New Year, New Domesticult

I ended 2012 poorly. It's been ages since I've updated. It seems like I've apologized about my long bouts of neglect more than actual blogging. It was my first year into it and I'm still learning. One of my main goals of 2013 is to "finish what I start". This is something incredibly important regarding the upkeep of Domesticult! My lack of organization and time management is also a force to be reckoned with. I just want to express my enthusiasm for the new year and new beginnings!

This blog started with the purpose of chronicling my journey of making an organized (and fun!) adult home and life. I may have slacked off on the blog, but I can say that I cook way more often, developed better house chore habits, and have continued creative projects. This year I'll make sure I incorporate nurturing the blogger in me. I have my camera ready to go and a list of projects to start. Bring on 2013!

I decided to begin with two bread recipes. I realized I've never made any type of banana bread or "breakfast" bread variety. J came over one evening and we gobbled them up. These breads are comforting and delicious. A perfect start.

 

Cream Cheese Banana Bread

 

Recipe @ fakeginger

 

 

I followed the recipe exactly. It turned out wonderful. Mr. P decided this one was his favorite. Cream cheese is always Mr. P's favorite. My banana's were perfect for this recipe. They were dark on the outside but perfectly soft for baking. I was glad I just happened to have walnuts in the pantry!

 

 

Banana Zucchini Bread



 



I adapted my recipe from Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice

 

 

Ingredients:

 

1/2 C mashed ripe banana

1 C shredded zucchini

1/3 cup yogurt

5 Tbs butter, melted

2 eggs

1/2 C granulated sugar

1/2 C light brown sugar

2 C all-purpose flour

1/4 C toasted wheat germ

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1 tsp vanilla extract

 

Directions:

 

1. Pre heat oven to 350F. Spray a 9 x 5 loaf pan with non stick spray.

 

2. In separate bowl, sift flour, wheat germ, baking soda, salt and spices together. ( I always do this while I'm preheating. Makes the whole process faster.)

 

3. With mixer, combine banana, zucchini, yogurt, butter, and eggs. Beat until just combined. Add sugars and blend on medium.

 

4. Add dry ingredients to wet. Beat until just combined.

 

5. Bake at 350F for an hour to 65 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes and then remove to rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

 

You could add a frosting if you would like. I enjoyed mine warm and with a little butter. I got a lot of compliments from coworkers that hate zucchini and loved this bread!

 

 



 

Happy Birthday to Me.

I'm so sorry for my absence. The time flew by faster than I thought! My 25th birthday was on Thursday the 6th, but I had been celebrating since last Monday it seemed! Mr. P has a brother whose birthday is 3 days before mine! It was quite a busy week!

I'd like to share some pictures of my Sushi Birthday Night with the girls. We did some easy cupcake decorating and demolished sushi from Sakura.

I thought using the rice crisp cereal over the cupcake made it look like the puffed rice sushi variety. It also tasted awesome and gave the lemon cupcakes some crunch. We used "pull n' peel" twizzlers and gummy worms for the decorations on top.

I also put together a party favor bag. I planned this party at the very last minute and didn't get to diy a lot of the things I would have liked. I did keep up with the "kawaii" kind of theme and had frog shaped plates, a cupcake "cupcake" holder, paint-dipped chopsticks, and a cute notepad that opened into an apple shape. I knew that was all too much to fit into a take-out style box.

 I found out about "Furoshiki" which is a Japanese wrapping cloth. It's super environmentally friendly. I found an easy guide posted on "Keeping the Christmas Spirit Alive,365"  I have extra material lying around and cut some squares out. There are many different styles to try. I went with the one that looked like a shopping bag. I just twisted the "handles" together and secured with the chopsticks!

In other news, I was given a business proposition from a friend of mine. I told her I'd be happy to join her in her endeavor. So, I will be going through a transition of balancing the blog, helping with all our creations, and figuring out "business" like things! I'm really looking forward to it and will elaborate more when I can!

Until then, don't hate me because I haven't posted in a while! I've been getting my "ducks in a row," so to speak.



  

It's National Toasted Marshmallow Day!

I finally found a few sites online that list those off the wall holidays. Brownielocks and Holiday Insights. Some just make me laugh, like Wonderful Weirdos Day coming up on Sept. 9th!

In observance of toasty marshmallow day I thought it would be nice to share some yummy recipes I found.

Chocolate Marshmallow Cake

 

Toasted Marshmallow Milkshake

 

 

and the always classic S'mores Bar

 

 

 

I'm afraid to say that a lot of my baking resources have ran dangerously low. I live in the Florida panhandle and all this week we were expecting the storm. Wasn't a good time to go car shopping even after waiting all this time for the insurance payment from the accident! Needless to say, I do not like to keep asking people to take me to the store. So, instead of making one of these awesome goodies listed, I improvised.

 

 Microwave Milano S'mores

There are really two ways you could go about making these. I chose the route that contained more cookies and sweetness. Your other option includes zapping the Milano cookies for literally 5 seconds, or enough for you to slide the cookies apart. Then mush a marshmallow on one side (you already got the chocolate!) and microwave for about 15-20 seconds. Just keep an eye on it! Add the top...ta da! Instant s'mores. Or double the goods like I did.

 

 

I used some chocolate baking chips instead of a candy bar.

 

I split the marshmallows in half and placed on a cookie.
 Topped with a few chips.

 

Melty Goodness!

 

I gobbled these up!

 

 

A really quick and easy indulgent snack! It's been a long week everyone! To all my fellow gulf coast residents I'm glad FL missed the worst of it and hope all others are well! We had cancelled this month's HC Pinners meeting because it was scheduled the night the storm was hitting. We will re-schedule. You'll most likely see 2 meetings featured for September!

 

My birthday is also coming up next week. I'm throwing a sushi party at home for close friends. I have some nifty ideas and will gladly show off my kawaii party! Follow me on Pinterest, you can check out my board for it.

 

I'm getting out of my end of summer rut and ready for festivities and fall!