Frugal In Florida

WHAT Grocery Budget??

Since Sonny Boy has been gone (wow, a whopping 10 days!) and probably even BEFORE that since I was doing the pantry challenge in July, I've not made a long grocery list, carried an envelope stuffed with coupons or had to make more than 2 trips to the car to unload.

Yeah, we've been to the store.

A gallon of milk, 3pk of lettuce, half and half was the list on the receipt last week.

This past weekend consisted of a trip to Publix ($30 as Hubby HAD to have his olive bar selection) and the produce store.

But last night. Ahhh. Last night, I told Hubby I'd stop and get him something to sleep...he's fighting the battle of sickness now and is just about down for the count. So I had a few things I wanted, carrots, celery, lettuce, and NyQuil.

And silly me, I swung in to the parking lot of .... Whole Foods.

What was I thinking?

$73 later, I walk out with a few carrots, a package of celery, some grapes ($6?? They better be good), some apples, a small contai…

It's busy around here lately. Getting a kid shipped off to school. Work. Sickness. Life in general.
The life in general thing really takes over my time it seems...and before I know it, the weekend is OVER and it's Monday morning again!
The number one thing I do is make sure I always, always, ALWAYS have something prepped for lunches (Hubby and I take our lunches 99% of the time to work) ...



And we normally eat salads and leftovers if they are appealing for lunches (um, take my advice, skip the leftover broccoli, ok? Just not a good thing to reheat in an office building).

And we take LARGE salads.

So I make it a point to wash the lettuce, slice the cukes, the sweet peppers and a few tomatoes (I don't normally do a whole week of tomatoes as they will get icky rather quickly) ...

And keep them in separate containers. 

Every morning, I grab a handful of lettuce, a handful of spinach (I buy it in large containers, triple washed, don't tell me bad things please!) a handful…

It's Monday, yet again.

At least THIS week I'm feeling so much better, have a little spring in my step AND Sonny Boy will ride the bus home Friday afternoon to spend the long weekend with us ... woohoo!!

Oddly enough, it feels like the weight of the world has temporarily fallen off my shoulders, thankfully. Which allowed me to sit yesterday, in the FRESH, CLEAN Florida Room and make out a menu for the WHOLE month of September (and these last 3 days of August). Of course, if I stick with the whole month, it would be nice, but we all know the reality of that!

So here's what I have for the upcoming week:

Sunday - leftover chicken breast (from Hubbys Saturday night experiment, brining) with salad and fresh grated parmesan cheese

Monday - Steak with onions and shrooms

Tuesday - Asian Chicken Soup

Wednesday - Bangin Shrimp

Thursday - Chicken with philly cream and pasta

Friday - Sonny Boy home! Pizza? With the garlicky crust?

Saturday - Sonny Boy home! I'm sure he's goin…

Hubby did his first cooking class at the cooking school Friday. Lord please help me. This man has the fire in his belly to start cooking again.

Don't get me wrong, I love his cooking and he was the master chef of the household before his accident years ago. 

And I'm glad that a two hour class brought it back to life for him. He's ready to start experimenting ...

But in the meantime, I will still be cooking at least 50% of the meals in this house.

So today's recipe comes from one of those magazine ads, you know, for mayo. And surprisingly enough, it's tasty ... Here it is, as we made:

Parmesan Crust Chicken

1/2 cup mayo (we used olive oil based)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (preferably not the green can!)
4 chicken breast
4 tsp italian seasoned breadcrumbs (we used Panko, that's what I had on hand)

Combine mayo and Parmesan cheese.

Spray a baking sheet (which we covered with tin foil for easy cleaning) with some cooking spray. Arrange the chicken on pan and …

There is a time and a place for everything in life.

And today, I speak of frozen convenience foods.

No, I'm not necessarily talking about frozen pizzas or bagel bites because {sob} we've sort of moved on from that kind of stuff for now.

I am however, talking about GROWN UP convenience foods. With a little bit better quality and taste than the above mentioned stuff :)

Saturday night, we got home from delivering Sonny Boy to college. I was SICK, getting ready to speed downhill in to a full fledged sinus infection.  I was also being hormonal, and the fact that I just threw my baby boy to the wolves, well, I was a mess.

Hubby took charge. He dug around in the freezers (which, look, they are getting emptier!) and came up with this:



And 45 minutes later, we were eating a fairly decent meal all things considering.
Princess came home and wanted to eat too, as those chicken things are like her all time favorite (and I'm shocked that there were 2 boxes left as she will make these at 3…

I notice I go in cycles on cleaning tips.

This week, yet again, has a tip utilizing those dryer sheets.

Now I've found 2 useful things to do with them ...

