Stacy McDonald has a wonderful post about whether or not Christian parents are helping 'evangelize the lost' when their children attend public school. The post is well done, including references and links to support her point, as well as dozens of helpful resources to help parents make these decisions. What struck me even more was the comments on it; while some debate occurred, there was a surprising amount of 'testimonials' from both parents and children whose lives were in some way touched (for the worse) for the decision to send children to school. Whether it was parents losing their children's hearts, siblings whose relationships grew distant, or children who were drawn into much sin and heartache, it's enough to give a parent serious pause.
At the very least, we can not and should not abdicate the responsibility of raising our children. Whatever decisions we make need to be made thoughtfully and prayerfully. We don't get do-overs when it comes to raising the next generation!
A great discussion follows in the comments, including how and what kind of whole grain/sugar substitutes would be appropriate in baking.
13 comments:
I actually had a very positive public school experience. I loved it. My faith never wavered, I grew stronger and more secure in my faith (especially in college), my brother was one of my closest friends, I preferred being with my family over being elsewhere, and the Lord surely protected me as I rode the school bus and hung out on the steps with my lunch and break buddies. It wasn't until yeeeaaars later that I found out some of the unsavory things the people around me were doing, or what some of the things I heard meant. I'm choosing to homeschool my kids because I feel they'll receive a better, less frustrating, more stimulating., and more fun education.
That said, I agree children shouldn't be sent out as "light", because they are just too young. I don't think I believe kids should have that burden, when they are just learning what it all means. I think they should know and understand how they act and speak is a reflection of Christ, but I don't think the burden of missions should be placed on the shoulders of a child who is then released all alone into a wide world.
I guess I should have commented on her blog and not yours, since it's her argument. :)
Well, here's the real reason I'm commenting: do you bake with regular sugar and flour? I've been looking into alternatives but am unsure. And everything is so expensive!
Annie, thanks for your thoughts... I too, was public-schooled, and God used it, but there were many things that I desperately hope my children avoid. Even so, todays world is different; no one educated me on the 'rightness' of homosexuality in kindergarten, etc. If they truly stuck to the 3 Rs, things might be different...
Anyways, I mostly bake with my home-stone-ground whole wheat flour. I use hard-white wheat for bread-ish things, and soft-white wheat for pancakes, tortillas and biscuits and such. Or a mixture, if I have 'leftovers' from previous 'grinding sessions.' However, I add gluten to things like bread to help give it the elasticity and strength to rise and hold itself up! I use a bit of white flour sometimes, but usually only in conjunction with the wholewheat stuff. My favorite cookie recipe I've adapted to use with my wholewheat flour. I don't make cakes much, but obviously some would be better suited for the whole grains than others (carrot cake... maybe not white wedding-cake). As for sugar, sometimes I use honey, or, more usually, sucanat from azure (from them in bulk it's FAR cheaper than the little bags I see at health food stores). I've used rapadura instead of brown sugar, but I'm out of that for now. It takes some experimentation, and it really helps to have a (more) affordable resource for the ingredients. Even then, my wheat has doubled in price since fall! Have to start making barley pancakes again...
That's very true about what some of the schools are teaching. Even so, I have vivid memories from first grade of some of the...um...more assertive...kids taunting a girl mercilessly, calling her gay. Of course, no one had ANY idea what it meant, just that it meant something other than "happy" as my mother taught her. I suppose a kid a little less inclined to the naive as I was would have learned a lot more than I did, but I just never put two and two together with that kind of stuff.
Even so, I do agree. I can't imagine my mom's mental somersaults when I came to her at the age of 6 asking what gay meant.
Annnnd.....I have no idea how to cook or bake with any of that stuff. I was thinking of what I'm going to do with my daughter's first birthday (not that I don't have four months before I have to think about it). I don't want to use regular sugar or white flour, even unbleached, but I don't know what to do otherwise. And I don't have a grinder. I don't want to buy two kinds of flour, one for baking cake/cookies and one for everything else. But I don't want to continue using white flour. Especially for bread. I don't know. Thanks
Annie, you can buy 'whole wheat flour' - don't know if they designate the different species (hard, soft, white, red, etc) lol. However, (and this won't help with your buy-one-type plan, but) I once made a carrot cake with whole spelt flour. I think for my oldest's first birthday I made applesauce cupcakes and sweetened some whipped cream to top them. Tastey and some nutrition, too. I'm not sure if you're worried about the whole sugar-of-any-type thing, but stevia would be a (the only, really) comfortable substitute. Might go good with the natural sweetness of applesauce? Too, oatmeal cake can be delicious; also with whipped cream. Cream-cheese frostings, while high in the sugar department, DO add a bit of goodness. They're best (in my mind) with carrot or spice cakes. Do you have a place you can buy just a bit of flour, and give a recipe a try? You know, like trial-birthday-cakes? THAT would be a tastey way to spend the next four months... :)
Also, reading your comment, I should add that 'whole wheat flour' will work however you want it, really. Soft White Wheat is a particular type (maybe known as pastry flour?), but you can use the regular (hard red or white) kind for cookies/cakes as well; using a bit (1/4 or 1/3?) of white flour would keep it from becoming too dense, perhaps. I should say that I'm probably 'accustomed' to any difference - that while it may seem pronounced at first, you really do get used to it. I don't even notice stir-fry with brown rice as being unusual anymore. :) Good luck though! Enjoy the adventure!
