Pure Genius!

by Mara @ What's For Dinner? on August 26, 2009

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After writing my Tru recap last night, it was 8:15 p.m.

And I went to bed.

The stress of switching from camp to school always gets to me for some reason and I become an anxious mess, or “mood ball” as my mom used to say. Everything was making me cry, and just the upload speed of my post last night made me far too annoyed for any normal night.

Adam reminded me that EVERY year, the night before the kids come to school, I’m a moody mess because of the same reasons that the students are:

“What if they don’t like me?”

“What if I can’t find something to wear?”

“What if the kids are mean?”

And then I remember:

This is NOT my first year teaching. It’s my 7th.
It’s ok if the kids don’t like me, possibly even preferable.
I have plenty of work clothes that feel binding after the whole summer of yoga pants and tank tops, but that doesn’t mean they don’t fit.
I’m good at my job. No need to worry!

So I went to bed at 8:15 and was dead asleep by 9 p.m. I woke up this morning feeling refreshed and ready to face the first half-day with students. The day went by quickly, and I spent my lunch hour (it’s the ONLY student day where we get a full hour) eating Chinese food leftovers and reading blogs. It was nice to actually have time to comment! (Some of your blogs, by the way, are blocked on my school’s server, so I read on Google Reader but can’t comment!)

Back to my point: I was reading blogs, and came across a fantastic post by Joe & Betsy. The lovely Miss Betsy made a pesto using minimal nuts and oil and was bulked up with (get this) steamed broccoli! At that point, all I could think about was making this with some high fiber whole wheat pasta and diced chicken for dinner tonight. I was so glad it made so much because now I have some to freeze and eat later!

The recipe was simple:

2 – 3 cups steamed broccoli (I didn’t measure)

1/4 C fresh basil leaves

2 cloves of garlic

small handful of walnuts

1/2 C Parmesan flakes

Combine all of these ingredients in a food processor, then drizzle in…

1/2 C olive oil (good quality) – this may vary depending on how much you steam your broccoli

Kosher salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

It turned a lovely creamy green, and I mixed it with some Amish Naturals fiber rich pasta that I found in the organic aisle at the grocery store as well as some diced and sauteed chicken. The result? AMAZING!

Betsy is a genius! I’m sure there are other broccoli pesto recipes out there, but the combo of walnuts, parmesan, olive oil, and broccoli made for a satisfying and delicious meal. The amazing thing was that, even though there were 2 packages of cooked frozen broccoli in my food processor, the basil and garlic flavors permeated and it tasted no different than regular pesto! Thanks so much Betsy!

One of my favorite things about my school days versus camp days: the time at which I’m “done” for the day. For example, on a typical camp day, I was home at 6:30, cooked dinner, and if I was lucky, ate by 7:30. I’d clean up, blog, and finally be “done” at about 8:30. Tonight? I was home at 3:45, went to the grocery store, back from that by 4:30, made dinner, served, ate and blogged all by 6:45 p.m.!

Tomorrow is the first FULL day with students, complete with 6 class periods of 47 minutes a piece that I’ll be talking about rules and regulations. Must. Bring. BIG. Water bottle!

A nerdy-teacher question for you: Do you have ONE teacher you specifically remember for positive reasons? What’s your favorite teacher story?

My favorite teacher ever was (go figure) my middle school Spanish teacher. She was always my advocate, and when things socially got really rough, she always found things for me to do after school when the hallways were their busiest so I didn’t have to deal with what usually happened. So, Mrs. Josephson, if you’re reading… thank you!