On the heels of confessing my penchant for cutting housekeeping corners, I must also confess that I cut cooking corners as well.
Now, let it be known that I cook dinner almost every night of the week, but be it also known that I often pull out the "boxed" mixes and "prepared" foods to lighten the load of my servitude.
I like Rice-a-Roni, Noodles-N-Sauce, Prego Spaghetti sauce, Lawry's Taco Mix, Zatarain's Red Beans and Rice (with an added 1/2 cup of rice and 1 cup of water added to cut the spiciness and stretch the servings), Skillet Sensations, and the occasional frozen pizza, just to name a few.
And if I have to make a cake, I rely on the magic of Betty Crocker to make it work.
The other night, my "boys" got a hankering for chocolate cake and I wanted to delight them, so I promised I would make it while they were at hockey practice.
To my dismay, there were no cake mixes in my pantry. I almost nixed the whole idea, except that my son's face was so radiant when I said I'd make one, that I decided to dig deeper into the pantry to pull out actual cake ingredients to create the promised delight.
It took oh, maybe 10 minutes longer than usual to get it mixed up. I dirtied a few more utensils.
But, the result, oh the happy result of my chocolate-from-scratch cake was pure heaven. I'd forgotten that "real" homemade cakes are denser and moister than their boxed distant cousins. With a generous spread of almond butter cream frosting, we were in dessert nirvana.
In a moment of clarity, I realized that I've been seduced by the slickness of clever packaging and wowed by words like, "Just 3 easy steps!" From there it's just a slippery slope to frozen TV dinners and Twinkies for dessert. To think I came so close ....
Today's Small Thing is to bake something from scratch.
Now, don't go getting all up in my grill because you don't have time today. I've already thought of that. This is actually much easier than it sounds! You have ONE WEEK to produce ONE BAKED item that does not require a boxed mix.
Let me help you out, here.
- Do you have squishy bananas? How about some banana bread!
- Cookies, any kind!
- Do you know how to roll out pie crust? I don't. But I might try.
- Brownies! Surely, they can't be that hard to make.
- Low-fat anything! You know you've been wanting to see if it's just as good as the high-fat variety.
- Bread....did you get a bread machine for your wedding? Dig it out and impress your family.
- Waffles and Pancakes? Yes, I think we should count them.
POINTS: 50, because this is a good one. Baked things are always enjoyed at my house, and nothing celebrates motherhood like something fresh out of the oven!
This would be an EXCELLENT thing to blog about and then take pictures and share a recipe for Friday's Company Girl Coffee!
