Baking Spree

I'm not normally much of a baker. In the past I strayed from baking except to maybe make a batch of cheese biscuits to go with a pot of soup or Cornbread Muffins for chili. That's it. I like the creativity behind cooking and it's loose measurements...pour a little of this, taste it, pour a little of that see if it needs more. Baking is all about chemistry and proper measurements and I can be such a klutz that I would forget something, drop something, or forget halfway through that I was decreasing the recipe by half and I just added the full amount of something (happened a million times). But lately I've been conquering my baking absence and stepping out of my comfort zone. A couple months ago I baked a batch of Carrot Muffins and the whole family loved eating them on the go for breakfast, savoring them with a cup of coffee or a quick snack for my toddler. I started to realize maybe I was on to something with this baking thing.

Last week I discovered Money Saving Mom and one of the first posts I read was about her Baking Day. She got so much accomplished and stored in her freezer in one day that I thought "I could do that." My husband needs healthy, filling snacks at work since he is a dry waller. He goes through 2 High Fiber Fruit and Nut granola bars a day...in other words: Expensive. A box of 15 lasts a week and a half and costs $6. I realized that this whole baking thing had it's purpose here as well: If I baked a bunch of muffins he could take those to work and cut down on this granola bar expense - about 12 muffins would cost approx. $0.50-$1...much better. So I had my own little Baking Spree on Sunday.


I baked 4 dozen muffins, froze 2 cups of plain yogurt in an ice cube tray for smoothies, and chopped up banana's and froze them for smoothies as well.



It took two and a half hours, and I was exhausted but I came away with some delicious goodies for my family:

• Carrot Spice Muffins (minus the Cream Cheese Icing)
• Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
• Oatmeal Applesauce Muffins
• Frozen bananas for Peanut Butter Banana Smoothies

It felt good to accomplish so much. My freezer is full, and so is a container on my cupboard full of a dozen assorted fresh muffins. And so are our tummies :)