Recipe of the week Protein Balls

This week I figured that I would make a snack that I could munch on whenever I needed a little something.  I got this Protein Ball recipe from a friend Jen, but there are many variations available online. I added some flax, chia seeds, and chocolate chips to make the recipe a little more hearty.  Next time I think I will add some coconut, hemp hearts and raisins. I will keep them in a container in the freezer and just take out what I need.  I decided that they are best cold or semi frozen.  These little bite size protein balls were absolutely delicious.  I just need to convince my husband to try one.  I brought them to work and Kayla thought they were delicious too.  Have you ever tried a protein shake or using protein powder in recipes ? If you are interested in adding a protein shake to your routine I can suggest some of the ones I have tried, just let me know!

Ups and downs of health

Well this past 2 weeks have been tough on me in terms of fighting off my illness.  Just when I have started to feel better my Fitbit decides to malfunction and quit syncing.  I guess that goes with technology.  I did call for tech support, they offered me  25% off a new one purchased from Fitbit.  After checking out their website I decided that the Fitbit Alta was the one for me.  It is just so beautiful and has many features.

I am also a fan of the Charge HR which has more of a watch style clasp.  I did lose my first Fitbit so clasp security is important to me.  After I lost the Fitbit Flex  I called tech support and asked if there way anyway that I could locate my lost tracker.  They suggested that I used the Bluetooth, but it would no sync so it was obviously out of range.  I was so lucky that they sent me a replacement, I went from the saddest to the happiest girl all in about an hour.  I needed a way to secure my Flex.  I went online and was lucky to find that their is a product called Bitbelt that adds security so that your Fitbit or any other wearable will never fall off again.  I have no clue why Fitbit won’t change their clasps, okay maybe I do, people will just buy another.  People who use Fitbits just love them.  There are challenges that you can enter with friends who have Fitbits.

I did find this chart that compared the two that I was interested in but the more I think about it I don’t think that I need to know my heart rate, in fact I would probably obsess over it haha.  I did find a complete comparison of the Alta vs Charge HR.

FITBIT ALTA	FITBIT CHARGE HR
Price	$129.95 from Fitbit	$149.95 from Fitbit
Color	Black, plum, blue, teal	Black, plum, blue, teal, tangerine
All-day activity tracking	Yes	Yes
Sleep monitoring	Yes	Yes
Call notifications	Yes	Yes
Text notifications	Yes	No
Heart rate monitoring	No	Yes
Battery life	Up to 5 days	Up to 5 days
Buy on Amazon	BuyFitbit Alta	BuyCharge HR

My friend just returned from Costa Rica and was heart broken that her Fitbit disappeared from her hotel room.  She was also offered the 25% off.  I think she will be going with the Alta as well, but the heart breaking part is that it is not available until end of March.

The next challenge I am having is joining an online community for healthy eating, one of the sign up questions that I came across on SparkPeople was about pregnancy. Surprise I am pregnant which has thrown off my whole eating plan.  I usually drink a Herbalife protein shake or 2 a day and now I have focused on getting my nutrition from food. I did find a community at Baby Center but I am finding that they are focusing on other things beside nutrition.. So My search continues!!

I think I know what it memes!

The article  Why teenagers are ‘self-trolling’ on websites like Reddit was super sad to me .  It hurts my heart that teens would actually post pictures of themselves and asks others to pick them apart.  What a sad and scary world to be raising children in.  I know that as humans we are often our own worst critic.  Teenagers are the most vulnerable in terms of mental health and developing a positive self esteem, I can’t imagine why on earth they would want to make themselves vulnerable by inviting others to attack them. It is even more heartbreaking when the teens are roasting themselves using fake accounts.  I have to say that Ask FM is something I have heard about as my step daughter became a target of cyber bullying, she was instantly turned off of the fact that bullies become anonymous.

