By Clean Plate

By Clean Plate

These Mini Muffins are so quick to make and delicious.  Plus, there are infinite variations depending on the season and the tastes of the children!  Here we create two varieties, a sweet and a savoury, which pair well and look super Christmassy!

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200° C.
2. Mix the two types of flour in a large bowl.
3. Chop the cream cheese into small chunks and mash into the flour with a fork until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
4. Dice the strawberries and add to the mixture.
5. Add the brown sugar and milk and mix until it forms a soft dough.
6. Lightly spray down the muffin tins with the spray oil.
7. Spoon mixture into the tins and bake for about 15 mins

For the savoury version, our base is the same, but the additional ingredients differ.  As with the Strawberry Muffins above, the children can help all the way. Mashing, grating and chopping are all valuable cooking skills they can master with this recipe.  I usually ask them to use scissors with the spinach because it is easier and gives them snipping practice as well!

Serves 10 

Ingredients:
2 cups self-raising flour
2 Tbsps margarine (rather than Cream Cheese)
2 handfuls of baby spinach
1 1/2 cups grated Edam cheese
1 cup milk
4 cherry tomatoes, sliced

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200° C.
2. Mash the margarine into the flour with a fork until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Roughly cut up the spinach and add to the bowl.
4. Add the grated cheese and the milk, and mix until it forms a soft dough.
5. Lightly spray down the muffin tins with the spray oil.
6. Spoon the mixture into the tins, top with the cherry tomato slices, and bake it for about 15 mins.

By Clean Plate

This is a great summer dish using seasonal veggies. The children can easily participate in the preparation of each element which will, of course, encourage them to try to final product!  This will serve 12 preschool aged children.
For this recipe you will need:

Guacamole:

• 2 medium avocados
• 1 tomato
• 1/2 small lime
• pinch of salt (optional)

Tortilla crisps:

• 6 mini tortillas, each cut into 6 triangles
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• canola oil spray

Have the children chop up the avocados into small chunks.

Remove the seeds from the tomato and chop into small pieces as well.  The children might require some help with this step. 

Place the diced avocado and tomato into a bowl and squeeze in the lime juice.

Mash away!  The children will enjoy this step and will be able to see the diced veggies turn into a spreadable dip.  Add the pinch of salt, if using it, stir and serve with the tortilla crisps and vegetable sticks. 

Strawberry and Cream Cheese Muffins

Fresh Fruit Salad is a fantastic way to combine different coloured fruits to ensure we get a mix of nutrients. It’s also very popular with children, making it an excellent choice for morning or afternoon tea at the centre. Try different combinations of fruit by checking what’s in season. I do like to keep oranges in the mix, as they stop the other fruits such as apples and bananas from going brown. Here we combined our Fresh Fruit Salad with a delicious and naturally flavoured Strawberry and Vanilla Yoghurt. You can easily make flavoured yoghurts as well, and serve it as a healthier alternative to the high in sugar, commercially flavoured variety.

Serves 10 pre-schoolers
For the Fruit Salad:

1 banana, peeled
1 orange, peeled
1 apple, washed
1 green kiwifruit, peeled
1 gold kiwifruit, peeled
¼ tsp cinnamon

1. Dice all the fruit into small cubes.
2. Place all the fruit in a bowl, add the cinnamon and give a stir so all fruit is mixed well and coated with the spice.
3. The fruit salad is ready to serve, or it can be covered and placed in the fridge for a few hours.