Vovo's French Toast...Kid-Friendly Meal Part 1

While visiting my parents house in O-town, I also had the pleasure of helping them watch my niece and nephew (age  3 and age 5).  Their parents had gone on an early anniversary retreat to Cooperstown, and  I thought this was the perfect time to try out some kid-friendly meals.

However, between Lego's, playing in the pool, playing baby, feeding the fish at the pond, announcements of having to go potty, and so on, I found that it was pretty much impossible to actually write a blog entry.  After all, when it was nap time for the younger one, it was also nap time for Aunt Becky.  So the blog had to wait until the kids went back to their own house.  However, the kid-created meals were still a huge success... by both adult and kid standards!!


Part 1 (of 2) of the Kid-Friendly Meal isn't the most glamorous of foods, and probably one you have all made before.  However, it's a great project to do with kids.  In fact we even had a French Toast Birthday party one year!

Sidenote: Vovo means grandmother in Portuguese...

Ingredients:

• Eggs (enough for each kid to do an equal number of cracking)
• Sugar
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Vanilla
• Bread (I love Heidelberg Sunflower Raisin)  
• Butter for pan
• Syrup

Steps:

1)  Be sure to have the kids occupied while getting the prep work done (like getting out all ingredients, chairs to stand on, bowls/pans).  This is a key step!

2)  Even before beginning, try the cinnamon to see what it tastes like...

3)  Crack the eggs over the bowl.  We did two for each kid,  it is VERY important to have an equal number of eggs per kid. It helps to have the older child go first to show the younger one what to do...

Look at that concentration!

Remember, it's not a big deal if the egg shell falls in when doing a kid friendly meal!

4)  Whip the eggs... of course a fork for each kid and a toy baby on the counter is a necessity.

Be sure to stop for kisses from Vovo

5)  Add 2 tablespoons of sugar, only after tasting first though...

6) Have an adult add in a teaspoon of vanilla, a dash of both cinnamon and nutmeg, and continue to stir.  This step can be hard for little fingers to control the amount.






7)  (Another adult step)  Heat a pan with some butter on medium-high heat


8) Soak each piece of bread.  (The Heidleberg Bread is always a staple in this household!)

9) Cook through, flipping once. 

10)  Serve with your favorite maple syrup (no fake stuff please!), fruit, and a cup milk.  

Voila... Vovo's French Toast!

A concept we couldn't explain:  Why does Vanilla smell so good and tastes good in the food, but it's really bad by itself??

Thoughts? Opinions? Able to answer my 5 year olds nephews question about vanilla?? Tell me about it in the comments section below!

~Eat Well and Be Happy~