What the Prince decided to be for Halloween and Why.....

The Prince loves all things family. He loves visiting family, he loves writing/texting family, he loves hearing stories about family and he has strongly identified himself as one part of his heritage. There are several people that have encouraged this and here are just a few that have....



Hanging by fire at his Uncle Ronnie's after going for a swim with his Uncle in the river.

 

So you have probably guessed his costume...

Bang Bang Shrimp (or in our case Tofu;)

This is a dish from Bonefish Grill that people RAVE about. However, I must admit that I have never been to Bonefish Grill, hence I have never eaten their version. What I can attest to is this recipe and HOLY FLYING PURPLE COW!! this is YUMMY! My husband deflates a bit when he sees tofu, but his words after tasting this dish were, "This is the best tofu I have ever eaten and if you ever open your restaurant this has to go on the menu!" In addition, I saved some fried tofu separate from the sauce for the Prince, but he wanted to dip it into the sauce...so he dipped away. I made this on Monday and he asked me today to please make it again for dinner. I promised to buy more tofu tomorrow. So enough with the rambling and on with the recipe. If anyone make this with shrimp and you have eaten it at Bonefish Grill, please report back and tell us how it compares.

I served my bang bang tofu with jasmine rice and steamed broccoli.

Ingredients

1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

(or a pack of extra firm tofu, cut into cubes and frozen prior to dipping in milk and flour/panko mixture)

For the sauce:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

4-5 teaspoons chili garlic sauce, such as Sriracha sauce

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon rice vinegar

For the egg mixture:

1 egg, beaten

1 cup milk (I used plain unsweetened soy milk)

For the breading mixture:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour ( I used GF Bisquick)

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon dried basil

For frying:

8 to 12 cups vegetable oil ( I honestly only used about 1 cup, I didn't see the need for deep frying)

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl; cover and set aside.
2. Combine beaten egg with milk in shallow bowl; set aside.
3. Combine flour, panko, salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and basil in another shallow bowl; set aside.
4. Bread the shrimp by first coating each with the breading mixture. Dip breaded shrimp into the egg and milk mixture, and then back into the breading. Arrange the coated shrimp on a plate and pop them into the fridge for at least 20 minutes. This step will help the breading to stick on the shrimp when they are frying.
5. Heat oil in deep fryer to 350 degrees F. Use amount of oil required by your fryer.
6. When oil is hot, fry shrimp 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on rack or paper towels.
7. When all shrimp has been fried, drop the shrimp into a large bowl. Spoon about 1/4 cup of sauce over shrimp and stir gently to coat.

Head over to FAKE GINGER and visit the site where I discovered this scrumptious recipe!!

 

Colorful Toast

 

Painted bread (milk and food coloring) then toasted! Click HERE to explore the original post discovered on Pinterest. Below is our recreation.

This picture is extremely blurry, but you can still see a happy boy.

Chick Pea Salad - Sandra Lee Style (vegan)

I really wish my picture did this salad justice, but you will have to just believe me when I say this is delicious. This is the second time I have made this salad, not only because I enjoyed it, but mainly because the Prince continually asked for it. So make it and enjoy.

(I thought about taking a second picture, in hopes of improving, but I couldn't because we were starving!!!)

 

Chick Pea Salad:

• 2 (19-ounce) cans chick peas, drained and rinsed
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1/2 green bell pepper, diced ( I used red and would recommend it as I think it compliments it better)
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley leaves

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and toss to combine.

New learning tools on our classroom walls

I added a couple new learning tools to our classroom walls; Even and Odd Doors and a Story Map. We have had fun with both. We are using our even and odd doors to play a simple Even Steven and Odd Todd game and using our Story Map to learn how to dissect and understand all the elements of a book/story. The Prince is really enjoying both, as he loves both reading and games. I can only attribute the ideas to, yep! you guessed it, Pinterest.

Our Even and Odd Doors, were inspired by a much craftier version titled Even and Odd Street. However, due to space constraints I modified it. Oh! and a big THANK YOU to my two boys for decorating the odd doors.

Click HERE to download the Even Steven and Odd Todd game.

I want to take a minute and point out the obvious. My replicas are typically way lower quality, mainly artistically, than their inspirational originals, but they work! And isn't that all that really matters? So, if you are artistically challenged don't let that hold you back....create on my friend, create on!

Fall inspired marshmallow lollipops!

So from my previous post you can see that the Prince and his momma stayed busy last week. Well, with all of that hard work we had to have something yummy to sustain our energy. Okay, I have coffee; but what does the poor Prince have? Well I can show you:

Ingredients

lollipop sticks cut in half
melted butterscotch (use 1 TBS of milk to promote melting and add creaminess)
marshmallows
sprinkles

.... Viola!

These are super easy to make and very yummy. Of course, you can use chocolate and a variety of candies/sprinkles. Closer to Christmas, you'll see my Christmas inspired lollipop.

WHEW! EEK! Adjectives and Spiders all in one week!!

Last week was one very busy, very educational and very fun week here at the Sharp Academy. I must give credit where credit is due: PINTEREST! I am having so much fun discovering such great ideas and recreating them with my Prince. So let's move on to the pictures and there are lots of them!

Yep, one of his self adjectives is "hot." SMH.

Now on to spiders...

  

Spider Math

I read this story to the Prince and at the part where the grandfather flies away, I closed the book. I then asked the Prince to draw and write where he thought Gpa went. It reads   "A boat in the ocean." When he was finished I asked him why he thought that is where Gpa went and he responded, "because I saw it on the next page." HA!

I love our spider sandwich poem. The Prince used 3 verbs and 3 adjectives from his spider verb/adjective list.

We really had fun this week and even made a yummy treat ( I will post separately).  I have to again thank Pinterest from which the ideas appeared, but also the FABULOUS pages the ideas were linked to. A very appreciative thank you to : Step Into Second Grade and The First Grade Parade.

Quinoa Coconut Cookies - SERIOUSLY a must make...now!!

Quinoa Coconut Cookies

These are actually quinoa, coconut, peanut-butter, chocolate chip (or butterscotch) cookies, but that name is just too long.

Another fantastic find from Pinterest. Here is the site of the original recipe.

1/3 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup peanut-butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups cooked and cooled quinoa
1 cup chocolate chips

Beat together butter, peanut butter, eggs, vanilla and sugar until smooth. In another bowl combine flour, coconut, baking powder, and baking soda. Add dry ingredients to peanut butter mixture and mix until smooth. Stir in quinoa and chocolate chips. Drop spoonfuls of cookie dough onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 9 minutes or until edges are golden. Cool on cookie racks.

I made this with gluten free Bisquick and then separated the batter and added chocolate chips to half and butterscotch chips to the other half. I am not a fan of chocolate, who am I kidding I think the stuff is yucky. I am also aware that makes me the odd one!

What I need to tell you is that these might honestly be one of the best cookies I have ever made!! Try it!