Pop goes the cake!

These cute Cake Pops are so much fun to make with little ones and a yummy treat! We made some to take to a BBQ yesterday and they were a hit!

You need a packet of Arnott's Tim Tams and a small tub of Cream Cheese. You can vary the type of  pops you make by using different flavoured Tim Tams.

Break the Tim Tams in half and crush them in your blender or food processor. if you don't have one, the good old fashioned way will do - place them in a plastic bag and use a rolling pin to crush them up!

Then add half of the tub of cream cheese to the crushed biscuits. I looked at many different tutorials on You Tube and many suggested to use chocolate frosting if you don't want to use the cream cheese.

Then mix the crushed biscuits in with the cream cheese.

Then roll the mixture into ball and place a small kebab stick in the middle. You can buy proper lollie pop sticks but these work fine. Just make sure to cut the sharp end off before you push it in. Put them in the fridge to set. I usually leave mine for a couple of hours before decorating.

Melt some choc (milk/white/dark) in a bowl in the microwave. I stop every 30 seconds to check and stir until I get the correct consistency.

It's very simple to apply the chocolate as you can see. Master 5 is twirling the stick in the melted chocolate and then using a spoon to cover and bits he missed.

You can really use anything to decorate your pops. I popped a selection of sprinkles and coloured choc chips in these small containers for the boys to choose from. Have a piece of polystyrene ready to push them in to.

Pop them in the fridge to set for about 10 minutes and then they should be ready to enjoy!

There are so many variations of Tim Tams and decorative things you can use. These are very simple and easy for you to make with a young child.

Anzac Day Biscuits

Ingredients
1 cup (150g) plain flour
1 cup (90g) rolled oats
1 cup (85g) Ward McKenzie desiccated coconut
3/4 cup (155g) brown sugar
125g butter
2 tbs golden syrup
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C. Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper. Sift the flour into a large bowl. Stir in the oats, coconut and brown sugar.
Put the butter, golden syrup and 2 tbs water in a small saucepan. Stir over a medium heat until melted. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda.
Pour the butter mixture into the flour mixture and stir until combined.
Roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls. Place on the trays, about 5cm apart.
Press with a fork to flatten slightly. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Set aside on the trays for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack so it cools completely.

Homemade Pasties

This is my basic Homemade Pastie recipe you can make adding your own flavours or tastes in vegetables too. I use different types of mince and vegetables depending on what I have on hand. Make different sizes depending on the age of those who will eat them. Littlies will love small pasties. It's a fun way to encourage those with small appetites to try new vegetables.

Ingredients

500g lamb mince

Sausage Meat

1 egg

1 cup of breadcrumbs

1 jar tomato relish

1 onion, peeled and diced

1 potato, peeled and diced

1/2 carrot, peeled and diced

1/2 turnip, peeled and diced

1 tsp salt

freshly ground pepper

1 tbsp chopped parsley

frozen sheets of shortcrust pastry

1 egg, beaten

Method

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Combine lamb, vegetables, salt, pepper and parsley.

Cut pastry into 4 circles. You can use a saucer as a guide.

Place a quarter of the mixture into the middle of each pastry round.

Brush pastry edges with egg wash, fold edges together, joining in the middle. Pinch the edges together to seal well.

Place on a lined oven tray and glaze with remaining egg wash.

Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 180 degrees and continue to cook for 35 minutes.

Serve hot with homemade tomato sauce.

Home Made Tomato Ketchup

We take ketchup for granted - it is everywhere and Australians use it in almost everything. Some even put it on scrambled eggs!! So maybe you wondered if homemade ketchup taste any different or better? Making your own tomato ketchup with fresh tomatoes is a labour of love, but well worth the effort. By making it yourself you can cook it to your exact tastes - as salty, sweet, or spicy as you like it - save money, and use up a glut of tomatoes. I also like to know what the boys are eating and by making my own I can control the amount of sugar and salt that is added, and also know that they are eating a sauce that is additive free. Because of the amount of work involved, I make one large batch of ketchup at a time. It preserves well in jars or cans. This is our family recipe that has been passed around from family to family, I hope you enjoy!

