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
Showing posts with label time. Show all posts
Showing posts with label time. Show all posts
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Friday, June 29, 2012
Clear and Free!
Well, after my last post I got to work. I cleared some space in the spare room downstairs that is going to be storage and a guest room eventually. Then I started to declutter up in my dressing room (also crafting room). DH was wondering what I was doing as I took load after load of stuff downstairs.
I did not just move my junk. I decluttered a bunch of stuff, put several things in more logical places, and even took my beautiful angel candle holder OUT of the box and put it on display in our front entry. Admission - it's been in the box since we got it.... but I'm using it now!
I took care to only put things downstairs that made sense to be there for storage: The luggage, extra pillows and blankets, 'decor' items not currently in rotation, and containers (nice boxes, empty plastic totes...).
The plan is to build my sewing table (cool idea I have from pinterest using bookshelves) in the middle of the room, so I moved what was left towards the walls. I grabbed my Rubba Sweepa and pulled up a bunch of hair :S Then I vacuumed really well.
I pulled out one of the bookshelves to build and discovered that it's a two person job, so it's going to have to wait a bit.
For now I'm enjoying my accomplishment. In the near future I'll have the table and start learning to sew!
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
I did not just move my junk. I decluttered a bunch of stuff, put several things in more logical places, and even took my beautiful angel candle holder OUT of the box and put it on display in our front entry. Admission - it's been in the box since we got it.... but I'm using it now!
I took care to only put things downstairs that made sense to be there for storage: The luggage, extra pillows and blankets, 'decor' items not currently in rotation, and containers (nice boxes, empty plastic totes...).
The plan is to build my sewing table (cool idea I have from pinterest using bookshelves) in the middle of the room, so I moved what was left towards the walls. I grabbed my Rubba Sweepa and pulled up a bunch of hair :S Then I vacuumed really well.
I pulled out one of the bookshelves to build and discovered that it's a two person job, so it's going to have to wait a bit.
For now I'm enjoying my accomplishment. In the near future I'll have the table and start learning to sew!
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
Thursday, June 21, 2012
The Snowball is Melting!
Yep! That's right. The snowball is melting! Not so much because I've been accomplishing it (I HAVE done a bunch, and DH actually went through half a closet.) but because I'm lowering my expectations... I set the bar way too high on that one.
The original idea was to completely declutter/ rearrange half the house with the final step being setting up my craft room. The problem is, most of the stuff isn't mine. So I need to wait for days when he's off and I think of it and we feel like it. Few and far between, but we are making progress. But since I am NOT just going to throw out all DH's stuff - that's not nice, I need a new plan. (You can read more about the snowball here.)
So the new plan is 'Do what I can'. What a concept! I can't declutter DH's stuff for him while he's at work, but I can move some of it over now that he has partially moved into his office. That will make enough space for me to move the luggage and a few other things out of my dressing room so that I can declutter my stuff and then set up my crafting area.
No worries, we will still be doing the DH decluttering, but now there's no pressure and I don't feel like I won't be able to work on learning to sew for months and months.
Wish me luck, I'm diving in!
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
The original idea was to completely declutter/ rearrange half the house with the final step being setting up my craft room. The problem is, most of the stuff isn't mine. So I need to wait for days when he's off and I think of it and we feel like it. Few and far between, but we are making progress. But since I am NOT just going to throw out all DH's stuff - that's not nice, I need a new plan. (You can read more about the snowball here.)
So the new plan is 'Do what I can'. What a concept! I can't declutter DH's stuff for him while he's at work, but I can move some of it over now that he has partially moved into his office. That will make enough space for me to move the luggage and a few other things out of my dressing room so that I can declutter my stuff and then set up my crafting area.
No worries, we will still be doing the DH decluttering, but now there's no pressure and I don't feel like I won't be able to work on learning to sew for months and months.
Wish me luck, I'm diving in!
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
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Grocery Shopping
OK, people, let's talk food!
Everybody needs to eat and cooking your own food is the easiest way to be healthier and to save money. Now in order for cooking at home to save you time, you have to take a little time to do some planning. Running to the store or the drive through every evening wastes an incredible amount of time, plus knowing ahead of time what you want to make takes the stress out of dinner.
I try to grocery shop only once a week, usually when my list of dinner entrees is down to one and/or the milk is running low. I start with a menu plan. I have a pretty good idea of what food I already have in the house, so I can usually plan most of my meals around what's on hand and what's on sale. So my menu planning is really simple: I pick 6 entrees for dinners. That's it. As I pick the entrees I list ingredients that I don't already have on my shopping list and then I'm mostly all set. I quickly go through the flyer and see what else I "need" then I look in the fridge and pantry to scan for any staples that we're out of. I add that to the list, grab my shopping bags, and I'm ready to go.
