Mothers have a difficult job. They always have. But today there are so many more obstacles to steer children around. From keeping children away from the constant presence of screens, to protecting them from the dangerous influences of social media, to discerning necessary and helpful vaccines for them to take, to teaching them to refuse unhealthy choices, there are so many stumbling blocks to avoid.
We are slowly discovering the effects of today's world of pervasive chemical processing and biogenetic engineering in our foods: obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, and cerebrovascular disorders. The only way really around the problem of these effects is to go back to preparing and eating whole foods like moms back in the day prepared before all the "progress". Everyday Health defines a whole food diet as avoiding processed foods and consuming "whole grains, fruits and vegetables, lean meats like chicken and fish, milk, yogurt, legumes, nuts, and seeds". This type of eating may not be as convenient as eating pre-prepared foods, but likely the required effort of whole foods far outweighs the health detriments of pre-prepared products.
In baking, there are plenty of shortcuts. But because the shortcuts are a result of food preservatives, additives, and bioengineered food ingredients, the shortcuts are very costly healthwise in the long run. Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, trans fats, palm oil or palm kernel oil, and high fructose corn syrup are some particularly heinous culprits that lurk in baking products like cake and brownie mixes, margarine, and 'chocolate' products. Good news! They can be avoided - just go back to basics. :)
Cook with stuff you recognize and can pronounce ;) Rather than starting with a baking mix, start at the beginning with a recipe and take a couple of extra steps to mix your own flour, rising agents, and salt. Substitute real cream that you whip yourself and sweeten with confectioner's sugar for Cool Whip in your favorite recipes. (It works! - just make sure you whip the cream until its quite stiff.) Use authentic chocolate agents with cocoa butter for recipes and candy rather than almond bark or candy melts.
How about in honor of all the moms who have cooked and baked for us and provided our sustenance in so many ways and in honor of the children we are raising and in honor or ourselves -moms-... how about we go back in the day and make every effort to cook and eat wholesome foods?
Available this Mother's Day:
Raspberry-filled almond petit fours drenched with Ghirardelli white chocolate
Just the good stuff.
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