It was literally a BBQ Bonanza this 4th of July holiday at my house folks! Pool side even!My incredibly ambitious students made BBQ Chicken Sandwiches, BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches, BBQ Baby Back Ribs and BBQ Baked Beans! All served with chilly Cole Slaw, sweet buttery Corn On The Cob, fresh garden salads, fresh garnishments and fresh fruits!Man! Talk about a sticky little weekend! I'm sure any one of you parents out there can imagine how big of a mess 15 tiny little students can make with fresh fruits, sugary sodas and 4 large bottles of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce huh? 😒 Jeeze! I'm still cleaning it all up! [so are the ants]Anyway, since there were too many recipes to post - I had them list the easiest and the tastiest of those presented. I'll post their recipe for the Copy Cat KFC Cole Slaw and BBQ Ribs on a separate post.Know all photos and instructions were taken and posted by my 7 and 8 year old talented icky - yicky - sticky lil' culinary monsters! Excellent job kiddos! Mom's, dad's, siblings, guests and teacher were ALL so very impressed!

For those of you in the know, I recently asked my wife to pick me up a three pound Prime Rib for my students. Somewhere in there she heard me say, "15 pounds of Prime Rib." [?] With that, we were all forced to get a bit creative this week.Anyway, great work kiddos! As always, delicious creations and excellent directions!

What a great weekend pool side afternoon lunch! It's only five minutes to freakin' fabulous! Seriously, prepare to be worshiped!This is definitely fresh, chilly, crispy, crunchy, juicy, spicy deliciousness! What a delectably spicy combo for your manly boys! Talk about a tasty, complex, spicy, zesty and tangy culinary sensation in every bite!Great for football games. In fact, take a break and let those big boys build their own samiches! I promise, they won't mind it at all! Just pre-slice all chilled vegetables, meats and cheeses [or have your deli do it for you] and let those boys have at it! Or, as we call it in the South - "Let em' all grab a leg and growl!"Serve them with chilled Greek or Zesty Italian Dressings, ice cold beers and frosty mugs to the side! Just wet down thick mugs and freeze for 15 minutes.Ya, you're gonna be absolutely worshiped! 😆 Sultry summer days don't get much better than this folks!

Now here's a great way to get your kids to not only make their own school lunches - but eat them as well. Everything is premade and microwavable so know it's easy peasy! In fact, my 7 year old students made 30 of these Mason jars to deliver to the Women's Shelter tonight. We would have added Cole slaw but ran out of room in our jars. Know you can create just about anything else. Taco jars, green salads, yogurt granola jars, parfaits, eggs and bacon breakfast jars, etc,. Creative job kiddos! Delicious work!

Easy, sweet, tangy and delicious are four ways to describe this delectable dish. Excellent work students! These sandwiches went fast! Way to make a proper Southern Sloppy Sow!

This juicy, lip smackingly sweet, tangy BBQ chicken breast sandwich on freshly baked Ciabatta bread was created by one of my youngest eight year old students. Between the fresh baked bread, the chilled firm vegetables, and the contrast of the sweet sauce and tartness of the peppers and pickles - all made for one delicious sandwich! Her choice of salt and vinager potato chips were a great pairing as well!

My 7 year old students asked to make Asian dumplings and pot stickers with a homemade garlic ginger dipping sauce today. Seeing as how I currently have 3 deep freezers full of Asian dumplings - together we all made an easy, crazy delicious DIM SUM brunch!That's right. Super fluffy, moist pork, beef and seafood dumplings, pork & vegetable wontons with spicy pot stickers and of course, bean dumpling desserts to boot! Hell, not to forget all the dipping sauces my students created! Anyway, here's an easy way to steam them all!All of these crazy delicious Cantonese dumplings were served alongside several homemade spicy chilly sauces. Excellent work kiddos! One of my favorite brunches to date! I really do mean that!For added dips - consider my, "Mike's Thai Basil Loose Pesto Condiment." Or. my, "Mike's Nam Prik Sauce." My students made both today and all of their dips turned out fantastic! They even canned some for later reserves. They're so much better with rest time! See photos at base of recipe."Jiaozi," a wonton or potsticker."Banh bot loc," a large seafood and pork filled dumpling."Daifuku," a sweet bean desert dumpling.

Due to our extreme NM heat, it appears this is the end of my garden goods for the season. 😔Anyway, it's all about the fresh! This is a delicious, Greek inspired, refreshing, healthy salad that pairs great with just about any main dish. It's also a versatile recipe with so many other options to add. Even a colorful pasta. So have fun with it! 😊

Remember when we were kids & we were read fairy tales? Well, that's what I do with my students when we're waiting for bread to rise. Anyway, this week's challenges are all about culinary fairy tales.Well, some of the most recent stories I read them were of Stone Soup & James & The Giant Peach. For those in the know, the first is a story about starving travelers who had nothing to their names other than a massive cooking pot.When they came upon a town & asked for food, the townspeople quickly shunned them & held tightly to their reserves. With that, the starving travelers were forced to think of something creative.Eventually they filled their large pot with water, heated it & added rocks. As the townspeople passed, their inquisitive nature took hold & they asked what the travelers were doing. The travelers responded, "Why, we're making the best soup you've ever tasted! The only problem is, is that it seems to be missing something?" At that point, a farmer spoke up and said "Well, I have some carrots in my cellar I can afford you."As time quickly passed, the travelers continued to make that same proclamation. Again, another townsperson would offer onions, another spuds, some corn, many fresh bread & seasonings, beef and pork scraps. Before everyone knew it, there was a massive pot of soup large enough to feed the entire town.Well, my students took a page from those books and happily fed the homeless with it today at 4:30 a.m. Stone Soup & Peach Cobbler for all!

Easy, beefy, barbecued goodness every time! Excelent work students! I swear these were some of the best ribs we ever flopped a lip over! What a wonderful picnic you all created for us today students!

This took my students two days to make. Excellent work kiddos! The entire neighborhood loved your Memorial Day dish!

Serves 6 to 8 - depending upon bread bun size. These also make great Sliders! Slightly grill your buns if serving your pulled meat on the wet side.