Frugal In Florida

Repost from SEVERAL years ago but I think I'm putting this on the menu real soon ...  The Boy and his girlfriend love Chipotle ... to the point where they had to take a break as the employees knew exactly what they were going to order since they were going so often ;-) Of course, I'm like, good grief kids, that gets expensive after a while and we can get a pretty close replica of that at home! Which reminds me, I need to be making Steak Bites again pretty soon ... So when I came across  this recipe , I knew I had to give it a try as it totally FITS the Pantry/Freezer Challenge ... I've got everything on hand, with the exception of the cilantro ... which in MY house, has to be added to each individual plate since me and the girlfriend are the only one's who like it ... I even had the beer, and no, it wasn't Dos Equis, it was Corona ... thankful that I discovered this recipe at this particular time, had a cooler full of beer from the 4th of July festivities and ...

Ok, ok, let's face it ... Eating a lettuce wrapped ANYTHING is not a pleasurable experience. There. I said it. Out loud.  For all the blogworld / internet to see. Come on, you are in agreement. I see you over there nodding your head. And YOU, I saw that tilt of the head. Don't be ashamed, it's the truth! So, I'm here to show YOU how I do it ... This all came from one of my meal prep posts and someone sent me an email inquiring just how I was going to eat that at the office. At my desk. In front of others. In my work clothes. Good question(s). So here you go: Wash that lettuce up and dry it out well. Layer it like so: Just lay it side by side and overlap the edges a bit. I was using the mini romaine lettuce leaves that are just little mini things and fairly firm. Set a few leaves off to the side ... you'll need these later. Place your burger in the upper portion of the lettuce "nest" Just like so ... and yes, that burg...

For years, and I   do  mean YEARS, I would turn my nose up at egg rolls ... I mean, seriously, it was a fried, greasy 'thing' filled with icky cabbage, carrots and protein. Oh, wait, are there eggs in there? I honestly don't know because I can count on one hand the number of egg rolls I have consciously consumed in my lifetime. Just NOT A FAN of them ... I supposed because I've always had an overly fried, borderline cold egg roll that I've just not been drawn to them. #WHOLE30 #PALEO However, THIS recipe appeals to me in so many ways: 1. It's loaded with veggies which is always a good thing 2. It's grain and dairy free 3. It's a knock off, make it yourself Chinese food 4. It's frugal to make 5. It's damn tasty 6. It's fast and easy AND 7. It fits in with MY Whole30 plan (when I'm on!) Yup. Scored on 7 of 7 points ... I'm in! Here's what you need: 1 bag of tri-color coleslaw (cabbage, ...

*It's summertime and well, shoes are starting to smell a tad funky so it's time to repost this and redo ... it really does work! Honestly, we have real good hygiene habits in my house, I can assure you of that! But, lets face it, living in paradise with 125% humidity can be a little trying sometimes ... my running shoes (which have NOT seen much running action for quite a while) get a little ripe smelling ... and oh man, you should smell the shoes that Hubby wears outside in the yard, patio, garage and boat that constantly get wet ... enough to suck the oxygen right out of your body ... whew! Then you have the Boy ... who works out pretty darn hard and doesn't always wear socks ... I mean, seriously, I've had to throw shoes away because you could smell them just sitting there. No one wants to be the person that people are wrinkling their nose at when they are walking by you! So when I saw the featured post for the Smelly Shoe Solution (and dang, I'm still ...

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 ...

This stuff kicks butt for removing ALL KINDS OF STAINS!   And being that I'm a Dawn dish soap kind of girl, it's perfect! I hate buying stain remover ... that little bottle of Shout that you could never get the last bit out of (the little straw thing was about 1/4 inch too short in the bottle costs me around $3 to $4 back in the day. I just hated using that stuff, not to mention, honestly, I don't think that stuff worked all that well if you didn't spot it immediately ... So today's little tip will make you very excited if you think like me ... If you have white t-shirts or them damn dress shirts that hubby used to wear to work every day that are starting to get that dingy armpit ring (and collars too!) go grab them R I G H T now!!! I promise you, it works and I am amazed every time I use it!  Original idea came from  One Good Thing By Jillee  (gosh I HOPE you've visited her site before, she's a wealth of information!) Here's how I did it: ...

