Air Fryer: Mac and Cheese

Air Fryer: Mac and Cheese

 I think mac and cheese is fun and easy to make dinner. i was a little skeptical with how i was going to make mac and cheese with my air fry but i wanted to try a challenge for my last post. 

Ingredients used:

• 1 cup elbow macaroni
• 1/2 cup milk (warmed)
• 1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese
• salt
• pepper
• 1tbsp Parmesan cheese

I first started boiling my water for the macaroni, and i cooked it for about 6 minutes to partially cook the noddles. Next I was warmed up 1/2 cup of milk, while putting the cheddar cheese in the bowl with the macaroni and then the warmed milk was added. After mixing the cheddar cheese, milk and macaroni together i added the salt and pepper. Before i put the mac and cheese in the air fryer i sprinkled the parmesan cheese on top. It was cook at 400 for 12 minutes. 

The mac and cheese turned out creamy and well done but it was kind of bland. The cheese did not give it that much flavor nor was there enough cheese for the dish. if i were to make this dish again i would used an easy to melt cheese and use more than told to add more flavor to the dish.

Do you add anything to your mac and cheese?

Air Fryer: Easy garlic bread sticks

Air Fryer: Easy garlic bread sticks

Garlic bread is such a good accompanying food. It works well with so many dishes, pasta, salad and a bunch of others. So i decided to attempt to make the garlic bread i love to eat with those dishes.

 

Ingredients used:

• 3 cups bread dough
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons garlic powder

i gather my materials and started on the recipe. It is fairly simple especially with it only having 3 ingredients. after i finished get the bread dough ready i made my garlic butter. My family makes our garlic butter at times so i used that instead of the exact recipe. For my family we used butter, garlic powder and garlic salt. After i finished with the butter and the dough was ready i spread the butter on top of the dough and cooked it at 400 for 10 minutes.

The garlic bread sticks turned out wonderfully. My family and i enjoyed them and had them with out dinner that night. I think this recipe worked out very especially with now being used to the air fryer now.

What dishes do you eat garlic bread with?

Air Fryer: Stuffed pizza pastries

Air Fryer: Stuffed Pizza Pastries

One of my favorite foods is pizza, so i decided to make a stuffed pizza pastry recipe. This recipe seemed kind of easy and fun to try but different from a regular pizza. 

The ingredients used were:

• 4 sheets of flaky dough
• 1 cup pizza sauce
• 1 1/2 cups cheese
• 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

The first thing i did was layout the 4 sheets of dough. Next, i covered each sheet of dough in pizza sauce. Then on half of the sheet i covered it in mozzarella and parmesan cheese. After i folded the sheets in half and pinched the edges close. The sheets were covered with the egg and oil. The oven was set to 390 F and cooked for 10 minutes.

The pizza pastry was good but i probably would have used a different dough. The overall taste was delicious and my little sister seemed to agree. I would make the dish again just with slight alterations.

What is your favorite pizza topping?

Applying Shutter Speed Techniques to Photography

Soccer Knowledge

Being able to kick the ball hard is a good skill to have but soccer isn't based on that, soccer is about who is better at controlling the ball and who play the game the smartest. Something very common in soccer is players tricking opponents. "On offense, the trickiest players are most likely to score goals" (MacKay, 81). Players who are tricky with the ball at their feet are bound to get past defenders the easiest. 

In this pic you can see how the defender is planted to the right, I faked her into going to that side by putting my body in a position to make her think I was going to that side and make her commit. Then I took the ball to the other side in that quick moment that she was unbalanced. 

An easy drop of the shoulders to one side and taking a touch with the ball to the other side will fool a defender easily. It is all about how good you fake it, you have to sell your body into it so that the opponent really believes you are going one way when you are really going the other way. 

There are many ways you can trick your opponents. My favorite move is called the scissors, it is a super easy move to master. Other moves you can look up and practice are the Maradona, step over, croift, and simply leaning to one side real quick to make the player step. 

Which one of these moves sounds interesting to you just by their names? 

