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Friday, March 13, 2009

You are what you eat - or not.

We are so worried these days what we feed our kids right?  All the crap that is in everything, it's filled with preservatives and junk, it's all processed and injected with hormones, or it's ladened with sugar or some sweet substitute that causes cancer and rots teeth, and then to top it all off all, last week my dear farmer friend informed me that corn syrup is the practically the greatest evil our kids will face in their young lives. Okay maybe, just maybe, I am exaggerating with that one. She didn't really say it like that.

But you get the point.

I have all kinds of food preparation insecurities.  I'm lazy in the kitchen, albeit well-intentioned.  PB & J sandwiches are too often seen on the dinner table and sometimes even for me and my dude. Shocking I know. And horrifying.  

On the flip side, I desire to improve in the kitchen. I dream of a fabulous dinner party where I can thrill my guests with some sort of delish dish.  And I do have my "healthy" side - a beautiful specimen of organic zucchini that we can drop onto the grill really gets me all fired up.  I crunch into that baby all healthy and yummy and I feel damn good about myself.

But on this Friday morning, I'm thinking WTF? What's the big friggin' deal about food? What's the worst thing that can happen if my kids consume barrels of corn syrup by the time they hit the age of 10?

Case in point:

My mother prepared breakfast for us every single morning of our young lives. Pancakes and waffles made from scratch, eggs, bacon, breakfast sandwiches, oatmeal, homemade hash browns and the like.  

BUT....

...there were also breakfast items that could be considered well, less than healthy.

For example, she would take one of those tubes of Pillsbury dough that you would normally bake into rolls and she would create these little fried donuts.  Puncture a hole in the middle of the dough, plop those babies in the oil, hear them sizzle to a crispy golden tan, and dip 'em in cinnamon/sugar combo, powdered sugar, or just plain ol' sugar.  Yuuummmm.....

And then there was the most famous of unhealthy choices in our home....sugar bread.  You know what sugar bread consisted of?  A slice of French bread and white sugar.  

That's right.  We would slice off a piece of soft white French bread, take a heaping spoonful of crystal white sugar, layer the bread with that sugar, and crunch right in. Aaahhhhhh......I can still feel the sugary tingle on my teeth as the sweetness coated my pearly whites.

When my mom would rattle off our breakfast options and "sugar bread" was on the list, you can bet we jumped at the chance to head off to school with some sugar bread in our bellies.

And you know what?  I think I turned out okay.  No cavities. Good student. Athlete. Got my college degree.  Went on to make a living, got married and am currently raising a family. 

So what's the point of this ramble?

I'm not sure except it all makes me feel just a little bit better about how lame I am in the kitchen.

Sugar bread anyone?

21 comments:

  1. MMMM sugar bread sounds like Peanut butter and butter on white bread....oh so delish! Your kids are eating healthy...lean protein and lots of those healthy mono-unsaturated fats in Peanut butter! Love it! We all made it this far on TV dinners and PB&J.

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  2. I always get a bit tired about how everything winds up being bad for you. That's probably why I tend to use "real" ingredients more often than not— it's all in moderation.

    I'm starting my own participation post called Friday's Feast. Something like this would always make a great story for others to read and you can get inspiration from others as well.

    Have a great weekend!

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  3. mmm...sugar bread...I'll take some!

    It is so hard to try to balance healthy with "oh my God, what can I make in 10 minutes!?"

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  4. SUGAR BREAD.....Oh my.....I will never tell my kids about that!

    How about this little snack.....saltine crackers, spread with peanut butter, topped with a marshmallow, and toasted in the oven......my Mom's specialty!

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  5. Sugar bread...

    Wow...you just gave a name to what i have been eating in the closet for 40 years...its time to come out, I know. So to speak.

    Im a sugar bread eater.

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  6. Sugar bread sounds good! When I was growing up one of my favorite things to eat was chicken fat cracklings! Man was that good straight out of the frying pan!!!

