The Professional Domestic

Grocery Shopping and Meal Planning 2024 Week 9 of 52

Week 8 was a great week in the food dept. because I cooked one time on Sunday and we pretty much ate it the rest of the week. Plus the boy even cooked one night for us. Yay!

Sunday it was warm enough to cook on the grill outside so we did a massive grilling session of burgers, hots, Italian sausage and chicken breast. During the week we made big salads, quesadillas, garbage plates, (that was for the boy and his friends) and just enjoyed having easy meals. The one night the boy made dinner he wanted chili and made it for the first time all himself. It was fantastic too!

I have been trying to eat more mindfully for breakfast. Typically I grab a bagel or a piece of toast and coffee and that’s it. Problem with that being half an hour later I am ready to chew my arm off, I am so hungry. I prefer a savory breakfast over a sweet breakfast. Sometimes I’ll even eat leftover stir-fry at 10:00 in the morning!

After researching savory breakfast ideas, I baked myself a loaf of black bread and 3 times last week I ate savory toast which consisted of eggs, cheese, spinach on top of the black bread toast. It was yum! I added a handful of red raspberries drizzled with honey for a side element and a cup of coffee and voila! Excellent breakfast.

Ok, so I forgot to take a pic of the savory toast, but this was yummy too!

I grocery shopped for this week on Sunday after church and spent $112.20. I had to buy a lot of expensive, once in a while items like A-1 steak sauce and Red Hot this week plus the coffee and Sahlen’s deli ham were each over $10. I didn’t get a pic of the butter, sour cream or can of whipped cream I bought but the rest is pictured below.

On the menu this week: I gave the “What’s for Dinner” list to the boy and asked him to pick out what he wanted for dinner this week. He wisely chose scalloped potatoes and ham, chicken Kiev and breakfast for dinner. We also have cheap steaks on the menu, big salads and probably a night or two of leftovers.

If you are curious about my “What’s for Dinner” list click here and check out that past blog post. There are 69 dinner ideas!

Total spent on groceries so far in 2024 – $915.80

Question of the week: what do you typically eat for breakfast?

Until next week- MM

Grocery Shopping and Meal Planning 2024 Week 8 of 52

Week 7 was a better week in the meal dept. Although we were still dealing with Scott’s Dad escaping the senior living facility multiple times, we still managed to eat pretty well. Dad even stayed with us for four days while we got his new home ready closer to us.

I made a big batch of our favorite Italian wedding soup, which we ate all week for lunches, crockpot meatloaf, tacos, and a pork roast. The crockpot got a lot of use!

I shopped on Sunday and spent $110.66. The bulk of my shopping was done at the Marketplace, but I also picked up a few things at Wegmans and Tops and I got 3 dozen eggs from Farm Guy.

With all of this on-the-go eating it’s been pretty tough to not eat crap. Convenience foods are just that. Convenient!

I have been doing a lot of recipe scrolling for Mediterranean based meals and have come up with a plan for breakfasts this week. I’ll share next week.

Total spent on groceries so far in 2024 – $803.60

How often do you all eat fast food? I don’t think I ate any fast food last week which is a win! Until next week- MM

2024 Goals Week 8 of 52

Last week was an interesting week. We spent most of the week moving my father-in-law out of his assisted living apartment in Horseheads to moving him into a new locked wing Memory Care facility in Brockport.

After moving him into his new digs on Monday we hope things will settle down for all of our family and he can comfortably settle into his new life closer to Scott and I. With that said, it was another week of struggling to accomplish much in the goals dept, but I needed to focus on my family first.

I did get a few things done though. Working on goals helped to occupy my mind and relieve some stress for me. Here goes!

Home repairs professionally done – New kitchen countertops, rip out over-the-oven microwave and replace with new exhaust hood, trim all fruit trees and cut down all sumac in the hedgerow.

I jumped on Facebook Marketplace this week and found 8 ft lengths of butcher block countertops for only $200 each slab. I am working on getting two which would be perfect for what I need.

Home projects done by us – Paint all trim in kitchen, re-paint upper kitchen cabinets, paint ceiling and walls in hallway, finish painting and put up picket pallet fencing, finish painting master bedroom and hang mantle over bed, front porch stained or painted, new brick patio in the backyard.

Nothing done on this goal this week.

Sewing projects – Finish Joyce’s Rose, New curtains for kitchen window, new seat cover for kitchen chair, new curtain over cat’s window seat, Christmas tree skirt, finish winter and summer season x-stitch projects.

I started working on my curtain for the living room window. I’ll update more next time.

