Frugal In Florida

Yes, I suppose it's best to say that the Pantry / Freezer Challenge is O V E R ... as much as I hate to say it ... We did clean out a lot from the Pantry ... and quite a bit from the Freezer ... although Hubby would disagree ... and the money NOT spent on food this past month has helped me assist my sister who was in a bad place and hopefully, my boost of cash in her direction has gotten her on steady ground where she will feel confident to continue forward (just a side note, I'm well aware of what it feels like to have NO money and NO where to turn ... I've been dirt poor and I've been well off ... and I will never let someone who means a lot to me be dirt poor, if I can help them alleviate some of the stress, financially, I will) So. I took a day off in the middle of the week. Hubby and I were originally going to do a boating day mid-week ... but then he got swamped, we found out it was mini-lobster season and well, I said NO I'm not giving up my day off. So,

Hi ... it's that time again!  My "not so" favorite time of the week ... mostly because it's Sunday and tomorrow means another 5 days of work! Ick. I'm so over that! But for now, it is what it is. I stayed out of the grocery store for TWO weeks! Amazing! Well, not so much, because I have been on a Pantry/Freezer Challenge which is sort of making some progress ... the pantry is certainly looking better ... BUT when I did go to the stores, I made up for missing a week. I stopped at Aldis and spent $23 (produce, breads and cheese) and then I stopped at the Produce Store and picked up spaghetti squash, mini peppers, zucchini, brussel sprouts and THEN it was my very LEAST favorite store: Albertsons.  I knew that I would totally stick to my list, if even that as the store here is just yucky. I went to get the 69 cents a pound chicken thighs, $1.69 chicken breast and the $5.99 a pound bone in rib eye steaks. Ended up spending $65 ... so between my 3 store stops, I spent

We have a place down the street from us (well, over the bridge, around the corner and THEN down the street) called Skyline Chili . Oh? You've heard of it, have you? So ... it's not that I'm a 'fan' of the chili so much as the little coney dogs that are loaded sky high with the finely shredded cheese and onions ... oh yummm .... but ... Hubby and everyone else always, always gets the chili, 4-way ... and it's not inexpensive, all things considering. So when I have leftover chili, I try to re-create my the leftovers in to a whole different meal ... and this is one of the things I do (the other is Chili Cheese Dogs , of course!) Four Way Chili is really simple: Layer 1 -spaghetti (or you can do like me and use spiralized zucchini) Layer 2 - chili (and this recipe is a chocolate based, beanless chili so it's perfect) Layer 3 - finely shredded cheddar cheese Layer 4 - finely diced onions Now, the restaurant serves theirs on a platter. M

Here we are again, already, another week has just flown by! I have NOT been to the grocery store since last Friday ... over a week ago! Hubby did buy 2 gallons of milk this past week, a package of hot dog buns and some beer, but other than that, nothing new was brought in to the house! Yes! Then again, not a whole lot was really used up either ... I was out of the house 2 nights with my dad (another hospital visit, he's fine now but has a cold on top of everything else), and I did hit up the drive through on my way to work one morning after having 5 hours of sleep ... weak moment but otherwise, everything was ok. We stuck with the menu plan a few nights and the rest was just fend for yourself with leftovers, sandwiches, etc. We did go out Friday night for a date night (food and drinks) but were out more for adult beverages than food ... The Pantry / Freezer Challenge is coming along just fine ... I need to update my freezer inventory on my phone and then transfer it to the bl

*It's summertime and well, my shoes are starting to smell a tad funky so it's time to repost this and redo ... it really does work! Honestly, we have real good hygiene habits in my house, I can assure you of that! But, lets face it, living in paradise with 125% humidity can be a little trying sometimes ... my running shoes (which have NOT seen much running action for quite a while) get a little ripe smelling ... and oh man, you should smell the shoes that Hubby wears outside in the yard, patio, garage and boat that constantly get wet ... enough to suck the oxygen right out of your body ... whew! Then you have the Boy ... who works out pretty darn hard and doesn't always wear socks, nor does the Princess ... I mean, seriously, I've had to throw shoes away because you could smell them just sitting there. No one wants to be the person that people are wrinkling their nose at when they are walking by you! So when I saw the featured post for the Smelly Shoe Solution