Thursday - Cooking and baking just 2 days late!!!

What a week this has been...all good but fell behind again.  I worked really hard cleaning, painting and doing laundry and cooking on Thursday so I thought I could blog on Friday but at 7:30 p.m. (right before my bedtime) my neighbor called and asked if I would drive her to Mountain Home the next morning to a doctor appointment. (Needless to say Fun Friday was put on hold.)  Of course, I said yes so we left at 10:30 a.m Friday and didn't get back until around 4:30 so I was so tired that I didn't blog last night either.  But I owe you some recipes! 
Remember the flour tortillas I made this week............here's the link to that recipe

Best Ever Homemade Tortillas

Another AWESOME recipe I made this week that I am now addicted to are salads in a jar.......I gathered 5 jars about pint size...........yes, I save jars so it was no problem for me! LOL!

then I made fillings...........whatever salad fixings you like....I used onions, hard boiled eggs, cherry tomatoes, pumpkin seeds and baby spinach.............

you put your dressing in the bottom and layer your other ingredients in...I did 2 layers and then the lid and refrigerate.....5 salads ready to go!  When I get hungry in the middle of the day I don't want to stop and fix something as I am usually 'on a roll' by then doing something.   These are so easy to grab and you turn them upside down and shake them really good and the dressing disperses throughout the entire salad!  I love it.  I've already made a second batch! 

I also made tortilla pizzas with my homemade tortillas........from this recipe
unfortunately that is a picture before I put it under the broiler and my batteries went dead when I went to take the 'after' picture but trust me....it was crispy and delicious and just right with one of my 'jar' salads!  I just used some pepperoni, basil and provolone cheese drizzled with some olive oil.  It was what I had on hand but you could put anything you wanted on it.

 I also made this for Sunday breakfast..........a Dutch Baby pancake in my iron skillet......the recipe is on All Recipes but I could not get into the site...evidently it is very busy right now...it's supper time! LOL!  But you can find it easily enough on their website............

I had mine with some delicious pork and bacon sausage that Farmland makes...who knew?  It is wonderful and I will be buying it again!  I had my pancake with lingon berries and powdered sugar with some grapes on the side.   I'll be making this breakfast again for sure and the pancake is very simple to make.

Another recipe (that I used to have but cannot find my original) is Butterscotch Snackin' Cake.  I found a similar recipe on All Recipes but it wasn't the same....it was drier....the one I used to make was very moist but I will keep looking!  I ate it though! LOL!

That' s all the 'cooking and baking' I did this week...I hope you find some recipes you like or might want to try!  Happy Trails!!!
 

Wednesday...........decorating? Hardly!

I think I am averse to regimentation....I am self disciplined but each day the priorities shift and no matter how I plan it something gets in the way.  I was planning on painting today and even had the shelf set up and then the Terminix guy called and wanted to stop by and do my service.....at their convenience.  I said yes but then I have to bring the girls in and the garage door has to be open and I have to move my car.....there went my painting in the cool morning.  I also had to ask him about my termite protection of which there has been none....ended up that I am done with Terminix....long story.  So, I called around for another service and they have to come out and give me an estimate and do an 'inspection'........an inspection?  That word makes my blood run cold....like 'unexpected company'! LOL!  So, I ditched the painting and started cleaning up the house!  I ran the Spotbot which I have been meaning to do and put things away at least in the rooms they are supposed to be in.  When you live alone it is a very slippery slope when it comes to a clean house!  After all, these are supposed to be 'The Golden Years' not the cleaning years!
I was all ready to paint my shelf............

but then got the Spotbot out and started taking care of business...........

Of course, I had to make my Spotbot detergent...one thing leads to another...........I use an old juice container and I have the recipe on the side.  I got it on Pinterest awhile ago but I don't put it on my blog unless I've used it and it does the job! 

 I also put a line on the container where it is 1 1/2 quarts so I can just fill it to the line with warm water and add the other ingredients and shake it  up.  Much cheaper than the 'official' Spotbot cleaner they sell for an arm and a leg.

So that was the 'cleaning' for the day...now on to finances.........calling around getting prices for termite and pest control was definitely part of it but I also managed to print off some budget sheets but that's as far as I got..............

 Ive' budgeted before but it was always by hand on a piece of notebook paper and I wasn't very 'regular' about it.....hopefully with a nice printed out sheet like this I will do better!

 As for cooking..............I made homemade tortillas for pizza tonight.............this is before you roll them out...just hand flattened and left to rest for about 15 minutes.  I used my Kitchen-aide with the dough hook and I'm glad I did..............

