Goldie's Poncho

It's finally finished! I don't know why it's taken me so long. This is basically the lion brand granny poncho, sized down for a 4 year old/size 5, and the yarn is red heart "beach". I used an "I" hook (I crochet small, I think most people would need a "G" or "H" hook) and used this for the chain.





Now to get the afghan finished - that one has about another 13 hours on it or so. The kids don't have school this week, and Betsy is in a family wedding on Friday night, so I expect to be scarce.

I'm going to be using my crockpot a lot this week - here's what just went into it, with today's variations:

To Die For Beef Roast

2-3 pounds beef roast (I just used some cheap steak cuts since I will shred it later and this makes it much easier)
1 packet ranch dressing mix
1 packet Italian dressing mix
1 packet brown gravy mix
1/2-1 cup hot water

Place roast in crockpot*. Sprinkle with dry mixes. Pour hot water down the side of the pot (you don't want to wash the seasonings off the meat). Cover and cook all day on low (if you have a "newer" crockpot, you will only want to cook this for about 5 hours on low). Serve with mashed potatoes and carrots. You can make gravy with the juices if you like - this makes wonderful gravy!

*Using steaks, I did this a little bit differently. I mixed together the mixes in a small bowl, then layered the steaks in, sprinkling each steak liberally with the seasoning mixes. I used about a cup and a half of water - when it's done, I will mash the meat into the juices and thicken it with some cornstarch (add a slurry of 2 tsp cornstarch and 2 tsp cold water an hour before serving). We'll have it with noodles and some broccoli. It will cook a little bit longer than usual - about 10 hours - since that will break down the fibers and allow me to shred it quite easily. Is also very good served on rolls with the juice in a bowl on the side to dip, yummy!

You can also put the meat in frozen, just turn to high for the first hour then down to low as usual.