As I Grow Older
 

I find that I have to space things out in order not to get overly tired. I have been wanting to make chocolate chip cookies for some time, but it is nearly an all day thing. Last night, I hit on the idea of mixing the dry ingredients and just stopping there. Today I mixed the dough and put the little balls of dough onto a large tray lined with parchment paper. I have just put it into the refrigerator, and tomorrow I will bake. I have to wait a bit longer to get cookies but maybe I will appreciate them more. :)

I just thought I would share that with anyone who has a tendency to tire easily, the way I do.

I do something like that with my zucchini bread, because of the supply from the summer garden. I measure out all the dry ingd. except sugar. Put into 6 different bowls. When time comes to make the bread, about 2 times a week, I just have to reach for a bowl of dry ingds. Makes the baking for the day go faster.

i do that more and more with all of my projects... it also keeps the stress level lower

quilts are big projects that often get done in sections. when I leave them I tag a note saying last step done and the next step to do. Then I can relax and forget about it until I pick it up again.

I mix mine, roll them in ball, put on paper and cooking sheet and put in freezer. Next day I put them in a bag and back in freezer. When I want a few cookies, I take out what I want and bake them. If I just bake a few, I just eat a few, lol.

Oh yes, sounds like me. It used to take one day to clean the house - now it takes more than a week!

Yep,I even do quilting in stages. Great to know I"m not alone.

Good strategy ... do what works for you!

There are lots of "Jar Mixes" whereby you put all the dry ingredients in a mason jar, ready for when baking time comes. What I do is make up a bunch of them at a time. A good sit-down job. Then when baking time comes, I don't have to find the time to do all the measuring.

For your cookie balls .... you can also make them, as you did today, and put them in the freezer. Once frozen, then into a plastic container or bag, until you bake them. Then just put the frozen dough balls onto your cookie sheet, and bake. Another job that can be mostly done as s sit-down, once the dough is made.

You can also freeze the dough ... though you need to plan ahead to let it thaw , and then the scooping, can be a tiring job too. I actually prefer the frozen balls .... as then baking is a breeze!

So far I can still make a double batch of cookies same as before. Who knows when the time will come for me to break it up into steps.

Sometimes it is not being able to ... sometimes it is a matter of time!
Or just general convenience.

When I do my jar mixes, I might spend as much time or even more than I would if making batch of cookies, or even a double batch. But there are times I just clearly do not have the time, and to have the mixes ready or the frozen dough balls ready to go .... I can make "fresh" cookies without any time or effort!

cookies! I make the batter, shape it into a log, and cut off enough pieces of dough to bake for whoever is present, then freeze the rest in wax paper or freezer paper. Grands love having fresh baked cookies, as does my husband. Me, too!

I have a German recipe that I make (Rouladens) that I make in steps. I generally make it when DD & DSIL come over for a meal. (He's from Germany & loves them....says mine are the best he's ever eaten). Well, I buy my meat & roll them up for the first step. Then I freeze them because I generally make them up well in advance of cooking. When it's company time I take them out of the freezer the day before company is coming & I defrost & braze them on the skillet. The next day I make the gravy & put them in the gravy & then the oven for about 4 hours. Yum! They are so yummy & tender.

My GKids always come with fundraiser catalogs and (of course) I buy something. One of them was a box of individual frozen cho chip cookies. When I used them up, I made a double batch of my own, used my cookie scoop and refilled the box. Now I have fresh cookies within 12 min when ever I need them.

I used to make massive amounts of cookies for the holiday season. I would take a day and measure out the dry ingredients in sandwich bags and put those bags and the recipe in a larger gallon bag then store these in a large grocery bag. When I had time I would mix a batch with the "wet" ingredients, one batch after another (didn't have to wash the mixer bowl in between), store in the fridge or freeze and bake another day. Only one day of cleaning up spilled flour, sugar, mixing cups, etc. and one cleanup of the mixer. I love baking--not so much cleanup.

I often mix them up one day, bake the next. I need to form into balls and then freezing them in packages.

I don't do much in the kitchen b/c my husband loves to cook and is a much better one than me. But I love doing yard work. I remember coming home from an 8 hour nursing shift and doing yard work for a few hours. Those days are gone! :)
I hear ya, Boston!

I was a wonderful baker until sciatica came to live with me. Now, I am lucky to bake a small packet of muffins for us to enjoy with our morning coffee.

I have to do most things that way now to get things done. I always liked to get things started and finished as fast as I could but the old body does not work that way anymore.

I make all cookies into bar cookies because I hate all those pans of little balls of dough. I am lazy like that and it saves time for sewing more.

I find it just takes longer to do anything anymore. Dinner takes forever to prepare and its over in 20 mins.