Monday, January 6, 2020

New Blanket Project and Roasting Meals

I organized the yarn in my red trolley for the CAL (crochet a long) organized by my blog friend Lucy at Attic24.  I've printed up the pattern and the color sequence I'll be using and I'm set to go!  


Here are the colors, this project will bring joy and color to our grey cold winter months.  I'm going to do a gradient pattern of the colors, so that they melt into each other.  


We're working on our healthier eating regime and have brought out a cookbook we have called "Glorious One-Pot Meals".  You layer your meat and veg, season it, oil the inside of the pot and lid and put it in a 450 deg. oven for 45 minutes and Voila! Dinner!  There are all kinds of very interesting ingredient combinations.  


Our older 2 quart green pot does great for a 2 person meal, but we wanted to roast whole chickens so we got this 4 quart one so we can roast bigger portions of meat so we can have leftovers.  


You need a good heavy cast iron pot for roasting in a 450 deg. oven and these do the trick.


Dayle made this dinner last night, it's called "Honey Spice Pork Chops" and called for cinnamon, ginger and cloves!  


This recipe also called for mustard and honey.  


Last Thursday Dayle went in for an overnight sleep study.  He didn't sleep hardly at all so they may require he come back.  Poor Mocha missed her daddy the whole time and sat with me keeping an eye on the door.  


One part of eating healthier is making good choices when you go out to eat.  We went to Chinese dinner over the weekend and instead of the fried shrimp I ordered stir-fried shrimp and green beans.  


My fortune.  :-)


Mocha kept me company while I read up on the pattern for the blanket.  :-)


I was reading the latest issue of the US Country Living magazine and saw this - an old piano stool being used as a side table.  WELL.. I've been looking for an old stool to put my coffee and phone on next to my chair... 


So, I did a search on Facebook Marketplace and found this one for a fair price and so I made arrangement to pick it up from the seller on Saturday.  It works out perfect!  

My question to you is: It's been painted and I'm not fond of the color... should I paint it in a milk paint white?  Or would you strip it back to it's dark mahogany finish?  Or sand it back to raw wood?


I want to share with you something I got in an effort to limit my use of plastic.  Glass straws!  This set that I got on Amazon has 2 bamboo carrying cases, 2 cleaning tools and 5 glass straws.  PLUS - I'm so proud of Oregon, as of January 1st it's against the law to use one use plastic shopping bags.  We've been using re-usable ones for years and now everyone has to!  Can you share in the comment section ways that you are helping the environment?


I hope you have a wonderful week ahead.  ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

19 comments:

  1. Hello Teresa. I like the look of the cookbook and the meals sound yummy, I have a couple of one pot cook books your post has encouraged me to look into them again.
    I think I would try and sand the stool down but I'm sure it would look good whatever you decide on.
    I try to use cloth bags for shopping, we also recycle a lot of things. Hugs Anne x

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  2. I love the Staub pots! They were on sale before Christmas and I got a smaller one for us empty nesters.
    Painting the stool with chalk/milk paint would probably be the easiest option, I think it would look nice too.
    We have been trying to use less of one-use plastic as well, I've used metal or glass straws for a few years now, I always ask for paper bags (here in WA they still have plastic), recycle all I can, also I've been using reusable ziploc type bags and trying beeswax wrap.
    Happy New Year-Rebecca

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  3. Ohhhhh those yarn colors are so wonderful; I look forward to seeing your blanket grow! Your culinary adventures are clever and look yummy. It will be interesting to see what you decide to do with the stool...I would lean toward adding milk white paint I think. The glass straws and their containers are neat and one of the things that I have done to reduce my use of plastic is purchase stainless steel straws that come with a cleaning brush. I have a collection of reusable shopping bags that I use a lot as well and try to recycle everything we are allowed to through our waste management service, but still feel I need to use less plastic...like buying less clamshell plastic food containers. I hope Dayle gets a good result from his sleep test! Thanks for posting, Teresa. ((hugs)) and love pats for Mocha

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  4. Happy New Year Teresa! So glad you mentioned the cookbook...I just ordered a copy. ;-)

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  5. Your new blanket will be so pretty! I'm not sure what I would do with the piano stool. What would look best in your home? We've been using recycle bags for some time. Your glass straws might be able to go in your dishwasher! The one pit meals sound delicious.

