9 women told us their funniest lies they’ve told about food and tbh we’ve never felt more seen.

I wasn’t much of a cook growing up.   

Our household very much ran smoothly thanks to my mum. I actually didn’t even take an interest in it, just accepted what was served up to me and complained if I didn’t like it (most kids did this, right?).

When I moved out of home, this proved to be a bit of an... issue. I literally had to learn how to boil an egg and make spaghetti bolognese!

Many moons later and with a little family of my own, I find a lot of joy in cooking, especially baking. I have a sweet tooth by nature so can often be found whipping up some brownies or muffins for all of us (me) to snack on. I'm big on shortcuts too because honestly, who has the time to spend hours in the kitchen making meals or snacks from scratch? I sure as heck don’t.

I'm pretty selective with my packet mixes though which is why I’m super excited about Mt. Elephant’s new baking mixes, which they have created with leading nutritionist Jacqueline Alwill.

As a mum of 3 herself, Jacqueline knows exactly why we all take shortcuts in our cooking: making things from scratch takes so much time and effort. With so few baking mixes on the market that are actually nutritious for us, teaming up with Mt. Elephant meant a convenient and healthy solution for those of us who are time-poor (read: all of us).

A recent poll from Mt. Elephant found that about a third of baking mix users admit to having made something with a baking mix but told people they made it from scratch!

Another recent study found that 63 per cent of Aussies are too tired to cook from scratch (can relate) and 35 per cent also don't even have the time. 

Including real, wholefood ingredients with low sugar, they’re new baking mixes are then a sweet solution for people (parents! Rejoice!) who are tight on time or like the ease of baking from a box without having to compromise on nutrition. Just available at Woolies, the Choc Chunk Wholefood Brownie Mix and Banana Oat Superfood Cookie Mix are looking like fab lunchbox solutions for my kids without making me do too much. The only tricky thing is: I'll be eyeing them off first before then even make their way into a lunchbox! 

My daughter and I. Image: Supplied.

Funnily enough, it’s this not-doing-too-much-to-cook attitude that led to what my hubby calls ‘The Great Homemade Coffee Debacle’. He says it is my biggest failure as a wife yet. I say it is by far the most genius food fib ever told.

The story goes, that after nagging me for what felt like hours to make him a coffee while he was glued to the footy, I finally relented. 

The kettle was taking way too long to boil and I got bored and impatient, so I just flicked it off and poured it into his mug anyway. I handed him his coffee and within minutes he was off the lounge, shoving his mug into the microwave because it was barely lukewarm. 

He thinks I did it on purpose... I told him that it wasn’t my fault, that the kettle broke half way through boiling. 

To commit to the story I'd told, I then had to go buy a new kettle. 

Surely I’m not the only one who has told a harmless little white food-related lie? To prove this, I asked some of my nearest and dearest what their funniest food fib is. Here's what they told me.

Liz

I love making birthday cakes but let’s be honest, it’s time consuming and doesn’t always turn out how I see it in my mind. For my daughter’s 6th birthday, she wanted a Dolly Varden cake (that iconic Women's Weekly creation where the dress is the actual cake with a doll in the middle). 

But I just... didn’t really feel up to it (we said we're being honest here!). My mum however jumped at the chance and made my daughter a really pretty one.

On her birthday, my daughter so excited by the cake that I jumped in and yelled ‘I made it baby!’ My mum just stared at me, mouth agape and eyes wide. I smiled and winked. It was never spoken about again. 

Image: Supplied.

Rikki (me again!)

I have realised I have a bit of a habit when it comes to cutting food corners, with my greatest food fib of all coming at the expense of my incredibly trusting work colleagues. 

Every year at work we had a fundraiser for our charity partner, and this particular year, it was a bake sale. 

Everyone was to make something at home and bring it into the office for the fundraising morning tea. I knew how incredible some women in my office were in the kitchen so I decided that I just had to nail a classic and make everyone’s tummies, Instagram photos and our charity partner extremely happy. 

And I did. With a boxed brownie mix. Of course I dazzled it up with a light dusting of icing sugar and some raspberries but seriously, no one knew a thing and it was a huge hit! Definitely keeping that secret to myself.