10 LBS TOMATOES

1/2 OZ CLOVES GROUND

1/2 OUNCE ALL SPICE

1/2 TEASPOON CAYENNE

1/2 TEASPOON PEPPER

4 OZ SALT

1 OZ GARLIC= 4 CLOVES

3 POUNDS SUGAR

1 PINT OF VINEGAR

BOIL ALL TOGETHER FOR 4 HOURS THEN STRAIN AND BOTTLE

IT IS BEST TO SKIN TOMATOES

ALWAYS STIR WELL UNTIL SUGAR DISSOLVES OR IT WILL STICK

Traffic Lights

Ingredients

One craft stick per child-

One 1/4 Section of Graham Cracker per child

Chocolate frosting-

One Red M&M

One Yellow M&M

One Green M&M

Method

1. Spread some chocolate frosting on the craft stick

2. Press the 1/4 section of graham cracker onto the craft stick

3. Spread chocolate frosting on the graham cracker

4. Place the chocolate M&M's for the lights:- Red on top- Yellow in the middle- Green on the bottom

Traffic Light Biscuits

These super cute Traffic Light Biscuits are so easy to make.

Ingredients
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups plain flour
14 each green, orange and red Lifesaver lollies

1. Place butter and sugar in a small bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and extract. Beat until combined. Transfer mixture to a large bowl.
2. Add flour to butter mixture. Using your hand, mix to form a smooth dough. Turn dough out and shape into a rectangle. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
3. Roll dough between two sheets of baking paper to form a 20cm x 28cm rectangle. Cut dough into 14 x 4cm wide by 10cm long fingers. Using a 2.5cm round cutter, cut out three holes down the centre of each finger. Place fingers, 3cm apart, on two oven trays lined with baking paper.
4. Cook, one tray at a time, in a moderate oven (180C) for about 10 minutes, or until lightly golden. Place one green, orange and red Lifesaver lolly in holes of each biscuit. Return to oven. Cook for about 3 minutes, or until lollies have melted. Remove and cool on trays.

Chocolate Nests

I love making these super cute Chocolate Nests to give to family and friends at Easter time.

To make them you need

• 1 packet of Chang's Crispy Fried Noodles (you get these from the supermarket in Australia)... I'm sure there are other brands of fried noodles you could use in UK or USA.
• 200g chocolate, dark or milk
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• Sugar coated eggs, Cadbury's Mini Eggs look all pretty and pastel, or M&M eggs.

Instructions

• Melt chocolate over water, or in the microwave


• Stir in peanut butter and noodles
• Put teaspoonfuls on trays lined with baking paper
• Top with eggs
• Refrigerate

Yummy Pancakes

Mix a pancake, stir a pancake,
Pop it in a pan.
Fry a pancake, toss a pancake,
Catch it if you can.

Do you celebrate Pancake Tuesday in your house? We definitely do, and each year our pancakes become bigger and the toppings more elaborate.Each year I read a couple of my favourite "Pancake" themed books to the boys before we get busy in the kitchen.

Mr. Wolf fancies some tasty pancakes, but he doesn't know how to make them and has trouble reading the Wolf It Down Recipe Book. Asking his neighbors is no use—Chicken Little, Wee Willy Winkle, the Gingerbread Man, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Three Little Pigs all nastily refuse. Poor Mr. Wolf has to work it out all by himself. I LOVE this book, along with the rest of

Jan Fearnley's and look forward to reading it to the boys on Pancake Tuesday each year. Here is our pancake recipe:

Ingredients

115g plain flour,

pinch of salt,

1 large egg (beaten),

1 tbsp melted butter or sunflower oil,

300ml milk,

butter or oil for frying

Method

1.Sift flour and salt into a bowl,make a well in the centre,add the egg and half the milk.

2.Beat the ingredients together,then whisk in the remaining milk along with the melted butter

or oil.

