“Cooking” (in quotes)

“Cooking” is one of Noah’s most requested activities.  It’s right up there with painting.  When I can get him cooking (involved in helping with meal prep) that’s wonderful.  When I can’t, we always have “cooking”.  I typically use this as an activity he can do on his own.  Something to keep him busy when I need to sew or to help him feel involved when I’m cooking on the stove or doing prep work that’s equally as toddler-friendly such as chopping veggies.

I had the rare opportunity to ride this morning while Grampy stayed home with the boy.  When I returned, Grampy and Daddy were going to take Noah to the aquarium while I stayed home to sew and work on custom orders.  So pretty much I was doing my own thing for most of the day.  Hooray me!!  In between riding and sewing I had set Noah down with his cook set and a shaker full of flour so I could get some things done around the house while the boys got ready for their outing.  When it was time to go to the aquarium, Noah wasn’t too excited.  He just wanted to stay home and cook!  I did my best to make the aquarium, with its birds, otters, penguins, fish and sharks sound like more fun than a bowl of flour but Noah wasn’t buying it.  It was only the promise of more cooking with mama when he returned home that had him wiping away the tears.  Future chef?  Perhaps.

He, of course, had an amazing time with Grampy and Daddy at the aquarium, telling me about the snakes and birds he saw!  But today, as promised I was going to do some more extensive “cooking” with him.  After having so much me-time this morning I was more than happy to get extra-messy with him and include more than the usual shaker of flour or corn meal.

• Kitchen Utensils (sifter, wisk, funnel, measuring cups/spoons…)
• Pots, pans, colander….
• Ingredients with varied textures (I love corn starch for a silky feel, corn meal for gritty, rice for bumpy…
• Ingredients with varied scents (Perfect time to throw out any old herbs and seasonings!)

I gathered what we had on hand in put each in one of Noah’s teacups from his cooking set.  We used flour, cornmeal, rice, cornstarch and water.  I put the corn meal in an old spice shaker.

We mixed, added, stirred…

    

As if those chubby feet weren’t delicious enough they now appeared to be sprinkled with powdered sugar!  Irresistable!!

Not to mention that sweet face!

Our gooey, lumpy, bumpy special was ready!  I offered to cook it on the stove top in one of my pots but Noah was satisfied with his creation.  So was our dog.

    

It was so delicious, she even took seconds.

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