Stacy's blog post has prompted a re-evaluation of the homeschooling question in our house. I am still uncomfortable with doing it for purely 'religious' reasons, and am more comfortable in using purely 'secular' reasons to homeschool. But today became aware that that in itself just indicates how secular in my thinking I am, which is in turn, attributable, at least in part, to my own secular schooling.
sigh. This realisation, in combination with the sermon we heard on Sunday about the failure of the Western church to evangelise its own back yard, or even to retain its own membership in the last 50 years, has made me consider how much of this is due to our secular schooling? Do we, at some very deep level, not really believe what we believe. Clearly the majority of us don't believe it passionately enough to take the message of Christ to our neighbourhood. How much of this is because throughout our formative years we have been taught that our faith is not 'rational' or 'reasonable' and that it's okay for US to believe it, but not to communicate that belief to other people.
I am on a hard journey here, but an eye-opening one.
Potentially made harder by Miss3's comment today that "I am not going to stay at home with you guys all day - you are boring - I want to go play with my friends." (I kept her home sick today from preschool/kindy).
I can contribute to the flour discussion too :) We are gradually weaning ourselves off white flour in baking - first try a cake you can bake and just substitute out 1/2cup of white flour and replace it with 1/2c of wholemeal/wheatmeal/wholewheatmeal flour (different brands call it different things). It will make the cake seem heavier than usual, but, as EllaJac said, this is less noticable in fruit/carrot/banana/zucchini type cakes. The next time you bake it, replace 1 cup of flour - you'll get used to the wholemeal feel very quickly. I usually just go half and half now even the first time I bake a new recipe. Most recipes can tolerate this quite well.
Somewhere I've got a good guide as to how to replace sugar with honey in recipes, but I can't find it just now - if I do lay my hands on it I'll post it here. I usually use rapadura though - honey is quite expensive here (although, rapadura is too...)
Whoops....I didn't proofread before sending that...I meant what my mother taught me, not her. :)
Yeah, I can buy whole wheat flour at the store and by the pound at the health food store. I don't have any idea if it's differentiated. I have heard it's more dense, though, and that's why I didn't think I could use it for baking without compensating with regular white flour. I don't have the money or space to keep three or four different types of flours around for various uses, though I wish I could. I suppose we would grow accustomed to the difference. I do use brown rice and have never noticed a difference there. And in the sugar department....I have no idea. I suppose there's websites out there? :) Googling "sugar alternatives" brought up a bunch of stuff like Splenda, etc. and stuff like stevia. Stevia is great, just expensive. If I could use applesauce, though, that'd be great. I thought applesauce was an alternative for oil, though?
Thanks...I'll do some internet poking around and some experimenting. Four months of trial birthday cake sounds fantastic. :)
Handymum; the decision about homeschooling (and the journey there) is full of self-realizations, I think. And those can go either way: determining to do it out of fear (of the big scary world) determining not to out of fear (I am not qualified, I'm not disciplined or organized). Both of those reasons are faulty, I think (and they're both ones I have had to address in myself). I had to come to a place where I really understood homeschooling to be the right option for my family, and that we do it in, through, and unto God. It's not about anyone else (whether it's their praise or criticism). Your points about our 'believing it' but not passionately to speak up about it really hit home. I wonder about this in myself. I also have an underlying... opinion? belief? that "others aren't going to make the same choice for Christ." -- and I never linked it to the mainstream Tolerance Teachings (tolerant of everything but Christ), but it makes sense. That is food for thought. An eye-opening book for me (on how secular cultures affect our thinking) was So Much More (written by the Botkin Sisters in New Zealand!) - it's actually about being a young woman/daughter and really pursuing Christ - but FULL of history and things I was never taught. I will be praying for you through your examining of all this; that God would give you Peace with the direction He'd have you go. Also that your little one would find joy in spending time with her family at home.
