school cooking lessons

[vixnpips]

Rant coming on.. eldest boy came home from school with his "list" of ingredients for his school cooking lesson. Now bearing in mind that the school hasn't covered any basic cooking.. or where the food comes from etc.. or cooking to a budget. this is the list.
cous cous, vine tomatoes, cucumber, chicken breasts, creme fresh, sweet chilli sause and half a green pepper.
all sounds nice... 1, sweet chilli sause has to be the one that the teacher said.. i.e. mass produced in a jar with a ton of stuff i wouldn't ever feed my kids... not sure how to buy half a green pepper.. and the only chickens we eat our our own!.. which i am not prepared to dispatch a chook just for a school cooking lesson.. pretty much means going to the shop and buying ewwwww chicken breast ..
2. this is to be cooked at school as a meal for one. and when my son asked if he could make it for the whole family as it would be more economical.. he was told no.
3. He then had a debate about the chicken.. stating that he didn't agree with cheap chicken breast from shops ( u know the stuff). the teachers reply was that she didn't care, the chickens we kept must be smelly!
rant over... and i am seeing the woman tonight!! ( not to beat her up... but at parents evening LOL)

[mybarnconversion]

wow ... a jar of sauce & cheap chicken ... that is really frightening, the teacher is probably sponsored by the cookin sauce company!

I find this level of ignorance in our education system infuriating. Teaching cookery in a holistic, sensible manner is a great opportunity ... this is where the food comes from, which leads to discussing environmental & ecological issues and so on ...

A missed opportunity.

[vixnpips]

scary huh.. well at least my kids know where food comes from, what it has in it and the other issues that are connected to mass production of "plastic" food.

At least my boy had the forward thinking to question the teacher as to what she has asked him to do!

[Shirley]

That's disgraceful - the comment about the chickens you keep being smelly would be one that I might expect from the kids in class rather than a teacher in her place of authority.

No wonder people want to home school - this is NOT teaching children this is taking the easy route. Worlds apart from when I was taught home economics at school.

How old is your son btw?

I hope you will put her right tonight!

Shocked!

[cir3ngirl]

I'd take a chicken along tonight if it was me just to prove a point, possible a fresh egg or two then invite the class to visit the chickens at home.

[vixnpips]

my son is 12 ( going on 18 lol). And yes I will be having a word with her tonight!
Apart from anything else.. what about the families that just can afford to pay up everytime the school/ teacher wants to "go jamie oliver" grrrr

Have to say it is one of the most worrying things I have heard from an educated person who is there to influenece and teach my child! Luckily he takes after "mummy" and suffers no fools.
This could be an interesting night! LOL

[vixnpips]

good point cir3.. can you imagine her face when i plonk a chook on her desk!! LMAO

Have to say my boy was a tad rude and told her she has probably never even tasted a fresh egg! LOL

could take her some tomatoes and let her know they were fertilized with watered down chicken poop after she tastes them. or maybe some rocket from the veg patch.. just to let her know it doesn't grow in plastic bags!

[red]

thats disgraceful - I should complain! - presumably the whole class eat meat as well then?
and your chickens are smell? seriously.. does she think the cage cheap chicken (possibly imported) have a shower every day and use deodourant?
I think, given your principals, I would say my son will have to drop out of that class. hard on your son though.. but sounds like he has his head screwed on right

[Silver Ether]

hehe ... pet topic ... My kate and I caused havoc with cookery at school. every recipe they sent home we modified it to make it
a) healthy
b) veggie.
c) real food content
d) nice and tasty.
f) cheaper than theirs
best reason it pissed the teacher of being told using the stuff she insited on were damaging us and the planet ... Guess what she came out top at the end of ther year ...

I never cease to be amazed at the crap folks eat and feed their families ... Tell him to adapt the reacipes to suit him... they cant do anything about it .

[Annpan]

.
...cous cous, vine tomatoes, cucumber, chicken breasts, creme fresh, sweet chilli sause and half a green pepper.
all sounds nice...

What really gets me (and I think it is a Nigella Lawson pet peave too ) is that this isn't what I would call real food. They teach kids how to make veal parmesan before they teach them the basic skills needed to roast a chicken and make roast potatoes, fry an onion and add some herbs and tomatoes. THESE are they basic cooking skills that the younger generation need.

jeese...... Creme fresh.... give me a break

[mybarnconversion]

.
...cous cous, vine tomatoes, cucumber, chicken breasts, creme fresh, sweet chilli sause and half a green pepper.
all sounds nice...

What really gets me (and I think it is a Nigella Lawson pet peave too ) is that this isn't what I would call real food. They teach kids how to make veal parmesan before they teach them the basic skills needed to roast a chicken and make roast potatoes, fry an onion and add some herbs and tomatoes. THESE are they basic cooking skills that the younger generation need.

jeese...... Creme fresh.... give me a break

Very valid point ... why have cous cous when you can have a great British spud?

[Shirley]

I guess you could make a sweet chilli sauce (or even a tomato sauce) with your son at home and send it in with him in a tub (recycled of course)

[vixnpips]

ah well i'm back from the meeting! hey hey.

I was told that she was trying to teach the children how to eat healthy.
so I kindly pointed out that jars full of e numbers and other such like items, and broiler chickens contain god knows what.. which i don't consider partiularly healthy.
now he gets to cook a healthy meal of his choice.. YIPPEEEE!
I think I offened her by saying she was the cooking teacher.. so why wasn't she teaching the basics of cooking. oh well.. we got what we wanted.. son and I are now going to decide what to send in. hey hey. she got thge last word she thought by telling him his hand writing was bad.. I told her she needed to know more about those she teaches..as he is dyslexic!

[Silver Ether]

go for it girl ... sorry I aint got a lot of time for teachers and I am married to one ... mind you he doesn`t care for them either .

[Shirley]

go for it girl ... sorry I aint got a lot of time for teachers and I am married to one ... mind you he doesn`t care for them either .

I second that.... my oh is a teacher too