Monday check-in

So what have I been up to?  It would seem sewing and cooking or re-purposing leftovers.

Sewing:  Good Karma challenge top is progressing and at this point I am more than half done with two rows to go and the half row for the bottom.  You would have to see the design to see what I mean by "half row" and I can't share just yet.  I have taken a couple days off from it but needed to take a little break from it, creatively.  I got a whole row done while I listened to the Alabama-Western Kentucky football game on Saturday afternoon and laid out the next row yesterday but never quite got around to firing up the machine.  Maybe in a bit.

Friday I loaded up the car and went up to Jacksonville as the guild has a classroom at the FUMC that we are allowed to use for sewing days.  They are trying to get this started up again after taking some time off for the summer.  No one was there when I arrived a little after one but there are two sessions--one 12-4 and the other 4-8 so the after work bunch could participate.  I stayed two hours and then headed back home.  I had to grab another project box though.  A different machine is always in the car at the ready but I had a Layer Cake Lattice cut out with this pretty Riley Blake Summer Song 2 that I had picked up at the Heart of Dixie quilt show back in July.  Easy peasy sewing though not knowing where they tuck the iron I waited to press till I got home and did the sub-cutting here.  It is set aside again but it was fun fabric to play with for a few hours anyway.  Image borrowed from http://www.hawthornethreadsblog.com/2015/05/page/2/  as I think the line is old enough now to be almost out of stock.

I did some binge cooking on Thursday.  I like to do stacked rice bowls with taco meat so set up two servings of that and made the rest into Tex-Mex type soup.  It went in the freezer for the time being but a small bowl came out for two suppers when I needed the space, LOL.  Mostly it was baking--time to turn the bananas piling up in the freezer into muffins so the old tried and true Pearson House Hummingbird Muffin recipe was pressed into service.  The only thing I do differently is add a small cup of applesauce and ease off on the oil a hair and add a cup of coconut to the mix.  I also decided to make a batch of Libby's Pumpkin Muffins but I was getting low on flour at that point.  I like to divide the recipe so I can put craisins and nuts in half the batter and chocolate chips in the other. It makes for more dishes but that's okay.  I've got a set of big mixing bowls so it is not a problem.  I ended up tagging one bowl "needs another 1/4 cup of flour" and just putting the spice/leavening stuff in the other and buzzed down to Winn Dixie as soon as the oven was done from the Hummingbird Muffins.

I tried a couple of new recipes as well.  I had some pork tenderloin in the freezer and found a recipe for Cheater Pork Carnitas on Slow Roasted Italian, a food blogger I subscribe to.  While the recipe called for a pork loin I figured it would work.  She also used 505 Southwestern Salsa with Tomatillos, Garlic and Lime.  I didn't have that so used a can of green enchilada sauce, a can of chopped chiles, garlic and a fresh lime. (I saw it yesterday at Wal-mart when I got groceries).  I shredded up half of loins this morning for a couple carnita meals adding in a bit of Salsa Verde to moisten it.  Yesterday I had mixed up some Vinegar Slaw to top them with as someone had mentioned in comments, roughly using that recipe but adding some cumin and a pinch or oregano instead of celery seed to pre-packaged slaw mix.   For the rest of the shredded meat, I followed her suggestion of adding cream cheese and cheese to the meat and then rolling them up in 6 inch soft tacos for taquitos for the freezer.  Donna does not give measurements so I just eyeballed.  I cut the other loin up for Cubano sandwiches which call for roasted pork and ham.  The little sample I tasted of the meat was good--as long as it didn't get too spicy!!  I don't "do" hot.

When I got groceries, they had packages of the turkey tenderloins I have been fixing all summer marked down $2.50 a package since they had reached use/sell by.  Even though I was not planning on cooking yesterday, I fired up the oven and took care of those.  All set up for the freezer--some sliced and most of it cubed for salads.  I also decided I wanted some corn muffins with my defrosted Tex-Mex Soup but surely there was a recipe that had creamed corn added to it?   I found one for Creamed Corn Muffins and doubled it to use the whole can of corn and tossed in some green chiles too.  I did jumbo sized and just baked it 5 extra minutes.  They seem a little dry--maybe just a bit of oil added next time?

Let's see--what else?  The town had its annual Heritage Day festivity on Saturday.  This year the fire department was doing a pancake breakfast so I went.  I had woke up at 5:30 and they were serving from 5-9 so I went early.  There was one couple there when I got there and the Mayor came in as I was finishing up in addition to the women selling tickets and the fire department personnel serving.  It was too early for the actual event with folks still setting up their booths so I went home for a bit and then back in later to see what was going on.

If Thursday was cooking day then Friday was cleaning day.  I was tired of looking at the strings I had been tracking, the kitchen floor was a mess etc.  Vacuumed the entire house, mopped the kitchen floor and then spent the rest of the day picking up little lint bits or stuff Oscar and I had tracked in.  Still doing that, LOL.  I try to keep the thread clippings corralled but this time I have more fabric slivers and trimmings than usual with squaring up the blocks with each seam.

I also wanted to share this picture of my dad who at 86 years of age just completed his second trip walking the circumference of the Earth.   Can you imagine walking 49,804 plus miles?  I sure can't but he is to be congratulated on his endeavors.  Most of those are in their little Illinois town.  My niece Randi took his picture when she was down Labor Day weekend.

I only got 3 hours of sleep on Saturday night from like 4 in the morning till 7:15 but made up for it last night.  I was beat!  From about 10:30 to 5:30 and then back to sleep from about 6 to 8:45.  I could hear Skyler meowing at the closed bedroom door. I rarely am in bed after 7 a.m and he knows it!  Now, watch--tonight I'll have problems again but the Belles and I have something planned this week so cannot over sleep!  Tell you about that later.

Oscar is telling me it is time to go walk--he can't tell time but he is kind of on a schedule I guess, thanks to me.  THX for stopping by----