Always interested in frugal living, I checked out a slideshow article from Kiplinger’s on ways to save money. One that made my jaw drop down and say, “duh,” was the caption, “Learn to Cook.” Then again, I have known a few people over the years who lived on nothing but restaurants, carry-out and premade entrees. Unfortunately, for someone who has to live gluten free, this would be an extremely expensive option. While more and more restaurants and bakeries offer gluten free products, and there are a lot more frozen entrees available these days, you’ll pay a high price.
That’s why I’ve been teaching my sons how to cook, a valuable and money-saving life skill. This week, while learning about long division, the Louisiana Purchase and how to grammatically classify a sentence, my ten-year old has also been spending quite a bit of time in the kitchen.
He wanted to make cupcakes for a Halloween party, so I chose this One Bowl Chocolate Cake http://www.recipezaar.com/One-Bowl-Gluten-Free-Chocolate-Cake-209764 recipe for them. The recipe is simple enough for children and inexperienced cooks to make. It also has a great flavor, keeps moist and rises nicely. Even with all these great features, cooking this with a 10-year old still requires patience.
Since I was out of my all-purpose flour mix, we had to get out the flours and make more. My son, eager to help, measured out a cupful of rice flour, and as I was just saying, “Don’t tip the cup so high over the mixing bowl,” I head a thud and saw a cloud of white dust floating around the counter.
“Sorry, Mom!” he said.
He was careful with measuring after that. Then, it was time to blend the various flours with the pastry blender. Just as I was saying, “Don’t mix the flour so fast,” I saw another cloud of white dust floating around the counter.
“Sorry, Mom!” he said.
Then it was time to mix all the ingredients for the cake. He was so excited that he was doing this kind of happy dance around me as I was gathering all the ingredients.
“Ouch! Please stop stepping on my toes.”
“Sorry, Mom!” he said.
The rest of the measuring and mixing went without too many messy or painful incidents. He laid out the cupcake papers in the muffin tins. Because the cake batter is much thicker than normal, we had to drop it in with teaspoons like cookie dough, instead of pouring it in, as we would have before we went gluten free.
The cupcakes, after baking for 25 minutes (instead of the recipes called-for 30 to 35 minutes for a cake) were a little lumpy looking, but they rose nicely and tasted great, even several days later.
Despite the messes and the bruised toes, it was worth it. Encouraged with this success, my son wants to do a lot more baking. Today, he wants to make pumpkin fudge. I’ll be sure to have the “dogvacs” ready to clean up the messes on the floor (when aren’t they ready?), and I may borrow my husband’s steel-toe boots.
That’s why I’ve been teaching my sons how to cook, a valuable and money-saving life skill. This week, while learning about long division, the Louisiana Purchase and how to grammatically classify a sentence, my ten-year old has also been spending quite a bit of time in the kitchen.
He wanted to make cupcakes for a Halloween party, so I chose this One Bowl Chocolate Cake http://www.recipezaar.com/One-Bowl-Gluten-Free-Chocolate-Cake-209764 recipe for them. The recipe is simple enough for children and inexperienced cooks to make. It also has a great flavor, keeps moist and rises nicely. Even with all these great features, cooking this with a 10-year old still requires patience.
Since I was out of my all-purpose flour mix, we had to get out the flours and make more. My son, eager to help, measured out a cupful of rice flour, and as I was just saying, “Don’t tip the cup so high over the mixing bowl,” I head a thud and saw a cloud of white dust floating around the counter.
“Sorry, Mom!” he said.
He was careful with measuring after that. Then, it was time to blend the various flours with the pastry blender. Just as I was saying, “Don’t mix the flour so fast,” I saw another cloud of white dust floating around the counter.
“Sorry, Mom!” he said.
Then it was time to mix all the ingredients for the cake. He was so excited that he was doing this kind of happy dance around me as I was gathering all the ingredients.
“Ouch! Please stop stepping on my toes.”
“Sorry, Mom!” he said.
The rest of the measuring and mixing went without too many messy or painful incidents. He laid out the cupcake papers in the muffin tins. Because the cake batter is much thicker than normal, we had to drop it in with teaspoons like cookie dough, instead of pouring it in, as we would have before we went gluten free.
The cupcakes, after baking for 25 minutes (instead of the recipes called-for 30 to 35 minutes for a cake) were a little lumpy looking, but they rose nicely and tasted great, even several days later.
Despite the messes and the bruised toes, it was worth it. Encouraged with this success, my son wants to do a lot more baking. Today, he wants to make pumpkin fudge. I’ll be sure to have the “dogvacs” ready to clean up the messes on the floor (when aren’t they ready?), and I may borrow my husband’s steel-toe boots.
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