Feeling Bad I Am Not a Baker .... Anyone Else ?

My moms group had a cookie exchange and I made my husband make the cookies.(he actually made oatmeal bars)
What I have done in the past is the kids make a gingerbread house(pre made gingerbread) or decorate the pre shaped pop in the oven cookies.
I can't cook or bake and I have no willpower it goes straight to my lips and hips.

Try peppermint bark from Nestle online. Super easy. Microwave required!!

http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/30261/Holiday-Peppe...

I like to bake but HATE to cook. We bake cookies for christmas but I usually am not in the mood until I get on a roll. It's stress full and exhausting making "the magic" happen. You are not alone. Christmas is hard work! Have a Merry Christmas=)

I read we are now REQUIRED to bake home made items for school. Now I feel bad.

PS I just watched a show where a woman shows you how to buy precooked and pre baked foods then doctor them a bit to make them look homemade.
LOL We are not alone.

Hi. I am also NOT a baker, and I have three small girls. Yes, I feel guilty as though I am robbing them of a special experience. Here's what I do. My talents are limited, but that doesn't mean we can't do some things. This year we made Reindeer Noses (a pretzel topped with a hershey's kiss, topped with a large red M & M). So cute. So tasty. The kids got to put them together and we all had fun. We also did some cut-out sugar cookies. I bought Pillsbury Sugar Cookie dough, pre-made, added a bit of flour per the directions, and voila! Cookies. You can frost them with canned frosting if you like. There is a world of help out there. Brownie mixes, even a fudge mix, cookie making kits, etc. Find them in your grocery store and make a memory with your kiddos. Doesn't matter that you're not Betty Crocker. I most certainly am not! Merry Christmas!

Hmmmm... do you want to be able to bake with your kids? There are some things that you can make together that are really simple and it's a great way to work on math concepts. I have two really easy recipes off the top of my head that I would gladly share with you. Personally, I love to cook but I'm really not much of a baker. I have a few things I like to make, but rolling out sugar cookies...? No thanks. (I do fondly remember doing this with my Mom.)

If it's just not your thing, I'm sure there are other things that you're good at that you can do/share with your kids. We can not be all things to everyone.

oh my, this is soooo me!! I just own it, laugh about it and encourage my friends to help me out in this area (in terms of cooking with my kids)!! Friends or family make her birthday cake, her class cupcakes, you name it. It's just not in my repertoire!! Don't get me wrong, I have done a few baking projects in my life, but... it's stressful and just not that fun! I'd rather eat what other people enjoy making and I'm okay with that :-)

Although I bake, sometimes there's just not enough daylight before Christmas, know what I mean?
You CAN bake if you want to--anyone can. It's OK to "cheat" with pre-made cookie dough, bread mixes, etc.
And........lack of time and or experience? That's why God invented--THE BAKERY! LOL

Hey, that's why there are grocery stores....., it isn't the end of the world if you don't bake or have time. I like to bake when I have time, but it doesn't make you a bad mom not to.

If you have the interest and patience, it really isn't hard. Some things take a lot of time and practice to get right, like pies for example.
Cookies are great starters, not the hard ones that have to be decorated, but simple one's like "snickerdoodles" or chocolate chip.

We love lemon cookies made from a Lemon Cake Mix, just add 2 eggs, 1/2 cup oil, 1/2 tsp of lemon flavoring, to the dry mix, stir till well blended, roll into balls, bake 8-10 minutes, 350 degrees, done. Tasty, chewy, freeze well and so quick and easy.

Some of the best recipes are the "tried and true" that you find in church or community cook books, or those compiled from women's clubs. Usually they are more simple, great tasting, easier with everyday ingredients, not so "gourmet". Betty Crocker is my friend, too.

Don't forget the box mixes for cakes and brownies, or the cookie dough n the refrigerator dept. at the store, they are good too. You can "bake" the easy way, doesn't have to be a complete from "scratch" recipe. You can still have good bonding time with your kids.

