Frugal In Florida

This year I won't be making the cinnamon rolls ... well, maybe I will, but at this very moment, I don't plan on it ... I should though because I need way better pictures! And my dad would LOVE them, as would the little pregnant girl. These are a huge hit for parties and get togethers. And they are rather festive for the holiday season which is why I'm sharing them again!  You need to make sure you make plenty ... I always use one of them 3 pound containers from Costco and we still run out ... so make sure your ready! Putting these on a toothpick and making them seriously bite size is so much better than the whole sliced tomato ... much easier to eat and way less messy! It's easy to do, and makes a pretty presentation on top of it! Gotta love that! Package of grape tomatoes, rinsed and patted dry mozzarella balls, cut in half (technically called Bocconcini or Ciliegine - Costco has the best prices on this! Just make sure it's pure mozzarella and not st...

I'm sure everyone has seen this recipe out there ... but when one of the attorney's gave me the recipe to try I decided to do it.  Because, hey, we had that boat parade party and I was trying to do it within the budget this year. So I made it with modifications. OF COURSE I had everything on hand EXCEPT the crackers. I mean, who has saltines readily available? Oh. Apparently a lot of people do. I didn't.  I planned to head over to Aldi to pick up a box for what I'm sure would only be around 79 cents or so. But that trip never happened, so instead, Publix it was.  This box cost me $2.09 if you can believe that. Whatever, I was on a mission here ... Let's get crackin, shall we?? 1 sleeve of saltine crackers which equals about 35 to 40 2 sticks of unsalted butter 1 cup brown sugar 1 bag of semi sweet chocolate chips sprinkles galore Crank up the oven to 350 degrees. Line your baking tray with some parchment paper and give it a good spray...

I'm a big fan of the warmed spinach and artichoke dip , but Hubby prefers the cold one and especially served in a bread bowl (!!) so of course, I do try and keep the man somewhat happy and occasionally cater to his wants ;-) Then I realized, that even though it's fairly common, some of you out there in blog land may not know about the simplicity OR at all! So, here you go ... THE ORIGINAL COLD SPINACH DIP and if you want updated pics, go check out this post instead   ... so easy to make! Because I only make this when we are entertaining and sometimes our parties are large, the last time I made this, I doubled the recipe and that's how it's shown: 2 boxes of frozen chopped spinach, thawed (Aldi - 99 cents this time around) 2 cans of water chestnuts, drained and chopped (I can never find the chopped ones in store) 2 cups of mayo (I do NOT use my  homemade stuff  here, Hellmans is the choice...at least it's gluten free?)    2 containers (16 ou...

The recipe originally comes from  The Pioneer Woman  ... and I've been making them every year for the past 5 years ... of course, I had to count on my fingers and remember key events to get to that number of years ... really, FOUR YEARS?? They aren't hard to make either ... I mean heck, if the Pioneer Woman is making them ... you know that they are GOOD and EASIER than most recipes ... gotta love that about anything! I started making these on Christmas Eve one year, and it just became something that everyone expected ... and since I love that people LOVE when I make something for them, I'm always happy to bring out the flour and hop to the baking ... I still have a HECK of a time getting rolled tight, but probably because I really really load them up with the filling. Which is what makes them so good, I think. I also use brown sugar instead of white ... so there's my one noticeable difference in the recipe...give your self 2 days to make these as you can tos...

It's Friday. I got to work a half day (yippee!) and spent the next 2 hours at the cooking school getting a gift for Hubby and then another hour at Target and the mall. Sent Sonny Boy to the other end of mall on a mission while I finished up my shopping. I'm D. O. N. E. And I am perfectly comfortable with the amount of money I spent. And the gifts I bought. Nothing elaborate but nothing too garbage-y either. Sorry kids, but you did NOT get the new Bass or the new MacBook. Just not in the budget this year. But they will understand. I had Sonny Boy wrap up Princess's gifts and she will wrap up his when she gets home from work. I need elves this year. Not to mention, its good for them to do these types of things. No, really, I'm not making excuses. It's not considered child labor when they are 19 and 21! Hubby got a few higher end items that he wanted. I'm hoping he's pleased with the selection. I'm sure he will be ... but the one thing for t...

