A fun project for Secondary Ones!

Who says lessons have to just the teacher talking and the students listening?

Recently, our group was tasked to create a five-week Scheme of Work (SOW) for a Lower Secondary class and we decided on creating one for Secondary One Express. This immediately reminded me of my Secondary One classes this year and of the first project I did with them - 3D Healthy Diet Pyramid (HDP)! It was a lot of hands-on and art and craft work but I believe that through the group work, they managed to learn about the HDP all by themsleves!
Disclaimer: This is not an excuse for me to slack in class. Of course there was some introduction to the HDP and explanations on how the different levels work, etc. And during my December holidays, I made a sample too (see below).

So its acutally quite simple, just follow these simple steps:

1. Print the template below (A3 size is better than A4, otherwise your pyramid will be very small).
2. Cut out the template.
3. Decorate the different levels with the relevant information and food groups.
4. Fold along the lines.
5. Apply some glue to the tabs and stick them together.

Viola you are done! Simple right? :)

When Cooking Dinner is A Matter of Life and Death

When Cooking Dinner is a Matter of Life and Death

I chanced upon this article while doing my daily news read. It brings to mind how lucky we are to be in this part of the world where not only do we enjoy the material comforts of having gas brought to our flats so that we don't have to use charcoal for cooking purposes, accessibility to a microwave oven to cook or heat our food easily, we can also easily get a wide variety of food at fast food outlets, food courts and other F&B establishments.

Very often than not, we are so used to our lifestyle that we are oblivious to the fact that this is not the case in many developing countries and we take what we have for granted. Being an educator and especially a Home Economics teacher, I take it that it is my responsibility to be aware about such disparities in the world and to bring in some of these real-work facts for the students.

Hopefully this will make our students more appreciative of the smallest of the comforts that they enjoy in this privileged part of the world.

Our First Food and Nutrition Practical Session

We had our first practical session today and on the menu was mini beef burger with coleslaw! Through this practical, we learnt some basic cutting techniques like julienne, brunoise (dicing), chiffonade (shredding) and mincing. It was an interesting experience to work in a top-of-the-art foods laboratory.

 

Here're the recipes that Mrs Stevenson provided:

Coleslaw

 Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

1/2 cabbage

1/2 green capsicum

A stem of celery

1/2 large onion

1 carrot

4 tbsp low fat mayonnaise
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp raisins
1/2 red apple

Method

1. Shred cabbage.
2. Julienne green pepper and carrot.
3. Dice celery and red apple.
4. Brunoise onion.
5. Toss cut vegetables and raisins in a mixing bowl with low fat mayonnaise and lemon to mix well. Chill in salad bowl before serving.

Mini Burgers

 Makes about 6 to 8 mini burgers

Ingredients
150g minced chicken
150g minced beef
25g bread crumbs
1/4 large onion
1 tbsp tomato sauce
1 egg
Pepper and salt
1 tsp Wostershire
3 hotdog buns
2 slices of cheese
1-2 tbsp cooking oil

Method

1. Brunoise the large onion.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine minced chicken, beef and onions; season mixture with tomato sauce, Wostershire sauce, pepper and salt.
3. Mix meat mixture with bread crumbs and beaten egg to combine.
4. Divide combeined meat mixture into 6 to 8 portions (about the size of the palm) and shape into burger patties and place on a preparation plate.
5. Grease frying pan with 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil and heat on low-med flame.
6. When pan is heated, place meat patties on and cook each side for about 3 to 5 minutes before flipping. Ensure meat is cooked thoroughly and place a slice of cheese on each patty to melt the cheese slightly before removing from pan.
7. Cut hot dog buns into 3 sections and stack cooked meat patty in between.
8. Serve with a side of coleslaw.

Here're some pictures from today:

Our colourful ingredients

Shredding the cabbage

 

Practicing the julienne technique.

Done!

And while our coleslaw was chilling in the fridge, we worked on our mini burgers.

Ready to be cooked!
TIP 1: It is important to note that we should not press on the patties while they are being cooked to prevent loss of juices from the patties, which will ensure that the patties turn out juicy and tasty.
TIP 2: Place the slices of cheese on the patties just before removing them from the pan so that the cheese will be slightly melted.

Viola! Our finished products! :)