You know those days when you are tired and don’t want to cook. Sound familiar? Even as a stay-at-home mom, I have a lot of those days. And with a meat and potatoes type husband, this meal is a sure and easy pleaser.

Balsamic Roast Pork Tenderloin

At my store, these comes prepackaged in a bag. Simply remove the tenderloin from the bag. Cut some garlic slivers and using a knife, insert them throughout the tenderloin. You can see one in the photo and these are the most delicious morsels. Yum. Marinate the tenderloin for as short as 30 minutes and as long as overnight in a mix of balsamic vinegar (probably 1/3 to 1/2 a cup), Sriracha (1-2 tbsp), a dash of worcheshire (1 tbsp), and a generous shaking (like 1/4 cup) of Montreal Steak Seasoning.

Heat oven to 500. When hot, cook your tenderloin in an oven safe dish for 22 minutes. 

While your pork is cooking, why not whip up a blue cheese sauce to serve with it. Your husband or your taste buds or whomever you are cooking for will appreciate it.

In a pan (I use a small fry pan, seriously), melt 1/3 stick butter. When it is melted, crumble blue cheese into the butter (maybe 2-3 tbsp, depending on your preferences), add a dash of garlic salt and a splash of worcheshire. Crack some fresh black pepper into it and smoosh with a fork to combine. 

When your pork is done, let it sit for a couple of minutes covered in tin foil. Slice it about 1/2 an inch to 1 inch thick and serve your pork medallions (see, fancy word for slices!) with a drizzle of blue cheese sauce.

Seriously yummy and perfect for a Fall dinner.

Here goes:

1 head broccoli, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces

2-3 pieces of bacon cooked crispy and chopped

1 handful of red grapes, cut in half

1/4-1/2 cup of red onion, chopped

1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese

sliced almonds if you so wish (not pictured above but delicious, nonetheless)

1/2 cup mayo

2-3 tbsp vinegar (I used apple cider but white works great, too)

1 tbsp sugar

Combine and chill. You can eat it within an hour or two or wait until the next day or so. It’s good. We had it last with a spicy grilled tri tip but I’m thinking of adding it next time to a roasted pork loin. Yum.

Yesterday, the kids and I went on a bike riding play date at a local school and we packed a picnic lunch. Turkey and mermaids (mayonnaise) for Lulu, PB&J for Darsie, and PB for Berty (eaten before we had even left the house and a handful of crust handed to me).

We have a fridge full of tomatoes at the moment, most from a garden in Oregon but a couple of handfuls from our own garden, and I love a good BLT. But we’re out of the L(ettuce). So, instead, I piled two pieces of Texas toast that I toasted with butter in a pan on the stove high with mayonnaise, thick-sliced tomatoes, pepper bacon, brown turkey breast, and cheddar cheese.

I made one for dinner, too. It was that good. Especially when paired with hawaiian bbq chips and a big platter of fresh bell peppers and cucumbers with a ranch dip. Heaven.

I know the photo is horrid, but the sandwich is delicious. Try it.

Yesterday, the kids and I went on a bike riding play date at a local school and we packed a picnic lunch. Turkey and mermaids (mayonnaise) for Lulu, PB&J for Darsie, and PB for Berty (eaten before we had even left the house and a handful of crust handed to me).

We have a fridge full of tomatoes at the moment, most from a garden in Oregon but a couple of handfuls from our own garden, and I love a good BLT. But we’re out of the L(ettuce). So, instead, I piled two pieces of Texas toast that I toasted with butter in a pan on the stove high with mayonnaise, thick-sliced tomatoes, pepper bacon, brown turkey breast, and cheddar cheese.

I made one for dinner, too. It was that good. Especially when paired with hawaiian bbq chips and a big platter of fresh bell peppers and cucumbers with a ranch dip. Heaven.

I know the photo is horrid, but the sandwich is delicious. Try it.

In fact, I’m thinking about having another for a late breakfast. Good thing both the texas toast and the bacon are almost gone.

So, my oldest daughter turned 8 yesterday. 8! 8 is great! And in honor of 8, I made her a new t-shirt using reverse applique that I was first introduced to reading the Alabama Chanin books.

