Read It And Eat...

I stumbled upon a great book this week, The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. Not only does the author talk about why you should read books to your kids, but he also includes a list of great books for you to read with your kids. In the book, one of the anecdotes describes reading to your child while they eat. I would have NEVER thought of that, which is odd, because when I am by myself (hardly ever) and eating, I always read something as well.

So I thought I would try it on Clare. At sixteen months, she is much more interested in playing than eating; as soon as she eats a couple of bites, she is ready to get down from the highchair and play. Breakfast is the most difficult time for her (us). She gets a cup of warm milk as soon as she wakes up so she is not starving when it comes time to sit and eat. Yesterday morning I made her what we call "Puffy Pancakes", I think most people know them as Dutch Babies (recipe below). I sat her in the highchair and immediately she wanted down but instead I started reading her books. She ate her whole breakfast, about 1 cup of pancake and 1/4 cup of grapefruit! She sat there the entire time listening and eating. It was so pleasant for both of us! I tried it again at lunch and again she ate everything I had given her (1/4 peanut butter sandwich, 1/2 cup green beans, water). I even tried putting it on a plate and instead of throwing the food and plate on the floor, she just listened to the books and ate her meal! Thank you Jim Trelease!!!

Puffy Pancakes
serves 4; you can increase or decrease this as needed
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
4 eggs

Preheat the oven to 425 deg. You can use any baking dish, but I like a glass pie dish. Put the butter in the pie dish and then in the oven while it is preheating. This will melt the butter for you. Mix the flour, eggs, and milk. Swirl the butter to cover the bottom of the dish. Carefully pour in the mix so that it doesn't mix with the melted butter. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Serve with anything yummy: maple syrup, powdered sugar, jam (especially lingonberry).