3.Heat a little oil in a frying pan, pour in enough batter to to evenly cover the base.

4.Cook for about 1 minute, toss the pancake over and cook the other side until golden.

5.Top with sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice.

6. You can try many different topping, maple syrup,chocolate and whipped cream or even try some

savoury ones too!

Get out all of the measuring spoons, cups, and materials you will need in advance, and then show your child how to measure the ingredients to make pancake batter. While measuring, make comparisons between one cup and 1/4 cup, or estimate how much a teaspoon is - and then measure it to see if you guessed correctly. Invite your child to feel, smell, and taste the individual ingredients -- like flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, etc. Examining the various colours and textures teaches useful science skills. Count and add as you put the appropriate number of tablespoons or cups in the batter. These activities develop the foundation necessary to learn more complex math skills

Don't just eat pancakes this year, try some of these fun Pancake Activities and Crafts

• Give each member of the family a frypan/plastic plate and place a pancake on it. Set the microwave for one minute and see how many times each person can flip their pancake!
• Set a frypan on the floor/on the grass and from a distance see how many of the five pancakes each family member can toss into the pan!
• Download these free alphabet Pancakes Cards. Laminate and cut out and play some letter recognition games. www.sparklebox.co.uk/topic/fest/pancake/html
• Pancake Finger Paint
  Put some plain pancake batter on a paper or plastic plate. Add a drop of red food coloring and let your child mix it into the batter with his/her fingers. Make fun designs in the batter. Add a drop of yellow food colour or blue food colour. What colour does the batter turn? This is a great way to introduce primary colors and how combining them makes other colours. Talk about how the batter feels - is it cold, squishy, smooth? Add some syrup to the mix and see if the texture changes - is it sticky? Don't forget to remind the kids that this batter is a science and art experiment - it's not for eating!
• Fill a squirt bottle with some watered down pancake mix and let your child squirt some letter "P"s for Pancake on a large piece of paper. If your child's fine motor skills are still developing in the skill of using a squirt bottle, give them a paint brush and you could pre-write letter Ps and let them trace over.

If you think you can't have pancakes because you have allergies to dairy, think again! http://dairyfreecooking.about.com/od/pancakeswaffles/DairyFree_Pancakes_Crepes_Waffles_French_Toast_Recipes.htm

Lolly Cake

Lolly Cake in New Zealand is a national institution! A lolly cake or lolly log is a New Zealand cake which features "lollies" in the ingredients. It is fun to make and even better to eat! We had a 1st Birthday to go to today of a little New Zealand friend so the boys and I decided to take a plate along to share.

Ingredients
100 g butter, melted
250 g (1 packet) malt biscuits, crushed
1/2 tin (200g) sweetened condensed milk
180 g (1 packet) fruit puffs,

coconut

* If you live on the Sunshine Coast, Fruit Puffs available at Sunshine Food Wharehouse, 224 Nickilin Way, Warana.

Method
Mix together butter, biscuits, condensed milk and fruit puffs(cut into half pieces). Shape into a log and roll in coconut. Refrigerate until firm and then slice into rounds.

Making Sushi Rolls

Sushi is becoming increasingly popular for kids lunches and children can learn to prepare and enjoy this food. Sushi is raw fish wrapped up in seaweed right? Wrong!
Sushi means “vinegar flavored rice.” It is a simple food that can be prepared with foods we all know and love. It does not have to involve any raw meats or fish. Learning how to cook rice and prepare sushi rolls is a window into Japanese culture. We make sushi rolls for kinder lunches and master 4 just loves them!

Some other suggestions for sushi rolls are:
assorted vegetables
carrots
cucumber
white radishes
zucchini
red or yellow bell peppers
spinach leaves
mushrooms
sliced ham or turkey lunch meat
chicken strips or frozen shrimp (steamed or fried )
feta cheese
rice wine (optional)
toasted sesame seeds
chopped walnuts

Put the nori sheet, shiny-slick side down, on your sushi rolling mat.

