Kids can bake: Twist on apple turnover

From this... to that...


Probably it doesn't get any easier. Not the true-blue kind of recipe, but maybe this shortcut will work for you, as it did for us, that lazy Saturday afternoon when no one was keen on doing what he was supposed to do... but didn't mind a little warm snack!

So there was Ben. Ben who thinks Valentine's Day is for girls, because "I hate pink, pink is a girl colour", and yet in the same breath, asks me, "What does 'hate' mean?".
So I plod on alone, working on these "valentine's" that need his "signature". To each card, I also tag a little candy treat -- a gummy in the shape of a heart or rose, that Ben isn't crazy about what design it comes in, except to wait to eat any extras! But we'll have to wait till Jon gets round to doing his lot for his classmates first.

And then, there was Jon, of course. Except you don't see him in this photo, because for the umpteenth time, he's walked away from the timeline he's taking an awfully long time to do, for his book report!
Well over an hour has elapsed since his last completed box, and he did not just start working on the timeline (broken up into six very doable parts), just that day! The amount of time he takes to settle back down from whatever is taking his attention away, makes me the more relieved one, that the due date for the book report -- not just for this written/illustrated timeline, but also the oral presentation itself -- has been extended to this week!

What should I do?

Thinking of giving Jon one less reason to be distracted, I went to the kitchen and looked for something Ben and I could do together. And here's what I came back with...

Some refrigerated biscuits that I always have handy, and a can of prepared apple filling -- saved for an occasion just like this!


Only, Jon wants in on the baking, too (beats doing a book report anytime, right)! So, why not? Let's take a break! (But if only you know how many breaks I've already given him!).


And this is the simple method that works for us...

To the biscuit dough, simply press down with palms or I let the boys use a spatula at first, to flatten it. Till it's like a "prata" or "wonton wrap", with enough surface area to put the apple filling in...


In-between fighting over who thinks who has more dough to have fun with ("not fair!" to this, and that), the boys eventually help put together some "bao's" here (those shaped like buns), and some "currypuffs" there, all filled with the same apple goodness, as much as we can pack in...


Hot off the oven, here's what our afternoon apple snack looks like...


The boys enjoying the fruit of their labour. Ben will always eat the biscuit, not Jon (and especially not the burnt bottom, that some of us may like it for!). And Jon will eat only the apple, not Ben, who also doesn't like applesauce!


Just a couple more ideas, if you're going to give this semi-homemade snack a try, or feel free to add your suggestions:

• The prepared apple filling saved us all the peeling, coring, and slicing work. I did dice the pre-sliced apples up a bit more, into bitesize -- or kids can use a butterknife to do that, with a bit of supervision. And depending on how you like your apples, you can add cinnamon or sugar to it, the way you will, if you make the filling from scratch, using fresh apples.
  
• In this version, we used the buttermilk biscuits. But if you like your biscuits more like the real apple turnover, there's the flaky variety of refrigerated biscuit, or pastry (also from the refrigerated section, to save the work of making it from scratch), that you can get. The reason I usually buy the buttermilk variety over the flaky kind, is simply because there's less of a mess to clean up. To borrow what the teachers in Ben's class say at lunchtime when you can already predict how much cleaning up there is to do (based on what the kids are having), "I cringe less!" (versus when there are flaky crumbs broken up into teeny tiny bits strewn all over the floor, rug... everywhere)! But I do indulge the boys now and then! ;p

After the apple snack, Jon goes back to work on his book report (although he still leaves the last parts to work on the next day, and the day after that!), while Ben and I finish up on his valentine's, with heart-shape stickers on the bag we put a simple "Joy" label on, a by-product of love (because Ben thinks love is too mushy)!


Later that day, the boys got a bit more downtime out of some handmade crafts (below). And while storebought toys and games are great, and no doubt they work for us, I'm rather tired of hearing the "I want's" (this and that), when the existing toys aren't really played, not even close to "enough", if you know what I mean.

So, some good old ways to get the creative juices flowing, is great, and I encourage that a lot!