You probably have great expertise in things that some of the "cooking" Mom's don't.

ooh dear!! you can do it!!! some of it isn't baking but doing!!

like Rice Krispy Treats - get the kids involved!
Turtles - pecans, caramel and melted chocolate over wax paper

Pre-made sugar cookie dough - let the kids sprinkle stuff over the top and put them in the oven.

Talk to your girlfriends - find out if they want to do a baking day - my girlfriend and I used to do that before she moved 50 miles away!! We would get together the first weekend of December - we'd plan out what we wanted to make and split the grocery list....we did this for a good 5 years in a row! The kids play together and you get girlfriend time - and you can learn from them!!!

I've got an amazing recipe for you! you need one box of club crackers, 1 1/2 cups sugar, and 3 sticks of butter, and 2 cups (one bag) of choc. chips.
1. heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. line a large cookie sheet with foil
3. Lay out 40 crackers on it.
4. in a while stirring pan bring the butter and sugar to a low boil and boil for 3 minutes.
5. pour over the crackers and spread to evenly cover them.
6. put in oven for exactly 10 minutes
7. top with choc chips and return to oven for 10 SECONDS...and then spread the choc. over the toffee.
YOU have now made a really easy, not really baking, crunchy toffee treat! your kids could almost make it themselves!
this seriously takes less than 15 minutes start to finish.

heres a super easy fun recipe for y ou and your kids

http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/holiday-pretzel-treats-68...

They will have fun with it and youwill look like a rockstar. Other easy things are puppy chow and peppermint bark.

Do you want to bake? If so it is honestly not hard to learn. If you start with cookies or quick breads rather than yeast breads and measure accurately they will be fine. I bake more than I did before I had my son because I want him to grow up cooking and baking. I think he will be more likely to make healthy choices if he is involved in our diet from the start (we garden and belong to a CSA) through meal preparation. My mom just bought him his first cookbook (he is turning 6) - Molly Katzen's Salad People. He is thrilled. It looks like a great first cookbook and something a beginner cook could absolutely work through with their kids.

I used to be but am not anymore. I think it's ok to make the slice and bake cookies or use a mix if you really want them to smell cookies in the oven. If not, that's OK!! We all have our own talents, believe me, baking and cooking are not mine either.
And my kids eat healthy despite this, since I don't bake there are not lots of goodies in my house, there are lots of raw veggies and fruit to snack on.

I.am.not.a.baker.
And I don't feel guilty about it.
I CAN bake, and can bake well.
But I don't like to.
No biggie.

We have SO much baked goodies at home already, from other people.

My Hubby can bake too. He will sometimes with the kids.
He makes an awesome "Yule Log" Christmas cake.

If you really wanna bake something... with your kids. Just make choc chip cookies. Easy.

Funny you ask this. I just made the crappiest batch of cookies ever. LOL I make a mean pot of spaghetti though. :)

But can you cook? I am a great baker but not a very good cook - if I had to chose I would much rather be able to make a great, healthy meal that my entire family would enjoy!

I don't bake much. We just redid our kitchen, so I might try it again. But my mom bakes and she is teaching my 3 yro. don't feel bad. Check out the local park district. They might have a class that your child can attend and do something that way. Might be easier than the mess in your kitchen.

No, I don't bake at all. I have a word doc of NO BAKE COOKIES and that is as good as it gets! If you or anyone else wants it, message me your email address and I'll send it. =) I don't like cooking and I'm not really good at it and I'm ok with it. Hubby and kids would probably like it if I were a great cook and baker, but we do not suffer! =)

I'm not a baker, but I did find a few recipes for us non-baking moms that are pretty simple and easy to not mess up too much. Banana bread is an easy one to try. Just add some chocolate chips and blackberries to it to make it taste yummy. Chocolate chip cookies are also super easy, so give those try!

