My Version of Trevor's Chopped Challenge

When you watch cooking shows like Chopped, half the fun is thinking about what you would make if you were faced with the same exact challenge.  When Steve and I chose Trevor's Chopped ingredients, we each had ideas of what direction we thought he would go and how he would use the ingredients.  We were surprised when he went a different way.  I don't think anyone could have predicted those nachos....

Anyway, there was enough of each ingredient left over for me to use them to make dinner the following night.  I went the (obvious, I thought) direction of an English muffin sandwich.  

I started by slicing the zucchini thin and sauteeing it in butter over low heat.  While that was cooking, I mashed the garbanzo beans and added pepper, olive oil, and a splash of balsamic vinegar, then spread that on the toasted English muffin.  I fried an egg over-easy and then assembled the sandwich.  If we'd had them on hand, I would have roasted some eggplant, red bell peppers, and/or tomato to add.  A slice of fresh mozarella would have been fabulous too. But even without those, it was a delicious sandwich.  The nuttiness of the garbanzo spread went perfectly with the zucchini and the slightly runny yolk was a nice sauce for the sandwich.  I think I'll make it again in the summer when I can harvest a variety of veggies from our garden.  

Your turn!  What would you have made from zucchini, garbanzo beans, eggs and English muffins?

The deRosier Chopped Challenge: Trevor's Turn

We make our own fun here in the deRosier household by turning ordinary activities, like making dinner, into something totally out-of-the-ordinary. After watching both Steve and me have our turns at cooking from a Chopped basket, Trevor desperately wanted his own turn.  

Steve and I went to the store to select ingredients. It was MUCH harder picking ingredients for Trevor than it was for Steve. We wanted ingredients that Trevor not only would recognize but would know how to prepare. We wanted items without major food safety issues so there wouldn't be any concerns about cross-contamination or inadequate cooking time. We wanted things that Trevor could prepare with minimal help, so nothing that would be challenging to cut or open. Finally, we wanted items that wouldn't be completely revolting if Trevor just dumped all four of them together.

After much debate, we settled on these: English muffins, zucchini, garbanzo beans, and eggs.

When Trevor opened the basket, he smiled at the sight of the familiar ingredients...

... then laughed about the garbanzo beans. When he was a toddler, Trevor loved garbanzo beans so much that we bought them at Costco because he would go through a can every day or two. He called them bonzos and he liked to eat handfuls of them mixed with peas and blueberries on the tray of his high chair.  

After looking at the four ingredients, Trevor announced that he knew exactly what he would do. He started by cutting the zucchini.  

Then he asked me to cut some carrots for him. He was going to make a soup. With a bit of prompting, he sauteed the carrots and zucchini in butter, then added vegetable broth. He turned down the heat to let it simmer. He drained the garbanzo beans and set them aside to add to the soup.

He turned his attention to the eggs. I'd included hard-boiled eggs amongst the raw so that he would have options (without having to spend 30 minutes making and cooling hard-boiled eggs). He peeled a hard-boiled egg, cut it into chunks, and set it aside. Then he went to the pantry and put six tortilla chips on each person's plate. He sprinkled grated cheese on top, then slid half an English muffin underneath the chips.  He refused to tell us what his plan was. I was confused, to say the least.

He returned to the soup, added the garbanzo beans, and tasted the soup. He added some pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and grated nutmeg, tasting between each, and declared it perfect.  

He asked me to put each plate in the microwave to melt the cheese. He added chunks of hard-boiled egg on top of the melted cheese.  

He ladled the soup into bowls and presented his meal: a nacho plate with English muffin and hard-boiled eggs, and a soup of zucchini, carrots, and garbanzos.  

Time to dig in! First, Trevor demonstrated how to eat the nachos. Tear off a chunk of English muffin and put it on top of a chip, making sure there is hard-boiled egg on it. Then enjoy!

We started with the soup. It was absolutely delicious. Seriously- you'd never know it was made by a 7-year old with minimal cooking experience. The broth was excellent and the veggies were cooked perfectly. I hope he makes it again soon.

The nacho plate... well, the judges were kind but critical. Sliding an English muffin under nachos didn't transform the ingredient. It made no sense that the diner had to pull a chunk of English muffin apart before eating. It would have been better for Trevor to serve it already cut. The hard-boiled eggs weren't cut small enough to go on every nacho. They actually tasted just fine on the cheesy chips, but it was a bit hard to eat and definitely confusing.  

