On the Menu

Hey there! Hope everyone who has the day off is truly enjoying their day off in remembrance of a GREAT man! I wonder what our lives would be like without Martin Luther King Jr. 


Any who, I have spent the morning grocery shopping and getting the oil changed on my car. The shopping was in preparation for the meal planning I have done for the week. What's on the menu this week? For lunch we will be having the Candied Pecan, Apple, and Gorgonzola Salad from The Girl Who Ate Everything. I love that blog and have found some great treats and healthy options because of her great blog! For our dinners I have altered a recipe that I found on Skinnytaste. (I felt I wanted some more veggies and also, a few more spices!!!) Here's my version of a crock pot veggie turkey chili.


Crock Pot 3 Bean Turkey Chili Ala Simone
Servings: 12 

• 1.3 lb (20 oz) fat free ground turkey breast
• 1 bag of onion, chopped
• 3 bell peppers, seeded and chopped, any color will do (i used red, yellow, and orange)
• 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (16 oz) can tomato sauce
• 1 (4.5 oz) can chopped chilies, drained
• 1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, undrained
• 1 (15.5 oz) can black beans, undrained
• 1 (15.5 oz) can kidney beans, undrained
• 2 tbsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Topping:

• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro for topping
• shredded cheddar to top 

Brown turkey, onion, and chopped bell peppers in a medium skillet over medium high heat until cooked through.
Drain any fat remaining and transfer to crock pot. Add the beans, chilies, chickpeas, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, cumin, cayenne, and chili powder mixing well.
Cook on high 6-8 hours.
Garnish with onions, cilantro and cheese and enjoy!



This recipe is currently bubbling away in my crockie! I will take a shot of a bowl later tonight when i serve it up for dinner! Yum! So last week I promised a screen shot of my grocery list to go along with my meal planning. Here they are: 

Here's the app that I use on my iPhone to take my grocery list with me. This prevents me from forgetting my list at home and also prevents me from forgetting items. 

So as you can see, I have items on there ready to buy for my chili and as I added each item to my cart, all I had to do was touch the item and it disappears from the list. I do this every week and I think people look at me like I am texting and shopping, but it really does work for me. This app can be found for Android and Blackberry phones! What would we do without our smart phones? I hope my hint might work for you! 

Pinterest: the new TEACHER's HELPER

I spent the day having my blood drawn, lunch and a walk with a good friend and her 1 y/o, running a couple of errands, playing on Pinterest (one of my big time suckers), meal planning and trying to get ahead in the blogging world! This is all stuff that has had nothing to do with teaching on this random day off! (We had a staff appreciation thing scheduled for staff that got canceled but the kids already had the day off... hence no work today! 

So, since I have spent the day relaxing and doing as I please on my favorite site (Pinterest)... I thought I would share some of the additions i have added to my classroom just because of Pinterest. While so many people say Pinterest is a huge waste of time, I think it really can be an inspiration to many. In particular for teachers, it can take a lot of time, but it truly has made learning fun and also made certain things more accessible to my students. So here are a couple additions in photo form... I will let you know where I got them from if I can find all my pins on Pinterest! :) Oh and BTW... if you wanna follow me on Pinterest click below!  

 So here is one of the math games that i have added to the mix. You can find these all at Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits. These games have been a great addition to the math games. I also use the "Making 10" version. Thanks to yet another great blogger who has helped me add to my toolbox! 

 Here are my clocks with certain times that we need to be certain places. This has really helped some of my students to be able to grasp time a little bit better. It always seems that time is truly confusing and abstract and then you throw in all the special needs my kiddos have and it is complete discombobulation! (Is that a word?). Anyway I got these from a pin on interest linked to a GREAT BLOG called Step into 2nd Grade with Mrs. Lemons. Click the link to her blog to find the printables. 

 Also, just a hint... laminate the blank clock faces and then use wet erase markers to draw on the hands in different colors. This way i can at least reuse the clock faces next year if the times all change! 

Thanks so much Mrs. Lemons for the great printable! It made making this easy and I have really seen kids learn from this. 

So after these few shots, I realize how much more I don't even have photos of. I have been inspired by Pinterest and it has made teaching the same thing MUCH more fun! This students have really enjoyed it too. The math game you saw above is part of my "Ready to Use Math Games" folder. Also, I am working on a HOLIDAY version of a "Ready to Use Math Games" folder. Its still in the beginning stages, but i hope to have it done soon! (Yeah, I know it will probably take me a year to fill it, but i can at least have the folder ready to go!) 

Off to eat a quick bite before heading to kickboxing! 

Math Magazine File

Just a quick post tonight geared towards teachers... 


Thought I would begin sharing some of my classroom ideas. So here is my magazine file with laminated pages that the students use to demonstrate different math concepts.

WE use these pages all the time and I have many ready at a moments notice. Some are rarely used and some are used on a daily basis. For example, when it comes to counting, a hundred chart could not be more useful. Also, it can be used to help with number recognition and when the students are practicing 1 more, 1 less, 10 more and 10 less concepts. 

These can be made out of any math aid and really for any grade. For my special education students this stuff provides a visual aid for me to demonstrate math concepts. There are endless possibilities for any grade and any level. Students can use these during seat work or even for group work or math games. 

Here are a few more detailed shots of what is inside my math magazine file! 

Have a great day!