If mama ain't happy...ain't nobody happy!

Last night the boys and I made homemade Applesauce Muffins. (We combined two recipes and added a crumb cake topping of butter, flour and brown sugar to these as well...what a GOOD idea that was! Yum!) I decided to follow the lead of a fellow frugal mom, Gayle at The Grocery Cart Challenge . She makes muffins all the time to serve as snacks and she keeps them in the freezer for her family to just grab and go. I loved this idea and wanted to implement it for my family, too! Especially my 13 year old son and my husband...they both leave early and neither one of them are hungry first thing in the morning. So to be able to grab a muffin and run is perfect for them. Not to mention, I can feel good that they aren't starving until lunchtime!

So last night I decided it was time to start...and I invited the boys to come and help me bake muffins. They both jumped at the chance! One was meauring...one was stirring...then one was singing...the other was dancing...who knew baking would bring about so much happiness? I have to say, when I bake for my family, which is not nearly enough, they really do get very happy. They really DO do things like sing and dance around the kitchen and give me extra affection. You'd think I'd do it all the time just for the fringe benefits alone! I will admit..baking is not my favorite thing to do. I'm not sure why. I just never have been really into it. Cooking? Yes. Love it. Love the process...the results...the smells. But baking? Not so much. I think it's because baking requires such precision. And I'm more of a "wing-it" kind of gal. I like to be able to read a recipe and then turn around and do whatever I want with it...add this, omit that, etc. But with baking, if I start adding and omitting at will, who KNOWS how the end result will turn out?! However, regardless of my opinions about baking, I'm going to do it more. Mainly because it's better for my family. I will know that the ingredients are pure...there are no additives...no partially hydrogenated oil...no HFCS...just good ol' true ingredients. And I think once I begin to do it more, I'll learn what I can and can't omit and add at will, right? Plus...it will make them VERY happy. They were STILL happy this morning! And that...will make ME very happy.