Hi everyone!
If this is your first time on my blog, thanks for stopping by! I'm Chayse, and I chose to learn how to cook for my learning project. I am 19 years old and even though I've been out of high school for 3 years, I have not done a lot of cooking due to living with family or living in dorms with a meal plan. I moved into my own apartment last August and for the first time, I had a kitchen I could use. Quickly after moving in, I realized that I did not know how to cook anything, typical supper meals specifically. Anytime I tried, it turned out really gross. This led to me dreading having to cook. I did not know how to season anything, how long to cook things for, how to cook multiple things at once, or how to find recipes. This project came in at the perfect time for me! It allowed me to hit two birds with one stone and pushed me to try new things that I likely would not have done if not for this class.
Here is the link to a canva presentation that covers the rest of this blog post in a more visual way if that interests you!
Here is an outline of The last 10 weeks of my cooking journey:
Week 1: First Post, outlining where I started and what I wanted to use to learn how to cook.
Week 2: I tried to make a panko-breaded chicken breast I found on TikTok. This was probably the most difficult week for me. I was really discouraged because the chicken I made tasted really gross and I was really worried that I wasn't going to make any progress over the semester.
Week 3: I used Pinterest to make a honey BBQ chicken breast. I was really excited because it was the first chicken I had ever made that tasted alright! I had regained some hope and I was excited to learn more the next week.
Week 4: I used the Supercook app to make heart-shaped roasted potatoes, and used Filmmaker Pro to make a video documenting my attempt at the recipe. This week was really important for me because this was the first time I actually enjoyed the cooking process. I had a lot of fun making these potatoes and even more fun making the video.
Week 5: I used YouTube to learn how to plan my meals and meal prep, and then used Canva to find and alter a meal planning template. This week taught me how to plan my meals ahead, which allows me to be less stressed about cooking and enjoy the process a bit more.
Week 6: I used a website called Recipe Land to find a recipe for scalloped potatoes and used Canva to make an infographic documenting my learning process.
Week 7: I used a website called FarmerGirl Gourmet to find a recipe for a homemade hamburger helper dish and used iMovie and TikTok to make a video documenting my learning.
Week 8: I used a combination of TikTok videos and websites to make roasted vegetables and potatoes. This week was important because it was the first time I encountered a little trial and error. I struggled with cooking the potatoes and vegetables together because the vegetables cooked much quicker than the potatoes.
Week 9: I used wikiHow to learn how to cook rice with a rice cooker and documented my learning journey via video. This week I think was when I realized that I didn't dread cooking anymore and that I was actually excited to cook and learn new things to cook.
Week 10: I used videos I found on Instagram to learn how to make rosemary water. This was the week when I started to think about how I can expand upon my skills and continue to learn after this class is done.
My Favourite Sources:
SuperCook App
The SuperCook App was definitely my favourite source and is something I use all the time now. It allows you to enter all of the food you have in your kitchen and it will give you recipes based on everything you have. There are a bunch of filters you can apply to find different types of meals, country of origin, how long the recipe takes to make, etc. This made the cooking process much easier for me!
TikTok
I like TikTok for a lot of reasons. I use it for learning a multitude of different skills and hobbies. I think the algorithm on TikTok is really good for learning to cook, it will show you videos related to what you’ve been looking for. There is also the option of saving the videos to a “collection” within the app which is really handy for keeping your saved videos organized. The video aspect of this app is really handy for me as a visual learner.
Least Favourite Source:
I didn’t “dislike” wikiHow per se. I just don’t think it’s a super reliable source. For what I used it for, it was great! It gave me a step-by-step tutorial with pictures and videos that were really simple to follow. But it is essentially a decorated blogging website and there are some articles that are concerning and make me not trust the website, such as “how to save your marriage” and “how to drive”. Use with caution is my advice!
Favourite Tools for Documenting Learning Journey:
Canva: as I’m sure you can tell by how many times I used it, I LOVED using Canva. I have used it before but I really got to explore it in different ways with this class. I think it has a lot to offer and is super easy to use once you play around with it for a while! I could not recommend it more, especially for educators!
iMovie: I have loved iMovie for many years. I used it frequently as a kid and in school so it came back to me naturally. It really liked it for making short, simple videos documenting my learning journey. The one challenge with this app is that titles and adding text is really difficult and limited.
Challenges I faced:
Challenge 1
The first challenge that I faced was simply the fact that I did not enjoy cooking whatsoever. Putting time and effort into cooking was very tedious and I dreaded doing it at the start of the semester. What I did to combat this was setting my laptop on the counter as I cooked and watched Bob’s Burgers, my favourite TV show. I set this as my designated “Bob’s Burgers Time” and it helped!
Challenge 2
Challenge 3
My Favourite Recipes:
This recipe was by far my favourite! It was so good and so easy to make! I make it usually at the start of the week and it lasts me as an individual about 4 days
Valentine's Day Potatoes
This recipe was my second favourite because it was really fun to make which was important to me because at the beginning, I really did not enjoy cooking. This helped me start to enjoy and have fun while cooking!
This recipe was my third favourite because I can see myself cooking this very often, it was really easy to make, and it is really inexpensive which is important to me as a student
5 Things I learned that were not the act of cooking:
I learned how to shop for groceries better by being more aware of the ingredients I have and need for the upcoming week
I learned how to meal plan and prep
I learned about nutritional information such as the importance of fiber
I learned about and how to use different tools such as
How I feel now, at the end of the semester:
After the ups and downs of this learning journey I feel really proud of myself. I have found that I actually enjoy cooking now which is a huge improvement from the beginning! I also feel much more confident in my skills and can cook some things without a recipe. I can predict how different spices will taste together and just try it out! When I see a new recipe I think might be good, I get excited and can’t wait to try it out. I am much more organized which really helps me feel less stressed about my day due to meal planning and prepping and I am really excited to see where I go from here! I am really thankful for this experience!
How this has changed me as an educator:
Canva is a really great tool for educators and I now feel really confident using it!
I feel like I am much better at using online sources to find resources and tools which I can use for teaching
Learning how to cook has made me feel really good about myself so I think when teaching, if I can design my lesson and unit plans to allow for my students to see their growth, then it could really help their self esteems.
How Others Have Helped Me Learn On This Journey:
