Encouraging Speech & Creating Yum! Chicken Pot Pie Cupcake
[1]What a great combo: chicken pot pies and cupcakes. Inspired by a recipe that we came across from Bev Cooks, we just had to try these. We also thought it would be a perfect “foodie fun for kids” recipe. We tried this at home and it was so much fun…. very easy…..and even better still, it was delicious. An added benefit was that after we made them, there was enough left over for the lunchbox the next day.
[2]
Chicken Pot Pie Ingredients
- 1 cut up chicken breast
- 1 box Pacific organic cream of chicken soup
- 1 cup (plus) of Giant Valley fresh steamers frozen mixed
[3]veggies - 1 cup of shredded cheese
- 1 tsp of parsley flakes
- 1 tsp of onion powder
- 1 tsp of garlic salt
- 2 cans of Immaculate Flaky Biscuits
Instructions
Parent: Preheat oven for 400 degrees.
Kiddo: Spray the muffin tin with Pam to prevent sticking.
Kiddo: Place a Pillsbury biscuit into each cup of the tin, then press the dough to the bottom and to the sides.
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Parent: In a large bowl combine the cooked chicken, cream of chicken soup, frozen veggies, cheese and spices and mix well.
[5]
Kiddo: Evenly spoon the potpie mixture into each biscuit cup.
Parent: Slide into the oven for about 15 minutes and let them bake. Start checking biscuits around 12 minutes to make they are not burning.
Parent: Remove from oven, let rest for about 3 minutes and then…
Enjoy your cupcakes!
[6]
(Language tips to help encourage speech with the recipe)
Language Time:
Baking with your little one is a wonderful time to elicit and facilitate language. It’s fun and makes using language easy and natural. When you are baking these Chicken Pot Pie Cupcakes, make sure to emphasize key vocabulary like chicken, soup, veggies, cheese and biscuits. Also, emphasize actions such as “stir”, “put in”, “open”, “push down”, “measure” and any others that are appropriate.
When baking this recipe, encourage your child to do as many steps independently as possible and provide opportunities to ask for help (e.g. giving them the box of soup and asking them to open it). This can also help encourage problem solving and provide a great opportunity for your child to ask you a question. Be silly and skip a step, or use a different ingredient to give your child the opportunity to tell you different (e.g. put the whole chicken breast in a single muffin tin. Wait for your child to tell you to cut it up).
Related: Talk with Me: Enhancing Communication through Natural Family Routines [7]
Encourage commenting by modeling the language yourself (e.g. “The biscuits are popping out of the container” or “These pot pies smell delicious”, “The biscuit feel soft”). When making this recipe, make sure to emphasize the steps of the recipe using visual supports (e.g. use the recipe with the picture communication board provided [8], or use the recipe itself if your child can read). After making the recipe, encourage your child to retell you the steps of the recipe by asking or using different prompts, for example, “We opened the ___” or using choices, “Did we add cheese or a banana to the pot pies?” If your child has a sensory processing disorder [9], and craves touching all different types of textures, save some biscuits over for fun play time. If your child has more challenges with texture, encourage them to tell you how it feels to touch it (e.g. yucky, sticky, etc).
Remember, giving clear simple choices can help provide your child with the opportunity to communicate, participate more actively and request appropriately. Lastly, make sure to have fun doing it!
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Becca Eisenberg is a mother of two young children and a speech language pathologist, author and instructor. Her website, www.gravitybread.com [11] encourages learning time during mealtime. On her website, she writes children’s book recommendations, app recommendations, as well as child friendly recipes with language tips their family.
Encourage Speech & Create Yum With These Recipes for Cooking With Kids [12]
More Chicken Recipes
- Easy Chicken Nuggets [13]
- Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup and a Scoop Easy Recipe [14]
- Cooking with Kids: Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup [15]
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This post originally appeared on our September/October 2013 Magazine [24]