Thursday, July 16, 2009

A Sensible Life, With Dessert



I've been asked how we stay healthy when we're all the time baking sweets. It's very straightforward: there are enough people in this house that a pie yields one piece per person, with an extra slice for the Giles and the Composer to share, if they did a long run that morning.

A layer cake yields dessert for two nights--one piece per person. A batch of cookies makes dinner dessert, and some for the next day.

The key to a sensible life, with dessert, is moderation. Don't take more than your share. Because if you do, not only will you get chubby, you might get socked!

22 comments:

  1. Oh, my goodness, Anna - today I made a raspberry pie, and just a little while ago I told my brother I'm not sure making pies for 2 people is a good idea! "Do you realize how much fat is in a piecrust?" His reply was that he wasn't gaining any weight! But I will if this continues!
    But what do you say to a friend who comes over begging you to take some raspberries off her hands?
    Fruit crisp might be a better choice for desserts.

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  2. Oh well, not only can you be healthy with sweets but as long as you eat healthy meals , fresh vegies, etc. there is always room for pie , what a boring life we would live without it!!!!!

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  3. Great point. I used to be very strict about my diet, but now believe that moderation is key. Besides, who doesn't like a piece of a homemade pie or cake?

    Love the blog by the way! I've been reading it for a while and love the beautiful pictures :)

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  4. I agree! Though I've perfected the art of tiny portion baking (or at least small portion baking) because we are just 2 adults and a toddler, perhaps this means that in order to keep a healthy figure I need to have more children. There is some appeal to that approach....

    lisateresa, I eat the raspberries straight! Or you could make jam. Lately we just have bowls of fruit for dessert. Lots of luscious peaches and blackberries.....{but a pie every now and again is also so good....} Crisp is good, too.

    It's all good!!

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  5. Moderation is truly the key and I love that last line about either getting chubby or getting *socked*!!

    Blessings!

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  6. That's the very trouble I'm having...a batch of luscious dessert is for me and my husband right now...perhaps we should remedy this soon? ;)

    In Christ,
    Dawn

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  7. Hi my name is Lena,

    I love sweets too. A homebake anything sounds delicious. God loves sweets too, thats why He made sugar cane, and fruits, and little children, because they are sweetness in their own way... dont you agree? :)))

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  8. What a perfect sense of dessert! We sometimes overindulge and that really isn't good. Great advice.

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  9. I'm in total agreement here. We eat healthy food and we do have dessert almost daily. Like your family, we keep dessert to one serving per person.
    Life is too short not to enjoy some good dessert!

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  10. Polly, the raspberries were too tart to eat straight - otherwise, I really prefer to just eat them as is. I need to look at some more cookbooks for new ideas.

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  11. The other option is always to give some away! I love baking, and try to make things that my husband can take to work to share with his coworkers. We keep enough for dessert for our family for a few days, and then send the rest in to his work to save us from the temptation of eating more.

    The lovely side effect is that he and I seem to be very popular with his coworkers. *grin*

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  12. So I guess that means I should stop making cupcakes at night after the children are already in bed--twelve between two people might be too much :)

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  13. Yep, in our home with three small boys, a delicious cherry pie will be cut into 10ths, with Daddy getting one of my portions to take to work with him the next day. It's very reasonable to me! Who wants to live without pie??

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  14. My observation is that you don't keep a lot of snacks in your cabinet. Only homemade "junk food" after a reasonably healthy meal.

    Carol

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  15. LOL! One advantage of a large family. I grew up in one, so I know what it's like to be "socked" and to "sock" if one eats more than their fair share.

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  16. Is this your key to staying so slim?

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  17. Anna, I fear that my earlier comments have detracted from your lovely juxtaposition of matching dress, plate and cupcake!

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  18. Not at all, Lisa, you got straight to the point. I remember when we were first married I would make a pie, we would each have a piece, and then rest would moulder. It was kind of sad!

    Freeze those raspberries and pull them out in the winter for muffins and--gasp--fruity jello!

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  19. In your house of runners dessert is clearly not a problem. My house,on the other hand, should not eat dessert like this. I love all the sweets you share and realize we are all different in the things we may or may not have.

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  20. "Because if you do, not only will you get chubby, you might get socked!" That almost made me spit my water everywhere. In a home where sweets are few (Mom can't eat them, therefore they rarely get made unless I take the initiative), I always love coming to your blog and drooling over your delicious desserts.

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  21. I really want that cupcake. Now. Love your blog!

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  22. Well, no worries because sweets cause physical symptoms only if they are eaten in excess. As long as they are eaten after a well-balanced meal, they cause no symptoms. Eating any food in moderation is healthy and eating too much of any kind is unhealthy. Anyway, you got nice shots of desserts in your blog.

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