Progress not Perfection?

Progress not Perfection?

I wish progress was going a little faster, but at least it's something. The process with the insurance company seems to be dragging out a lot longer than it should, but we will get there eventually.

I'm currently working on setting up the new computers, figuring out Windows 8, and reconstructing the information from our budget spreadsheet.

Christmas is coming at the same rate, regardless of my situation, so I'm starting in on "all that stuff" also. My sister was over last weekend with her kidlets, who thoroughly entertained "Uncle Mark" while she and I did some baking. The kids helped some and we got done what we wanted to.

Our family has traditional Christmas 'goodies' that we like to have each year. So my sister and I have developed a chart with recipe names across the top, ingredients down the sides, and amounts filled in the middle. The amounts for each ingredient are totaled in one column and then each is assigned to one of us. We each contribute some of the ingredients and split the goodies when we are done.

Do you get together with anyone for Christmas baking? Do you do a cookie exchange? Comment on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page!

Thank you for joining me, it really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva 

Thinking About Christmas?

First off, I have to tell you, yes, in my opinion, it is still way too early for Christmas decorations and music. But, now is the perfect time to plan!

It's mid-November, craft shows are in high gear and we're starting to get into make-ahead season. Now is the time to set aside some extra time and some extra money (if you haven't already) to make sure that Christmas doesn't surprise you.

I encourage you to spend some time thinking about what you are going to do this year. Just ask yourself some questions and write down the answers:

• Who is on your gift list?
• How much money do you plan on spending on gifts?
• What might you get for each person?
• Are there any crafts you need to get going on?
• How many get-togethers do you want to go to?
• Are you hosting any of these get-togethers?
• What goodies are you going to bake?
• What baking can be made ahead?
• And don't forget your family traditions!

November is a great time to get started on crafts and baking. A friend of mine has a craft show every year with her mother and one or two other vendors. I always go and usually get all my stocking-stuffers there.

My sister and I bake together, and we had our first session on Saturday. It was extra fun this year because now my seven-year-old niece is old enough to help (not just busy-work 'help' but actually help). We make our list, pick our dates and split the groceries. It's always a lot of fun.

If you start planning now, you can beat the rush and avoid the malls on crazy December Saturdays. If you can swing it, try going on a weekday-day during November to get a head start on your gift buying.

Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva or by email at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Countdown to the Holidays! Chow Down

Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming!

We all have extra shopping to do in December, let's help ease the burden and chow down! I challenge you to do less (regular) grocery shopping in December. Eat what you have, go 'freezer diving', get creative, and save some money!

I have the habit of putting  leftover sauce into the freezer. Plus I usually stock up on the meat that's on sale for half price at my store. I know I have another half a bag of black beans, plus a few 'cans' in the freezer. And I REALLY need to finish that box of rice I bought... too long ago.

Is your food storage in a similar state? Will you accept the Challenge?

Chow Down Challenge:

1. Wait as long as possible to go grocery shopping this month and buy as little as possible. (I'm talking about regular grocery shopping, not Christmas Dinner.)
2. Use up what you already have. Get creative. Dig to the bottom of the freezer and the back of the pantry.
3. Save some money.

Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva or by email at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Countdown to the Holidays! - How's it Coming?

Less than a month before Christmas. Really?!?! How's it coming?

I have my Advent calendar ready to go. It's a fabric one with pockets that you re-fill each year. I added candies and little notes in each pocket and it is waiting patiently on my crafting table for December first.

Baking is done. Well, part of it anyways. I probably will end up doing some more baking on my own, but all the baking I 'have to' do for my traditional Christmas is ready and waiting. I hauled baking stuff over to my sister's on three of the last 6 Thursdays and we baked... well two of those days I mostly just entertained my nephew (who was being clingy but oh-so-cute) which allowed her to bake. We have gotten together for the past few years to do our Christmas baking to have the 'goodies' we grew up with.

Shopping is started. My friend, her mother, and her niece had a craft show at the beginning of the month. I brought my husband along and we made a good start to our Christmas shopping. Stockings are done except for one more thing, his parents and two friends are done except for some baking I'll add later. That just leaves the 'kidlets' (our nieces and nephews) who get Veggie Tales movies, his brother and sister-in-law who needs more brainstorming, and each other.

Crafting is not really started yet... I know, I know! But I still have time. I have the fabric for the stockings, one is washed but the other isn't. And DH still doesn't know what he wants on his, but I can do mine first, that's OK. I need to just 'suck it up' and wash the fabric in the evening instead of waiting for the weekend (our electricity rates are hiked up the rest of the time). Adding that to my list now :)

Thankfully the only thing I put on my crafting list are the stockings, advent calendar (done! - I made the little notes cute with scrapbooking punches), and these mirror ornaments I saw on Pinterest. I figure I can do them for $2-$3. (Scroll down about halfway on the link.) Mini mirrors from the dollar store glued to Christmas tree ornament hooks and placed on the INSIDE of your tree. It's supposed to make it more sparkly. I already have glue, so this should be an easy mini-project once I pick up the stuff.