I enjoyed the read What does it all meme? I do think that meme’s can be fun, in fact I enjoyed a little app on my phone that allows you to create your own.  This creating meme’s fad lasted only a short time in my friends circle. However, I do enjoy when Friday meme’s circulate.  I enjoy when people start posting their meme’s online, I screen shot only the best ones.  What is your take on meme’s? 

The article Absolutely everything you need to know about 4chan was also a great read.  I had never heard of the website before.  I do think that not needing a user name make the posts way too anonymous  as their is no accountability.  It is kinda bizarre that we really don’t know who uses the 4 chan site, but I think shady characters are definitely congregating there online.  I do see that 4 chan is a forum to post all sorts of normal everyday things but some of the  boards are just too messed up.  I do understand why 4 chan is seen as the unknown boogeyman. 

The National Post article Ontario’s new sex ed curriculum is designed to help students cope was also an excellent read. I think that the internet is so wide open, especially at schools.  I think that there is a need for stricter protocols regarding the internet.  I think it is important to talk to students about porn and it should most defiantly be in the curriculum. I think that the digital security is very week at my school. A foster parent of one of my students called me to inform me that she found an inappropriate picture on the child cell phone.  When she asked how he go the photo, he mentioned he came across it on the school computer.  First the cell phone that he took the photo on was an older style Motorola with a screen that was about 2 inches. Second the lady and her husband to examine the photo for along time to even make out the very blurry image. I kinda had a little chuckle about how her husband had to really examine the photo haha. I ended up having a chat with the student about using school computers appropriately and being mature when such images pop.  I was also able to touch on growing up and being curious but I also reminded him that he is still just a kid, and he should be in no rush to grow up.

The final article Yik Yak app: Why schools are concerned spoke about the anonymous messing app that used location to bring yakkers together.  I understand how Yik Yak can become so negative in a short period of time.  The fact that no one knows who is posting make Yik Yak become scary as people become keyboard warriors and can say what ever they want with no repercussions.  I do think that this game of wack a mole gives teachers an opportunity to encourage students to do the right think and be responsible and report behavior that is out of line.  This goes with any social media or app, citizens have a duty to make good choices and help other do the right thing as well, as at times the internet is not as anonymous as it looks. I believe that as a parent and teacher we should know about how these social media apps work. Long ago i downloaded the app, read some posts then quickly got bored of what was going on around me.  But I could only imagine if I was close to a high school how my feed would look a lot different.  I am also aware that a high school in Regina had an issue with Yik Yak as a teacher became a subject of a Yak.  The principal went over the loudspeaker and actually spoke to the students and talked about the police becoming involved in the heated situation. The app is no banned in the school, and a little message appears that it is only available for universities. 

Trying to Stay Hip

I really enjoyed the article Why many kids are leaving social networks.  I like to take pencil and paper notes as I am reading, this allows me to reflect as I am writing my blog. Once upon a time I signed up for both Snapchat and  Instagram but have never done anything with it. Occasionally I will receive a Snapchat and will feel odd as I don’t even have a good reply. However, my 17 year-old step daughter is all over it like nobody’s business.  I think that it is wild that 11 million people have fled Facebook and shifted to Instragram. I find it odd when someone admits they don’t have Facebook!  It is even more interesting that shift is moving from broadcasting to narrow-casting, much more of an intimate exchange with the use of Snapchat and  Messenger.

The article grouped me into the older crowd who uses Pinterest and Twitter.  Twitter is also very new to me, but I am trying to keep up with the tweets and re-tweets! Of the people who are on Facebook, 70% are on at least once a day.  Whenever I have a down minute, I am often staring deep into my phone and checking my Facebook.  I even have my grandma signed up for Facebook.  I guess this is where the shifting demographic comes in, older people using Facebook to connect with family.  My cousin hasn’t added my grandma and she is quite perturbed about it!  The management of pictures is something that makes sense to me as my grandma was creeping my pictures and found one of me smoking at university like 15 years ago, then she commented. I guess by not adding my grandma my cousin is trying to avoid all the grief. I do admit when looking at my Facebook, I am not usually making a status rather just creeping everyone else.  After reading this line in the article about no contributing, I have made a point to add my statuses not just swim through everyone’s.

