Frugal In Florida

Ahhh ... it's Monday, time to plan that menu! I've been fighting a cold since Saturday. May have taken too much stuff as Sunday I slept all day long. And then went to bed at 8:30pm and slept til 6am. But I do feel better, just a little stuffy. Not so well rested but that just goes to say that sleeping too much is never a good thing. I apparently needed the rest though. Princess is on her way to pick up Sonny Boy this morning. She left at 5am. Yikes. I guess she wants to enjoy her day off somewhat by getting there and back here within a reasonable time. 3 hours minimum each way soo ... I don't know. I am still trying to stick with the $20 a week challenge but fell off the wagon on Saturday and did a big shop at Publix. Yeah. I was weak (that's when I was starting to feel the cold coming on) ... I was thinking that Sonny Boy is coming home and I have no food for him to snack on. What kind of mother am I if I didn't buy stuff?? :-) ... that doesn't make me fe...

Another Pinterest find ... surprise!! This $20 weekly grocery budget leaves NO room for beer so I've had to make do with what I have on hand ... this week will be GIN. I have no real stories about me and gin, other than I drank 2 gin and tonics one time at a  bar and when I stood up to use the girls room, fell down. Ummm, yeah, I guess that is a story. Gin sneaks up on you so do be sure to eat and move around, and I always encourage responsible alcohol consumption. Original recipe is adapted by Cookie and Kate All your ingredients ready to go? And this is how I made it: 1 spring of fresh rosemary, about 2 inch each (from the garden, thrilled to find a use for it!) a small splash of lemon juice (I'm using concentrated because it's what I have on hand) 1/2 tsp honey 1 1/2 ounces gin 3 ounces club soda Honestly? Lemon juice concentrate In a small rocks glass (short and squatty), drop in a couple of rosemary leaves (pull along the base of stem and ...

This $20 a week thing isn't so very bad, YET. I'm sure if I was to continue for an extended period of time it would become troublesome, but for now, it's doable. Hubby was pretty cool in that he cooked quite a bit while I was gone, using stuff from the freezers and such. Good Man that he is! Here's what I got for the week (I go Sunday to Saturday on my weeks): 1 quart of half and half 2 containers digiornos shredded parm cheese (out and these were b1g1f, instead of Costco) 1 bag of steam veggies (for a soup) 1 large bag of sweet mini peppers (instead of  Costco, they cost $5.99 vs $4 something) 1 container of fresh salsa (instead of Costco, cost $2.99) Total: $15.76 (used 2 $1 off coupons) Left with $3.24 for the remainder of week. Wanted a lemon for these drinks to make Friday, but they were 3 for $1.99 ... yikes! So I decided to just try it with lemon juice (in fridge already) ... keep an eye out for the Rosemarie Gin Fizz (a word play on rosemary, the he...

Ok, first off, I love fabric softener and feel it's a necessity 90% of the time. I get extreme static electricity, to the point where I hate touching anything metal in my office (yikes, sparks fly!) But in my Year of Zero ... it's not really on my necessity list at the current prices I see, even my Kirkland brand, (very compatible to Downy, by the way) 220 Loads! Wow, that's a lot!! so when I saw this , I though, heh, what the heck, lets give it a try with some of the stuff I have left. Oh, and don't come back and yell at me if you spend 3 hours browsing that site! Anyways ... this is super easy. I'm on my 2nd round (and the 2nd time, I made it even easier!) Pour a little bit of liquid fabric softener into a container such as a bowl or other large, round open dish. I used a tall deli type container. Dummy me, should have used a shorter dish to make it easier to get the whole cloth in! Take an old washcloth, or even a torn up towel, I'm thinkin...

I've had a few inquiries to the $20 a week grocery budget for February ... "How do you do it?" ... both live, in person and online. I suppose not everyone could do it, and trust me, I'm surprised that I CAN do it myself!  It helps to have a fairly full pantry, freezers and such (remember, I did the crazy shop at Costco the last week in January?) ... and this makes it a LOT easier.  I suppose if you didn't have a store full of food, it would be much more difficult. It also helps to be "determined" ... just saying. I will be honest that this week is starting to show a few spaces in the freezer and I had to re-evaluate a few ideas I had for dinner plans since Hubby did a mighty fine job of eating from the freezer while I was gone (I love that he loves how to cook and is not afraid to do so!) IF YOU SET YOUR MIND TO IT, YOU CAN DO IT TOO 1. Browse the food you DO have and make a menu from there. It doesn't have to be solid, set in stone, but you d...

It's Monday, and time to plan for the week! (I had to go look at the calendar ... it really IS week 9!) Hubby is traveling Monday and returning Thursday ... and he has a big lunch meeting on Friday (will share details on this at a later date, change is GOOD!) ... so it will be me, Princess (if she's not working) and Kitty Kitty. Can you say EASY?? Seriously, would like to continue with the $20 a week challenge but feel Costco calling for a few items (paper towel, tp, salad stuff, spinach, milk, cheese, eggs, etc.), but the quick trip to the produce store on Saturday took care of the salad, spinach and egg issues as eggs were 98 cents for a dozen! So I'm thinking I can hold out a little longer and stay with my $20 challenge. So here's what I'm shooting for ... Sunday - Pizzas since it's been a LONG time ... I do have a few Kashi frozen pizzas in the freezer that we could doctor up if the desire to make the dough subsides (it will, I'm sure!) Monday -...

I am back from my trip, 4 days later than anticipated. Thankful that I got out of there when I did last night as they were closing the airport due to the winter weather coming in (what's up with Midway lately anyways??) I had some extreme Family Drama. What more is there to say? At the moment, I have nothing to share. Nothing witty, entertaining, funny, valuable, etc. I'm basically brain dead. Tired too. I'm going to take the rest of the day and this weekend to re-group and will resume posting on Monday. Thanks for sticking around (and shame on that spammer that snuck past me!)