Frugal In Florida

It's been a few weeks since I've been to Costco and well, just needed to do it. Hubby and I both were a little on the low side of energy today, 2am for us is waaaay too late to be up ... but the company was fun and the costumes made it all worth while. Usually I ask Hubby if he'd like to go with me to Costco, and normally (most of the time!) he says NO. Just doesn't like the crowds, etc.  Imagine my surprise when he said yes today! Woohoo!! Well, he was NO help in the store ... once we walked in he got side tracked by the electronics, so I told him to go ahead and browse and I would head to the back of the store and work my way up and he could come find me when he was done. Yeah. I was done with my list by the time he showed up .... but that's ok and only a few more spontaneous items were tossed in the basket because of him... 170 ct paper plates (holidays and parties and company coming so need to stock up) $12.89 20 lbs of baking potatoes $9.99 3 dozen ...

Today is the last day for the current ad at Publix.  I use the site I Heart Publix to match up my coupons with current ad ... she's really great and if you shop Publix, you need to check it out... I've got $70 cash in my wallet and this is what I'm spending it on: 5 OM deli cut lunchmeats - 5 $1 off manuf coupons and $5 $1 off Publix coupons AND 2 loaves italian bread (or hoagie rolls) using 2 $1 off bakery when you buy OM lunch mean (publix) gallon of milk (need to get to Costco!) 2 4pk bryers yogurt, using publix b1g1f and 2 $1 off 12 pk Select 55 beer $2.50 off coupon 2 12 pks Coors (which will be below) 6 doritos, b1g1f and using 2 $3 off coupons (which will make them all free) 8 EAS protein bars, using 4 $ off (makes them free and Sonny Boy has them for afterschool) Cottonelle wipes, free coupon 6 deli flats, b1g1f, using 1 $1 off 6 small deli items at $2 or less, using the $2 off deli with deliflat purchase (looking at cheeses) 2 playtex tampons, usi...

I have over 2000 square feet of tile in the house. That's alot of sweeping and mopping. I use my animal vacuum (Dyson) to vacuum 90% of the time.  The other 10% is when I use the broom or the swifter, it reminds me why I use the vacuum 90% of the time. So anyways. I've got mops like you wouldn't believe. I've tried just about everything out there with the exception of the Wet Jet ... I just can not justify the cost of BUYING that and then using the cleaning stuff. Like one bottle wouldn't even give me one day of cleaning! The best, so far, and we keep going back to it faithfully, is the Cuban mop. Just two wooden stick like things in a T shape, and your own hand towel. The thicker the better. (forgive the crappy photo, it's O. L. D.) Just get your self a bucket of hot soapy water (personally, I use Fabuloso, Ocean Breeze scent) and get ready to mop, quickly and efficiently! Step One: Lay out your wet towel like so (confession: Hubby is very ...

Ok, ready or not, here it is ... the BOTTOM of my pantry: I pretty much know what I have in here and basically WHAT shelf it's on ... but still, it's in such disarray lately it's not even funny. I mean, shoot, all salad dressing used to be located on the bottom left shelf. Looking, I see a bottle in the right hand corner ... WHO put that there?? See the canning jar on the 2nd shelf down (in the right side)? That's what my dear Hubby calls liquid gold. Toasted coconut.  Makes his day every time when he inquires as to whether or not we have any coconut open ... and then I point to the toasted stuff ... :) Bingo! Simple things in life keep my marriage happy ... Not sure how the big container of flour got on the top shelf ... the container of sugar on the 2nd shelf is fine where its' at.  There are about 10 bags of coffee on the 3rd shelf behind the can (I just refill the Chock Full O' Nuts can with my favorite Dunkin Donuts or 8 O'clock) ... not sure how...