Make up and Facial Expressions

By: Sanai Maraire

In the You’ve Got Spirit it says, “Makeup is worn as a jumbo bow or a uniform to emphases the facial expressions” (Hunt 30) I agree with this idea very much. Our coach always makes us wear make up our competitions. She tells us light make up but other girls especially the flyers add extra glitter or sparkle because they want their facial expressions to stand out. I don’t really wear makeup an all, I hate wearing makeup so when comp season comes around its always the death of me. I usually just wear highlight and lip stick with lip gloss to give my lips a pop. What I’m really supposed to wear is blush, eye shadow, and red lip stick.

you can see here in the picture Mikayla is wearing eye shadow with extra glitter and deep read lip stick. she topped it off with light blush. 

I think make up can enhance your features very greatly because if I’m moving up in the back to the front I can turn my head to the side to show off my highlight and do a little mini wink for coward to top it off.

Facial expressions are what the judged love to see in the book You’ve got spirit it says, “facial expressions are like your bread and butter for the judges” (Hunt 15). Weather it’s a wink or a wave when you hit your stunts. Our coach tells are facial expressions are must and they will make the judges remember us. Sometimes I sing with the music and make a duck face of something. Facial expressions are good like your cheer topper.

 Since I can’t post my video of me cheering at my comp because of the size this girl has big facial expressions while she’s dancing. She’s probably staring right at the judges and telling them she came here to win. 
Hunt, Sara R. You've Got Spirit!: Cheers, Chants, Tips, and Tricks Every Cheerleader Needs to Know. Millbrook Press, 2013

Air Fryer: Chocolate cupcakes

Air Fryer: Chocolate cupcakes

I decided to make chocolate cupcakes for my 2nd recipe. The cupcakes were overall good but did have an odd after taste due to the recipe.

The ingredients i used were:

• 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup whole milk

The first step was to combine all my dry ingredients into one bowl, then to combine all the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. After the wet ingredients were mixed together I mixed the dry ingredients into the bowl. Next i cooked the cupcakes for 15 minutes at 360 F. The first cupcakes i made came out a little burnt. The second batch i only cooked it for 13 minutes and they turned out better but were still a little crispy. 

2nd batch of cupcakes

The cupcakes were very good but the amount of coconut oil used added a unusual after taste. If i would to make these cupcakes again i would either use a different oil or less coconut oil. Overall i think the cupcakes turned out pretty well.

What is your favorite type of cupcake? 

Soccer Knowledge

Soccer is called football in many places around the world for an obvious reason, the foot comes in contact with the ball the most. "Controlling the direction and force of the leg and foot at the moment of a kick is the central skill of soccer." (MacKay, 40). If you don't kick the ball correctly then you will not get the ball where you want it to go and also you could injure yourself by kicking it incorrectly. 

Some simple things to improve your movement in your legs and accuracy is planting the foot you are not kicking with next to the ball for support. then while you swing your kicking foot to connect with the ball, your hamstring should be flexed during this movement. Once you connect with the ball, you follow through so that you can kick the ball with a lot of power not just half of it. You do this by landing on your kicking foot after kicking it so that all you power goes through the ball. The larger the swing when kicking, the more energy and speed will be transferred to the ball. 

Do you think that only your legs need to be strong in order to play soccer and be good? 

origami flower - chrysanthemum

making a origami flower is very fun and decorative today i'm going to show you guys how to make a flower called "chrysanthemum"

1) fold a square piece of paper
in several directions like so

2) fold it diagonally.

3) grab one of the sides and
fold it flat. now turn the paper around

4) do the same like in step 3 

5) now it should look like this 

6) now grab on of the corners and fold it
flat like so. do it on all sides.

7) now it should look like this

8) fold the flap down do this on every
side with a flap

9) now it should look like this

10) now fold it and it should look like this

11) now fold a form like so

12) and your done

Zulal Ayture-Scheele. Beautiful origami. Sterling, 1990

Photography- Landscape Photography

Landscape Photography is a type of photography that uses the different aspects of the earth to capture wonderful photographs. The book, The Kodak Library of Creative Photography: Extend your Range, says, Landscape photography shows spaces within the world, sometimes vast and unending, but other times it can be very small. Landscape photographs typically capture the presence of nature but can also focus on man-made features of landscapes. 