Happy First Day of Spring! Back in 2012 after my mom had passed and  I was clearing out the trailer for my dad, I came across so many gadgets. Ninja Blender. Magic Bullet. Some funky steamer thing. Hand mixers. Just a bunch of different things. I gave them ALL to Goodwill. No, I didn't want them ... they had not been taken care of and I do not think I would have wanted to spend the money to ship them to me back home. A VitaMix, well, maybe I would have splurged to ship THAT but alas, didn't find one of those. I did however, nab the Food Saver. I've been wanting one for a LONG time but just could NOT justify the cost of buying one. I cleaned it up and THEN found 3 food saver containers. But no hose. So I kept cleaning ... came across 3 boxes of the bags, one was a food saver brand the other 2 are different brands. AND finally, I found the directions ... and the hose! Sweet! Awhile ago, I saw this on  Pinterest  one day, how to  store salads  in your c...

Somedays, all I want to do is head out to  Sweet Tomatoes  and have an all you can eat salad buffet with unlimited soups and a few other starchy things on the side. I never opt for dessert because I'm usually a stuffed pig by the time everyone is ready to hit the yogurt bar.  No thank you. They do NOT serve Cobb Salads there but whenever I get around to making this, I'm always like, YUMMMM, we should do this more often! So again, after making this for dinner the other night, only because I didn't have anything thawed, AND Hubby had made 6 hard boiled eggs, I got to chopping. Took me a whole 15, maybe 20 minutes top ... even to make it pretty like so! It's really easy to make and I figure it's a bonus that I generally have everything on hand for the most part since I  try  to keep a healthy fridge! I even had a little bit of blue cheese crumbles left to put on Hubby's since that's what HE looks forward to when he orders it! Me? I just stuck ...

We love blue cheese dressing in this house ... nothing better than a bacon blue cheese burger ... oh yum! But of course, if you take a peek at that label on the back of that Kraft Salad Dressing label, you will find quite a few things that you have no clue what they are! As I'm getting older, I'm a little more concerned about what I'm putting into my body ... It's funny how people react to blue cheese! Some people love it, the bluer the better ... others, like me, prefer not to see so many blue veins running through ... and then you have "those" people who will up and leave the table if you even mention blue cheese ;-) If you are one of the latter, just hit next page to skip right over this recipe, I understand! The first time I went to make this recipe, I had to make a quick batch of my mayo since I didn't have any left in the house ... that set me back a few hours as the mayo ingredients had to come to room temperature before I could make it ... b...

So. 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 the good body vibes going! 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 other good news about this salad? Saving you moola ... as in a minimum of $20 ... like I said, been a LONG time since I've been to Olive Garden but I do remember that a dinner entree was at least  $12.99 and that was a few years ago ... so figure two people, easily $25 AND then most likely, a beverage (or two) and there you have it ... el cheapo night out got a little more expensive ... So go ahead! Make this for your Saturday night! Or any other night! The salad is simple: 1 head o...

So. 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 the good body vibes going! Yesterday morning on my way to work, I stopped at the corner down the street to put up a For Sale (house) sign. All was well until I stepped back to see if it was "straight" and that's when the rest of my day went down hill.  Them damn handicap ramps!  With the little gribber thingys (for traction) grabbed my shoe, rolled my ankle and down I went.  Ended up at the Urgent Care around noon as I was thinking my wrist was broken or something. It's not, just sprained and bruised. Nice. As is my ankle, but THAT I can deal with.  The wrist, not so much as that's pretty painful and typing takes on a whole new level this way (wrapped and swollen). Anyway.  Nothing a little anti-inflammatory medication can't take care of ... but i prefer to also use food as my medication......