Saturday night, we had some friends over for dinner. Hubby was in charge which usually makes me very happy. His plan was spinach stuffed chicken breast cooked on the grill AND grilled tomatoes. Ummmm....Honey, can we just do the tomatoes with mozzarella and balsamic like always? You know how much I love that ... nope. Not this time. He's determined to do something different. Slice tomatoes thick, like 3 to 4 slices per tomato (we used 4 for 4 people) Place on baking tray (cookie sheet) drizzle with olive oil sprinkle with a little bit of parsley/basil/herby stuff/black pepper top with mozzarella cheese (I just happened to have thick slices of fresh mozzarella in fridge) then top with bread crumbs. Place on grill over medium high heat (baking sheet and all) and grill til cheese is bubbly. Let cool a little and then eat. I can't tell you how SURPRISED I was at how good these were. I'm not normally a whole tomato cooked kind of girl but these were to DIE for. ...

While Hubby and I were out running around on Saturday, spending all our hard-earned money without a care in the world, we came upon this: Awesome!!! I wanted him....I would take this over Santa or a Snowman ANYDAY! Nope. Not happening. You can't see it, but between his adorable yellow feet, there was a handwritten sign: "Turkey Not For Sale" That's the last time I shop at Home Depot.

Yes, again, Monday has arrived. And I'm joining in on the Make It Happen Monday craze ... That means a few things, but even MORE since it's the LAST week of October: So here I am, I'm hooking up with Ammie over at Domestically Obsessed to Get My Home On and well, this list just GREW. I am a HUGE list person and sometimes fall into being very very detailed, and other times, simple (as in "Cook Dinner") ... hehe...so hop on over and post YOUR list of things to do! 1.  Post  menu plan over at Organizing Junkie .  (done, on Monday yet!!) 2.  Grocery shop (Publix, sales and coupons in purse) 3.  Take a sneak peak at upcoming sale over at I Heart Publix . 4.  Dig in at work as it is the last week of the month and looks like everything is rolling over into the first week of November (NO!) get the calendar set on Outlook. Update each file for closing (search, payoffs, etc.). Coordinate times and docs with lender. 5.  Have Sony Boy bring ou...

Wow, it's almost November. OMG! I've got my anniversary this week and somehow, completely forgot when I was planning out this week. I really really want to go to Chimas for dinner on Tuesday and use our restaurant.com certificate (it's a buy one get one free so dinner would be $50 instead of $100+) but not so sure after this weeks shopping event at Bed Bath and Beyond (it was Hubby, NOT ME!). So in my attempts to keep sanity, I'm joining again over at Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday ... check it out, there are 100's of others out there! Sunday - Manicotti with garden salad, herb vinaigrette and toasted italian bread Monday - Chili cheese dogs (dogs in freezer, cheese in fridge, chili in pantry) Tuesday - OUT or garlicky chicken and noodles Wednesday - Soup and sandwiches. Would like to make a soup but most likely will be canned and doctored up from pantry Thursday - Pizzas (frozen from freezer) Friday - Sausage and peppers (sausage from freezer,...

It's Friday ... which makes me a very happy camper. It's also the day I normally dress down a little for the office. Not that I dress UP all that much but today is the day I normally wear jeans. Jeans - $9 from Old Navy over a year ago Black blazer - $1 from Out of the Closet Thrift (paid more to have it drycleaned!) Teal blue heavy tshirt - Free from Chatty (thanks sweets!!) Shape Up Sketchers - ummm, ohhh... $100 (mother's day gift to myself in May) So I would have been doing GREAT had it not been for the shoes. But I love the shoes, for wearing to work, shopping and such. Not so much for walks over a mile long though. Make my legs very very tired and achy half way through.

You will never ever guess ... Come on, give it a try ... guess ... Nope. Nope. Ah, good one, but nope. Close, but not quite. Ok, ok, here's what I did ... P90X Kenpo Kicked some butt. Did the WHOLE 58 minutes, even the "break" where they jog, jump rope, jumping jacks and then that stupid jump and try to suspend in air jumping jacks ... ACK ... but I CAN do it!! And my arms are so sore today .... But it reminds me that I really need to get back on track and do SOMETHING. NOTE: I really wanted to link to something for those of you who do not know what P90X Kenpo is ... its one of the DVD's that I really like becausee it reminds me of boxing and kickboxing I used to do ions ago but everything that I saw was advertising or had advertising links attached ... IF I wanted to ADVERTISE it and have you buy it, then darn it, I'd use my amazon account!  So if you want to know why I'm so glad I did it, google Kenpo P90X and try to find the personal...

