10 Reasons to Avoid Baking

I cannot deny that I love to bake.  And there are many reasons to do it.  But baking is not always the best choice when it comes to how to spend my time.  Even in college, I could be found in the kitchen baking Swedish Tea Ring instead of studying for final exams.

In my current stage of life, I am trying to find a balanced approach where I still get to bake, but don't go overboard.  Sometimes I need to tell myself why it is good to hold off for a while.

Here are 10 reasons for me to avoid baking:

1. There will be more bowls, pans and utensils to wash.
2. Baking often uses sugar, which is not healthy.
3. Baked goods may lead to adult weight gain.
4. Baked goods are not as healthy as raw foods with living enzymes.
5. Baking in the oven is not energy efficient.
6. Baking and the resulting clean up takes time away from other pursuits.
7. Baking can lead to burned foods and fingers if utmost care is not taken.
8. Baking often requires special ingredients and equipment that takes up lots of kitchen space.
9. When others find out that I bake, they may press me to bake again and again.
10. Giving in to the temptation to eat batter with raw eggs might give me or my children food poisoning.

Daring to Dream

My dream for the future:

I will sleep 8 hours a night, start the day an hour before my kids awake, spend more time reading books than blogs, scrapbook, get outside every morning, have a company-ready house by each day's end and have people over almost every week.

That was my response to a thought provoking post this week inquiring "what's your dream?"  For me to answer that has not been easy.  My husband sometimes asks me "what do you want?", meaning what do I want enough to motivate me to action.  I haven't had a good answer (or any answer) to that for far too long.  

After living abroad for several years and starting our family there, I returned with my husband and daughters in 2006 to start a new chapter.  But how? Honestly, it has been like starting from scratch. And somewhere along the way I stopped believing the truths in the song "I am a Promise" that I grew up singing.

One way "I am tryin' to make the right choices" again is through making to-do lists for the day.  The results haven't been wonderful, but days that I have a list to guide me are generally better than days that don't. Here's yesterday's list:

There are three headings: What is Right and Seemly So to Do, What Would Be Nice to Do, and Temptations to Resist.  This format evolved from an earlier two-column format like this:

If I could, with God's help, accomplish the most important priorities, I believe my dream would be within reach.  I want my dream to be in line with His, and that's only possible when I let Him fill my life.

Do you have a dream for your life right now?

This post is also linked to Messy Monday at Moms in Need of Mercy.

Savings Opportunities This Week: Free Book from Amazon

Did you know that Amazon has thousands of items that are sporting their "4-for-3" offer?  After exploring second-hand options (which are usually my first choice cost-wise and environmentally), I decided to put my Swagbucks to use this weekend at Amazon.  Between the 4-for-3 promotion, free shipping, and my Swagbucks gift cards, I can receive a book I've been wanting for a long time for free!

We also needed to replace our tea kettle and a saucepan; these were my original shopping impetus and they helped qualify the order for free shipping.  Here's how the savings added up:

1 Tea kettle
1 Sauce pan
Trees in the Pavement book
Preschooler's Busy Book
_______________________________________________
Total before discounts: $60.43 + 9.92 for shipping = $70.35

Discounts: -7.99 (4-for-3 promotion)
                -9.92 (free super saver shipping)
               -15.00 (Swagbucks Amazon gift codes)

Total out-of-pocket expense:  $37.44, which is a savings of up to 47%!

Discovering that this Amazon promotion includes Jennifer Grosser's Trees In the Pavement made me gleeful.  The author and I were actually college contemporaries, acquainted through singing in a choir together.  From the alumni grapevine, I learned that she published this book last year.  Since then, I have been eager to delve into her insights about immigrant perceptions of a new land.

Thus, although I did once say I'd "leave deal blogging to the pros", I do make rare exceptions.  Whether it is a book or Band-aids, getting free items that I will use is a blessing.  Nonetheless, I want to guard against encouraging myself or others toward the wanton pursuit of more stuff. To consume less and leave a smaller ecological impact in our wake are still important considerations.

Undoing

One week ago today I was in sprint-cleaning mode. Whenever we have relatives or guests come to visit, I face the daunting challenge of how to undo the whirlwind of chaos that the kids and I allow to accumulate. My parents graciously waited while I made the bed and cleaned the bathroom for them--hours after their arrival! By the time they left, the kitchen sink was also empty, thanks to my mom's hard work and a stack of paper plates.

Then last Saturday, the day before my daughter's birthday, cries of heartbreak and anger suddenly filled the air. I came rushing downstairs, abandoning my phone conversation. On the floor I saw scraps of colorful tissue from the pinata my daughter so proudly created just two days before. And we could all guess who the culprit was. Even with those long brown eyelashes, my two-year-old son could not charm his way out of this predicament.

Though he did say "sor-ry", the pain and disappointment over the destruction lingered. We might make another pinata, but our delight will be tempered with the thought of what befell the last opus.

Today is a new day, and rather than despair over hours wasted online the last few weeks, I will be thankful for new mercies and a fresh start.

And now it's time for another full-court cleaning press. We have another pinata to make and a house to prepare for my daughter's birthday party, which was postponed to this Sunday. What Duke Ellington said about time is so often true of me: "I don't need time, I need a deadline."

Thanks for stopping by, Company Girls. I hope you stay healthy and enjoy your weekend!

Buddies again (though the pinata is no more).

Bargain Hunting Mishaps: Will I Ever Learn?

