I have really enjoyed trying all of these new recipes this semester! I made a little collage to show everything I made, and I love looking at everything together. Overall I really loved this project and I am grateful that I had the chance to try so many new things!
Banana bread is so good at any time of the day! I love it for breakfast, I love it for a snack, I love it for dessert – and the list goes on! Last year I became obsessed with the chocolate banana bread from The Cove at UVic, and I wanted to try to recreating it!
This took me a little bit longer than some of my other recipes – but it was still very simple! I completely forgot to add the chocolate chips into the batter and so I had to push them in later. It worked out though and now I have banana bread for the week!
My Personal Ratings:
The Process: 8/10
I found this pretty simple! It was a bit tricky in my oven because the outside began getting dark a long time before the inside was cooked – and I started getting nervous that the outside would burn. However it ended up not being an issue and I’m very happy with the results!
The Taste: 10/10
Delicious! I’ve been loving having this all ready to go for really any time that I get hungry. It definitely lets me satisfy my banana bread craving without having to keep buying single pieces. I love warming it up in the microwave with some butter – or just grabbing some on my way out the door! I would definitely make it again!
This is a link to the recipe I referenced: https://www.noracooks.com/marinated-tofu/
Yesterday, I decided to cook tofu. Tofu is not something that I have a ton of experience cooking. I have thrown it into pasta and stir-fry many times, however I have not really focused on adding flavour to the tofu itself. I have seen my sister make it in many (delicious) ways and it always seems like a long process that I am just not patient enough to commit to. Due to this, I decided to try to find a simple enough method that I can make regularly.
I just looked up “simple tofu recipe”, and this marinated tofu recipe was one of the first things that popped up. I had a look and realized that, besides the tofu, I already had all of the ingredients! Immediately I was sold!
This recipe involved a lot of waiting (pressing the tofu + letting it soak), but I didn’t mind this too much because it gave me time to do homework and fold my laundry. I found that coming back and completing each step served as a good way to take breaks. While it technically took a long time to make – I spent most of my time doing other things.
Overall, I found the whole process very smooth! Each step was simple, and I love the way it turned out!
My Personal Ratings:
The Process – 8/10
I actually enjoyed making this! I honestly didn’t think that I would; I expected it to be too long and too boring to make. I really thought that I would make it just this once and then maybe again in months from now. However, I was completely wrong! This was relaxing and easy! I found it totally worth all of the time I spent waiting. I would recommend this as an easy way to make tofu and I will be making it again soon!
The Taste – 7.5/10
I love the flavour of this! Letting it soak in the marinade before cooking it really made a difference.
This week we talked about AI and how it relates to education. While it is scary (at least for me), it is here and there is no getting rid of it. I find it valuable to have these conversations because I like hearing what other future teachers have to say on this topic.
Early in this class we had a Menti brainstorm where we all supplied a few words that represent what we know about AI. I know that there are a lot of mixed feelings about AI out there – and this reflected that. Personally, I do think that it can be very helpful – however I recognize that there are many issues with it.
I think that my biggest takeaway from this class is the importance of celebrating human creativity. We should teach students to use AI in ways that are helpful and critical. However we must also place extra emphasis on the beautiful things that humans have created, are creating, and have the potential to create. We need to show our students that they are able to create amazing things themselves. Even though they can use AI to do creative work that does not mean that they should – nor that it can come close to doing what they are capable of.
Link to the recipe I referenced: https://www.atcoblueflamekitchen.com/en-ca/recipes-menus/recipes/black-bean-corn-burritos.html
This meal is one that I have been craving since I arrived back in Victoria following winter break. My mom makes something similar – and has told me that it is very simple to make. I am also a frequent customer at Chipotle (too frequent, honestly), and I have been wanting to try to make something like it at home for a while now – and this is where is meal came in.
If you were to click on the link and view the recipe I used, you would see that I did not follow it to a tee. For one, I did not make burritos (more on this later). Additionally, while I used most of the ingredients that they did, I did remove bell pepper – just because of personal preference. However, I did my best to follow their steps and most of the ingredients were there.
Now, the process of completing this recipe was honestly very simple. As I have stated previously, I am not much of a chef. However, this only took me a total of 45 minutes and I didn’t run into any challenges…until I tried to turn my bean-corn concoction into burritos. The tortillas that I had purchased were very small, and I was unfortunately unable to successfully build a burrito. However – I ended up creating burrito bowls and the following day I placed a tortilla under the stuffing (at the bottom of the bowl) which was delicious!
Here is the first bowl I made (without the tortilla). I added rice, cheese, avocado, and sour cream to my mixture:
My Personal Ratings:
The Taste – 8.5/10
This was absolutely delicious! I made enough to give me a week of leftovers and I truly never became tired of it. While I will tweak it slightly the next time I make it (more lemon juice, maybe make salsa as well?), I found this to be incredible. It was a lovely change for the usual 3 meals I make (I’m barely exaggerating), and I will definitely make it again soon!
The Process – 9/10
This was very quick and very easy! I can definitely see myself frequently, because not only did it take me very little time – but it also gave tons of leftovers. Additionally, none of the ingredients were expensive or hard to find, and the wiggle-room in the measurements meant that I didn’t have to waste anything. While I struggled with the burrito wrapping aspect – I enjoyed it as a bowl just as much as I would have as a burrito.
Overall – I loved this and I would highly recommend to anyone who was short on time but was looking for a delicious and satisfying meal.
In class this week we talked about the importance of representing information visually – as well as various tools we can use to make this possible.
While listening to this presentation, it became even more clear to me how helpful visuals are when presenting information. We looked at an explanation of how a bicycle pump works – first without an image and then with one. The explanation without the image honestly made no sense to me – and the simple additional of the image was able to make the explanation click. This is such an important reminder that including visuals in lessons makes a huge difference. Additionally, without the image, I found it considerably more difficult to focus on what was being said. By adding visuals to our lessons (and putting in the time so that they are actually helpful), we can make our lessons more engaging and increase the collective understanding of what we would like to get across.
We also looked at several tools for creating visuals. I am accustomed to Canva – I use it for every project that involves graphics. We looked deeper into Powerpoint and how we can use it to create visuals (and learned that we will likely be able to ask our students to do this too!). This was helpful to learn – especially considering that many of us (including me) will likely be using Powerpoint to create lessons. It was very helpful to learn about how to use it even more effectively.
Going forward, I will put even more effort into creating visuals when teaching. I truly understand that they make all the difference. I am also excited to be able to use Powerpoint as a tool for this!
Note: I created the banner on my website during this class – using Powerpoint!
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