Buy the Workbook on Lulu.com
Dog Poop Brownies (Recipe Included)
With a title like that, you just had to see what it’s about, didn’t you?
If you thought this was a clever title for some tangent kind of teaching lesson, it’s not. We’re going to make some really bad tasting brownies, just to make a point. I have used this lesson for years to help kids think about monitoring what they let into their brains. Here’s a narrative on the lesson, and the promised recipe as well. “You wouldn’t eat garbage would you? Of course not! But do you feed your brain garbage? We have to be careful about what we put into our brains, the same way we have to be careful about what we put in our bodies. And even just a little bit of something yucky can make the rest of something yucky too… for instance today I brought this plate of brownies for everyone (the kids usually cheer at this point). But there’s just one little problem - I dropped the brownies on the way here and got some dog poop on them (the kids react as you’d imagine). But it was only a little, so let’s go ahead and have some brownies… there may not be any dog poop on your part. Or maybe just a little. But it’s not much, and a little can’t hurt can it?” At this point I remind kids that movies, videogames or TV shows with even a little bit of bad stuff in them kind of make the rest of the movies, game or show not so good. If Mom or Dad said not to watch a movie or show, or play a game, that means at a friends house, just the same as at home. It’s too bad that we don’t have better entertainment options for kids, but that seems to be how it is. It’s our job to protect their minds from bad influences and disturbing images or thoughts. And even just a little can really stick with them. Now – having worked with kids for years, I guarantee that there’s always one skeptical, brave or trying-to-be-cool kid who doesn’t believe the story. He (almost always) wants to go ahead and try a brownie. So, I let him. No one has ever finished the brownie, in almost 20 years. That’s because they really do taste bad.
Here’s the recipe for Dog Poop Brownies
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup sauerkraut juice, asparagus juice or similar
- yesterday’s coffee grounds
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup chopped prunes
Notice there is NO sugar to take the bitter out of that cocoa powder. Add that to the sauerkraut juice and coffee grounds, and you have a reasonable dog-poopish taste. I guess. Mix the ingredients and bake at 350º until done-ish. Slice and plate when cooled. Sometimes show is stronger than tell. Give it try.
Keep ‘em good, strong & safe.