The article Teens, social media, & technology overview 2015 had a lot of great info.  I think I could be lumped into the category of teens that are constantly connected.  I continuously on my cell phone looking something up or Facebooking around as I call it. Many of the teens that go to the school I teach at do not have cell phones, it is just not something that is part of their daily lives.  They may be connected to others at home through an Xbox Live or even head to the library to go on FaceBook.

A guidebook for social media in the classroom was a great article that made me think.  I believe that we should continue to teach pen and paper letter writing to students.  It is a skill that will be needed on occasion.  Just last week I had to type a letter to submit with an application I was sending it.  I also believe that teaching students how to send an email is an important skill they they will use over and over in their lifetime. I believe that there are many awesome uses for social media in the classroom. As a class we tend to turn to the computer for examples and all sorts of ready made learning projects. When will I be brave enough to make a YouTube video with my students?

I also enjoyed this short article How Teens Are Really Using Social Media.  Sometimes short and to the point visual is a nice way for info to be presented. i do believe that kids are spending more and more time connected which is n’t a bad thing as long as it is monitored.  As a teacher I know that some of my students are coming to school exhausted as their devices are in their room, and they are on them all night long.  I do also think that it is a concern as kids can longer get away from a bully when they are at home, as the bully can still get to them online.  I think that parents have to teach their children boundaries and rules when allowing then to have Snapchat or Facebook. AskFM did cause problems for my step daughter as it became a way for bullies to be anonymous.  I also noticed this advertisement from TeenShield  which will let you know everything about your child’s digital world, I would be mortified if my parents had that when I was growing up.

The short video Snapchat murders Facebook was neat in the sense I didn’t know much about Snapchat before this class and the readings.  I hadn’t even heard of Friendster before this video. The power of Snapchat became evident as Just last night at the Brad Paisley he interacted with the audience by taking selfies and making Snapchats on audience member’s phone.  I mentioned it to my Step Daughter and she said her friend was making a little snap video of the concert when Brad grabbed her phone and starting singing into it. 

 

 

 

2 Ingredient Banana Pancake Fail!

Wow, my whole week off has flew by.  sadly, I spend many days in bed with possibly the flu.  I did make it to the doctor’s to get some antibiotics for a lung/ throat infection.  I would have never guessed that the flu (Influenza) is more of a respiratory illness, I always thought of it as stomach issues, but that is usually only with children not adults. My husband and I were both useless for the week.  Well now that I have my appetite back I thought I would try a recipe that I have been curious about for awhile. Today I gave into one of the popular recipes that is always showing up on my Facebook news feed, 2- Ingredient Banana Pancakes.

The recipe is super easy.  Mash banana, scramble eggs in a bowl, combine and fry. I love pancakes so I thought, mmm a nice healthy version of one of my favorites.

After mixing the eggs and banana, I knew the consistency of a typical pancake was not there.  After they were cooked, I tried the pancake, not what I expected but it certainly was banana flavored egg.  I had a bite and decided that it wasn’t really for me.  I also had my husband try it, yeah he didn’t care much for my creation either.  However, my dog Kodah loves bananas.  He was very excited for the recipe fail.

I will note that while hyperlinking the recipe I noticed “These are pancakes in the sense that they’re cooked on a stove top and are lovely drenched with syrup, but they are definitely not a replacement for your favorite Saturday morning recipe”.  I guess lesson learned always read the  whole recipe, even if there are only 2 ingredients!  I hope the next week finds everyone healthy and happy!!  

Petite Turkey Meatloaves

This week I decided I would try another turkey recipe, mysteriously it is Turkey Tuesday.  I like to use ground turkey in most recipes in place of ground beef.  At Costco you can get a 4 pack  for around $20.00, if you buy each package separately at your grocery store they can cost between $6.00-8.00 each.

