This week, we noticed some cauliflowers growing in our garden. We were so excited to be using cauliflower, as we thought the insects constantly consuming the plant would prevent us from ever getting any of this vegetable. The chef this week was the fabulous Gabbi! She has prepared amazing dishes, but this is her best yet. With so many spices and flavors, the dish was spot on and very popular among students in the class. Find the ingredient list and instructions below! Ingredients: 3 cups chopped and washed cauliflower 1 bunch scallions, minced 2 tablespoons chopped parsley 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 egg, whisked 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs Preparation Process: 1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray it generously with nonstick spray. 2. Press the prepared cauliflower with paper towels or a clean kitchen towel to absorb excess moisture. Transfer to a large bowl. 3. Add the scallions, parsley, cheese, garlic powder, cayenne, egg and egg white; mix to combine. Add the bread crumbs and mix to combine. 4. Scoop out 2 tablespoons of the mixture and form it into a cylindrical shape. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat until all the mixture has been used. Spray the surface of the tots with nonstick spray. 5. Bake until they’re golden brown on the bottom, 17 to 20 minutes. Flip the tots and bake 5 to 10 minutes more to get the other side all golden. Inspiration Link: Here Check out how Gabbi made the dish below! Gabbi water the second cauliflower plant before she harvested. Gabbi washing the cauliflower. Gabbi forming cauliflower spheres before baking them. Gabbi with the final product of the tots!
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This week we have no more meals to make and that's both a good thing and a bad thing. A lot of our plants that we weren't able to use have finally blossomed. But, some of our main plants that we incorporated into multiple meals have died now or overgrown. Our garden plot looks wild (and slightly scary) but we will no longer be needing the the plants! It's been fun, wewetourplants garden plot. Vanessa removing dead plants from the plot Jefferson removing some flowers from the overgrown lettuce This week's plot pic
We're very proud of our garden this week! We're continuing to water our plants. We had to trim a couple of them, as they started to grow flowers (which suggested they were beginning to die). Overall, a great week for our veggies! Gabbi watering the plants Our overgrown plot
Our garden is looking very green this week! We think this is due to the recent rainy days. Our lettuce (as always) is looking very healthy. More growth from the cauliflower can be seen! 3/4 of our group posing with the plant pick of the week
This week our meal was a little bit more simple than usual because we all had a very busy night with class projects and senior activities. We decided to use the last bit of our cilantro in a salsa fresca. We were on the verge of coming to class with nothing, but luckily Vanessa was able to harvest some cilantro before the senior drive-in movie and make a quick run to the market at night to pick up a few salsa ingredients. She chopped up the ingredients at night then mixed everything together in the morning to keep the fresca part of the salsa fresca. This appetizer was served with tortilla chips in class. (Unfortunately because of the timing we may or may not have had to stage a few of the pictures) (Vanessa actually did make the salsa though that night at around 12:00 though) See how we made this chipotle-esque salsa fresca down below! Ingredients: 4 tomatoes 1/2 white onion 1 jalepeno 2 limes 1 garlic clove pinch of cilantro 1/4 green bell pepper Preparation Process: 1. Wash all ingredients 2. Deseed jalapeno and bell pepper 3. Mince all ingredients 4. Mix all ingredients in bowl 5. Squeeze lime juice and mix again Jefferson harvesting the cilantro Vanessa washing the cilantro Vanessa mixing in the cilantro Salsa fresca
This week we decided to bring some latin flavor to the lab table with our cilantro plant. Caite and Gabbi went to harvest some cilantro from our garden during class. I [Vanessa] was the cook for this dish. The recipe and the dish itself were pretty simple but the preparation took quite a long time. I had to mince multiple different veggies, including a white onion that brought some tears to my eyes. After washing and mincing all the ingredients, i refrigerate them overnight. I decided to wake up very early in the morning to mash all the ingredients with the avocado so that the guacamole would be fresh for the class. Ingredients: 4 avocados 1/4 white onion 2 limes 2 tomatoes 1 garlic clove 1 jalapeno pinch of salt 1/2 teaspoon cilantro Preparation Process: 1. Wash all ingredients 2. Deseed the jalapeno 3. Mince the jalapeno, tomato skin, cilantro, onion, and garlic clove 4. Peel avocados and put them into a big bowl 5. Add minced ingredients 6. Start mashing the ingredients together in the bowl 7. Squeeze lime juice and add a pinch of salt 8. One more final mashing Gabbi harvesting the cilantro Vanessa washing the cilantro Mashing all the ingredients together Finished product
Looking green! The lettuce (again) has grown at an amazing height! It looks especially healthy this week and we’re very excited to do our meal with all of this luscious lettuce. Although our lettuce does look amazing, we believe it has overpowered several of our other plants. The leaves are quite large which could be casting shade onto the other veggies. .....
