Frugal In Florida

All three times I've tried to do the Whole30 (and have NEVER EVER EVER made it past Day 14!), I always come across some really great and tasty recipes that are definitely keepers!  This would be one of them! These are perfect since you don't use regular bread, but instead, yummy butter lettuce or baby romaine lettuce leaves come into play here ... This recipe was made for ONE (ME!) but could easily be doubled, tripled, quadrupled and so on if you wanted to serve these as an appetizer for a party or a dinner (or lunch, breakfast, etc.!) Let's get cooking, shall we? 4 lettuce leaves ... I used butter lettuce as that was what I had on hand that needed to be used up 3 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled *look for low sodium/sugar free* 6 grape tomatoes, sliced in half and then cut in half again 1/2 avocado, diced (I need to perfect my dicing and separating skills) 1 stalk of green onion dab of  mayo  (isn't it time you learned how easy it is to make?) dash of ...

It's March! The 3rd month of the new year. Seems like time is flying by and before we know it, summertime will be here! Time to dig out some salads and get some good body vibes going! This is a super yummy salad that is Whole30 Compliant, Paleo, Grain Free, Dairy Free, Gluten Free and all that other stuff BUT so stinkin' good! I promise, you will be so very glad you gave it a try! It's easy, and really, REALLY tasty! *I mean, come on, BACON?* Chances are, you have everything on hand except, maybe, the basil ...  1/4 cup olive oil 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 1 tsp Dijon mustard 2 tbs (give or take) fresh basil chopped Boneless, skinless chicken breast (I used almost 2 lbs, 4 fat pieces) Additional basil for topping salad Mix together everything and let the chicken mix and mingle for a bit in the fridge. AND if you remember, set aside 2 tbs of marinade and set aside for later ... I forgot. I had to make a small batch after the fact. Grab some lettuc...

It's been a LONG time since I've made this but with the Whole30 failure over, I'm ready to dive in to some long time favorites again! So, let's get something out of the way, shall we? I'm not a fan of the so-called "low carb" plan but do realize that most people mistake the general Paleo way of eating to be low carb. It's not. And THIS dish? It's not Paleo but it IS low carb, I suppose ...  I do consider this to be a frugal meal as I almost always have bacon and chicken on hand ... throw in some pantry staples of canned shrooms and whatever cheese you have on hand and YES, it's frugal if it kept you cooking in your own kitchen!  This is seriously something that you would order in a restaurant and I bet, $16 and up is the going price! The recipe is pretty simple:

All three times I've tried to do the Whole30 in the past (and have NEVER EVER EVER made it past Day 14!), I always come across some really great and tasty recipes that are definitely keepers!  This would be one of them! #JanuaryWhole30 These are perfect since you don't use regular bread, but instead, yummy butter lettuce or baby romaine lettuce leaves come in to play here ... This recipe was made for ONE (ME!) but could easily be doubled, tripled, quadrupled and so on if you wanted to serve these as an appetizer for a party or a dinner (or lunch, breakfast, etc.!) Lets get cooking, shall we? 4 lettuce leaves ... I used butter lettuce as that was what I had on hand that needed to be used up 3 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled (look for reduced sodium and check to see if there is any sugar) 6 grape tomatoes, sliced in half and then cut in half again 1/2 avocado, diced (I need to perfect my dicing and separating skills) 1 stalk of green onion dab of  mayo  ...

It's that time of year where we open our doors to friends and family and celebrate the holidays! How exciting! BUT ... you have to be able to feed these people when they show up at your door. This is a pretty simple appetizer to make and it's a crowd pleaser so go ahead, make it for your next gathering! *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 of  parchment paper  over it. Turn oven on to 375 degrees. I think I may have fallen over that Amazon sells Kirkland's parchment paper (Costco)??!! Drain the water chestnuts and dump them out on the cutting board (or plate, whatever).  Open your bacon and cut it in half. Wrap each ...

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...

All three times I've tried to do the Whole30 (and have NEVER EVER EVER made it past Day 14!), I always come across some really great and tasty recipes that are definitely keepers!  This would be one of them! These are perfect since you don't use regular bread, but instead, yummy butter lettuce or baby romaine lettuce leaves come in to play here ... This recipe was made for ONE (ME!) but could easily be doubled, tripled, quadrupled and so on if you wanted to serve these as an appetizer for a party or a dinner (or lunch, breakfast, etc.!) Lets get cooking, shall we? 4 lettuce leaves ... I used butter lettuce as that was what I had on hand that needed to be used up 3 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled 6 grape tomatoes, sliced in half and then cut in half again 1/2 avocado, diced (I need to perfect my dicing and separating skills) 1 stalk of green onion dab of  mayo  (isn't it time you learned how easy it is to make?) dash of olive oil dash of dried italian se...

So this Whole30 thing hasn't been too horribly bad ... I think the first "failed week" was due to my total lack of preparation. This last REAL week hasn't been too hard at all ... the food prep on Sunday has paid off and I'm glad I had that food on standby for those few nights I got in later than anticipated ... even with the stressful issue with Princess being admitted to the hospital on Thursday, I've held strong ... thankfully ;-) So ... the BLT Lettuce Cups were on my Whole30 Board, because I knew I had everything on hand. Sadly, it wasn't until SATURDAY that I got around to making them and then I was like, geesh, I should have made these sooner ;-) This was MY lunch on Day 6 ... and if you follow me on Instagram, you can see what I've been eating for about 75% of the meals ... I just can't be bothered remember to snap a photo each time I -eat! Lets make these little food bombs, shall we? *This was for ME and me only, otherwise I...

It's been a while since I made this and since it's on the menu this week ... I thought I would renew the post ... always good to bring them up to the top again!   I do consider this to be a frugal meal as I almost always have bacon and chicken on hand ... throw in some pantry staples of canned shrooms and whatever cheese you have on hand and YES, it's frugal if it kept you cooking in your own kitchen!  This is seriously something that you would order in a restaurant and I bet, $14 and up is the going price! The recipe is pretty simple:   Boneless skinless chicken breast, cut them in half (butterfly) so that you have two thinner pieces (I almost always use 3 pieces of chicken to create 6 total) Bacon ... about 2 to 3 pieces for each piece of thin chicken (in my case, 12 slices) Cheddar cheese, either shredded or slice, whichever you have Provolone cheese, shredded or sliced. You really can use any kind of cheese you want! Mushrooms (optional, I us...