Cooking has always been a part of my life and growing up I enjoyed the time we spent with my mother and siblings in the kitchen baking, cooking, and making a mess.
I started getting more involved in the kitchen when I got married and especially after having my first princess who changed our world.
From the time she started weaning, I was preparing healthy and nutritious food for her; but at the age of 13 months, she got sick and we spent 2 years in hospital.
She was diagnosed with a rare type of childhood cancer and underwent multiple procedures, intense and high dose chemotherapy and of course with the treatment came the loss of appetite.
I knew she needed to eat to get strong and defeat the monster and I would spend hours and try weird and wonderful combinations in a bid to find things she would eat.
It was one way I could support her fight against the monster.
After treatment was over, she was very picky and we had a new reason to try things out in the kitchen. Her sense and memories of tastes had been completely wiped and so we went backwards to go forwards - mixing different tastes and textures until we eventually succeeded. It’s like weaning a child all over again.
The older she got the more my little princess wanted to get involved in the kitchen, it all started with messy playing and why not? She loved it and we all enjoyed seeing her smile and laugh.
Sensory playing was a key element for us given that she has missed going to nursery at that age, but also the more your child is involved in what they eat the more they will be interested in eating it.
We spent hours in the kitchen creating recipes and memories and having fun doing it. It was OUR thing!
Then my second was born at the peak of lockdown and being stuck at home meant we had to come up with more activities and like many others we did more baking with the kids.
Baking has many benefits to a child’s wellbeing and development. It enhances their fine motor skills when mixing ingredients, using a knife safely, making shapes with a cookie cutter and rolling the dough. These are all great ways to strengthen and control their motor skills.
It also increases their language development; during cooking you can label the ingredients which increases their vocabulary. It creates a bond with your child and helps you create memories.
Zara is my little hero, my inspiration and Isabella is as precious. They both changed my life and have given me a completely different perspective. It sounds cliche but I realised how much little moments matter.
We got more involved in the kitchen trying to create healthy meals, and bake cookies and cakes for family members; then we decided to film some of their cute moments and one day we came with the idea of "Mumz Little Chefs". Zara was so happy when I asked her to help me with getting things together and was very proud of her drawing, the Mumz Little Chef logo - Designed by kids for kids.
We wanted to create a sustainable starter kit especially for kids, personalised and customised to their liking. A gift that they will use to learn, enjoy and have fun with the family.
You can start as young as 1 year old, give your little one a spatula or a small rolling pin maybe even a whisk and add some flour in a mixing bowl and let them just have fun – just make sure you have a vacuum cleaner handy ;)