Ok, if you've been reading me for a while, you know I have a weakness for Burger King ... specifically in the mornings on my way to work when I'm tired, had too much too drink, hungry or just generally don't feel well. I always, always, ALWAYS buy the same thing ...  A number one value size with a coke. For those who do not frequent BK often (GOOD FOR YOU!!) that would be a sausage patty, egg, cheese croissant, side of hash round things and a small coke. Total cost? $4.24 now. Was $3.89. Before that, a few years ago it was like $2.99 total. So it's expensive. And the coke is usually flat. And the hashbrowns are cold. Just cruddy stuff, but fills my tummy in a time of need.  And don't even ask me about the calories and the fat content. Well. Check this out:  I figure that cost me about $1.05 at the MOST.  The little can of soda? 7.5 oz, 90 calories. The bread? Pepperidge Farm Sourdough, B1G1F, $3.59 (2 loaves), eggs are $2.99 for 3 dozen and cheese is t...

hehe...just kidding! Really, seriously!! But, the boy will be here again from Thursday evening until Sunday afternoon again for a few weekends in a row I believe ... See, they say they got an offer for a contract. As in, producer, label, who wants them to record. Woohoo!! Not quite sure what this really means, and have reminded them that only ONE of them is legally old enough to sign a contract such as this AND that the contract MUST come to me to take to one of the boys at the office for review and recommendations. Woohoo. Of course, Sonny Boy got all offended because I didn't GUSH enthusiasm immediately. I'm sorry kiddo, I think legal stuff first ... but it is GREAT news and I'm very very proud of all 4 of them for all the dedication, time and hard work they apply to the music! Go Get Em Khaos! Oh ... as for the food stuff? The usual: fruit platters, sandwich fixins, pasta, muffins, plenty of veggie straw chip things, veggie platters, chips and dip, cook...

Ok, perhaps I should correct that statement. Mini adults are ODD. As in a 19 year old Princess in Training. Honestly. What's a mom to do? I get a text message yesterday afternoon while I'm at work. With lots of !!!!! at the end. "Mom!!!!!!!!" "We need bread!!!!!!!!" "The squishy white stuff!!!!!!" Yeah, I know. I've been trying to cut back on that stuff and use the healthier whole wheat stuff. But I knew I needed some, so I stopped and got some on my way home from work. Do you know what she did?? She made 2 pieces of toast. Got out the fresh stuff from the fridge. You know, this stuff: And stood there, at the counter, heaping this stuff on the dry bread. Every last drop of it. Said that she waited ALL DAY for that. WTF?? This child has extremely bizarre eating habits sometimes ...

It's another Manic Monday ... time to Menu Plan with Organzing Junkie ! I am always amazed that there are over 300 different bloggers posting their weekly menu plan! I find some great recipes this way, and then some not so great ... but that's the way it goes folks! Gotta try them! As it stands, not really seeing anything interfering with a decent week. Even though it is Tuesday and I'm still dealing with a headache so it's obviously not from the Prickly Pear ... more of a sinus issue I'm believing... I also kept thinking that this week was my anniversary but nope, next week ... geesh, I need to really get a grip here! :) And I'm still on my quest to clean out the freezers. I make progress, and then I buy 6 pks of frozen waffles (which who would have thought they still take that much room out of the box!!??) ... I am making progress, just not as much as I'd like ... going to try and avoid and real grocery shopping this week ... I've got coffee (b1...

Uh yeah, you can make gourmet type meals for your family in less than 30 minutes (insert the Rachel annoying giggle here) ... even better when you are desperate to remove that one last bag of frozen chicken nuggets to make room for the ice cream! Linguine or any other pasta, cook the whole box while your at it, that way you can have leftovers! Frozen chicken nuggets. Might as well bake them all too ... great for snacking. Jar of spaghetti sauce, heated in saucepan with a little extra garlic and italian seasonings. If you are feeling real chef-y like, add in some of that powder Parmesan cheese ... Shredded mozzarella cheese (ok if you forgot to get it out earlier and it's still frozen, smack it against the countertop to break up!) Once all is heated (cooked), place a layer of noodles in bottom of oven proof dish (I use an 8x8 pan). Then top with chicken nuggets. Top with a liberal amount of sauce. Top with a nice layer of mozzarella. Broil in oven til cheese is bubbly and m...

