I Made This!

My First Pi Shawl - DONE!

I finished my first shawl!  I took advantage of a kid-free zone on a Girls' Weekend Away a couple weeks ago to wash it and block it.  It's not the prettiest picture, but it's what I have so far.

 
I am THRILLED with how it turned out!  It's a bit big, but it's going to be warm and snuggly on cold blustery days this fall. 

We were in the desert, so it actually took longer to pin it out than it did to dry.  It was almost dry by the time I had it pinned.  I don't like blocking.  At least, not on a project this large.  It was nice to see it take its final shape and all, but it was tedious work and I was on my knees on hard cement.  My next project is a bit smaller, it might be easier to block out.

I'll get better pics, pics of me wearing it, hopefully soon.  I need to recruit the husband for that one.

works in progress (WIPs)

I have several projects going on at the same time, lots of things on my needles right now, and none of them is finished.  But that's okay, I've had reasons and excuses and I'm enjoying them all!

Well, most of them.  One, the blanket I started WAY BACK when I started knitting in April - it's boring now.  Just knit knit knit, purl purl purl, blah blah blah.  But it's so pretty, and it's for my little Bug, and I want to get it done before Christmas, so it's good TV knitting.  Don't really have to pay attention now that I'm used to more complicated patterns.  It's two yarns held together, one a variegated acrylic in blues and greens, and the other in solid grey.  It's a heavy, dense fabric, but it's not too large.  A bit much for a baby blanket, but he'll be 2-1/2 by the time he gets it, so I think it'll be okay.

 

I also have  a pair of socks on my needles, right now, and they're not going so well.  They're too big, even though I got guage and followed the instructions for measuring the foot.

This is an old picture, but it shows the pretty yarn.  I've turned the heel on one of them, and am ready to turn the heel of the other.  Then I'll knit the legs, and then I have to cut off the toes and knit back down to the right size.  You can see why I'm not so excited about these. 

I did my first lace project without even realizing it!  I made this scarf for a friend.  It still needs to be blocked, which should open up the lacework pattern.  And it smells like campfire since I finished it at a cookout at the beach.  But it's so pretty!!!

 
And my first lace shawl, the Elizabeth Zimmermann 100th Anniversary Pi Shawl.  It was designed by someone on ravelry to commemorate the 100th anniversary of EZ's birthday, which was 8/9/10.  So the stitches follow a pattern of 8, 9 or 10 rows of 8, 9 or 10 stitches.  It's so beautiful!

 
This picture doesn't do it justice.  I took it when I had to run a lifeline and tear back a few rows.  Right now it's all bunched up on the needles, but I can't wait to get it done and blocked! 

I actually ran out of yarn on this one, even though I bought two extra skeins when I started.  But a lovely woman on ravelry kindly sold me her stash of six from the same dye lot, so I now have PLENTY to finish it.  I'm only about 12 rows from being done, and it takes about 20 minutes to finish a row or round, so I should be done within a week!  Sooner if these pesky house chores leave me alone... 

AND because I had to wait on the yarn to finish that shawl, instead of reasonably working on a project I already had on the needles, I started another lace project. 

 
This is a lousy picture, taken with my phone at night on my couch.  But you can see the beginnings of the lace pattern, and how open and airy it is.  I'm using a blend of alpaca and silk, and it is SO SOFT! The fabric is drapey and soft, and I'm in love with it.  I ran into a snag on Row 75, but if I just follow the pattern and move my stitch markers as needed, it all works out.  I wrote the designer to confirm this, which she did.

So that's what I'm working on!  What is that, four WIPs?  That's not bad at all.  I know people who deliberately keep 6-7 WIPs going on at all times.  I want to finish a few of these before moving on though.  Especially that blanket, because I'm bored with it now and really want to get it done, which I won't if I have something more interested to work on.

What Is Art?

I think I have the answer.  Philosophers and artists, critics and collectors, everyone has been trying to answer this question for ages, and I think I just figured it out.

Have you ever watched a two-year-old draw?  I'm sitting here watching my toddler, and it's a beautiful thing.  Not the final product, though in my very humble opinion that's beautiful too.  The process.  Complete creative expression.  Losing himself in the process.  I see him grab a crayon and make a series of marks, then exclaim "It's a kite! It's flying up there!  Swirl swirl swirl, it's flying!"  Another color, another series of lines, "It's a flower! It is so pretty!"  I don't know if he knows what he's going to draw before he makes his marks, or if he makes his marks and then decides what it is, like a toddler rorshach excercise.  But he is deliberate in the colors he chooses, the lines he draws.  I ask him if he wants to use yellow, "No!  Black!"  He's adamant.  I see if I can direct him to draw in a blank corner of the paper.  "My art!" he yells at me, as he pushes my hand away.  And rightly so - who am I to tell him how to make his art?

