Preparation time: 12 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Servings: 12-14 patties
INGREDIENTS
1 cup quick cooking rolled oats
1 cup almond powder
1 tsp baking powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ block cream cheese (125g)
¼ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup applesauce
2 peeled and diced apples
STEPS
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, combine the oats, almond powder, baking powder and cinnamon.
3. In another bowl, whisk the cream cheese with the brown sugar with an electric mixer. Add the eggs and then the oil. On low speed, add the dry ingredients alternating with the applesauce. Stir in the apples. On the baking sheet, spread 12 small patties with about 1/4 cup of the mixture.
4. Bake for 20 minutes or until the patties begin to brown. Let cool.
]]>MONSTER GREEN
1 banana
1 handful of spinach
1 cup of frozen mango (or pineapple)
1 tablespoon of hemp seeds
plant-based milk
Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender and process until smooth.
FRUIT EXLOSION
1 cup of berries
1 pitted date
1 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon shredded coconut
plant-based milk
Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and process until smooth.
CHOCOLATEY
1 banana (or avocado)
1 tablespoon of peanut butter
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon chia seeds
2 cups of oat milk
Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender and process until smooth.
]]>
1. In a bowl, mix the egg, milk and vanilla.
2. In a second bowl, combine flour, baking powder and chia/hemp seeds.
3. Pour the wet mixture over the dry mixture, add the melted butter and mix well until you obtain a smooth and homogeneous preparation.
4. For green pancakes, add a cup of spinach and mix the preparation.
5. For pink pancakes, add 10 raspberries and mix the preparation.
6. Pour 1/3 cup into a hot oiled frying pan and cook 2 minutes on each side.
For several months now, I have been interacting with you on a daily basis. Whether on Instagram, Facebook, email or even by phone. Today, I wanted to officially introduce myself on a Q&A so you can get to know me better!
1) How did you come up with the idea of founding petit apprenti?
My eldest son always wanted to be held while I prepared meals. Which made dinner time a our house very chaotic and above all, discouraging. I wanted mealtime to be a calm and positive way to connect with my children but it was the opposite.
Until the day Felix’s godmother gifted us a learning tower she made by herself. This moment literally changed my life. Felix loved taking part in the preparation of meals and my hands were free!
Although it was made with lots of love, the learning tower we were given quickly wore out and I wanted to replace it with a new one. I wanted to invest in a product that would be thoughtfully designed with a quality that could last for years to come. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the learning tower that I was dreaming of. The design of the learning towers I found on the market didn’t fit the aesthetics of my home or the quality wasn’t good enough. I felt there was a gap on the market for this type of product and I decided to launch petit apprenti to fill it!
2) Are you working full time on petit apprenti and what is your professional background?
petit apprenti was my maternity leave project which eventually became my full-time occupation. Before that, I worked in the marketing field.
2) What’s next for petit apprenti?
We want to continue to innovate with new products on the market of learning towers (by the way, some great new products will launch in the next months). In the upcoming year, we would like to widen our horizons developing other furniture for toddlers. Besides, we’re always open to new ideas and happy when you tell us yours. Don’t hesitate to write to me at catherine@petitapprenti.ca to let me know!
3) Can you describe your two sons?
My eldest son Felix is 6 years old and is a small tornado. He is always on the move and rarely quiet. He is a passionate boy with a big heart and is always ready to help when needed. He is melting my heart, even if he drives me crazy at times! My youngest son Justin is 3 years old and he is sweet, calm, affectionate, sensitive and very talkative. He makes me laugh with all the conversations he has with me on a daily basis. I would say that the personalities of my boys are totally opposite but perfectly complementary.
4) How would you qualify your design style?
I would qualify my design style of transitional. I love the mix of classic and timeless elements with a modern twist. I am a fan of Studio McGee and I would say that Shea’s style meets me 100%.
5) What is your favorite dish and the one you prefer to cook with your boys?
I would say I have a soft spot for italian food. I find it simple, delicious and easy to share in a family meal. In the summer, I love cooking our Canadian harvests with my sons. we often cook pies, crumbles, muffins and cookies!
We love Montreal-based company Trois p’tits doux for their lovely comforters, muslins, headbands and scrunchies made in vibrant colors. They also offer headbands and scrunchies in adult sizes for the perfect mom and daughter twinning.
petit apprenti learning magnets (it's us!)
Designed in collaboration with Canadian illustrator Justine Dutil, our learning magnets are a fun way to teach alphabet and new words to little ones. With their beautiful illustrations in soft colors, they are a must for Easter baskets.
Kantalou bibs and aprons
Our environmental values could not be more aligned with those of Kantalou and we have a huge crush on the friendly duo of entrepreneurs behind this company. Their vibrantly colored bibs and aprons are made in Quebec from recycled water bottles.
petit apprenti toddler safe wooden knife and cutting board set (us again!)
Our toddler safe wooden knife and cutting board set is ideal to introduce little chefs to the basics of cooking. Completely safe, they can cut a raw carrot but not little fingers!
Mili & Lilies wooden puzzles
The Montreal-based online store Mili & Lilies is full of exclusive finds for toddlers. It's worth having a look in order to fall for the carefully selected items by the kind owner. The handcrafted wooden puzzles are absolutely stunning.
With these ideas, you're all set to offer creative, durable and locally made Easter gifts this year!
]]>
The learning tower, also called kitchen helper, step stool for kids or Montessori tower, is a platform designed to raise the child at the height of the adult so that they can better interact with the world around them.
