Frugal In Florida

So ... have you missed the past couple of weeks of my Menu Planning? I have! It's just been super busy at work and on the home front but so need to get back on track and do the right thing, both for ME and MY WALLET.  I get to make an online payment on Monday morning for $6000.00 for property taxes ... I just L O V E doing that! So here we are, yet again! I'm hoping everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was the same as it always is when we are home, we had friends over, fried 3 turkeys, ate too much and consumed too much tequila, wine and champagne. But I woke up Friday morning and walked to the library to return some books (score for me as no late fee and I got a little exercise in) then continued on to the bank to make a deposit (for property taxes that are due on Monday) and then back home. That little jaunt sort of helped my slight tummy distress but more than anything, I wanted to enjoy the weather! With that said, let me tell you ... since doing my first Whole

I don't know why, but I love to read what other bloggers are buying at the grocery store. Yeah. I guess you could say I'm obsessed with food ... but I 'think' I have a healthy relationship with it ;-) So, with that said, I thought, what the heck, I'll try to share my weekly grocery trips ... and if everything is going according to plan, you would even get a picture or two ... but of course, things don't always go as planned ... and again, this was one of those weeks with NO pictures :-( A bonus for me to share weekly is to keep my grocery budget in check (hopefully!) I hope everyone had a GREAT Thanksgiving and you are making your way through all the leftovers in a timely manner? Me? I'm not a big turkey fan and the leftovers can drag on for too long in my opinion. Usually I make Hot Browns but this year I wanted to keep it lighter and more healthier (and Whole30 compliant) so I stuck with salad stuff ...  BUT ... that's not why you are here toda

Hey hey ... it's been a little while since I've shared a recipe, let alone a NEW recipe ... so what better time than when I'm sure everyone is dealing with excessive amounts of turkey! As always, we have WAY too much Thanksgiving turkey left over and I'm trying to think of other ways to use it up ... because, honestly? I'm not a huge turkey fan ... even when it's fried like we do ... so I have to get a little more creative as to what to do with it! This fit the bill perfectly and even better was that I had EVERYTHING on hand to make lunch on Saturday! Score!! Yes, I will be making this again for lunch this week and heck, I might even grab one of the mini bags of turkey out of the freezer to do so! Here's what you need: Chopped or shredded cabbage with carrots, etc ... in other words, a bag of coleslaw will work perfect! cooked chicken, chopped, or in my case, cooked turkey cucumbers, chopped (leftover from veggie tray on Thursday) red or an

I don't know why, but I love to read what other bloggers are buying at the grocery store. Yeah. I guess you could say I'm obsessed with food ... but I 'think' I have a healthy relationship with it ;-) So, with that said, I thought, what the heck, I'll try to share my weekly grocery trips ... and if everything is going according to plan, you would even get a picture or two ... but of course, things don't always go as planned ... and again, this was one of those weeks with NO pictures :-( A bonus for me to share weekly is to keep my grocery budget in check (hopefully!) So ... has anyone out there been missing my Weekly Menu Plan? I am still planning, just haven't been sharing as it's pretty darn busy around here lately.  You know, work, home, family, life ... sometimes those things have to take a priority over blogging. PLUS I haven't had time :(  BUT I'm working on fixing that problem! Honestly! This past week was fairly decent as far as

I don't know why, but I love to read what other bloggers are buying at the grocery store. Yeah. I guess you could say I'm obsessed with food ... but I 'think' I have a healthy relationship with it ;-) So, with that said, I thought, what the heck, I'll try to share my weekly grocery trips ... and if everything is going according to plan, you would even get a picture or two ... but of course, things don't always go as planned ... and again, this was one of those weeks with NO pictures :-( A bonus for me to share weekly is to keep my grocery budget in check (hopefully!) So. I apparently have forgotten that I have a budget. Well, maybe THAT'S the problem is that I don't have a real bona fide budget. I mean, seriously. I say xx a month but then when I go over that amount, I continue to shop ... sometimes with a little more restraint, other times not. I'm thinking that I really need to rework that process as the way I'm currently handling the s