Creative, emotional, unincombered by social ideas of what's art and what isn't.  Pure expression of self.  Open to interpretation.  The process as important as the final result, if not more so.  And when he's done, he's done, and moves on to something else, his task finished for now.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but to me this is art.  "You are such a good artist," I tell him.  He smiles at me and says "Mama!  I know!"

garage escapades

What a week it was last week!  But we got a good start to our garage project, and we feel good!

My husband took the week off work and we rented a dumpster.  When we went out to get started on Tuesday, our garbage can had been stolen!  What?! Not a great week for that to happen!  I quickly arranged a dumpster to arrive the next day.  It was delivered at noon, and by 12:30 our neighbors had already started using it!  Talk about incentive to get garage space cleared out - we kept it in the garage for the nights we had it. 

(We also found our garbage can the next pickup day, the neighbor across the alley had taken it and used it for electronic waste!  We suspect him of being the one taking our recycling bottles and cans as well.  And he left a container of used motor oil by our back fence.  Lovey guy, eh?)

Anyway, as it turned out, what we really needed was a recyling dumpster.  We didn't even fill the garbage dumpster we rented, but we have several loads of paper to get rid of.  I ordered a new garbage can when ours went missing, but the city gave us a second recycling can instead.  It all works out, ours "mysteriously" reappeared next pickup day, and now we have more space for recycling.  Which seems to be the majority of what we need hauled away anyway.

Taking our cue from the TV show Clean Sweep, we made three piles on tarps on our lawn: Keep, Donate, Sell.  My husband has it in his head to sell a lot of the stuff we're getting rid of.  Personally, I don't feel it's worth the hassle, and I'm willing to give it away just to be done with it. I understand selling some of the stuff, like specialty electronics that you can't get anymore, or his Swiss Army Watch that is in perfect shape.  But old DVDs and records, some of the furniture, games and puzzles?  I'm happy to call up Goodwill or Salvation Army and letting them just haul it away.  I did list a ton of stuff on Freecycle today, stuff Goodwill won't take anymore (stuffed animals, electronics, pillows and blankets).  Stuff not worth selling.

We worked all week, and probaby have at least a week's worth of work still to do.  I want to go through our Keep items again to weed them down a bit more.  I want to move my crafting stations from inside the house to the garage, and my books from the garage to inside.  The floors out there need a good scrub, and ideally I'd like to paint the walls (but realistically realize it'll probably never happen).

We've scheduled the last weekend in June for another big work weekend, and we're working evenings throughout the week.  We'll probably do some stuff this coming weekend.  Everything is back in the garage, including the Sell and Donate piles, because it started to mist yesterday and we don't want everything wet and ruined.  But even with everything in there again, it's amazing how cleared out it looks!  Especially compared to where we started!

I'll post before and after pics when it's done.

Oh, and it's amazing how many boxes we found containing half-empty bottles of water.  Why did we pack used water? God only knows.

spring cleaning

Technically it's still spring, so we're not too late for a little spring cleaning!  It's a big week around here, we're doing a HUGE purge of all our junk!  The Grandmother is taking the Toddler away today, and with the Grandfather is taking him again Saturday.  The Husband took the whole week off, and he and I are cleaning, cleaning, cleaning! 

Mostly we need to go through the garage.  We moved into our house about six years ago, and we still have boxes in there that we never unpacked.  We're thinking, if we haven't needed it in six years, we most likely don't need it now.  We'll look through everything to make sure we don't toss a priceless heirloom or that sixth grade fire safety project by accident, but mostly we're saying goodbye to clutter and hello to a simpler, happier lifestyle.

We have a detached garage with its own electrical circuit, network, and drywall.  It's wasted space right now.  We're hoping to turn it into a creative space, where I can do my sewing projects and the Husband can work on his electrical projects and such.  I'd like to have friends over and enjoy the space, maybe a big push in December to finish Christmas projects!  At the very least, a space where Momma (that's me!) can escape for an hour or two to just be creative without a toddler's demands.

It's amazing how one can feel the weight of so much *stuff*, even when it's out of sight.  We know it's there, and it clouds all our free time and saps our energy.  Here's to a week of productivity and a clutter-free life!

menu planning

I'm sitting here on a lazy Sunday morning (well, "morning" for us, it's noon but we got up late ;-) and planning my menu for the month.