There are many different ways to take Landscape Photographs. The way I took mine was that I was outside before school and I positioned my camera in a way that you could see the clouds and the sunset in the photograph. I really liked how it turned out and someday I want to start a collection of these types of photographs because they are my favorite type of photograph so far.

How do you think I did? Leave it in the comments.

Tresidder, Jack, et al. The Kodak library of creative photography: extend your range. Kodak, 1985.

Running Without Injury: Warming up and Cooling down

Ellis, Joseph. Running Injury-Free: How to prevent, Treat, and Recover from Runner's Knee, Splints, Sore Feet, and  Every Other Ache and Pain. Rodale, 2013.

I'm sure that no matter what kind of physical activity you've done before, there was always someone (usually the person facilitating the activity like your gym teacher or your coach) that told you to warm up and sometimes even cool down. 

Most of us, I imagine, thought that the warm up session is tedious because it's the same thing every time, it takes away time from the main activity, or it takes up our energy and by the time we do the main activity, we're already gasping for air. Some people don't like doing physical activity in general but at least do the warm up when you have to participate in physical activity such as in gym class. From reading the book, "Running Injury-Free: How to prevent, Treat, and Recover from Runner's Knee, Splints, Sore Feet, and  Every Other Ache and Pain" by Joseph Ellis, I learned that the warm up session is very important as well as a cool down session.

I learned from the book that cold muscles (your muscles before you warm up) are more likely to get injured than when you warm those muscles up. The book says," As you start moving around, your muscles stretch to their normal resting length,..., A longer muscle is much less likely to become injured than a short, tight muscle,...,Through basic laws of physics, a muscle is more efficient and much less likely to become injured when it is longer, since it can exert more force with less effort" (Ellis 240).

As important as a warm up session is, cooling down is equally as important. The book states," Many runners try to get the most out of their runs by sprinting the last couple hundred yards or so. Then they stand and try to catch their breath. This is asking for injury. It is also the time when susceptible individuals are most at risk of having a heart attack,..., This is because when you exercise, your body relies on your muscles to help pump or push the blood from your legs to your heart and brain" (Ellis 240). When I first read this, I was really worried because I am guilty of coming to a complete stop after a long run. Then I remembered my gym teacher from a couple years ago telling me to keep walking after a long run. This shows how people can easily look over very important stuff that might be tedious but is keeping you healthy and potentially not dead. 

So what should you do as your cool down? The book says,"Keep walking for a few minutes, at the very least, after every run until you have cooled down" (Ellis 241)

Warming up

Cooling down

Are you guilty of skipping the warm up or cool down sessions too? What warm up or cool down routines will you try to do next time you do a physical activity?

Chooing the right Boat

Danann Gallagher
Hook, Line, and Seeker
Jim Arnosky

When it comes to boats their are so many different options. Each type has its own benefits, for example a sailboat has the perk of not needed gasoline or diesel. But that comes at the cost of less maneuverability and speed control. This is where Power boats or row boats can be useful since you have more overall control, but power boats need to be refueled which can become quick costly. Jim Arnosky author of Hook, Line, and Seeker, wrote "I needed a boat as seaworthy as Mayfly to take out on the waves and explore more. But I also wanted to be able to creep the boat into shallow bays and coves to fish and see the wildlife. I wanted to go and come as I pleased regardless of which way the wind was blowing" (Arnosky 117). Mayfly was the boat Arnosky owned before he decided to buy a new one, "Mayfly was a live-aboard sailboat. Below decks there was a galley (a small kitchen), a dinette, a head (a bathroom), and a sleeping compartment with two berths (beds)" (Arnosky 113). Arnosky decided he still wanted the luxury of a live aboard boat, with the maneuverability of a power boat. This is something a lot of boat owners contemplate when choosing there boats. My family decided to go with a powerboat do to its more simplistic nature, and ease of use especially when you want to go fishing as having good speed control is a great feature.

