Crock Pot Cooking - Beefy Onion Pot Roast

This week has been a very chilling week in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. We actually got snow Wednesday....

Check out my baby rocking her robes and boots! You wish you could do that, don't you? LOL

Because it is cold and, as part of my quest to slow down and cook more home cooked meals, I decided to dust off the crock-pot. It came out SO good, I decided to share.

Beefy Onion Crock Pot Pot Roast

Ingredients:

• Meat tenderizer
• Seasonings (I used Rosemary Garlic seasoning from Sam's Club and a little Lawry's Season All)
• One Beef Pot Roast (mine was a Ribeye Roast - yum)
• Olive oil - maybe 1 1/2 tbsp (enough to coat the bottom of a skillet)
• One medium onion
• 1/2 bell pepper
• Lipton Onion Soup mix - 1 package (I used Golden Onion but they have other variations)
• 1 cup water

1. Season roast on both sides with meat tenderizer and desired seasoning (note: meat tenderizer can be salty if not using salt-free so keep in mind as you use other seasonings)
2. In a large skillet, heat olive oil on medium-high.

3. Sear roast on both sides until you have a nice brown outside. (this is something my mama does before she roasts anything - pork chops, roasts, steaks, etc. because it gives nice color - not that overcooked grey you can get when you cook meat for a long time. Also, locks juices in your meat.)

Thrifting note - Heavy cast iron skillet: $5 from an estate sale

4. Put roast in crock pot.

5. Put cut up onion, bell pepper and onion soup mix on top of roast.

6. Pour 1 cup of water in crock pot and fire it up (on low).

Programming Note: I could not find my crockpot top. I took a top from something else and wrapped the top in foil to seal around edges.

I went to work all day and when I got home it was perfect.

For sides - I opened up a can of sliced potates and a can of green beans. Drained the green beans and added to a pot with potatoes, Rosemary garlic seasoning and some butter. *yum*

It was SO good, we just ate and I forgot to take plating pic.

I am a stove top and oven cook, but after this, I'm sure my crock pot will get ample use.

Have a warm and comfort food filled weekend - Tash

Don't Be Tardy For the Party!

I found the best list of weekly blog parties on a blog I found from Dayka's blog. *whew - that sounds like the source of a bad rumor*

Danielle at Transforming Home , who is having her first giveaway today (check it out), has the list below on the right panel of her blog. I thought it was good info to share, so...

Weekly Blog Link Parties
Mon - Made It Mondays - Persimmon Perch
Mon - It's So Very Creative - It's So Very Cheri
Mon - Motivation Mondays - More Than A House
Mon - Show Off Your House - House in Roses
Mon - Junkin' Monday - Nice and Easy Antiques
Mon - The DIY Show Off
Tues - Toot Your Horn Tuesday - Silly Little Sparrow
Tues - 2nd Time Around Tuesday - A Picture is Worth a 1000 words
Tues - DIY Day - A Soft Place to Land
Tues - Get your craft on Today's Creative Blog
Tues - Trash to Treasure Reinvented
Thurs - Thrift Thursday Bloggeritaville
Thurs - Transformation Thursday The Shabby Chic Cottage
Thurs - Thrift Store Thursday Homebody Holly
Fri - It's So Very Christmassy at It's So Very Cheri
Fri - Frugalicious Friday - Finding Fabulous
Fri - Creative Cats - Poppies At Play
Fri - Beautiful Life Friday - The Inspired Room
Fri - Show and Tell Friday - My Romantic Home
Fri - Furniture Feature Friday - Miss Mustard Seed
Sat - Saturday Nite Special - Funky Junk Interiors


Don't Be Tardy for the Party!

Kim - Real Housewives of Atlants (Bravo TV)

And the Winner Is...

...Messy Jessy!!!

Congratulations on your $5 gift card to Dollar Tree...don't spend it all at one time LOL

Contact me @ lygthatsme@hotmail.com and I'll get it in the mail.

I Have A Vision -- not really

You know I struggle with decor vision. I rely on inspiration from others (like here or here or here). The source of my pain is I am trying new colors this year instead of my regular reds and golds - silver, turquoise and, now, gold.

Can you help a (blog) sister out (CLICK ON PICS to enlarge?

I am uploading a couple of pics of areas I'm struggling with. Let me know what you think. Suggestions are welcome (help, even more welcome).

Most of what I used was purchased at Hobby Lobby at 90% off last Jan. or at the Dollar Tree this year.

