I’m sorry. That is a really long title, but I couldn’t think of a more concise way to put it.
And since I’m the managing editor of my blog, I get to do rule-breaking things like publishing posts with really long titles.
It’s quite a position of power, I tell you.
Ok, so, today’s blog topic is for those of you that are sort of new to this whole cooking/baking thing. I’ve observed a phenomenon among you that may very well be hampering your efforts to feed yourselves and your family more homemade food.
Sometimes, when someone has subsisted mostly on prepared food (takeout, frozen food, mixes, etc.), seeing the ingredients that go into a recipe can be sort of alarming. It’s not so much that homemade recipes are inordinately riddled with unhealthy ingredients, it’s that the person in question is not accustomed to seeing what goes into the food they eat.
For instance, if you’ve only ever bought jam in the form of commercial jars, when you see that the recipe for homemade blueberry jam calls for 5 cups of sugar, you may very well faint. The thing is, though, the jam you’ve been buying in the jars from the store? It’s got at least that much sugar, and more than likely, the sugar is coming in the form of high fructose corn syrup.
And when you try making yogurt, the fact that the vanilla version calls for a cup of sugar may make you uncomfortable. But it’s good to bear in mind that most commercial yogurt (except for the sugarless plain stuff) has at least that much sugar (likely HFCS).
And if you were horrified at the amount of fat and sugar in the Coffee Shop Corn Muffins I posted, you should know that the ones at the coffee shop and the ones from the mix and the ones they sell in the grocery store bakery probably have as much or more fat and sugar (and the fat in the boxed mixes is usually a Crisco-like substance).
So.
The difficulty comes about when the horror at the fat, sugar, and salt content of recipes causes a person to heavily modify said recipes.
It’s not that recipes cannot be modified successfully (though you should never tinker with a jam/jelly recipe because it probably won’t set up properly), and it’s not that reducing the sugar/oil in a recipe is an awful idea.
The problem is that if you and your household are used to eating the prepared version of these foods, making a homemade, uber-healthified version is probably not going to go over super well. You’ll probably dislike the homemade version and go back to eating the store-bought stuff, and that’s not going to save you money or help you be healthier.
For instance, if you cook up a big pot of plain brown oatmeal with no sugar and try to serve it to kids who are accustomed to eating Dinosaur Egg oatmeal, they’re probably going to refuse to eat it. So take a deep breath, stir in some cinnamon, some brown sugar, and top it off with some half and half. It’ll probably still be healthier than Dinosaur Egg oatmeal, and it’ll be a heck of a lot cheaper.
And if you’re switching your fruity-sweetened-yogurt-cup-consuming family over to homemade yogurt, it’s probably not a good idea to stick bowls of plain, unsweetened yogurt in front of them. Make the vanilla version, stir in some fruit, and they’ll be much more receptive to the homemade stuff.
As a last for-instance, if your household routinely eats frozen pizzas, don’t serve up a whole-wheat, topped-with-only-vegetables pizza. Make a crust with white flour and use the toppings you normally eat (the Thin-Crust pizza recipe is a great one to try and it doesn’t even require any kneading).
Once your household is accustomed to eating homemade versions of food, you can feel a little more free to adjust the recipes gradually (you could try using 3/4 cup of sugar in your yogurt instead of 1 cup or you could try adding a bit of whole wheat flour to your pizza crust).
But really, the bottom line is that even if you don’t gradually make your homemade recipes more healthy, you’ll probably still be better off eating homemade food than prepared food. Homemade food almost always uses more natural ingredients (you can’t exactly buy high fructose corn syrup to stir into your homemade yogurt!) and homemade food can easily be made without artificial preservatives and additives. Plus, since homemade food is fresh (it doesn’t have to sit on a shelf for a long time before it’s eaten), it doesn’t require nearly as much salt as processed food does in order to taste good.
And as a bonus, homemade food usually produces less trash than processed food does.
So, if you’re just getting acquainted with your kitchen, don’t stress yourself out by trying to prepare only foods that are utterly and completely sin-free. Relax and follow the recipe.
It’s ok. 
(p.s. Please know that I am not trying to condemn every packaged food. In fact, I often feed my kids a box of mac n cheese from Aldi on our Friday night takeout date nights. I’m just trying to offer help and encouragement to people who are desirous of reducing their dependence on more processed foods.)