So if you had choose between a Sail Boat, a Power Boat, or a Man powered vessel, which one would you pick and why?

Running Without Injury: Streching

Ellis, Joseph. Running Injury-Free: How to prevent, Treat, and Recover from Runner's Knee, Splints, Sore Feet, and  Every Other Ache and Pain. Rodale, 2013.

Many people, including myself, take stretching for granted and at times even skip doing it because we're lazy, or really eager to do the main exercise, or we just simply don't see the point in it. But after reading the book, "Running Injury-Free: How to prevent, Treat, and Recover from Runner's Knee, Splints, Sore Feet, and  Every Other Ache and Pain" by Joseph Ellis, I will never look at stretching the same way again.

I learned from the book that without flexibility, you are more likely to get injured. The book states, " Without flexibility, your legs are an injury waiting to happen. That's because the muscles can't go through their normal ranges of motion when they are too tight. The best time to stretch is not before you exercise but after a run when your muscles are already warmed up and elongated" (Ellis 241).

That quote shows just how important stretching is. Although know how to stretch is important too. The book says, " Flexibility exercises always stretch the muscles slowly and gradually. Stretching movements should never be jerky, stiff, or hard. The proper way to stretch is to stretch the muscle gradually for 30 seconds at a time to allow it to lengthen. Do this three or four times per area, daily. Never stretch a muscle to the point of pain. If you feel pain when you are stretching, you are either stretching too hard or some injury needs attention" (Ellis 241).

There is a lot of stretches to choose from but I will demonstrate 3 that I think will benefit me the most. The 3 stretches are called: hip flexor II, calf stretch (with wedge) and hamstring stretch I.


To do the hip flexor II, stand next to a wall, chair, or table to support yourself with one hand. Bend one knee and grasp the ankle of the same leg and gently pull your ankle towards your lower back. Do this without bending forward and hold. You should feel a stretch across the front of the thigh and the front of the hip. Repeat with the other leg.

Hip flexor II

To do the calf stretch (with wedge), put one foot on a wedge (a slant board at about 30 degrees) with your heel resting on the floor. I did it with the edge of a shelf because I couldn't find a wedge so I used something that was as close to it as possible. Keep your toes straight and get something to support yourself. Then press you entire body forward and hold. You should feel a stretch in the lower back of your leg, closer to the heel. Then repeat with the other leg.

Calf Stretch (with wedge)

To do the hamstring stretch I, lie on your back and lift your leg straight up so your hip is at a 90-degree angle, clasp both hands behind the knee to stabilize the thigh, and straighten the knee as far a as possible. Keep your ankle flexed toward the knee and keep the opposite leg straight unless you experience back pain. Hold. You should feel a stretch in the calf, behind the knee, and in the lower part of the thigh. Repeat with the other leg.

Hamstring Stretch I

Do you have certain routines such as stretches before or after exercises? If so, what are they?

Soccer Basics #5

  In this post I will be talking about how to properly pass the ball and how to properly control a ball either from the ground or from the air.

    Passing

• Push Pass: This is the most basic type of pass in soccer. First you plant your weak foot about 2 inches away from the ball pointing where you want the ball to go and strike the ball with the inside of your foot in the direction.
• Chip Pass: This type of pass is one of the more difficult ones. When doing a chip pass you must plant your weak foot, exactly like every other pass, get your other foot under the ball, lean back a little, and hit the ball with the part of your foot between your toes and the inside of your foot, used for free and corner kicks.
• Wall Pass: A wall pass requires two passes with another teammate to get around a defender. First you pass to a teammate that is to the side of at a 45 degree angle, then you will run forward around the defender and then your teammate will pass the ball back to you.
• Long Pass: A long pass is just like a push pass but with more power on the ball. This type of pass can be used to relieve some pressure from the defense or to put a forward through to the goal.
• Back-Heel Pass: This pass requires more skill than most of the other passes. While doing a heel pass you won't actually be looking at the teammate you are passing to. Make sure you know where your teammate is, put the ball a little behind you, and hit the ball with the heel of your good foot.