Read 30 books (It’s my goal every year)

No books finished this week but reading several at the moment.

Books read so far in 2024:

1. “Not Quite Prince Charming” by Liz Talley

2. “Buttercups in the Basement” by Jane Harvey

3. “Searching for Sandra” by Jane Harvey

4. “Christmas at Hummingbird House” by Jane Harvey

5. “Perfectly Charming” by Liz Talley

6. “Home for Christmas” by Lloyd C. Douglas

7. “Witch Is When I Said Goodbye” by Adele Abbott

That’s 7 books read. 23 to go.

Take at least 2 mini vacations and see my step-daughter’s new house in NC.

I really want to go to Jasper, Canada which I saw in the Bachelor on Monday night but will have to settle for a weekend getaway.

Garden goals – raise 500 lbs of produce, new kitchen garden in front and new fruit garden in back, compost all dug and reset, raised bed garden re-imagined.

I started looking at Strawberry Plants.

Exercise somehow every single day concentrating most on core and pelvic floor and mobility.

I walked 2x last week.

Get all of my Etsy listings listed by March 31st so I can enjoy my garden in the Spring and summer months.

I got 9 listing up in my Etsy shop and tons more I am working on. 💪

Explore the Western NY Antique Trail (Yes, there is such a thing).

Now that we have Dad set up in his new home closer to us we hope to have a Saturday to do this.

Explore at least 3 local walking/biking trails.

Warmer weather for this goal. But we spied a bike trail along the canal in Brockport we would like to check out.

Sell 300 listings on Etsy this year.

I sold one listing this past week. 257 out of 300 to go!

Church goals – Six thrift sales this year, Work on baptism records and historical info, work on getting our church info out there for weddings, one historical themed event/fundraiser this year.

Our next thrift sale is in April! (God willing)

Pay off one of the two credit cards.

I have a very long, not so great story to tell you in my next update.

That’s it this time! How are you doing with your goals? – MM

P.s. if you would like to check out my Etsy shop here is the link https://redmillvintageandnew.etsy.com

SAL-Project Joyce’s Rose

Sorry, everyone. Just didn’t feel like working on Joyce’s Rose the last three weeks. My poor dad-in-law has really been struggling, and our attention has been with him.

Please visit the other wonderful ladies’ blogs in the SAL to see what projects they’ve been working on. Links are below.

See you in three weeks. 🙂

Avis, Claire, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan,

Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, Cathie, Linda, Helen, MaryMargaret, Cindy

2024 Goals Week 7 of 52

I can’t wait for warmer weather so I can knock some of these goals off my list!

Home repairs professionally done – New kitchen countertops, rip out over-the-oven microwave and replace with new exhaust hood, trim all fruit trees and cut down all sumac in the hedgerow.

I spoke with my guy last night and we talked about options for the counters. He is going to get a cost for butcher block from Home Depot but I am looking at $3000 for the project which seems like an awful lot but it’s not going to be easy to get this work done. Tons of weird angles on those counters and he will have to see where the leak is when replacing that microwave with the hood. So that’s my goal…save $3000.

Nothing done on this goal this week.

A few more stitches done on Joyce’s Rose. Official update is Sunday.

Read 30 books (It’s my goal every year)

This week I finished reading “Not Quite Prince Charming” by Liz Talley. It is book 2.5 in the Morning Glory series. I really like how authors nowadays write a novella in between their larger books. It’s fun having that break in the action. That’s 6 books read. 24 to go.

Take at least 2 mini vacations and see my step-daughter’s new house in NC.

This is a goal for warmer months.

Garden goals – raise 500 lbs of produce, new kitchen garden in front and new fruit garden in back, compost all dug and reset, raised bed garden re-imagined.

I won’t start any seedings for about a month yet.

Exercise somehow every single day concentrating most on core and pelvic floor and mobility.

Nada…

Get all of my Etsy listings listed by March 31st so I can enjoy my garden in the Spring and summer months.

I walked upstairs last week, took one look at everything, got overwhelmed, and hoofed it right back down the stairs and immediately put my entire shop on 40% off to move as much as possible. See the results below.

Explore the Western NY Antique Trail (Yes, there is such a thing).

Once we get Dad set in his new home closer to us we hope to have a Saturday to do this.

Explore at least 3 local walking/biking trails.

Warmer weather for this goal.

Sell 300 listings on Etsy this year.

I sold 27 listings this past long weekend! 258 to go 🙂 Woohoo! So I doubt I will sell any more this week but you never know right?