Today’s 365 post: I’m always grateful…
Joshua’s 365 post: What I’m Reading
Jen says
Thank you! Thank you! I love to cook and bake and I get a lot of satisfaction from preparing meals, snacks, and even treats for my family. Some of my extended family members fall into the “no fat, artificial sugar only, processed foods camp” and their eating habits occasionally stress me out about my cooking. It feels good to know that even the added calories or salt in my homemade foods can still be better in the long run than the processed alternatives.
Sophie van Wijnen says
This is sooo funny and so true!
I’ve done my bit of baking the conventional way (using white flour, white sugar and just plain butter), but recently I tried coming up with muffins my boys could take to school. Don’t ask me why but I decided they should contain less refined sugar, less saturated fats and more fibre than the muffins we bake at the weekend. So I produced muffins that were perfectly wholesome and quite… edible… but to be really really frank…. hmmm…. need I say more?
Glory Lennon says
While I don’t need to hear this I know many who do, so for them I thank you. I feel bad when people needlessly stress out over stuff like this. Join the homemade-is-best club without fear! LOL
Raffaella says
I recently had a discussion on FB about food and it was depressing to see 30somethings (Italian!) women defending McDonalds because “you never know what really is in the flour and the other ingredients you buy to cook at home” and “the pollution is more dangerous anyway”. It’s just excuses not to cook and not to care about one’s nutrition. Diet doesn’t have to be perfect but can be quite healthy anyway!
ChasAnon says
I have had the same problem with switching to homemade cooking in general. I have been trying to transition from mostly takeout and restraunt dinners to ‘homemade’. So in my zealous attempt to make everything from scratch i end up just getting takeout again instead of cooking at home but using some store bought ingredients like a can of pre-prepared cream of something soup for casserole. Thing is i know a homemade bechamel is doable and cheaper and healthier but it has been really discouraging to try to jump from no cooking to everything from scratch all in one fell swoop. (Especially since i work 80 hours a week) Sometimes it’s so depressing..
Elaine says
Oh my gosh, I *LOVE* sugar, white flour, and fat. I’m transitioning to a much healthier diet and it’s hard. Right now, I’d kill for a Twinkie, but I know what it would do to me, so I’m not eating any. And I really can relate to the poster above who said her husband doesn’t care for commercially prepared bakery any more. Once you get away from it, your body doesn’t really want it (physical) even if you crave it (emotional).
I don’t really cook and I do bake some, but I’ve started doing more of both. I like knowing what, exactly, is in my food. That being said, I’m never going to be making all my food from scratch. Never.
I’m going for balance between nutrition, affordability, and taste. Oh, and “time”. I live alone, work full time, do all the housework myself, do all the yard work myself, am involved in my church and take care of my 2 dogs. No veggie garden (I can buy organic at the health food store in the winter and at the farmer’s market in the summer), and no day-long cooking/baking sessions for me.
Middle of the road. That’s me all the way.
Méla says
Good for you Elaine! We all have to cast around until we find the balance that is right for us. I do most of our cooking form scratch, but from time to time premade stuff finds itself in our larder due to Mr. L’s job. Look a gift horse (as in free packages of breaded frozen fish or chicken) in the mouth? Not me! Just “cook around it” with whole grain rice and lots of fresh veggies! Yes, yes, yes–it is all about balance.
My daughter’s apartment has a gigantic balcony–about six feet deep and runs the entire length of her two bedroom apartment–so this summer we are turning 2/3 of it into a container garden. Nothing fancy–tomatoes, baby beets, swiss chard, some herbs and baby potatoes in five-gallon pails (yes, this does work). No, it won’t feed us for the winter but it will be fun and we will get to enjoy the fruits of our labours for a few meals.
Tracey Hand says
I think home baking isn’t just about what does go into the stuff we make. It’s more about the unknowns that DON’T. Like you say, knowing 100% of what goes in is a big health factor.
Castal says
Oh I love this post! I found out that I had a major gluten intolerance, so all “regular” flour was off the menu (along with oats at a reasonable price). At first I would go to great lengths to make my dinner, then make the rest of the house’s meal–cooking twice in one night to feed 2 or 3 people. Ug. The good news is that I slowly snuck in meals that were me-safe and also darn tasty, then served it up to people. Any more now the only reason I make two different versions is for expensive items (like when I splurge and make bread for myself, hubby still gets ye-olde whole wheat, or when we have lots of people over for pasta and I don’t want to use my good stuff).
Anyway, you hit it right on the head–start slow (when possible–that wasn’t an option for me) and build up. Even I had to start slowly with myself and buy pre-packaged gluten free foods before I was comfortable enough to cook things myself. And cooking at home is definitely a good way to know what goes into your food (or more specifically what is NOT in your food)!
