We had a very busy weekend…again. Preparing a house to put it on the market is more of an ordeal than I ever imagined. Especially when you’ve put off painting projects for two years. My husband and I worked incredibly hard this weekend, trying to get it in tip top shape, and we are still nowhere near finished. I look forward to the day when I can finally say I am completely done painting.

That being said, I have not been experimenting in the kitchen lately. We have been cooking for necessity and putting all of our energy into packing, de-cluttering, and repairing. My daughter didn’t get a lot of one on one mama time this weekend, because I didn’t want her around all of the paint fumes, so we baked a chocolate cake together this morning to reconnect and do something exciting. I have had this gluten free, dairy  free chocolate cake mix sitting around for a few months now, and today seemed like a good day to test it out. It seems like the whole world has decided baking is the antidote to the quarantine blues, and we decided to give it a try.

I have tried countless gluten free baking mixes, and my bar is high for cake mixes. I bought Pamela’s (affiliate link), because it is one of the few that does not contain any nuts (my husband is allergic).

The directions were easy to follow and had instructions for more than the usual size cake/cupcake pans, which was nice. It called for adding water, oil, and eggs. It recommended an extra egg (3 total) for a lighter cake, and Eloise and I decided to try out that method. She has been hesitant to crack eggs lately and is content to pour and stir. I measured out all of the ingredients and let her pour them in. She used her mini whisk to stir it up. As with most gluten free blends, they recommend not over-mixing. We stirred just until smooth.

I have not made a chocolate cake in a long time, years. This one was really satisfying. It was moist, light and fluffy, with just the right amount of cocoa powder. I definitely plan on using this brand again if we ever need an easy cake mix.

As per the division of responsibility in feeding, we each had a large slice with our lunch (not after) and will have the rest on subsequent days. When Eloise asked for more, I let her know we could have some more with lunch tomorrow. We discussed how yummy we both thought the cake was, and that was the end of the discussion. She knows that there will be more, and was content with the amount she had today. It may feel hard to serve dessert with lunch, because it feels like they won’t eat any other food. This may happen. However, when dessert is served after a child has already had their fill of whatever lunch is served, do you think they’ll turn down cake even if their stomach is full? Unlikely. It is more likely that they will ignore their fullness cues to eat the highly palatable food. When we all have our dessert with food, often Eloise will eat most of the dessert first, and then start to explore the other foods. She is learning how to eat in a world that contains dessert, and I think that is an important skill to have. She is learning that she doesn’t have to binge on dessert when it is available, because it will be around again soon. She is learning that dessert is neutral. It is not better or worse than other foods, it is just food. Cake is yummy, just like shrimp are yummy, and garlic roasted broccoli is yummy. My goal is food neutrality.