Ready, Set, Bake!

Good Morning. How are you feeling this morning? Trying to savour your first cup of coffee before the rest of the household needs to be managed. Or up and at em already and trying to find inspiration for another day?

So in South Africa we are now on our 15th day of lockdown and last night the nation found out that our 21 day lockdown is being extended with a further 14 days. Many of us are less than surprised and were expecting an extension of some sort, others were remaining optimistic and were understandably disheartened by the announcement. Regardless of which category you fall into the reality is that this isn't an easy situation for anyone. As the world pulls together to embrace the changes there are various ways people are managing the emotions. Thankfully South Africans always have a wicked sense of humour especially in the face of adversity, cue the meme avalanche.

So for another 21 days we will be doing our best to run our businesses (those who are lucky enough to be able to), work from home, balance the needs of our family members and ourselves and maintain some semblance of sanity and calm throughout the storm. Never before have I seen so many posts of people baking, exercising, crafting, writing, composing, creating and doing anything else that makes the time feel a little less daunting. In the spirit of this very impressive creative streak spreading across the globe and after seeing so many mom's on my various 'mommy groups' and chats trying to find new ways to entertain their kids I decided to share a few of my most loved kid favourite recipes. Seeing as I have some extra time on my hands and need to keep my own little munchkins full and occupied and ideally not stuck in front of the playstations all day every day I can give you fun easy to make recipes that can hopefully help brighten the mood in your house as much as it does in mine.

Now keep in mind that baking with kids is not necessarily a 'Zen' experience, nor is it meant to be. It doesn't have to look perfect or take place in a pristine kitchen with a happy smiling mom wearing a pink apron covered in hearts and cupcakes. Unless you happen to be the mom who somehow manages to have the pristine kitchen, and perfect pinny with the happy smile, in which case please ignore the above statement and carry on while we stare in awe and wonder how on earth you manage it. As long as you get to spend a little bit of time with your children where you feel like you have done something you all enjoyed (at least for the most of the time) then I think you can call that a win. At the end of the day when all this is over and the world has returned to a new normal then there is one thing that is true. Our kids won't remember the time you had the perfect kitchen, the perfect gym session, sourdough bread or pristine house. They will remember the time we spent with them and if we can look back with fond memories of certain moments in those times where we felt joy in the experiences we could share with them, then our hearts will be all the better for it. <3

So go scrounge through the cupboards for the stale forgotten marshmallows and the new vanilla flavoured rice krispies that your kid doesn't want to eat with milk anymore and let's turn it into a treat!

Super Easy Rice Krispie Treats You'll need: Marshmallows Rice Krispies Butter/Margerine *Vanilla Essence *Speckled Eggs To start add 2 Tbsp of butter/margerine to a heavy bottom saucepan along with a bag of marshmallows. This recipe is based on quantities so you can adjust it as you need. Because most families tend to have the regular small bags of marshmallows the other ingredients are based on that, If you use a big bag double the butter. Measure the same amount of rice krispies to marshmallows. So if it's a 125g bag you want an equal weight in Rice Krispies. No scale, no problem, if you eyeball it the rice krispies will be roughly double the amount of mallows. Mix the marshmallows & butter over the heat until smooth and melted. Remove from the heat and add a tsp of vanilla essence (again, double if using a big bag). You don't have to add vanilla, but it just makes the taste all the better. Pour this over the rice krispies and give it a quick mix. Now this is the part where you can hand the spoon over to the kids. Don't be surprised if they decide to forgo the spoon in favour of their hands after a minute or so. Not to worry Mom, it cools fairly quickly once you start mixing so just a quick check will make sure it's safe before they get stuck in. From here it's really up to you how you want to style them. The only limit here is your imagination. The kids can roll handfuls into balls and then shape them into eggs. You could make 2 ball forms and place a slightly smaller ball on top of the larger one to make a bunny butt and dip the tail in coconut if you have it. Get creative with it or just press it into a pan an cut it into blocks. The choice is yours.

To make nests as we did here grab a cupcake pan and lightly grease it. Press the mixture into the pan and then press a well into the center of each 1. Add some speckled eggs or any other fun stuff you have to the center. Think Sprinkles, Choc chips, Astros, or any other favourites you have hiding around the house. Put it in the fridge for a few minutes and then you're ready to go. Pop them out with a spoon and store in a airtight container. They will easily last a week in the fridge if you can prevent them from being eaten for that long. For a fun twist you can zjoosh this up anyway you like. Drizzle it with melted chocolate or use a mix of strawberry or cocoa pops with the rice krispies. Add caramel right add the end along or even in place of the vanilla essence for a more decadent flavour. Heck you can even add other flavourings instead of vanilla. My kids love Cotton Candy from Flavour Nation. Just make it your own and the rest will fall into place.

I hope you enjoy making some magic with your little humans, feel free to upload a photo and tag me in your creations, I would love to see your masterpieces. If you enjoyed this blog and would like me to ramble about my crazy ideas and thoughts more often drop me a comment. Till then stay safe and stay sane!

Lots of love,

Tasha