Susie Who?

“Susie Homemaker” says my mother, but I say … Who? Lol.. This mommy wears so many hats I usually can’t even remember which one I’m wearing at any given moment, let alone give her a name! lol

This weekend was SO busy! I ended up quite proud of myself and wanted to share some of my accomplishments…Im’ not nearly always so productive lol.  There’s cooking, baking, cleaning… dusting fan blades.. What? Yeah I have to (sheepishly!) admit I dusted the freaking fan blades.  (I may have gone a tad overboard on Sunday lol!) So here’s a look at my weekend moments… maybe something here will inspire you!

I repotted my patio plants, and my lil Bodhi tree who lives in my kitchen They’re SO much happier now!  Sorry I didn’t take pics of the outdoor ones!

Rearranged my living room.. I get that when you have a toddler, there’s bound to be some amount of ‘mess’ at any given time… but it seriously annoys me. I hate feeling like my place is a constant disaster!

So… I cleaned top to bottom, vacuumed and rearranged. I think I’ll be able to keep this new layout tidier. I think. I hope. (I tell myself this.)

I was such a maniac this weekend, had to get the cooking & cleaning done AND get some food-things ready for when lil man came home… (he was at the Other house this weekend *sad mommy!*) And, of course, I had to sleep in a LOT (and forgot about Dalight Saving Time so it was even later than I meant to!)

We’ve been on a budget cutting back flat broke lately, but having little means to go buy some things has led me to some kitchen creativity that I’m actually kind of happy about, so… is that the silver lining in this cloud? Methinks it is.

So I made two loaves of bread – I’m experimenting with sugar-free loaves…sweetened alternatively.  One I made with agave instead of sugar and then the second one I tried with brown rice syrup.  I haven’t tasted them yet, but they do both smell divine and the Beebits loved them!! I’ll let you know how my tasting goes when get into them.

This is loaf #1 set to rise.  I used a bread machine for the dough cycle, then ‘loaf it’ and let it rise and bake in the oven.  Since I was doing 2 loaves with limited time, I let the second loaf go the whole distance in the machine.

My recipe is modified from my mom‘s 9-Grain loaf, modified a tiny bit for ingredients I didn’t have lol…and listed in the order I put them in my machine

• 1 1/4 c. water
• 3 Tbsp sugar (agave, rice syrup, etc- just so long as you feed your yeast!)
• 1Tbsp raw millet
• 1 Tbsp flaxseed (whole or flaxmeal)
• 1-2 Tbsp quick cook oats
• 1 Tbps sunflower seeds
• 2 Tbsp oil (I generally use EVOO, this time I used safflower as I’m out of olive!)
• 2 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 c. bread flour
• 1/4 c. cracked wheat cereal (or a good 7 or 9-grain is awesome too!)
• 2 1/4 tsp yeast (if you have them, it’s 1 ‘packet’)

Turn on the bread machine and let ‘er rip! This stuff is so good. And full of whole grain-y goodness! Mmmmmm, toasted with some coconut butter… Mmmm.

Speaking of coconut butter… This is my FAVORITE breakfast lately, a lil bowlful (nice full 1/2 c cooked) of steel cut oats with a dollop of coconut butter on top! Of course I mix it together before I eat it … usually… And coconut oil works too if you have it, it’s just not as creamy. The flavor is AWESOME too!  Try it, really, you’ll see!

Next Hummus! The wee Beebits usually helps me make the hummus but this time I did it all by myself! Yay mommy! *rolls eyes*  Really, once you have toddlers you’ll understand the value of “by myself“. Being able to do something on your own (cook, vacuum, shower, pee…) becomes total nirvana.  So here’s my “All By Myself” Hummus:

• 425 grams cooked beans (My fav mix is about 2/3 chickpea, 1/3 kidney bean)
• 1-2 tsp garlic granules (if you have fresh more power to ya, use 4-6 cloves, or more to taste!)
• 1 tsp salt (I use himalaya or sea salt)
• 1 tsp cumin (usually end up adding a bit more of this but to 1 tsp is good to start)
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 2/3 c water
• 2 Tbsp olive oil

Get your beans nicely ground in the food processor (garlic first if you’re using fresh or it won’t get ground up as finely), add water and olive oil, then spices. And scrape the sides down periodically so it all gets blended well.

