Mini Applesauce Muffins

I finally baked a new batch of muffins for Alicia. Initially I had intended to make banana muffins this time round but I didn't manage to get the bananas I wanted so I just stuck with applesauce instead. In any case, she's a great fan of applesauce and when she saw me preparing her applesauce that day while she was having dinner, she insisted on having the applesauce before she continued with the rest of dinner. I gave her 2 tablespoons of applesauce but after she finished it, she asked for more but I refused to give her more coz if not she would not have space in her little tummy for the rest of dinner...


Anyway, here's the pic of the new applesauce muffins:



And here's the recipe:



Mini Applesauce Muffins


Wet ingredients
200ml homemade applesauce
50ml olive oil
1 small egg (lightly beaten) (I use Seng Choon's First Born eggs and they are really quite small)



Dry ingredients
50ml Origin's organic raw sugar
150ml self-raising flour (sifted)
50ml whole wheat flour (sifted)
2 tablespoons Origin's raw wheatgerm (for extra nutrition)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt



Directions
Mix the wet ingredients and dry ingredients well separately.
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients.
Stir in the wet ingredients, until just combined.
Spoon into lightly greased mini muffin tins. (I used mini silicon muffin cups I bought at Daiso and the muffins came out so easily!)
Bake at 180degC for about 17min, or until golden.


Freeze up to 3mths.



With this amount of ingredients, I made 19 mini applesauce muffins. I had experimented earlier on two other batches of muffins: the first I made with 100ml sugar but they turned out to be too sweet. The next batch I made I added baby oats on top of the rest of the ingredients and cut the sugar totally but the muffins turned out too hard for Alicia and it was too bland - virtually tasteless. And so, the third batch I made, I removed the baby oats and halved the sugar and voila! Perfect for Alicia's palate: soft and moist and most importantly, not too sweet or tasteless!

The JG lessons - Monday (23/11)

Alicia had a great time at JG for the week and I think she probably misses going to JG. If she could speak, I bet she would ask me why she isn't going to 'school' anymore...

On the first day at JG, as expected, Alicia was a little wary of the surroundings and people so she wasn't her usual self. She did play and move around during Free Play time but I'd say it's nothing compared to the way she plays at home. And she kept her eye on me and occasionally came to give me a hug - or maybe she wanted a reassuring one.

When class started and it was time to greet the puppet of the day, almost every kid shied away from the puppet coz i think it looked a little fierce as it was a hawk. But coz she has a soft spot for soft toys, she wasn't as afraid as the rest of the children and she went on to pat the hawk and touch its beak.

She kept really still during storytelling time - nothing like how she behaved at Bukit Merah Library's storytelling session. I think she was intrigued by the way the instructor told the story - lots of animation and even occasionally bursting into song. That should be the way that stories are told! I definitely learnt a thing or two about storytelling techniques from the experience at JG!

Art on the first day was to use a stencil and a sponge to dab paint to make a picture of a bird. I allowed her to play with the sponge first then i held her hand and dabbed it into the bowl of paint then allowed her to dab the paint all over the place while i kept the stencil in place. I would say that this is the day with the least amount of mess made! Most children didn't get to participate very much in the art session as I think the parents/ helpers were afraid of the mess. But I think it's quite an experience for her and I didn't want to rob her of the chance to explore new things: isn't that what JG is all about anyway? :D

Out of the 5 days she attended class, I think she was the most keen to eat the snacks on the first day. They served Teddy Puffs on Monday - a snack that she hasn't eaten in ages since she last refused it. I was about to re-introduce it to her as I still have an unopened pack at home, waiting for her to like it again. When I saw it was Teddy Puffs being served, I was rather apprehensive as the last I remember of her reaction to the puffs was her spitting them out and giving a disgusted expression. Fortunately, she was happy to see the puffs and stuffed 6 of them into her mouth consecutively. I was afraid she couldn't handle them and would spit them all out as they are rather hard but she managed to chew and swallow all of them and she continued to eat some more and even had a second helping.