Spread about 1 1/2 cups (lightly packed into cup; don’t smoosh down!) of sushi rice evenly over the nori, leaving about a half inch or 1 cm gap on the far side. Use your fingers dipped in the bowl of vinegar water to spread out the rice.

Pile up your filling in the middle of the rice. Don’t try to pile on too much here if you are a beginner.

Grab the near end of the sushi rolling mat to start rolling. You may need to reach around with your fingers to keep the filling in place. Roll over the filling in one go - stopping in the middle will make for a messy roll. Squeeze tightly, and finish rolling.

Unroll. (Practice does help, so do over if your first one didn’t work.) If the roll looks a bit uneven, gently squeeze again to even out. Optionally serve with wasabi and soy sauce for dipping.

Little Bacon and Egg Pies

This morning we visited a friend who has chickens. I love it when we visit her as it is about a 40 minute drive so is always a good chance to chat about where food comes from and play our guessing game of "Name the animal." (I say the food and the boy's have to name the animal that they think the food source comes from) Before I even stop the car the boy's are pointing to the chicken coop ready to collect the waiting eggs. Today we were lucky enough to find six eggs, all of which safely made it home. I thought it was a great chance to re-visit some of our Dr Seuss books, Green Eggs and Ham, and Scrambled Eggs Super.

After reading our books we decided to make quick and simple little Bacon and Egg Pies from our collected eggs. (Fortunately I had all the ingredients in the freezer!)

Ingredients
3 sheets frozen ready-rolled puff pastry, thawed
500g bacon, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup chopped chives
12 eggs

Method
Preheat oven to 200°C.

Lightly grease 12 x 3/4-cup capacity muffin pans.

Cut pastry sheets into circles using a glass.

Gently ease a circle of pastry into each muffin pan.
Cook bacon in a small frying pan over medium-high heat for 3 to 4 minutes or until light golden. Drain bacon on paper towel and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
Place three-quarters of bacon into base of each pastry shell.

Whisk eggs, milk, chives, salt and pepper until well-combined.

Spoon mixture over bacon. (Sprinkle with cheese if you like)
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until pastry is golden and filling is cooked. Allow to stand for 5 minutes before removing from pan. Season and serve hot.

Broken Glass

This simple recipe is so much fun to make with the kids! It is a great little cooking activity to do with them when you are looking at colours.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes +
Ingredients:
3 x 85g packets jelly in, red, green, yellow
375ml pineapple juice
1 1/2 tablespoons gelatine or equivalent from the sachets
300ml thickened cream
3 cups hot water

Method:

1. Set jellies individually using 1 cup of hot water with each jelly.
2. When set, cut into small cubes.
3. Dissolve gelatine in half the pineapple juice over a gentle heat or for 60 seconds in microwave.
4. Stir until dissolved. Once dissolved add remaining juice and chill for about 10 minutes. Do not let it set.
5. Mix pineapple juice with cream and then add cut up jellies.
6. Rinse jelly mould in water and without drying it pour it all in mould and refrigerate until set.
7. Cut into small servings and enjoy!

* You can use a Tupperware mould and the jelly comes to the top when set and on a plate it looks like a mosaic of coloured glass.

Gingerbread House

Decorating a gingerbread house is magical... the creativity and freedom you feel while building your own, colourful dream home! There's nothing like having that great big bowl of lollies in front of you and putting them wherever your heart desires!Building and decorating a gingerbread house is a wonderful tradition for kids to grow up with and one that I started with my kids last year. Best of all, it let's us adults rekindle that magic for a little while!

Anyone who's built a gingerbread house from scratch knows that it can take quite a bit of effort (even an entire weekend sometimes!) to get the house ready for decorating. Whether you want the full experience of house creation or just want to do the "fun part" - only decorating - it can be a fun family experience!

We used the Gingerbread Kit this year which is available from Kmart for $15 - includes everything you need to use to make a cute house! Master 4 really enjoyed the challenge of working out where the pieces fitted to put the house together. We actually did this together while Master 2 was asleep! Then both the boys had a bowl of sweets and I left them to it. They really had a wonderful time decorating the house and were very proud of the end result. We have wrapped it in the fridge and it will no doubt take pride of place in the middle of our table this Christmas Day for all our family and friends to admire and enjoy!