I had a very specific list and my coupons. But Sonny Boy came along for the ride. Never a good thing, even though most of the time he keeps me in check. As he was heading to Orlando for the weekend and IS a picky eater, he knows that he suffers from low blood sugar because he will not eat if he doesn't like what's there, so we were trying to find some simple, nutritional, filling snacks to pack along (besides protein bars) ... ended up spending $100 more than I anticipated... 3 pk digiorno pizza $13.29 less $3.50 coupon 36 count welch fruity things $9.99 18 pk paper towel $16.79 less $2.00 coupon 3 pk qtips $8.49 (what was I thinking? This was NOT a deal) 2 pantene conditioners $7.88 x 2 esterc 300 count $14.79 less $3.00 2 lb mini peppers $4.29 (price went up again) box of entermens bite (brownies, blueberry and chocolate chip muffins) $9.39 3 pk aveno body wash $10.99 less $3 coupon 12 pk stride gum $8.79 3 half and half $1.75 each (price went up) 3 gallons 2...

Sorry, there is NO recipe. But a few things that I've discovered. My girlfriend and I met up at Canyons on Friday night since Rocco Taco's wasn't open yet ... We both agreed and committed to two Margaritas and that would be it. No more. In an effort to keep the evening cheaper and to not be there LATE and to keep the headache / hangover minimal ... What a JOKE! They are famous for their prickly pear  margaritas. How funny. I take my first sip and say "ummmm, that's GOOD." another sip and "ummm That's REAL good".  It got to be a joke watching others take their first sip, we'd sit back and observe and sure enough "ummm, that's good" and a little smacking of the lips! These things are delicious. Unfortunately (or maybe it should be fortunately), they have happy hour, 2 for one on the girls. Ack. So we had 4 which was really just two rounds. And we had our tab picked up (thanks Bill!). And we had one sexy female bart...

I love Publix. I know, I know, I've said it a few times before. Unlike Winn Dixie. Stopped at Winn Dixie on Tuesday to get the iceburg lettuce, B1G1F, they were still $1.79 ... been awhile since I've bought iceburg, but geesh, that seemed like a lot of $. So I self checkout. The coupon printer spits out it's once a month coupon, $5 off $50. BUT the thing is extremely low on ink, so it's pink and only every other line is printing, vertically.  I get the manager, ask if there was anyways to reprint. Nope, but dont' worry, they will take care of you when you go to use it. DOH. I don't spent $50 EVER at Winn Dixie ... oh well. So here are my Publix trips this week (2, yes, 2). First: spent $11.18, SAVED $27.11. Not my best, but better than full price. Actually, the tissues put me over and they were a spontaneous purchase after a major sniffling attack in the store. 2 peanuts, b1g1f, $3.07, used 2 $1 off 6 Hunts tomatoes, b1g1f, $1.39, used 2 $1 off 2 HVR d...

I've always wondered if that is indeed true?? I suppose it is, the first person in gets the best deals, therefore, the early bird indeed does get the worm! This morning, Kitty got kicked out of the room after clearing Hubby's dresser. Damn Kitty. I only had 15 more minutes of snooze time before I got up for the day, but still, it was NOT time for me to get out of bed. So at 5:15am, the alarm goes off. I hear Kitty doing stuff. Damn Kitty, stop already. As I stumble out to the kitchen, I see Kitty standing on hind legs, pawing like crazy at the sliding glass door (he does this A. L. L. the freakin time, thankfully with claws in). That's when I noticed something ODD. On the charcoal grill, it looked different. Oh, WTF is that? It was two owls. Just sitting there in the drizzling rain. One would swoop off and come right back. Then the other would do the same. And the Kitty was going absolutely nuts-o! This went on for about 15 minutes. I really wanted to get a be...

