The Professional Domestic

Getting Rid of our Junk Week 11-13 of 54

For week 11, I pulled a 6 and for week 12, I pulled an 8 and for week 13, I pulled a 2.

When I was cleaning out the basement of all the cardboard I posted about last update I saw 6 buckets I had never used from the bakery so I put a post up on Facebook offering them to my friends and they were claimed within minutes!

For the 8 card my son cleaned out his room and had a bunch of empty shoe boxes he wanted to get rid of (kid has way more shoes than I will ever think to own). There is a local church that collects shoe boxes every year for Operation Christmas Angel so I dropped all 8 boxes off to them to use for Christmas boxes for children in need.

For the 2 card it was kind of an in and out. I had a friend give me two boxes of embroidery/needlepoint supplies and after looking through it all I kept the embroidery floss and decided to donate the rest to the church sale because I wouldn’t use any of the supplies otherwise for myself.

I know I am two weeks behind in my year long purge so I will be picking 2 cards to do for next Wednesday. Oh and still working on that King card and the pallet project!

The cards I pulled to catch up for this week are a 9 and an 8. I can do that!

How is your purge going? -MM

Week 25 – 27 What We Ate and How Much We Spent on Groceries

We have had a rough few weeks with food in our house. My son has never been the type of kid to eat us out of house and home but two weeks ago after a trip to the ER we had a long discussion on the importance of food and what happens to our bodies when we don’t eat enough! Laziness was the foremost issue in this particular instance but I myself have struggled with a poor relationship with food most of my life. For over two decades I feared food, especially eating in public, because of the effect it had on my body. Turns out I am lactose intolerant. Sure wish I had known that 20 years ago!

It took about a week to get my son’s gut back into shape so meals were not very normal for that time period. We have had some good meals since, so here are a few things we have eaten since my last update.

I make my own teriyaki sauce for stir-frys and marinades. Here’s the recipe!

Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan and stir.

Once combined, continuously stir on medium heat to prevent sticking

Once up to temp the cornstarch will activate and it will start to thicken

Once it reaches temp and has thickened, turn off heat and let it continue to boil for a few more seconds

Pour the finished teriyaki sauce over your simmering stir-fry. Coat the veggies and meat with the sauce. Serve over rice

Total spent for groceries the last three weeks – $288.89 for a grand total of $504.05 for the month of June. My goal was to spend $500 for the 5 paycheck month so just $4.05 over budget. Not bad!

How did you all do with your food budget this month? – MM

Week 24 – What We Ate and How Much We Spent on Groceries

I am a little late in getting this post out but last week I spent $67.16 for groceries because I had so much left over in the freezer from the week before. We did go out for dinner once and lunch after the Farmers market because we were exhausted from opening day.

Sunday dinner was sausage with peppers and onions
Monday was BLT sandwiches
Tuesday was crockpot pork steaks with chili sauce
Wednesday was flatbread pizzas
Thursday was easy goulash
Friday we ate out for dinner
and Saturday we ate lunch and dinner at 4:00 out and just picked the rest of the night

For the goulash I made last week: I call this easy goulash because I just used what I had on hand to make it. I didn’t have macaroni so I used rigatoni, I didn’t have an onion so I dug up a sprouting green onion from the garden that was coming up from last year and I only had a yellow bell pepper so I used that.

I browned one pound of ground beef with the onions and the pepper

I added a tablespoon of paprika and chili powder and salt and pepper

In went a quart and a half of my home canned crushed tomatoes

I simmered all of this for a while. Maybe 1/2 an hour

Then I cooked the pasta and added it to the pan

After all of those flavors had time to meld I served, topped with parmesan cheese. Yum!

Total spent for groceries so far in June $215.16 out of $500

What did you all eat this week? – MM

Herb Bouquets

I love making herb bouquets for people. In fact, when I offered home delivery, herb bouquets were a pretty popular item on the list!

When we are invited for a night of cards or socializing at a friend’s home, instead of bringing a bottle of wine for a hostess gift, I like to bring a pretty herb bouquet or a jar of homemade jam or even a dozen fresh eggs.

This bouquet consists of sage, rose, peppermint, basil, and lavender, all completely edible.

Herb bouquets are a wonderful gift because they are completely edible! Teas, savory meals and even homemade skin care can be made with them.

If you grow your own herbs or have access to them consider making an herb bouquet and giving it as a gift. I guarantee it will be very well received 😊 -MM

Getting Rid of our Junk Week 9 and 10 of 54

For week 9 I pulled a 7 and for week 10 I pulled a 5. I swear it is harder to work with the smaller cards than it is the larger cards lol.

I combined weeks 9 and 10 to get rid of 12 items. My basement needed it the most. I sell vintage and antique dishes on Etsy and my basement is perpetually a mess with boxes and bins and wrapping papers and packing bubbles. It was due for a much needed clean out.

Let’s just say I counted really slowly and recyled 12 cardboard boxes. Here’s the proof

I am still working on week 8’s King which is 75. Remember the sneak peak I gave you last update with the pallets? Here’s more of the project which is still not complete but about halfway there.

The pallets I previously installed need a paint refresh.

I have been working on this project for a couple of years and this card challenge is motivating me to finish it. Previously we installed 5 pallets up front and 4 pallets in the back. We installed another 9 pallets last week. Half way there! I’ll keep updating on week 8’s progress.