Karen@ Mom of Three Monkeys says
This is so so wise! When I first got inspired to bake bread, I ended up so frustrated! As a novice baker I tried to make 100% whole wheat bread and it was so awful the ducks at the duck pond wouldn’t eat it. Now I am much more relaxed about things!
Melanie says
I think you captured the heart of this issue perfectly. If you don’t know how to cook, the ingredients really do come as a surprise! My non-cooking husband learned how to bake chocolate chip cookies recently, and he was incredibly surprised to find that the recipe called for two sticks of butter. He thought it was a type-o!
But the more you cook the more you know what to look for in a recipe and what you can get away with substituting. Do I make chocolate chip cookies with two sticks of butter? No! My vegan recipe relies heavily on applesauce, oats and a bit of whole grain flour! But you gotta start somewhere.
farhana says
Please watch “Food, inc”. And please read “Omnivores dilemma” & “Fast food nation”. You will rethink what we consider as “food”.
Angela says
Very much agreed – this is in the “better is the enemy of good” vein. We’re just humans! We have to balance moderation, perfection, nutrition, with everything else and inevitably some win out at the expense of others depending on circumstances. We do what we can, as well as we can, and keep moving forward and improving at the pace that’s natural to each individual.
Sarah says
Kristen – Thank you so much for posting this!! I have been one of those that has been stuck in the perfectionism of if I’m gonna bake/cook from scratch it’s gotta be completely healthy for you. I never really thought about it in the half way sense. You are completely right!
Karen says
Great post and great comments! We switched to almost exclusively homemade a couple of years ago. Some family members thought that moving directly to the whole grain/no sugar/no fat thing was a good idea, but I’m glad I didn’t do that. Instead I started with 100% white flour bread (unbleached) and then little by little replaced it with a higher percentage of whole wheat. The change was not noticed so nobody balked at the difference. I use your yogurt recipe and am currently reducing the sugar, increasing the vanilla slightly and also use a bit of cream (usually whatever is here) in place of some of the milk. I think the slight increase in richness compensates for the decrease in sweetness. On the other hand, I do replace a large portion of the oil in a lot of recipes with milk. That makes a dramatic difference in the overall fat content. If a muffin recipe calls for 1 1/4 cup oil, I will use 1 cup milk, the rest oil. So far I haven’t run into a problem.
A while back I saw a segment on TV where a nutritionist was discussing the “hidden” sugars and more specifically salt in what were supposedly common foods that people eat. Interestingly enough, all were processed, packaged “meals”, and the lower the fat content, the higher the sugar and salt levels. Fats carry flavor, so if you eliminate the fat entirely you can end up with very unpalatable food. The processors know this, so they compensate with other ingredients that aren’t under as intense scrutiny, otherwise they might have a very hard time getting their products sold. This segment aired when low fat had been the big concern and recommended salt intake had just been reduced. My bet is that the packages all now emphasize their reduced sodium levels, but that the fat or sugar is up.
All of us still have our junk food favorites, but I think eliminating the garbage (HFCS, hydrogenated fats, non fermented soy, preservatives, etc) from the majority of our food mitigates the little we do consume when we give in to a craving or convenience.
And the difference in the cumulative cost is astounding. On the news last night they were talking about the rise in basic food prices. In a plant where salad greens are cut up and bagged. Hello? Who do people think pays for the building, machinery, labor, packaging and shipping, over and above the cost of the product? I know it isn’t me!
Condo Blues says
The sugar freak out is exactly what my husband did last month when I made bread and added a tablespoon of sugar to the recipe. He was amazed that bread contained sugar, even though I’ve been making bread for the last 14 years in the breadmaker we got as a wedding present and when we shop for bread we buy a brand that doesn’t use HFCS. However, that brand does list sugar on the ingredient label.
amy says
I bake probably 99% of the baked goods in my house, from pizza to muffins and birthday cake, and everything in between–really everything except sandwich bread. I use real butter almost all the time, I use sugar. I replace some white flour with whole wheat were I can, but I don’t stress about it. I know that whatever I make is free of all the chemicals and processing in the mixes and I’m happy about that.