Now, you may have noticed that I've been using a lot of singular words, so yes, I only shop at one grocery store and I really like that. It's the store closest to me, the next closest one is 10 minutes further away, and while 10 minutes doesn't sound like much, I'm not driving 10 extra minutes both ways every week just to save 15 cents on apples (or whatever). And even if I lived close to several stores, I still really like only shopping at one. I can find things faster because I am familiar with my store, I only have to stand in line once, and I only have to look through one flyer each week. I don't have to take the time to compare (and keep track of) pricing and sales at several stores.
Also, I have made up a form grocery list with items I buy frequently in an aisle by aisle format for my grocery store in the order I walk through the store. So picture that my piece of paper is divided into 12 squares and each square has several lines listing items (and prices) I frequently buy with a few spaces for other things to be written in. Because when I walk in the store I first come to the produce, deli, and bread departments, the first box has items I buy in those departments listed. (I enter the store, walk around the outside U of the store and then go through the centre aisles.) The second box is the meats and milk, the third is the dairy, frozen foods, eggs, and refrigerated juices. Then I get one box per middle aisle with those items listed and the best thing is that if I don't need anything in aisle 7, I don't have to walk through it!
I hope that form makes sense because it's really helpful to have one and I encourage you to make one. I did mine on the computer, but you don't have to. If you're already shopping at one store, you can start making it now. When you are familiar with a store you can remember roughly where things are. You know if you start in the middle or the outside of the store. Don't make your list in my order, make it in the order you walk around the store. Think about where you go first and write down a few things that you get in that aisle, then think about where you go next and continue the process. If you don't remember if the cereal is in aisle 5 or 6 don't worry about it, try to remember everything that you get from the cereal aisle and the next time you're in the store you can edit your list. It will take a few times to get it the way you want it, but that's ok. I still edit mine on occasion, but for the most part, I have the set up done.
When I started my form I didn't include prices, I added those later. I put down the regular price and the brand(in shorthand) of what I like to buy and that way I can tell if a deal is really all that great. Also, each square in the chart has a column for writing down how much you want and a column for checking it off.
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :)
<><
Everybody needs to eat and cooking your own food is the easiest way to be healthier and to save money. Now in order for cooking at home to save you time, you have to take a little time to do some planning. Running to the store or the drive through every evening wastes an incredible amount of time, plus knowing ahead of time what you want to make takes the stress out of dinner.
I try to grocery shop only once a week, usually when my list of dinner entrees is down to one and/or the milk is running low. I start with a menu plan. I have a pretty good idea of what food I already have in the house, so I can usually plan most of my meals around what's on hand and what's on sale. So my menu planning is really simple: I pick 6 entrees for dinners. That's it. As I pick the entrees I list ingredients that I don't already have on my shopping list and then I'm mostly all set. I quickly go through the flyer and see what else I "need" then I look in the fridge and pantry to scan for any staples that we're out of. I add that to the list, grab my shopping bags, and I'm ready to go.
Now, you may have noticed that I've been using a lot of singular words, so yes, I only shop at one grocery store and I really like that. It's the store closest to me, the next closest one is 10 minutes further away, and while 10 minutes doesn't sound like much, I'm not driving 10 extra minutes both ways every week just to save 15 cents on apples (or whatever). And even if I lived close to several stores, I still really like only shopping at one. I can find things faster because I am familiar with my store, I only have to stand in line once, and I only have to look through one flyer each week. I don't have to take the time to compare (and keep track of) pricing and sales at several stores.
Also, I have made up a form grocery list with items I buy frequently in an aisle by aisle format for my grocery store in the order I walk through the store. So picture that my piece of paper is divided into 12 squares and each square has several lines listing items (and prices) I frequently buy with a few spaces for other things to be written in. Because when I walk in the store I first come to the produce, deli, and bread departments, the first box has items I buy in those departments listed. (I enter the store, walk around the outside U of the store and then go through the centre aisles.) The second box is the meats and milk, the third is the dairy, frozen foods, eggs, and refrigerated juices. Then I get one box per middle aisle with those items listed and the best thing is that if I don't need anything in aisle 7, I don't have to walk through it!
I hope that form makes sense because it's really helpful to have one and I encourage you to make one. I did mine on the computer, but you don't have to. If you're already shopping at one store, you can start making it now. When you are familiar with a store you can remember roughly where things are. You know if you start in the middle or the outside of the store. Don't make your list in my order, make it in the order you walk around the store. Think about where you go first and write down a few things that you get in that aisle, then think about where you go next and continue the process. If you don't remember if the cereal is in aisle 5 or 6 don't worry about it, try to remember everything that you get from the cereal aisle and the next time you're in the store you can edit your list. It will take a few times to get it the way you want it, but that's ok. I still edit mine on occasion, but for the most part, I have the set up done.
When I started my form I didn't include prices, I added those later. I put down the regular price and the brand(in shorthand) of what I like to buy and that way I can tell if a deal is really all that great. Also, each square in the chart has a column for writing down how much you want and a column for checking it off.
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :)
<><
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