Susie Saturday

Susie Homemaker Saturday! At least that’s what my friends called me when I told them what I did on Saturday.

Here we go…

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I thought I’d gotten the first tomato from our garden.

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But upon closer examination, the tomato was SPLIT! Not sure what causes this. The others seem to be ok.

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We took Bailey to the farmer’s market. He LOVED it!

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Per the usual, we found some great stuff!

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We came home with organic kale, zucchini, squash, and organic broccoli. There’s one vendor there whose organic produce always looks so amazing! That’s who we bought the kale and broccoli from.

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We also got some cage-free local eggs and grass-fed beef brisket. We’re thinking of cutting this 3 lb bad boy into half and doing a roast Sunday and grilling it another night.

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Post-market, we also hit up the grocery store for eats and baking supplies: organic half and half, organic whipped cream, organic grape tomatoes, organic canteloupe, vegetarian lard, organic carrots, organic blueberries, organic strawberries, dired dates and unsweetened applesauce.

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Then, it was time to get my bake on!

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Love my salt container – do you recognize it from the header?!

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After some stirring, cutting, mixing and baking, we had dessert 90% done for Saturday’s cookout.

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I was running short on time so I grabbed a Vega Whole Food Vibrancy Bar (*) in Wholesome Original.

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Nutrition

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Like all Vega products, I LOVE how these guys are made with plant-based ingredients – not crazy chemicals.

According to the Sequel Naturals web site, these bars are: organic, raw, sprouted, enzymatically-alive, vegan, gluten-free, alkaline-forming, & omega-rich. And as far as ingredients, these bars contain sprouted buckwheat, hemp seed, sprouted almonds, Salba, aรงai, chardonnay grape and Vega Antioxidant EFA Oil Blend.

The texture reminds me a bit of Larabars with maybe a little more crunch. The flavor is pretty nice – light, not too sweet. It tastes a little powdery, possibly from the protein, but overall I really liked it.

One of the main benefits of the bar is that it’s designed to be a high net gain bar, meaning it’s easy for your body to digest. Less energy digesting food = more energy to put towards exercise.

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Up next, I headed off for 2 hours of dance fitness instructor training! We learned about oral presentations (projecting your voice, proper content), community building, making a good playlist, and safety/effectiveness. Only one more training sessions to go!!

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Back home, I tried out a snack I’ve had in the freezer waiting on me to try – Kim & Scott’s gourmet pretzels in Traditional Bavarian.

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The pretzels came sans salt with a bag of salt on the side. This is not good if you want an individual serving (didn’t want to open the salt bag for just one) but good if you want toppings other than salt like cinnamon & sugar.

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The pretzel only took 5 minutes to heat in the oven (faster in the microwave if you want), so I loved the cook time. I used my own salt for a topping.

Upside: The texture and flavor of the pretzel were great. Downside: the middle was still cold. I wasn’t sure if cooking it longer would be good because I don’t want the outside to be hard and overcooked just so the middle is done. Anywho, I think these would be fun to serve at a sports night or something. They seem like a great entertaining snack.

***

Since I wasn’t quite done baking for the day, I decided to try out a baking experiment that I’ve been wanting to try for awhile now. The goal: formulate the perfect pre-workout bar.

My two star ingredients: dates and coconut oil – 2 things Brendan says are great pre-workout eats in Thrive.

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I received this coconut oil from Navitas Naturals to sample awhile back. With all the move madness, I’ve been waiting to try it…WHY?! It smells fabulous. I can’t wait to use it more!

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Nutrition, etc.

I love how this stuff is organic and is stored in a glass container. The coconut oil was lovely and tender and smelled like heaven. Plus, it has an easy storage method – just keep cool – no refrigeration.

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A little mixing later and I had bars. Hubby and I sampled them before taking off for a cookout with friends. They are…ok. But how can the first batch be the money maker, right? I’m looking forward to experimenting more with the recipe. ๐Ÿ™‚

Do you like to experiment with baking or do you prefer to follow other recipes.

9 thoughts on “Susie Saturday”

  1. I love experimenting in the kitchen but use recipes if I am giving something to friends or serving them to others at a party, etc.

    Sounds like a great day to me!

    Reply
  2. i’ve never tried those vega bars but i do love larabars. my only issue with lara is that they’re so soft that i eat them up so quickly. i much prefer a crunch like in kind bars but the flavors of lara are way better in my opinion. i’ll look for the vega!

    the pretzels remind me of a snack i used to eat at school all the time ๐Ÿ™‚ and i loveeeee mustard!

    that’s so exciting about your dance instruction – sounds like you’re a great instructor with all this training ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  3. How was the Navitas coconut oil in comparison with other brands? I am tempted to try it, but it’s a little more expensive than my usual brand… I have loved Navitas chia seeds and mesquite though, so am highly, highly tempted to use the rest of their range.

    Reply
    • Hey Emily – I wish I could say but I’ve never tried other brands. Maybe if you try it you can tell me! ๐Ÿ™‚ And what is the brand you typically use?

      Reply
      • I will do! I am half way through my jar of Biona Raw Coconut Oil. It might be a local UK brand, but you may find it. It’s pretty good. It’s the first one I’ve been able to use to eat and to moisturize with, without it being too heavy or clogging on my skin. I’ll try Navitas next time and drop you a line!

        Reply
  4. Common reasons for split tomatoes usually relate to watering methods or temperature fluctuations. You can pick up some good tips on the web. They should be watered evenly on a regular basis. I have three types going this year after a lapse of a few years. We’ll see how they do.

    Reply
  5. My tomatoes always split like that if it had been dry for too long and then there was a lot of rain. Cherry tomatoes were especially prone to splitting but my big tomatoes weren’t immune to it either. As another commenter pointed out, regular watering would be helpful if you can do that (we worked & didn’t always have enough garden time, so we had a lot of split tomatoes!) You can still eat the split tomatoes but you have to get them before the mold or bugs do, so I used to check the garden after heavy rains. If I had a lot of split tomatoes, I’d just make a big salad – cut-up tomatoes, fresh chopped basil, a little good olive oil, red wine vinegar and a touch of salt and fresh-ground pepper if you like it – and you’re good to go! Leftover fresh tomato salad keeps in the fridge for a couple days, but good luck having any leftovers! (the tomato you pictured we totally would have eaten lol!)

    Reply

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