Lettuce, lettuce, lettuce! The lettuce is continuing to thrive. Our garden is looking especially green this week! Although it looks as though our cilantro has died, we believe this could be due to the recent warm weather and lack of rain. Our cauliflower is finally beginning to grow and take shape. We’re excited to hopefully harvest our first cauliflower head soon!
Wow! Seeing all the lettuce that is thriving in the garden, what perfect way to start AP season with none other than a classic caesar salad. How refreshing! Our chef this week was Gabbi. She decided to make a salad to celebrate the fact that we had so much lettuce supply in the garden. She harvested the vegetable, washed it, chopped it, mixed in chicken, and served with classic caesar dressing, making the meal a very much enjoyable one in class. ....... Gabbi harvesting lettuce. Gabbi washing the chopped lettuce. Gabbi chopping grilled chicken. Final product of the Classic Caesar Salad. Our garden is still doing fantastic! We have a few sprouts that we are waiting to identify. A few weeks ago we had planted them but forgot to label them so now we have to be patient and keep our fingers crossed that they'll actually grow in time to incorporate into a meal. As for our other plants, they are growing out of control so we need to make sure to keep harvesting so we can make space for the other plants, avoid intruding into other plots, and preserve the flavor. Since we have two heads of lettuce, we were able to harvest about 20 leaves in total. This week's plot update
Our main plants (lettuce, cilantro, and tea) are still doing very well. The plants are growing really tall and wide and we learned that we need to be harvesting them more often. Apparently when the plants grow too large, they begin to lose their flavor. For this reason, we are going to be using lettuce again as our focus ingredient in the next meal we do. As for the tea plant, we had a little bit of confusion over whether it was really tea or snow peas that we didn't remember growing. On the top of the plant there are some pods that look like peas and there are also flowers. We learned that this meant that the plant was trying to reproduce already and that it is important that we trim the top of the plant occasionally so it too can keep its flavor and we can get the most out of it. Our garden plot this week Jefferson checking on and harvesting our lettuce
With all the lettuce we have growing, we felt that it was necessary to incorporate them into yet another delicious recipe. Although this is our third time using lettuce as our key ingredient, we continue to bring culinary diversity to the table. This week Jefferson decided on a yummy vegan option which was tofu lettuce wraps. Jefferson was the chef for this meal and he brought in a flavorful tofu blend that mimicked one of chicken. He also washed the lettuce and brought more than enough lettuce pieces. People seemed to really like our meal this week, even with the 'wrap battle' we had with the group that made chicken lettuce wraps. Find the ingredient list and instructions below! Ingredients: 2 teaspoons peanut oil 1 package of firm tofu (12- to 14- ounce size) 1/4 teaspoon chili powder Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 3 green onions 2 ears fresh corn, kernels cut off the cobs 1/4 cup soy sauce 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar 6 large inner leaves romaine lettuce Preparation Process: 1. Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Throw in the tofu and break it up into very small pieces. Cook until much of the liquid cooks off and the tofu starts to turn golden, for several minutes. 2. Add the chili powder and some salt and pepper, then stir. 3. Throw in the chopped green onions and corn and ook for a few minutes (the corn can remain crunchy). 4. Add the soy sauce and cook until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Turn off the heat and stir in the balsamic vinegar. 5. Pile the mixture into individual romaine lettuce leaves. Serve! Inspiration Link: Here Pictures below on how to make it! Jefferson harvesting the lovely lettuce. The lettuce and all the other ingredients are set up at Jefferson's house, featuring the Kunafa the Kat. Jefferson washing the veggies. Cut the tofu into cubes and place it in a hot pan. After simmering for a few minutes, crush the tofu with a spatula. Throw in the ingredients all in. Jefferson with the final product, minus the lettuce! With two thriving batches of lettuce in our garden, we could not help but to use lettuce again for another creative recipe. It was a rather unconventional recipe, not what you usually see in restaurants. But I guess it really had a wow effect towards our classmates, because the soup was gone in 10 minutes! It has a wonderful creamy, starchy texture followed by a KICK of chili pepper. Caite did the honor of preparing the recipe, while Vanessa bought the bread rolls. Jefferson was the photographer. Gabbi prepared the rolls the day of the meal. Although inspired by an online recipe, we added our own