Mixed reviews for chicken, quinoa, broccoli stir-fry

With two recipes this week, the girls decided that the carrot cake needed to be prepared first to make sure it was in the oven and ready by the time we sat down to eat. Divided into a wet ingredient and dry ingredient team, the cake came together quickly, except for those grated carrots! Leyla Robinson and Ciara Rivera worked hard to get the carrots grated, measured, and mixed in before combining the wet and dry mixtures.

As they portioned out our muffins, Hafsa McNeely, Calisia Lerma, and Lee'Asia Ortiz worked to prepare our mise en place for our stir fry. Calisia's minced garlic and Lee'Asia's minced ginger showcased the knife skills that they've learned and improved upon over the last several weeks. While the broccoli and chicken were being chopped, Lee'Asia and Calisia sauteed their finely minced aromatics to prepare the sauce. The stir fry came together quickly and we were ready to sit down to eat.Using leftover pineapple juice and extra lemon, flavored water was also on offer for our feast.

There were mixed reviews about the quinoa and chicken, but the broccoli was enjoyed by (almost) all. Hafsa ate all of hers and Lee'Asia liked the flavor of the sauce with the broccoli. Ciara, still hesitant to taste new things, took a nibble of her carrot cake muffin and decided that she liked it - just the outside, though! At the end, all of the girls worked efficiently and (almost) without complaint as a team to wash and dry all of the dishes.

 -Maddy Booth, Dana Srodes