Part of my new School Year's Resolution is to bust stress in creative ways. For example, practicing violin, learning how to use all the cool features on my Mac laptop, reading a book FOR FUN, and going to the gym. I refuse to have a repeat of last school year which involved coming home and wasting too much time on too much TV when I could actually be doing something productive.
Last night as I was leaving work feeling tired and stressed out, I suddenly had an overwhelming urge to cook. And not just cook but cook from scratch! So I stopped at the grocery store on the way home and purchased what I needed to make a "Less Mess Chocolate Cake" from an American Girl cookbook that's been sitting on my shelf for years. Not one to cook from scratch I called my mother asking all sorts of domestic questions. "What is cook and serve pudding?" "What type of flour is used in cake?" Her response to my questions: "I'm happy you've decided to start cooking but you're going to get fat if all you make are sweets!" Hmmm....well I'm still making that cake but point taken. Next onslaught of questions. "Which brand of bread crumbs do you use in broccoli casserole?" "Special K cereal has high fructose corn syrup. Is there a cereal substitute for Special K/Cottage Cheese Loaf?" (Classic Adventist moment. Ha!)
My kitchen shortly became a flurry of activity complete with the appropriate aesthetics: ingredients spread out everywhere, trails of flour across the countertop, and measuring cups piled high in the sink. Since I was on a role with this cooking adventure I decided to whip up some muffins from Trader Joe's. They were from a box mix labeled "Triple Berry Bran Muffin Mix." A cake and muffins now baking in the oven.....my week wasn't stressful at all.
In the end the cake looked like mud and tasted only slightly sweeter than mud. I ate a piece out of principal and the whole experience was so confusing I promptly threw the rest in the garbage. I used Splenda instead of sugar and I'm wondering if this was a mistake. I will bake another one soon with real sugar and let you know.Thankfully the berry muffins turned out to be DELICIOUS. I am very grateful that the healthier option was the one that worked although a delicious made-from-scratch would have been a great ego boost. The muffin mix only required adding 2 eggs and water and you can't go wrong with 7 grams of fiber and only 1.5 grams of fat and 11 grams of sugar per muffin compared with most muffin mixes. The ingredient list is quite short and in big print which is always a good sign.
So go buy some Trader Joe's muffin mix and stay tuned for more stories of my cooking adventures!