This time around, we will clean the plate of the iron. Have you ever ironed something that wasn't MEANT to have heat applied? You know, an applique. Or a stray piece of leather (why did they do that!) .. and then it just burns right on the iron plate. Uggg.

Well, never fear, here's a tip that will clean that right up ... and it will also polish up the plate so it won't catch the fabric and crease it.

Take a dryer sheet, and 2 pieces of paper towel.

Turn iron on high (but don't turn on the steam option)

Lay one piece of paper towel down on the board, and place dryer sheet on top.

Lay other paper towel sheet down next to them.

Iron the dryer sheet for oh, 30 seconds. Smells good, doesn't it?

Then iron the paper towel for oh, 30 seconds. The point is to remove the fabric softener from the iron.

Do this as many …

Yeah, I know. It's Tuesday. NOT Monday.

I'm well aware of that.

I've been sick. Since last week. A WEEK ago, matter of fact.

Started as a scratchy throat. Then a painful throat. As in, wake up in the middle of the night mewling because it hurt so bad. Not a good thing.

Of course, we were in Orlando, at a hotel, that had magnificent sheets, pillows and a large TV (for Hubby). Me, I just wanted to stay there forever.

But alas, life calls. So we finished getting Sonny Boy settled in. Said our goodbyes. Shed some tears. And drove back home.

Saturday night, dinner was simple: Smashed taters (freezer) and chicken cordon blue (freezer).

Sunday night, Hubby fended for himself as I was sprawled on the coach, a weeping mess. Not sure if it was from the fact that my baby boy was 300 miles away (and what is he eating??) or if it was because I was running a fever and still mewling with the very sore throat. Hubby rustled up some cheese sticks, breaded mushrooms, pigs in a blanket and m…

I apologize well in advance if this post is scattered. See, I am fighting a cold (nerves? stress?), new medication (taken at night and puts me in a haze for a bit in morning) and the fact that today is  ...

Well, today is THE day. Sonny Boy heads off for his next Big Adventure. College.

Whew.

How did I get here?

I can only imagine what he's thinking too!

I'm excited yet so very nervous. I'm trying NOT to be a mother hen. I realize he needs to step up and out and just do it.

Which is not the subject of today's post, by the way!

Today's post is about Decluttering/Dejunking and Frugal Friday! Also known as Shopping At Home. Wow, so many topics fall into one single heading!

Yes. Now that Sonny Boy has moved 90% of his personal belongings to the back of the Tahoe (thankfully he's riding with a friend up because there is no room left for him in the back) I can take inventory of what is left and what is really still needed.

No. I'm not getting rid of his drum set…

Seriously? I've not cooked anything really worthwhile in like, weeks :) So I'm going to pull something out of the hat that was previously posted ...

Just a side note: I really really need to start getting more food pictures taken ...

So today I bring you .... Cobb Salad ... sharing with the Ultimate Recipe Swap!

A Cobb Salad


Pretty easy to do, chop some lettuce (romaine), chop 2 eggs, chop some turkey lunchmeat, grab a handful of bacon bits (the real deal) or cook up a couple slices and chop, and then just put in neat rows on top of lettuce. I used olives (since hubby loves olives) and a little cheddar cheese since I don't have any blue cheese when I made this (now I have a Costco size container in the fridge). NO AVOCADO either because I didn't have that AND Hubby is not a fan of (I'm working on it)


Normally I would offer up the Honey Mustard Dressing but since I haven't made any yet this week, I have this on standby ... thankfully!


You should head on over t…

We've got a LARGE custom built shower in the master bath. I sooooo loved it when we first remodeled. The doors were the CLEAR sparkling glass with the gold trim. Shiny and pretty.

Of course, that was 1998-1999. A 'few' years ago.

The gold trim is not quite as shiny.

And try as we may, the clear sparkling glass doors are no longer clear, nor sparkly.

Hubby is the one in charge of shower detail. And he uses some pretty harsh chemicals to do so ... living in South Florida with a humidity level of 100% and then me with the hot showers, well, you get a few issues.

BUT the one thing that is super hard to clean, caustic chemicals or not, are the dang glass doors. That soap, shampoo, conditioner, shaving cream stuff really sticks over time :) And then you get the funky cloudy look which is NOT what we were aiming for.

So when I saw this tip, I was pretty skeptical. Yeah, right. How could something so easy really work that well and not be advertised across the sky?  Guess what? It …

I am Queen for a few days. As much as I'd like to enjoy it, the thought that my baby is leaving still puts a shadow over the Queen status.

See, I don't talk much about the extra things you can do on the web to earn cash, gift cards, points, etc. And of course, you ALL know about Swagbucks by now, right? Of course you do!

So yeah, Swagbucks is great. I've gotten quite a few paypal bucks but more importantly, I've gotten A LOT of Amazon $5 gift cards. Sweet momma.