Church goals – Six thrift sales this year, Work on baptism records and historical info, work on getting our church info out there for weddings, one historical themed event/fundraiser this year.

Our next thrift sale is in April! (God willing)

Pay off one of the two credit cards.

I have a very long, not so great story to tell you in my next update.

That’s it this time! How are you doing with your goals? – MM

P.s. if you would like to check out my Etsy shop here is the link https://redmillvintageandnew.etsy.com

Grocery Shopping and Meal Planning 2024 Weeks 6-7 of 52

Weeks 5 and 6 were a complete free-for-all after my mother-in-law passed away. I did have something strange happen the day before she died though. On Tuesday, (She died on Wednesday), I made two complete dinners when I got home from work. I NEVER do that. Who has time to make two complete dinners at 5:00 on a Tuesday, right? My thought process at the time was I don’t want to have to cook on Wednesday so I am just going to make two dinners and get it over with. Thank God I had the presence of mind to do that because I definitely did not feel like making dinner the rest of the week and we ate from those leftovers thankfully, through our tears.

On that Tuesday I made a stir-fry with homemade teriyaki sauce and rice and fried chicken breast cutlets with steamed broccoli and baked potatoes.

Have you ever looked back after a loved one passed away and noticed little signs the Good Lord gave you to ease your grief? Remember I said in my last grocery update we celebrated a 90th birthday. That birthday was for my mom-in-law’s older sister and that was the last party we enjoyed with her with us. I normally do not go with my husband to see his parents weekly because of responsibilities at home but that day I went and many others that had not been to a party in a while for the family went. It was a blessing that we got to see her that day. 🙂 See, little things God gives us as comfort without us realizing it.

I shopped the Sunday after and didn’t feel like buying much but did spend $78.11. Thank goodness for hot dogs because that’s one thing we ate multiple times last week in between and I am not apologizing for it. I also made a batch of goulash and ate that multiple times, one night was salmon and one night we ate ribs in the crock-pot, one night was steak salad and for Superbowl the boy and I had hamburgers. With the ground beef and steak and Superbowl snacks we totaled about $50 more mid week.

Yesterday, I spent a whopping $132.67 but we needed a pantry restock badly and hopefully this week I can get a bunch of stuff prepped and meals pre-made for us. I desperately need to clean and organize the fridge today. I also spent $20.07 mid week on a special order of bulk meatloaf mix. I have big plans for that!

Total spent on groceries so far in 2024 – $692.94

How have you been doing the past few weeks on meals? I would love to hear. Until next week!- MM

2024 Goals Week 6 of 52

This was another tough week. If you have never experienced a loved one with dementia then thank your lucky stars because it is one of the most heartbreaking things to watch. I feel selfish even writing about my goals when someone else is suffering so much, but there are some things I accomplished this week that just naturally happened due to time and my own personal habits.

Home repairs professionally done – New kitchen countertops, rip out over-the-oven microwave and replace with new exhaust hood, trim all fruit trees and cut down all sumac in the hedgerow.

Nothing on this one.

Nothing done on this goal this week.

Nothing done

Read 30 books (It’s my goal every year)

This week I finished reading “Witch Is When I Said Goodbye” by Adele Abbott. This is the 10th book I have read by Ms. Abbott and her books are light and funny and easy to read.

Take at least 2 mini vacations and see my step-daughter’s new house in NC.

This is a goal for warmer months.

Garden goals – raise 500 lbs of produce, new kitchen garden in front and new fruit garden in back, compost all dug and reset, raised bed garden re-imagined.

Nothing worked on this week.

Exercise somehow every single day concentrating most on core and pelvic floor and mobility.

I managed 3x this past week! Yay!

Get all of my Etsy listings listed by March 31st so I can enjoy my garden in the Spring and summer months.

I got zero listings up this week.

Explore the Western NY Antique Trail (Yes, there is such a thing).

Nothing yet, but soon.

Explore at least 3 local walking/biking trails.

Warmer weather for this goal.

Sell 300 listings on Etsy this year.

I sold 1 listing this past week 285 to go 🙂

I haven’t even been on Instagram much the past couple of weeks. I haven’t wanted many orders under the circumstances.

Church goals – Six thrift sales this year, Work on baptism records and historical info, work on getting our church info out there for weddings, one historical themed event/fundraiser this year.

Every minute of my extra time went into this sale this past week and we did it! It was a huge success, packed with shoppers the entire 8 am to 3 pm and we made $661.

I am totally exhausted though so I will be glad for the time away from it for a bit. Next sale is in April.