For the month? Yep!  I thought I'd share my process with you all!

I sit in front of my computer with a paper calendar in hand and my Outlook Calendar open.  I use Outlook, you can use whatever you use.  I have several tabs on my electronic calendar - one for my kid to keep track of his milestones, one for my meetup events, one for general events, and one for meal planning. 

I have a system for meals.  I plan one night for each of the following:

• crock pot dinner
• international meal
• new recipe to try
• easy meal
• leftovers

I plan meals for Monday through Friday.  We wing it on the weekends.

Now, I like to make my crock pot meals on Mondays, my international meals on Wednesdays, and leftovers on Fridays when I'm tired from a week of cooking.  But sometimes it doesn't work out that way.  If I have something going on in the morning, I don't plan a crock pot meal as it's hard enough to get out the door without worrying about prepping a meal. If I have a Mom's NIght Out, I'll plan on leftovers that night for my husband to eat while I'm out playing with my mommy friends.  And my international meals should really be in quotes, as they're things like Taco Salad, my dad's Burritos, my mom's Lasagne, etc.  They're more International-Inspired.

And where my meal categories overlap, such as Irish Stew that I make in the crock pot, I plan an extra day for a simple meal or for leftovers.  I know my Irish Stew and my Burritos usually make enough for us to eat for a few nights, so that might be a week of two leftovers nights.

Now, how do I plan each specific dinner?  I have a stack of cookbooks, and I used to spend hours looking through them all for inspiration.  But then I realized, I kept coming back to the same recipes over and over.  So I put together an Excel spreadsheet of our favorites, our regulars, and I divided it by category.  I have our everyday recipes, our crock pot recipes, and our easy meals for those lazy nights.  These also tend to be meals my husband can whip together, so if I'm exhausted from chasing a suddenly ornrey toddler around, or if I'm under the weather, we don't have to resort to pizza or chinese food delivery.  I'm working on adding an International section to the menu list.

I really like to cook, so I like to dedicate one night a week to try a new recipe.  If we like it, I add it to the rotation.  So far there's only been a couple that we've nixed forever, from a crock pot recipe book that I'm going to be getting rid of.

For my resources I use the South Beach Diet cookbooks.  I like to sneak in healthy recipes, and my husband never complains (anymore) about having to eat "diet food."  Because he doesn't notice!  The food is good, healthy, and easy to make.  So it's in my regular rotation of inspiration.  I also have a collection of recipes that my mom put together for me ages ago as a Christmas present, food that I grew up on and family recipes.  I draw inspiration from Rachel Ray's 30-Minute Meals, because as much as she tends to annoy me anymore her food is good and fast to make.  I just got a new crock pot recipe book that I'm still looking through, but so far looks like the best one I've seen.  And I'm a Food Network junkie.  I pull recipes from the shows I see and other internet sites like The Pioneer Woman, Allrecipes, and Everyday Food.

I have several reasons for doing this.  I find it easier to dedicate one day every few weeks to figuring out what to make, rather than struggling every day at about 4pm and desperately looking for inspiration, only to find I don't have what I need on hand.  I also find it saves me money to do my shopping for two weeks at once.  I don't have to run to the store every day, cutting down on impulse buys.  I only need to stock up perishables, like milk, and I usually send the husband for a milk run so I don't buy anything else while I'm there.  It's amazing how a quick trip to the store "just" for milk easily turns into a $200 trip.

Oh yeah, the paper calendar!  I keep that tacked to the refrigerator.  I mark major events on it for the husband to see - my Mom's Nights Out, for example.  He also gets a glimpse of what's coming down the dinner pipeline, though he rarely has an opinion about what we eat.  And I can see what's coming while I'm in the kitchen.

And when I'm done on my Outlook calendar, I sync it with my iPhone so I have it with me!  This helps with grocery shopping and planning my days.

I hope that helps!  This is just the system that works for me, others have developed systems that work for them.  I dabbled in 30 Meals In One Day, which didn't really work out for me.  I do still do bulk cooking and freezing sometimes, but it's usually doubling up a recipe and freezing half.  These frozen meals also make good last-minute lazy-day dinners.

Okay, I'm going to get back to my planning now.  I have to make my grocery list and then get ready for a trip to the garden store with my husband.  He's building a garden for us, but that's a different post!