How's your Christmas progress coming? Is there something you need to take of your list to be realistic?

Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva or by email at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Countdown to the Holidays! Feeling Crafty!

Happy Halloween everyone!

First off, I need to share my favorite Halloween tip with you before I forget:

COUNT the kiddies! Do it however you want - make a tally chart, count how many bags of chips are left and compare to how many you bought (don't forget to account for the ones you ate). Do whatever works for you, but count them. Write the number down and somewhere logical (I have a page in my holiday binder that I made up with cute, free Halloween graphics). Then next year you have a good idea of how many kids will be coming and how much candy to buy (plus extra for you). No need to steal from your kids' haul or get egged for being stingy :)

I hope you're all ready for the festivities tonight. My candy has been sitting by the door since we bought it, waiting patiently for tonight. I'll pull out my HUGE mixing bowl and pour the candy in and I'm all set!

I know it's still early, but now is the time to think about Christmas crafting, if you do any, or want to start. PLEASE don't over-burden yourself. Don't plan to make everyone on your list a cool afghan and then beat yourself up because you couldn't finish. Sit down and think about how much time you realistically have. Not how much time you'd have if no one ever got sick, had an appointment, or a flat tire that took up some of your time. Realistic time. Then cut it in half. Really. You don't want to over-burden yourself. Decide what you can do in THAT amount of time (half of your realistic time). Maybe make something small for several people or something big for one person. Start thinking about what you will make and pick up any materials you need so you can get started by next week to keep the pressure off.

I'm still learning to sew, so for me, this year all I'm committing to is stockings. I'm going to make us our own stockings. We've been using ones we just 'happened to have', but I want us to have OURS. I'm still having trouble deciding if I want to go 'classic' or 'fun' with them. But I have decided I want to do 2 or 3 coordinating fabrics mixing and matching for both stockings. So his will be made from fabric A and decorated with fabrics B and C and mine will be made from fabric B and decorated with fabrics A and C... make sense? Fat quarters should be the perfect size. I laid my stocking over a folded fat quarter, and there's lots of space for a seam allowance and extra decorating fabric. Now we just need to get to the fabric store :)

My sister and started our Christmas baking last week. We're doing 3 days over 6 weeks spreading it out and sharing ingredients. We made the freezable stuff first and will save the icing for the last day. We'll be finishing up on November 22nd, if plans don't change. Now THAT'S a stress-free holiday. I'll probably do more baking on my own, just because I can, but I'll have my Christmas 'necessities' done and no pressure on anything else.


Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva or by email at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Countdown the the Holidays! Treats, no Tricks!

First of all, I am NOT saying Halloween is a holiday. It isn't. But it IS part of the busy-ness of the Holiday Season :)

I'm not big on Halloween at my place. I buy candy and turn on the outdoor lights and that's my prep. BUT for those of you who are going to be dressing up or have kids who will be dressing up, now is the time.

Sit down TODAY (if you haven't already). And decide what you will be, and ask your kids what they want to be. Then, decide if you're making or buying costumes (or if you already have something that could work). If you're making it, get started as soon as possible. If you're buying, you'll still want to head out fairly soon so there's some selection and you're not rushed.

Now is a good time to add the Halloween treats to your grocery list, too!

And remember, have fun!

Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva or by email at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Countdown to the Holidays! - Use it or Lose it!

OK Canadians!

If you still have turkey dinner leftovers in your fridge, this is your warning. You want to finish up what you can for dinner tonight and then freeze or throw out the rest. Tomorrow is officially cootie-ville! :)

I had turkey dinner leftovers for lunch, and we'll be having some more for dinner. I've asked my husband to 'do' the turkey today (get the meat off the bones) and I'll be starting bone broth in the crock cooker when he's done and chopping the meat and freezing in baggies for other meals.

Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva or by email at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Countdown to the Holidays - Are you Ready?

Well, tomorrow is Turkey Day for me. Doing what I can now to make tomorrow easier.

I made the marshmallow salad (family tradition, NEEDS to be made 1 day ahead) and the white bean dip (from Saving Dinner, CAN be made a day ahead), I also chopped up a large cucumber, carrot, some celery, and a yellow bell pepper, and put them in a large zipplerware (ziploc + tupperware = zipplerware) container covered in water in the fridge. They're for dipping in the white bean dip, I'll fish them out with a slotted spoon tomorrow :)

That's three things ready and done. I also washed all the dishes and did a 15 minute tidy. Now I can relax, play with my sewing stuff, read, and hang out with my husband. (Which are great things to do on a holiday weekend!)

Tomorrow, I'm making the garlic smashed red potatoes in the morning, and having them on keep warm in my crock cooker all day (with a little butter over the top). Plus I'll cut my bread for stuffing before we leave to pick up my in-laws.

Sometime around noon will be time to preheat the oven, make the stuffing, and prep the bird. When the turkey's halfway done (or so) I'll make the pumpkin pie and pop it in the oven, too.