But back in June, June 6th to be exact, Sonny Boy and G/F were looking over my shoulder as I searched for something online. And I hear "Oh HEY, MAYHEM FEST!" Ummm, yeah, whatever.

Well, it was a swagstakes and we bet 99 swag bucks. Guess what? We won!

So yeah, that was exciting in that hey, we got TWO TICKETS TO MAYHEM FEST! Ummm....they started at $25 each so that was cool in itself.

BUT. We couldn't figure out what kind of tickets they were. 3rd row from the front of main stage. Back stage pass…

You know what I mean.

Crap.

Stuff.

Shit.

It happens. And seems to never be an opportune time, you know?

1. Truck battery crapped out. We just had it in the shop for a week and over $1000 in repairs (with a good friend working on it). Guess it's because it sat for almost 3 weeks.

2. Hubby ran into a bit of an issue on his trip. Nothing to blog about and everything will be fine in the end, just going to cost a little more cash than I'd like AND a little time. Hopefully this can be turned around to his favor and be a learning experience.

3. Sonny Boy leaves in 4 days. It's been a LONG time since I've shop shopped for household stuff. Dang, stuff is expensive. I've resorted to parting out my own personal kitchen belongings for his new digs.

4. Fortunately there have been some decent sales on laptops and printers for Sonny Boy.  Of course, all sold out on the cheaper ones and the one that I really liked, only have them "geeked" out for another $100. Ended up b…

This is the last week that Sonny Boy will be home, and man, it's really starting to hit me. Ahhhh...how ever will he survive??

Hubby has been gone the past week and finally comes home on Wednesday. A lot of stuff has happened, both HERE at home and THERE where he's at. It will all be sorted out eventually but in the meantime, I'm wishing I hadn't spent so much money and planned a little better.

Going to try and keep the plan simple ... and cost effective.  We will head back to Orlando on Friday afternoon and head back either Saturday night or Sunday afternoon (depends on how things go). 

Need to get a new battery for my truck as I think that's what we will have to drive to transport all this stuff ...

Sunday - leftovers from Friday night out (Il Mulino's, excellent Fusille Naturale)

Monday - Pizza (freezer) and salad

Tuesday - Ravioli and salad

Wednesday - chicken and pasta stirfry (freezer, prepackaged stuff)

Thursday - Tacos (taco salad for ME)

Friday - Or…

This is a repost because I need to make it a point to do this THIS WEEKEND! I should probably try and hit all 3 showers and the kitchen sinks ...


Of course, linking up with Works For Me Wednesday ... hop on over!


Because I don't wash my hair daily, but do insist on showering daily :) I get really irritated at that stray stream of water that shoots out sideways from the showerhead and somehow manages to drench my hair that I've wrapped so carefully to keep dry ...

A Martha tip ...

Fill a sandwich baggie with white vinegar (not full but just enough that the bottom of the head will be in the vinegar). Take a rubberband and fit it around the shower head, securely. Let it sit overnight or all the livelong day.

Before showering, REMEMBER to remove the bag (dump the vinegar down the drain) and use an old toothbrush to scrub a little if desired, just be careful not to get in your face/eyes, ok? Turn on the shower and let the shower run a little before hopping under the water.

And …

There's a small grocery store chain here in South Florida called Penn Dutch.

It's small and they have an OLD (aka - grungy) store in Hollywood and a newer store in Margate.

Unfortunately, the one in Hollywood is easiest for me to get to from the office since the office is half way between home and the store. The one in Margate is great IF I'm going to Costco but still further west. As much as I'd prefer the Margate store, it's just not savvy for me to drive all that way just to pick up a few steals and deals.

Steals and deals? Yes, I did say that! (and sorry, only good to tomorrow, Wednesday)

Fresh French Bead 79 cents
18 pk Budweiser $10.99 (unfortunately, all their beer is COLD so you can't really stock up unless you have the room in fridge)
B/S Chicken Breast $1.29 lb
Italian sausage, hot or mild $1.79/lb
Medium white shrimp $4.99/lb
Sweet baby carrots 99 cents per bag. Not normally something I buy but it's a decent price

Definitely buying the bread, b…

What a week that just ended ... and boy am I thankful it's MONDAY!

Hubby is traveling all week, returning next week.

Princess is traveling to the West Coast Thursday and returning on Sunday.

Sonny Boy and I will be getting his stuff together for his next big adventure .... college. We got the housing and classes all squared away. Need to pay now (yikes!) and his move in date is the 13th BUT he's not going up til the following weekend.

Girls night out possibly on Friday ... but now I don't know ...

Not so sure if I'm going to the gym this week. My hands have been bothering me pretty badly over the weekend and I really don't want to aggravate them much more. If not, I'll just do some heavy duty walking/jogging.