Perpetual Calendar Tutorial

I was bound and determined to make every single Christmas present we gave this year. I don't know that I'll be doing that again, but I did greatly enjoy it. One of my FAVORITE projects was for my dear friend. I made her a Perpetual Calendar out of my fabric stash and upcycled baby food jar lids.

Here's how I did it!

The first thing I did was figure out how big the calendar needed to be. I calculated that I needed six rows and seven columns. If the longest month is 31 days, if the month starts on a Saturday then it can easily take up six rows of days. And of course, seven columns for the seven days of the week. I used baby food jar lids (I'll show you how I decorated them later on in this tutorial), so I spread them out as I wanted them to appear, and measured off that. You can use whatever you want for your days – sports drink lids, wooden disks, squares of cardboard. Just measure off what you're using.

I then cut the fabric for calendar grid. I made it large enough to hold all the lids, plus a seam allowance, plus an overstitch allowance. Overall I made it about half an inch larger than I needed, but if you want a larger seam allowance you can make it an inch. My fabric came to be 19" wide by 16½" high.

Then I marked out the calendar grid using tailor's chalk.

You can see here how I left a bit extra fabric at the top so that I could attach the flowery top fabric with the month name on it. You'll see that later.

I chose to attach my lids with the numbers with magnets. You can use magnets or Velcro. I wanted each square to be empty when there wasn't a number in it, so I opted for magnet. (That, and my husband has a HUGE roll of magnet sheeting that he got for a project that never worked out the way he wanted!)

I cut the magnet sheeting into squares to fit my grid, then epoxied small craft magnets to each square. MAKE SURE that the magnets you use are strong enough to hold on through a layer of fabric!

Okay, this is where I'm sure there's a MUCH easier way to do this than the way I did, but this is how I did it. If you come up with an easier method, I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

First I sewed along the gridlines of the calendar, so I'd have a guide for the magnets.

Then I laid out the magnets,

and covered them with a layer of fleece to stabilize the calendar. Then I went along the grid and pinned the whole thing into place.

It was a little bit tedious. In retrospect, I might have just used a fabric spray adhesive to adhere the magnets in place, instead of pinning and pinning and pinning.

Then I sewed along the grid to sandwich the magnets between the fabric and the fleece.

Okay, that was the hard part. This next part might be complicated, but it's pretty easy. I took the topper fabric and cut it about an inch all around larger than I wanted it to be in the final calendar. I layered it with the fleece, and laid it down in this order: Calendar fabric side up (fleece on the table), flower fabric pattern-side down (against fabric of calendar), fleece – all lined up along the top of the calendar. This picture shows the calendar with the top facing towards me.

Pin it together and sew in place. Trim up the edges so they're even.

Now you have the front assembled! You can see I wasn't perfect in my stitching. I was going for a rustic, handmade look, and thought the rough stitching added to the charm of the piece.

Okay, I don't have great photos of this next part. But, cut a piece of fabric that is the same size as the completed front of your calendar, to create the back. Pin the front and back together, good sides together, and sew, leaving ample space for turning. I like to mark my opening with double pins so I don't forget to leave an opening.

Now flip it and topstitch all around, sewing the opening closed!

Now I decorated my lids and made my month title cards. For the numbers of the month, I used a punch to cut circles of coordinating scrapbooking paper. Then I stamped them with the numbers, and used Modge Podge to adhere them to the lids and seal them. I had also collected some Frappacino lids, and decorated them with stars and birthday cakes and hearts and holiday stamps to fill in holidays throughout the months. I know my friend has two kids with birthdays in the same month, so I made sure to make two birthday circles.

For the months, I cut rectangles of scrapbooking paper and used stamps to decorate them with the name of the month and some themed imagery. Then I used Modge Podge to adhere them to cardstock. The Modge Podge also acts as a sealant, and gives the cards a nice glazed look. I let everything dry thoroughly, and then gave it all a second coat of Modge Podge.

Again, I missed a few pictures for these next few steps. But I'll walk you though them. I used Bulldog Clips from the office supply store at the top of the calendar to hold the month names. I sewed it into place through all the layers of the calendar. I also used small O rings at the top corners of the calendar, on the back, for hanging it. I was going to use a loop of cord, but the calendar bowed strangely, so the two rings hold it stable. You'll need two nails to hang it on the wall. I attached a second Bulldog Clip at the bottom to hold notes or the bag for extra numbers and holidays.

I also made a little bag to hold all the numbers and holidays, to keep them all together.

