I have been really feeling an immense amount of stress & negative energy lately, and I really, really needed a day of filling my own cup.

For some, that’s shopping. For others it’s a trip to the spa. For me, it’s an uninterrupted day in my kitchen, cooking and baking to my hearts content while ignoring the outside world.

A lot of the stress comes from desperately wanting to leave my little job. I only work one day a week selling beer & wine at a little mom & pop Bodega around the corner from my home. At first it was the perfect little, short-term job while our lives shifted. I could walk to work. It’s run the same old-fashioned way as it opened in 1979 – original cash register and all. It was nice to feel like a human adult instead of just a mom & wife. It’s not that I dislike my job, but after a year working 12-hour shifts, I already feel totally burnt out there and it’s began taking a major toll on me in all the ways and caused a huge decline in my quality of life.

Anyway, being at home making home-cooked meals for my family is one of the things that brings me the most joy in life. It’s where I feel I belong. Cooking for those I care about is my biggest love language and I needed to reverse some of this negative energy into positive energy instead. So I decided to make a really cozy Fall supper for my family last night, and then all snuggle up together in front of our little fake fireplace for a family reading of Little House in the Big Woods.

It was exactly what I needed before having to be back into work in the morning.

Rosemary Olive Oil Sourdough Loaf

My biggest goal of the day was to learn how to better use my William Sonoma breadmachine. I tried once, failed miserably, and gave up indefinitely. Until yesterday. I have a ton of sourdough starter discard I need to use up, so it was the perfect reason to teach myself.

I woke up early in the morning to make the first loaf: Rye Honey Oat. I did better than the first time, but, it wasn’t there yet. It had a delicious taste and an amazing crunch to the crust, but I was not satisfied with the inside.

I took a break, did the girls science lesson together with them, then began on the second Loaf so it would be ready for dinner. My husband requested Rosemary Olive Oil since it is one of our favorites, so I gave it my best shot. This time I tried a different technique and it worked SO much better.

I would like to circle back to the Rye Honey Oat using my new technique and see if it comes out better this way because that Honey Oat flavor was seriously incredible!!!

I love baking fresh bread, but it’s definitely a labor of love. Teaching myself how to use this bread machine is going to make having fresh  bread daily so much simpler, especially on days that are extra busy and I am not able to be as vigilant about proofing time.

Spicy Vegetable Soup with Homemade Noodles 

Yes, I am extra. Yes, this is the only way I will ever make any sort of noodle soup ever again because it is just way more fun, adorable, & downright delicious. No boxed noodle can compare to a fresh homemade one and no one can change my mind about this. It made me smile. It made my kids smile. It’s the only way to do things now.. there’s no going back to before. I mean seriously… how cute are these little stars?!

The Rosemary Olive Oil bread was the perfect flavor addition to the Spicy Vegetable Soup!

Sourdough Discard Ultra Fudgy Brownies

Neither my husband or I are brownie people. However, I needed to use up my sourdough discard from the week and I didn’t want to make only bread products so when I found a recipe for brownies made from discard, I was all in.

Both of us agreed that these are HANDS DOWN the best brownies we have ever eaten. They are so fudgy that you don’t even need Frosting, but what brownie isn’t better frosted, or at least powder-sugared?

Seriously though, they were perfect in every way. We are definitely going to add these to the plan for our Fall Sale that we are preparing for in homeschool! A little chocolate Frosting, topped with some fall Sprinkles will make the perfect treat to sell and aren’t overly time-consuming.

We cleaned up from our meal & put our home to bed for the night, then gathered in the living room around the faux fire. It was so cozy & put some joy and gratitude back into my heart. There is something so magical about slow & purposeful living. It’s wild to me that there are women out there who actually see this lifestyle as a “bad,” “downgrading,” or a “threat to women.” I totally disagree – serving your family is one of the greatest roles & blessings this life has to offer! There’s literally no where on earth I’d rather be than at home with my children, and there’s absolutely no one I’d rather have raising my children than me.

Until next time ♡ Mama Morozov

Last night I was checking my local Freecycle page and saw a post for collector dolls. She mentioned having several and asked for people who are interested to write to her asking for a specific country and a short description of why you are asking for these collector dolls.

I have never heard of these dolls before, but I wrote her on the off chance she may have Ukraine or Russia since I am Ukrainian and my husband is Russian and we love to collect items from our cultures to fill our home with.

