Category: Foods & Nutrition

Shawarma Mini Lesson & Lab

Sometimes it’s fun to interject some international foods into your repertoire of lessons even if you don’t teach an international foods class. Doing so gives you the opportunity to expand the knowledge and tastes of your students who might not otherwise be exposed to these areas and/or foods. Let’s say you’re teaching a lesson on sandwiches, wraps, meats or poultry …this would be a great time to introduce your students to a Middle Eastern food using this Shawarma Mini-Lesson and Lab.

Limitations Lab

Students may not realize that some everyday tasks can become more difficult with age. That’s where this Limitations Lab, shared by Ellen Bolton of Pennsylvania, comes in. Students simulate a variety of physical limitations as they go about the everyday task of preparing food in the kitchen.

On Brand & The Real Food Guide Pyramid

If you haven’t watched the new reality show “On Brand with Jimmy Fallon”, you don’t know what you’re missing! This show is basically a gamified competition where participants create and pitch marketing campaigns for a variety of well known products. As I was watching this series, I couldn’t help but think that this would be a great activity to adapt to topics within our course content. The first one I’ll be sharing is On Brand & The Real Food Guide Pyramid. But wait! There will be more ideas coming as Lindsey Harlan has a great one she is working on and will be shared at a later time…so stay tuned!

Recipe One Pagers

You may be familiar with using one pagers as a way for students to concisely summarize key takeaways from readings or videos. However, Recipe One Pagers can also be used in a food class. I had so much fun collaborating with Lindsey Harlan from Arkansas to share some “punny” ideas with you in ready to use recipe one pagers. Read on to learn more!

Shrinkflation

For years products have been decreasing in size, but not in price! This is known as Shrinkflation and in this lesson, students will learn what the concept means as well as how to calculate the percentage change in product sizes and then how consumers can fight back. This is a great lesson for a consumerism class, a financial literacy class or even a foods class!

Food Safety Myths & Facts

It’s been my experience that many students, especially junior high, don’t know food safety concepts let alone practice them! The practices they believe to be safe are far from it and often very inaccurate. So, with all of the misinformation out there, it’s important for students to know what’s true versus what is false. With this Food Safety Myths & Facts activity, students learn the difference in a very engaging way. Read on to learn how this activity works.

Gnocchi Mini-Lesson & Lab

Sometimes it’s fun to interject some international foods into your repertoire of lessons even if you don’t teach an international foods class. Doing so gives you the opportunity to expand the knowledge and tastes of your students who might not otherwise be exposed to these areas and/or foods. Let’s say you’re teaching a lesson on one of the following topics: pasta, potatoes or dumplings…this would be a great time to introduce your students to an Italian food using this Gnocchi Mini-Lesson and Lab. 

Rock Candy Mini-Lesson & Lab

Some call it stained glass candy, some call it hard tack and some call it rock candy!  Whatever you call this sweet treat, it’s delicious and beautiful to look at! In this Rock Candy Mini-Lesson & Lab you’ll find information about the history of this festive food along with a simple recipe to make in the lab. Show students how to make this candy at home with their family or turn it into a beautiful gift to giveaway or have your FCCLA or club make up jars or bags to sell as a fundraiser.

Elevate the Box: Remixing Hamburger Helper

After watching an episode of The Bear and seeing Sydney elevate an ordinary box of hamburger helper into a gourmet worthy dish, I knew I had to create a lesson and cooking challenge lab around it. Thus, Elevate the Box: Remixing Hamburger Helper was born!