Now for week 11’s card draw…

A six! Piece of cake. How are you doing on your clean out? See you next week -MM

Week 23 – What We Ate and How Much We Spent on Groceries

I have given us $500 as a grocery budget for the month of June because for us there are 5 paychecks. Last week I spent $148 on groceries because I had a mishap with Misfits and they sent me a load that I didn’t want (I should have read the fine print).

Last week we celebrated our 12th anniversary of wedded bliss so on Sunday we ate dinner out. Monday we went to a baseball game so hot dogs, cotton candy, peanuts, the whole sha-bang. Tuesday was taco Tuesday, Wednesday was another lazy night with frozen fish sticks, rice and glazed carrots, Thursday I made a veggie and chicken stir-fry, Friday I enjoyed a little league game with the hubs up in the booth so dinner was a soft pretzel with cheese, Saturday was a quick chicken and veggie alfredo over fettuccine.

I did make a quiche, red pepper potato salad and a pineapple cream pie which made me look like I at least attempted to think outside the box this week when it came to food.

The potato salad I make started with a recipe I talk about in this post https://marymargaretripley.com/2017/01/31/jalapeno-popper-potato-salad/ It is fantastic and the boys love it. I didn’t have the fresh jalapenos this time so I just used fresh red sweet peppers. Potatoes, bacon, cheddar cheese, peppers, cream cheese and mayo. What could be better?

The pineapple cream pie is a favorite for us on a hot summer day when I don’t want to turn the oven on. It’s only 5 ingredients if you buy the pie shell ready-made. https://marymargaretripley.com/2015/09/06/week-2-of-operation-pie-pineapple-cream/

Looking back on our week of food last week I guess I didn’t do that bad! We ate out a couple of time but those were special occasions for us.

Total spent for groceries so far in June $148

How are you all doing with the rising price of food? – MM

Ripley Victory Garden 2022

I posted a month or so ago My Garden and Preserving Goals for 2022 and have been working towards those goals since then.

So far this year I have planted:

Garlic
Sweet peppers
Lunchbox peppers
Eggplant
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Peas
Tomatoes
Rhubarb
Basil
Onions
Potatoes

I purchased 2 blueberry, 12 asparagus, and a new cherry tree

I still have a lot to get planted but everything is doing well and weeding has been kept up.

I’ll keep you updated on things as I add them! -MM

Week 22 – What We are Eating and How Much We Spent on Groceries

It’s been a few weeks since I posted what we are eating and grocery costs. My goal was to keep costs under $100 per week but I just haven’t gotten there yet and this week is no exception. I spent $110.00 at the Marketplace and even though I canceled my subscription to Misfit Market they still sent me a box of produce for $38 grrr…. I will be watching to make sure that doesn’t happen again with them. So all totaled we spent $148 on groceries.

There is another blog I read where her goal is only spending $100 a month! Some months she is successful and some months not so much. I think how she shops is impractical for 95% of the population because a.) it’s just her and her hubby, her children are all grown and b.) she gets a lot of care packages from her mom and his mom and c.) they eat a lot of beans and rice, again just not practical for my family. If I was just feeding me and the boy I could probably get away with it but not with the hubby. I still love reading what she eats every week though so there’s that lol.

The only meat I bought this week was a pack of ground beef which I will make into tacos tonight for Taco Tuesday. I still have chicken which will be made into stir-fry and sausage for the grill in the freezer from last week so those will be dinner too and I want to do a pasta dish with the fresh veggies I am getting from Misfits.

I find that because of working full time and doing all we do in the community… and the garden… and the housework, the control I am seeking when it comes to our meals is not there yet. I am looking forward to taking a break from some of my community responsibilities this year and concentrating on our home and well being.

I am also going to flip these “What we are Eating” posts to “What we Ate” posts then I can post recipes I used and accurate photos. So I will post Sundays what we had the previous week and how much I spent and you will also see when we eat out too this will make me more accountable.

Have a great week! – MM

Getting Rid of our Junk Week 8 of 54

For week 8, I pulled a King which means 75 items to purge or a large project.

There has been a very large project that I have been putting off since last year so I kicked myself in the behind this week and started working on it. I went to the hardware store and purchase another gallon of white fence paint and a long skinny roller. I don’t want to reveal exactly what I am working on yet but over this long weekend and with hubby and I both home my goal is to get all of it done. Cross your fingers. Here is a sneak peek.

I don’t know why I have put this project off so long. My guess is that I overwhelmed myself and overthought the complexity of it. Once I got the right tool, seriously just a small long paint roller, I have been on a mission.

This project is running over into 2 weeks so I am drawing another card for week 9. The card is a 7! Whew I was getting worried with all of these large face cards.

Already two months down! See you next week -MM

Getting Rid of our Junk Week 7 of 54

For week 7, I pulled a Jack which meant 25 items to purge.

This week I decided to use the Jack for a project instead of just getting rid of 25 items. I have been procrastinating on cleaning my kitchen desk. It is a dumping ground for junk and mail and books and papers.

Here is my starting point:

In 16 minutes I had most of my desk cleaned off and the garbage taken out of the house.

I undoubtedly threw out more than 25 items on that desk but it was more important to clean it off and help eliminate the unsightly pile from the kitchen.

Now, with that task done I pulled a card for week 8. It’s a King 🤦‍♀️. Ouch that’s a 75. Maybe the Hubs should get rid of 75 of his neckties lol!

Already two months down! See you next week -MM