The Beebits and I eat this on crackers, with potato or rice, with chips, with spoons…. Is a great protein!

This next bad boy rates two pictures! Only because I snapped one before and one after   They’re taken from Isa’s recipe, but again, tweaked for ingredients I didn’t have… and for less sugar. They’re awesome! The Beebits and I made them together last time, but again, since he wasn’t home… All By Myself!! *giggle*

Here’s to Homemade Teddy Grahams (or whatever shape you like!)

• 1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 c date sugar (you can use regular sugar here, but I found that the date sugar 1. cuts back the total sugar content – duh! – and 2. gives it a fun dark flavor!)
• 1/2 -1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 c oil
• 1/4 c non-dairy milk (I used soy cause it’s what we got
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 T dark agave syrup

You can follow the directions from Isa’s recipe they’re the same, basically mix all your dry, add in your wet, mix til it’s well blended and a tiny bit crumbly. Roll it out on a flat surface to about 1/8″ thickness and cut!  You can just cut into rectangles for simplicity or use cookie cutters (more fun for a 2 yr old!).

Using the cutter will make the whole process take a LOT longer, lemme warn you, because you’ll have to keep re-balling the dough and rolling it out again to make more shapes. Just so you know.   Doesn’t mean it’s not worth it!

I also made, but without pictures, Susan’s Irish Faux-sages, to which I modify only by adding 1 tsp of ground fennel (tastes more like sausage to me with fennel in it!) but otherwise the recipe is as Susan wrote it. It’s my go-to ‘meat’, it’s easy to make and SO good and SO versatile!  I actually cut up a faux-sage and pan frid it with a red potato for dinner but I forgot to take a picture til I was done. Lol. It didn’t last long! AND the lil man loves these too I’m aspiring to a modification for apple-sage and chipotle, since those are two awesome flavors by Field Roast… we’ll see!

AND, because I’m an awesome mommy… and told the child we could have waffles today… I got up this morning and made waffles first thing. Yay for keeping our word, even to the mini-people!  I usually use the ‘No-Fuss Pancakes‘ recipe from the Compassionate Cooks, but apparently you can’t find it on the site.. I must have gotten this from my mom? I make both pancakes and waffles with this same recipe, they’re rockin! AND because it calls for a fruit juice for sweetener, you can have subtly different tasting batter each time depending on what you use. I have tried pineapple and apple and they’re both awesome.

I’m not sure if I’m supposed to post their recipe, because they sell them as ‘cookbooks’ but you can find it here if you want it!

OH, since mom mentioned it here, and also since I just made a new jar today, here’s the skinny on tofu scramble seasoning I have modified the recipe mom gave me, so now is it my recipe? No idea, but I’ll still share it with you

• 1/3 c. onion powder
• 1 1/2 Tbsp curry powder
• 1 1/2 Tbsp ground cumin
• 1 1/2 Tbsp turmeric (more if you like it very yellow)
• 2-3tsp sea/himalaya salt (use the higher amount if you like it salty!)
• 2-3 tsp kala namak (or, black salt) for an ‘eggy’ flavor

Combine all ingredients in a dry blender until very well mixed and then add 1 c. ‘nooch’ (nutritional yeast) and blend again until well mixed. Sprinkle over your tofu for a ‘scramble’, anytime the mood strikes you!

Finally, a post just wouldn’t be complete without an update about the Beebits!

Since Halloween was the last big something, I’ll put up some pics from our Halloween. I made Jr an “Itsy Bitsy Spider” for a costume What fun!

He decorated it himself!

Mommy and Jr with our Pumpkin!

Out trick-or-treating

Visiting mommy’s office after Halloween to get another use of the costume (And to visit the fountain, lol!)

You know what’s the absolute best?? Getting ready for work today and having my SO SWEET little 2 year old say “Mommy cute!” Awwwww! Made. My. Day. !!!! I love my little man! And he loves me!

What a weekend! What a day! I’m tired just reliving it for you Until next time….

What’s something someone said to you recently that made your day?