Wednesday 19 September 2012

cooking with huckle :: apple oat loaf...

I've received some wonderful Mama wisdom on my last few posts. Thank you sweet ladies for your words of encouragement. I am so grateful.

Despite the toddler shenanigans that are going on around here, there's still good times. It's like a big swinging pendulum... only nobody knows which way it will swing!
Last week I set up a little experiment. Huckle loves to help cook, so I thought I could give him something to cook all by himself (so to speak). 
I measured out all the ingredients into individual bowls and placed them onto the table with a mixing bowl and spoon. I then invited him to make Apple Oat Loaf.
He was so focused and didn't ask for help at all. He took his time sprinkling a little bit of each ingredient at a time, tasting each flavour as he went and mixing them all together.
I only stepped in to help mix it thoroughly at the end.
This is a great recipe for little ones to make, as there is no special method at all, you just throw it together. It kept Huckle occupied for a good half hour and he was proud as punch to serve his loaf for morning tea.

Apple Oat Loaf

1/2 cup rolled oats
300ml milk - we used cows, but you could use soy or almond milk to make it dairy free
1 & 1/2 cups of spelt flour with 3 tsp baking power mixed in
2 apples - peeled and grated
1/2 cup sultanas 
1/3 cup rapadura sugar
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup walnuts roughly chopped
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix together. Bake in a loaf tin at 180 degrees celcius for 45-60 minutes. Check with cake tester, as all ovens are different. Allow to rest in tin for 5 minutes before cooling on cake rack. Enjoy with butter. Also good toasted. Freezes really well too.

4 comments:

Cat said...

Toddler hood is a tricky stage to go through, I'm now heading to the teenage stage and going well so far but I can't believe that my girl was once that small. Another lovely blogger named Jode
http://mummymusingsandmayhem.blogspot.com.au/
has toddler twins and always comes up with some great activities to keep her girls busy, certainly worth a little visit to give you other ideas to keep Huckle busy and happy.Kitty this recipe sounds like one I'll be making, healthy and simple thank you for sharing.

Susan said...

love this approach to toddler cooking! Usually we measure together and I'm hanging around like a bad smell the whole time but I think Turi would get a real kick out of being left to his own devises with all the ingredients!! Must give it a go. Thanks for the idea!

Anonymous said...

I just found your blog and have been reading it for almost an hour now. I love your photos and stories, especially this one. ♥

twoblueshoes said...

This is a GENIUS idea. I know what we're doing on Monday...