Smoothies

Like lots of people, I'm a grumpy zombie in the morning. Now that work is starting up again, and I have the added annoyance of giving insulin to my cat in the morning, I'm thinking of ways to streamline my AM routine. I already make my lunch, shower, and set out my clothes at night. One more thing I can do the night before is make a smoothie (or, better yet, make a few on a Sunday evening). I find smoothies are pretty foolproof when you have a combination of sweet/tart fruit and something milky as a base. It's easy to hide nutrient rich kale in one of these fruit smoothies, and they really keep me more satisfied than most breakfast foods. When I ate cereal for breakfast, I was dying for a snack while I was teaching at 10am. I took one of these with me to a meeting this summer, and I was so full I completely ignored the tempting table of free snacks. So, with these smoothies, I think I'll make it all the way to lunchtime. You can lose the kale if you're out or it freaks you out but, seriously, you don't taste it.

VEGAN SMOOTHIE FOR ONE

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1/2 cup frozen fruits (right now, I'm using berries and mangos) 

1/2 frozen banana, cut up (you can run this under hot water for about 30 seconds to peel and chop into chunks-- don't worry if some of the stringy part gets in: fiber!)

A big handful (about 1/2 cup) of kale, chopped
OPTIONAL: 1 tbsp. chia seeds (I haven't tried these yet: I have them in my cabinet and will give 'em a go tomorrow... they're the latest "superfood," loaded with protein and fiber. They're also, apparently, a natural thickener). 

Blend! I'm using an immersion blender right now; I've also used my food processor. 

I ordered up a bunch of these Mason jars, which freeze and refrigerate, and plan on making a few at a time. I think these will also transport well. 

Lunches

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are, I'm slightly embarrassed to admit, a mainstay in my lunch bag. But this year, I'm hoping to diversify my lunch box with things that are tastier and pack more of a nutritional punch. I figure if I post my ideas here, maybe I'll actually make something other than PB&J.

Today, I'm eating a sandwich of hummus, alfalfa sprouts, and Irish cheddar... slighly more grow-up, but equally easy. Tonight, I'm going to cook up a batch of my mom's chickpea salad.

MOM'S GARBANZO SALAD RECIPE
My mom whips up a batch of this when she's feeling diet-y. I think it'll make a great lunch, maybe with some crackers and fruit on the side. I'm going to make a batch that serves four and take it for a couple days.

Just combine and let marinate:

1 can chickpeas/garbanzos
2 stalks celery, diced
2 smallish tomatoes, chopped
celery seed, salt, pepper, to taste
your favorite vinaigrette (mine is 2 parts red wine vinegar, 1 part olive oil, a little mustard and honey, shaken up in a mason jar)

Super yummy, full of good fiber and protein.

I also want to cook my way through Cooking Light's vegetarian sandwich list and Fig Tree blog's vegetarian lunch ideas.

Fairy Tales and Fantasy Literature

This syllabus is in progress! Check it out here.

I'm still trying to build on my list of  books students can read independently, and looking for short texts that exemplify the hero and heroine's journeys.

Feel free to share feedback and utilize material as needed.

Promises, promises

This is my last real week of vacation!

Chris and I will take the long walk from our apartment to the cheap matinee (though I still think $8 isn't cheap...) at the theater on Prospect Park West to see Elysium. Tomorrow, Brooklyn Botanic Gardens with mom and an exciting dinner with a reporter acquaintance to work on my investigative journalism course. Chris goes back to school Thursday, and I have a Common Core Fellows meeting that evening, thus ending our blissful life as stay-at-home cat parents.

Next week, I have a load of meetings at my new school to get everything up and running... yipes!

In the interest of daily posting, and maybe engendering some accountability (in both blogging and course planning), here are some of the things I will promise to post this week:

• my fairy tales/fantasy lit syllabus
• my investigative journalism syllabus and rubrics 
• a post (or a rant) about curriculum planning with the Common Core Fellows team after we meet Thursday
• something food-related (maybe on some of my ideas to be able to afford to eat well, since Chris will be student teaching and we'll be living on one income for a few months)

Please feel free to offer ideas/advice on course plans (and on anything else)!

First Post!

This is what I wish I looked like while juggling life and lesson planning. The reality is probably far less adorable. But one can dream, yes? I've tried blogging before and found myself miserable at it. Writing on one topic is dreary, blogging is time consuming, and I'm often too self-conscious to be honest (or to publicize my blog). That may happen again, but I hope not. I'm not limiting my topics here, so if you stumble on this page, you might read about anything from high school lesson planning, to TV/movies/books, to tonight's dinner. I'm going to try and post something every day to impose some writerly discipline on myself... forgive me if it's self-indulgent, but that's the point of these things, yes? Hopefully someone but me, and those who indulge me, will enjoy reading my musings.