Challenges inspire creativity and thrift in the kitchen

They’re getting creative in the kitchen, dining on a dime and working on wellness-worthy meals. Students in Cory Cooley’s 7th grade, Food and Nutrition, and Life On Your Own classes have been meeting their teacher’s challenges with tasty results.

For their Eating on a Dime lesson, 7th grade students were challenged to use ingredients limited to what’s already at home, or using just a few ingredients, to make a breakfast egg bake.

Starting with just biscuits and eggs, the students generated many tasty recipes. They added bacon, ham, sausage, spinach and cheese. Some students scrambled the eggs, while others left them whole. Others added various spices, and some added leftovers such as potatoes and roasted vegetables to their breakfast egg bakes.

The class was also challenged to create an apple pie dessert using a recipe with just two ingredients, plus what they found around the kitchen. The students then got to enjoy their sweet results.

For the Grilled Cheese Challenge, 7th grade and Food and Nutrition students were tasked with taking what they would ordinarily have at home and fit within their budget and making it a bit more healthful. They got creative and scored awards for the Best Plated, Most Creative and Best grilled cheese sandwiches.

Students in the Life On Your Own classes were not to be outdone. A three-day Holiday on a Dime challenge tasked them with making a gingerbread house -or something else – using minimal ingredients and what they had on hand in their classroom.

“Plan, paste and present!” Cory Cooley said about the challenge. “As you can see, the students are very hands-on and were comfortable in that arena. Jose created a peppermint roof house, Briana a blue icing house, Cam a jacked-up pickup and Tyler a truck with green trim and gifts in its bed. Spirits were high!”

View the students creations below and more photos of the recent challenges on our Facebook  page.