She was a little apprehensive when we went to the playground for outdoor play but well, that lasted only for the first day. :) Actually it's her first time at the playground proper coz I haven't really brought her to the playground downstairs before. She also had fun playing at the play area where there were little toy cars that she could sit in and she had fun "cooking" at the "stove" too.

She enjoyed the song and movement segment of the lesson though I think she was the most reserved on the first day. I guess she wasn't used to the music and movement segment at first coz it's rather loud I think if one's not used to loud noises.

After the lesson was over, she was rather quiet and I guess she was still thinking about her lesson at JG. But when she reached home she was really ravenous and wolved down her lunch. I'd have thought that the snack time might have affected her appetite for lunch but it seems that going to JG somehow worked up a bit of an appetite too as she continued to eat her lunch most happily for the rest of the days that she went to JG for lessons!

Julia Gabriel Holiday Class Overview (23/11-28/11)

It's been a really long time since I've blogged coz I've been busy with stuff, and among them it's bringing Alicia to Julia Gabriel Holiday Class (PlayNest) in the last week of November 09.

It was an eye-opener and I must say that Alicia and I enjoyed the lessons there. The theme of the week was "Birds", so stories, puppets, art and craft and even the excursion revolved around Birds.

The only thing regrettable is that I hardly took any photos or videos at all throughout the week as I had no hands to do so as only one accompanying parent is allowed and my hands were tied just looking after her!

Here's a summary of how the lessons are like:

For her agegroup, the lesson usually starts with Free Play (20min) to let them warm up to the place and the instructors. I think this is actually quite good as young children need time to get used to a place first before they can settle down to learn effectively. Also, I see it as buffer time in case we are late that day, though parents/helpers are encouraged to attend class on time - and for the record, I was always early for class! :) During this time, they are allowed to play with the toys the instructors have taken out and scattered all over the play area in the room. Storybooks are also within reach so the children can flip through them if they are not interested in the toys. After that, the kids would be encouraged to help the instructors keep the toys and prepare for class.

After the toys are kept, the instructors would start by singing some songs and after that introduce the puppet of the day to the children. The songs sung at this point are the same everyday so that the children can recognise the routine. Of coz the puppets were also birds since the theme of the week was Birds. After they take turns to greet the puppet, the puppet will be kept and it would be getting ready for storytime (there's also a routine before we get down to storytime).

After the story, it would be time for the Magic Box where children get to take turns to tap on the box (which is actually filled with the art materials for the day). The instructor would then demonstrate what to do then the kids will go to the little tables and chairs in the room to start on their art. This was actually very challenging i think, becoz the instructors required the children to do painting (with hands and other materials) so a big mess is only to be expected. :) It was fun nevertheless. After that, we'd bring the children to wash hands and get ready for snack time. This is where the children would sit on the little chairs at the tables again and await their organic snack provided by the instructors. Each of them would have a tupperware (with a lid which they are supposed to remove on their own as part of training of psychomotor skills and it comes with a suction bottom so they can't fling it about) in front of them and after they remove the lid, the instructors will come round to fill it up with organic snacks/ cookies. For this agegroup, no spoons are provided as I think they want them to have practice eating finger food using the pincer grasp.

After snack time, the children would prepare to go out to have outdoor play (this is supposed to train the gross motor skills). After outdoor play time, it would be washing up and going back to class for song and movement. There would be someone playing the keyboard or the guitar while songs were sung and there's also some movement involved so the kids really like this part of the lesson. Finally, it would be time to say goodbye and JG does this by singing the song "Goodbye Bubbles" and an instructor would be blowing bubbles while the kids go wild chasing them. :) Then it's really time to say goodbye at the door where the kids will take turns to say goodbye to the instructors and the puppet of the day. Alicia never fails to want to give an extra hug to the puppet! :)

And that's how a normal lesson goes for PlayNest. :) It may seem like a lot of play but I do see Alicia pick up things that are taught in class even though the enrichment class was only for 5 days. Alicia will be joining PlayClub next year as she will be turning 18mths in Jan 2010 so lessons will be a little different. Plus next year she'd be attending the Bilingual PlayClub so I guess that would be another adventure for both Alicia and I!