#2 Hayley McKee - Melbourne, Australia

Before I start venturing into other people’s kitchens, I wanted to spotlight my own home and family life to show you the chaos and the triumphs of my toddler’s many meal moods.

I’m so lucky to have my little son by my side in my cake making business. He’s learnt a lot about food because of my obsessions with exploring ingredients and cuisines. Because of him, Patacake came about.

As I dug deeper into the world of parenting websites and family food blogs, I didn’t feel like I was getting the real, honest insight into messy kitchen prep and mealtime failures, and that’s exactly why I launched Patacake.

Explore the recipe archives, stay tuned for my kid-centric baking book, and right now, come and meet my family and my attitude behind “crap-free cooking for kids”.

Oh, and I’ve included my favourite emergency dinner: Herby Flatbread Pizzas.

Name: Hayley McKee
Occupation: Cookbook Author, Owner of Sticky Fingers Bakery and Founder of Patacake
Location: Elwood, Melbourne
Family members: Hayley & Rick, Ray (3 yo)

We live in Elwood close to the beach in a little apartment. Across the road from us is a small community vegetable patch that we’re digging and picking in most weeks. We’re a quiet little family who loves music, and imaginative play and adventuring into nature every chance we get.

Since having Ray my recipe repertoire has shrunk considerably. I can’t cook and create on a whim now. Meals need to be planned and tend to stick to a few hits to keep dinners stress free. I’m sure my digestion is worse because every mouthful seems to be interrupted by some irrational toddler request or demand. I don’t chew slowly anymore and everything feels rushed! When I do eat out with adults I venture towards the most intricate meal on the menu as I’m sure it’s not something I’ll manage to prepare at home in peace. Ever.

My diet has a lot more vegetarian options now. I’m always looking for smart ways to get more veg into him so I’ve been enjoying vegetarian recipes for inspiration. Since having a baby I’ve become squeamish about eating meat and milk, so the timing of a vegetarian diet has happened quite naturally. In saying that my husband’s family are Serbian so once a week we get a home-cooked meal from his mum which leans heavily on fermented cabbage, roasted meats and borek/pita bread. That’s hard to say no to! I’m so happy Ray gets to experience a different food culture and all the customs that come with it. I’ve always cooked from scratch and he has no sugar or processed foods. This gets harder to control when we eat out with him but as long as our home meals are nutritious and energy-packed, I’m winning.

We mostly eat at the dining table or on some grass outside. There are much more lunch box picnics in my week, which I actually love. When it’s warm we try and make it to the beach as much as we can. When we’re all at home together I like to have us around the table to have a chat. It really makes me the happiest to have a colourful feast on the table with wine and my guys.

My first cookbook, Sticky Fingers, Green Thumb was all about garden baking. It had tips on growing herbs, vegetables and edible flowers and harvesting them to use in naturally sweet baked goods. I really felt those food items were a treasure trove for unexpected flavours. The book is so linked to Ray. I got my book deal when he was 10 weeks old and handed in the first book draft with styled photography completed, just before his first birthday. While I was researching and writing about all the flavour notes and cooking techniques for vegetables, Ray had just started eating solids. His meals got quite creative! For instance, I started blending apple and parsnip together for him, and then thinking of clever ways to use those paired ingredients into a cake recipe.

I started Patacake to give other families a modern recipe resource to help them cook for their kids. I’ve collated modern, delicious recipe finds from multiple blogs, edited them for tiny tastebuds and piled them into one place. I’ll be updating the website every week. I’m also writing my second cookbook which will be another baking cookbook but this time with smart healthy-isn swaps for your pantry that can boost your kid’s baked desserts into naturally sweet, unrefined treats.

I teach Ray about looking after his body because it’s the only one he’s got. He knows the difference between “factory made food” and “fresh food” and he’s fascinated about his skeleton and growing bigger every day. He has a really inquisitive mind and I’m often surprised what flavours and ingredients he remembers. I’ve just started teaching him about tastebuds which is actually helping me define why he doesn’t like something. He can begin to tell me now if something is too sour or bitter for him.

Ray is very aware of food and sometimes I think it takes too much focus in our activities and conversations. I’m always speaking about food and ingredients. From a very young age, just a few months old, he would be strapped to me in the kitchen while I made wedding cakes for my business Sticky Fingers Bakery. These days he stands on his little stool and washes the vegetables, chops soft items, stirs and spills.

We grow as much food as we can. He plants our seeds and rakes and digs the soil. He understands our community compost bin and feeds the chickens we share with our neighbours at the Elwood & St Kilda Neighbourhood Centre. Once, I even caught him hugging a worm. The rest of our food items come from fresh markets (Dandenong, South Melbourne and Moorabin), Hagen’s Organic Butcher, Balaclava for deli items and bread, and pantry items from Source Bulk Foods. We buy organic meat and eggs always but our budget doesn’t stretch to a 100% organic supply of fruit and veg. Ray comes with us on every grocery buying trip. I’m really trying for plastic-free living so we venture out with a trolley, canvas tote bags, paper bags and jars. Throw a pram into the mix and we must look like a tiny travelling circus.

When things get hectic at the stove, ABC Kids is my saviour. We don’t have a TV and it’s no screens during the day, but come 4.30pm a few cartoons lets me have solo time while I cook and defrag from the day’s absurdities. I just bought some whiteboard markers for the fridge too. This has worked a treat!

Most dog-eared cookbook pre and post parenthood: I have a lot of baking cookbooks because of my profession, but since Ray, I’ve been getting into old-fashioned community cookbooks and vegetarian books.

Time-saving tip or food hack: Stew your fruits. All the half-eaten apples and pears that get left around the house can be chopped down and thrown into a pan with a little water, citrus zest and cinnamon and stewed down. Good for yoghurts, little puff pastry turnovers or added to bircher muesli in the morning.

Favourite local kid-friendly restaurants: South of the river, we like Yebisu for sushi, Tao Dumplings on Toorak Road for steamed veggie dumplings and Portone Wood Fired Pizza & Bar.

Herby Flatbread Pizzas

We make these herby flatbreads once a fortnight. They're great for using as a homemade bread but I like topping them for little pizzas. Ham and pineapple get the biggest spin at our place.

1 cup whole wheat self-raising flour
1 cup full-fat greek yoghurt
1-2 tbs fresh herbs of your choice, finely chopped
1 cup of organic pasatta or a strained tin of organic chopped tomatoes
Finely sliced deli ham
I small can of pineapple pieces
1/2 cup mozzarella, finely grated
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, finely grated

Preheat oven to 200c. Line a baking tray with baking paper and set aside.

In a medium sized bowl sift in self-raising flour and stir in the yoghurt and herbs until a loose, shaggy dough forms.

Tip out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead together until soft. Don’t overwork it.

Roll out the dough with a rolling pin to a thickness of around 5mm. Free form some pizza discs, or use a large cookie cutter to stamp out pizza rounds.

Heat up some olive oil in a large frying pan and when hot, slip in ecb pizza round and cook on both sides until golden brown. Remove from pan and allow to drain on paper towels before transferring them to your large baking tray you prepared earlier.

Now get loose with the toppings! For Hawaiian style, spread a light layer of passata on the bases then layer with cheese, ham, pineapple and cheese gain.

Bake in the oven for around 8 minutes or bubbling and golden :)

Photography: Kelli Morris