Dill and potato cakes recipe = DOUGH PLAY fun for infants and toddlers!!!

On a rainy day, your children can't go outdoors, they have got lots of energy bursting within them and all you wish is to bake something that will warm your kitchen with yummy aroma, yet you are not in the mood for sweet stuff and bread proofing takes too long... So what can you do?
Presenting the Dill and potato cake recipe! This is an all in one wonder!!!
Why?
Because you will be able to
1. make soft and malleable dough with your children to have dough play and have fun shaping and using cookie cutters,
2. Bake little cakes that are savory and fragrant when your children are done with dough play!

Yes! A perfect dream come true for a busy and ambitious mum as well as all Early Childhood Educators!

This recipe is taken from the book: Complete baking by Martha Day, but I have modified it to use cream cheese instead of butter and so think of light and fluffy cake in the middle and crispy and golden crust all in one made from potatoes, cream cheese and dill! Best of all, it was the product from the dough play your children had! (So please wash their hands thoroughly before the dough play!)
My daughters enjoyed eating the little cakes after the dough play! I'm also very proud of Tiffany as it is her first dough play and experience using the rolling pin and cookie cutter at 14 months old! I must also add that I'm proud of Trinity as usual for her long attention span in cookery and baking since infanthood!
What joy and satisfaction!

Side notes: making it into thin bite size pieces taste more like a biscuit with a crispy crust. If you like it to taste like a cake, make it thicker and bigger. After it has completely cooled down, it will be soft and a little chewy for the bite sized pieces. We toasted it back and it is crispy and nice again! :)

Ingredients:
225g self raising flour
75g cream cheese
Pinch of salt
A heap of dried dill
170g plain mashed potatoes
2-3 tablespoon milk as required

1. Sift flour into bowl.
2. Add cream cheese, salt, dill.
3. Mix in mash potato and enough milk to knead into a soft malleable dough.
4. Roll out the dough on a well floured surface and have all the dough play with your children.
5. Preheat oven at 230 degree Celsius.
6. When dough play is done, introduce cookie cutters and have fun cutting out fun shapes on the dough that has been rolled out fairly thin.
7. Grease the baking Sheet or use a silicone baking sheet and bake for 10 -12 minutes for bite sized pieces or 20-25 minutes for 3 inch sized cutters.

Enjoy!!!

Inspiring Yummy Mummies
PoshPearl

Homemade non toxic edible paints for infants and toddlers

Infants and toddlers learn through their 5 senses through interaction with their environment. One must bear in mind that they are never too young to learn and never underestimate their ability and wisdom. Body painting is a very good way to learn about Science: colors, texture, temperature, strokes, fine motor control and being comfortable with mess.

To begin art, always allow experimentation with edible paints then move on to inedible ones.

Fruit paints:
red dragon fruit for purple,
Mango for yellow
Papaya for orange

Allow child to squeeze and explore each fruit and smear onto himself.
Let the child be seated on a mahjong paper with a disposable picnic mat under for easy cleaning.


Corn starch paints
Ingredients:
The following juices blended and strained:
Spinach/ pandan for green
Rosella/ red dragonfruit for red
Turmeric/ mango for yellow
Cornstarch and water mixture to your desired consistency

Mix each juice with the cornstarch mixture and allow child to explore as he would for the fruit paint experience.

Chocolate pudding/ yoghurt/ honey body paint

Ingredients:
Jello chocolate pudding powder
Plain yoghurt
Honey

Choose either of the above and allow exploration as child would for the fruit paints.

Cleaning up:
Since child is on mat, remember to lay down the ground rules before hand. Be with child and tell child to signal once he or she is ready to clean up. Hold the 4 corners of the mat and wrap the child to prevent spillage. Then carry child to the bathroom. Throw away the mat with mahjong paper and bathe child. It's a breeze :)

Inspiring Yummy Mummies
PoshPearl

Cream of Japanese Sweet potato

This week, Tiffany revisited sweet potato. I used the chicco machine to steam and blend it and added breast milk and a little warm water. Tiffany loves it!
The previous week we scrapped the flesh of the grilled sweet potato directly while alternating with spoons of warm water. These 2 alternatives are east to prepare. I would recommend the whole grilled sweet potato to be brought out and only peeled open upon meal
time to ensure freshness.

Inspiring yummy mummies
PoshPearl

Recipes for children

All mothers want the best for their children and food and nutrition is fundamental. Starting from infancy, breastfeeding takes centre stage and eventually our babies start to explore the world and realizes that food can co-exist in their dictionary too. I am sad to say that Trinity had her fair share of baby jar food when she was young and her meals were mainly home cooked by my mum. However, now that I am cooking daily, I make it up to Trinity by preparing breakfast bentos and lunch specially for her apart from the dinner that we share. Tiffany of course have the privilege of eating home cooked food by me and I would like to try as much as possible to stay away from jar food.
Although, there is nothing wrong with jar food, I would, however, like to present to you the concept of fresh fine dining options for children. My about-to-turn 3 years old Trinity and 5 months old Tiffany enjoy their meal times with a variety of colorful ingredients in attractive presentation and I hope your little ones would too!

Inspiring Yummy Mummies,
PoshPearl