Thursday, May 30, 2019

Welcome (and homemade whipped cream)

My third baby was born 8 weeks ago, on her oldest brothers birthday. I have been wanting to create my own space on the web since we started him on solids, about 4 years ago. I have loved teaching my babies to enjoy food and I have been wanting a place online to collect our family recipes. Hopefully, this will be a place other families can use as a resource too.

I hope this can be a place to find inspiration for healthy meals, especially for busy families; for ways to teach kids about enjoying food; as well as ways to involve kids in the kitchen. This should not be a place to feel shame or guilt about giving your kids goldfish crackers or letting them eat a lollipop. What works for one family may not work for another. We all just want what's best for our family and sometimes that means pulling out a frozen pizza and counting the tomato sauce on it as that nights vegetable. We are all just doing our best.

A few nights ago, my 2 boys were getting restless before dinner. Involving them in cooking usually gets them calmer because they are focused and they usually get to taste test the ingredients. While my husband made dinner, the boys and I decided to make whipped cream. We had a pint of heavy whipping cream in the fridge. So we got out the stand-mixer and whisk attachment. My oldest (4 years old) opened the pint of cream and poured it into a measuring cup. My younger son (3 years old) held the measuring cup for him and then poured it in the bowl. I turned on the mixer and the boys watched the liquid cream turn into a solid whipped cream and then each took a taste. The boys had it for breakfast the next day with strawberries on top of their homemade whole wheat protein waffles we had in the freezer. I added a scoop of it to my coffee that morning. It made for a very decadent coffee.

Homemade whipped cream
Ingredients:
 - heavy whipping cream
 - vanilla extract or other extracts, lemon, almond, etc. (optional)

Directions:
Pour heavy whipping cream in stand mixer bowl. Add a very small amount of extract to the cream. We used 1 cup of cream and it was enough for breakfast the next morning and 3 coffees for me. :)
If you don't have a stand mixer, a hand-mixer will work just as well or you could whip it by hand if you want to get an arm work out in. (Note: whipping it by hand will take a long time). If you use a hand mixer, depending on their ages, the kids could take turns holding the hand mixer.
Start the mixer off on the lower settings and then slowly increase the speed so that it doesn't splatter everywhere. It's ready when it looks like whipped cream. It couldn't be easier. This can be stored in the fridge for a couple days.

I usually let the boys turn off the mixer and lower down the bowl on the stand mixer. I try to let them do as much as possible when we're in the kitchen together.

I know this is such a simple recipe and probably doesn't even merit a post, but these are the types of recipes and activities I need to be reminded of. What can be a hard time for us in the evening turned into a fun time together and resulted in introducing them to something new and delicious.

I enjoy simple, fresh food. In the past, I have really overcomplicated cooking but since having kids (and a lot less time) I've been learning that it's possible to create simple balanced meals with some thoughtfulness and intention.

Welcome to elle emme kitchen.

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