Cooking with Elli: "Watch Me" Tuna Cakes

Elli is nearly 2. A "big gewl," if you ask her. I like to encourage her sense of independence when and where it makes sense: taking off her own shirt and socks, or rubbing soap between her hands, or brushing her teeth (after Mommy has given them a good scrub).

She embraces these small steps toward being independent. Even with her breathing treatments, she sits solo in the chair and holds her mask up to her face for the entire 10- to 15-minute session.

I guess I shouldn't have been that surprised, then, by how much she was able to do alone the other night when we made tuna cakes. She really surprised me by how much she could handle.

Tuna Cakes

1 package stuffing mix 3/4 cup water 1/3 cup mayonnaise 2 cans tuns, drained and flaked 2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 1/2 cup shredded carrots

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes. Heat large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium heat. Spoon 1/3 cupfuls of mixture at a time and shape into patties. Cook 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

I've mentioned previously the genius of Kraft Food and Family recipes for those of us with little time, patience or tolerance for recipes that venture beyond everyday easy. Their recipe for tuna cakes landed quickly into the Family Recipe Box. I've made the tuna cakes countless times since I first found it. This was the first time Elli helped me.

First step was to rip open the bag of stuffing and pour it into the mixing bowl. I tore, Elli poured. Not a single stuffing chunk ended up on the counter or floor...Elli's mouth is a different story.

That part didn't surprise me. It's a given when cooking with Elli.

What did surprise me was how precisely she poured the water into the bowl with the stuffing mix. I was a little worried about giving her the measuring cup, but she handled it with ease. The cup was not as heavy for her as I thought it would be.

"Excellent work, Elli!" I cheered. She clapped her hands. Next we put in the relish. I scooped a tablespoon of relish out of the jar and then set it on the counter. "Elli, can you pick up the spoon and pour the relish into the bowl?" "Re-ish," she said. "Relish. Green relish." "Geen rerish." She picked up the spoon and dumped the relish into the bowl. We repeated the process one more time then turned to the mayo. "Was dat?" she aksed, pointing at the mayo jar. "Mayo," I answered. "Mayo," she repeated, looking at the white product I was spooning into the measuring cup. "The mayo goes in the bowl just like that." The mayo plopped on top of the other ingredients. "And then we stir everything up." "Ster," Elli said. "Can you help me stir?" She tries so hard to keep up with me when I stir, but her hands come off the spoon after just a couple of rotations. At this point I brought out the food processor to shred some carrots. Elli loved this part. She put the carrots into the processor. When the carrots where in shreds, I removed the blade, placing it far out of her reach, and gave the processor bowl to Elli. "Can you pour the carrots into the bowl?" Silly question, Mommy. Most of the carrots fell out, but carrots being the watery veggie they are, many of them stuck to the sides of the processor bowl and I had to scrap it out. I tried to get Elli to help me in that process, but she had discovered the taste of carrot shreds. "I've lost you to the carrots, haven't I?" I asked her. "Mmmmm." No problem. I was able to reclaim her with one word: cheese. "Cheeeeese!" she said in gleeful impatience as I opened up the bag of shredded cheddar. Feeling confident based on her performance over the last several minutes, I decided to give her full authority over transferring the cheese from the bag to the bowl while I opened and drained the cans of tuna. For the most part, that plan worked. I did have to encourage her not to try to hide cheese in her hand because Mommy can find it. But, I had very little mess under her "steps" (step ladder) to clean up. A vast improvement from the Birthday Pizza adventure.