Frugal In Florida

I stopped to pick up some cilantro and mint and browse all the pretty, picture perfect produce ... ended up picking up one cubano pepper, 5 pablano peppers (for my stuffed peppers coming soon!), and then wandered to the meat department as they had the 85/15 ground beef for $3.99, grabbed 2 lbs. Then, I looked at the fresh packed chiller ... which I never do as that stuff is EXPENSIVE ... and spotted boneless, skinless chicken thighs.  I save my purchase of same for Costco, I can never find it cheap elsewhere. WRONG. Tonight, Whole Foods had the vacuum packed stuff for $1.69 a pound. Really. So I scooped up 6 packages (about 18 lbs worth?).  And spent a total of $61 after tax and all (oh, yeah, a quick stop at the salad bar to grab some romaine lettuce) ...  So, I get home and notice that the packages had all been relabeled. They are labeled as WHOLE CHICKEN. Not boneless skinless chicken thighs. Out of curiosity, I peeled off the label for the old price. $3.79 per pound

Is giving me serious pains this week ... $3.99 for regular. $4.19 for premium ... which is what Brutis and the Hemi reqire. Thankfully, I get to use regular, but even then, 30 gallon tank is quite a chunk of change if I have to fill it up. So ... what are YOU doing to offset the big chunk of change being put towards gas, AGAIN. I say AGAIN, because geesh, didn't we just go through a huge price increase, only to celebrate when it got down to something ridiculously low like $3.29?? Does anyone even remember when gas was under two bucks?? Ok ... enough ranting. Here's what I'm doing: 1.  Doing the grocery store run after work, on my way home. I normally do this anyways but now much more conscientious about it. 2.  Once that car is in the driveway/garage at home, it stays there until I need to go to work the next day (Monday through Friday). I also try to keep it parked on Sundays. 3.  Saturday is normally my day to go see my dad. So to break up the boring 30

It's really the last week of February! Time is just flying by and I really don't know where the past 8 weeks have gone ... All the goals that were made at the beginning of the year ... how are you doing on them? I am doing well with the decluttering aspect but all the others are sort of hanging in limbo, waiting for some kind of motivation to continue, pick up or plain start out! That's why resolutions should be banned ... the disappointment factor is HUGE. Hubby is traveling this week ... which is just as well as I am swamped at work ... not to mention, I have standby jury duty on Thursday, the last day of the month AND 5 closings slated. Uggg. And I won't know until AFTER 5pm Wednesday if I need to report to court. Nice system, don't you agree? I can just see my attorneys again: tell the judge our names ... that should give you some leeway. Yeah, right. Last time I did that, the judge offered to call them and 'remind them of your civic duties'. Ok doke

*This is a repost from a while ago but it's what I'm planning for Wednesday's crockpot meal ...* I wanted to type Raunchy Chicken but figured not too many people would find it funny UNLESS you knew me and my friend Cat ... Cat always has a hard time putting the right word in and most likely would have said raunchy ... especially if there had been a glass of wine or two involved. Any ways. The original recipe is modified from the Real Mom Kitchen ... (which, thanks to Pinterest , I've discovered!) and since I had chicken on hand, figured why not? Bonus for me: I had EVERYTHING on hand ... So, I give to you, my readers, fans, followers, stalkers, what have you: Raunchy Chicken 6 normal size b/s chicken breast (freezer) 1 packet of dry ranch dressing seasoning mix (Aldi's for i think 49 cents?) 1 can of cream o' chicken soup (the real deal, Campbell, picked up for ... 50 cents with coupon ... and HEY ... if you have a real suitable substitute, I'