Frugal In Florida

Hey hey, let's keep the Sunday Soup tradition going, shall we??  I've said it time and time again, I'm sort of on the fence when it comes to soup ... not that I don't like it, but it's not my all time favorite thing to eat ... unless I'm under the weather with sinus issues ... then I crave it ... other times, though, well, I could take it or leave it. I do recognize, however, that incorporating a soup for dinner night is a great way to use up leftovers and a makes for a pretty frugal meal ... so I try to do a soup night every couple of weeks ... AND this fits in with my pantry/freezer/no spend challenge! This particular soup is one that I really like ... it's broth-y and has a little variety of veggies ... and you can take or leave the noodles if you prefer to keep it grain free ...  The original recipe comes from one of the Everyday Food issues by Martha Stewart ... I used to love that little magazine! I had originally posted this recipe a ...

*Repost Alert! It seems like I've been doing a LOT of reposting lately but that's because the recipes are so dang good I feel the need to share when I make them again! This is on the menu to feed my father in law when we head to Indiana in a few weeks! Whee! I hope you try this and enjoy as much as we do!* I have no idea how I came across this recipe on  Pinterest , but it's been hanging around for a while and with our Pantry Challenge underway, it was PERFECT that I had everything on hand to make it one night this week! Now, granted, Kalyn does call it a " Low Carb Pizza Chicken Bake " but I just can't call it low carb ... although, it does NOT have a crusty base like you'd expect ... and I will say, it was really tasty ... I'll be making this again real soon! The beauty of this is that it can be a very inexpensive, a/k/a FRUGAL, quick meal if you shop right! All this can be bought at Aldi's this week for a little less than $5 right now if ...

I know, for someone who is "on the fence" when it comes to soup, I certainly have a few recipes to share, don't I? This is an excellent soup to make when I'm on a Pantry/Freezer Challenge, except the last time, I was surprised when I went to make this and could NOT find a single can of black beans? What the heck?? Ahem. It would seem that Sonny Boy had been doing his own meal prepping and was putting together the fixings for knock off Chipolte Burritos using brown rice (pantry) corn (pantry) and ... you guessed it, black beans (pantry). I couldn't be mad at the kid, you know? ;-) So there was an Aldis trip bright and early that morning ... and, of course, I spent more than I planned (but only because I got sucked in to the cheeses, the zucchini, veggies, and so much more!) This time around, I checked to make SURE I have a few cans of black beans in the pantry, and yes, there are 8 cans. Oh. That would be because of the recent Hurricane Matthew scare we had...

I still had those 3 NY Strip steaks I picked up at Walmart a few months ago in the freezer. Not the BEST deal but better than the usual, full price And well, because I was/am sort of on a Freezer/Pantry/No Spend Challenge this month, I figured now is the time to make them! I had everything on hand, believe it or not! Here's how we did it! 1 onion, thinly sliced - I had half a red and half a sweet so I used those two! 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced - I used a bag of mini peppers. The whole bag 1 clove of garlic, chopped fine 1 oz pkg ranch dry dressing mix generous shake of cayenne pepper (depending on taste, not TOO generous!) 1/3 cup oil (I opted to use Avocado oil cuz I have that on hand but original calls for canola oil!) 1/3 cup sun dry julienne cut sun dried tomatoes (pantry stock up from a great deal for $1 each per bag forever and a day ago!) large ziploc bag - or a shoebox! 1 1/2 lb steak (we've done ribeyes, t-bones and now, NY Strips...

It's time for the big start to summer for many this weekend and well, we are like, O M G it's summertime now AND Hurricane Season ! Eek! So, what do we do? We start evaluating the pantry and freezers to see what we have in there that might need to be moved in a hurry and used up in the event of a pending storm coming at us ...  And then, we see that can of water chestnuts sitting in the pantry and think "uhm, bacon wrapped water chestnuts sound really good right about now" ... and then you just pull the can off the shelf, grab some bacon out of the fridge and go to it ... it's that easy! *And if you are doing Whole30, use a sugar free bacon (normally MOST low sodium bacon IS sugar free, but read your labels!) and you've got yourself a pretty nifty little appetizer to share ... Here you go: 2 cans of WHOLE water chestnuts (not the sliced ones!)  1 pkg of bacon - slices cut in two toothpicks Grab a large baking sheet and lay out a large piece o...