flares into it as well. Caite harvesting her batch of lettuce. Caite washing the hand-picked lettuce from our garden. Caite with the finished product of the yummy soup. Gabbi preparing bread rolls. The soup was devoured by the students before the group could even take a picture with it! Try this at home!!! It was really good! This week we made our first dish and we decided on pesto! With its flourishment in our garden, we could not resist using lettuce as our key ingredient. Gabbi prepared the star of the show this week. Jefferson contributed to the purchase the pine nuts. Caite bought and toasted some sliced baguettes to put the pesto onto. Vanessa gathered the parmesan cheese for the pesto and prepared the dish in class. Unfortunately, Jefferson had to meet with the Board of Education, so he never tasted the final product :(. However, with the astonishing number of seconds... and thirds people asked, it is no doubt that we made one of the best dishes in the class in our period (we hope!). Inspired by an online recipe, we also threw in our own flares into this amazing dish. Below you can find the fabulous recipes and our preparation photos for this delicious masterpiece: Ingredients: 3/4 cup Olive Oil 1/4 cup Basil 1 cup Pre-Shredded Parmesan 1/2 cup Water 2 cups Lettuce 3 Cloves of Garlic, minced 1/4 cup Pine Nuts Salt to taste Preparation Process: 1. Mix ingredients into a blender and puree until smooth. 2. Slice baguettes and put a spread of pesto on each slice. 3. Serve fresh. The original recipe can be found here. Enjoy your organic cooking! Gabbi harvesting her veggies. Caite's picture of the sliced baguettes she eventually toasted and served with pesto. Gabbi washing our harvested lettuce. Gabbi blending all the ingredients together. The finished lettuce pesto product! It's finally time! All of our plants have been pretty successful in their growth process so we had a few options to choose from when our meal prep rolled around. We decided to go with the lettuce because they have flourished the most and seemed the most ready. Aside from that, the lettuce has started to push its boundaries and hover over the neighboring plots so we felt that we should remove those pieces to stay in our respected area. The other plants are doing fantastic as well, but some of them just need a little more growing time. We are also a little concerned about the cauliflower because the stems are growing slightly horizontally so hopefully they'll pull through. We also decided to plant a kale sprout and a pepper sprout and we hope to be able to incorporate them into our later meals. This week's progress Gabbi watering the plants Our kale and pepper sprouts Our sign is finally done!
Our plants were doing great this week. They are growing at a hopeful rate and we think that they will be ready in a few weeks for the first harvest. Some plants that look especially hopeful are the tea leaves, the lettuce, and the cilantro, These will probably end up being the veggies/herbs that we incorporate in our first meal! Some plants that continue to struggle are the cauliflower, due to the insect problem, and the peppers, which are long gone by now. Vanessa observing the crime scene of the rollie pollies
The garden after being freshly watered
This week our plants showed some great progress. Even though our peppers officially flatlined, we saw really good growth with our lettuce, cilantro, and tea leaves. With only a little time left before we start cooking meals, we're going to need to decide which sprouts we are going to plant in our empty spaces. We have also been contemplating what we should do with our abundant supply of tea leaves because we felt that they shouldn't be used for a cop out meal. Our family decided that we should create something more interesting like tea cakes. As for our unwanted guests in the garden, we have spotted and removed a few rollie pollies from our plot in fear that they are the culprits for some holes in our plants. There are a few holes here and there in our tea plant and lettuce and one of our cauliflower stems was almost completely bitten through. We need to think of some possible solutions to prevent our plants from getting attacked too much. Vanessa watering the plants Our growing plants with a few bites in them This week is looking bright for our plants because the sky is looking grey. The rain really helped to ensure that our plants were getting the proper moisture for their growth. Our tea leaves continue to grow and our lettuce and cauliflower are starting to look more mature as well. Now that the plants are growing, we are getting a better look at the spacing of our our plot layout and seeing the locations where we will be able to plant some new veggies. Some potential ideas for new plants to add are more peppers and maybe spinach. Jefferson getting in the proper form to water the plants An overview of our maturing plants and all the extra space we have It's another dandy week here in Arcadia, and our garden is growing stronger than before. The cilantro seems like it is holding on