Fay

Many, many years ago when I was a young mother, I would often serve up meat and three veg to my children. Homemade rissoles were a dinnertime favourite, my youngest daughter once saying that they were ‘yummy, just like hamburgers’. 

What she and her siblings didn’t know, is that they were actually lamb's brains. 

They didn’t find this out until they were grown with their own kids and we still laugh about it whenever we have a BBQ – they're scared to eat what I put on it!

Jess

My hubby LOVES cake – he’d eat it for breakfast if he could. 

I wanted to help him "health-ify" his cake intake by making him a Magic Bean cake, where kidney beans are actually the main ingredient but jazzed up with cacao or cocoa powder!

We made it, served up, it looked exactly like a humble chocolate cake but unbeknownst to him, there was no chocolate in it. When he questioned the unchocolate-like flavour (after eating a whole slice) I revealed that it was actually made of kidney beans. Woops – a bit too earthy and mushy in taste for that one to pass.

Kate

My partner is a big meat eater but sometimes, much to his dismay, I like to us to eat a little bit lighter and have a break from meat at every meal. 

Not too long ago, when my mum and dad were visiting us, I made dinner reservations at a vegetarian restaurant. 

Knowing he wouldn’t go if I told him, I kept plans very close to my chest, just nodding when he asked if he’d like it or if we’d been there before. 

When we arrived that night, he was not happy. Realising that he had to forgo his beloved meat for one night or sit there and watch us eat, he caved. And funnily enough, he still comments on how amazing the roasted cauliflower was!

Belinda

When my two daughters were little, getting them to eat their veggies was like pulling teeth. 

So like all good parents do, I fibbed to them! I told them, ‘if you don’t eat your veg your teeth will fall out’. I have never seen kids eat their broccoli and carrots so quickly.

Another lie I told them was that if they eat too many lollies, they’ll wake up in the morning looking like full-sized jelly babies. Sounds silly but I tell you, they’re now well-rounded eaters and healthy young adults so it clearly worked!

Image: Supplied.

Aleisha

My kids have recently adopted an unhealthy addiction to choccie milkshakes and are very used to getting one whenever we visit a café. 

Wanting to curb this addiction, we now frequent the same few cafés and have told the kids that they definitely, absolutely, 100 per cent do not make chocolate milkshakes, just coffees. 

What’s even better, is that we even have the café staff on board with it for us. Sometimes, the lie is just easier than the debacle.  

Ashling

I love my sister so much, she’s my best friend, so when she asked me to make her an ice cream cake (with ice cream from scratch like they do on MasterChef!) for her birthday I agreed without hesitation. But then I remembered I actually have no idea how to make an ice cream cake... and I had so much on that I actually didn’t have the time to learn. 

So, instead of letting her down, I went in blind: I bought a tonne of vanilla ice cream in tubs, melted it and mixed in cookies, lollies and chocolates. I then poured it into a tin and froze it. Once decorated all nice it looked great and she loved it. 

I was so proud of myself that I still to this day tell her I most definitely made it from scratch, ice cream machine and all. 

Marilyn

For almost two decades now my daughter has been vegan but as she works overseas for most of the year, vegan food isn’t a regular on our home menu.

When we do have the pleasure of having her home, I need to incorporate her preference into our meals but as my husband isn’t a plant-based kind of man, I need to do it in a crafty way. 

Meat is the biggest challenge and my favourite trick is to make a big beautiful chicken and vegetable curry, swapping out the chicken for firm tofu. 

When tofu is cut in a slightly messy, ‘chicken strip’ kind of way and covered in sauce, my husband can’t tell the difference between tofu and chicken as he shovels everything into his mouth all at once. Winning!

See, other people do take food short cuts and tell a few little lies like me and you know what? It’s totally acceptable! 

Food is to be enjoyed, not seen as a burden so making something from ready-to-use mixes is a great way to go. It keeps tummy’s happy and gives the home chefs more time to let the kettle boil (*wink wink*). 

Try Mt. Elephant's Baking Mixes, nutrient-rich mixes to incorporate more plant-based goodness into your life. Shop the range at your nearest Woolworths.

Source: The Future of FMCG: 7 Consumer Drivers for 2021 and Beyond.

Feature Image: Getty.