   Controlling the Ball

• When a ball is passed to you on the ground make sure your feet are well planted and there are  no defenders that could potentially could get the ball. Never control the ball coming to you with the underneath of your shoe as this will leave you more exposed. Control the ball with the inside of your foot like a pillow.
• When controlling a ball make sure what your next move/pass as this will put you a step ahead of the defenders, "Always know what you are going to do with the ball..." (Stewart 59).
• When a ball is coming out of the air, you have multiple ways to control the ball.
• When the ball is coming out of the air, to control the ball with your foot let the ball fall onto your laces to act as a pillow.
• With your thigh, put it at a 90 degree angle and let the ball fall onto it.
• With your chest, lean back a little and again, let the ball onto your chest and then either control the ball from your thigh or your foot from there.

 If you have an questions please leave it in the comments below.

 Stewart, Gail B. Soccer. Lucent Books, 2001

   

      

Basketball: How to Read the Zones Intent

Early in the ball game "you must try to determine what the zone is attempting to accomplish".

Q: Are they causing pressure on the perimeter either by double teaming, or attempting to steal the  ball?
A: if so this is the time to get the ball inside.

Q: Are they just content to jam the lane and give you the outside shot?
A: If so, this may be the time to insert a pure shooter who lacks other skills, or to hold the ball until they come out to cover the perimeter.

"Scouting is especially important in this regard because you can develop maneuvers to counter their plan. this might include a special play a stall game, a change in personnel, but at a minimum it provides an opportunity to inform your players about the nature of the zone defense they are facing."




Krause, Jerry. Zone Offenses for Men's and Women's Basketball. Coaches Choice, 2014.

Basketball: Movement Vs. Zones

Jerry Krause mentions that many insist that player movement is necessary in zone offenses some of they offer include:
player 

• Players movement presents a varying perimeter to the zone defenders.
• Cuts through the zone cause the defense to contract and make perimeter coverage more difficult.
• Movement permits a team to vary its attack and test all the vital areas of the zone defense
• Defensive players cannot easily anticipate the next offensive sequence in their area. This limits the size of the sag they can make when the ball goes away from them. This in turn gives the offensive team more room to penetrate the middle of the zone
• Moving offensive players are more alert. Offensive maneuvers work better on the move and you are also more apt to rebound the offensive boards.
• A coach can design specific patterns to work against a given team
• The weaker the player, who cannot beat the defender 1-on-1 may be open via the pattern.

Krause, Jerry. Zone Offenses for Men's and Women's Basketball. Coaches Choice, 2014.

The Right Mentality

By: Nicholas Hamakami

               Welcome back everybody! I hope finals has been going well. So far, all my blog posts have centered around conditioning the body. I wanted to take a step back from the physical portion of running, and instead focus on the mental half of the sport. Half of running is mental, and races involve much more than simply training the body. When racing, mental preparation is key, but a strong mindset during the race itself is just as important.

               Mental preparation can be just as vital as physical training itself. Races are tough, but training the mind can help to shake off the uneasiness when the time comes around. As Amby Burfoot states, it’s important to visualize yourself running the race every day in a calm, composed, and relaxed manner (Burfoot 130). Hitting a wall during a race is never fun, but visualization beforehand can help prepare the mind for the difficult task. In addition to mental preparation, having the “racing mindset” can lead to victory.

Flexing the mind.

               While racing, having a strong mindset is the key to success. Everybody will struggle during a tough race, so having the right mindset can make all the difference. According to Burfoot, when the race gets hard, it’s important to “Break the rest of the race into small pieces, miles, or even quarter miles” (Burfoot 131). Large tasks are more manageable when broken into little chunks, and it’s easier to concentrate when only focusing on one task at a time. Mental preparation sounds vital in theory, but how does it work in practice?

