Frugal In Florida

We had to deal a bit with Tropical Storm Isaac (nka Hurricane Isaac) Sunday and Monday ... Sunday was just wicked wind and rain. Power out at 8:30pm Sunday night. Thankfully, AFTER dinner and doing dishes AND posting the weekly menu plan. Power was restored on Monday at 8:00pm, thanks to Chain Electric Co. out of Kansas, I believe? 6 trucks and about 18 men ... woo hoo! So, yeah, I'm taking the easy way out and re-posing a recipe ... it's what we had for dinner on Sunday ... Hubby wanted to get a big pot of it simmering on the stove but I couldn't find any italian sausage, but DID find a big bag of sauce already made ... I was pretty thrilled that I had it! Hubby loves this stuff and swears it taste best the following day. Makes quite a bit, 14 cups or so AND I generally freeze in quart size bags for a quick defrosting dinner.   Nothing better than rooting around in the freezer and coming across a bag like this ... SCORE! Make sure that you do this on a day where

I reallly think I need to go count on the calendar to make sure it really is week 35?? Just doesn't seem like that can possibly be ... but I'm sure it is! This weekend was a wash, seriously. We had Tropical Storm Isaac in our face (tv, radio, weather, you name it) and we pretty much took it to heart to be conservative and get stuff done on Saturday, 'just in case'. That meant laundry, cleaning, quick review of freezers and pantry, and cooking. I also made mayo just in case we had to tap in to the tuna supply ... The freezers gave me a small disappointment ... I apparently AM using up what I have on hand, went hunting for some italian sausage to make red sauce Sunday and what the heck, I had NONE. I did however, find a bag of sauce, so it's not a total lost. But still, we were looking forward to a pot of sauce cooking on the stove all day long. So here we are, another week in of using what we have on hand ... Sunday - Italian style. Pasta with red sauce

I love honey mustard dressing with my salads or to dip chicken pieces in, but it's really not that healthy when you buy it in a bottle from the store shelve. I mean, seriously, the 2nd ingredient is HFCS ... really, on a bottle of Ken's LITE Honey Mustard Dressing. That was an all time favorite in this house, and imagine my disappointment once I started reading labels. Ken's ... we would have 10 bottles of this stuff in the pantry back in the days of being clueless   BUT, Tammy over at Tammy's Recipes shared her recipe a while ago, and I am just addicted to this stuff ... definitely a keeper and worth sharing (AGAIN and AGAIN) the way I make it ... (don't forget to check out Tammy's site, shes got some GREAT recipes over there... 1/2 cup olive oil (personally, I've started using half and half of extra and regular) 3 tbs white vinegar 2 tbs water 1/4 cup honey (tip: measure the oil first and pour into bowl THEN measure the honey in same cu