Your ideas about easing into the whole grains are excellent! I tend toward absolutes, and your suggestions are really great. I wonder if extra baking soda/baking powder would help some of the denser stuff? Let us know if you find the exact honey/sugar subs. I usually use it equally, but there's the moisture to consider too.
Annie, maybe 'pre-mixing' some white and wheat flour (and storing in a single container) could help with your storage problems? You'd HAVE to use it that way! Maybe change the ratio (a little more whole-grain) each time to ease yourself into it, as handymum suggested? Just an idea, anyway.. And yes, I think applesauce substitutes oil in cake (mixes, anyway), so I'm not sure what you'd have to do there. I don't think applesauce alone would be enough to sweeten a cake. Stevia added could help, but since it's 300 times sweeter than sugar (or so), you'd have a volume problem too. Azure has this stevia which I use (the jar is about 2" wide, but it laaaasts), and I could get it to you for $6.43 plus shipping to you (it's very light). Click the links - maybe you could have it shipped directly for cheaper..? Oh - I also can order once a month (next week) and it arrives about 2 weeks later, so it would take a while...
Well, most of my posts don't take this much space (well, maybe)!
Found it! Baking with honey instead of sugar. I think I'll type this into my blog too (saves me coming up with something else for today's post! :-). This was found in a NZ farming magazine from the 60s.
reduce total liquid in recipe by 1/4 cup for each cup of honey used to replace sugar
honey is more acid than sugar so add 1/5 to 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda per cup of honey used
honey can totally replace sugar in recipes like breads, biscuits/scones and cookies/biscuits. But in larger cakes not more than half of the sugar should be replaced by honey. Fruit cakes are the exception. All the sugar can be replaced by honey in fruit cakes - honey improves the flavour and the keeping properties of the fruit cake.
baking temperatures should be lowered by 25degF to prevent overbrowning. Honey caramelises more readily than sugar.
honey sweetened baked goods have a better flavour the day after baking
to measure honey easily heat the spoon in hot water and put the hot wet spoon directly into the jar of honey.
Miss3 is just learning the word 'boring', and it is seeing some over-use around here! I don't think she really knows what it means - she has just heard it used in a whining way, and she uses it at 'appropriate' moments, but I remain unconvinced that she means it when she says it.
She is, however, an extremely social child, who would play with friends all day every day if she could.
Ellajac, I am SO sorry to have hijacked your post and carried on this total off-topic rabbit trail.
Handymum, thanks! That's a great suggestion and that's probably how I'll ease into this. The problem of storage remains, so Ellajac's idea of pre-mixing seems a good fix. We currently have a cannister of unbleached white flour and a bag of bread flour sitting in the fridge. I didn't want to add another bag (or two) to all that, but maybe I will just until the white runs out. As to the stevia....I'm really not sure. Does it tell you how to use it? :) I don't know. I want to have healthier alternatives for my family but sometimes it feels like I think about it too much. :)
Handymum; thanks! What an in-depth analysis of how to substitute honey! I also completely love your NZ spelling, too; "favour," "carmelise" and all. :)
Annie; no worries! All posts are hijackable (well, for great discussions, not evil speak). I might add something to the main post so I can find it all later when I want to! As to using Stevia, I don't know of any particular formula. I might google that later though. You probably won't find anything 'official' on it; FDA has approved its use as a 'nutritional supplement' but you will not find it already in anything (like pop, or cookies or something). I don't know if stevia-companies are 'allowed' to advertise or suggest how it may be used in anything. The brand I linked to is my favorite; has the best flavor and I 'trust' it's manufacture.
Thank you! I came across another site today about natural sweeteners in recipes, I'll have to find and post the link because I lost it already.
Oh wait, here it is: http://inclotheslinealley.blogspot.com/2008/02/all-about-natural-sweeteners.html
My brother is currently trying to convince me to grow my own sugar cane in my backyard. I can't say I'm not considering it.
I just had another thought about a party cake - what about a traditionally-made ice-cream cake? With all that lovely full cream and egg yolks and honey instead of sugar? It occurred to me as I was whipping the butter for the very non-healthy birthday cake I decorated a couple of days ago that the butter icing was probably the most edible bit of the cake, and then my brain free-wheeled to ice-cream.
Just a thought :)
Excellent idea... In fact, last summer whilst I had a giant supply of raw cream (and tons of eggs), I "preserved" its goodness by making all sorts and kinds of homemade ice cream. I haven't made any of it into an ice-cream-cake though, but that's a great thought. I may just do it one of these days... Thanks!
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