Frugal In Florida

Ha ... I didn't step foot in a grocery store ONCE this week! Score for me!  Hubby and the Boy did, however, but spent way less than $20 ... they got milk, bagels, ricotta cheese and a few other things ... otherwise, that was IT! *I did hit up Walmart Neighborhood Market this morning, but that goes on for next week* It's the last day for the Pantry / Freezer Challenge but I think we will still continue onward ... it's been kind to our checking account and wallets and we are starting to make room in the freezers and pantry.  As we are now ready to list the house (starting out with For Sale By Owner) in the next week or so, we need to stay focused on eating down what we have which apparently is still quite a bit! ;-) I will admit, we don't have any ground beef left (that I can find in the freezer) so I have been buying that whenever I step in a store ... Taco Tuesday would be rough ... although, I do have ground chicken and ground turkey to use still ...  So, sinc...

Jessica over at Good Cheap Eats is always an inspiration for this little experiment ... and honestly, I'm always amazed at just what we have on hand to eat ... hence, the title of my weekly Menu Plan post of Using What We Have ... Thankfully, I just opened up a new box of coffee! BUT ... with the Pantry (Freezer) Challenge, it's a little more restrictive ... at least, it should be ... and there is more intentional cooking going on when on the Challenge ... after all, the purpose is to CLEAN OUT THE PANTRY (and FREEZERS in my case) ... so, what the heck ... let's give it another shot, shall we?? Rules (for ME) ... 1.  If it doesn't go in the fridge, it's not being bought. This will save my butt when it comes to milk (for the milk-hogs in the house), eggs (ME!) and cheese ... and a few other things, such as salad fixings and so on ... 2.  If it's canned or requires a freezer, it's out for the next two weeks, or more ... see that picture? That...

I have something like 10 to 15 bags of chocolate chips in the pantry (at least the last time I checked) ... and I can't remember the last time I made chocolate chip cookies ... I have milk chocolate, regular chocolate, mini chips, andes mint chocolate chips and a few other oddballs ... and of course, they always get in the way when I grab the tub of flour or the bag of brown sugar. So I've made an important life changing decision this evening. And it's all because of Sonny Boy, his friends, Pops Corn AND Moms Frugal. Chocolate covered popcorn. Sonny Boy paid *gasp* $7 for a bag of chocolate covered popcorn (milk chocolate) ... yes, it was carmel corn I believe and then covered with melted milk chocolate. I CAN DO THAT! Then Moms Frugal has this EASY PEASY recipe called Almond Chocolate Chunks .  Dare I list the ingredients? 2 bags of chocolate chips and 1 cup of almonds. Ummm, I have lots of almonds as no one eats the bags (they inhale the peanuts and cashews but s...

to stick with it at least to the end of the MONTH! Stopped by Publix this morning down the street from work. 1. Looking for a coupon book 2. Looking for more wine tag coupons ($1 off salad) 3. Wanted a banana (or 2) for the office Didn't find the coupon book ... Got me some more wine tags for $1 off bags of salad AND $1 off one avocado (!!!!) Got me some coupons for $1 off pack of EXTRA gum and any cola (thinking dasani water bottles) ... AND picked up: bag of coleslaw $1.49 one lonely Hess Avocado $1.49 2 bananas. After my $2 off coupons, paid $1.41. Darn bananas cost almost as much as the coleslaw and avocado. Geesh, 69 cents per lb. So ... I'm good to go. I want to make turkey, avocado, spinach paninis Teriyaki Chicken Thighs and Sesame noodles , Chicken Cesar Salad, BBQ pork and coleslaw ... but now thinking more like smoked beef and coleslaw, baked taters and broccoli and cheese soup. And ... the rest of the pasta . No particular order or day. Just...

Continues ... for the next week. Sunday would officially be the end but I really think I need to continue on into February. $30 a week sound reasonable? That's $10 per person (cat not included, but he's got caught up in the stockpiling frenzy too) ... I have done HORRIBLE. Ok. Not 'that' bad, but bad enough where I feel it was a failure. Ok. Maybe that's a little dramatic (who, ME?) We have emptied out some of the older stuff. Donated some stuff. THREW AWAY some stuff. But I've also bought stuff. The first 10 days started out pretty well. Stayed away from the stores. But then something happened. Oh. Yeah. I had friends coming over. Hubby decided he didn't want to pat out the hamburger so I had to go back to the meat section and buy patties in ADDITION to the ground beef. Oh, yeah. Then I needed chips. And instead of buying beer, I decided I would drink wine. Oh. No. You better get some beer, just in case (mind you, I had not had a beer since before ...

Well, sort of. As you read, I fell off the wagon, or rather, succumbed to pressure ... or ... lack of enthusiasm? There are so many ways to say it: I am having a very difficult time!!! Oh, I know. I'm not the only one. And it really does take a lot of will power AND support of other family members!! Princess was coming over on Tuesday evening to visit (this, in itself, is just a whole 'nother story which this is not the time NOR the place) and I wasn't sure if she was staying for dinner. I wanted to be prepared. And perhaps make her all time favorite, chicken picatta. Of course, had I known this BEFORE I left the house Tuesday morning, I could have taken the chicken and sauteed shrooms out of the freezer, but you know, real life kicked in yet again :) So with GOOD INTENTIONS, I stopped at Winn Dixie (less likely to get sucked in as I HATE shopping these stores) ... have my 2 $1 off coffee coupons for the current b1g1f sale ... and head in. Walk out spending $34. With 5 ...

