Student Teaching – Week 1

I survived my first week of student teaching!!  And it went well!!  Granted, it was only 3 days…    I am still pretty anxious, but if I know exactly what I plan to do and talk about each day, then I feel better.  I know that sounds strange…I should ALWAYS know what I’m planning on doing each day, but in a classroom where the teacher already has set procedures, it takes some time to get used to how things are set up.  One of the most important things I need to remember is that I should think as if it is my classroom and I am the only teacher.  “What do I expect from my students?”  “What do I want my students to learn today?”

Day 1:  We had in-service, so I was able to meet all the other high school and middle school music teachers in the KCK district.  We talked a lot about writing and how we can help our students with their writing skills.  Before we went to lunch at a Chinese Buffet, I ran into two of my friends from UMKC who are teaching in the KCK district now!  They are both elementary teachers, so they were in a separate room than we were for in-service, but I ran into them in the hallway as I was leaving.  It was such a wonderful surprise!  We spent the rest of the day at Sumner Academy planning for the first couple of days of classes.

Day 2:  We were team-teaching most of the day, which I thought worked out very well.  It felt a little rocky for me at first, but I felt successful and I was excited to hear the students vocalize for the first time.    We are going to have GREAT singers in the choirs this semester.

Day 3:  The third day went even better!  I started to become more comfortable and since the first two days were block days, we taught the same lessons.  It was a great wrap-up to the first week.

I had a pretty busy week.  I also purchased a new phone this week!  It was incredibly exciting!  I got the Samsung Galaxy Glide.

I absolutely LOVE it!  I cannot stop playing with it.

‘Tis the time to make New Year’s resolutions…well, you could say I make resolutions, but they are more like “new beginnings.”  I love fresh starts, so I have many wonderful plans and goals for the year.  A couple years ago I did a wonderful job at changing my eating habits and exercise regiment.  Well, I fell out of that at some point in time and I would like to get back to it.  …I cannot say I’ve been doing well.  I think it’s going to take me a little more time to transition my eating and exercising habits than I expected, but I know I can do it.

I did have an interesting first time at a restaurant called Grinders, downtown.  They are known for their Philly sandwiches and were featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.  Well, since I am trying to eat better, I steered clear of the Philly, burgers, and fried food.  I decided to do the lunch special of half salad, half curried chicken sandwich…or at least I thought I read sandwich.  It actually said curried chicken “salad.”  So how does that change it completely for me?  It’s made with mayonnaise…and I dislike mayonnaise VERY much.  However, the spinach salad was amazing!

(Did I mention that I sat on the patio in January to eat this lunch?!  It was beautiful out!)

I was a “good girl,” though, and at least tried the sandwich.  It was as bad as I had expected, but I still didn’t care for it.  Next time…I should try a Philly.

As for my workout regiment?  I’ve  got a good start with 3 days at the gym this week and I’ve started using my old spreadsheet that I made a couple years ago.  I’ve also started using my Blender bottle that I got myself for Christmas.    My favorite protein shake I have made so far is 1 cup of almond (or soy) milk, 1 tablespoon of vegetable protein powder, and a couple squeezes of raw agave nectar.

I couldn’t get a picture of it quickly enough before I drank it all.    Opps!

This week is off to a slow, but great start and I’m excited to see how things continue. 

Hello, 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I realize that I have been MIA for almost a year!  Things have been crazy and I’ve just been trying to keep up.    The past year in a nutshell?  I’m not sure I can do that…but I can try!

ACDA Convention in Chicago, IL

The Packers won the Superbowl!!

Tyler’s nephew, Loki McClintock, was born!

I opened my first voice studio…

Tyler and I had our yearly trip to Denver…

(Pesto chicken pizza)

(Cactus burrito)(Rosemary roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and vegetables)(Dried fruit)

…and our yearly trip to Wisconsin…

I also took an Orff Level 1 course for teaching.  It was a wonderful two weeks and I met some great friends.

I began Title Boxing, this summer.  It is so much fun!  Here is my Title Boxing attitude…

And lets not forget about the many amazing cookouts by the poolside!!

Once the school semester began, I was pretty tied up finishing my last semester of course work.

Of course, there is always a break for Halloween!  (Tyler and I were salsa dancers at my sister’s yearly Halloween party.)  I baked ghost white chocolate and oreo truffles, as well as bleeding pumpkin muffins with cinnamon glaze.

