My Best Last Week Of Winter Break

On December 30th, 2018, It was my Birthday!! My parents didn't know what to do for my birthday, but since it isn't only MY birthday, it is also my Brother's. Then they have to do something we both like. It took them about 3 days to come up with something. Then my mom told me and my brother where we re going. My Brother and I thought we were going to Big Bear, since my mom said we would go these days, But no. My mom and dad told us we are going to...  Las Vegas, Nevada. My brother and I were so happy. I told my dad if he is still going to work on Monday. Since he works all the days, except Sunday and Tuesday, but he said he still has to work. I felt bad for him because we are leaving Sunday Morning at 3:00 a.m. and he had to work Saturday and he comes back from work at Midnight. That means he only has 2 hours of sleep. He has 2 hours, not 3 hours of sleep because we have to get ready and pack some other things. It took us 4 hours to get to Las Vegas. I almost forgot to mention, sadly we didn't take Chloe on this trip. Chloe goes every where with us. She also goes to Las Vega with us. We left her with these little boys my mom takes care of on Monday and Wednesday, but we trust those kids.

Anyways, when we got there, we went to the Las Vegas Sign. There is a sign in Las Vegas where you can take a picture for memory. Then we went to drink cow milk. There is a barn we go to every time we go there. It is where you get Choco milk power and put it in your cup. Next, these men bring in a cow and they milk the cow. It is so warm and tasty. Some people can put alcohol and choc milk powder in their milk. After we left, we went to my cousin's uncle house. We went there for a short amount of time and then we went to this buffet called Feast Buffet. this buffet is inside a Hotel called Sunset Station Hotel & Casino.  When we got inside the buffet, there was different types of foods. For Example,  Asian,  Mexican, and Texas food. The food was so good. My brother has been asking for the IPhone XS and my parents said they will try and get it. Then they bought it 2 or 1 day before his birthday. Then we gave him a box full of goodies and on the bottom, there was his phone. When he saw it, he didn't say a word. I was so happy. 

After we left the buffet, we went to.... Circus Circus!!!! I was  so happy. I went to the rides with my cousin and some rides with my bro. The first ride I got on was Sling Shot. It is like the ride in Santa Monica called Pacific Plunge. The next ride I got on was Inverter. The ride is so fun because you get in the seat and then you go backwards and then you stay upside down for 5 seconds. It felt weird for me because since I finished eating. The ride that I hold on SO tight was El Loco. El loco is a ride with twists, turns and drops and we ascended 90 feet before the drop. 

It was fun at Circus Circus, but then we went to this place in Las Vegas called Winter Wonderland. It was o colorful. It had inflatable balloons of all the states. Then, there was this Ball pit, full of white balls and it is just like a pool with water, but a ball pit full of balls. My sister, Belen, wanted my brother, Adan, to get in, but he didn't want to. So then, She hung from his neck, and then..... 😒😔 My sister threw his Air pod In the ball pit. He got so mad. We started looking for it and he gave up and walked away. Then, a random guy had and idea and we did it and we found it. When my brother found out, he was happy. 

After we left, we stayed at the Circus Circus hotel. It was a fun night and I hope I can enjoy it another time.  

Boring Lunch

Lunch is getting a bit boring. Every single week, we get the same menu! On October 10, 2017, we got nachos with beans and cheese. The nachos chips are so dangerous. If you break them, the edges are so sharp that you can cut the inside of your mouth. You could make your self bleed. I know this information because once I had a chipped lip and I ate the nacho and it burned. The bean and cheese are chunky. It has a lot of tomato sauce. The nachos are salty, if you have a chipped lip, it is going to burn! Nachos, beans, cheese, and chocolate milk do not go together. It just taste so weird!

San Pedro Fish Market

On October 8th, I went to San Pedro Fish Market and Restaurants!! The food was so good there because I love fish. At first, we went to my dad's cousin's house because his aunt died. After a while, we ate mole with chicken and when we were done, we did a prayer. When the prayer finished, we left and my dad asked us "Where do you guy's want to go?'' and my brother said "The Fish Market", and my dad said "Okay". When my brother said The Fish Market I told my mom "What's that?' and she said "Its a market with restaurants that sell fish and more sea food." My brother knew that because he said that before I was born, they used to go there a lot.