1. Entryway table- put ornaments on a 12 votive candle holder, surrounded by silver ivy garland and "gift boxes" Wreath - white birds from Dollar tree and silver poinsetta leaves and other pics from HL

Dilemma(s) - how do I hide the cord from the wreath? Think it needs some height? Thoughts?

2. Mantle - have Martha knock-off hung (which is fab in person), but since using gold and silver with turquoise, I'm struggling to balance the mantle.

Dilemma(s) - Still need to hang stockings, but don't have silver or gold...struggling with color. I'm too embarrased to show the sad, little fireplace.

I started to buy some wood today to do this -- penguins are definitely on the resale shopping list :)

3. Tree - no explanation necessary -- it looks like the Charlie Brown tree (w/ one little turquoise ornament LOL)

I saw an HGTV special last year where they flattened the branches into shelves, and sat ornaments in the middle to make it look full. Have Googled for that video or instructions, but to no avail. Working on it tomorrow based on what I remember *pray for me*

Seriously, I miss my red and gold, but proud to be testing new waters (is that the right saying?)...stay tuned to see how it unfolds and PLEASE share your thoughts and ideas (it's already December!).

Sharing at It's So Very Cheri to get even more feedback! Thanks.

Pottery Barn Knock-Offs #2

When I saw this, I couldn't belive they charge $30 to $50 for some of these cylinders.

Mission:

I set out to make a knock-off of this arrangement using glass cylinders I purchased from resale stores for no more than $1.99 each. Filler materials were mostly from the Dollar Tree.

Some of this was free (from box of yard sale stuff Annette didn't sell -- but don't tell her I'm using it.)

Total cost (less than $20):

Fake silver Poinsetta...white Dollar tree candles and jingle bells

(You see my silver acorns from Saturday's post?)

Real cranberries and clear liquid marbles from Dollar Tree. The angel thingie is something Annette gave my daughter, but I needed for height...a little fake snow inside and it's all good.

Grand Finale: Video entitled "Jazzy Knock-off"

Check me out at Kimba's DIY, DIY show-off & Reinvented & Home Body.

This was fun! Hope you enjoyed!

Random Knock-off Wreath & Giveaway

If you don't already know, House of Turquoise is one of my very favorite blogs. I saw this and had to do it (sans the dogs - although very cute).

It was the perfect excuse for incorporating gold into my new holiday decor colors -- shades of turquoise and silver driven by all the stuff I bought last year at Hobby Lobby for 90% off.

Here We Go:

Supplies -

(almost all from Dollar Tree, except for wreath and 2 turquoise bell ornaments)

- Picture of inspiration picture within arm's reach - seriously, I looked at it 50 times easily

- Ribbon

- Ball ornaments (small gold, 2 large gold, 2 turquoise bells)

- Jingle bells (since putting on front door wanted a jingle)

- 3 Christmas picks (added because of golden apples and small pine cones)

- Feathers (I didn't add since refusing to buy any more items for holiday decorating)

2. Look at inspiration pic...Add balls to wreath with hooks or by sticking tip of a branch through the top. Push into wreath when you can to give embedded look.

check out inspiration pic on laptop

3. Look at inspiration pic...fold wire trimmed ribbon to add wavy effect. I folded like an accordian, then smoothed out into softer curves.

4. Check pic again...and add your own flavor, adjusting ornaments and foliage accordingly.

Final result - LOVES (and, yes, L. Duncan, I did it by myself AND I didn't even call Annette while doing it :P)

Giveaway details:

I am SO pleased with the Dollar Tree supplies, I'm giving away a $5 gift card (which IS a lot at the Dollar Tree) to one follower of this blog, who leaves a comment on this post. The winner will be chosen using Random.org and announced Wednesday, Dec. 3rd..

Check me out at Kimba's DIY party

Next: My take on this -

Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut

One of my tips for bringing nature into your home was to "steal shamelessly".

Here's a pic of the tree on our campus at work that bares the beautiful acorns I steal pick up (and a bag of the loot). click to enlarge

I took them home. Let them dry (picked up on a rainy day...I have no shame) .

Spray painted silver and...Tah Dah. I think they are gorgeous!

Tips for prepping natural materials:
1. Dry - Make sure they are dry before your use to prevent rotting.
2. Clean - If they are dirty, brush lightly with an old toothbrush.
3. Let them breathe - Don't seal in air tight bag...they may rot.
4. Reinforce - If they have a top on them like these lovely nuts, use hot glue to reinforce if they break off (and they do).

Will use as filler in my Pottery Barn knock-off of this - scheduled for Tuesday.