Body by Baking!

I love to bake. Sadly, its no secret that a) my husband doesn’t care for baked goods (uh, what?!) and b) I’m fat. That being said, I’m attempting to channel my addiction to baking into some do-gooding!

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m working hard to make a healthy change in my life by counting calories, documenting my food/drink intake, and regular quality exercise. I’ve been using the free “Lose It” app successfully for a few weeks and I’m looking forward to making it over the two-week hump of dieting this weekend. Wahoo! However, what was a girl to do when she noticed these beauts in the fruit basket this week?:

 

Non-bakers see these nanners and immediately think “eww”. But I get so excited when I see bananas start to get all brown and such because it means I’ve got an excuse to make delicious banana bread! My mom has used the same recipe for ages and when I got married she passed on to me one of her all-time favorite cookbooks: “Hulabaloo in the Kitchen” by the Dallas A&M University Mother's’ Club, copyright 1983. It sits in my kitchen all day long, always opened to just the right page. Its hard to see in the picture, but this page has been through the ringer. That’s always a good sign!

In an effort to keep myself motivated not to eat this delicious loaf, I decided to keep the mixer in the cabinet and do all the work the real way. By hand. Burning calories while baking sounds good to me!

   

Oh, how I love me a good whisk. Maybe that’s why I have about 10? There’s a whole drawer in my kitchen dedicated to my whisk collection :)

     

My favorite part. Pecans! I couldn’t resist, friends. I’ll be honest and let you know that I did nibble on ONE pecan half to tide me over. It was well worth it.

 

Nomnomnomnomnom. Ready to go in the oven!

Did I mention that all this baking was done during B’s nap time (of course!) and while I was watching this week’s episode of “Glee”? Though I was appalled at the subject of the story, teen drinking (if I were a teen, after watching that episode I’d want to raid my parents’ liquor cabinet for sure), I couldn’t stop myself from having a little glass of wine. While I’m working hard to keep myself from joining Eaters Anonymous (I kid, but only a little) I really need help taking the edge off some days. This fit perfectly with the inappropriate nature of “Glee” this week. I’ll consider it a win for us both! Hardy-har-har…

I love greasing and flouring the pans. It’s a kitchen must-do that I honestly don’t remember even learning, I’ve known it for so long. Made me giggle when I thought of Jonathan trying to make this recipe someday and having no clue about the flouring technique. Oh, how he tries :)

Since it takes an hour to bake and even more time to cool, of course B woke up from her nap and my documentation through pictures had to come to an end. I forgot to take a pic of the final product! I’d already wrapped this one up nice and tight for my friend, Pat, at work and I didn’t want to disturb it. He and I totally slayed Birthday Cake Day at the office this week (I brought a delicious Better Than Sex Cake and he contributed amazing chocolate chip pecan cookies and ginger cookies. Ahhhh!), and last time I brought Nana Bread to the office he didn’t get a slice :(. This time he’s getting his own loaf!

Now, what to do with the other loaf?! Bridget and I both knew that if it stayed at the house for her to nibble on I’d end up eating the lion’s share. Not okay! So instead, we brought it up to the gym where she delivered it to her sweet babysitters in the Kids Club. Yay! Mommy got to workout and Bridget got to keep her status as favorite kiddo at the place. Success!

I got to bake one of my faves. My house smells delicious. Buttering up friends at work is always good. The 24 Hour Fitness girls will continue to love Bridget and treat her better than all the others (I like to think that’s the case!). A win-win-win-win. This Body by Baking program is going to work just fine! Now its time to get my little hiney in the kitchen to make a yummy spinach salad, veggie chicken breasts, and mushroom wild rice for dinner. Here’s to hoping this healthy kick keeps up the momentum it has right now!!!