It took us about an hour to get there because there was A LOT of traffic. My mom said to go to sleep for a while because its going to take long to get there. I went to sleep for about..20 minutes and then I was watching a movie with my cousin on his phone. After a few minutes, we got there and it was smelling A LOT like fish!!! There were different kinds of restaurants in the Fish Market. I ordered a fried fish and it was so Delicious.

My fried fish

My mom, dad, and sister didn't finish their food, so we had to take it home because we didn't want to waste food. When we put the food in the box, we went down to the little pier to see the fish. We saw a big boat, a little boat, and a police boat. When we saw the big boat, there was a yellow hand that was waving at us. We saw the police boat picking up trash like paper plates, paper cups and chip bags. We saw the big boat with rooms on it, guests, and servants. The little boat carried people so they can go and see fishes and seals.

The thing that I didn't like about the fish market is that, you have to make a big line to go to the restroom. Where we ate, there was a restroom in the corner and I was going to go there, but they have closed the area by then. When we were about to leave, my brother wanted an ice cream, so my dad gave him money so he can go and by one. When he came back, he had 3 kinds of ice cream flavors. The ice cream flavors were pina colada, coconut, and gum. I had a blast at The Fish Market, I hope I get to go there again.

So Classtopians, have you been to San Pedro Fish Market??? If you haven't, then I recommend you to got there.

Big Boat

Police Boat

Little Boat

Ice cream

Left overs

My Favorite Mexican Foods

My family eats a lot of Mexican food, and I LOVE it! My favorite food are tamales! For Christmas and special occasions, my mom makes Tamales. But, she makes them big, so one tamale fills me up good! I really like the tamales, because she makes the sauce, and puts in boneless chicken. I only like my mom's tamales, because the red sauce she makes is super delicioso!

My second favorite food is Mole. Mole is like a black sauce. My mom buys a red mole sauce and black mole sauce. She mixes them together, and it turns brownish. She does something to it, and then she makes white rice and chicken. The Mole is a little bit spicy, but I still love it! (The mole sauce has nothing to do with the animal that is called a mole!)

I also like Tlayudas. A Tlayuda is really delicious. It is like a tortilla, but is crunchy, and very big!  You have to warm up the Tlayuda, like a tortilla. You can even put the whole thing on the grill, once it is finished! On the Tlayuda, you put beans that are blended. On top of the beans, you put Quesillo. Quesillo is a cheese, that is like string cheese, but it tastes a little bit different. The cheese has to be cut into strands, and you have to make those strand even thinner. You have to do this because Quesillo come in a round ball of cheese. You can call Quesillo Oaxaca Cheese, since it comes from there. On top of the cheese you put shredded cabbage. You can also put lettuce, if you don't like cabbage. You can stop here, if you want. But, you can make it even better! You can put Chorizo (pig meat) in it, or Tasajo. These are both meats, and they add a great taste to a Tlayuda!

My fourth favorite food is grilled chicken and Carne Asada. Carne Asada and the chicken are put on a grill. The chicken is the color orange, but when my dad grills it, it sometimes gets a little burnt! You eat it with orange rice and blended beans. Sometimes I make myself a taco with these ingredients!

I have a lot of favorite Mexican foods, but these are my most favorites!

My mom puts vegetables in the orange rice. 

This is Carne Asada.

Dragon Punch

On September 28, in the after school program, we got a special juice that said Dragon punch. Last year my teacher was talking about a fruit that was called the dragon fruit. She showed us the fruit but there was not enough for everyone. So when we got the fruit I remembered that we knew what it was and I said, "Hey guys look, we have dragon punch." My friends and I were so happy that we could finally taste the good dragon fruit. Other kids got it too. It was in a small carton box, and it was so delicious.  So I decided to share this with everyone who missed out. Then my friends told me that I can make an entry about it.

  Dragon punch is better than boring old apple juice that we get EVERYDAY.                                              

 

New Foods On The Lunch Menu

Are you bored eating the same thing everyday? At our school, it's different. Today, our school gives us the best lunch ever. The lunches that they give us are pizza, tamales, chicken with smash potatoes and gravy, beef and beans burritos, and turkey hot dogs. They also added apple slices, cucumbers, jicama, tater tots, and sidewinder fries.  

Last year, the lunch was still boring. They called it the healthy menu but kids didn't care about that. Classtopians didn't like what they were serving, so most of us brought our own food. Now, pretty much everybody is eating the school lunch. The school lunch is better and better. And now with the chocolate milk people are so much happier. 