Then you roll them out with a rolling pin......mine were either heart shaped or kidney shaped...I could not get them very round or consistent but I'm alright with that..............

then into the pan..............

and voila! 

16 tortillas for me....oh, except for the one I ate.....I had to taste it! LOL!  Much better than store bought if I do say so myself.  I'll put a link to the recipe in my post tomorrow.
The only decorating that took place around here today was Mother Nature............

Happy Trails!!!

Tuesday organizing and cleaning.........

Well....the pictures aren't pretty but it's proof that I have been 'cleaning and organizing'.......this is what the garbage men faced today.........all from my garage!

  The new 64 gallon black can did not go.........but it was full!  There was a long piece of glass in the left hand box so I put a sign on it for them to be careful.  The blue can was supposed to go and to ensure it I put a sign on it too but unfortunately the wind blew the sign inside the can and they didn't see it....oh well....there's always next week!
I also loaded up my car for the thrift store.................

I didn't take it today as I had 2 prescriptions to call in and pick up, a trip to the bank to get a copy made of my taxes so I could mail them and I also drove to the next town to get stamps (no, we don't even have a post office here).  I tried to order stamps online but they keep telling me that my userid is in use....well, yes, it is...by me!  They had shark stamps and jack 'o lantern stamps online and I thought the grands would love them!  But alas, they had none of those at the post office.  But the taxes are mailed....sigh of relief! 
For my 3 things that need to get done each day; the taxes (finances); besides the garbage to the curb and the car loaded, I also cleaned 2 toilets (cleaning) but I didn't think you wanted to see a picture of that! LOL!  I need to install the new toilet seat but not sure that will get done today.  I picked up my prescriptions and baked a butterscotch 'snackin' cake (cooking) which I will share with you on Thursday...the cooking and baking day! LOL!
I finished the cuff  of sock #2 and and I'm working on the leg now.....I can watch t.v. while doing that part....yay!  I also had a funny thing happen right in the middle of the day today.....I have a black 'floater' in my eye!  I've never had this before and it is quite the distraction.  I'm not concerned but I will call my eye doctor tomorrow as I have eye problems from my Grave's disease and the new RA medicine can cause (rarely) eye problems and he is monitoring it every 4 months.  Not sure if they are connected but I'm not taking any chances and it is almost 4 months since my last appointment anyway.  Never a dull moment in the 'aging' department! LOL!
Oh, I also ordered canned and dry dog food and litter from Walmart and got free shipping to my door!   What a treat!  At the store they load those bags with the cans that actually tear my bags!  Now, I can just open the box and take out what I can carry from the front door and those litter boxes are no fun either or the salt bags!  Don't they realize that us baby boomers are getting old? LOL!  They need to package smaller quantities that old people can manage to carry.  I still manage the 40 pound salt bag but it's not easy!
Anyway, I don't mean to complain as I am feeling really good and I hope you are too but I do have lots of original parts.
I hope you had a great day!
Happy Trails!!!

Monday Book Date!!!

 Mondays are always busy here on the homestead...how about you?  Still not reading so much.  A couple times it was because my eyes were irritated by nightfall and I just had to rest them.  Whether allergies or strain I'm not sure but that's my story and I'm sticking to it! LOL!
I'm still reading this one and actually, I haven't read much of it this week...........I really need to finish it!

I've been diverted by this gem of a book............these essays are so good and so well-written that I don't know why she bothers with writing her 'romance' novels but maybe they pay the bills?  Her real talent is in writing about her passions and her story.........but then I have not read any of her fiction books so I should not judge!  But this one is so welcoming at the end of the day...........

I finally finished this magazine....there isn't a National Geographic that I don't love and learn from....wonderful publication!

Now I'm reading the Fall issue of Pioneer Woman.............

 I'm also reading this magazine from Australia that I love and was able to download it to my Kindle app for a very reasonable price.  I especially love it because my friend, Helen Phillips, has an article and instructions on making her darling stuffed bunnies!  They are so cute.  Helen is on my sidebar and her latest post shows the bunnies and the magazine so I had to get it!  She is so talented!

I got this book in the mail last week that I ordered....it's been on my 'bucket list' for many years and I cannot tell you how many times I have started with the intention of reading it in its entirety and fallen short every single time!  But at my age it's now or never!  I have several Bibles and even a student Bible but when I ran across the text online I knew this was the translation for me....it is The New Living Translation Bible and it reads like a novel.....I was even able to get through the 'names' sections....if you know what I mean.  It was very reasonably priced, has a beautiful cover and comes in large print (which I probably should have gotten).  I had been reading it online but I really wanted a physical edition and I'm so glad I got it......I'm almost finished with Exodus which is the 2nd book in the Bible....I have "miles to go before I sleep"!

