Udder Madness?

I'm not sure what came over me yesterday. I'm not sure if it is 5 days with out dairy or what, but mania took over.

Little B has, for the past 4 days, had a Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie for breakfast. Super delish as it is (although I take mine without the Miralax), I thought a little change was in order. Summer is a time for frivolity and variety; I don't want to be stuck in a breakfast rut before she goes to kindergarten in 4 weeks (egads! I might add!)

Much to Mr. B's delight, I tried quick a cornbread muffin with peaches and a dab of pure maple syrup. Little B tried a bite and said it was good, but opted for her smoothie instead.

With breakfast cleared away we switched our bed skirt with the one we have in the spare bedroom downstairs. This is what began the frenzy.

Mr. B went off to work and I proceeded to rearrange our bedroom, taking off closet doors, moving dressers. At one point, both Little B and I were trapped in the bedroom. I had to hoist myself on to the top of the dresser, which was stuck in the doorway to go get paper plates in an attempt to slide them underneath my furniture nightmare. I felt a little Indiana Jones.

I was sweating in places I didn't know I had. Little B on the other hand, was singing a medley of Jesus Loves Me and The Festival Soap while creating a tape measure-zip line for her Polly Pockets.

Once I got the dresser unwedged from the previous predicament, it was time for lunch. When I asked Daphne what she wanted, you will NOT believe what she said...

LB: Is there any more of that no dairy macaroni and cheese?

ME: Really? Oh, honey, no! We finished it last night.

LB: Then Mama, we need to go to the store RIGHT NOW.

Then she zoomed down the hall into her bedroom. Mere seconds later she returned to the kitchen with hair brushed and shoes on. After promising her that we would go to the store after daddy got home, she settled for a strawberry-kiwi salad and Tofutti cheese quesadilla. The Tofutti was my first attempt with sliced American-ish soy cheese.

A definite hit.

After refueling, the madness resumed. I decided that, with the dresser moved out of the bedroom, that Mr. B or I would need to move our clothes the the spare room as well.

Ah, the spare room.

On a somewhat relative tangent (is that an oxymoron?)...We moved into our house in January of 2009. We had a tiny 850 sq ft. started home, but decided to sell it, pay off some debt and move into our church's empty parsonage. We almost tripled our space with 5 bedrooms, 3 up - 2 down. The first two upstairs of course, came to be occupied by our existing family. We left the 3rd empty and untouched - in hopes of a Baby B.

Well, needles to say, Baby B isn't in on its way and my school is getting a renovation this summer and our computer broke and my friend gave me an elliptical and I had some jewelry stuff and Mr. B needed to store some of his seminary work and...and...and...and...and...

Yikes.

I worked on the closet for a great deal of the afternoon, but this consisted mainly of me moving things from the closet into our living room (Goodwill bound). When you're making a mess, you've got to spread the love, right?

Luckily for me, I used my culinary super power to desensitize Mr. B to the mess when he arrived home. I believe his exact words were, "This is the best dinner you have ever made."

The meal got him through the night. However, the disaster still awaited me this morning.

You can try the magic too...if you need some saving grace in the form of wheat meat.

HONEY SEITAN
2 T. vegan margarine

1/4 OJ ( I only squeezed mine fresh because I had none on hand.)

2 T. Lemon Juice (Yes...I squeezed this fresh, too. I told Mr. B not to get used to it.)
3 T. Honey

1 T. Dijon Mustard

1/2 t. salt

4-6 pieces seitan

Preheat the oven to 375*. In a small pot, melt the butter. Then add in the OJ, lemon, honey, mustard and salt and whisk together. Take it off the heat.

Place the seitan in a 9x9 (or 9x13 if you have larger pieces). Pour your mixture over the seitan. Bake for 45-50 minutes, basting occasionally if you wish.

When the seitan is crispy, remove it from the dish onto a serving plate. Pour the sauce from the pan into little individual bowls.

We had wild rice and broccoli as well. I ended up dumping my ramekin of sauce over my entire plate. It took more self control than necessary to keep from drinking the remains off my plate.

Manners aren't my strong suit.