Monday, February 27, 2012

New Discovery and My Grading Scale

This weekend, I had a food discovery. Don't you just love when new food trials surprised you?

I hit up the grocery store bright and early on Saturday morning. A perk of not going out Friday night is that I could get it all done before the crazies pulled themselves from their beds.

I went early enough that I wasn't hungry before, so I planned to eat my breakfast after. Needless to say, I came home with far more groceries than I had planned. It's true what they say: "Never go grocery shopping on an empty stomach". All healthy stuff, but much more damaging to my pocketbook (why doesn't anyone say pocket book anymore?) than I had planned.

As I was prepping my carrots for the week (I bought big ones this time and cut them into babies myself- so much cheaper), I got a little adventurous. I shredded up the last carrot rather than slicing it, and I mixed it in to the oatmeal mix I was planning for after the food prep was done.

Enter, my version of carrot cake oats! I have seen them around the blog world, but it always seemed like too much work to shred the carrot and get all the other ingredients together early in the morning. Well, this weekend was the perfect opportunity to give it a try.

The verdict: Yummmmm! I loved the texture and slight sweetness they added to my oats. I will definitely be repeating this one when I have time in the mornings. Plus, it's a great way to get a veggie into breakfast, especially since mine are consistently made of carbs and fruit. This one gets an A on the grading scale, for sure.

The grading scale is something that I came up with on my old blog. As all of my teacher training has shown me, I have to have some sort of systematic way of evaluating student work new experiences/restaurants/recipes in order to be able to best communicate feedback. I designed this rubric-of-sorts, and I am bringing it back here now:
  • A: To receive an "A", means that this is something that far exceeded expectations: something I want to do again, something I want to eat/make again as soon as possible. (Casa Nueva gets an A, fo' sho').
  • B: A grade of a "B" indicates that it exceeded expectations, but was not an overall perfect experience. I would do or eat this again, but I am not jumping in my boots to do it.
  • C: Met expectations, but did not exceed them. An average overall experience. The hunk would call this a "mehh" event.
  • D: A below average, slightly un-enjoyable time. Definitely not positive, but it didn't send me running for the hills.  
  • F: Something has to be pretty awful to receive an "F". I don't like the idea of failing students, but sometimes, you just have to do it. This would be an experience that made me cry, food that made me vomit (or almost) or a restaurant that I wouldn't send an enemy to.

Phew, the teacher in me feels better now.

After the yummy weekend, we have arrived at Monday.

Since I laid low this weekend due in an effort not to repeat the rough-ness that was last weekend, I woke up this morning feeling refreshed, but sore! I worked out hard all weekend, and my modern dance class last night was awesome. I was reminded what "dance battle wounds" feel like, and I woke up with a few bruises this morning. It hurts so good!

Although I do feel refreshed and great this morning, my body is exhausted, and the gym is the last place I feel like going today. So, I'm letting myself have a rest day. I am listening to my body, and rather than go to the gym when my class gets out at 3, I am going to come home, take a shower, maybe even take a nap, and get a head start on my work for the week. Sorry, I'm not sorry.

Here's to eating well, listening to yourself, and feeling good!
~ Rach

2 comments:

  1. Carrot cake oats sound super delicious! :)

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    1. So good! I just wish I had more time and patience in the morning. I think it is going to be my weekend treat!

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