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

Parenting: independence

So proud of my Trinity! It's indescribable! I was nursing Tiffy when Trini finished her bottled milk.
I told her I can't help her to place her bottle in the kitchen sink but she can do it herself. I gave her instructions to place the bottle on the floor so that she can turn the door knob with two hands and she did. She even gently placed the bottle
far away from the door to prevent knocking the bottle down!
Then she went out of the room and came back with a grin so proud and satisfied.
And this is what I saw. My darling Trini's attempt to tiptoe and place the bottle into the sink.
Well done darling! Mummy is so proud of you! Thank you for being so understanding and independent!
At 3 years 1 month old.

It is definitely possible to nurture our
Children to be independent and Understanding. The first step is to BELIEVE that they are able to. Never underestimate children's
ability to learn. As long as you believe in them and empower them, they will not only be able to do it, they will exceed your expectations and
Surprise you!

Inspiring yummy mummies
PoshPearl

Self feeding puffs at 7 months old. Baby led weaning

Our active explorerTiffany has reached another milestone of her life! Learning how to eat puffs! These plum baby organic puffs are healthy, no salt and sugar added, melts in the mouth and easy to chew.
As she doesn't have teeth and she is 7 months old, we were skeptical initially as Trinity had teeth at 5 months old. But we learnt from our friend Tricia, that the gums are sharp with the teeth right underneath. So we tried by holding one puff and let her take a bite to see the response. She took a little bite and chewed for a while and swallowed before asking for the next bite! We were so touched and amazed with the wisdom that God has given her and after trying a few puffs, we invited her to sit in her bumbo seat with her bumbo table and placed a few puffs onto her baby bjorn plate (which is specially designed to encourage self feeding and it is proven to work with Trinity who self fed independently by 11 months old) and let her explore and pick up the pieces independently. So proud of my darling Tiffany! This is her first time trying, practice makes perfect so we will cheer her on as her perfect her pincer grip and eat independently!