Really Easy Prok Chops and a Couple New Items

So, I'm back to eating more healthily, so dinner tonight is baked pork chops, salad, and green beans or spinach.

Really Easy Pork Chops

Ingredients:

Pork Chops (as many as you need, I have 8 from a family pack)
garlic powder (to taste, I like more than most people)
salt (also to taste since you may like more, I'm trying to watch my salt intake, so used very little) pepper(also to taste)
fresh rosemary(since we have some in the garden, use dried if that's what you've got and its also to taste)

Process
So rinse off the chops and cover pan with foil for easy clean up and spray foil with butter flavored spray.

Place pork chops with one inch between them and spray tops with butter spray.

sprinkle garlic powder, salt, and pepper on chops

Sprinkle cut fresh rosemary or non-cut, or dry on it.

Place in 415 degree oven for 20 minutes or use a George Foreman to grilled for an even better experience.

These aren't perfect pork chops, but they are tasty and as you can tell, they are also really easy to put together. If you marinaded them overnight, they would be even more flavorful and moist. You could also add some thyme and oregano to the mix for a more complex flavor. I like that these are really healthy(very little oil used in cooking and no heavy sauce) and still have flavor. Now, I like these, but most people I've shared my cooking with (re: family members) think I overseason and like weird flavor combinations and then they object when I don't share something really good with them. :shakes head: Never understand them...

Latest Sewing Projects:

Seventies Simplicity Pattern 9365



I ran out of fabric because there was very little left and I ended up trying the belt out over it and it just didn't look right. I saw this girl wearing a shirt with a v-neck and a bow at the bottom of the v and new then and there that this was the right thing to do with it.



Modern Butterick 5101.




















I love this drapy jersey and its color. I actually did the wide leg pants too, but haven't finished adjusting them as they came out too big. I think I'll make this shirt again in a non-stretchy, drapy material.



Vintage Dress Inspired Pattern McCall 5378.















So it was supposed to have buttons up the front. Sue me. I had doing buttonholes and I realized while looking through my stash that I had 4 buttons that matched that would look good with the pattern. I didn't want to take a long trip to WalMart (5 minutes) and it needed, like, 9 buttons. Anyway, I decided to just sew up the front and see what would have. I like it. I get the nice collar and the silouette without spending a lot of time on it.

Palin?

Well, I was going to simply write in Mickey Mouse on the ballot in November because I can barely stand McCain and Obama is crap... but Palin is at least an ackowledgment that social conservatives are important too since McCain, Obama, and whoever Obama is running with is pretty liberal. Hmmm, I suppose McCain is really old and he might die quickly and we can finally have a woman president . Yes, he is a lot more palatable, I might even buy a bumper sticker or shirt and the last one I bought was for Romney :(.   I don't know, the whole this is crap now, but Palin seems to be a light in the darkness... Ooh, and with McCain being so old, maybe he won't die while President, but he can't live too long and won't be the same drain on the government other former presidents are through their lifelong salaries. Fiscal responsibility is what McCain is about, right?

Here's a link to the bumper sticker.

Free Patterns from Mccalls, Butterick, and Vogue

Yay, so just pay shipping from these 3 pattern companies. I suppose the only one worth it is the Vogue ones since the other ones are often on sale for $1 or $2. I ordered Vogue 2885, but really want Vogue 8428 or Vogue 8400. I suppose I'll pick it up on Monday in the Hancocks reopening sale. Hmmmm

Does J K Rowling Kinda Suck?

I've been a fan of the Harry Potter series since the fourth book came out and I've enjoyed the speculation, fandom, and excitement related to the stories. I'm afraid J K may not be worthy of diefication. It seems a bit suspicious that her announcement of the Beedle the Bard Tales comes a few days before the anticipated release of another young adult author, Stephanie Meyers. Hmmm, I'm not saying this is a plan she endorsed. It could have been on the instigation of her publoishers who are, after all, responsible for publicizing her works. I'm just disapointed in J K that this did happen. She's eminently popular now, she doesn't need to steal away any of Stephanie Meyers' thunder. :shakes head: Yeah, I feel a bit disillusioned and reckon I'll avoid any future works by Ms. Rowling, including the new Harry Potter movies, because I think a disaffection for the author will make it very difficult to enjoy the movie. At least Star Trek is coming out next year so there's at least one midnight showing I'll enjoy in the next year. Maybe I'll go see Twilight as a midnight showing, but I've no idea if there will be any for it. You know, I do have a half-finished HP fanfic on fanfiction.net and I'm seriously lacking the motivation to finish it. Bummer.

Goals for the Week and New Butterick Patterns

First of all, my goals for next week are to:

• Walk Luna every day and say 5 positive things about self and working out both before and after.


• Drink 60 oz of water every day


• Drink protein before each meal (either mixed only with water or some fruit in a shake and yes it does count toward the liquid requirement)


• Eat a salad with each meal


• Do Yoga/Pilates video every day (eg 20/20 Perfect Pilates, 10 min solutions Pilates, Burn and Firm Yoga, Fat Burning Yoga, Quickfix Pilates)


• Do cardio workout every other day or at least attempt one (Turbo jam, Taebo, Quickfix Kickboxing, Salsa Dancing) and say 5 positive things about self and working out both before and after.


• Clean dishes every other day and sweep the floor and clean off the counters and take out the trash and clean up the front room


• Put bike back together and have ready to ride for next week when I hope to start cycling every morning around town and avoid refilling the gas tank


• Put finishing touches on every piece

Now I'm afraid to say that I'm not particularly impressed with the new Butterick patterns. There's only a couple of the Fall patterns I want. Butterick 5250, a high-waisted pants, and Butterick 5243, a dress pattern with a cinched in waist and frilly sleeves and flowy skirt. The waist on it may be a bit high, but it's worth a shot.

So I've been applying for many librarian positions lately and since I'm at home all day now, I've been sewing a lot. As soon as I do the finishing (hems, buttons, hand-stitching), I'll upload the photos. I sewed 2 jackets, 2 shirts, a pair of pants, and a dress and I still need to do some finishing on several more dresses and cut out another pair of pants and jacket. I've already cut out Vogue 285o and need to sew it. The problem is that its a gauzy fabric that unravels easily and I every review I've read for it uses a serger rather than a sewing machine, so I'm nervous about all those hems. Simplicity 4273 may be one of my favorite wardrobe patterns. I've made the pants a jacket from a black somewhat stretchy wool polyester blend fabric and I love the shape of the jacket and the pants fit perfectly, including the rise and waistband. I think I'll make the pants again out of some jersey because theywould make wonderful workout pants and should come together really quickly. I'm going to make the dress out of this silky Chinese fabric I've had laying around. It will make a lovely nightgown. This last time I tried using the fabric to make one of thosee Project Runway Simplcity patterns, I had to give up because I pressed hte fabric with a too-hot iron and it rather burned the fabric into nothingness.

At Pattern Review, they have a mini-wardrobe contest for August. You need to sew 4 peices in at least 3 fabrics and need to get 4 different combinations from the peices. There's another lined jacket contest I may try for. I think Vogue has some wonderful Claire Shaeffer lined jacket patterns. I bought a couple last month abd have been trying to get the motivation to cut into them. Both a labeled advanced because of the lining and pockets on one of them.

In case ya'll can't tell. I'm trying to focus on using up my stash right now. After I put the finishing touches on all my currently waiting patterns (hopefully by Tuesday), i have more patterns/fabric combos waiting for their shot in the sun, so to speak. I hope to sew a couple of jersey t-shirts(light blue) and a pair of shorts(dk green), a pair of capris(aqua and white) and a couple of workout pants(dk green and pink) and a short sleeved jersey jacket(pink) and a long sleeved jersey jacket(dk green). I also want to sew a denim jacket from Simp 4273 and sew 5 sundresses and one maxi dress from various cottons. I'm also going to make a pair of khaki shorts and wide leg pants. I've also got some green and white checked cotton that would make a nice weskit and skirt combo. I have some beautiful stripped challis that needs a purpose (I just like the fabric so much :blushes:).

Oh, and today, I decided I need to sew fitted a white cotton shirt with :sigh: buttons, so I know I have a few white fabrics ( a challis, cotton, and eyelet), but they are all too drapy, but I've resolved to buy no more fabric until I get a job. Hmmm, re-pupose one of Dad's shirts perhaps? lol. Hmm all this planning, but i still have 3 boxes full of unused fabrics and 2 trash bags full of scraps, some scraps as big as a yard or 2. I do have my work cut out(lol) for me. I didn't really get anything done today, just finished a dress and sat at the sewing machine thinking of sewing and put together the fabric and patterns. Oh well, I am motivated for future sewing and for working out and being healthier next week.

YouTube has exercise videos and a new haircut

I don't always exercise :slaps hand:. I actually own many workout videos and with no work right now, I even did one of them this morning and realized how out of shape I really am. Goodness it was sad. I did the Cardio Dance Party video from Crunch and it can be a lot of fun, although my sister arived home from class while I was doing it and laughed at me :glares: hurumph. So after i mostly did the video, I don't know what made me think to see what workout videos were on youtube. I am surprised that there are a lot of videos and a great variety of them. I tried a pilates toning one, a basic belly dance one, and then I had to stop because I don't want to ache tomorrow and am simply feeling pleasantly warm now.

I'm trying to drink some water too because this exercise has made me thirsty. The Youtube videos are limited in size, I think 10 minutes is the limit, but people will upload the videos in parts to get around that. There are also plenty of trailers and samples for upcoming and recent and past workout videos if you want to anticipate or try out any videos.

So I've been cleaning around the house today. Yesterday I sewed and I hope to do some more today. My exercise was inspired by trying a dress I was sewing on yesterday. I really want to wear it and wear it now in the summer, but it is really tight. I made it using a pattern and the previous result fit me fine back at Christmas, so I must have gained weight, darn it. So I'm back to Atkins today and exercising. I'll take Luna on a walk tonight and probably do the Quickfix kickboxing video either before or after.

So I'm thinking of getting my hair cut at the end of the week, or maybe today since I am inspired.

Here's the haircut I am interested in:

And the current state of my hair:

How to make our own tinted moisturizer

I love my mineral makeup, but lately, it's been looking pretty bad on my skin by the end of the day. I need something that wears better, even if it disappears my the middle of the day. I really like TMs, especially the Cover Girl Smoothers one, and wore one today and was much happier at the end of the day with the look of my skin. I do like less coverage too, so I was reading a review on makeupalley and the reviewer mentioned that she maded her own tm. I found the ehow and wikihow articles on how to make them and it really worked.

Ingredients
Olay Complete SPF 30 moisturizer
Everyday Minerals Original Glo in Ivory.

Obviously more mmu in relation to lotion will give you a heavier finish. i used 2 squirts of Olay and used 2 shakes of the mmu and mixed it in my hand until blended and smoothed onto my face and am really impressed with the finish and level of coverage. It's my skin, but a little more even. I still need a undereye concealer and a little facial concealer on a couple of areas and its a bit shiny, so I'll cover it with either EDM Silk Dust or EDM Natural Reflection Fair. Yep, I am impressed and I just used makeup I had sitting around. I think mixing it with a moisturizer does give me a better finish than applying it dry since the powder can sometimes highlight my lines and make my pores look more noticable.