LeeAnn @ Living the Dream says
I think you hit the nail on the head Kristen. I personally believe people are overweight and unhealthy not entirely because of too much sugar or too much fat (although those are certainly contributors). I believe our bodies are not made to process chemicals and highly processed foods and therefore become sick when that is all we put in them. Is it okay to eat an entire batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies? No (although I admit I’m guilty of that myself). But is it better to eat a few cookies made of butter, flour, sugar and eggs rather than a few made of hydrogenated oils and artificial flavorings? I personally think so. I do believe “all things in moderation” and eating processed foods every once in a while is perfectly fine. But I try to feed my family whole, natural, homemade foods as much as I can. And I owe much of that to you, Kristen, you’ve inspired me to bake my own breads and make homemade jellies and yogurt. Oh, and to start my own blog too about my family and our journey to eat better without spending a fortune. So thanks!!
Sarah says
Good blog post. I have found myself doing this. Sometimes ya just gotta cut yourself some slack! I have found that my pizza dough recipe tastes good with 1 cup of whole wheat and 1.5 cups of white. Any more wheat and it just doesn’t taste as good. And thrown out food is money in the garbage!
laura says
i was thinking the same thing. it’s full of artificial dyes and colors. ew. but you cook most foods from scratch so you are doing great.
Inge says
You should really try to get away from the boxed mac and cheese stuff….it’s so easy to make a homemade cheese sauce! You can make the sauce in the time it takes to boil water for the pasta.
Stacey says
LOL!! This is SO true. I think it’s one of the benefits of making your own baked goods— you’re far more aware of what’s gone into them and for me, that helps with portion control (I think, “what’s 1 cup of sugar divided by 12??? lol).
I’m trying really hard to focus less on “low-cal”, “low-fat”, etc etc, and more on eating small portions of WHOLE foods. It’s tricky because I’m used to binging on less-satisfying diet foods instead of savoring a little portion of a good quality whole food. Cheese is a great example of this!
Low-fat cheese is like rubber!
Vanessa says
I could be wrong on this point, but the fact that homemade means no preservatives (other than natural ones in the ingredients themselves) is a VAST improvement over store bought. If you can’t pronounce it on the label, it may be pickling your liver. Just saying.
I have a pumpkin bread recipe that calls for 3 cups of vegetable oil. However, it makes three loaves. And each of those loaves slices into about 12 pieces, meaning each slice has about 1 1/3 tbsp of oil — low in saturated fat, to boot. Looks scary, but is WAY better than pumpkin bread made with stabilizers and preservatives.
Cook on, home cooks! Bake on, bakers! Here, hear!
Angie says
“If you can’t pronounce it on the label . . .” My 13 yr. old commented the other day that he liked it better ‘before’. Before I made him tell me what was in the blob of chemicals, HFCS, and ‘flour’ which were impersonating a pastry at the gas station. The problem, I explained to him, is that once you know something, you cannot un-know it. “. . . it may be pickling your liver.” Oh, yes. I am using that one. Thank you
Kristen says
Great post!
Frances says
You are so right!!!!!! The name of the game is balance!!! and moderation!
Ban Clothing says
Remember the good old days before processed food became prevalent???? The obesity rates were not through the roof? I am sure Grandma was using white flour and the full amount of sugar in her famous pie recipe.
Karen@ Mom of Three Monkeys says
Not to mention… lard!
Jen@Dear Mommy Brain... says
Fantastic post! I’ve been guilty of the same thing in the past.
Our taste buds have been desensitized by the plethora of processed foods packed with loads of sugar and salt. And as you phase out these foods, your tastes begin to adjust so you don’t need quite as much sweet and salty to satisfy your tastes. Not to say that I don’t still use 2/3 cup of sugar in my cornbread… Because I love me some sweet cornbread…
Tamika says
I think the fact you love the sugar in your cornbread is just one of the best parts of making your own foods! You can control what goes into ALL of your food so that you CAN have that ‘treat’ once in awhile with more sugar, or a bit more salt – you know that its in moderation and you know that the rest of your diet balances it out. Our treat is what we call ‘oh so not healthy at all for you chocolate chip cookies’. They are the one thing I don’t ‘doctor up’, as my husband affectionately calls it, with flax, and whole wheat, and fibre, and veggies etc.
Maggi says
Ugh. don’t get me started. I can’t believe that public schools nowadays – in an effort to escape liability – will force a parent to purchase baked goods (with a clearly marked ingredient label) full of HFCS, saturated/trans fats, preservatives etc. over wholesome homemade good. But that’s a whole ‘nother matter, not necessarily germain to this discussion…
But you are right – I am one for always trying to find the healthiest of the products when given the choice. Whole grain? you bethca! White bread? White rice? no way…
Well, for me a huge dose of reality smacked me in the face when I when I was diagnosed with Celiac disease. Getting in whole grains is difficult living Gluten Free (but it is getting far better as of late) unless you constantly eat millet, quinoa and brown rice (which, for some reason is hit for miss with me). I had to learn to make compromises. So, while I wish I could sink my teeth into some 100% whole wheat bread again, filling my diet with far more fruits and veggies to balance the lack of grains and a little more fat added back into my diet (hello potato chips!) helps me stay sane.