And that's about it! I hope you found this tutorial helpful, or at least inspirational. I'm sure it's confusing in parts, it's my very first tutorial ever. If you want to make one for yourself or a friend, and run into a snag, please leave me a message in the comments or email me and I'll help you out!

Thanks!

new hobby!

Just like me to get a blog up and running, then disappear for a month or so!  But I've been busy.  Because I don't have enough to do, I've decided to pick up a new hobby!  This past month I've been learning to knit, and it's been FUN!

My desire to knit stemmed from a need for a portable craft.  My toddler often falls asleep in the car as we're out and about, and I wanted something to do besides playing video games on my iPhone.  Not that playing video games is bad, I just wanted some variety.  I'm a sewist, but it's hard to take a sewing machine on the road.  I thought I'd learn to crochet or knit, but knitting just called to me.  And I love it!

I quicky grew tired of knitting with simple worsted cotton, making dishcloths.  Once I "mastered" [sic] knit and purl, I decided to tackle a hat for the local Chemo Caps collection.  I didn't get a photo of it before dropping it off.

Then started a blanket for my kid.  I got confused on the instructions though, so I decided to make a smaller version to make sure I had the stitches down.  Here's what I came up with:

I used two skeins of a bright turquoise variegated yarn, somewhat bulky, and size 15 needles.  It kind of ended up looking like water cammo.  It whipped together fast, and is only about 30" long by 18" wide.  Perfect for a stroller blanket, and for me to see the pattern.  It's a seed stitch around the outside border, with alternating stockinette and garter stitch squares in the center.  I modified a pattern from the Stitch 'N' Bitch book.

Then my mom requested a scarf, and we found yarn that she was in love with.  I combined it with a black fuzzy yarn to make it soft and comfy, and came up with this:

It's just a garter stitch, long enough to wrap around her neck or maybe tie in front.  I added the fringe in a different yarn, since the scarf itself took up the whole skein I had of the chenille-like black.  I think she's going to enjoy this!

I also enrolled in a knitting class to give me some Me Time on Saturday mornings.  I've got the nice lady there teaching me how to make socks:

So far I have the ribbed cuff and the ankle part of the sock done, I've reinforced the heel and turned the heel.  I'm not sure what to do next, but I've got class again soon and I'll get booking on this.  I ultimately want to know how to make two at once, because I have Crafter's ADD and get easily distracted.  Once I make one sock, I'm not going to want to sit down and make a second sock.  But if I can make two at once, I'll consider it one project and hopefully get it done!

I've been good about keeping the projects under control.  I have the socks going, and I'm redoing the blanket I started for my little boy.  Instead of frogging it completely and rewinding the yarn, I'm just knitting off what I already knit, unravelling it as I make the new blanket.  I'm making it a little smaller, and doing it right this time.  I could have just kept going with the other one, but I wasn't even a quarter of the way done and already frustrated.

So that's what's up in my crafting world!  I haven't sewn much lately. I finished the casserole carrier that I made to replace the one I donated to Craft Hope, only I got the snaps wrong and I need to find a way to reinforce where I took them out and replaced them.  But it's cute and I've already used it once at one of my momma groups. 

Also on my To Do list is a written and illustrated tutorial on how I made a Perpetual Calendar for my friend for Christmas.  I have all the step-by-step photos done, I just need to write it up.  Right now we're battling colds in my house, so it will have to wait for another entry.  Here's a photo of it, though, as a teaser!

  

cheesecake

February was a rough month around here.  We all got sick, one after the other, cycling 'round and 'round until we finally got some strong medicine to kick the bug.  February was a loss.  Seems like it was Christmas, then I woke up one day and it was March.  How time flies!

I haven't had much energy to craft lately.  I have a tutorial I want to finish writing up and post here, for a cute little perpetual calendar I made a friend for Christmas (it was just delivered today - eek!). I have the pictures taken, I just need to narrate it.

In the mean time, here's a little recipe that I got out of a chocolate-lover's cookbook and doctored up.  My notes are in italics.  I'm going to have to go look up the recipe author to give credit where credit is due.  This recipe won me $50 at a Superbowl Party food contest a friend hosted, so Yay for Cheesecake!  (I spent the winnings on 12 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies.  Joy!)

white chocolate lemon cheesecake

crust
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
(I added about a tsp of lemon zest to the crust to give it more lemony goodness)

filling
6 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
(I used a full bag of Ghiradelli white chocolate chips)
¼ cup boiling water
1½ pounds cream cheese, at room temperature
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (I used the zest of two lemons)
3 tablespoons strained fresh lemon juice
(I used 6, plus about a half tablespoon lemon extract)
2 eggs, at room temperature

equipment
8-inch springform pan, lightly greased

instructions
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat oven to 350°F.

