Presenting Marshmallow, Chicken Pot Pie, Daddy Walnut and Mrs Nobody

Our four chicks who hatched are now living in the safe side of the cage.  Little Miss Muffin and Goldie were a bit aggressive with them, so we made a partition to keep the baby chicks safe.
It is so hard to take photos of these active chicks.  But here are our four new additions to the Kindergarten class.

                                                                    Marshmallow

Chicken Pot Pie

                                                                    Mrs Nobody

                                                                Daddy Walnut

 When I came into class today to read a story and bring a snack I saw this awesome chart on the whiteboard.  The kids had all come up with names for the new chicks.  Each name was written down and as my daughter told me, they did a blind vote.  How cool!!  Some of these names are hilarious.

Diane could hold and play with these chicks all day.  This has been an amazing experience for her and the whole class.

Red Pepper Bruschetta

My oldest son is going to culinary school soon.  There are many benefits to his being a chef.  He can eat a dish from a restaurant and figure our the recipe and replicate it.  He can also create many awesome dishes from various ingredients.  He learns technique at work, and really has improved his cooking skills.  He also bring home lots of food that would otherwise be thrown away.
Yesterday he made a gorgeous Red Pepper Bruschetta that I want to share with you today.

Red Pepper Bruschetta
Ingredients:
One loaf of rustic Italian bread
Red peppers(the ones you typically find in an olive bar)
Fresh basil
Fresh mozzarella
Balsamic Glaze

1. Slice the bread and toast lightly.
2. Chop the red peppers into small pieces and take out any seeds.
3. Chop the basil into small pieces.
4. Slice the mozzarella into thin pieces.
5. Take out the toasted bread.  Press the mozzarella onto each slice, followed by some red pepper and some basil.  Bake at 425 for 5-10 minutes. Watch carefully for it to just get bubbly, not burnt.
6. Drizzle the balsamic glaze on top of each piece.
7. Enjoy!

Hatching Chickens!

Our chicks have hatched!!
We had a live feed webcam that the class could watch last night and it was amazing to see the little chick pecking his way out of the shell.  We were able to see chick #2 come out at 6 am as we got ready for school.  So exciting~
The kids just love watching them hatch and the parents do too!

You can see two of the chicks newly hatched. They are drying off in the incubator and after 48 hours they can join Goldie and Little Miss Muffet who are growing really big each day!

Growing up

Little Miss Muffin and Goldie left our Kindergarten class to visit the First Grade for the day.  They sent us two really cute pictures!!  They are growing so fast and have a real personality already.  We are still counting down to our chick eggs hatching!

Choose your flavor Quinoa Muffins

I love to have healthy snacks on hand, a go to protein packed quick pick.  Quinoa is an awesome way to add health and protein to the kids diet.  I have posted a quinoa cookie with chocolate chips before, but today I am sharing with you a Quinoa muffin.
Once or twice a week I make quinoa in my rice machine. This way I have cooked quinoa ready for recipes, stir fries, or to mix in to a recipe.
The muffins I made today would be great with any berry (blueberry, cranberry, raspberry, blackberry) fresh or frozen, whatever is on sale!  Whatever flavors your kids enjoy.  You can also use a nut, or a chocolate chip of any kind.  One son hates chocolate chips, and only likes white chips.
Today we offer for your snacking pleasure:
White Chocolate Chip Quinoa Blueberry Muffins

1 cup cooked quinoa
2 cups flour ( we used sprouted wheat)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp orange zest
1 cup milk (we used almond coconut milk)
2 TB cornstarch
1/2 cup Orange Juice
1/4 cup coconut oil or applesauce
2 cups total of added items to include nuts, coconut, berries, or chips

Preheat to 350 degrees
In a large bowl mix 1 cup quinoa(cooked) with 2 cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 cup sugar, and 2 tsp orange zest.
In a small measuring cup whisk 1 cup milk and 2 TB cornstarch
Add the wet to the dry.
Stir very gently.
Add the 1/2 cup OJ, and the coconut oil.
Fold in the berries, nuts, chips, etc...
Bake for 25 minutes.

Spread some peanut butter on it and enjoy with some cold milk.

Before I go, wanted to share a quick picture of Goldie, the chicken who is in my daughter's class.  Goldie and Little Miss Muffin, as they were named by the class are growing so much every day.  It is amazing.  When I went into class yesterday to snap a quick pic, I think Goldie was posing for me.

Stay tuned for the eggs to hatch soon!!!

The chicks are so cute!!

The chicks are a huge hit in our Kindergarten class. I am not sure the kids are able to concentrate on much else.  Maybe next week the excitement will settle down a bit?

The kids love feeling how soft the chicks are.  They are just too cute, sleeping under the heat lamp.

And here are our 7 eggs incubating.  One is a special blue hen.  Stay posted for more chick updates!

Milestones

As my children grow older, I find myself trying to remember specific milestones.  My memory is spotty though as I age. But this weekend will be a big milestone for my middle child.
Being the middle one is a fun position. I was the oldest and I always felt in charge.  I still like to think I am in charge, even though I am losing some ground as the kids get older.
My middle son, Noah, turned 13 last week and will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah this weekend.  His Bar Mitzvah comes with more responsibility and tons of hard work.  Noah studied with my Dad for the past two years.  He worked very hard and his hard work will show this weekend.  I barely remember Noah as a baby.  In this picture Noah is 2 hours old.  I blinked and here we are 13 years later.

As I have written here before, Noah and his older brother suffer from an auto-immune illness called POTS(Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome). This illness has a huge effect on both of their daily lives.  Noah is raising money for research into developing a cure for POTS.  If you would like to make a donation(no donation is too small!) you can go to this link https://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/noahlafountain/noahlafountainsbarmitzah 

This week is also exciting because spring  is finally here! It took a while, and we are still wearing jackets and long sleeves off and on, but when our trees bloom, we know spring cannot be far off.

This winter was brutal, many storms, tons of snow, really cold temperatures, and sky high heating bills.  But spring is here and we will enjoy it, until it gets too hot HA!
I will be posting over the next month some photos of the chicken hatching I won from teachmama a few weeks ago.  Diane's class is going to be hatching chicks as well as observing and taking care of two chickens.  The kids are so excited.  It will be a wonderful learning experience for them.

If you are local to Maryland and you want to hatch some chicks or have backyard hens yourself, please contact Rent-A-Coop! They have been wonderful to work with and our Kindergarten class will show you how much fun the chicks are.