If You Give Yourself a Cookie...

I've always loved to bake cookies. The trouble was, I had major problems staying out of the dough. As I cranked on the kitchen-aid mixer, I'd start by taking a little taste of the butter and sugar after mixing those together. Another little taste after adding the vanilla. Then, after the dry ingredients. And again after the chocolate chips and walnuts. I'm pretty sure the tasting was a written part of the recipe. I did notice that recipes that were supposed to make 4 dozen never did. I wonder why?

Twenty years ago, I began the process of losing more than fifty pounds. It wasn't easy with three active, thin kids at home who loved those cookies. I decided the time had come to learn to bake without tasting...

The first step was to find a way to minimize contact with the dough. I'd start by popping a couple sticks of minty gum in my mouth to keep that busy. Then, I'd fill the sink with hot soapy water. 

As I started mixing ingredients, I'd immediately throw any spoons or spatulas that touched the dough into the soapy water. I found this trick really cut down the temptation to taste. I couldn't go back and lick those spoons after it hit those soap suds.

I'd always made cookies by breaking little bits of dough off and rolling a perfect little ball. My hands ended up with a light coating of dough that tasted extremely good. So, I invested in a cookie scoop. What a revelation when I discovered I could form 48 perfect little cookies of the exact same size without touching the dough at all!

The biggest adjustment was to decide that I was going to sit down at the table and eat two of the best looking cookies myself. You see, I'd always eaten only broken or those less than perfect. It was quite a mental adjustment to decide I deserved to enjoy the best.

And I never ate the cookies alone. Like the photo at the top, I'd drink a glass of milk, eat an apple, or something else loaded with nutrients in order to balance out the sugary cookies and to fill me up. That really made a difference to my success.
And it gave birth to my motto...

If You Give Yourself A Cookie, Don't Forget the Milk