So, directions.

Take a tshirt, ours was purchased at Walmart for less than $4. Create your design. I used Illustrator but it can be done in Word, by hand, in Photoshop, etc. etc..

Trace your design on freezer paper with the wax side down. 

Cut out the areas of the design that are going to be appliqued and iron the freezer paper onto your shirt.

Get your fabric paint ready. You just need a tiny bit.

Make sure you have a piece of freezer paper positioned under the design and paint around the inside of the design.

Peel off the freezer paper to reveal your painted fabric after it has dried.

Put another piece of jersey or knit fabric behind the painted area and stitch around using DMC floss. Once you have your design stitched around, take a pair of embroidery scissors and cut out the upper layer of t-shirt to reveal the knit fabric below.

Easy and cute!

And it dawned on me. French Dip Sliders. 

I popped the leftover meat and juice into a pan on the stove with no extra seasonings. And while that was heating, I made garlic bread with the bread and topped it with cheddar cheese under the broiler. Once the bread was done, I topped half of the bread pieces with the meat and then added a top. Served with a green salad and mini bowls of meat juice, it was AWESOME, although not pretty.

Part of our back to school craziness was our middle kid starting kindergarten. How the time has flown. Part of the excitement of starting kindergarten is school supplies. And most exciting of all is the backpack. My girl picked out a super sweet backpack from Land’s End (highly recommend, by the way. My older daughter is going on the third year with her backpack). She really, really wanted a cupcake embroidery on it….and me being me, I couldn’t just pay the $5 for Land’s End to do it, I had to do it myself.

I started with this pencil sketch:

And then scanned it into my computer and reworked it in Adobe Illustrator. I printed it and prepared my fabric.

Here I used a simple graphite pencil, which worked great for me since the disappearing inks tend to disappear to quickly for me! 

I then embroidered the cupcake using just three colors, a bright pink, a lime green, and I can’t tell if the face is dark navy or black (so much for organization, right!). I used three strands of DMC floss.

I then traced around it using a glass from my cupboard and backed it with a piece of cream wool felt. Using the same pink as the frosting, I blanket stitched the two pieces of fabric together.

And for the final part, using the lime green floss, I stitched it to my daughter’s backpack.

She was so happy when she saw it that she hugged her backpack. It was really sweet.

And as a thank you for reading through this, I’m including the free pattern for the cupcake that I created. It has two sizes of the cupcake and includes both sizes with and without the face, although who can resist a sweet little smile? Here is the link.

Now I’m off to try to se.w a quilt in two days. Wish me luck! I’m going to need it…

Anyways, this week I’ve been busy creating a fun new dandelion theme of pouches. Each of these are available through the Small Grapes Etsy shop. And remember, blatant promotion here, that if you like the Small Grapes Facebook Fan Page, I often times offer up really fantastic deals. 

Anyways, here goes with the photos.

Remember, if you LOVE the pouch but want it in different colors or sizes, just shoot me a message on Facebook or Etsy. I’d love to work with you on creating what you really want. 

So, let’s get real, ok?

My name is Shannon. I have three crazy kids. My house can often times be a disaster. I frequently feel frumpy. I love to sew first thing in the morning after my husband has left for work and the kids are still sleeping (hopefully). I’m looking forward to September when school starts again because this being on 100% all the time is getting exhausting. My kids are looking forward to school, too.

I love nature. I love the Puget Sound. I love to camp. I love coffee. I love ceramics and stained glass. I love to cook, which reminds me, I need to pull out some stuffed shells that I put in the freezer for dinner tonight.

I have a daughter with cerebral palsy. I have another daughter with sensory processing disorder. I have a son who is 2.5 and trying to take over the world.

I make mistakes. I yell more than I would like to admit. Very occasionally, I give MYSELF a time out. I don’t mind doing laundry, its the folding that gets to me.

I’m trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up still, despite my student loan debt.

This morning, while the kids watched TV, I sequestered a little time in my sewing room and put together this. And until I get time to finish it, it’s going to drive me nuts.

Thanks for letting me share some of the real me. I hope to continue this trend although it isn’t the most natural thing for me to do.