• This week I dropped my cell phone in the grocery store parking lot and didn't realize it was gone until I arrived back home.

• Last month, daughter #2 dropped a jug of V8 juice, splattering red liquid down the aisle.

• On an earlier trip, the same daughter was carrying a quart of yogurt to the car. Yep. Down it went onto the pavement.

• I found great bargains at the Salvation Army Thrift Store--several pieces for each of my kids! After loading all three kiddos into the car, I drove off without my bag. There it sat on the asphalt until someone took those lovely clothes home.
  

• I found a blouse at the mall for under $5 that matched a silk skirt of mine perfectly. One of the kids jostled it out of the stroller basket, and we left it behind on the sidewalk.

The incidents above are good reasons to shop alone, and these are just examples from 2009! Usually I try to do a Tuesday night shopping trip after my children are sleeping, so I can focus on my list. But this is not a foolproof strategy either, since I have left bags of my groceries behind more than once. Sometimes I have been able to retrieve the forgotten items, while other times I suffered the full consequences of my carelessness and did not my get my purchases back.

Haste, carelessness, and distractability often plague me at this stage of life, and this week my weaknesses were again blatantly obvious. So instead of scoffing at my husband's tendency to double check things, I should learn from him. But I resist humbling myself, especially when I think my uniqueness is being threatened. After all, isn't it a good thing to be so carefree?

Really, though, I should be free to focus on the task at hand, and need to take the extra minute to make sure I have everything in order before moving on to the next thing. And then there is the primary question: Is what I am doing at a given moment worthwhile? The number of store receipts I amass and my internet browsing history reveal a need to change.

"Electronic sunsets" are a feat I managed on a couple of nights last weekend. When I turn the computer off, I can devote myself to higher priorities that bring order and peace to a chaotic house (Thanks, Rachel Anne, for spurring me to improve). The weekend trial run proved that this needs to be a regular discipline for me. Of course we can make an exception for our weekly movie night and perhaps e-mail. But It would be wonderful to welcome my dear friend who is arriving on Tuesday to stay in a home that is more sanctuary-like than it was this past week. So here's to another weekend (and week?) of these sunsets!

Tastes of Oklahoma City: Grandy's Sinnamon Rolls and More

I grew up believing that my Oklahoma roots didn’t run that deep, since all of my extended family lived far to the north or west of us. But like other places I’ve lived and grown to love (Chicago, China, and Vietnam), the people and the food I left behind are what I miss the most.

This summer I had a chance to return to Oklahoma and visit my parents, sister, and friends there. I was also eager to get some of my favorite foods that are not available in Nebraska, where I live now. I not only enjoyed the morsels myself, I had fun introducing my children to some of the local treats of Oklahoma City. They may not remember the blur of friends and kids they encountered, but they are still talking about the new places they saw and the donuts and cinnamon rolls we tasted on our trip.




It is widely known that Oklahoma City is not a particularly healthy city when it comes to food and how much people eat. But because going out to eat is both commonplace and a beloved pastime, there are some tremendously tasty treats to be had. So to justify our donut indulgence, we opted to walk to the donut shop instead of drive. Very un-American I know.

After getting our donuts in pretty white bags, we strolled to a nearby park bench to dig in to our raised glazed wonders. My three kids promptly burned off some of those calories on the swings, teeter tooter and jungle gym. My two-year-old son learned a new favorite phrase that day: "donut shop."


Featured Review:
Grandy’s Sinnamon Roll

This is my new afternoon snack craving. I remembered these were wonderful, but the sweet cinnamony perfection was something that had not crossed my lips in a long time. I can recall only one instance in recent years that equaled this delight--pillowy soft cinnamon rolls made by my sister-in-law, Sarah.

You can find reviews of four of my local favorites--Grandy’s, Daylight Donuts, City Bites, and Braum’s--in the article Best Bites Around Oklahoma City: Where to Find Delicious Local Foods Under $5.

Am I Not As Happy as I Used to Be?

"The chief cause of unhappiness is giving up what you want most for what you want at the moment."

This truth, uttered by Zig Ziglar, resembles the question I try to ask myself often throughout the day. Is what I am doing right now the best choice I can make for our family?

Too frequently I am distracted into doing what I feel like doing when I have half a chance. After all, my children require much from me throughout the day, from the moment the first one wakes up in the morning. My time is not my own. I thought that it was my own before I had a family, but even then I was wrong. I'll have to give an account to God for every word, every action, every opportunity that I missed or took to do the right thing, the best thing.

Honestly, I would much rather go online and/or put my thoughts in writing than tackle the dirty dishes in the sink. But an orderly home that is welcoming to my family and others is more important. I know this, and putting my knowledge into action is not so natural and easy. Samantha's insights on this phenomenon certainly apply to me as well.

Even good things like helping others or giving gifts can become self-serving if I neglect more important priorities. In my zeal to accomplish something good for others (outside my family), I have let push the needs of my husband and children aside. Especially at Christmas I think this is a temptation for busy parents.

Focusing on my family doesn't necessarily mean I have to wear myself out with Christmas shopping or other activities. It may mean just the opposite. Perhaps the best gift to them for a holiday like Christmas is for me to slow down. If I let go of the extra activities and pressing tasks I'd like to do, there would be time to appreciate the blessings we already have.

So off I should go, to locate some missing toy pieces and shine my sink. Funny, those are the same goals I had yesterday.