Gravy and the green beans are the only things that'll need to be done last-minute and they're both pretty easy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva or by email at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Countdown to the Holidays! - Thanksgiving Prep

Hello everyone!

Since I'm making Turkey Dinner for my in-laws on Monday, I'm trying to spread my prep work out so I'm just doing a little each day.

Today I turned my turkey over (hoping this will help it thaw more evenly) in the fridge. I went over my recipes again and pulled out the rest of the ingredients I needed out of the freezer so they will be thawed in time.

I got out my turkey roasting pan (which I pretty much only use for Thanksgiving and Christmas) and washed it along with the rest of the dishes. DH put the dishwasher on for me, and I'm having my normal laundry day.

I'll also have a '15 minute tidy' later on, to baby-step the whole 'cleaning the house for company' thing. It's not too bad, just needs some touch ups. :)

It's cool and rainy today, maybe I'll do some baking, too. We'll see.

Are you getting ready for the big day?

Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva or by email at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Coundown to the Holidays! Getting it Together

Well, they DID actually have turkeys in stock yesterday morning, yay! So now I have two. One is defrosting in my fridge for Thanksgiving and the other is waiting patiently in my chest freezer for Christmas.

If you're cooking a turkey this year, it's time to get it thawing :) And  while you're putting the turkey in the fridge, you might want to clean it out. Not clean-wash, clean-declutter. Well, you can clean-wash if you want to. I'll be cleaning out my fridge today to make room for Thanksgiving.


While I was in town yesterday I also picked up bread at Westons - so much cheaper than the grocery store. They bake the name-brand bread and deliver to the grocery stores. What the stores don't sell the day of, gets returned, and I can get one-day-older bread at the Westons thrift store for less than half price! I was nice and grabbed two squished loaves as part of my purchase - they can be for stuffing.

Today is Thanksgiving grocery day for me. I'm going to look at my Thanksgiving Planner and pull the recipes for the dishes I picked. Then I'll check the fridge, freezers and pantry for what I already have and make a grocery list for what I don't, then it's off the the store! Shouldn't be too much. I already did a 'normal' grocery trip. This is just holiday 'touch-up'.



Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva or by email at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Countdown to the Holidays! Planning for Sanity

Thanksgiving is going to be here soon, so I'm doing my best to be prepared. Hopefully by the time you read this, I will have purchased my turkeys. I am bound and determined to find some at a good price, so I will be going to Walmart for a THIRD time, first thing at opening this morning (I'm writing this last night). You'd think Walmart would realize that they should stock up on items that are on at a really good price; I mean, if you keep running out of the turkeys that are on sale, maybe you should start ordering MORE?? Maybe?

Sorry. Rant over :)

I did sit down and finalize my Thanksgiving menu and update my planner page.

• White Bean Dip and Veggies
• Turkey
• Stuffing
• Gravy
• Garlicky Smashed Red Potatoes
• Nutmeg Green Beans
• Marshmallow Salad (family tradition)
• Pumpkin Pie with Whipped Cream

I've got the basics covered and a bit of my weird upbringing thrown in. The plan is to make the dip, chop the veggies, and make the marshmallow salad on Sunday. And the pumpkin pie can be baking somewhere around when the turkey's half done.

My favorite trick (and one you'll love too!) is to make the mashed potatoes (whatever kind you like at your place) EARLY. Then put it in the crock cooker with a little butter over the top on 'keep warm' until dinnertime. One less thing to do later. Just be sure to test run your crock pot first (you can make a potato chowder if you want afterwards) you don't want scorched potatoes on the big day! I got that tip from Leanne Ely who got it from Flylady.

I've got a few things to do each day from Thursday to Monday (including tidying the house in babysteps) so I'm not doing everything at once. Sounds like a plan to me!

Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com

Countdown to the Holidays! The Turkey Hunt

 It's October! Can you believe it? Neither can I! But it is, nonetheless.

October is time to officially kick off your holiday planning. And I'm not just talking about Christmas. There's Thanksgiving (and even Halloween) thrown into the mix, too. (Plus Hanukkah, or whatever else you celebrate at the end of the year.)

Head's up, Canadians! You have just one week until Thanksgiving! Turkeys are on sale, pick one up ASAP. Ninety-nine cents a pound for a frozen turkey is a good price. If you can afford it, pick up two and you have Christmas dinner handled also! That's my plan. I'm heading to town tonight. There are two stores that have turkeys on for ninety-seven cents a pound, so I'm picking up two turkeys. One for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas.

Later this week, I'll do the rest of the groceries. But I don't want to be going to 7 grocery stores the last weekday before Christmas hunting for turkeys EVER again! (That's what happened last year - boo!)

I like to keep my holiday meals simple and make up a 5-day plan (or so) I just recycle and tweak the last one, most of the time. I spread the meal prep and house cleaning over 5 days and then I only have a little bit to do each day. That'll be the job for tomorrow.

Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!

Love,
Valerie :D

 Please comment here or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com