Baking, baking…all this for your taking.

While many of you were cozied in with mounds of snow this last week, we took what we could get.
Only in NC, would all area school districts cancel for this.
Even though I had the highest of hopes for this home school to stay the course, by 8:30 am, I opened the door to nature’s display of a winter wonderland. 🙂
Yes, the kids even hauled down the cross country skies, bless their hopeful hearts.
So what do you do when your snow activities are not an option?

Well, the kids roast marshmallows, and mom gets to baking…in her jammies, of course.

Since you’ve scrolled down anticipating some bulk baking tips, let’s get started.
Every once in awhile, when the sun, moon and starts align, I decide to descend upon my kitchen for a few hours of baking bedlam. If the concept of cooking in bulk is fairly foreign to you, begin reading my other posts found
here and here
They are obnoxiously long, but filled with a good foundation for what I am talking about.

With five children that are eating me out of house and home, I need to be ready to conquer the meal time madness war that is raged daily.
Part of that solution is having things accessible that are quick, filling and a little more healthy than the five boxes of Pop tarts (BOGO free/coupons) we polished off in two days.
Even though the box said “fiber filled,” I am thinking that my pillow case has fiber in that as well,
and I know I shouldn’t eat five boxes of those in two days. 🙂

What that means is cooking and baking from scratch more often, without making a ton more work for this Family Manager, and yes, that means having a teeny tiny plan…ugh!

You know how I feel about really detailed plans…it’s up there with spending hard earned money on undies. I’m just not wound up that way, but a little forethought goes a long way.
And ladies…it’s SO WORTH it!
The amount of money you will save, and the elevation of nutritional quality will amaze you.

Look around in your pantry and assess what dry goods you have on hand, need to use up, or is on sale this week?
Do you have enough eggs, milk, oil, and butter?

I typically always bake some kind of banana bread/muffins, but I actually had ten lbs of apples that were beginning to turn, and I knew that something with apples needed to be created.
I also have a ton of grain that needs to be used every week for the next 2 years, plus more flour than you can imagine. Chocolate chips from Sam’s Club are dangerously laying around the house, and mysteriously disappearing, so cookies were screaming my name.
My goal is to bake things that freeze well, and can be thawed or heated up in seconds.

Plan for the day….

-muffins
-bread
-cookies
-waffle/pancakes

Just like with bulk cooking, why make just one batch of anything, when you can triple a recipe and freeze lots of extras for snacks or ready made breakfasts?
For me, the whole hassle is just getting started…it’s those baby steps again.
Once the mess is out, why not indulge and make the most of it.
If you can periodically put 1-2 hours aside to bake, you’d be amazed at what you can get put up in your freezer.

Have you noticed how the cost of frozen grocery store waffles have gone through the roof?
This is one of my kids favorite breakfasts, but it’s become completely cost prohibitive (unless it’s triple coupons) considering my eldest eats 6 waffles at a sitting.
And, have you looked at the list of ingredients? Far from stellar.

I started making batches of pancakes and waffles years ago and then freezing them.
It’s wonderful for the kids to just pop them out of their ziplock and heat them up in the toaster or microwave (if you like them softer). I lay them on a cookie sheet for a quick freeze first and then pop them in the zip lock bag. It keeps them from sticking together.
My favorite waffle recipe is a bit more time consuming than your basic add water mix :),
but so worth the effort.
I didn’t think about turning this into a blog post til AFTER the waffles, thus no pictures.
I did not triple this recipe nor quadruple it, I had to what’s x 5, it? Quintuple it? And after feeding them breakfast, still did not have as much as I wanted for the freezer….grrr….

Malted Belgium Waffles

2 cups sifted flour
2 TB sugar
1 1/2 TB baking powder
1 tsp salt
2-3 TB malt (I omit this since I always forget to buy it, but it probably just makes it)
6 eggs (separated)
1 3/4 cups milk
6 TB melted butter

Preheat waffle iron. Sift dry ingredients together (do you know I never do this? I’m a lazy baker.)
Combine egg yolks, milk, and butter; mix until smooth.
Add to dry ingredients;mix until smooth.
Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and fold into batter.
Pour into iron and bake until steaming stops and waffle is golden brown.
Serves 8, unless your my family…

Pancake recipe that I love

Feather Pancakes
3/4 cups flour
1/3 tsp salt
1 TB baking powder
1 1/3 TB sugar
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1 1/3 tablespoons oil

Mix dry ingredients.
Blend together in blender of food processor (yes, takes out the lumps, but then I have to wash more dishes :), eggs, milk, and oil; add to flour mixture and beat until smooth.
Allow batter to sit for ten minutes.
Cook on griddle.
Serves 4 (when mine were toddlers, maybe)

Oh my sweet friends…I hate to cut you off short,
but please come back tomorrow for the next installment…..and oh, those muffins were scrumptious. 🙂