The Sewing Mom

Girls softball., originally uploaded by Firefighter with a camera.

We’re in for a busy weekend starting tomorrow morning with regional band auditions for my daughter and then we head off to a softball tournament that will take up the remainder of Saturday and most of Sunday.
I will do my best to visit all of my blogging friends over the weekend, but if I don’t get to your site, please forgive me! I’ll be outside enjoying the beautiful weather that we are FINALLY experiencing here in Dallas!

I crafted this handy craft tote bag from strips of 100% quilt quality cotton fabric. It has a stiff inner lining that allows the bag to stand upright, even when empty and it adds strength to the bag. The bag is perfect for carrying just about any needle project you might be working on and is long enough to carry a pair or two of knitting needles, plenty of thread or yarn and a pattern or two. There are plenty of pockets inside to stash your cell phone and anything else you might take with you. The loop and fabric button keep the contents secure inside and the handles fit over the shoulder for easy carrying.

I know, I know! I’m a day late, but I really had intended on posting this yesterday and ran out of time. This is one of my favorite memes and I didn’t want to miss it, yet again! So, forgive me for being a day late, but here goes.

Here are this week’s questions and my answers.

1. Name one bad habit you have in the kitchen. The only thing that comes to mind is that I tend to load up the dishwasher, but the few items that have to be hand washed may sit on the counter, next to the sink, for several days before I decide to run a sink full of dish water.

2. Do you have a tv in the kitchen? No, but our kitchen is completely open to our family room, so I have full view of the t.v.

3. What’s one food you can’t stand cold? I can eat it, but I can’t stand the smell of cold, refrigerated cooked chicken.

4. What’s your favorite juice? Cranraspberry from Ocean Spray

I invite you to participate by visiting Fun, Crafts and Recipes!

This was one of the longest weeks and I am truly thankful it’s behind me.

I normally work part time from home, around 4 hours each morning, then I have the afternoon off to keep up with housework, grocery shopping, cooking and anything else that needs to be done. This week was an exception though. I had to attend a training class all week which meant I had to make the hour commute each morning and spend 8 hours each day sitting in a chair listening to someone talk and. It was so incredibly boring and exhausting at the same time.

Each day ended at 5 and I would then get back in my car to drive home. Now, normally, I would’ve started cooking dinner around 4 to have it ready at 6. Sometimes we eat earlier, depending on what we have going on at night, and, some nights, after dinner I drive my daughter to a variety of practices or events. I can tell you though, I honestly don’t know how people who work outside the home everyday, 8 hours a day, get everything done at home and still have time for family, much less cooking, cleaning and just plain ol’ relaxation!

So, I had to get creative in my cooking decisions and I found myself looking for things that tasted good but were quick to get cooked and on to the table. One of my favorite dishes is stir fry. It’s so easy and quick to make, but I can’t seem to get the seasonings just right when I do it from scratch. Well, I’m so happy to tell you that I discovered Sun-Bird Asian Seasoning Mixes and they have the perfect seasoning mix for stir fry! They have sauce mixes, seasonings, soup mixes and even 3-step meal kits to make cooking Asian food at a home a snap! Sun-Bird has come to my rescue this week! You can find these products at the grocery store and I am stocking my pantry.

While you’re at the grocery store, be sure to get your entry form and enter to win the 15 Blu-RayTM Disc players that Sun-Bird is giving away.. Entry forms can be found at your grocery store, where Sun-Bird seasonings products are sold. Hurry though because the contest only runs through October 31, 2009.

Yesterday was my final day of training and I had today off.   It felt great to not have to drive anywhere and I actually managed to get caught up on the laundry and a little bit of house cleaning.      It’s not like I cook huge gourmet meals every night for my family, actually, I never cook huge gourmet meals! But, I do take the time to cook a balanced meal usually. Life sometimes throws us a curve and takes away our time, so it’s great to have a selection of quick cooking meals.