I don't know why, but I love to read what other bloggers are buying at the grocery store. Yeah. I guess you could say I'm obsessed with food ... but I 'think' I have a healthy relationship with it ;-) So, with that said, I thought, what the heck, I'll try to share my weekly grocery trips ... and if everything is going according to plan, you would even get a picture or two ... but of course, things don't always go as planned ... and again, this was one of those weeks with NO pictures :-( A bonus for me to share weekly is to keep my grocery budget in check (hopefully!) There was a lot of money spent on groceries this past week and not a whole LOT of food that came in ... I think I need to just avoid the stores for the next week or so! Costco found its way on my circuit this past week ... we can blame the Boy for that ... he had a few things he wanted to get, as I did, and we went one night after work ... spent more than I wanted, $235 ... and granted, the Boy

So the Boy wanted to make a run to Costco ... and of course, I had a few things that I wanted to pick up too ... so I said, sure ... And off we went. I did have a list and stayed pretty much on track.  A few things were not found and very few things were added to the cart that were not on the list. But it still added up. To the point where I think I might need to do a mini no-spend challenge ... Here's what we got: Vanity Fair napkins $8.99 less $2 (alot ... as in 6 month supply I'm sure!) 2 Heat Tee shirts $8.99 less $2 each (Boy) 5 pk deodorant for Boy and Hubby $13.99 2 pkgs of 16 count Chobani Indulgent yogurt $4.97 less $2.20 each (Boy) 20 count Chobani yogurt (regular stuff) $14.99 (Boy) turkey bacon $999 2 pk greek yogurt $5.99 (Boy) 3 pk Tropicana fresh orange juice $8.69 Pea Protein Powder $29.99 large bag of onions $6.49 Asian Chopped Salad kit $4.99 5 pk artisan romaine lettuce $3.99 bag of avocados $4.99 2 bags of french cut green beans $4.

I really love it when I come across a recipe that I have ALL the ingredients on hand to make, except one!  I mean, it's like mandatory that you make it! This original recipe comes from Skinny Taste (which, by the way, I got her cookbook for Christmas and I'm sad to say I've not cooked ONE recipe from it yet!) and of course, I made a 'few' modifications but the whole idea comes from there! And yes, it's Whole30 compliant (of course, I made this at the start of Week 2 and was still in the excitable mode!)  It will stay around for a repeat, trust me! Here's how I did it: 1 lime, juiced (Costco) 1/4 red onion, finely choppped (Aldis) 1/2 tsp avocado oil (or olive oil) (Costco) dash of salt (Costco) dash black pepper to taste (Costco) 1/2 pound of cooked, peeled shrimp, cut in bite size pieces (8 ounces or thereabouts) (Whole Foods a while ago) 4 sangria tomatoes, chopped (Costco, these are like little tomatoes) 1 avocado, diced (Costco) 1/2

Hi Hi ... it's that time of the week again, my not so favorite time but then again, it isn't all that bad ;-) Menu Planning and Meal Prepping on Funday Sunday! So after the past 2 weekends of drinking beer and feeling like crap the next day AND because I've not been dealing with some really big stress very well ... I'm back on track for Whole30 ... Third times a charm, right? Hubby is traveling Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and comes home Thursday night so those first 3 days will be easy (well, really, I started Sunday which was easy enough) and I'll just have to remind him that the LaCroix is my drink of choice and the protein and veggies is my food of choice too ... I just need to stay focused and remember how good I was feeling before I headed off to Halloween Horror Nights ... There was a little food prep on Sunday afternoon: cooked up some chicken breast, made 4 pounds of green beans, prepped some salad stuff and cleaned out the fridge ;-) I spent a L

I don't know why, but I love to read what other bloggers are buying at the grocery store. Yeah. I guess you could say I'm obsessed with food ... but I 'think' I have a healthy relationship with it ;-) So, with that said, I thought, what the heck, I'll try to share my weekly grocery trips ... and if everything is going according to plan, you would even get a picture or two ... but of course, things don't always go as planned ... and again, this was one of those weeks with NO pictures :-( A bonus for me to share weekly is to keep my grocery budget in check (hopefully!) So. I did a stop at Publix Friday after work and spent $88.03 and THEN at the last minute later that evening, the Boy and I hit up Winn Dixie ... and spent $63.49. Oh. Then Sunday we had the now ex-boyfriend over for breakfast and I promised turkey bacon ... didn't have any stashed in the freezer so had to make ANOTHER run to Winn Dixie and hit the motherload of marked down meat ... $89.