Frugal In Florida

If you are looking for a healthier alternative to Ranch Dressing ... this IS IT! Dairy Free.  Grain Free. Sugar Free. Gluten Free. AND EASY It's also Whole30 approved, just in case you were wondering! This recipe is totally from  Whole Sisters  and I give them FULL credit ... this is just me saying I made it, I loved it and I want to share it with the world!! Give the girls a drive by and check out their site, it's chock-full of good stuff! Here's how I made it egg, room temperature 1 tbs lemon juice, room temperature 1 cup olive oil 2 tbs red wine vinegar 1 tsp salt 1 tsp black pepper 3/4 tsp onion powder 3/4 tsp garlic powder 1/2 cup canned coconut milk handful of parsley, leaves pulled off and stems discarded dash of dried dill Grab yourself a tall jar and make sure your  immersion blender  fits in the top ;-) I speak from experience! Place everything in jar, insert your immersion blender and let it rip. Make sure you go up an

I used to love to get the Mandarin Chicken Salad from Wendy's back in the day ... I thought I was being super healthy, you know? Of course, that was before I learned about reading labels and such ... amazing how something so "healthy" could be so very bad for you. So ... when I came across  THIS  salad at  My Natural Family  not too long ago, I knew I had to give it a try ... and, man, I'm so very glad I did! Talk about an awesome, flavorful salad ... and even better, when I opted to make it at the last minute, I had EVERYTHING on hand so it fit the bill! *With summertime fast approaching which in my world means Bikini Time, even at the soon to be ripe ole age of 53, I am pulling out my favorite, healthy salad options! Here's what you need: 2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts head of lettuce (romaine) chopped in bite size pieces (I used one artesian baby romaine head) 1 red pepper, sliced and chopped in bite size pieces 1 large carrot, coarsely shredded

I think you should make a quick stop at the store today and surprise your spouse with this little treat this evening! Doh. I've seen the NAME numerous times, just had no idea what it WAS! Yeah, coming from a self-proclaimed, self-taught foodie, that was slightly embarrassing. So of course, the next time we were out at a more upscale Italian restaurant, we ordered it for the appetizer. Bleh.  What a disappointment. Seriously. Do NOT spend the money for this in the restaurant when you can make a much larger, better tasting version in your own kitchen with little effort. Seriously...tomato season is fast approaching (whee!!!) and you can always pick up the Sorrento sliced "fresh" mozzarella at your local grocery store to create this ... Now remember, this is a Hubby recipe, so things are estimates, NEVER ever measured ;-) 3 nice size, ripe but firm tomatoes, sliced medium thickness.  If they are extra seedy/juicy, let them drain a bit Fresh mozzarella sl

Are you all enjoying the Salad theme this month?  I am! I'm digging out an old favorite that I haven't made in quite a while and feel the need to do it real soon!  I call it a Steak Salad because, well, because it has STEAK in it. Others call it an Asian Beef Salad because it has soy sauce and sesame oil in the dressing, making it an Asian type dish. Then the Evil Jungle? Well, that's from Houston's which is WHERE I got the idea for this lovely, all time, must have lunch/dinner and hey, even breakfast once. (Evil Jungle is very very spicy with a Thai undertone to it and mangos and avocado slices to offset the spiciness. I've never been able to replicate 100%) My steak comes from Costco, and it's in a bag, already cooked, ready to serve. Um, yeah, I know. But it was $12.99 for 2 lbs COOKED and caught me at a weak moment, ok? I had so many visions of what to do with it, and I still may try the others ... It says NO MSG. That's a good thing, ri

I had the Food Network channel on in the background Sunday while I was shredding cheese and carrots for a soup I'm making this week ... and the  Pioneer Woman  was on ... need I say much more? Side note: I prefer to read her blog instead of watching her. I don't know what it is but I wonder if I'm the only one? Just watching her takes away some of the mystic of living on the ranch with kids and cowboys, dogs, cows and horses ... but I'm glad she's on as I'd never have caught this recipe! I suppose I should take a new picture and make it pretty, huh? So really, it's easy. Stupid Easy! Heat 3 tbs olive oil and 3 tbs butter in a medium size skillet Once melted, swirl around to mix a little and dry off 4 thin sliced chicken breast. Salt and pepper both sides and put in pan. *I've done this with chicken tenders as well* Allow chicken to brown on first side and then flip over to cook other side. Because they are thin, they will cook fast. Onc

Happy First Day of Spring! Back in 2012 after my mom had passed and  I was clearing out the trailer for my dad, I came across so many gadgets. Ninja Blender. Magic Bullet. Some funky steamer thing. Hand mixers. Just a bunch of different things. I gave them ALL to Goodwill. No, I didn't want them ... they had not been taken care of and I do not think I would have wanted to spend the money to ship them to me back home. A VitaMix, well, maybe I would have splurged to ship THAT but alas, didn't find one of those. I did however, nab the Food Saver. I've been wanting one for a LONG time but just could NOT justify the cost of buying one. I cleaned it up and THEN found 3 food saver containers. But no hose. So I kept cleaning ... came across 3 boxes of the bags, one was a food saver brand the other 2 are different brands. AND finally, I found the directions ... and the hose! Sweet! Awhile ago, I saw this on  Pinterest  one day, how to  store salads  in your canning jars (whic

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! This is a repost from 2009 ... sometimes you have to look back on things and realize that for all the bad things that happen in life, good things will generally come of them!  This year marks 15 years   Hubby opted to take this ride in his Charger two years ago and told me about it later that day ... said it was still vivid ... I thank God each and every day for allowing him to be strong and live through this ...  Today is a big day in our home for a totally different reason. 7 years ago today, on a beautiful South Florida sunny Sunday, my life changed forever, as did my husband, my kids, my close friends, and our family. See, 7 years ago today, my husband and his best friend decided to take the Harleys for an afternoon cruise to Miami and back. No big deal, they’ve done it before, many times. After the ride, we were all going to have dinner at their house (my best friend is the wife). So we head over there around 10am. Of course, hubby wears lo

I love peppers ... red peppers especially ... what I hate though is the seeds and membranes and cleaning them up to eat :-) I wish you could just bite into them like an apple or something! So, when I came across this tip on Instagram a while ago, I was amazed at how much easier it is to do it this way and have been doing it like this every since! Let's Deconstruct a Pepper! 1. Wash pepper 2. Push in stem 3.  Pull stem out 4.  Tear pepper in half 5.  Trim side membrane off with a knife 6.  Trim off top and bottom 7.  Slice away Go ahead and give it a try! Looking forward to sharing with some of these   GREAT Parties   ... go check them out! *This post may contain affiliate links ...   click here to read my disclosure   :-)