I also can't do sugar or gingerbread cookies. It stresses me out just thinking about it. So I buy plain premade ones from the bakery and then let the kids frost and decorate them. They still get the fun of that!

I am not a baker and I AM O-KAY W/THAT! :)
We all have our specialties and that is not mine!
I don't care. :)
I think we all do what we love & enjoy doing.
So............I let someone else bake.
I enjoy cooking dinners so I do that.

Don't feel bad about it. I'm neither a good cook or good baker, but I've recently started trying harder. I will most likely never be a great cook as I am too afraid to just wing it and not follow a recipe precisely. But, I have been trying new recipes and have had success.

If you would like to bake stuff with your kids, just go for it. It could be a big-time teachable moment for your children. Let your children know that you have never been very good at baking and that you are intimidated by it. Let them see you put your fear aside and give it a try anyway. Give them a chance to be proud of you. They will see that you tried something even though you were afraid of failing. What a great lesson.

I'm just ok in the baking department. Luckily this year my daugter's daycare provider is doing all the baking for charity. She's going to have two trays of assorted cookies ready to go next week for me to pick up! We still get to fun of decorating the sugar cookies, but all the hard work has been done for us! Wish we had that option every year!!

I am a great cook and a lousy baker. I love to experiment and invent things. I love to grab a few random things out of the fridge and then create a lovely meal. I do not measure anything, hence, I am a horrible baker. I can do it if I have too, as in Santa cookies, because even I know those need to be homemade, but beyond that...well that is what bakeries are for!!!!

I used to say all the time "I don't bake, I buy". To me baking was too time consuming and I could never get it to look like the pictures!!!!!!!
I was ok with that!! But I love to craft. We did alot of christmas crafts. Super easy stuff like that you get at walmart.
I found the already made already shaped cookies and let the kids decorate. FUN!! No mess, just bake and let the kids go to town. Much less mess and much less headache for me!
But now my daughter is a teen and wants to acutally make the stuff. So we started on easy stuff. The recipe on the back of the chocolate chips bag.
They tasted yummo but sure were not pretty!
Remember the commercial with the rice krispie treats??? The lady spent all of 5 minutes making them and made the family think it took her hours. Sprinkled her face with flour and walked out with the tray.
Baking does not have to be hard. Take it easy on yourself! Make the memories with your family in any way that you can.
Hugs and Blessings!
D.

My SD is currently baking and singing along to ABBA. She's the baker. I make some things. The box mix (Yay, Krustease!) is my friend. DD doesn't care if it's not scratch. I may attempt sugar cookies, but my 86 yr old grandmother has the market on those in our family. I also make pumpkin pie - the supersimple Libby's recipe from the can, with premade crust.

I'm quite fine with not baking more. There are many ways to be a good mom. Don't sweat the cookies.

There are lots of fun and tastey things you can make that don't require baking.

Here's the thing....just make different things to familiarize your kids with the kitchen, the gadgets, learning how to measure things etc.
The way it worked out for me?
My son who is 16 is an amazing cook. There isn't anything he can't bake, broil, grill or poach....
He does more of the cooking than I do. He has a true love for it.
And I truly love him cooking!

Start small and have fun!

I find that people either tend to be good bakers or good cooks. Bakers like to follow the rules and use exact measurements. Cooks are more creative and can just somehow toss things together, often with no recipe at all.

I'm a pretty good baker and a serviceable cook, at best. Guess I just like to follow the rules! :)

My best friend is a very good cook but has no interest in baking. I do all the holiday cookie baking/decorating with her kids.

I am not that into baking. What can I whip up? Banana bread. Love it, love to make it. Not too many steps involved, and not a whole heck of a lot of ingredients needed.

My 5 yr old is not the best at following directions, so the few times I HAVE attempted to be the baking mom, I've quickly lost my patience with him. So, when I want to bake with him, now we just do the Pillsbury refrigerated dough--he breaks it apart, sticks it on the pan, and that's good enough for him.