She wrote back letting me know that she had the Russian doll as well as the Polish doll, but they never released a Ukrainian doll to her knowledge, sadly. I was happy to be able to get both of those though!

Tanya from Russia & Sophie from Poland:

They each come with their little certificate of Authenticity that has a story about them inside. I really love that. They remind me of American Girl Dolls, but super fragile.

I think that I look like Tanya if I had more vintage traditional wear – which is something I would love to acquire over time. I could put just continue to build my layers over this dress since it’s base is white.

I also grabbed a doll for our friend/Ukrainian’s teacher’s daughter who is Ukrainian-Japanese. I thought that would be special for her, although the dress is a little torn on one side, but maybe her mom knows how to mend.

I can definitely see why people collect these. It was hard not to get ones just because they were cute. However, my number one rule about living free is to never take more than I need. I thought they were cute, but there may be someone else out there looking for exactly those ones and I am sending all of the magical dust out into the universe in hopes that they end up in exactly the home for who they belong, who will appreciate the cultural aspect of the doll they find and cherish it like I will with the ones I brought home.

Have you found any cool treasures lately?

Today was the first day back to Ukrainian School for us this year and I am SO incredibly excited to announce that I was asked to join the Cincinnati Ukrainian School as a Teachers Assistant for this school year!

When I began teaching myself Українська мова, I had NO idea that almost 3 years later {when I am still very much learning myself}, I would be given the opportunity to help alongside the Native speaking teachers at школа, but I am beyond honored that Anna thought to ask me!!

I am really excited for this new path in my Ukrainian language journey. I believe that it will very quickly improve my confidence with speaking, especially since I am more comfortable speaking around children than adults at my current level. I also think that learning alongside Native teachers will help strengthen my language foundation, since I am almost fully self-taught in українська мова. It will also help for me to be able to do a better job of teaching my own children Ukrainian language outside of school & will help open up communication for us at home in Ukrainian language. I would love for our whole household to be speaking fluently together, and for my children to continue teaching their children from birth.

Anna asked me to write a short bio about myself for the school’s web page. Here is what I shared:

Hi! My name is Madison. I am a proud first-generation Ukrainian-American homeschooling mom that is dedicated to keeping our Ukrainian Roots alive & strong. Our family has been a part of Цинциннаті українська школа since it’s opening & I am very grafeful and honored to join this year as a Teaching Assistant.

Until next time ♡ Mama Morozov

Over the summer we noticed how sad these abandoned Little Free Pantries a couple blocks away from our were looking.

For National Food Pantry Day (the first Friday of September), we decided to clean out our home pantries and food Cellar and clear out what was close enough to expiring that we knew we couldn’t use up in time or that we just won’t eat like prepackaged easy meals that have been taking up valuable space. Most of these were items that we received from various food pantries ourselves or family members passed to us over time that I wouldn’t have purchased myself.

We Bagged up our items and walked them in the wagon down to the Little Free Pantries.

When we returned this time, one was almost completely empty with just a couple cans. The other had extremely moldy bread, and things just tossed in with no organization. The door on one had been broken off with the piece at least tossed back inside. We’ll have to remember to bring superglue next time.

We organized both pantries and added all of the food that we brought to donate. Someone yelled out the window to let us know that they thought it was very kind of us.

We used one of the bags that we brought the food in to collect trash on our walk home, beginning with the moldy bread and items on the ground near the boxes. We filled the bag full as usual by the time we got back home.

Today I encourage you to clean out your pantries, kitchens, or cellars too. Clear out what you can and take it to your local food pantry or food collection box.

Over the last 4 years, food banks have been in crisis mode. They have far more people in need than ever before and not enough donations to keep up with the growing demand. Our family is one of the 47 million that has personally been affected by hunger & food insecurity during this time.

Food insecurity has changed how I run my home’s kitchen & Pantry drastically. I became very serious about building an emergency food supply of shelf stable items and frozen meat for my family. I learned to cook only from scratch so when there is no food, I am still able to come up with something. I stopped buying anything except ingredients and produce. I began getting clever with Leftovers to prevent waste. I also began composting for my garden to prevent waste. I began getting very serious about growing my own food and baking my own bread as well.

HERE are other ways that you and your family can help in September Hunger Action Month.

Until next time ♡ Mama Morozov