Nutrition Fair

Today, April 7, 2017 was the annual nutrition fair at our school. Every year the whole school participates in this fun activity. The purpose of the fair is to learn about healthy habits. Volunteers from the local hospital came to help. There was a farmer for the kinder-3grade classes. Students got to pick the different stations that they were interested in.  Some stations were Rethink Your Drink, Hula-hoop, Jump rope, soccer, dance, painting, dodge ball, crossfit, apple toss, art, watermelon eating contest, yogurt station, obstacle course, playground challenge, cedars healthy habits Parachute.

Of course there wasn’t enough time to do all the activities so we pick the ones that were open and available. Our whole class and teacher participated together to try the different activities and to eat healthy snacks. At this event we got to learn about eating healthy and also learn about exercising. We got to play all kinds of fun games too. Our teacher also joined in the fun.

All Classtopians said that dodge ball was their favorite because it was hilarious. It was dodge ball in a new way. Our teacher also LOVED playing the game Not only did she play the game with us but she also made up her own rules. She could cross the line and go get people out. Sometimes she just called a person to walk up to the line by pretending to tell them something. When they got there she would get them out. So many people fell for her trick and got out. We know she was cheating but it got people out faster and more people got to play.  It was great! Everyone was laughing.  

Our least favorite was the yogurt. We did not like it at all. Then the Principal explained to us that it was a sugar free yogurt and that was the difference. We have to learn how to eat healthy food with less sugar.

After all the fun we had to go back to class.

Waiting in line for the watermelon contest. pic by Jalaysia

Rethink Your Drink Station pic by Daniela

Apple toss pic by Jalaysia

Hula hooping pic by Jalaysia

Favorite Recipes

Have you ever made a meal from a recipe? In this blog, you’ll find some favorite recipes from Classtopians. Some people use recipes to cook and some people are able to make food from “scratch”. When you are young you may need to use a recipe to begin cooking because you won’t know the right amount to use. So, using a recipe will help you figure out what to do. Later on when you are older you can experiment in making the meal.

Most recipes are passed down in families and sometimes friends share recipes. If you have a special recipe that you love, share it with someone you know.  

Here are some recipes from the Classtopians

Grandma Patties -from The's Grandma

This recipe comes from our friend, The. The recipe was passed on to him and he shared it with our teacher. Now we all get to try it and so do you. It is a great vegetarian substitute for meat.

1 cup bulgur wheat- sold at Sprouts grocery stores

(Soak wheat in 1 cup of boiling water for 1 hour or so)

1 onion grated

1 cup cheese (cheddar)

½ cup bread crumbs

1 egg

1 cup walnuts

Season to taste ( oregano, sage, dill, basil, salt, pepper)

Oil for frying

Heinz home style Turkey gravy in bottle - sold at Target

Preheat the oven to 350

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and form in patties.

Fry patties in a large skillet until golden brown.

Add turkey gravy to the patties and put in the oven for 40 minutes.

Stuffed Bell Peppers with Grandma Patties- by Scadoxus

*This recipe can be added bell peppers. Stuffed bell peppers are great for Lunch or dinner.

To make the bell pepper version cook the patties and add mushrooms and turkey gravy to crumbled patties. Cook 10 minutes on the stove. Cut bell peppers in half and empty the seeds from the inside. Stuff the peppers with the mixture and sprinkle grated cheddar cheese on top. Place the stuffed peppers in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes covered with foil at 350. Uncover for the remaining 10 minutes to get some color.

Enjoy!

Laila’s Turkey Meatloaf

You will need:

2 pounds of turkey

1 large egg

Half cup bread crumbs

Half cup oatmeal

1 15 Oz can of tomato sauce

1 tsp black pepper

1tsp garlic salt

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp parsley

1 tsp oregano

   

 Directions:

Preheat oven to 375

Get large bowl and mix ;

Turkey

Your large egg

bread crumbs

oatmeal

Half can of tomato sauce

Black pepper

Garlic salt

Italian seasoning

Parsley

Oregano

Mix until fully combined.

Next, form a loaf inside of pan.

Put it in the oven and cook it for 45 minutes. After the 45 minutes, pour the remaining tomato sauce on the top and cook

for 15 more minutes.

Finally, take out of the oven and serve with mashed potatoes and green beans. Or just anything you would like.

Just right out of the oven.

