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Cooking 2.8

Hey guys! Welcome to my final blog. That went by fast! This week, I did not do anything new and exciting. I was sick and missed a bunch of school, so I was unable to cook. However, this does not mean I didn’t do anything related to genius hour. I reviewed my progress and looked over my rubric/original plan sheet. I would definitely say I followed the draft and found it to be very helpful when planning meals. Obviously, I didn’t know what I was going to make each week but I was successful for forcing myself to cook! Also I didn’t burn down my house so that’s a plus.   As you may know if you have read my past blogs, there was many ups and downs to my genius hour. Overall, I learned many new skills and recipes to help prepare myself for college. However, like I stated in my other blogs, I found it difficult to find recipes you can make in a dorm room without certain appliances. Many of the recipes I made required a stove top, but this is okay because one day I plan to live in an ...
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Cooking 2.7

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    Hi guys! I cannot believe it is already week 7 of blogging. Time has  definitely gone by fast this genius hour and to say the absolute least, I am still terrified to go to college this fall. I would definitely not call myself Gordon Ramsay, so the idea of my mom not being there to fix me lunch while I'm at the dorms frightens me. I do have to say my cooking skills have improved. I have learned to cook and prepare some of my favorites meals, with the help of recipes and my mom. However, when I do decide to cook these meals again, I know I'm going to have to revert back to the recipes and instructions for help. It is safe to say that you cannot be a professional grilled cheese maker if you have only made one...     This week I  decided to make beef tacos! If you have been keeping up with my blogs in the past, you know I have already made chicken tacos a few weeks ago. That's okay because this proves my theory that you have to cook things more than once to...
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Cooking 2.6

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Hello again everyone! This week I decided to take my cooking project to the sweeter side😋... I baked a cake! I know my original set plan was to learn how to cook meals/dinners for a college dorm environment, but I definitely will be bringing my sweet tooth to college. This gave me a perfect opportunity to make a tasty treat with the help from the famous Skyler David. Growing up I always loved baking cookies, cakes, and brownies with my grandma, so this brought all the memories back!  The recipe we used was called a chocolate bubble cake. Sounds as good as it tasted! I definitely would say making the frosting was the hardest part. We struggled to get the frosting to the perfect consistency. But after some trial and error, we finally got the frosting to where it needed to be. We used four different colors of food dye to add color and make the cake look more appealing!  I’m happy with how this week of my genius hour went. I feel like each week I have improved with certain techni...
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Cooking 2.5

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      Hi guys! It has been a  stressful week for Chef Maddie... this has nothing to do with my genius hour, but I lost $180 this weekend and I have not been in a good mood. Also, my check engine light came on in my car, so that's great. I know nothing about cars and that definitely does not help. Maybe next genius hour I should educated myself on mechanics! But that's all besides the point, because this week of cooking was a success!     I decided to make homemade chicken dumpling soup this week. The  process wasn't too tricky or time consuming, which will be helpful going into college. However, my mom did help me this week by organizing the ingredients and helping me prepare the dumplings. I found a recipe online that looked appealing and simple. The recipe called for ingredients such as onions, celery, garlic, chicken, and carrots (but we left out those because who likes carrots anyway 😣). First, I prepared the broth part of the soup and t...
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Cooking 2.4

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      Hey guys! Welcome back to my blog... this week did not go as planned:( I  decide I was going to take a leap of faith and try to make homemade Mac & Cheese. I used a Martha Stewart recipe, hoping it would be as easy as she made it sound. Jokes on me though, because this macaroni was DISGUSTING. I even cooked enough for dinner with my family and they were not impressed. Now my dad is convinced I am going to starve in college, because I can't even make simple Mac & Cheese. But you know what? As genius hour continues, I am going to become a better cook and prove the man wrong (he can only barbecue, so we are equals right now).       Although the taste of the pasta did not turn out, I think it is deceiving and looks tasty. 
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Cooking 2.3

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      Hey guys! It is safe to say I am  improving on my cooking skills and each week I am learning something new. For the third week of genius hour, I decided to make both chicken and beef tacos (I am more of a chicken person if you didn't already notice). These were so quick and simple, I actually enjoyed the process. As most of you know, the first basic step is to cook and prepare the meat. My mom usually adds seasoning to the hamburger meat, so I followed that method. As the meat was browning, I sliced and prepared the toppings- tomatoes, lettuce, and cheese. I believe my tacos were just as tasty as my mom's, so it is safe to say this week was a success.      Next week I am hoping to find a college-student  friendly recipe that is easy to make in the dorm room environment. My overall goal for genius hour is to find those quick, freshman safe dinner and lunch recipes. I'm hoping I will find more meals that appeals to my picky taste and future bu...
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Cooking 2.2

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       Welcome back! This week I challenged myself to step out if my comfort zone and prepare a meal for my family. This required a little more time and effort then the sandwich I made last week. Cooking a meal for others will help me next year when my college roommates need a quick bite after class.       This week I made homemade chicken fiesta. This is my mom’s personal recipe and one of my favorite meal when it's chilly outside. We typically have this dish on football Sunday's with the fam. If you never had or heard of this delicious meal, it is practically just a chicken stew. Eww stew... I know that sounds gross, but coming from one of the most pickiest eaters you'll ever meet, it's actually quite tasty. This dish contains shredded chicken with seasoning/spices, tortilla chips, and cheese.      Making dinner for my family was a bit of a  struggle and required more of my time then expected. Preparing the chicken to pu...
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