I have really become a fan of the website Skinnytaste, I enjoy browsing recipes that have been shared on my Facebook feed, then I just click save on the ones I like.   Today my recipe of choice is Petite Turkey Meatloaves. I have all the ingredients that are needed for the recipe with exception of the spice marjoram.  There are not many ingredients in the recipe so I think I will add some random spices from my cupboard in place of the marjoram.

 

This recipe was super easy to prepare.  After I did my mixing I was able to do a few other things while they cooked.  I like putting meatloaf into my muffin tins as they are perfect portions and they also freeze well.  I have learned that you need  to spray your muffin pan if you don’t want a headache after you are done cooking, and then the cleaning is even worst.  When I first started using my muffin pan in meal prep I actually bought new ones as I thought that would help the release factor.  The new pans are better but the spray is mandatory!

I really love my rice cooker, just set it and forget it.  I have started mixing my brown rice with quinoa.  It always comes out great and super healthy as opposed to white rice.

Well I have to say that I have tried many types of lil turkey burgers in my muffin tin, but the glaze on these is what makes them so yummy.  I also have learned that sauteing the onions is an important step, better flavor, as they onion wont cook well from raw.  I recommend giving this recipe a try!!  Let me know how it goes!

Blogging is making me smarter??

I really enjoyed the reading Why Even the Worst Bloggers Are Making Us Smarter.  I found some amazing facts: 154.6 billion emails are sent daily, I just think of some days when I open my inbox and there are a few.  3.6 trillion word are shared daily on social media, wow, I guess if we consider Facebook, twitter and other outlets this is not surprising.  It is hard for me to think that the internet wasn’t so rampant in my life.  I can think back to being about 18 and paying for AOL on my first credit card.  The dial-up sound is still fresh in my mind.  I think that children are lucky to grow up in this age of “know where to”.  My younger cousins knew how to operate a computer at age 3 and 4 and this was in the early 90’s, I was jealous.  I understand how time have shifted and with the access to internet as a platform has allowed for people to begin to share their ideas in a public space, it was rare for people to write for pleasure. Mind baffling that we can’t get student to put many words on paper, but I am sure at night social media is-a-booming.  Social media allows the world to share their ideas, good and bad for the world to see.  Not that long ago, I was explaining a 3D printer to my student, we looked at how a group printed a 3D leg for a dog, then we took a look at how the technology could be used for humans.  It was well understood that 3D printers were great for printing limbs for kid as they quickly grow and a new one could be printed as needed for minimal cost.  We also came across a controversy of open online plans for a 3D gun.  We had a great discussion of “sharing bad ideas for the world to see”.  I also watch a series called The Good Wife , the issue of the 3D gun came up as a court case, as someone printed the gun and it malfunctioned injuring someone.  While watching, I thought it is kinds neat how the idea of open online sharing made its way into a TV series, I guess even law and order is fictional but based on real events that we sometimes see pop up in the news. It is true we tend to polish our writing and make it better for an audience.  I do apologize that this entry is not my best, as I am battling a cold and utter exhaustion all at the same time, I can not countdown the days fast enough for my February break .

Success in a MOOC

I have come to realize that our online course is a MOOC.  I think it is a wonderful way to take a course.  It is true, the more that you put into the class and the reading the more you will get out of it.  I like that I can work at my own pace.  My colleague enjoys that she can connect from anywhere she is at the time, but I enjoy sitting on my couch.  I do find it a little annoying that my husband has to peak at my computer and check everyone out haha, or when my dog needs to go outside and I have to get up.

I think it is neat that my blog is exactly where I declare my knowledge about healthy eating.  I am enjoying my Digital learning project.  I am a little shy, as I haven’t lead on to too many friends
that I have a blog.