To make the crust, cut the butter into chunks and melt it in a medium saucepan over low heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar, vanilla, and salt. Add the flour and mix just until incorporated. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and about halfway up the sides of the pan. Bake until the crust is a rich golden brown and very brown at the edges, 20 to 25 minutes. (I found that this was WAY too long in my oven. I would start checking the crust at about 15 minutes.) Cool on a rack before filling. Grease the sides of the pan again, above the crust level, to prevent the filling from sticking to the pan above the crust.

Lower the oven temperature to 325°F.

To make the filling, place the white chocolate in a small bowl. Pour the boiling water over the chocolate and stir until smooth. Set aside.

(I poured a thin layer of the white chocolate over the crust before adding the rest to the cheesecake mixture, to make sure there was a good white chocolate flavor. I also saved a little bit to put into a squeeze bottle to drizzle over the top of the cooled cheesecake.))

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese just until smooth, about 30 seconds. Scrape the bowl and beaters. Add the sugar, vanilla, lemon zest, and juice and beat just until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add 1 egg and beat just until incorporated. Scrape the bowl and beaters. Beat in the second egg. Stir in the melted chocolate. Pour the batter into the prepared crust and smooth the top.

Bake until the edges of the cake are puffed but the center looks moist and jiggles when tapped, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven. Slide the tip of a thin paring knife carefully around the top edge of the cake to detach it from the pan, but do not remove the pan sides. Place the pan on a rack and cover the pan and the rack with a large inverted bowl or pot so that the cake cools slowly. Cover and refrigerate the cooled cake at least 5 hours, preferably 24 hours, before serving.

Love Affair with a Rival

Rival Crock Pot, that is.  I'm in love with my crock pot.  Our last three meals have been crock pot meals.  It's been wonderful, as we are all sick sick SICK in this house. A child with sinusitis became a child with bronchitis who shared with momma, and now daddy is sick.  We're all low-energy and coughing and hacking and spreading our germs wherever we go.  (Wanna come for a visit?  ;-)

I have a crock pot recipe book - actually, I have a few - but I'm quickly becoming disillusioned by them.  Lots of canned ingredients, high calories and high carbs, lots of salt.  So now I'm venturing out on my own, using print recipes as inspiration and seeing what can be done.

Dinner One: Chicken.  The recipe called for four frozen chicken breasts, a package of italian dressing mix, and a can of chicken broth.  Okay.  Well, at the store they were having a 2-for-1 sale on dressing mixes and I picked up a garlic cheese mix that looked yummy.  So into the pot that went, instead of the italian mix.  I also had some leftover chicken stock from a previous dinner, and I used that as well.  Four hours later on high, the meal was done.  But the chicken didn't look so good, so I took it out and browned it on both sides in a skillet.  I also reduced and thickened the cooking sauce with a slurry of flour and stock.  Dinner was fast, easy, and yummy!

Dinner Two: Irish Stew.  This one came from a friend in my mommy group who is from Ireland.  A bottle of Guinness, a cup of wine, beef stock, carrots and potatoes, some thyme...  So very good!  To thicken the soup when it was cooked, I ladelled a couple of cups of the broth and carrots and potatoes into the blender and let it whir.  Scrumptious!

Dinner Three: Brisket.  I had none of the ingredients I needed for this one, except the brisket.  So I made a rub of paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Popped the brisket in the crock pot fat-side-up, and dumped in about half a bottle of pale ale.  That's tonight's dinner.  I'll let you know how it tastes.

My point is this.  For the past week, my butt has been dragging.  I spent yesterday afternoon in urgent care getting a diagnosis and prescriptions for bronchitis.  My toddler has been sick for about a month now, one thing leading to another.  And my husband has been super helpful around the house, doing dishes and laundry and taking care of the tot so I can sleep.  But now he's sick too, and we still need to get a healthy  meal on the table for dinner.  The crock pot is letting me do this with very little effort, few dirtied dishes, and I can do it all in the early day when my energy is higher than it is at actual dinner time, after chasing a kid around and fighting to stay awake and alert all day. 

Our produce box also arrived today, so we have our choice of fresh green veggies to serve with dinner.  I'm thinking a salad and some asparagus roasted with olive oil and some garlic powder might be the easiest solution.