Overall, Trevor did a great job with his first Chopped challenge. He was extremely proud of himself and is excited to try again.  

When we cleaned up, I noticed that there was enough of each ingredient left over that I could cook dinner with them the following night. Tomorrow I'll share with you what I made with the same four ingredients.  

.....

Soon after I finished writing this post, we got some very exciting news: Trevor was selected again as part of the Be the Change Student Summit! (See this post from two weeks ago for more information.)  He's told some people already and gave me the go-ahead to share here. Congrats to Trevor! We're so proud.   

2014 Pinewood Derby

The first time I made a Pinewood Derby car was in 2011.  I'd gone through the county fair entry book looking for something I was eligible to enter and stumbled upon an adult category for the Pinewood Derby.  I made a watermelon-themed car that was pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.  Steve entered a car too.  (At 5, Trevor was too young to enter).  We had a blast.

The following year, all three of us made cars for the county fair, Steve and I in adult divisions and Trevor as an Open Junior.  My car looked like a box of popcorn.  Again, we all had a lot of fun.  Trevor had a great experience entering for the first time.

Last year Trevor started Cub Scouts, which meant he'd be participating in the Pinewood Derby with his Pack and not just at the county fair.  The Derby was in April, two months earlier than the fair we'd been entering in for the past two years.  We built our cars over spring break.  I went with a rabbit-shaped car.  Again, lots of fun.

We switched Cub Scout Packs over the summer.  The new Pack held their Derby last weekend, four months earlier than last year's Pack and six months earlier than the fair.  The earlier date made it too difficult for all three of us to build cars, so Trevor was the only one entering a Derby car this year.  Here's what he made, with cutting help from Grandpa:

In case someone doesn't recognize it, it's Toothless from the How to Train Your Dragon series. Those are Trevor's favorite books.  He loves the movie as well.

Here's Trevor, bringing Toothless to be weighed and checked before the race.

There were approximately 60 cars racing, with lots of friends and family cheering on the Scouts and their cars.  

Toothless raced in the first heat of his age group and won.  It's on the far right in this picture, about to cross the finish line.  As it turns out, that was the only heat he won.  Trevor ended up finishing in the middle of the pack.  Nothing wrong with that.    

Toothless won't race again with the Cub Scouts this season, but he'll be entered at the county fair both to race and to be judged on design and workmanship.  Looking forward to seeing how he does!

Golf Camp

For Trevor's seventh birthday, we bought him his own set of golf clubs.  (You can see the layout about that here.)  He'd been interested in golf for a long time, but his interest skyrocked in first grade when he became friends with a boy who plays competitively and is very highly ranked for his age group.  That friend's dad encouraged me to sign Trevor up for a golf camp at our local course.  

One problem: Trevor was a year younger than the minimum age for the camp.  Because it never hurts to ask, Trevor and I went in to speak with the instructor to ask if it was possible for Trevor to enroll.  The instructor sat down with Trevor to get to know him and to explain the behavior expectations and physical requirements.  After the conversation, he gave me the OK to enroll Trevor.  Hurray!

Trevor loved everything about the camp.

Trevor struggled with hitting the ball any distance, but quickly became an excellent putter.  The camp culminated with the kids playing a 'best ball' game in the evening with parents caddying. Trevor's ball never went the farthest (not even close), but once they were on the green, he almost always aced his putts.  (They say it's all in the short game, right?)  Most importantly, Trevor showed huge improvement and had a lot of fun.

Trevor can't wait to do Golf Camp again this summer.

A Card from Sketch 10

A few weeks ago, I shared a layout from Easter 2013 that I made using this sketch:   

As usual, when I was done with my layout I used the scraps from the layout to make a card.   I love doing that.  Everything is already out and color-coordinated and just the right size for cards. Here's my card:

 

See the mistake?  I didn't... not until I'd scanned it, edited it, and was about to submit it for an article.  Here's the improved version:  

If you didn't notice the problem, check the lower right corner.

Anyway, about the card... as you can see, I kept several of the elements from the sketch and used the same color scheme as the layout.  Because of the extra mailing expense, I don't usually make square cards unless I'll be giving the card in person.  Approximately 98% of the cards I make are A2, so it was a fun exercise to make a card that with a different shape.