I also enjoyed Dave’s presentation on Rhizomatic learning.  In fact I hadn’t heard about it prior to this class. What I got out of his presentation was that it is similar to inquiry  learning. Students are responsible for their own learning; it doesn’t just stop after an assignment is handed in or a unit is completed. Learning should be ongoing and is considered a process. Through learning new questions and new understandings develop it can and will lead to more research or a completion of a project.  Somehow inquiry learning is a bit of a tough one for my teacher ways.  I like to take the lead, have the info and deliver it to the students. I do understand that students in this day and age should be allowed to have some control in their learning.

If anyone has any examples of inquiry based project in the middle years I would love to hear from you!

Loaded Turkey Sante Fe Boats

As promised I tried a new recipe tonight.  I follow the Skinny Taste Page on my Facebook feed, so finding a recipe was just a matter of looking back to something I saved.  Skinny potato skins loaded with mildly spiced turkey, black beans, corn and tomatoes topped with cheese – you won’t be able to stop at just one!

I only had to grab a few ingredients from the store on the way home.  The prep wasn’t that bad, perhaps next time I would bake the potatoes the night before so I didn’t have that much for prep.  I did modify the recipe by using low sodium taco seasoning instead of doing it with garlic and cilantro.  I think I would continue adding black beans in with my taco meat, as they are a great source of protein, the corn was fun too.  I made sure to cook extra meat, that way I can have a taco salad for lunch too.  Sometimes I will pop it in the freezer so I can have a quick tasty salad when I am in a rush. My family and myself quite enjoyed the recipe.  Try it out yourself.

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/02/loaded-turkey-santa-fe-baked-potato.html

Learning Knowledge in a Connected Age

Wow, another week flies by.  I quite enjoyed the readings and more so the videos this week, something about reading more than a few paragraphs on my laptop is torture, but somehow never a problem on my phone.  I will reflect briefly about each article, hitting a few points on what I have taken away and connections that I have made.  

Networked Student really clicked with me.  I do believe that all learning is networked.  As a student, it is very easy to put off reading or even avoiding purchasing a costly textbook.  Just last week a gal in one of the videos admitted that she rarely did the reading.  I think that knowledge and learning is moving past books.  Knowledge changes so quickly, and new edition textbooks are just annoying.  I believe that connecting with experts is such an amazing idea, technology at our fingertips allows us to connect with experts and authors by simply tracking them down on twitter or through the web.  I also am intrigued about iTunes U.  I think that I may just explore a free learning course this summer, such a cool idea.

Welcome to my PLE was such a cool video.  This girl is in grade 7, wow what a pro.  There is still hope for me to tweak my techno skills.  I think it is great that she is using note-taking software to help her keep track of her reflections.  A friend of mine uses Evernote for everything.  At the time, I was not sure if it was something that I needed in my life but as a way of keeping all your little notes, reflections and anything else you want to organize safe, it seems like something I should check out a little further.  I also think it is amazing that this girl is sending off her work to be peer reviewed; perhaps this is something that I should try.  Collaborative learning is the way of the future, and why not gain insight from others along the way.  I think that by having students use technology from such as young age make them so much more connected, even their learning, this young gal is proof.  She made a valid point about the learning being her choice as to the how and the when; quite often, it is nice to work at your own pace.  Overall, I think allowing the students the freedom to work on the internet will make them accountable in their learning and make them digital citizens.

The article on Connectivism has really illustrated how technology has reorganized life.  I believe that it is difficult to keep up with the changing knowledge; I understand this from the perspective of a Grad Student who has to find current research.  It is amazing that knowledge doubles every 18 months, wow!  As for informal learning, my brother always gave me a hard time about taking classes, he often pointed; out he could just read the book and be as smart as I am. Another valid point is the know how has changed to the know where to, quite often we turn to YouTube tutorials, online forums, or the web when we are looking for information on how something is done. Just today in my class one of the boys said, “Search it up” as we were chatting about the process of a grape turning to a raisin.  The fact that even young students understand that you just need to know how to Google something and voila you have the answer instantly.  My husband has noticed a decline in what he calls the “Bullshit factor”, buddies can no longer easily bullshit each other cause everyone has a smart phone and will challenge you on something that they don’t feel is accurate.