A lot of parents find meal prep time difficult with young children. Who hasn't had a little anxiety crisis when dinner was cooking on the stove, the older child was screaming at the top of his lungs for a snack, and the toddler didn't want to be anywhere but in your arms?! The Montessori tower is your best ally in transforming the chaos of meal prep time into a family time full of calm and positivity.
Toddlers love to imitate the grown-ups and find immense joy in being involved in everyday tasks! This allows them to develop their independence, their autonomy, their fine motor skills and gain confidence in their abilities. They can discover all kinds of new foods without the pressure of having to eat them, they can simply observe and participate. The Learning Tower is undoubtedly a great tool for your child to develop a healthy relationship with food (among many other activities).
Who can use it
Your child can use one of our learning towers from 12 months old and he/she can easily use it until 6 or 7 years old since our learning towers are adjustable. You can refer to our safety rules for more details on this subject.
Where to use the learning tower
You can place the observation tower in front of any flat surface such as a kitchen island wall or cabinets. Here are some examples:
- the kitchen counter
- the bathroom counter
- the carpentry workbench (it helps mom or dad to DIY!)
What are some examples of usage
- Make simple recipes (our favorite is banana bread… what a pleasure to mash them!)
- Start them young to do the dishes (they find so much happiness in rubbing the plates and playing with water)
- Scrub the counters (it usually occupies them for a long time and it helps in cleaning the kitchen)
- Offer them to cut fruits and vegetables safely with our toddler safe wooden knife and cutting board set.
- If the meal prep time requires all of your concentration, you can occupy your child near you in the learning tower with paper and wax crayons or playdough (it's our favorite place to do this because it's easier to collect the small crumbs later)
- Did you try to serve snack or breakfast in the learning tower? Several parents have told us that they are big fans of this method. It's a lot less complicated than using the highchair!
- The learning tower is also very useful for washing little hands and brushing small teeth
- Play with our magnetic chalkboard! If your child cannot be in the Montessori Tower, you can keep him or her near by offering to draw on the board with chalks (we have a chalk recess on our step) or to stick beautiful learning magnets on it.
In short, according to the Montessori philosophy, your child is able to participate in all daily tasks so there are countless possibilities to occupy your child in the observation tower!]]>
You have a fussy eater at home? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here are a few tips to manage this tricky phase.
Get your little learner involved in meal planning and cooking
Why not make the grocery store a fun outing with your child ? Getting your child along to the grocery store and allowing them to pick out a few healthy items that they would like to try can make mealtime fun and exciting while also giving them confidence.
Research shows that children who are involved in meal preparation are more likely to consume healthy foods in general than those who aren’t. Letting your child help you in the kitchen is one of the best ways to overcome the fussy eating stage. Prepping, chopping, mixing and cooking helps your toddler to get used to new foods with different smells, colors and textures, with no pressure to eat them.
Our learning towers are a fun and safe way to involve your child in cooking. Check out our collection.
Grow your own food
If you want your kids to eat more veggies, a good way is to start a veggetable garden. Your little learner will feel so empowered knowing they’re helping to grow food and it’s gratifying when they get to eat it. At our home, each day after daycare and school, the boys love to go to the garden and pick a veggie to eat on the spot.
Make mealtime a fun family time
Dinner should be a fun time for the whole family to sit together without screens and distractions and talk about the day. Try to build on the pleasure of eating together. If you have good eating habits, your child will eventually follow along !
Take an online class
For a positive approach with your picky eaters, we recommend the Nutritionnistes en pediatrie's online class. Six childhood specialists offer you their best advices on how to create and encourage an healthy relationship with food.
Montessori pedagogy is based on the observations of Maria Montessori, an italian doctor who completely revolutionized the educational philosophy of the last century.
According to her pedagogy, when a child is in a stimulating environment and acompanied by adults who stimulate him and adapt to him, he learns on his own and at his own pace.
As parents, we try to remember the following quote from Maria Montessori whenever our 2 years old Justin wants to do the dishes or our 5 years old Felix tries to tie his shoelaces.
«Never help a child with a task at wich he feels he can succeed»
The Montessori method allows the child to accomplish a task that he thinks he can succeed, regardless of his hability to do it. Maria Montessori created an educational environement in which the child is assumed capable of and treated that way rather than the other way around.
The Montessori method is based on these main principles :
Environment : The furniture and environement should be suitable for the child and not the other way around. Everything must be at his height and at his disposition to promote de development of his autonomy.
Order : The child must be free to take the objects around him and move them.
The adult is a guide : The role of the parent and the teacher is to follow and observe the child. Their interventions must always be indirect.
Freedom : The child is free to choose the activities he wants to do.
Self-discipline : The child is encouraged to identify his own mistakes and to improve himself.
Respect of the child’s own pace : It doesn’t matter if the child is fast or slow to complete a task, as long as he is focused.
Learning by experience : To integrate the concepts, the child must manipulate and experience in a tangible way, by stimulating his 5 senses.
No reward and no punishment : These methods of reinforcement are not encouraged by the Montessori philosophy.
Yes, this method takes longer. Yes, sometimes, you will have to redo de dishes or to fix a broken plate. But the gift of giving your child a chance for self-fulfillment is so worth the extra time to let them tie their shoelaces on their own before leaving the house.
If you still doubt this philosophy of education, here is a list of famous Montessori educated people :
- Jeff Bezos – Fonder of Amazon
- Beyonce
- Sean ¨Diddy¨Combs
- Taylor Swift
- Jimmy Wales – Fonder of Wikipedia
- Julia Child
- Princes William and Harry