We always start out with good intentions, right? :) Hubby seems to be in the mood to eat out lately. Not your typical run of the mill fast food places though, japanese takeout, sweet tomatoes, italian joint (non pizza, strictly go there for the garlic rolls) and a little place called Ernies. Most of the places are running under $30 for the 3 of us with coupons. I've done very well on the shopping front though! I didn't step foot in a store for 10 days! 10 days folks!! I mean, heck, I got the milk from Walgreens for 50 cents less than the store ... hubby swears it doesn't taste as good, but him and Sonny Boy drank it all. But then yesterday came. The end (at last!) to our brutal cold snap we had. Finally, people want to hang outside, eat, drink and be merry! Woohoo ... I know what the term cabin fever means now so I'm all in! Of course, I'm NOT prepared to entertain, meaning nothing defrosted, but that's ok, I was thinking along the lines of burgers and dogs...

Day 5. How many more days are there in this month?? It's 39 degrees this morning, the start of day 6. I could eat soup every stinkin day at this rate ... uggg. Brrrr Ok,focus, focus, focus. Day 5. Tuesday. Only Tuesday? Breakfast, cereal, egg & bacon on bagel. Oranges Lunch, salad, soup, rest of ham for sandwich for hubby Dinner, scounge for something on your own guys. I'm tired. Sonny Boy found a pizza (where did THAT come from??), hubby had mac & cheese with turkey (??) The pizza? Ummm. Well. Hmmm. Winn Dixie had a sale going on. Not a GREAT sale, but with my coupons, made it much better. 2 pizzas, 1 bryers ice cream, 1 box mozz sticks, 1 box garlic breadsticks, 1 2 ltr bottle of coke, $11.47. And I had $1 off 4 of those items, so the price was $7.47. Of course, bought a few other things, such as coffee creamer, but not milk or eggs. Duh.

Day 4. Only 4 days into it??? Stopped at the store on way home from work. Needed: eggs, cat food, lettuce, sandwich bread. For $12 (all on a Publix gift card), bought sandwich bread, iceburg lettuce, 4 value size boxes of nature granola bars (yogurt ones are highly recommended & yummy, $3 for all 4 boxes), 4 100 calorie nabisco snack cakes (ok, these are a RIP OFF as there are 5 sleeves in each box, with 3 cookie/cakes. That's only 15 for $3??? Thankfully they were b1g1f with my $1 off on top). 2 6pks bottle water for Sonny Boy for school (99 each after coupon). Bypassed the eggs. Think I can get the big crate cheaper at GFS. Bypassed the cat food. Think (and that would be a big BOLD think) that Target has a giftcard offer going on right now for the cat food that I buy. Breakfast, cereal, leftover cinnamon rolls and egg/bacon on bagel. Lunch, pb & jelly for Sonny Boy (his request), salad, soup for me & hubby (hubby also had a ham sandwich on sandwich thin bread I ...

Day 3. Isn't it sort of wrong to start something like this when you are home for 3 to 4 days straight? I mean, I get a little stir crazy ... Actually, it wasn't all that bad. BUT I did need to run to the pet store for chewey scratchy flea medicine (the not so thrifty part of having a pet) and had a small list for store: eggs, bread, pizza rolls, cat food, tomatoe soup and spaghetti-os . Yeah, I got everything EXCEPT eggs, cat food, and sandwich bread. Uh huh. $12 later and what do you know?? At least Sonny Boy will have food to make a quick meal with when he gets home from school. Let me explain before you all say WHAT?? He eats breakfast at 6am. Gets to school at 6:50am. Eats lunch at 10:50. Gets home at 3:40. Now, can someone please explain to me who planned THAT lunch hour??? Yeah, he's ravished by the time he gets home. At least I get a little time when I get home from work for the "Whats for Dinner" question, which BTW, will be tacos tonight. Anyways, b...

Day 2 ... a little more difficult than Day 1, not sure why. Oddly enough, we have "nothing" to eat. He. How many of you out there here that, or even say that?? Dinner ended up being macaroni & cheese with leftover ham and green salad. For some reason, it didn't give me the usual warm and fuzzy feelings. I made bacon with bagels for breakfast. Lunch was munch all you want on leftovers (still). Been making a month long menu plan based on what I see in the freezers and pantry. Will post shortly.

And .... wholewheat pizza crust organic hd buns (don't use for buns) dinner roll (brown & serve 1/2 pk slider rolls flatout bread cheddar jack cheese parm/romano cheese swiss (shredded) parm cheese cheddar cheese mozz cheese Provolone slices fake crabmeat shrimp raw grouper large shrimp raw tilipia coconut shrimp bananas strawberries blueberries strawberries smoothies grape juice apple juice limeade chix breast perfect portion pork tenderloin chicken italian sausage chicken apple sausage sweet pork tenderloin sweet pork tenderloin turkey bacon cheddar brats ham steak hamburger ground turkey Roll sausage hot dogs boca crumbles pepperoni (box) beer bratwurst sausage links (breakfast) chicken stirfry breaded chix tenders sausage patty (cooked) ham hock turkey breast cooked chix breast poached chix italian sausage roast beef (10 oz pkg) crab cakes (reg) sausage roll chix breast chix thighs (bone in) ground sausage steak meatballs small 1/4 ham kiabalis smoked sausage crab cakes min...

Day one was not so bad. We had leftovers all morning and day from New Years Eve (honeybaked turkey breast, ham slices, variety of cheeses, wings, etc.) and then for dinner, Hubby asked if I found any red sauce in the two freezers that I inventoried (still need to do the main kitchen one) and YES, matter of fact, I did find some! So dinner was garlic rolls and pasta with my red sauce and green salad. Sonny Boy had a friend over...they snuck in very very quietly while I was doing the Wii Yoga. Ummm, that Palm Tree stuff? Not so much a good thing for me. Wii says that I need to work on balancing my right side ... huh.