Jerkins' Family Favorites, Part 2

Our family recipe book is a collection of delicious foods with recipes from so many different people. I hope you were able to try last week’s green bean bundles! This week, I am excited to bring you two of our family favorites: marinated carrots and sweet potato casserole.

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MARINATED CARROTS (Serves 8-10)

Getting your children to eat their vegetables can be a challenge, but my mother-in-law had the solution with this quick and easy carrot recipe. This was a must-have menu item at our family gatherings any time of year, especially during the holidays. These carrots are so tasty that even the kids ask for seconds!

Ingredients

2 pounds baby carrots (cut into fourths)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 8-ounce can tomato sauce

1 onion (sliced and separated into rings)

1/3 cup chopped green pepper

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup salad oil

1 teaspoon prepared mustard

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Directions

Boil carrots, adding the teaspoon of salt and sugar to water, until almost done. Combine the remaining ingredients for sauce. Drain the carrots and marinate with sauce overnight in the refrigerator.

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Third Grade (MAFS.3.NF.1.1):

(try clicking on the links to see more examples and tutorials for you and your child)

• If we cut a carrot into fourths, how many pieces will we have?

• Will all of the pieces be the same size? Why or why not?

• Cut one carrot into fourths. Pull three of the pieces to the side. What fraction of the carrot do we have? What number is in the numerator? What number is in the denominator?

• What is the significance of the four in the denominator?

Fourth Grade (MAFS.4.NF.1.2):

• Cut one carrot into halves. What does one piece of the whole carrot represent? How do you write that as a fraction?

• Cut another carrot into fourths. Pull two of the four pieces to the side. What fraction of the carrot do we have?

• How do these two fractions, ½ and 2/4, compare? Do they represent the same amount of the carrot?

• What is another fraction, with a different denominator, that represents ½ of the carrots?

Fractions are a topic that even my Pre-Calculus students tend to shy away from, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Starting math conversations with young children at home will help build their confidence and understanding. We may not always know the right answer, but that is why we learn!

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The second recipe I want to share with you is my grandmother’s sweet potato casserole. For years she cooked this side dish when she hosted holiday meals. We still make this dish every year. Watch out; it is very sweet and could probably be a dessert! If you have a large family, you will want to double this one!

SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE (Serves 8-10)

Ingredients

3 cups mashed sweet potatoes (fresh or can)

¾ cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

½ cup melted butter

Topping Ingredients

1 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup flour

1 cup chopped nuts

½ cup butter

Directions

Preheat oven at 350°. Mix the first five ingredients with a mixer and pour into greased 2-quart glass dish. Mix the topping ingredients with a fork or pastry blender and sprinkle on top. Bake for 30 minutes.

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Second Grade: (SC.2.P.8.3)

• Is the butter a solid, liquid, or gas when we take it out of the refrigerator?

• What happens when we melt it? Does the butter stay a solid?

• What shape was the butter before we melted it?

• What happened to the shape after we melted the butter?

Fourth Grade: (MAFS.5.MD.1.1)

• Let’s try converting our recipe into ounces instead of cups. 1 cup is equivalent to 8 ounces.

• How many ounces of mashed sweet potatoes would we need?

• How many ounces is a ½ cup of butter?

• If we have ¾ cup of sugar, how many ounces is that?

Try these conversions without a calculator. Grab a paper and pencil and work out the problem. Your child may have a different way of converting. Discussing multiple ways to come up with the same solution is a great way to extend the math conversation!

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I hope you enjoyed this week's recipes! #LEARNWITHME me next week when I share another Jerkin's Family Favorite gelatin fruit salad and some more math starters for you and your family!