So I’ve broken down and went ahead and ordered something from Amazon. It’s not costing me a penny since I’m using my swagbucks redeemed points along with my fedex reward points … I prefer to use the points to get the amazon gift cards. Simple. The number one IRK I DO have is that there is shipping cost. I know there’s a way around that but I don’t have the patience to dig into it and find out how. All I know is that the merchandize doesn’t come from Amazon, therefore, didn’t qualify for the free shipping. So, what did I buy? Something to hopefully make me feel prettier. Ole Henriksen Ultra Eye Lift gel (night time). Yeah, I was flipping through the People magazine recently. Why do you ask? $38.00. Regardless of WHERE you buy it. I could have went to the Sephora store in the mall and paid that much for it WITHOUT shipping, but I would have had to pay sales tax, which, actually, would have cost $2.28, less than the $4.99 I paid but then I also would have had to dig into my O...

The animals all went to the beach both Friday and Saturday ... weather was absolutely gorgeous and I should have made more of an effort to do the same ... Anyways, they went to the Pompano Beach area, right off Atlantic Blvd. (not sure why they don't do the one HERE where they can walk to the beach ... oh yeah, that's right, all their friends live UP there) ... and then one of them took this picture: Yup, the wind and the waves did a little work on the beach.  It's funny, we go through this every single year and they keep talking about beach revitalization, where they pay money to either dredge sand off shore and bring in to rebuild OR they pay to have it brought in from another coastal area. Strange when really, I believe it comes back on it's own ... but that's just my unofficial thoughts :)

Ahhh...it was Monday when I started this post but the day got away from me.  Apparently, Menu Planning is the way to go based on the 300+ links over at the Organizing Junkie Menu Plan Monday site! So, based on the WHOLE month of October that I posted earlier, here's what I'm planning: Sunday - chicken tenders with broccoli and mashed taters (all from the freezer) Monday - Garlic Chicken Saute thingy from BirdsEye (freezer) (this wasn't so bad for a cheap prepared meal and not as bad as some of the other stuff ingredient wise) Tuesday - tacos with all the fixins (taco meat from freezer) Wednesday - sandwiches and pasta salad Thursday - pork tenderloin (freezer), but may just slice and cook as chops with a corn casserole (IF I can find the recipe) all from freezer thankfully! Friday - I think some friends are back in town so depending, maybe out otherwise chicken on the grill Saturday - again, if we didn't do something with friends last night, tonight we will ...

This is what happens when I leave the door open just a little for the Kitty Kitty to make his way back in when he's done doing his morning romp. A bird. and A lizard. Both, D.E.A.D. Feathers EVERYWHERE. Oh the poor thing. It was intact (don't get all gruesome on me now!) ... and I wasn't sure if it was alive or not so had to run into Sonny Boy's room and dump out the clean clothes in my one and only laundry basket (what's up with that? ONE laundry basket??) to put over the thing. The lizard, I don't care too much about (please don't lizard bash me, no hate mail) ... he brings them back to our house from all over the neighborhood. There's no way that he finds that many in OUR yard. Seriously. So the birdy, well, he WAS dead. All that panic for the basket to put over the thing so it doesn't jump on his little legs and flap his little wings for nothing! So I scoot the birdy out the door with the cat doing vicious circles around me (what AR...

They were just finishing up this morning when I went by ... (photo courtesy of Sunsentinel.com) Hoping that this is the end of the wind for a while, pretty much over it! But man, it was so very very nice this morning at 69 degrees ... and very low humidity!

Wednesday evening (as sale was ending and my free chicken was expiring) Spent $8.70 and saved $36.87 (this is pretty sweet!) Rotisserie chicken $7.39 shredded cheese x 6 ($2 each) 4 8oz sour creams (b1g1f $1.19 each) carnation breakfast pack $4.99 4 EAS protein bars $1.25 each Squishy white bread $1.33 Had 2 $3 off on the EAS bars (uh huh, free plus $1 over) Free chicken 2 $5 off 5 kraft so that made the sour cream free and pennies for the shredded cheese $1 off carnation Then this morning, swung by as one of my coupons expires today: spent $6.89, saved $23.11 6 cans hunts tomatoes (b1g1f) $1.39 each 4 butterfinger bars (spontaneous purchase) 89 cents each 2 Birds Eye viola meals (b1g1f) $5.15 2 HVR dressings (b1g1f) $3.79 Used 2 $1 off hunts 2 $1 off butterfinger 2 $1 off (peelies) birds eye (was actually looking for healthy choice but no blinkies left!) 2 $2 off HRV dressing (making for free with a few pennies overage) Not so bad ... need to find more family m...