AND ... I've not done a grocery shop yet in almost 2 weeks ... getting low on a few things but it's ok since we've still got plenty of stuff here to eat!

AND, last, but not least, I could almost just send the Boy out to dinner every stinkin n…

I got this recipe eons ago and used to make it like every other weekend for the kids. The would devour it. Probably been about 3 years since I've made and well, I feel the need ... so maybe this weekend!

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, room temp
1 cup sugar
½ cup butter, room temp
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
2 large eggs
¼ cup milk
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt
½ cup raspberry preserves
2 tbs confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour 13x9 baking pan
Cream cream cheese, sugar and butter with electric mixture til light and fluffy.

Add ¾ c flour, eggs, milk, powder and baking soda, vanilla and salt. Beat 2 minutes til very well blended. Add remaining flour and mix on low speed til well mixed. Spread batter evenly in pan.

Distribute raspberry preserves evenly in 10 or so dollops. Swirl into batter with knife to create marbled effect.

Bake in center of oven 30 to 35 minutes, or til toothpick comes out clean. Cool 2…

I have an excellent macaroni and cheese recipe but its time consuming and has a gazillion steps and THEN it goes in the oven.

Not exactly a week night friendly recipe.

And with Sonny Boy leaving in a few weeks, I've been trying to find some easy, boy friendly recipes.

So I made it a point to definitely get the recipe tried and see how it works before handing a rice maker off to him for food purposes.

A HUGE thank you goes out to Lynn for her sharing of the Rice Cooker Macaroni and Cheese.

You can bet I was skeptical. And I had to halve the recipe because I've got a puny rice cooker. But wow! It was good.

Click here for Lynns original recipe. Below is how I made mine...

1 cup chicken broth (although I would say 1 cup of water would be just fine)
1 cup of quick cook noodles (if you've been stocking up on the good sales and coupons to get it almost free noodles, you will LOVE this recipe)
slightly more than 1/3 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheese of choice

Put the chicken broth (…

Hubby and I were sitting in the living room, watching tv (ok, really, I was on the laptop, he was playing with his new phone) at 8pm on Saturday night. We had just been talking about dinner, did we want to make something on the grill (steaks like planned) OR go out?

The house phone rang, which is an odd as NO ONE calls the house phone, you know? Since we don't have caller ID anymore, we always look at each other ... do we wanna answer or not?

I answered. It was the Bank Security Dept.  They wanted Hubby so I knew it was his account. For some reason, I MADE him take the call.

As I hear him saying NO, NO, and NO I close out all my windows and open up the bank website so he can log in as soon as possible.

Sure enough. 10 transactions at those little Presto ATM machines outside the grocery store. $283 in Miami Beach. Another $202 at the same place. and then 8 transactions right in a row at another store in Hollywood for $262, $202 and then 6 $82. FYI - the $2 and $3 odd charges are wh…

Saying goodbye to July and the Summertime Pantry Challenge, even though I am going to continue in through August, I think, as it seems we use a lot of fridge and freezer stuff, but pantry stuff, no so much ... so I will try to clear the shelves a little more. I have no need to go to the store for anything EXCEPT more lettuce ... wish it wasn't so darn hot, I'd try to grow some myself.

I have to say, sending Sonny Boy to get milk has really saved my butt in shopping. I know that I'm more than likely to browse a wee bit and pick up a few things BESIDES the milk. It's just the way it is. Imagine my surprise though when he came home and the receipt for 2% store brand milk was $3.95.  WOW.



This week has a few things ... gym 2 or 3 nights hopefully. We head up to Orlando Thursday night for Sonny Boy's orientation on Friday morning (8:45am, just easier to head up and stay overnight) so I think dinner will be out on Thursday ... And then Princess has a meeting/orientation …

I discovered Pinterest. Oh my. I've lost a lot of hours this weekend and believe I may have gobbled up any available memory with all the NEW links I've bookmarked. Whew.

And I even tried a new recipe within 24 hours of discovering it ... that in itself is amazing. And that we ALL liked it? Even more so!

Got the recipe from Baked Bree ... and pretty much made it as she has it but I wanted to give credit where credit is due! Not to mention, her  pictures are way better!

1 1/2 c white flour (although, you could use wheat I suppose)
3 tbs sugar
1/2 tbs salt
4 tsp baking powder (um, mine has the date of April 2011 ... its on my list)
1 tbs cinnamon

2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
2 tbs maple syrup (used the last of the real stuff)
1/4 c melted butter
1 tbs vanilla

Whisk the dry ingredients in large bowl. Add liquid ingredients and whisk til well combined

Heat griddle til water bounces around when a drop is tested.

Cook til both sides are brown



Frosting:

1 cup confectioners sugar
2 tbs me…