I have written already about how much my childhood came into play when it came to my love of food. It would only be logical that I have an intense desire to pass on this love in the same way to my children, and since there is a lack so far thereof, my kiddies. That would be the kids that are in my class at the daycare.
Cooking has got to be one of the activities that keeps their (minute) attention focused the longest. They eat this stuff up, literally. Haha I'm so funny. Ahem. Some of these kids have cooked a few times with mama at home, but most have never seen a whisk at work, never mind stirring it themselves. Which is ridiculous, because cooking touches upon so many developmental stages that are necessary for children. Things like math, science, gross and fine motor, language and social skills ARE ALL DEVELOPED IN ONE ACTIVITY. An educator's dream, really. Which is why I don't understand why people don't do it more often.
But anyways, when I cook with my kiddies, I try to make things that they've never eaten before. Luckily for me, that usually falls into the realm of vegetables and fruits. Zucchini and lemon were most definetly a weird thing to eat, and this recipe was so fun to make. Take a look!
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| Grating. Supervision recquired. |
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| Stirring the dry ingredients. |
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| The easiest way to add ingredients is using pre-measured baggies. Trust me. |
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| More whisking! |
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| Are you sure we can eat this? |
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| Adding zucchini with concentration. |
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| Adding lemon zest |
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| Unnapetizing before, oh-so-tasty after! |
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| THIS IS SO EXCITING! |
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SUCCESS!
Ingredients 1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini (2 medium) 1/4 cup honey 1 egg 1/2 cup apple sauce (might need a little more) 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used half white hald whole wheat) 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon zest from one lemon, plus juice from half (I let the kids taste the other half.. HAHAHAHA)
Directions- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan.
- In a bowl, beat together the honey, egg, and apple sauce. Fold in the zucchini. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon. Stir in the zest and juice. Stir the flour mixture into the zucchini mixture just until blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from heat, and cool about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Side note: If I were going to make this for adults, I would have added a glaze of 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup lemon juice. Boil till sugar is disolved, then when cake has cooled for 10 minutes, apply with brush without poking holes on the top. Keep reapplying until absorbed. |
THIS IS SO PRECIOUS!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing, I LOVED this. What did you find was hardest when working with the kids? How many little prep-chefs did you have? :) Great recipe to integrate veggies into a sweet! You might really like this site, called "The Sneaky Chef" : http://www.thesneakychef.com/
...if you haven't heard about it already!
Awesome job, Cyn!!
OH How cool is that site!! Thanks! I had a total of 14 little chefs during the activity. I think the hardest thing when you cook with kids (ESPECIALLY the kids that have no experience with cooking) is keeping their fingers out of the mouths and food. I had one kid try to stick his head in the bowl in order to smell it. Too many of them have no concept of washing their hands, so all that cooking hygiene has to be taught.
ReplyDeleteI keep revisiting this post. It's just so cute.
ReplyDelete