It's 69 degrees this morning at 5:30am. This is GREAT news as I think we may finally (please, oh please) have broken out of the 110% humidity and 95 degree days ... I am begging someone somewhere (Ma' Nature, you listening??) that this is true. The kitties don't want to come in after I let them out in the morning. I need to get the garden geared up now that it's finally cooling off at night (heck, we'd still be 84 degrees at 11pm). That means I need to turn the dirt, add fertilizer, get rid of snails, etc (and no, I decided against the earth box, although I may try to make one following these directions). We need to get the screens and windows cleaned so we can start opening the windows in the morning (I may have just jinxed the weather by committing to this!!) We've also had some pretty stiff winds and HIGH tides ... (photo from Sunsentinel.com) This was Las Olas Blvd yesterday morning on my way to work. Overflow from the canals. Folks, salt water, ...

So a few days ago, I posted a GREAT White Chili recipe over here  that one of the guys wife had made. She had joked that it was a sister wife recipe and it was awesome so we all begged for the recipe. Well, typing the recipe, I though hmmm, that's alot of beans and not a whole lot of broth and just in general seemed odd ... but type I did. One of the other attorneys wife made it Tuesday for dinner. And he brought in 3 large containers. One for each of us in the office. A. It's way too spicy for her and parents. Wouldn't let the kids have it. He thinks its great so she sent it to work. B.  It's more like a "dip" than a chili. Yeah, it's thick. C.  She just didnt' think it was all that great to be raving about but hey, if the group likes it, have at it! So I brought my container home and thought, heck, I'll just heat this up tonight instead of doing this  soup (even though I made an ...

Ok, so here's the deal for this week as far as menu's go ... I posted the WHOLE proposed month (minus 7 days, so I guess, really, only 3 weeks worth?) over here ... and of course, I am allowed to deviate from the plan slightly. I am still on my mission to clean out the freezers somewhat. I need to. Honestly. After the pork roast from August 2008 (which by the way was just fine!) I realized that this needs to be a priority. So I'm making an effort. Who knows, those last 7 days that I left open for leftovers and out may be wing it by the freezer time? Ha. Sunday - chicken Cesar salad (and which will be lunch for the rest of the work week!) Monday - hot dogs and brats Tuesday - Pasta with chicken (almost like chicken Parmesan) Wednesday - SURVIVOR night so something fairly easy:  soup and artisan bread  (this should be a good test as the dough has been in the fridge for 10 days?) Thursday - chicken enchiladas (using my free chicken that I will pick up Wednesday) ...

Publix (our lovely grocery store chain here in Florida) always has a feature in their sales ad called "Feed Four" (from their Apron's Simple Meals plan) and sometimes it is compared to dinner out and other times it's just a meal they put together for x amount of dollars. This week's feature is called Party Chicken.  With a name like that, heck, who wouldn't want to give it a try (it's a P.A.R.T.Y. Chicken folks!!) Now, they say that you can feed the four for UNDER $16.20* (when you buy products included in the ingredient list* below (excluding pantry items). Hmmm...I'm quite CERTAIN that I can do it for a heck of a lot less being stockpiled and shopping other times AND not using the name brands they call for ... so here we have MY version: 1 1/2 lbs of b/s chicken breast 1 can cream of chicken soup 1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (sharp) Cooking spray 3 tbs unsalted butter 1/4 cup flour large ziploc bag 1/8 tsp...

This is my all time favorite month of the year. I suppose because I L. O. V. E. Halloween! But the past few years, we haven’t celebrated as we used to…may be because Hubby had the surgery 2 years ago on November 1st, which we quit smoking then and didn’t celebrate THAT year …. Ever since, we just go down to Shooters for the 93.1 Rock Halloween contest. It’s fun and a group of us get together and walk there (3 whole blocks) and just have a blast. Some years are better than others, and hopefully, this year will be cool. Last year was HOT, HOT, HOT. We actually took the teens last year (heck, they were soon to be 17 and not as clueless as we’d like to think) but after I heard “OMG, MOM, did you see that giant vagina over there?” about 10 times, I was like, heres' some money, go to the pizza place and eat and we will see you when we get home! In no particular order, heres what I’m thinking of for food this month: White chili (looking forward to trying this!) Onion soup (great re...

