Getting Curious About That Box
So last weekend I’m staring at this Pearl Milling Company pancake mix box in my pantry, right? Just grabbed it during my Walmart run like always. Suddenly thought – wait, what exactly am I pouring into my frying pan every Sunday? That ingredient list looks longer than my arm. Figured I’d actually read the tiny print and see what’s what.
The Great Ingredient Hunt
First thing I did was rip open the box like a kid on Christmas morning. Scooped out the powder stuff onto my counter – smelled kinda sweet and floury. Grabbed my phone flashlight ’cause the printing on that bag is ridiculous small. Read each line out loud while my dog stared at me like I’d lost it:
- Enriched bleached flour – sounds fancy but honestly no clue what “bleached” means for my guts
- Soybean oil – okay that’s in like everything nowadays
- Dextrose – basically sugar dressed up fancy huh?
- Baking soda – grandma used this so probably fine
- Monocalcium phosphate – now that’s a mouthful! Sounds like science class
- Sodium aluminum phosphate – aluminum? That set off alarm bells in my head
Kitchen Detective Work
Started Googling like crazy while the mix sat there. Found out that aluminum thing is common in baking powder – still kinda sketched me out though. Most sites said the amounts are tiny and “generally recognized as safe” – whatever that means. Made me wonder why they need all this chemical jazz when flour, eggs and milk worked fine for granny.
Tossed the powder into my mixing bowl with water, stirred it up. Looked at that thick bubbly goo and thought – well I’ve eaten this a hundred times and ain’t dead yet. But that aluminum bit kept nagging at me. Read some forums where folks argued it could mess with your brain long-term. Others called that bullcrap.
Breakfast Verdict Time
Fried ’em up anyways. Golden brown pancakes smelled amazing like always. Fluffed up real nice. Tossed on maple syrup and took a bite – still tasted like childhood mornings. But couldn’t shake that weird feeling about the ingredients now that I’d actually checked.
So is it safe? Probably. Good? Tastes damn good. But I’m switching to my basic flour/sugar/baking soda recipe next Sunday. Sometimes the simple stuff just sits better in your mind even if the science says you’re being paranoid. Done with mystery powders for a while!
