I have many things to think about this week, apart from the orders which I have to get through, so my mind has been running over different ideas I need to try and when I will have the time to try them out. Needless to say, the house is pretty immaculate as I have spent loads of time cleaning, ironing, washing and dusting (as this is my thinking time). You could eat your dinner off the bathroom floor and there is no ironing to do. 🙂 However, whilst thinking, I have realised I need to do some investing in my business by purchasing some new equipment, in particular, a food processor/blender. I have chosen a couple that I like so once I run them by my husband I can order it to be delivered. (links below)
This is the part of the job I hate as I am so worried I choose the wrong item or it breaks down straight away. Gone are the days of the cheap electric hand held whisk which I used in my market stall days. Now my life has got a whole lot busier, so to keep up with demand not just from customer orders but from the dietary needs of customers I am going to outlay some money. Part of me is excited at new equipment for my kitchen as I am sure I will get the hang of it just like I did with the new oven 🙂
Once I have this piece of equipment I can start to make my own low carbohydrate powdered sugar (as it is cheaper than buying it online) which I am planning to use to decorate the low carbohydrate bakes with. With this piece of equipment I will be investing in my business by meeting the needs of those customers who are wanting low carbohydrate and other dietary requirements which can be met when a baker is able to produce something of quality. A lot of my bakes recently have been trial bakes as I have to master the techniques to go with the new ingredients to achieve good bakes. Thankfully, with having the Food Science background I am finding this work quite satisfying as I love creating bakes with little tweaks here and there.
Once the cupcakes are decorated similar to standard cupcakes I think they will look more appealing and the buttercream will add another flavour and some moistness to the cupcake (as I think they are a bit dry in texture). I can't wait to order this blender - then by the weekend the kitchen will be full of powdered sugar dust. 🙂
Bakewell Cupcakes (low carbohydrate) 
Coconut & Raspberry Loaf (low carbohydrate)
My baking order for today has already been packaged and posted to the customer so the rest of the day is mine 🙂 However, I have so much to do that I don't think I will be getting a break as such - just a change of scenery.
As for tomorrow, I have big plans to bake some low carbohydrate ideas again - keep them overnight in the hope that I receive my new blender on Friday so that I can then decorate the cupcakes. I am planning on baking Carrot Cupcakes and Lemon Cupcakes. Also, I am making some chocolate decorations for the Valentine Giant Cookie (don't forget about the giveaway on my Facebook page) but I am adding the Giant Cookie to my webshop too and some other Valentine Cupcakes to add to my webshop for customers to buy for collection only.
As I am so busy tomorrow baking the dinner which I have in mind will have to go in the slow cooker so that I have one less thing to think about - as it were - but I will still have plenty to do for the dinner tomorrow night as we are having a Corn Chip extravaganza to celebrate National Corn Chip Day" which was on the 29th January. When I say corn chip, it is my version of corn chip, as I am sure it is not the same in the USA. We are having a Vegetable Chilli made in the slow cooker served with :-
- rice
- guacamole
- sour cream
- nacho cheese sauce
- nachos/corn chip
- salsa.
All homemade from scratch so I will share lots of photos as no doubt the children will insist that I take a photo of their plate of food. The children are looking forward to this dinner so I will have to make a really good job of it as they are my harshest critics. 🙂
Right enough blogging for now, I must get back to the more tedious job of adding the nutritional information and realigning the conversion table to the recipes, as well as, adding some more nutritional details to the products. These are jobs I have chosen to do as I think it will enhance the blog and shop and make it easier for customers and readers to make decisions about whether they want to buy a product or bake using one of my recipes.