And I had my Senior Voice Recital.  (Cupcakes made by Hazel Brown.)

Goodbye 2011, and hello to 2012!

Things to look forward to:

Student teaching

Meal Planning Sundays

Graduation

Moving

Job Searching

Farmer’s Market Adventure/Great Day Cafe/Dinner

It’s Farmer’s Market season!  I’m so happy!  My sister and I love going to the Farmer’s Market together.  We usually sacrifice a Saturday morning at the gym to hit the market.    Her favorite is the Lawrence Farmer’s Market, but we decided to check out something a little closer to home this time.  We went to the Farmer’s Market in downtown Overland Park.

It was definitely a chilly morning.  One of those mornings where you are ready for summer, but it’s not here yet…ugh.  None-the-less, we had a great time!  I was offered a cup of coffee from the Great Day Cafe tent.  Some of the best coffee, in my opinion.  And I got a huge cup for only $2!  We meandered around.  We first bought some fresh bread – I got Rosemary and Olive Oil.  Then we stopped by Pappardelle’s tent and bought some pasta.  I bought Garlic Chive shell pasta and Whole Wheat Fettuccine.  Is your mouth watering yet?    My sister also picked up some very green lettuce, which she split with me.

We were thinking of going to First Watch for breakfast, but I suggested we try the Great Day Cafe, which was right by the Farmer’s Market.  I am SO glad we did that!  I have a new favorite breakfast place.    This very artsy cafe is right up my alley.  I even noticed that they have a hummus plate on their lunch menu.  You place your order at the register, pay, and they bring you your food.  Instead of taking our name or giving us a number, they gave us a wind-up toy!  It was so cute!

I had to take a picture of their cute table settings.  The little drummer dog was our wind-up toy.  They had a live flower at each table and look at those salt and pepper shakers!  Are they not adorable?!

I ordered granola with strawberries, bananas, and soymilk.  I don’t usually eat granola, but this was just wonderful!

I also ordered a side of potatoes.  They were cooked with peppers and onions.  mmMMM!!

I took Tyler to Great Day Cafe the following weekend.  We went later in the morning and there was an amazing musician playing – Great Day Greg -  who also co-owns the restaurant.  I watched him play the clarinet, saxophone, flute, piccolo, harmonica, and the soprano saxophone all in the same song!

I couldn’t wait to cook what I bought at Farmer’s Market.  I made Tyler and I a great pasta dinner.  It was really nice because it wasn’t a lot of work, like most meals I make. 

I found some adorable dishes.  It wasn’t a special occasion, but I thought they were cute. 

I used olive oil with garlic salt and basil as a dipping sauce for bread.  I also had Pandora playing on my computer – my Fiona Apple station.

For our pasta, we used a garlic olive oil for a sauce.  It was so wonderful. 

I was happy that I could make it feel like an Italian restaurant in my kitchen.

Broccoli-Edamame Soup

I found this amazing recipe in Vegetarian Times Magazine, thank you to my wonderful friend, Amber Shea.  The original recipe is made with jumbo goad cheese croutons, so my plan was to leave that out.  However…I just HAPPENED to have frozen my leftover Rosemary Olive Oil bread from the Farmer’s Market.  The bread helped make the meal.    Great idea, on my part.

Ingredients:

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth

1 1/2 cups frozen shelled edamame

1/2 lb broccoli, trimmed, stems and florets chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

Bread of choice (not wheat)

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat and add the onion and nutmeg.  You can season it with salt and pepper, if you like.

The original recipe says to saute for 10 minutes, but since this is only half of the original recipe, saute until onions are soft.  Stir in 1/2 cup broth, scrapping the bottom of the pot to lift off any brown bits.

Add the remaining 2 1/2 cups of broth, edamame, broccoli, and garlic.

Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and arrange bread of your choice on a baking sheet.  (I do not recommend wheat bread because it is too sweet for this meal.  A baguette, french bread, or a rosemary olive oil bread – which is really the best.)  Bake for 6 minutes, or until crunchy on both sides.  Remove from oven and set aside.

If you have a Cuisinart Smart Stick, that is really the way to blend this meal.  The original recipe suggests transferring batches of soup to a blender.  But I suggest you just buy a Cuisinart Smart Stick because you will find is SO handy.  This one in particular is actually my mother’s, so if she doesn’t end up giving it to me, I’m definitely going to have to purchase my own. 

