butter

I was a teenager when all FAT was BAD and it seemed that FAT FREE was the way to go. Honestly this was probably the closest I had ever been to a "Diet". I always read labels and opted for FAT FREE products, except for salad dressing because that's just gross. Little did I realize that all the sugar they added to the products to add flavor was. . . uhm. . . fattening too.

I remember watching my mom butter vegetables and thought "eeew". I never buttered bread, especially if it was home made bread. My mom's signature sandwich is butter and radish on white bread. I'm pretty sure she still enjoys a peanut butter and salad sandwich now and then too. My dad used to butter the bread before making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We always buttered our rice, pasta etc. Butter was an important part of our household. My mom would buy real butter for the table and margarine for baking things like cookies.

I rarely needed butter when I left the nest but then when I got married I found I used a bit more. I eventually quit buying margarine for baking because I didn't want to have any partially hydrogenated oils in our home. Slowly butter eeked it's way back into my home and heart (ha ha literally).

I realized recently that we consume at least 4 pounds of butter a month. That sounds like a lot doesn't it? It is. My poor heart probably isn't pleased but my taste buds are. I love real butter. I don't want any of that fake crap even if it's so cheap. I love a deal but butter is here to stay.

So what do we eat butter on now. Oh let me count the ways.

I occasionally butter my steamed vegetables, just a pat not even a tablespoon for the whole bowl. But everyone eats more when they're buttered.

We butter popcorn and we do eat a lot of air popped popcorn. We usually have a family movie night once a week and we make 2-3 batches and use about 2 TBSP per batch. Mike will occasionally make some after the kids go to bed throughout the week and I can't say for sure how much butter he uses but it's probably more then I use.

I've been making all my bread since October 2009 and it's been great but since I make bread we eat more bread and it's so yummy to have a hot slice with some butter. I would have never done this in my teenage years. Not only do we have our whole wheat flax bread but we eat home made sourdough bread. Mike swears there is no need for any other bread in the world, my kids would probably agree. I usually make two loaves a week. Oh how everyone loves a toasted piece slathered with butter. So yummy!

Of course I am a baker as well and we use lots of butter for baking things like cookies, cakes, pies, tarts, brownies, you know, whatever hits me at the time. I try not to bake too much but I probably make 3 big desserts a month depending on if we have to take any to any other functions too.

So in conclusion is it any wonder that I have maintained my weight to be about 30 pounds heavier then when I was in high school during my fat free days? Of course I don't think people should really look like they did in high school. Given 4 pregnancies and a love of food including butter it's not a surprise. I do use lots of olive oil too and if for some reason I fry anything it's with Canola oil.

I'm no Paula Dean but butter is good! How bad do you think it really is for my heart?