Sunday, November 25, 2007

Bake-o-rama!

I’ve been inspired to be in the kitchen more lately. It’s good, because I’m introducing more variety in our meals. It’s bad, because I seem to favor baking over meal preparation. Baking is more fun and people are more appreciative of it. Also I recently discovered King Arthur White Whole Flour.


It’s supposed to act and taste like white flour but with the goodness of whole grain, so I’ve been itching to use it and give the results to others. So when they say “Yum!” I say “Ha, ha! It’s whole wheat!”

So far I’ve made gingerbread men, almond bundt cake, cornbread, and piecrust with it. Everyone enjoyed them and didn’t notice a thing.

Although I’m loving how everyone is enjoying something a tad healthier for them that I’ve made, I’m eating way too much of my own creations. The almond bundt cake was supposed to be for my daughter’s birthday party for over 30 guests, but was ruined because I didn’t flour the pan and a part of it stuck. So it was left in our house for only my family of four to eat. It was suppose to serve 16, and I must have eaten 75% of it.

The gingerbread men were made because Hunter kept harping for me to make some. (Stupid kindergarten with their multiple stories about gingerbread men.) When a friend was coming over to visit I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to make them and not eat too much of the finished product. The recipe made TWENTY cookies. My friend only ate one, and the kids lost the urge to eat them after the first few. They sat in the breadbox, until finally Teresa and I finished them off. I must have eaten 10 of those twenty cookies.

The cornbread I brought to a housewarming. That went well, since I left the remaining bread at the party. So lesson learned. If I plan to make something make sure I have some place to off load it. One exception to the rule would be the pumpkin pie and piecrust that I made with The New American Cookbook.


The kids and I liked it. Ly didn’t. The crust was too unusual, and he complained of an aftertaste in the filling itself. I couldn’t figure out what he was talking about, because I didn’t get an aftertaste. I wonder if it’s the canola oil. The recipe asked to reduce the pumpkin in a pan of canola oil. Maybe it’s the All Spice. However the crust did taste unusual. It definitely had a canola oil taste to it, but it still tasted good to me. Anyway, it was one dessert that hardly made a dent in calories. I ate THREE slices first day of leftovers. I was expecting to be way over calories for the day, but when I entered it I pleasantly discovered I was not. This knocked me off my feet! I’ve made cinnamon bread and banana bread with similar calories per serving (not the same fat however), but I noticed that when I ate the pie I actually became so full that I didn’t feel like eating anything else. The breads took more for me to become full. Also I didn’t eat all three pieces of pie in one sitting like I would with bread. I have a theory about this and it has something to do with sugar. I’ll explain it another time for fear this post will become a book. Anyway, it’s definitely one pie I wouldn’t mind keeping around the house. At the same time it’s one pie I wouldn’t make for anyone else but for the kids and myself. For Thanksgiving I used a different pie recipe with real crust.



I did however used low fat evaporated milk and two egg whites and one egg rather than the two eggs that the recipe called for. My in-laws loved it. With the white whole-wheat flour in the crust, I felt like a successful thief. “Ha ha! It’s whole wheat AND lower in fat!”

2 comments:

Living to Feel Good said...

You are making me hungry!! The goodies are something I've been struggling with the past few months. I keep telling myself that it's the season to enjoy, but enjoying too much can get you in trouble, so I do the best I can. Some days are better than others. Gingerbread men are good. I would have eaten a few with you too! :P

Living to Feel Good said...

PS I had pumpkin pie for breakfast 3 days in a row after Thanksgiving.

I fear no one’s opinion! I am knowledgeable, focused, and efficient. I make this priority and build from experience. I do this for my children and myself. Supported by love, I will persevere.