That little cabinet lighting project turned into a 4 hour job. No real problems, it was just very time consuming. I just stood in the kitchen handing him stuff when he needed it (so he didn't have to keep going up and down the ladder), so I'm not exactly sure what all he was doing, LOL. But, it all works now and looks much better. Plus, when our electrician's originally did it, they only put the lights in the middle, not all the way across the top of the cabinets (but I'm sure they charged us like they did the whole thing!). I couldn't remember where exactly I had placed the fake greenery up there. I'm sure I have a picture with it, I'll have to search. It's not looking right LOL
It was 3pm when we got done and we started around 11am or maybe even a little earlier. The only problem he had was when he was doing the 2nd section of lights, they wouldn't work. He couldn't figure out why. He had tested them first and they came on. That was a bit frustrating, but probably only added 15 minutes to the job. He ended up using a different connector and that one worked. It was tiring and past my weekend nap time, but I took a nap anyway for an hour. Then started dinner at 4:30 and didn't do much of anything at all the rest of the evening.
I also looked for a brownie recipe that I could make from scratch but all the recipes I could find online called for chocolate chips, which I don't have and in my 2 old cookbooks they called for unsweetened chocolate squares, which of course I didn't have. Not that I ended up with any time yesterday to make something. But, this morning I did find a brownie in a mug recipe and that's probably better, then I'll only eat one serving, haha. I'll probably end up using up some ripe bananas and make banana bread today.
The rain has arrived, here to wash away our beautiful white landscape. It got to 48 again yesterday and I noticed most of our roofs really melted off a lot of the snow.
I'm trying to decide what's for dinner tonight and if I need to get anything out of the freezer for it. I think I'll make spaghetti. That'll give me some leftovers, that I can have for lunch or dinner (when I make dh his bunless burger and I don't have that).
In my expense tracking I've been doing the past few months, I've realized my budget for food is too low by about $75 a month, so starting March I'm increasing it. What choice do we have, eh? It is what it is. I didn't make my substitutions/changes to some items until last grocery order purchase, so maybe those changes will help offset some of the $75/mo. We'll see, in a couple months, when I average out the next couple months and see what I am spending. I remember when we still had the kids with us and I grocery shopped weekly and for the 4 of us I'd spend $100-$125 a week - for 4 of us. Gone are those days.
My hip got wonky after knee replacement, I had been overcompensating and now it revolted but the exercises my PT gave help a lot. The best is ankle weights on the sore side, then using the side of the bed to let leg sort of dangle, then I bend it backwards, then straighten multiple times. Clam shells help too. I make a large pot of soup each week. It feels like that's been my best budget stretcher, plus nice to have for our different schedules. I think as warmer weather comes, I'll do more while grain salads like quinoa, with whatever lower cost veg is available to stretch. We can eat with or without meat. We're all going to need to be creative or increase the budget as you're doing- likely both. Your kitchen is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteMy hips have bothered me (just when standing in one place for long period) ever since my car accident in 2007 and no amount of PT or chiropractic has seemed to help. If I am walking, it's fine. A hearty soup sounds good.
DeleteSorry - meant to add thanks for the kitchen compliment!
DeleteYour kitchen looks great. Doesn't it feel good to get things like that done around the house? This is the brownie recipe I use. It uses cocoa powder. https://culinaryadventureswithlori.blogspot.com/search?q=brownies
ReplyDeleteThinking back to what we all used to spend on groceries compared to now is a bit sad isn't it?
Thank you for the recipe! (and kitchen compliment) I'm going to give it a try using monkfruit. I'll let you know how it goes.
DeleteIs that section of the counter quartz? In any case, I am sure it will come as no surprise to you to hear that my counters are very similar. Your kitchen is what my daughter used to say is “beeeeyoooooteeeeefull!”
ReplyDelete(-Meg B.)
DeleteThank you! No, it's all granite countertops. I think the name of the type of granite was "Giallo Verona", if I remember correctly.
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