Frugal In Florida

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, carr...

If you are looking for a healthier alternative to Ranch Dressing ... this IS IT! Dairy Free.  Grain Free. Sugar Free. Gluten Free. AND EASY It's also Whole30 approved, just in case you were wondering! This recipe is totally from  Whole Sisters  and I give them FULL credit ... this is just me saying I made it, I loved it and I want to share it with the world!! Give the girls a drive by and check out their site, it's chock-full of good stuff! Here's how I made it egg, room temperature 1 tbs lemon juice, room temperature 1 cup olive oil 2 tbs red wine vinegar 1 tsp salt 1 tsp black pepper 3/4 tsp onion powder 3/4 tsp garlic powder 1/2 cup canned coconut milk handful of parsley, leaves pulled off and stems discarded dash of dried dill Grab yourself a tall jar and make sure your  immersion blender  fits in the top ;-) I speak from experience! Place everything in jar, insert your immersion blender and let it rip. Make sure ...

Today, I bring you Mayo. Yes, mayonnaise! I'm a mayo snob, I'll admit it. Do NOT ever put that Miracle stuff anywhere near my plate ... and no, I do not like Kraft either. Only Hellman's ... thank you very much. BUT ... once I made the stuff from scratch (it's really easy, I promise!) I never ever looked at another sale jar of mayo again. Oh. Well. Sort of ... I do buy the jar, I think maybe 2 in the last 12 months? Only because if we are doing something with heavy mayo, I'd be dying in the kitchen to keep up, you know? For the most part though, it's the stuff from scratch. Hubby will even inquire if we have enough for say,  Blackened Chicken Sandwiches  (birthday party, 10 people), or  Blue Cheese Dressing  ... or ... well, a lot of stuff ... he likes it as much as I do, and I hope you do too! The recipe calls for FIVE ingredients, that's all. F I V E! Go grab your jar of mayo from the fridge and look at the ingredient list. I'll wait. ...

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 shared the Cold Spinach Dip that Hubby loves earlier .... and now, I want to share the WARMED Spinach Dip that I love! Yeah, we don't agree on which one is better. They are both really good! This is the stuff that you order as an appetizer at some of the chain restaurants ... you know, for like $12.99 or so?  I don't, not any more because after I learned how to make this stuff (and hey, it does NOT have cream cheese in it, ok? That's just WRONG) I made it every other weekend for like, 6 months. Then we weighed ourselves and realized that perhaps, this should not be a bi-weekly type of snack ;-) Instead, we started making it for special  occasions, like the Boat Parade Christmas Party. It's great the next day when you are little hungover too (um, not that I'm planning on that this year). Here's what you need ... 1 jar marinated artichokes, drained 1 pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained 1/2 tsp minced garlic 1/3 cup Romano cheese 1/4 ...

I love ranch dressing ... and I really love blue cheese dressing ... but alas, I'm trying to watch what I put in my body for health purposes ... so I've been avoiding those 2 dressings since the first of the year ... except those days when I get to go out to my favorite local bar/pub and get a bacon blue cheese burger ... then all bets are off. But the other 99% of the time? No thank you. And now, I'm getting a little tired of the great balsamic and olive oil blend that I make quickly every morning (1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/2 tsp dijon mustard, dash of salt and pepper and shake it up) ... so when I saw this recipe over at  The Kitch  I knew I had to give it a try for something different!! Original recipe is found  here  ... and of course, when I made it, I made modifications ;-) Here's how I did it! 2 tsp dijon mustard 3 tbs  mayo  (I am back to making it myself again,  check it out ) dash of black pepper dash ...

Hey hey, Cinco de Mayo is coming up in less than TWO WEEKS and it's time to pull out all your Mexican festivity recipes!  And you know me, I like to keep things simple and this recipe more than fits the bill! It's considered a "condiment" but I can stand at the kitchen counter and eat this stuff by the spoonful! Salsa Fresca aka Pico de Gallo Now. It's really easy for me to chop chop chop as I've got that handy dandy  Vidalia Chop Wizard ! What? You don't have one?? What are you waiting for? Go get one pronto!  This saves sooooo much time chopping AND everything is a nice uniform dice. Go, go go! Go get one right now! $14.99 at Bed Bath and Beyond if you use your little handy 20% off coupon.  Or else you can click that link above for Amazon and if you have Prime, you'll get it in 2 days. Have I stressed how *important* this is (and yes, I am a frugal gal and I highly recommend this little gadget!* (ahem, I didn't realize they've gotten ...

If you are looking for a healthier alternative to Ranch Dressing ... this IS IT! Dairy Free.  Grain Free. Sugar Free. Gluten Free. AND EASY It's also Whole30 approved, just in case you were wondering! This recipe is totally from  Whole Sisters  and I give them FULL credit ... this is just me saying I made it, I loved it and I want to share it with the world!! Give the girls a drive by and check out their site, it's chock-full of good stuff! Here's how I made it egg, room temperature 1 tbs lemon juice, room temperature 1 cup olive oil 2 tbs red wine vinegar 1 tsp salt 1 tsp black pepper 3/4 tsp onion powder 3/4 tsp garlic powder 1/2 cup canned coconut milk handful of parsley, leaves pulled off and stems discarded dash of dried dill Grab yourself a tall jar and make sure your  immersion blender  fits in the top ;-) I speak from experience! Place everything in jar, insert your immersion blender and let it rip. Make sure ...

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...