Nutrition Confessions

I suck at baking. I have had more baking disasters then I
care to mention.   I have actually
scraped cream cheese for a cheese cake that flew out of my bowl and landed on
the floor, back into the bowl and served it. 
I have ruined homemade granola, cookies, cakes, icing, muffins, premade
challah dough and even rice Krispie squares. 
I tried to candy maple syrup once and it boiled over the pot, over the stove
and on to the floor.  I can’t properly
whip butter even with a Kitchenaid.

The reason why I am such a terrible baker is because I don’t
like following directions and have no patience. 
I also hate using more than one bowl. 
I really detest mixing the dry ingredients in one and the wet in another.  I enjoy making recipes up and not following
directions.  You can not do that with
baking.  It’s a science and everything
needs to be measured properly, put into the bowls in the correct order and
baked at the right temperature for the right amount of time.  As you can see, there is a lot places where
one screw up the recipe.

I really wish it weren’t this way.  I really want to be a baker.   I want
to make my own wholesome snacks for my children.  I want to stop buying junk in little packages
for their lunch boxes.  My kids beg for
me to bake for them.  This winter I even
tried to become a half baker. I bought this muffin mix from Loblaws.  It’s reasonably healthy and fairly easy to
make.  But, after a few batches it became
boring and no one was eating them.

I know several people who are ‘bakers’.  They make wonderful homemade baked goods for
their kids effortlessly.  I like going to
their houses. Unfortunately, we don’t get too many invites these days because
my kids devour all their homemade goodies.

In the olden days there was no such thing as store bought
baked goods.  Granted, women used to keep
house and part of their daily work was creating the family meal plan from
scratch.  Today it is all about
convenience and time saving techniques. 
I have grown up that way too.  My
mother worked and baked only on occasion. 
My grandmother didn’t work but also only baked on occasion. 

Ironically, as I sit here writing this my kid just got
dropped off by my mother with a tin of homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
that she made.  From a nutrition
perspective, regularly eating a ton of baked goods will surely end up on your
waistline.  It’s all about moderation.  I just ate 2 of my mother’s cookies and
tossed the rest into the freezer.  I will
put them in my kid’s lunch boxes instead of those dreaded Bear Paws.

The question is, would you pay a premium to have someone else
bake for you?  I would! Stay tuned for
Friday and to find about a new supplier.