It’s all about balance. I’m learning…
adventuresindinner says
Anyone else watching “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution?”
LeeAnn @ Living the Dream says
Yes! Ironically I had Tuesday’s episode on pause while I was reading today’s post and saw your comment! It makes me want to cry seeing the kids whose entire families have Type 2 Diabetes and they just accept that they will get it too. And it angers me that the parents don’t do anything to change it! Why are people so inclined to rely on drugs (i.e. medicine, not recreational drugs, ha ha) as a “bandaid” rather rather than fixing the source of the problem? And don’t even get me started on the school food. And I don’t even have kids in school yet! Well, one is in pre-school but parents provide the snacks. Okay, I’m getting off my soap box now….
Elizabeth says
My daughters’ preschool drives me crazy with the prepackaged requirements. However, I know that there are a bunch of kids in the school with severe allergies, and if I were one of their mothers I sure as shootin’ wouldn’t want my kids eating stuff from other people’s kitchens with no controls. I don’t know how much those other people know about cross-contamination, and one well-meaning treat could land my kid in the hospital, or worse. I’m willing to sacrifce a little to keep those kids safe (and those mothers sane!) That said, it’s depressing to have to buy food-colored, preservative-laden garbage I would NEVER serve to my children at home.
Two really good books people might find interesting: Food Rules, by Michael Pollan and The Unhealthy Truth by Robyn O’Brien.
kolfinna says
thank you for the reminder. I often struggle with the healthiness of homemade vs. store bought stuff. I prefer to make & eat homemade but don’t always have the time.
WilliamB says
That was clever of you, to identify unfamiliarity as part of the problem. If one buys one’s food, it’s awfully easy to not know what’s in it. And a cup or two of sugar can seem like a lot if one isn’t used to thinking about it as 25 servings.
For example, here’s a little secret I learned in cooking school: fish cooked in restaurants is usually marinated or pre-poached in oil before the “real” cooking. That’s why it’s tastes better than the home product but it means it has a lot more fat than we realize.
Battra92 says
The way I see it if two slices of store brand white bread has 120 calories, those calories are really bringing nothing to the party with them.
As far as sugar is concerned, this has been a big issue for my parents. They are diabetic and I have been put on watch as I used to be a very heavy person before losing a lot of weight. Splenda (though artificial) has been a God-send! This way I can cut way back on my sugar and still have some sweet things. It doesn’t work in all recipes but it’s nice for things like Kool-Aid.
Also, by cooking at home you do cut way back on sodium without realizing it. Processed foods are all about salt and empty calories. I’ll take the calories when they come with great things like vitamins and fiber.
Jo says
I totally agree.
I believe the key to sustainable change is that it has to be gradual (unless your personality type demands otherwise, which I know applies to some people). It took a long time to get used to whole wheat baking, not because it has to taste uber healthy (I highly recommend the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking for recipes that taste awesome and use whole grains), but because, as you said, you can’t just replace white flour and oil and sugar with whole wheat flour, apple sauce and molasses. It just doesn’t work. But, taking recipes that were designed for whole grains and natural sugar, and the results were TONS better. And starting out just making the homemade version really helps give perspective on one’s diet.
Cindy says
Great post! And even though I read your yogurt post, I apparently didn’t read it carefully because I never got to the part about making vanilla yogurt. So I’m going to try that. I’ve only ever made yogurt for myself and for smoothies where the fruit sweetens the plain yogurt; it never occurred to me to just add sugar and vanilla so that I wouldn’t have to buy my kids the commercial stuff.
FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com says
I make homemade versions of what I like to eat so that
A)I know what goes into what I make at home and therefore am more horrified at the storebought version tacking on extra stuff for no reason
B) …I know how much those ingredients cost and I can determine their profit margins
C) I feel better knowing I ate something I made and can modify it.
I love modifying recipes like putting in less sugar if it’s too sweet and so on.
EngineerMom says
Amen!
