singing...."Nothing could be finer than the taste of Aunt Jemima in the mo-ho-ho-rning.."
Do you remember that? I actually paused here to look on YouTube to find that commercial, but couldn't...I'll look later.
Back to Aunt Jemima. Or Bisquick. Or any mix. (um...Pillsbury brownies, anyone? I'm not saying I like them or anything. Ahem.)
Here are the ingredients of original pancake mix as listed on Aunt Jemima's website: INGREDIENTS: ENRICHED BLEACHED FLOUR (BLEACHED WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), SUGAR, LEAVENING (SODIUM BICARBONATE, SODIUM ALUMINUM PHOSPHATE, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE), SALT, CALCIUM CARBONATE (A SOURCE OF CALCIUM).
I made bold the bleach, the bleach, the sugar. By the way, that's bleached WHITE flour, in case you weren't sure. And the other stuff....basically other than the salt and the baking soda, none of it should be added to your food.
Flour should be whole wheat, (or other whole grain), and freshly ground. I began a post series on the benefits of freshly ground flour;I didn't finish it, but hope to soon. But read here for the first part.
A box of pre made mix costs about $2. Your ingredients cost less than that. But to make it all from scratch takes too long, you say. So...why not make your own mix? A mix is just the dry ingredients pre-combined with instructions of what to add. I can do that!
I made a pancake supper last night, and while preparing my batter, I grabbed 2 ziplocks and made 2 mix bags. Easy as pie. Or should I say pancakes. :)
By the way, you can do the same thing for all kinds of mixes. Makes it easier to "whip something up."
Homemade mixes are definitely some
thing that work for me.This post is linked to Works For Me Wednesday.
Posts
I have a series where I compare scratch vs. store bought foods, and I'm surprised that scratch doesn't always win. Here's the Bisquick comparison.
ReplyDeletehttp://thesavedquarter.com/2010/01/03/scratch-vs-store-bought-master-baking-mix/
As for the stuff in the list, it's not actually all that junky and you do want it in your food, even if you don't need it to be listed out individually! Bleached flour isn't as healthy as whole wheat flour, but the added stuff is all vitamins - stuff you want in your food - which aren't bad for you. The other stuff is just sugar, salt, and baking powder (leavening - same ingredients are on the side of my jar of baking powder.) Calcium carbonate is the same stuff that's in Tums, just adding calcium to add a little more nutrition.
I'm surprised not to find a fat in that list, as Bisquick has the shortening added. I'm not sure how it would work without the sugar, either. Did your pancakes rise well?
I need to make up a batch of pancake mix. You are right. It's so much better than store bought, and at least you know what's in it!
ReplyDeleteEven if the cost ends up being the same as the mix, the ingredients are MUCH more healthful (if you choose them to be so). The difference between bleached white flour and freshly ground whole wheat flour healthwise is like night and day. As for the other vitamins--I want to get them in their natural form from the foods in which they are found, not added to "enrich". And sugar is best done without. I don't add any sweetener to my batter, and it tastes just fine. If I did want to, I'd choose raw honey, stevia, or maple syrup. And yes, they rise just fine. I'll have to post my recipe.
ReplyDeleteI used to do this all the time, with pancakes, muffins, cookies...and I just got really got out of the habit. Thanks for the reminder!
ReplyDelete