Cooking with Young Children

All young children enjoy cooking. Sometimes they like the product, but even if they don't, they always appreciate the process. It's fun to do something that is a grown-up activity, and discover that kids can do it too! I like to tie cooking projects to other themes that we are working on. E.g. Reading The Gingerbread Man. Cooking with your children teaches them so many valuable skills whilst spending time together.

Cooking teaches children:

1. Following Directions: Teach your child what a recipe is and that one must "follow the directions" in order for the recipe to work. Children learn that you must read directions and follow them in a certain order to get the result you want.

2. Simple Numeracy: Compare amounts. Are we putting in more flour or more baking powder? What is bigger, a half cup or a whole cup? How many half cups do you need to equal a whole cup? Develop his sequencing skills. Ask him, "What do we do first...second...last?"

3. Sensory Awareness: Use ingredients with a variety of textures, smells, and tastes. Let him feel the difference between rice and beans. Let him taste the difference between sugar and salt. Have him smell the differences between various spices and the sweet smell of vanilla.

4. Vocabulary Enrichment: Enhance your child's knowledge of ingredients and items found around your kitchen. Flour, sugar and eggs may seem like everyday words to you, but they are not basic to your three-year-old.

5. Concept Development: Improve your child's understanding of concepts: Hard vs. soft, liquid vs. solid, hot vs. cold, raw vs. baked, in the bowl vs. out of the bowl, fast vs. slow, etc.

6. Cause and Effect Relationships: Increase your child's ability to answer questions like: "What happens if . . . (you add juice instead of water, you use bananas instead of strawberries)?" Children can learn how adding, leaving out or changing one ingredient can change the entire product.

7. Cooperation: Improve your child's ability to work together with you and with other children. This includes waiting for his turn and having fun in a joint activity.

Super Sausage Rolls

Lately Master 2 requests that I sing his stories to him at bed time and one of his favourite is, There were 10 in the Bed. So today I planned some activities around that rhyme and we got busy, perfect as it was another rainy day! The boy's and I decided to make sausage rolls for lunch. I'm always looking for cooking activities that allow both Master 2 and Master 4 to be a part of. Home-made sausage rolls are a winner in our house, not just because of the fun we have making them, but they taste good too! I use a very basic recipe as that way both boys can really be part of the process.

Ingredients
1 large carrot, peeled, grated

1 small brown onion, finely chopped

beef mince

sausage meat

2 cups fresh breadcrumbs

puff pastry, thawed

1 egg

1/2 jar Baxter's tomato relish

1/2 cup soy sauce

sesame seeds, to garnish

tomato or BBQ sauce, to serve

Encouraging children to cook is great for creating healthy eating habits while improving self confidence and self esteem

While our yummy sausage rolls were cooking Master 2 and Master 4 enjoyed using some rollers I picked up from the discount store and did some painting.

There were ten in a bed

and the little one said

"Roll over, roll over"

So they all rolled over and one fell out.

There were nine in a bed

and the little one said

"Roll over, roll over"

So they all rolled over and one fell out.

There were eight in a bed

and the little one said

"Roll over, roll over"

So they all rolled over and one fell out.

There were seven in a bed

and the little one said

"Roll over, roll over"

So they all rolled over and one fell out.

There were six in a bed

and the little one said

"Roll over, roll over"

So they all rolled over and one fell out.

There were five in a bed

and the little one said

"Roll over, roll over"

So they all rolled over and one fell out.

There were four in a bed

and the little one said

"Roll over, roll over"

So they all rolled over and one fell out.

There were three in a bed

and the little one said

"Roll over, roll over"

So they all rolled over and one fell out.

There were two in a bed

and the little one said

"Roll over, roll over"

So they all rolled over and one fell out.

There was one in a bed

and the little one said"Goodnight".