TIDBITS:
I don't know if you have Amazon Prime or not but if you do they have free Prime books you can download and free t.v.shows and movies and magazines!  I got Rachel Ray's magazine, National Geographic and Country Life or Country Woman...I can't remember now.  As if I don't have enough to read! LOL!  But they are FREE!!!  I like that!
  Also, Alicia Paulson, who is on my sidebar as Posy Gets Cozy, had a post not long ago where she asked people to recommend books to her that were not depressing and she put it together in a list which is several pages long!  I copied it to a file and printed it off.  If you, like me, do not care for depressing books you should go check it out!  It's an amazing list and thank you to her followers and to Alicia for taking the time to put it all together.  You might have to go back several posts as I can't remember where it was but it wasn't too long ago! 
As for t.v., I'm still watching Father Brown and I'm on season 3 now.  I've watched a couple podcasts of The Grocery Girls, Ruby Moss Cottage and Maker's Haven.  No movies at all so you can tell I've been busy!
For those of you who like to hear about the 'day to day' like I do from other bloggers.....here's what I was up to today......
cleaned 2 litter boxes
1 load of laundry washed, dried and folded
did some cooking
paid my annual property taxes
changed my sheets
cleaned my tub
checked bank balances
ordered snowflake buttons for my cross stitch pumpkin
 checked doctor appointment next week
 gave the dogs their monthly Frontline and Heartworm meds
listened to 3 episodes of Daily Hope with Pastor Rick Warren while working around the house
found some material for binding quilts
read some blogs
blogged

That's about it for today!  I'm trying to clean, cook, and do something in finances each day to stay on top of things........wish me luck! LOL!
I hope your week is off to a good start!  Happy Trails!!!

YOP Week #13

If you recall last week I was having problems with my sewing machine....well......I fixed that.....I bought a new machine!  Some of you who visit me during the week have seen some of this but for the people who only come to YOP on Sunday I am reiterating it...........I apologize for the repetition if you've seen it before....

So........I sewed!  I got the 'quilting in the ditch' done on the first I Spy quilt and I did it without even using my walking foot....this machine is a dream to sew on!

This is the back............you can see the quilting lines better.........

 I watched several You Tube videos to refresh my memory on how to bind and even one on 'scrappy' binding.....I have red gingham in my head but we'll see.  It won't be a wide binding.  There's also a binding that is completely machine sewn...no hand stitching.  Have any of you ever tried that?
I finished sock #1 of my Paton's Kroy Sock...........I used a rounded toe but after 2 pairs of these with the rounded toe I am going back to the Kitchener toe.  It fits me better.  I am going to write out my own pattern which is a combination of Susan B. Anderson's "How I make My Socks' and Sandra Paul's (Cherry Heart blog...both of these gals are on my sidebar) pattern.  Susan uses DPN's and Sandra has directions for both DPN's and Magic Loop.  I prefer Magic Loop. 

I ordered some Chiagu 32 " cables for sock knitting and I started using them on sock #2 and LOVE!!!  The cable doesn't twist and the points are 'pointier' than my Addi Turbo which I also love but their cable twists.  I haven't gotten very far on the cuff yet.

I thought I'd be done with my cross stitch this week but being out of town and tired meant it didn't see much love until last night....it should be done soon though as I only have the letters 'o,s,t' and the word 'the' left and then my snowflake buttons (still have to order them!), washing and framing and I should have a new Halloween project to decorate with in time for THIS Halloween!  Amazing for me although this project is years old! LOL!  BTW, I really like the new frame but it is hard to get those handles off.  But still much better than the wooden hoop with the metal screw plus it's gentler on your stitches.

 

 A couple more acquisitions besides the sewing machine and the new needles and hoop...........

Whenever I'm at Wally World I check out the yarns and this time they had these 2 new colors which I grabbed.  I'm always doing wash cloths and it's nice to have a variety of colors on hand.  

A new book I've been wanting ever since Joyce of Ruby Moss Cottage talked about it and showed a doily she was crocheting from it..............it has a wonderful array of projects from a variety of designers.  I'll be making everything!  LOL!

I hope you've had a good week and that you are looking forward to Fall (one of my fav seasons...once it cools off down here! LOL!)  Enjoy your 'making' and Happy Trails!!!