Walking into Mrs. Rebecca Sagers’ cooking class at Fremont High School felt like walking into an Italian restaurant. The students, who were divided up into seven teams, were already in the midst of making an entire meal in less than an hour. This included making a fruit yogurt salad, Italian cheesy bread and Fettuccini Alfredo pasta. I was able to have a taste of some of the cheesy bread and boy, was it delicious! Mrs. Sagers has been teaching in the Weber County School District for 12 years, with six of those being at Fremont. She teaches Foods I, Foods II, and ProStart, all of which are designed to help students learn basic life skills to use now and in the future.
But don’t think these students can simply put on an apron and get to work cooking; they first have to learn the skills that come with the territory. These include learning about nutrition, how to properly plan a budget for a meal and learning to cook with only a few ingredients. Mrs. Sagers says she enjoys watching students grow from the start of the year up to the end and beyond. “It’s great being able to see them succeed,” she says. She loves that they are able to develop of sense of self-confidence and have fun while learning important life skills and lessons.
Besides learning to cook an entire meal in an hour, these students also get to make up to 20 dozen cupcakes and sell them every Friday to students and faculty during lunch hour. “It’s organized chaos, but the students love making them and other students love eating them,” says Mrs. Sagers. One recent choice for cupcakes was chocolate mint—an excellent choice especially since the weather is starting to cool.
Students in Foods II and ProStart also have the opportunity to participate in different competitions to put their skills to the test. One is a management competition that requires students in groups to sell their ideas to actual restaurant owners. Another one has students working together to plan a complete meal in an hour that costs less than 75 dollars to make. Both competitions have students being judged by professionals; which may sound daunting, but these students are more than prepared for the challenge. These competitions start the end of January and go through March. Mrs. Sagers says, “They [the students] take a lot of pride in their work. They enjoy the challenge of it all.”
Mrs. Sagers also makes a point of saying how great the support has been not only from other students and faculty members, but from the community as well. “There are a few schools that don’t get as much support as we do. Parents are especially helpful.” At the end of the day, it’s nice to know that these students will be that much more prepared to live their lives to the fullest and leave some tasty effects on the community. Bon appétit!
Steak Stir Fry
½ lb. boneless beef top sirloin steak Sauce:
¼ c. pineapple chunks, drained 2 T. ketchup
1 ½ t. soy sauce 1 T. sugar
¼ t. cornstarch 1 ½ t. soy sauce
½ green pepper, cut into ½ inch pieces ½ t. Worcestershire sauce
½ clove garlic, crushed
1 T. vegetable oil 2 c. instant rice
1. Bring 2 c. water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in rice and cover. Remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes then fluff lightly with fork.
2. Cut beef steak into ½ inch cubes. In medium bowl, combine 1 ½ t. soy sauce and cornstarch; add beef and toss to coat.
3. In electric skillet (set to 350 degrees) heat 2 T. water until hot. Add bell peppers and garlic; cook and stir 3-4 minutes or until water is evaporated and bell peppers are tender crisp. Remove from skillet and set aside.
4. In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients; set aside. In same skillet, heat the oil until hot. Add beef and stir fry 2-3 minutes or until outside surface is no longer pink. Stir in the sauce mixture, bell peppers, garlic and pineapple; heat through. Serve over rice.
Italian Cheese Bread
Topping Ingredients:
1/4 c. Italian salad dressing
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
Bread Ingredients:
21/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. yeast (or 2 pkg.)
1 c. hot water
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450°.
2. To mix BREAD, in a small mixing bowl, combine flour, salt and sugar. Set aside.
3. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine water and yeast and let set for 3 to 5
minutes, or until yeast is activated. (It will look frothy and foamy.)
4. Add oil to the water and yeast mixture. Then, add the flour/salt/sugar mixture to
the liquid ingredients. Then, mix together until a dough forms. (You may need to
add additional flour until a soft dough forms that is not sticky.)
5. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead for 1 to 2 minutes, or until
smooth and elastic.
6. Place the dough on a greased pizza pan. Push the dough out until it forms a thin
circle. (It will look like pizza dough.)
'1. Mix all topping ingredients, MINUS both of the cheeses, into the Italian salad
dressing. Spread the dressing mixture on top of the bread in an even layer. Then,
sprinkle the mozzarella and parmesan cheese evenly on top of the bread.
8. Place in the middle of the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
9. Remove from oven, cut with a pizza cutter and serve warm.
