If there is an item that will help me in the kitchen, make my life easier, save me money, and bless my efforts to put good food on the table for my family efficiently, I am all over it. And of course, if I ever discover something new that I feel will bless you too, I’m sure to share the information with you.
No need to thank me. It’s what I’m here for. And that, my dear friends, is why I am so happy to introduce to you the latest addition to my kitchen:
No, not the toaster oven. You already knew I had that. I’m talking about the ten pound dumbbell. Ain’t she a beauty?
You see, after many uses, our toaster oven door decided not to close all the way by itself. Our food wouldn’t heat well, we were wasting energy, and something just had to give. That’s when my husband came up with the genius idea to bring down the dumbbell from our collection of weights. When placed against the door handle of the toaster oven, the door stays closed, and our food is heated properly.
I’m thinking I should paint it yellow to match the buttery color of my walls. What do you think?
Can he think of anything to keep a wall oven door closed tightly? Mine came off unexpectedly and got slightly bent in the process. Also leaks heat. Might help in the winter, but not in August.
I think pink would look lovely with your yellow walls, like a pretty flower on a sunny day. :)
Slap some felt on the bottom too so it won’t scratch the counter. Great problem solving there Laura!!! I love how practical you are!
Lol! I love that the title of the post didn’t completely prepare me for it and I was really laughing! Reminds me of the pliers we kept on the dryer to turn the knob when it broke, and the other pliers that were a permanent implant inside of one of the car doors to hold the window up when the automatic window mechanism broke. Hooray for creative repair fixes!
We have pliers in a drawer for our toaster oven (the knob broke off too)!
I love the fact that you didn’t just throw the toaster oven out. Too much stuff goes into landfills that shouldn’t.
https://twitter.com/Studioat413
In one day my husband broke a foot off the toaster and the crockpot. We never did find a fix for the toaster, it still wobbles. My fix for the crockpot? I place a nice flat rock where the foot should be.
What I think is that your blog and posts like this are so very refreshing. I can relax and take a deep breath, knowing it’s okay that my home is not ‘blog picture perfect.’ Thanks for keepin’ it real, and for all your wonderful recipes, helping us transition to real food!!!
And guess what else that dumbbell is good for?
Meat tenderizing!! Makes cooking chicken breasts a breeze when they are paper thin!! LOL! (I’m actually serious, though!)
Lol! So funny! I think you should paint it green or purple, or green AND purple!:)
GENIUS! My husband would do the same thing to keep me from buying new. Yes paint it and maybe some cute little decal on the flat part. ;)
Good for you! As long as the oven still works (i.e. heats up), this is a great idea to keep the appliance in use. Painting it yellow will make it look more kitcheny plus you have the benefit of lifting weights (something your personal trainer will be very proud of you for). =)
Painting it is a good idea. That’s something we would totally do. My motto is wear it out COMPLETELY before replacing.
Paint it a contrasting color, then paint the washer bungee cord to match. Pulls things together through the house.
I was thinking the same as Carol, that would be awesome to flatten out some chicken breast, fill with cream cheese and herbs, roll up and wrap in bacon and bake. LOL
HEY LAURA,
WHAT HAPPENED TO MY COMMENT ?????
Not sure! I never saw a comment come in from you today. :) Maybe it didn’t go through for some reason?
You could put some walnuts in ziplock bag and smash with one end of dumbbell ( or better yet, one of the kids may enjoy that job), plus working out their muscles.
Susan
Thanks for the post! There’s always something in your house that you think would have no use until you randomly find something to use it for. As long as the toaster works and the dumbbell keeps it closed, there’s no need for a new toaster. Great thinking!
Haha, I thought you were going to say that the dumbbell was for tenderizing meat!
Hi Laura,
I have been there myself except our toaster oven would not turn on until we used something to push the door in. We finally broke down and bought ourselves a new one. We had a gift certificate that blessed us to buy it :)
Have a beautiful day!
Our toaster oven door wasn’t closing anymore either and I found that by lifting the front edge of the oven just a bit (~1/4 inch) it closed and stayed closed. My long term fix was two squares of foil that I then folded in half again and again until I had 1/4″ thick squares of foil to put under the front legs. Would gravity help your door?