In the final article, Attention and Other 21st Century Social Media Literacies the author makes note of the disengagement from students.  As a teacher, I know that eye contact somehow equals attention; I am forever waiting on a student to pay attentional and look up front.  I know that while I am attending university class, it is respectful to pay attention and avoid distraction; I have even heard a Prof Stress that phones should be shut off and put away. Even as an adult, I am guilty of using my laptop at a staff meeting for multitasking, total partial attention.  I have run into problem with too much technology in the classroom, I thought about asking the school division to change the Wi-Fi password as too many students are distracted on Facebook during lessons, I understand the necessary intervention that banned the internet use in university classrooms.  Many people in society are always attending to media, I am guilty as I can’t even watch a TV program without googling or face booking, my husband is the same way.  Even when people are in a group, someone typically has their cell phone out.  I enjoy making the connections with the articles to my teaching and my personal life, wow I am networked!!

Sunday funday!

Well, week one of my healthy lifestyle went pretty well. I worked hard to make my step goal and stick to My Fitness Pal. I recommend trying out the My Fitness Pal App it is a wonderful visual, that lets you see what you are eating, it even breaks down the nutrients you are taking in.  I challenge you all to try it for one week, c’mon it’s free!  I ahve it on my Samsung Galaxy and I used to have it on an Iphone as well!

My plan is trying out my new recipe this Tuesday.  I already have a good one in mind.  Just yesterday, I managed to do some grocery shopping. Costco on a weekend wasn’t that bad after fighting to enter the parking lot, having a showdown for a parking spot, things went better than expected inside the store.

 

 

 

I had fun locating new products to try, many of which contain all sorts of healthy stuff.  I think my mistake in heading to Costco was inviting my husband to come on my usual Sunday grocery run.  His eyes tend to get big when he sees all the wonderful Costco delicacies. I have some self control and can talk myself out of a few rash purchases.  Him on the other hand, goes all crazy. Although, I was very proud that he was reading labels along with me.  We were at Costco for over 2 hours.  I try to include a lot of protein in my daily food intake, and after research I found out that brown rice and quinoa are sources of protein.  This week I decided to try a new Costco find called Aussie Bites.  
My cart was overflowing with Costco goods.  I think one of the Costco perks was topping up my fuel tank for $22.00. As you can see, the fuel was the cheap part of the trip.  Luckily we always split the bill at Costco, my half $200.00, and I certainly didn’t put those egg rolls in the cart!!

Costco is wonderful and all, but I find that they don’t carry everything that you need, so I also made a pit stop at Walmart. My husband stayed in the car, he was played out, haha.  I managed to grab some extra produce, smaller quantities of Greek Yogurt, and a few other random things.  Again spend, spend, spend, well for one day anyway.  Walmart costed me another $102.00.  My fridge, freezer and cupboards will be full for awhile.

 

 

 

 

More about Aussie Bites.  I couldn’t wait to get home and bust these open.  They looked delicious.  What drew me to them was the ingredients.  The ingredients include: Whole grain rolled oats, Whole grain oat flour, Unsalted butter, expeller pressed canola oil, Sugar, Honey, Dried apricots, Raisins, Sunflower kernels, Flax seeds, Shredded coconut, Baking soda and Salt. Seems like a  healthy snack.  The only thing is  you need to pay attention to how much you are eating. The 130 calories is not bad for a snack, but if you eat two or three that is another story.  I do recommend this purchase, you get quite a few for the price and they are so so so tasty as a treat.  My husband and coworker thought they were yummy as well.  I rate them two thumbs up.  I am going to attempt to find a recipe to make my own.  Shouldn’t be that hard, with just a few ingredients.  Although, sometimes I find that between the cost of ingredients and your time, it is cheaper and easier to just buy things, however it is also good to know what you put in your cooking!!
I hope that everyone enjoys a wonderful week and finds happiness and health!!