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  7. I snarl at people pulling out of the drive-thru at McD's, but then I go home and whip up a batch of cookie dough and eat it for supprt. It's such a Catch-22 these days, isn't it?

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  8. bean's favorite is pb & n... peanut butter and nutella sandwiches. and your sugar bread sounds like a fancy version of my childhood favorite: the sugar sandwich. white bread with margarine and then the sugar.

    i will say that my TOTAL lack of creativity in the kitchen hasn't hampered my kids' eating habits at all. they love just about every international food available (we take out very well) and will eat healthy food (if i have on hand to offer them)... but boy, i will admit, they do love their bagel bites and oatmeal is my standby for dinner in a pinch.

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  9. Sugar bread - throw on some butter and cinnamon and I am THERE.

    As for healthy, moderation, etc. I try to stick to real food. That doesn't mean it's healthy. Really, how healthy is a pound of bacon for one person to eat? But at least it's REAL and some manufactured food substance.

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  10. Your mother made sugar bread???? GASP!!!

    My mom used to leave two cans of Spagettios out whenever we had a babysitter - I can still taste it if I really think about it. Sometimes I think of that when I'm feeling guility about what I feed my kids. What the heck ... at least it's not Spagettios.

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  11. Okay folks...I'm not sure how I'm feeling after reading these comments...I feel better and then worse.

    Sassy might snarl at me and Ames just slammed me unknowingly with the Spaghettios deal but then Jay admitted he's a sugar bread lover and Kim eats a pound if bacon...so hmmmmm...what's a gal to do??

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  12. Moderation, baby!

    Nothing wrong with a Quarter Pounder, as long as you down it with some water.

    Cinnamon toast is a favorite around here - yum.

    And breakfast for dinner was one of my Mother's favorite things to do, especially when Dad was out of town ;-)

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  13. I have this same struggle. Sometimes I'm just throwing PB & J at them constantly and sometimes I'm trying...or dreaming of trying some delicious healthy thing. It's all so much WORK ;)

    I ate the sugar bread when I was a kid too. I'm 33 and have had maybe three cavities in my life. We're good to go :)

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  14. Sugar bread sounds like a wonderful treat! I remember the good ol days, you know when milk and eggs were actually GOOD for you

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  15. That's it!!!

    I am going on the corn syrup diet...with sugar bread for dessert (we make it here w/butter, sugar, cinnamon & then toasted).

    And then we can all wash it down with kool-aid. Or I may need a beer after all that.

    Does beer have fiber?

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  16. If only sugar and fat was healthy then we'd have it made...or something.

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  17. I grew up on tea and french bread with butter for breakfast on most mornings (even before soccer games!!!) I sorta cringe at that now...but I was okay. We also ate alot of "tater tot casserole" (don't ask.)

    How come I never got sugar bread at your house on sleep-overs??? Man, I feel jipped.

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  18. We always had plain cheerios - almost every morning, pretty healthy of us, right? Well... my mom would add orange-colored sugar crystals to it - YUM! Crunchy, sweet, orange milk... we loved it. I was just thinking the other day when my girls were complaining AGAIN about the lack of interesting (aka sugar) cereals in our cupboard and I was staring at this HUGE box of Cheerios from Costco and thinking it will be YEARS before my family eats through that - UNLESS I can manage to score some of those orange sugar crystals! What were they? Where are they? Do they exist anymore????

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  19. you had me at BREAD girl. shit.

    my ass loves bread.

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  20. Alright...I'll admit it right here...we did sugar bread, but added cinnamon and butter to it:P 'Cause we are all Martha Stewart up in here;)

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  21. You can make 'sugar' bread with xylitol and it'll be just as good.

    At Sweet Debbie's Organic Cupcakes http://www.sweetdebbiesorganiccupcakes.com we use xylitol to sweeten our organic cupcakes, cookies and brownies and no one can tell the difference.

    Just so you know, xylitol is an all-natural sweetener from the birch tree with 1/2 the calories of sugar and it's good for your teeth and bones.

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