

Ingredients

1/2 medium eggplant, peeled and cubed

25g shredded cheddar cheese

25g Italian seasoned bread crumbs

1/2 egg, beaten

1 tsp dried parsley

1/2 small onion, chopped

1/2 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup vegetable oil for frying

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 french loaf, sliced into 6

2 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 lemon

6 cherry tomatoes for garnishing

Method

1. Place eggplant in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on medium-high for 3 minutes.
2. Turn eggplant over and microwave for another 2 minutes.
3. Drain any liquid from the eggplant and mash.
4. Combine cheese, bread crumbs, eggs, parsley, onion, garlic and salt with the mashed eggplant. Mix well.
5. Shape the eggplant mixture into approximately 6 patties.
6. Heat oil in a large skillet.
7. Drop eggplant patties one at a time into the skillet.
8. Fry each side of the patties until golden brown, approximately 3 minutes on each side.
9. Patties can also be frozen before frying and cooked later.

Carrot Cake

Ingredients

75g all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3g ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

70 g caster sugar

50g canola oil

1 large egg

100g peeled and grated carrots

25g coarsely chopped walnuts

Method

1. Preheat oven to 165oC.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon together in a medium bowl to blend.
3. Whisk caster sugar and oil using an electric mixer at low speed until the colour of the mixture turns lighter or pale yellow.
4. Add in the egg and mix for another 2 minutes.
5. Add in the flour mixture and fold until mixture is well-blended.
6. Stir in the walnuts and carrot.
7. Divide the mixture into 2 equal parts and our them into the 4-inch baking tins.
8. Bake at 165oC for 25 minutes.

And the verdict? All three recipes were awesome! The pizzas were shaped in stars and hearts - definitely appealing to the kids. The eggplant bruschetta tasted nothing like vegetables and in fact they could pass off as chicken bruschettas! The carrot cake was moist and tasty and adding the cream cheese filling and topping gave the cake the perfect finishing touches in terms of looks and flavour.
The group did up the theme presentation in terms of a garden party and this came about because the group felt that vegetables reminded them of nature and the great outdoors. Too bad I did not have a picture of their set up. But here's a picture of the food! :)