Also known as Mexican wedding cakes, Mexican wedding cookies, etc. We call them Snowballs because, well, we DON'T get snow down here and when the kids were little, they thought it was cool ... not to mention, they do sort of resemble a snowball ... don't they? I love these things. Perfect to just pop in your mouth (any other way makes a mess) and they are just yummy ... butter and powdered sugar can't go too wrong! I use chocolate chips instead of the usual nuts because for awhile there, we thought Sonny Boy might have a nut allergy. Turns out we were wrong, but I still make these without nuts. 2 sticks soft butter (ummm, don't MELT it) 1 cup powdered sugar 1 tsp vanilla 2 cups flour 1 cup chocolate chips (mini are perfect, but regular are fine if that's what you have) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat the butter, 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tsp vanilla in your mixer (or use a hand beater) until all fluffy and pretty. Resist the urge to eat a spoonful ... Ad...

I'd like to make this a no grocery shopping week ... but don't know if I can. How about if I give myself $20 only? That's more doable. I need: bread (Sonny Boy is home) milk hash browns (still on sale, can get 2 large bags for about $1.50 ... need for soup and Hubby cooked up 2 over the weekend) salad stuff cat food/litter while on sale. Seriously, I don't need to buy anything but the first 2 items, and even that can wait. The rest of the stuff, well, hash browns are a 'stock up price' and the cat food is free when you buy the cat litter. I do need to get the Christmas shopping out of the way. As I'm not all that festive, and pretty much financially tapped out at the moment, things will be simple, gift cards, lottery tickets, sparkling juice (yes, my kids are getting a bottle bag this year!), ear buds, candy, led flashlights, and if I can find them cheap enough, all in one tool set. I've got a pretty specific list of things to get and jus...

Ended up running to the grocery store when I went to bank during my lunch hour. Aeromexico finally sent me a check for $500 to cover the lost luggage. Doesn’t exactly cover the cost of everything, but at least it’s a start. Publix has a coupon good through 1/11/8 for free grape tomatoe clamshell when you buy 2 dole salad bags. The dole bags were on sale this week 2 for $4. The tomatoes are $3.29 at my store. So even though I don’t buy the bags of salad often, I did this week, 2 times J The tomatoes really are yummy and heck, since a head of lettuce cost me $1.69 now, might as well buy a bag for a few cents more AND get the free tomatoes. The sale ends tonight though, but at least I got to utilize it a bit. Had to also pick up more milk. A gallon of 2% is $4.29. Geesh. I had picked up some last Friday at BJ’s for $3.79 I think it was. Remember standing there and just could NOT believe that was a good deal, but it was! L

I've started to pick up a few things here & there and making a list. Does it sound like maybe I procrastinated a little bit?? Only 6 days left, and 5 of them are real bonafide shopping days! :( Had gone to Target on Sunday with dd after dropping off ds at band practice. Had a $10 off coupon when you spend $100. Figured heck, we can do that! Actually, had looked at the sales paper and saw they had the undercounter stereo/cd I wanted on sale for $29 and a hand mixer by Oster for $17 ... stereo is for Christmas, hand mixer for instant gratification (mine broke when I dropped it a few weeks ago). Also picked up new boxers for ds as most of his were in his missing suitcase. Dh got a new wallet. Dd got leggings (need to take back as they have feet & that's not what she wanted!), and a Cranium game for the kids. The game was $26 and then a $5 instant gift card. However, looking at the receipt is confusing as heck. I don't know if the game was on sale for $21 and the ...

We always do a big party for the Winterfest Boat Parade, but because of all the traveling back & forth to Louisville and the surgery, we had decided not to do it this year. Well, 2 days before the day, looks like we will have about 20 people over. I've made it quite clear to everyone that this is not a 'party party' per se, like we always do ... more of a casual gathering. In other words, no the big food spread, alchol and such. Plus, hubby has said he'd like to make it a early night. I agree. Here are the food things I'm looking at ... trying to keep it from pantry & freezer to keep cost down: spinach dip - have all ingredients already smoked fish dip - dh makes this using canned tuna, have in pantry snausages - smoked sausage in bbq sauce spicy meatballs - have all, except may need to buy another can of rotel stuffed shells - freezer (from the cooking span before we went to surgery) summer sausage & cheese platter - picked up summer sausa...