               Going off personal experience, I know that having the right mindset can make or break my race. Confidence is key, and I always do better when I have faith in my abilities. While I’ve never done mental training before, it is something that I will try in the near future with the upcoming track season. I'm not too experienced with mental preparation, but have you guys worked to train your mind before? Not many people have, and I want to know how others feel about the exercise. I hope everyone keeps running! This is my final blog post, so I hope you all enjoyed reading!

               Source: Burfoot, Amby. The Principles of Running: Practical Lessons from My First 100,000 Miles. Rodale, 2004.

Basketball: The Wing-Inside Play

The wing-inside play is a very effective play that it very difficult to stop






"As Point 1 passes to the wing for a open shot 3 or passes it to the high post 4 for an easy post score"

This creates many types of shots that you can take an outside 3 or an inside 2. You can also have 3 cut in for a lay-up

Basically it allows the point guard to have many options to go to.
Option 1: get it out to the wing
Option 2: get it to the other wing
Option 3: get it to the post



Krause, Jerry. Zone Offenses for Men's and Women's Basketball. Coaches Choice, 2014.

Baskeball: The Basics

Scoring:
In basketball there are many ways to score a basketball:

• Shoot a 3 pointer from outside the arc
• Shoot anywhere inside the arc for a 2 pointer
• Shoot a mid range for 2 points
• Lay-in for 2 points
• Dunk for 2 points

Passing:

Passing in basketball can setup a teammate for an easy or open shot

There are many times of passes that can get to the teammate

• Chest pass
• Bounce pass
• Over the head pass
• Side pass

Positions:

Point Guard: Starts with the ball and usually passes to the two guard

Shooting guard: takes open shots

Small forward also stays out in the wing like the shooting guard

Power forward and center both stay in the post

Krause, Jerry. Zone Offenses for Men's and Women's Basketball. Coaches Choice, 2014.

Pasta from Scratch: Cooking the pasta

Introduction

The final step to creating a home-made pasta dish is cooking it, which is the easiest and fastest part of the process. After cooking your pasta, you can mix it with sauce, cheese, or eat them plain if that's what you prefer. 

Cooking

First, fill a pot with water and bring it to a boil on the stove. Add sea salt to the water to be absorbed by the pasta. Once the water is bubbling, add your pasta to the pot, stirring occasionally. The amount of time needed to cook your pasta al dente, or firm to the bite, varies depending on the type of pasta you are making. Both farfalle and fettuccine take only 2 minutes to cook if the dough is fresh. However, Manuela Zangara says, "Use the cooking times listed in this book as a reference only," (Zangara, 40). Dried pasta will take longer to cook compared to fresh pasta, so that is another important thing to remember. The only way to make sure your pasta is truly done is to taste it. Is it hard in the center? Keep it cooking a few more minutes. Too soft and chewy? It is probably overcooked. 

Draining

If your pasta is al dente, then its time to drain it. You can do this with a colander (food strainer) or slotted spoon. If you are cooking stuffed pasta or gnocchi Zangara recommends a slotted spoon since they are more delicate than other kinds of pasta.

What's Next?

However you choose to eat your pasta is up to you. Sauces and cheeses, whether homemade or store-bought, can be mixed with your pasta as soon as it has been drained. In Zangara's book, Homemade Pasta made Simple, many of the pasta recipes include a sauce recipe if you don't know what type of sauce to pair your pasta with.

My farfalle and fettuccine recipe, unfortunately, was a failure. Both the portions of pasta were rolled too thick which caused me to cook them for over 10 minutes. After draining them and mixing with a sauce and cheese, I can now say that it was the most unpleasant bowls of pasta I have ever had. Yet this will not stop me from trying to make another batch next time! It was a great learning experience and I am glad I did it.

Will you try to make pasta from scratch? If so, what type of pasta would you want to make?

Source:

 Zangara, Manuela. Homemade Pasta Made Simple: a Pasta Cookbook with Easy Recipes & Lessons to Make Fresh Pasta Any Night. Rockridge Press, 2017.