Blend until creamy and smooth.  Return pot to stove and warm over low heat.

Soup is served!!  I really enjoyed using my bread to dip in the soup.  It was delicious.  I only made half of the original recipe for Tyler and I and we STILL had PLENTY of leftovers!  I knew I was going to be cooking other meals during the week, so I went ahead and froze what was left.

*Note:  I defrosted the soup this evening and ate it for dinner.  I can tell you it is JUST as good as when it was fresh!  But that was also how I found out that wheat bread does not mix well with the recipe.    I hope you get a chance to try this meal!  It’s delicious.

Summer is Here!

I cannot believe summer is finally here!  I thought it would never come!  This past year was the busiest I have ever experienced.  I can’t tell you how many times I changed my mind about what I wanted to do with my life.  But everything seems smooth sailing from here on out. 

There are so many things that happened this year that I must talk about, but I will start with something that’s happening right now.  I decided (once again) to go vegetarian.  I am still eating eggs, however.  So Vegetarian-Ov0, is what I have decided upon.  Things are going alright.  Sometimes I forget that I’ve gone Vegetarian!  Not that I order meat, I just happened to not eat much meat since before I went vegetarian, that I don’t always notice the difference.  Why go vegetarian?  I find that I experience and find more variety in foods when eating vegetarian.  And yes, I am an animal lover, but that does not affect what I eat.  I’ve tried many new vegetarian meals that you will hear about in later posts.

On Mother’s Day, my sister and I always do the Mother’s Day Walk in Overland Park.  It was such a beautiful day for a walk.  My sister was enjoying herself…

…and was I!

Last night I had an amazing choir concert with Gratus.

There is a story behind Gratus.  One of the grad students at UMKC put together this little group for her doctoral recital.  We had our first concert in March, I believe.  We all enjoyed it so much that we begged her to have another recital.  So she brought us together and within a month, we put on another concert.  If I knew how to post music in my blog, I would definitely put some up.  It is almost impossible to describe how music can make you feel when singing with others and how connected you can become with each person as well as the conductor.  You have to experience it for yourself.  And it is always amazing when you can give your audience that same feeling through your music.  I am so thankful to have been a part of Gratus.  Perhaps there will be another concert in the Fall!  I will let you know. 

The summer gets even better because….

I’m opening my first voice studio!!  I’m really excited and even though I only have one student so far, I look forward to expanding.    If you know anyone who lives in the Overland Park, Kansas area and think they are interested in taking voice lessons, contact me!

I hope your summer is off to as good of a start as mine!

Pesto Week

It is very seldom you can go to a grocery store and find a jar of pesto bigger than an egg.  I like to make pasta with pesto sauce, so I always want more than a tiny jar.  The problem once I buy the large jar?  I have leftover pesto that I pray does not go bad…  SO, a couple weeks ago, I created several meals during the week using my pesto sauce. 

Pesto Hummus

This is simple.  Just make your hummus like normal, only use pesto sauce instead of Tahini!  (*Note:  You may not need to use your normal amount of salt because the Pesto is pretty salty.)

Serve with some pita chips or fresh veggies!

I also made a baked potato and put pesto sauce on it instead of butter and salt.  It was quite delicious!  I also made some spinach pasta and made a cold pesto pasta salad to take with me for lunch.

Tyler and I went for pizza at Waldo’s Pizza one night and since there was such a long wait, they served a small appetizer:  pizza crust with pesto, a tomato slice and mozzarella cheese.  I am not usually a fan of tomatoes, but this was amazing!  I plan to make those as an appetizer some time (if I ever have a dinner party).  I did not realize how many meals you could make with pesto sauce.    However, I probably won’t be eating pesto sauce for a while.  Hee hee.

Tortellini Primavera

Tortellini Primavera is one of Tyler’s favorite meals that I make.  I must share it with you.  I found it in Eating Well magazine, but I modified it.  When I first made it, I modified it because I did not have all the ingredients.  Tyler and I like it so much, so this is how I always make it now!

Ingredients:

14-oz. can vegetable broth

2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

3+ cloves garlic, minced

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 Tbsp oregano

1/8 tsp salt

16-oz. bag frozen mixed veggies

16-0z. package frozen cheese tortellini

Boil a large pot of water.  Whisk broth and flour in a small bowl.  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic and cook, stirring until just beginning to brown, 1 to 2 minutes.  Add the broth mixture to the pan, bring to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, about 3 minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in cheese, oregano and salt.  Add the veggies and tortellini to the boiling water.  Return the water to a simmer and cook until the veggies and tortellini are tender, 3 to 5 minutes.  Drain.  Add to the pan with the sauce and stir to coat.