to the soil, but it also looks like it is time for it to go. We still have so much more room in our garden - it is not a bad time to add more plants. Update on potential plants we will grow in our garden will be here next week! Overall, the garden is thriving. With the recent rain, our tomatoes and tea plants are thriving. Below are pictures of this week's updates. We have watered, and we hope we see more progress in the coming weeks so we can start planning our recipes! The spinach seems to have a slow growth and the cilantro is yellowing. Yikes! Now would you take a look at this thriving plant of lettuce? Some juicy tea leaves. Our lovely garden overview as of March 6. There is still room we could fill up. Vanessa watering the plants. Good morning, wet planters! Week 3 is here and our plants have been thriving. It has been raining for the past few days, so our garden has been very moist. There was a canister with a little water in it (probably rainwater), so we decided to do a little extra watering to our plot just in case. They have sprouted taller than the previous weeks. Next week, we will use a ruler to track how much our plants are progressing (to give us peace in mind that they ARE progressing)! We will begin planning recipes soon and will ask you all what you think. Our sign will be up by next week as well. Bad news is the ghost pepper might be dying :(. Here is some pictures of progress below. The plot has been watered by Caitlin Morris and Jefferson Yin this week. Here is an update of our moist plot of land. Towards the center, left of the irrigation pipe is out dying ghost pepper plant. **tear** Hello from Arcadia! it is week 2 of our lovely garden development, and we are starting to see some amazing progress. At first, we thought our plot of land was getting too much sun or it was getting too dry and dehydrated. It seemed that our plot was not as most as the other 5 in our area. After scrutinizing the progress of the other plots, our babies are thriving more. What was the worry for? Our constant sprinkle of water throughout our plot of plants is incredibly beneficial for a healthy growth. Sometimes, Caite and Gabbi waters not just directly onto the plants but around the plant's vicinity so that the plant can thrive in empty parts of the plot, making growth more abundant and efficient. Good progress this week! See everyone next week on new potential ideas and updates on the plot! Below are pictures of our progress: Here is Gabbi watering out mild plot in the morning on Monday. Here is Caite trying fixate the plants to proper positions as well as adding new plants to plot. A zoom-up picture of our plot. Moist and delish, are we right? Caite watering it one last time for the week. TODAY IS THE DAY! We are going down to the gardens to see our fresh plot of newly fertilized soil! We are super excited. Caite brought some plants back from the APES weekend at John Muir High School to compensate for the few plants that could not grow while they were in the classroom. We have everything from lettuce, ghost peppers, two types of tomatoes, cauliflower, spinach, etc. The list goes on! It looks so lively and thriving in our garden. If only we put more plants in our garden just in case as neighboring groups have taken the leftover and made an entire forest out of their plot (*SCREAMING*)! In the end, we decided it was sufficient to put our designated amount of seeds to grow to allow space for each plant to thrive. We have planted and watered, and now we just have to wait! See you all next week with picture updates! Below is the gardening from today. Caite turning the soil with the lawn hoe before planting the mini plants! Overview of all the plants Caite got from John Muir! Here is a close-up shot! (Digging the portrait mode?) Caite getting ready to put in the ghost pepper plant into our plat (the FIRST plant)! Gabbi getting ready to hand over the cilantro plant to Caite to plant. Jefferson selecting the plants brought from John Muir High School and what we should use in our plot. Vanessa labeling our popsicle sticks to ensure we know where every vegetable and what vegetable is growing. We are "We Wet Our Plants," and we are stoked to start our first blog for our amazing APES project. We have been planning for over a month and have even started planting our vegetables in Mr. Vo's classroom. Two plants, a spinach and a tomato, are sprouting and we are super excited! We have sprayed our plants every day with light drizzles of fresh sink water. We hope to make a sufficient amount before we begin packing our plants into the lovely garden outside. It is sunny throughout the next week when begin planting down our plants, so we hope for the best and that our plants would thrive (please do not die on us, plants)! Below are pictures of our plant progress so far. Stay tuned! Our thriving tomato plant we plan to put in our garden. A work in progress for many others, but we are optimistic! Featured are spinach, cauliflower, parsley, and cucumber. |
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