Pay off one of the two credit cards.

No more progress on the credit cards this month but read the full post here: https://marymargaretripley.com/2024/01/19/not-impressed-with-our-debt-january-2024/

That’s it this time! How are you doing with your goals? – MM

P.s. if you would like to check out my Etsy shop here is the link https://redmillvintageandnew.etsy.com

2024 Goals Week 5 of 52

My sweet mom-in-law passed away this week, and with any unexpected event, life gets put on the back burner to take care of more immediate needs. I did get a few things accomplished though so let’s see what they are.

Home repairs professionally done – New kitchen countertops, rip out over-the-oven microwave and replace with new exhaust hood, trim all fruit trees and cut down all sumac in the hedgerow.

Nothing on this one.

Nothing done on this goal this week.

These last two buds are just about finished!

Read 30 books (It’s my goal every year)

This week I finished reading “Home for Christmas” by Lloyd C. Douglas. It’s an out- of-print book from the 30s that was donated to our church thrift sale, and it was quite delightful! Just think this book is almost 100 years old!

Take at least 2 mini vacations and see my step-daughter’s new house in NC.

This is a goal for warmer months.

Garden goals – raise 500 lbs of produce, new kitchen garden in front and new fruit garden in back, compost all dug and reset, raised bed garden re-imagined.

Nothing worked on this week.

Exercise somehow every single day concentrating most on core and pelvic floor and mobility.

I managed 2x this past week.

Get all of my Etsy listings listed by March 31st so I can enjoy my garden in the Spring and summer months.

I got zero listings up this week.

Explore the Western NY Antique Trail (Yes, there is such a thing).

Nothing yet, but soon.

Explore at least 3 local walking/biking trails.

Warmer weather for this goal.

Sell 300 listings on Etsy this year.

I sold 2 more listings this past week 285 to go 🙂

Church goals – Six thrift sales this year, Work on baptism records and historical info, work on getting our church info out there for weddings, one historical themed event/fundraiser this year.

I spent most of my extra time on this category this week. Our sale is the 10th and there is so much to do!

Pay off one of the two credit cards.

No more progress on the credit cards this month but read the full post here: https://marymargaretripley.com/2024/01/19/not-impressed-with-our-debt-january-2024/

That’s it this time! How are you doing with your goals? – MM

P.s. if you would like to check out my Etsy shop here is the link https://redmillvintageandnew.etsy.com

SAL-Project Joyce’s Rose #23

What a three weeks it has been. This project’s namesake, my mother-in-law, Joyce Ripley, passed away Wednesday. Although I have spoken about her in the past with regard to her struggle with dementia we were caught off guard when we got the call.

This fuels me even more to finish this project in her memory now.

Here is where I left off last update:

And here is where I am now.

Please pop over to the other ladies’ blog to see the projects they are working on.

See you in three weeks!

Avis, Claire, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan,

Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, Cathie, Linda, Helen, MaryMargaret, Cindy

2024 Goals Week 4 of 52

I can’t say I got a lot accomplished with my goals this week but maybe I’ll surprise myself.

Home repairs professionally done – New kitchen countertops, rip out over-the-oven microwave and replace with new exhaust hood, trim all fruit trees and cut down all sumac in the hedgerow.

Already booked the tree guy for Spring clean-up!

Nothing done on this goal this week.

I got quite a bit more stitched this week on Joyce’s Rose and we have an update this Sunday.

Read 30 books (It’s my goal every year)

No books finished this week.

Take at least 2 mini vacations and see my step-daughter’s new house in NC.

This is a goal for warmer months.

Garden goals – raise 500 lbs of produce, new kitchen garden in front and new fruit garden in back, compost all dug and reset, raised bed garden re-imagined.

Nothing worked on this week.

Exercise somehow every single day concentrating most on core and pelvic floor and mobility.

Only one time again this past week.

Get all of my Etsy listings listed by March 31st so I can enjoy my garden in the Spring and summer months.

Six listings up this past week!

Explore the Western NY Antique Trail (Yes, there is such a thing).

Not this weekend!

Explore at least 3 local walking/biking trails.

Warmer weather for this goal.

Sell 300 listings on Etsy this year.

I sold 2 listings this past week 287 to go 🙂

Church goals – Six thrift sales this year, Work on baptism records and historical info, work on getting our church info out there for weddings, one historical themed event/fundraiser this year.

I started to get my butt moving on organizing everything for the Thrift Sale on the 10th. I spent an hour working there last night and two hours after I got home untangling a box of necklaces. Fun!