*Added 10/7/10 - be sure to read over here as there were some changes that were made ... this recipe definitely needs to be played with* One of the guys in the office brought this in. We all requested the recipe. The wife made a joke in the email about it being one of her sister wives recipes … for those who don’t know, multi wives living in the house are a/k/a sister wives … She’s from Utah, living in Paradise now … (I still laugh at this, her Husband didn't know what the heck she was talking about, they DO have 4 kids AND her sister DOES live next door, but it really is a separate house!) 5 whole cooked chicken breast, cut up and cubed (thinking of using some of the hurricane supply canned stuff) 3 tbs onion powder 7 cans of great white northern beans, rinsed (you can use less if you don't want it as beany) (I only have Cannelini beans and am considering using them up in this) 1 ½ cup chicken broth 12 oz green chilies diced 2 tbs ground cumin 1 tbs ground red peppe...

Penn Dutch is just one of them stores that you either love or you hate. They have great prices on meat alot of times, and the produce too. However, I priced bacon yesterday and they wanted $8 for a package of Hormel. Holy cow! This store also deals alot with immigrants (legal or not, I have no clue) and they have a HUGE cash business going on. I told Hubby that I've never been in a store where there is so much cash exchanged ... It's almost a little freaky as I look around for a would be robber :( So, aside from the chicken feet and the cow brains (yes, really), I typically know E.X.A.C.T.L.Y. what I'm looking for, zoom in to the item, grab and leave. Not a place I like to hang around and browse, trust me! 10 lbs of b/s chicken breast $1.49/lb 10 lbs of italian sausage $1.89/lb 2.5 lbs of chicken wings $1.99/lb (?!) 1 lonely thing of celery for 89 cents 1 loaf french bread 98 cents Total was $33.11 and I was in and out of there in 15 minutes. Half of which put...

I really should know better than to venture out to Costco on a Sunday, late morning. Like 11:30am or so. What was I thinking?? Oh yeah, I was planning on leaving MUCH earlier, until Princess drama kicked in and just put everything on hold for a few hours. So, off I went. Driving Hubby's pride and joy, which means I have to park WAY out in left field to reduce the chance of door dings (and cart crashes) ... and do NOT park under any trees as black cars and bird poo do not compliment each other. Here's what I got for $72.80 (on the AE card as I realized when I pulled out my card that I didn't bring the $100 bill from home). 1 half & half $1.45 (still have one from last trip) 1 bag of garlic $3.69 4 pk toothpaste $12.99 less $4 (I really need to look at this, 8 oz tube which is hard to find in the store but I KNOW I can get it cheaper on sale, I'm quite certain of it now that I think about it) 3 pk english cucumbers $3.29 honey roasted turkey lunchmeat $7.2...

This should pretty much be my shopping for the week, unless Hubby decides on something different :) I paid cash. As a bonus, last night was Meet the Managers night at my store (Oakland Park and Federal Highway) ... I know all the managers, they know me, just not by name. Now I know Linda, Glenn and a few others that I've forgotten.  As a bonus for meeting all and having them sign  the paper, I got a coupon for a FREE rotisserie chicken. Sweet. That will be applied to next weeks menu (chicken enchiladas??) Here's what I got: 6 boxes of Cheerios ($1.99 each less 55 cents each) 2 Crystal lights (b1g1f, 2 $1 off coupons) 10 Kraft cheese (5 shredded, 3 blocks, 3 deli select, 2 $5 off) 3 maybeline mascara ($1.50 off sale price and 3 $1 off) 8 EAS protein bars (4 $3 off coupons, these were actually money makers in the end) 3 lb bag of apples ($1 off produce) 4 cans enchilada sauce (4 50 cents off) 2 deli fresh shaved meats (oscar mayer, 2 $1 off) 2 bakery hoagie rolls ...