I’ve been cooking from scratch for longer than I can remember, so ingredient lists rarely come as a shock to me any more. But the first time I made muffins with a friend who had only ever bought pre-made ones, she was shocked at the 1/4 c. of oil that went into 12 muffins! So I had her compare the nutritional information for one of her store-bought muffins and my homemade muffin (Better Homes & Gardens recipes have nut. info listed) – even more shock, as her store-bought muffin came out as having even more fat than the homemade version!
The other nice thing about making things at home is you can modify recipes to your own taste. For example, I love your homemade hamburger buns recipe, but I reduce the sugar in them because they taste too sweet to me. I can’t do that with buns I buy in the store.
adventuresindinner says
Hee! Hee! I recreated “cake pops” last night and posted the evidence today. Thanks again for a realistic view of the universe.
Adrienne says
Agreed. I would also add for people just starting to cook at home more that you do not need to make a huge “meal” for every meal. I know that when I was starting to cook at home more I tried to make these huge complicated production numbers every night (and soon fell off the wagon). When I started being ok with less complicated meals (breakfast for dinner, sandwiches, soup) I kept up with it better (and subsequently the “production numbers” aren’t nearly as hard when you’re not trying to do them every night).
Carla says
AMEN! I am married to a man who is not going to eat whole wheat pizza happily. Oh, he may eat it “” and complain with nearly every bite AND with a dissatisfied look on his face. He adores my white flour biscuits but views with deep suspicion biscuits which look whole-wheaty. We’ve been married over 38 years and a while ago I finally decided to not push his buttons. It is not worth my mental health to fight with him over it.
Méla says
I hear you! When I met Mr. L he had grown up on instant rice and spongey white bread. We went from instant rice to parboiled white then slowly worked our way up to long grain brown. He now also eats brown basmati and brown jasmine, bulghur and cracked barley (sometimes called barley groats) with enthusiasm. Things like biscuits and muffins went from having a sprinkling of whole wheat flour in them to half and half and now most of the time they are mostly whole grain. But I know for a fact if I’d tried to switch over everything all at once I’d have met with incredible resistance. Now he turns up his nose at store bought baking because it is just too sweet and “yucky.” Patience and persistence!
Cate says
This is a great post!
I think that some of this mindset comes from the fact that people aren’t thinking in terms of portion sizes—they’re looking at the ingredient list and thinking “An entire CUP of sugar?” and panicking. I specifically remember finding a recipe for some muffins that were described as healthy, and they were (not to mention delicious). They were packed full of pumpkin, carrots, flax seeds, whole wheat flour, yogurt, etc. But one of the commenters insisted that it was deceiving to call them healthy, because the recipe called for 10 tbsp of butter and a cup of sugar. But guess what? This recipe made 36 muffins. That’s 1/3 of a tbsp of butter and 1/36 of a cup of sugar per muffin. Not exactly the unhealthiest recipe in the world!
I find that eating homemade food, even when it’s not 100% whole grain with no sugar or salt or fat or flavor (hehe!) is so much healthier and cheaper than most storebought options, even of the “natural” variety. And because I do cook so much of my family’s food from scratch, splurging a little on full-sugar jam or whatever doesn’t seem to matter as much, because I know our diet is very balanced. That’s sometimes hard to know when you’re eating mostly prepared foods because they can be so sneaky with the hidden fat and sodium. Anyway, everything in moderation.
Tamika says
Cate – do you have that recipe for those muffins?? They sound awesome!
Vicki says
This is SO much EXACTLY what I needed to hear this morning… You can’t even know how much I needed to hear this particular thing on this particular morning. Thank you!
Kristen says
Yay! I’m so glad.
Virginia Dare says
Also timely for me! i’m making a coconut cake for Easter. Today I went to the store to get the ingredients (of which I had none except the white sugar–not even the baking powder!). First thing in the aisle, i see a “Coconut Dream” flavor boxed cake mix, a national brand, on sale for $1.97. i have made boxed cakes many times–in fact, this will be only my second non-boxed cake! Tempted by the low-low price, I picked up the box. After bleached flour, the ingredients were sugar, corn syrup, hydrogenated oil…I stopped reading there. My recipe has real ingredients. Maybe it’s not the “frugal” choice this time, but it’s certainly the better one!
De a says
Great point! I’ve been guilty of this.
C says
For jam, though I have never done this for freezer jam …. but know for sure it works on the cooked variety. Quick way to reduce the sugar, which does decrease the yield slightly, half the sugar and double up on the pectin. I use this trick every year and have never had issue and I make at least 50 jars of a jam a year.
Hope this helps!!! P.S. The pectin producers will tell you not to do this.