ONE WEEK OFF :)

No way, we have a WHOLE week off.
Day before break a DISASTER. kids were nuts. But first round of parent teacher conferences went well! Had every parent show up :)

So now I have a whole week of and I'm soo pumped!

So of course I started by coooking. This morning made a delicious breakfast burrito with salsa mexicana:

Salsa: Roast-tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil. Blend and add lime, salt and pepper.
Burrito: Grill onion, peppers, tomato, spinach add in scrambled eggs.
-Top a delicious burrito.

Then as a 2nd course delicious gluten free and regular cinnamon buns with the left over icing from my margarita cupcakes this week :)


I've already eaten an embarrassingly amount of my gluten free ones but was able to give away some of the normal ones since Mark won't eat them cause he doesn't like sweets! Love my Allergen free Baker's Handbook.

So I've got 3 more days until we head to Wisconsin to his parent's lake house. I'm guessing more cooking will come, because it's what I love to do!

Leave you with a funny student conversation:

D-Ms. Gerlach did you eat your vegetables when you was a kid?
Me-Yes, I love vegetables, why?
D-Because you be so small!
Me-Actually, I'm just short, that's just how some people are. I love vegetables, I used to be a vegetarian.
D-(with some newfound understanding) Ohhh... so that be why you teach here at Kauffman?
Me-D, I don't think we get each other haha.

Homemade Pasta sauce to forget the nutso day

Sometimes I wonder if the things that happen at school are a movie.
I mean don't get me wrong, I think our school is quite put together and for things at a new charter that is so radical things are going well... but some things still shock me every day!

1. How many kids a day say "I hate you, I hate this school".
2. When a kid punches himself in the face
3. When a kid throws himself on the floor in spurts of doing the dead bug and then leaping through the hallway
4. Having to say STOP over 100 time in 20 minutes.

-Then a class that can make the whole day good :) Thanks North West :)

Then to end the day with this :


Delicious homemade pasta sauce:
-some cans of tomato
-tomato paste
-1/3 a bottle of tomato sauce
-fresh oregano, basil and minced garlic
-1 minced onion
-roasted peppers in olive oil
-hamburger meat
-garlic salt and pepper

I used it for dinner on this:


And tomorrow lunch:
Top a yam and add some garbanzos

Weekend of Cooking and Crafts :)

I will warn you.. the pictures aren't great because I took them on my ipod, but you get the gist :)

Like I said.. the Way I unwind after a long week is cook, and do crafts apparently :)

I started yesterday by attempting to make a good breakfast. Mark LOVES his dads hash browns, and after going to Whole Foods we had some delicious turkey bacon! So I was excited for a full course breakfast!



Now the hasbrowns turned to mush, because I got super distracted watching the Deacs play... and therefore they turned more into mashed potatoes, but that's ok. I also added that yum bacon and pumpkin french toast. And even mark liked it! (He doesn't like pumpkin)

Ingredients

* 3 eggs
* 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
* 1-3 tablespoon almond milk [or milk of choice]
* 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
* pinch of nutmeg
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 4 slices gluten-free bread
* optional – for sweetness, add 1-2 tbsp of brown sugar

Later in the afternoon I started crafting, while I continued watching the Deacs ALMOST beat Clemson . Made 2 wreaths :)





Later that day felt a sweet tooth so took another recipe from PINTEREST and made more pumpkin ( i love that stuff!) pumpkin chocolate chip brownies!

They were delicious and low cal!
http://pinterest.com/pin/145381894190672282/

Made chicken corn chili on the crock pot for dinner (wasn't too big a fan) So no picture or recipe included :)

This morning got up early again and got EXCITED for this new recipe i saw for "breakfast for dinner" I call it "Breakfast for breakfast"



That's a pancake topped with a fried egg, two slices of bacon, another pancake and carmelized apple maple syrup YUMMMM :)

http://www.rachaelraymag.com/Recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipe-search/rachael-ray-30-minute-meals/breakfast-for-dinner-pancakes

for recipe.

Today I have ambitions to walk my little pupppy the 60 degree weather IS WONDERFUL right now. And only 1 more week until there's an entire WEEK off from the school! :) SOOO excited.

I'm also going to make white sauce chicken pizza for dinner (made the dough yesterday) it is Pizza Sunday, and will maybe make some quinoa salad for lunches. Let's see how ambitious i get!!!!

I LOve the weekends.

Makeover Apple Streusel Coffee Cake

SO I made this for people at work, and was asked to share the recipe.

Coolest part, it's lower calorie than normal coffee cakes, and still delicious enough that my boss went back for 3rds (maybe forths?)


* 1/3 cup butter, softened
* 2/3 cup sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 2 cups all-purpose flour (or oat flour for gluten free)
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 cup greek plain yogurt
* (1/2 t xantham gum if gluten free)

TOPPING:
* 1/3 cup chopped oats (or walnuts)
* 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 2 medium tart apples, peeled and thinly sliced

If I were to make it again I might add more cinnamon and a little bit of salt, but people seemed to like it the way it was :)

New passion.. cooking

Ok, don't get me wrong, I truly believe in the education movement, and yes things are still going with my school... but it's more stressful and work than I could have imagined.... So my outlet, COOKING :)

Tonight I made this DELICIOUS Spanish Turkey Sandwich:
On a ciabatta roll (or for me normal gluten free bread)
-Aioli (1 egg yolk, 1 minced garlic, 1 T lemon juice 1 T water, 1 t mustard, salt and pepper)
-Pepper-almond relish (roasted peppers 1 cup, 1/3 cup almonds, 4 t olive oil, salt and pepper)
-Manchego cheese
-Roast turkey


SOOOO good. It made a pretty tough day with my kids alright.
THey are continuign to test, the school is hard for all of them (including us) it's a different kind of thing) BUTTTT this cooking thing is helping me get through.

As a side note, funny kid quote.
"HOW LONG DID YOU GUYS KEEP US HERE!" Was what a kid said today after he saw it was dark outside leaving school.. No sweetie that's daylight savings.. and at a school with no windows, where you get to school before sunlight, and leave after sunset, you get used to dark.