Attack of the (Eden shaped) Cookie Monster!

Over here at Casa Happy Little Munchkins, the eldest Miss Munchkin decided that we were lacking in the baked good department, so we tackled some super-easy, super-tasty cookies!
Mumma Munchkin is SO proud! All I did was instruct Eden on what needed to be done, and put the baking trays (ie: cookie sheets) in and out of the oven. She did the rest herself, and the results were delicious! Actually, the results quickly became nothing more than crumbs on plates and full tummies.
Try this recipe, you won't be sorry you did. Although, your waistline may not thank you for it...

Easter Time, Folks!

EasEaster, Easter, Easter!

So many ideas, so little time. We have managed to squeeze in a few Easter-themed ideas, and here they are...

Recipe - Cheese Twists

Not only are these fun to make, they're fun to eat! For everyone. For me, mainly. Ok, so I love these things, and it seems that Eden is following in my cheese-loving footsteps. This cheese-twist recipe is from 'Fresh Food for Babies and Toddlers' by the Australian Women's Weekly, and is so easy to make, she did almost all of it by herself.



You'll need:
2 sheets ready-rolled puff pastry, thawed
1 egg yolk, beaten
1 cup coarsely grated pizza cheese
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan

1. Preheat oven to moderately hot.oil two oven trays and line with baking paper.
2. Brush one pastry sheet with half of the egg yolk; sprinkle with pizza cheese. Top with remaining pastry sheet; brush with remaining egg yolk.
3. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and cut pastry stack in half, placing one pastry half on top of the other half, pressing down firmly to seal.
4. Cut pastry widthways, into 24 strips; twist each, pinching the ends to seal. Place twists on trays and bake uncovered for about 10 minutes until browned lightly.

Gingerbread Men

I'm going to have to make another batch of these up with Eden, they were a smash with her and with our family too! Before we began cooking, I told her the story of the gingerbread man (if you need a refresher, you can find the story here), and then told her that we were going to try making some.

She was so excited! When we were decorating the gingerbread men, I noticed that Eden was putting the choc chips all over the bodies, but not the heads. I asked her why, and she said "because Mummy, if they no have faces, they no run away"! Ha ha ha! Stuff like that just makes my day!

Incidentally, storytelling is really important. Books, of course, are a huge part of it, but also just telling your child a story with no pictures or books or anything is important. It teaches them listening skills and comprehension, and how to follow a storyline without visual cues. If you're a bit rusty on fairy tales, check out http://www.childrenstory.info/ for great versions to tell your kids. There's a link on the left hand side, 'Children's Stories' where you'll find nearly fifty tales to tell your tots.

See if you can link the stories in with an activity; colouring pages, puppets, cooking or baking, etc. Let us know what you come up with! ~ L.

Pre-Mix Cupcakes

I love cooking and baking with my daughter, but whatever we make has to be easy easy easy. Toddlers just don't have the patience for recipes that involve a lot of waiting around, or that has a lot of steps which they can't be involved with (ie, lots of stovetop cooking, chopping and dicing veggies, etc). Easy recipes rule the roost when is comes to cooking with littlies, and you can't get much easier than pre-mix cupcakes.

Donna Hay does a delicious choccy cupcake mix, which Eden and I tackled just after she turned two. I like to keep a pre-mix box in the pantry as a rainy day activity; nothing better than spending the time with my beautiful daughter, teaching her new skills, seeing the pride on her face when the cakes come out of the oven, and then enjoying them together with a glass of milk.
Chocolate may not be the best flavour for my daughter though....

Eden before eating cupcakes:                 Eden after eating cupcakes:

                

Recipe - Bread

• 1 kg plain flour
• 10g salt
• 50g milk powder
• 60g margerine
• 600ml warm water
• 60g compressed yeast (fresh yeast)

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees celcius.
2. Mix flour, salt, milk powder, and margerine together in a large bowl.
3. Dissolve yeast in water, then add to the dry ingredients.
4. Let mixture double in size, then turn out onto a floured bench.
5. Punch dough, then knead and cut/shape into its required size.
6. Put on a baking tray, lined with baking paper. Let dough double in size again.
7. Brush with water, or milk, or beaten egg. Sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds, if required.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Voila!

Bread, Glorious Bread

Doesn't this bread look appetising? It was so easy to make, and Eden was able to make most of it herself. As always, I measured the ingredients out (with her help, of course), but she did the rest. Toddlers will love the sticky dough, and will love love love kneading it, stretching it and 'punching' it into shape. It was definitely a very MESSY activity, I'm pretty sure there was a dusting of flour on every surface in my home by the end of it, but it was rewarding. Eden, like so many toddlers, loves makign something, seeing it come to fruition, and then enjoying what she has made. If you decide to give this one a go, make sure you have plenty of time for the clean up afterwards - and make sure you have some jam and a cuppa handy too. ~ L.

Recipe - Anzac Biccies

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup desiccated coconut
• 125g butter
• 2tbs golden syrup
• 1/2 tsp bicarb soda
• 1 tbs boiling water

1. Preheat oven to 150 degrees celsius.
2. Combine oats, sifted flour, sugar and coconut in a mixing bowl.
3. *Adult* Combine butter and golden syrup in a saucepan and stir over a low heat until melted.
4. *Adult* Mix the bicarb soda and the boiling water, and add to the butter mixture. Stir into the dry ingredients.
5. Mix until combined.
6. Take teaspoons full of  mixture and place on lightly greased oven tray lined with baking paper. allow room for spreading.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
8. Allow to cool, then enjoy!

Look what I made!

Eden's very first cooking attempt was these delicious (and easy!) Anzac biccies. I helped her measure out the dry ingrediants and I melted the butter mixture whilst she mixed the rest of it together. She put teaspoonfuls of the dough onto the baking tray herself, and was so proud when they were finished, as you can see!
It wasn't too messy, as far as cooking with a toddler goes, and she loved parcelling out the dough onto the baking tray. While the biccies were baking, she decorated some small takeaway containers (available cheaply from Woolies or Sam's Warehouse) with colourful stickers, and when they were ready we wrapped a couple in baking paper and put them into the containers to give to her grandparents. The whole process was quicker than I expected it to be, and we were able to make them whilst my baby was napping.