Frugal In Florida

Uhm, HI! I've got a confession to make ... I've only been to Starbucks 2 times in my whole life. TWICE! Which kind of makes me a not so very good copycat recipe kind of girl with this here recipe ... BUT  I did test it out on some folks who have had it and they say it's spot on! Funny, first time at Starbucks was in downtown Chicago on a freakin, blustery, late November day ... Hubby wanted to duck in to this little place and I didn't know WHAT to order, it is a little overwhelming, that menu board! So I just ordered a mocha whatever, which come to find out, was a glorified hot chocolate. Perfect for that day! The next time was with my boss one morning, who happens to know about my anti Starbuck visits ... and I got a Vanilla Frappuccino. I had no idea it was basically a frozen desert type thing and was instantly sorry I ordered it as I knew that sugar crash was going to be ugly in the office ... live and learn! Yes, I took a picture and posted ...

Uhm, are you seeing a little bit of a trend around here lately? Paleo? Whole30? What the ??? Nah, it's not that I've converted Hubby, thereby making MY life any easier, trust me, it's not like THAT at all ... BUT I have convinced him that I really need to be more focused on what I eat and that if he participates, even just a bit, it's a lot easier for me to stay focused ... Yeah. It's kind of working ... until the weekend rolls around and then the beer tops pop, the tequila and wine flows like a river and all those other cheesy little cliches ... (the mountains are blue in this house, just for the record) ... but if I can stay focused Sunday Funday through Thursday then I'm about 75% there, right? It's work in progress, that's all I'm saying ... work in progress ... Right. And, that, my friends, is how we got this dish happening ... 2 pounds of chicken thighs, cut in to bite size pieces (ALDI) 1 large head of broccoli, cut...

It's been a LONG time since I've been inside an Olive Garden restaurant ... the unlimited salad and bread sticks used to always get me ... I am a sucker for warm, soft bread, you know? Oh, and I just love that salad too ... the dressing, luckily, is easy to replicate, as is the salad itself. The salad is simple: 1 head of iceberg lettuce, rinsed, dried and torn into bite size pieces half of a red onion, sliced thin and rings separated out 2 tomatoes, cut into wedges handful of sliced black olives handful of banana pepper rings (or pepperoncini) handful of shredded carrot Layer all in a large bowl, cover and refrigerate. The most important part of this salad is the dressing ... here's my ORIGINAL recipe , but I've since modified it as follows and personally, prefer THIS now! The main difference is NO corn syrup or garlic AND I used avocado oil instead of the previously called for vegetable oil! In large wide mouth jar, add the following ingredients...

*I plan to dip with my grain free biscuits in order to stay on track with my eating habits!) I try so very hard to stay away from grains and such, specifically, BREAD ... I love bread but it doesn't necessarily share the same affection for me ... But if I'm going to any Italian restaurant, you better believe I'm eating ALL the bread they bring to the table. Hubby knows that too ... so he grabs his single piece to set aside while I seriously stuff my face. How embarrassing it must be for my table mates ... Take me to Carrabbas and don't worry about feeding me anything BUT the bread and that dipping stuff ... OMG ... I've died and gone to heaven. I make a version of this for parties ... but it's not real heavy on stuff, just a lot of olive oil, a dash of red pepper flakes, a dash of garlic, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. If I'm up to it and have it, I will also add a small amount of shredded Parmesan cheese, but most of the time, not. All in...

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! 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 1/4 of a small red cabbage head, sliced thin 15 oz can of mandarin oranges, drained 4 green onions, sliced thin 1/4 cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted and the...

I finally  got one freezer inventoried and must say that I am a little surprised by what I found and more so, what I did NOT find ... ground beef or boneless chicken breast. Huh. I did find a 2 /14 lb beef chuck roast that is almost a year old ... so I tossed that in the shoebox (along with a package of bacon and a package of chicken breakfast sausage). I've been wanting to make a new recipe of Beef and Broccoli in the crock pot and this was P.E.R.F.E.C.T. for said project!  Wheee!!! The original recipe comes from Table for Two ... if you've not been there, you so need to go check it out ... that's where the Yum Yum Chicken Thighs come from too ... it's definitely a site worth visiting! So anyway. It's Sunday ... and generally, I let Hubby make the dinner choice, BUT I want this for "leftovers" during the week for dinner so I'm making it TODAY! I have everything on hand, thankfully, because I'm sort of thinking of doing a Pantry Cha...