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  6. Lovely yarn colours for your next blanket Teresa. We have used fabric bags for years and I even crochet a few string ones. Mochas face shows so much love πŸ˜€πŸ˜€

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  7. Those one pot meals both look and sound delicious. I may need to look up the cookbook for Dennis and I. Your new pot looks just like the one I got for Mandy last year. She really likes it too.
    Your new yarn looks like candy! I think it's going to be so pretty with the gradient colors. They look like pastel taffy to me. :-)
    Your new piano stool will be perfect for what you want it for. I think I would paint it milk white.
    Sweet little Mocha was probably thrilled when Dayle came home. I know Chloe was really excited when Dennis got home early, early Sunday morning. (Just after midnight Saturday.) It's good to have him home. I hope Dayles tests all went well and they got everything they needed.
    Love and Blessings,
    Betsy

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  8. I'm doing the Dahlia blanket too! Am so chuffed that I have done 16 rows already. I am loving the colours.I'm in Brisbane in Australia, thankfully way way away from these horrible fires.

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  9. That fortune is so true! Mocha obviously loves her Dad so very much, I can just picture her waiting and wondering where he's gone. I hope Dayle's sleep test goes OK - eventually! We use our own bags for shopping since the UK Government introduced a charge for single-use plastic bags (but only in large stores, which seems a bit odd to me.) I've never heard of glass straws, they look neat. I love the piano stool. Stripping/sanding then waxing would be my choice, but a lot of work. Painting it would be easier. xx

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  10. Wow, this post certainly got me in trouble! First, I hate to cook but love cook books...so I had to order the one you showed...then I now NEED a piano stool, I'm on a mission. Lastly, I have several trolleys around the house, but never thought of it to organize my yarn. Maybe I have to get one more?
    Oh, and the straws...
    Jan in PA

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  11. Happy New Year dear Teresa! Lovely to catch up with you again. Your colourful yarn for your new blanket looks so bright and cheerful...perfect for winter crochet. I love one pot meals with lots of veggies....I make simple ones a lot! Your little stool/sidetable was a good find....you know me, I would probably paint it white but maybe a wood stain would suit your farmhouse style more? Wishing you and Dayle all the best for 2020...hugs Helen xxx

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  12. The cookbook looks good. Love the beautiful array of coloured yarn for your blanket. The stool was amazing, a great find, I would paint and distress it. I make my own bags for shopping and have done for a long while.

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  13. I have two large le cruelest Dutch ovens and they are fantastic. I am going to look for that cookbook. We use stainless steel straws and recycle everything we can. Since we live pretty far out we take a load to a recycling place once a week. I use an eco-egg for washing clothes. They sell them on Amazon if you are not familiar. I have had good success with mine. I also make my own cleaning products, but I admit that I often use those small grocery bags for collecting trash. Also, Mocha is the cutest.

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  14. I do love one-pot meals (meat free, of course. :) Your blanket is going to be so pretty. And the fortune you got definitely was meant for you. I carry tote bags every time I go to the grocery story. I also have produce bags that I use instead of those silly plastic bags that everyone is grabbing. What a disaster all this plastic mess has created around the world. It's truly shameful and something has definitely got to change. I've been tossing and turning at night for the past few weeks and have no idea why. Thought it might be because our room is cold so I got out our space heater but that didn't do the trick. A friend said maybe my body is going through a new cycle. I don't know. I just know I would like to once again get a good night's sleep. Will be interesting to hear what comes of Dayle's sleep test.

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  15. Your yarn is beautiful with all the lovely colors, Teresa. The one pot meals looks delicious. I love my Le Crueset pans--yours are so pretty and I know Staub is good brand. We have been refusing straws when we eat out. It's not necessary for us, but your glass ones should do the trick for you all. If the piano bench were mine, I'd sand it to its original wood. Great idea!

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  16. I would strip the piano stool and bring it back to its natural wood finish. Never thought of using one as a side table... Great idea!

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  17. I love one pot meals... so easy and usually delicious! I would paint the legs and strip the seat down to the natural wood and put a clear finish on it. I love the yarn colors that you have chosen for your next project, can't wait to watch it develop!

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  18. Well, I'd like the stool painted in aqua with a small glass cover. And you know I went round and round with two failed sleep study tests. Fortunately I do not have sleep apnea. I felt I deserved a prize for the shenanigans the sleep study put me through!! Good luck to Dayle on the next try.

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  19. Such pretty yarn for a new blanket. It looks so bright and cheerful and should be fun to work on during the winter. I'd strip the stool and finish it as it's natural wood. Yay for glass straws. I don't make many New Year's resolutions but one thing I'm working on is to use less plastic. I bought reusable produce bags a few months ago and am also trying out the beeswax wraps.

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