Me and my scrumptious plate.  Yum! 

Steak with Mixed Vegetables -by Elizabeth

This recipe Elizabeth favorite because “When you eat it you taste different kind of flavors.” She makes this with her mom. It is a good way to spend time together.

Ingredients can be found at any grocery store.

The ingredients are:

* 1 pound of stew beef

*3 Bell Peppers [red, yellow or orange

*1 Onion

*2 Tomatoes

*3 Potatoes

1. The first thing you need to do is to cook the meat. While it is cooking start to cut the onions, tomatoes, and bell peppers into slices.
2. When the meat is almost ready put all the ingredients in the pot.
3. Put some salt and pepper in the pot with the ingredients.
4. Wait for 20 or 25 minutes
5. After you have waited for the 25 minutes turn off the fire and you are ready to serve.
6. Enjoy your food and have a nice day.

Breaded Chicken -by Alyssa

This is Alyssa’s favorite recipe to make with her Nanna.

                         Ingredients

2 chicken Breasts

1 teaspoon of Dijon Mustard

2 tablespoons of Margarine or Butter

½ cup of Bread Crumb

Salt

Pepper

Pound the Chicken Breast very thin

Season with salt and pepper

Melt butter then let cool for 2 minutes

Add Margarine

Dip both side of the chicken in the butter/margarine

Put chicken in Bread Crumb

Arrange on cooking sheet

Put in oven at 400 degrees

Keep in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes

Turn once

Serve while still warm

This recipe is great with rice and vegetable, or just a nice big salad.

Food waste

A Message From The Food Department.

This is Ashley, Head of the Food Department. Today I’m going to talk about the food waste that happens at my school. MY school has a lot of children who eat breakfast and lunch every day. There is a lot of food and most of the kids don't eat all of the food. What happens to all the food that they don't eat? It gets thrown in the trash.

The other day we were working in the new garden area and I looked in the trash can behind the cafeteria. What I saw was a bunch of milk and granola on the ground and some in the trash. I made everyone look at the waste. All that un-eaten food was sad.

I am the only person who eats breakfast daily in my classroom. Four other people might eat if they did not eat at home. So every morning I pick up the cart and take it to the eat area. Sometimes others in my class might eat the food. But our teacher told the cafeteria that we were getting too much and she change the total we received. Now the cafeteria only gives us about five meals each day. So if my friend don't want to eat, we only have a few meals that might end up in the trash. Most morning all of our food gets eaten by someone in the room. Before it was 30 meals given to us and most of it was thrown out. We are doing something about food waste in Classtopia. We hope that other classes can do the same.

The students are not the only ones throwing the food away. The lunch ladies also throw away all the extra food. I have seen then with my own eyes

Lunchtime waste is another big gigantic problem. That is the biggest waste of all. When the lunch is yucky everyone throws it away. Some people take a bite and then they are done with it.  

I highly recommend the school district find a solution to the problem. They need to find a way to stop children from throwing food away. Maybe they can make better lunches.

I also recommend all students to eat the school breakfast and lunch even if they don't like it that much. It is a meal and is good for their brains and bodies. We don’t want our school to waste food anymore. I want my school to be the cleanest place in the neighborhood.

One thing our school should do is that we can donate the food to poor people. We can also give the milk to the parent center so that the milk doesn’t become wasted milk.The parents can take it home and use it to make something delicious that their kids might want to eat.

                      This is a picture of the food waste when students don’t eat the breakfast.       

          

Picture by Aiden

Eating Right

A Message From the Food Department

This is Ashley, Head of the Food Department.

I have been taking nutrition classes with my mom and brother since January of this year. My mom wanted us to learn how to make better food choices.

Sugary cereals= bad health

Before going to the classes, I loved to eat sugary cereals. Now, I eat cereals with not a lot of sugar. What I used to do was put three cups of cereal in the bowl. In class they say that I should only have one cup.

Portion size=palm of hand

Another thing I learned is that I should eat the amount of food that can fit in the palm of my hand.

This doesn't seem like it is a lot of food, but it is enough. So for every meal, a palm of food can fill me up.

Sugary drinks=trip to the dentist

The drinks that I should not drink are sodas, Arizona green tea, Gatorade, and juice. I need to replace it with water.

Fruits and vegetables are great for snack.

These are some of the things I have learned in my nutrition class. I hope that you have learned something too.

Written by Ashley