Hey hey ... it's that time of the week again! Time to Menu Plan and Meal Prep! Hup Hup ... let's get moving! Actually ... I've got a 3 day weekend thanks to President's Day so I've got time to do a little extra de-cluttering, packing, snapping pics and meal prep ... which makes me very very happy! Of course, I "could" go in to the office and do a little work but I've got more pressing matters here at home to take care of! The Pantry / Freezer Challenge is still going fairly strong ... Hubby has been doing an awesome job of clearing things out in anticipation of the upcoming move. There were 3 stops this past week: Aldi ($35 worth of veggies), Trader Joe's ($25 coffee and riced cauliflower) and Winn Dixie ($30 steaks, cat food and bread). We celebrated Valentine's Day on Saturday night with another couple, grilled up some ribeyes that we picked up for $9 a pound, sauteed mushrooms and green beans and Hubby made a really yummy ciabata bread...

Hubby is doing an excellent job of clearing out the pantry and freezers ... I mean, geesh, look at the garage freezer!  I can actually see what we have in here! *the 2 red bags are gone now too!* The main kitchen and guest kitchen freezers are showing some improvement as well, but not as much as the garage! So ... in sticking with the Pantry / Freezer Challenge (due to our recent decrease in income and hopeful potential upcoming move!) we decided to make the two smaller london broils that were in the freezer ... Now, keep in mind, Hubby does NOT like rare, medium rare, or even medium cooked beef. He likes his stuff WELL DONE and no pink inside. Obviously, these hunks of beef had to be cooked low and slow then as they would be tough as hell if we were to cook them on the grill to his liking.  Oh, and not to mention, while a lot of you have ice and blizzard like conditions, we have a simple wind advisory with current gust hitting 31 to 34 fairly consistently, so no gri...

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...

*This is an all time favorite of our household ... and even better is that it's Pantry / Freezer Challenge friendly! Score!  AND since we are having our official COLDEST TEMPERATURES IN A YEAR (low of 44 predicted for those out west!) and a lot of you are dealing with ice and blizzard like conditions, I figured now is a good time to share this again! Gosh ... I look at the bottom of the recipe printout and see that I've had this since late 1998 .... wow! I've made this specific recipe a few times, but then I get distracted with a newer recipe and try that ... and ALWAYS have to listen to Hubby ask why I don't just stick with the first one I have... he's right. So, Saturday, it was a nice, sunny, BEAUTIFUL day, high of around 86. But the nights are getting a little cooler, and this morning it was 72 when I went outside at 8am ... hence, it's FALL TIME in Paradise, time to make soups! The sprinkler dudes were here making repairs, and since they were ...

*This is a repost from January 2013 (!) and Hubby was wanting to make it as he's sick now and we've discovered that coconut water helps with dehydration and leg cramps (surprise!) so I figured why not share it again! Plus it's Pantry Challenge friendly in that we have both items on hand! Berry Berry Easy to make ...  Very Berry Smoothie ...  Easy Berry Smoothie ...  Berry Easy Smoothie ...  You got the point? ITS EASY TO MAKE A HEALTHY BERRY SMOOTHIE ...  Yup. That was shouting! Sorry, but I'm so happy about this ...  See, I stopped doing yogurt and dairy products, for the most part. Imagine that, ME, the huge cheese freak, has given up CHEESE for the most part ... after I took out the nachos and pizzas, cheese just doesn't play a big role in my life anymore ...  And most smoothie recipes have yogurt or milk. Sure, I could make my own almond milk if I really wanted to but I've not gone there ... so I still wanted something simple ... ...

I have no idea how I came across this recipe on Pinterest , but it's been hanging around for a while and with our Pantry Challenge underway, it was PERFECT that I had everything on hand to make it one night this week! Now, granted, Kalyn does call it a " Low Carb Pizza Chicken Bake " but I just can't do call it low carb ... although, it does NOT have a crusty base like you'd expect ... and I will say, it was really tasty ... I'll be making this again real soon! The beauty of this is that it can be a very inexpensive, a/k/a FRUGAL, quick meal if you shop right! All this can be bought at Aldi's this week for a little less than $5 right now if you don't have ANY of the ingredients...I had everything on hand, thankfully, but it's nice to know that a quick run will get me what I need without spending a whole lot ... of course, I must keep my blinders on and not look to either side as I zero in on the ingredients needed ;-) I'm still just am...