My mouth is watering just looking at this picture!  If you like, you can top your tortellini with some shredded mozzarella cheese.

This meal was made with frozen peas, since I was out of frozen mixed veggies.  I hope you try it!  It’s to die for!

Sahara Restaurant

They put a new restaurant in by my school called Sahara.  It’s a Middle Eastern Restaurant.  I was sad that it replaced a chocolate store, but did not hesitate to try it out!  I’ve been there a few times with my friend Jessica and the first time, we both tried the hummus plate.

Which was served with a basket FULL of pita…:)

The hummus wasn’t my favorite, but it wasn’t bad.  The next time we went, we tried falafel, which I had never had before.  It…was…AMAZING!!

The sauce in the middle is a cucumber sauce and it is a great refreshing flavor that adds to the falafel.  I am definitely going to find a recipe to make this.

The last time I went, I wanted to try their lentil soup.

It was very good!  I am so glad I have tried so many different things there, but I falafel is my absolute favorite and ever since I have tried it, I have gotten it.    (I got it with my soup, also.)

I definitely recommend this restaurant (51st and Oak in KCMO)!  Give it a taste!

Birthday Week

This week was my Spring Break from school, however it didn’t feel much like a Spring Break.  I am sad that it is almost over, though.  I started my Spring Break by celebrating my birthday last Saturday.  My birthday was really this past Tuesday, but I had dinner followed by drinks at my place last Saturday.  It was pretty fun!  We ate dinner at Old Chicago.

(Left to Right:  Tyler, Me, and my Mom)

After dinner, we headed to my house where a few more people met us.  One of my dearest friends, Amber, made a delicious dessert for me for my birthday!

It is a raw vegan lemon cream tart with raspberry coulis.  It was so yummy, I don’t even know how to describe it.  The consistency was smooth and it had just the right amount of sweet against tart.  Amber will be putting this recipe in her cookbook when it comes out!  I will definitely let you know when her cookbook will be coming out!

The rest of my week was a bit of a bum.  I worked 9am to 5pm Monday and Wednesday and spent most of Tuesday following my middle school teacher to a meeting about their 7th grade general music classes.  But Tuesday evening, Tyler took me to dinner at Garozzo’s Italian Restaurant.  It was awesome.  We shared a combination plate of toasted cheese and meat raviolis and I had a side Cesar salad minus any dressing.  For our meals, Tyler enjoyed their Spedini special (3 different kinds of chicken spedini) and I enjoyed a meat and cheese lasagna with a glass of Shiraz.  I did not finish my lasagna so that I would have room for dessert.    We shared a Tiramisu for dessert.  It was the best Tiramisu I have ever had.  It was moist and flavorful.  And Tyler got me wonderful gifts, as well.

Look at that BLING!  Ha, I actually joked with him about getting me “bling.”  But they are beautiful and I love them.  And I will surely be using the Victoria’s Secret gift card soon.  I spend too much money there. 

I’m finishing my Spring Break week with two days off (Thursday and Friday), which consisted of studying and shopping….and COOKING!    Tonight I am making a delicious homemade pizza (TB-Posted Soon).

Black bean and Rice Dinner

Black bean and Rice Dinner

1 cup water

1 cup brown rice (instant)

1 can (15 oz.) black beans

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp curry powder

1 Tbsp garlic powder

2 pinches of cayenne pepper

3 pinches of sesame seeds

Bring the water to a boil, then add the rice.  Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes, covered.  Meanwhile, pour the beans into a small pot (do not rinse the beans) and put on medium heat.  Add the spices to the beans and stir to combine.

Cook for about 10 minutes.  Scoop yourself some rice on a plate, top it with the beans (I spooned on a some of the liquid, as well, for extra flavor), then sprinkle on some sesame seeds.  It tasted great and it’s healthy!  Just the right amount of spice, but I did sprinkle a little more salt on top.

And I must not forget to talk about the wine I drank while cooking this dinner!  It is a Merlot from California called Leese-Fitch.

Leese-Fitch has the great, mild taste of a Merlot, but with almost a sweet after taste.  It was quite delectable!  I definitely recommend it!