Frugal In Florida

I am actually a little embarrassed to even tell every one that yes, I did go to Costco TWICE in one week ... I've even had to set the kids and friends straight that there were to be no more cracks about it ... they were having a little too much fun with it ;-) Ok, let's get to it and share what I bought ... carton of 5 hour energy (kirkland brand) $34.99 less $7 (I hate these things but Hubby likes them, as much as I keep telling him that they really can't be good for him) Kirkland brand laundry pods $16.99 less $3.50 (stopped using Tide about 4 months ago after trying this brand!) 2 gallons whole milk $3.49 each 10 lbs old fashioned oats $7.89 3 dozen xlarge eggs $4.89 20 lbs basmati rice (really) $20.99 10 lbs organic brown rice $13.99 Rice Cooker $29.99 20 inch floor fan $34.99 2 bottles of acid reflux (one too many margaritas lately?) $8.49 each large bottle of Allertec (store brand Zyrtec) $14.99 large package of sponges $12.49 less $2 freezer ziplocs $...

Ahem ... and we have a LOT of stuff to be using around here ... The Pantry Challenge was a failure. Well, I shouldn't say a complete failure ... I did start to get the top pantry organized, and we did use stuff up out of the freezers and pantry ... but I also added things which was supposed to be one of the main reasons for a challenge! Now that I've been to Costco two (yes 2!) times in the past week, I think I need to just make every effort to stay out of the stores ... I'm still working on getting the pantry inventory list up and finalized ... then it will be time to tackle the freezers ... Hubby was gone all last week and flies home on Thursday night ... I completely missed that he was going out for 10 days, not the 4 I had thought he said. Uggg. I was pretty sick and thankfully, FINALLY on the road to recovery ... actually getting lots of stuff done now! At long last! The menu plan last week was NOT followed but we all did eat at home for 6 of the 7 nights, and al...

It seems that I've been trying to clean out the freezers and pantry for E V E R, doesn't it? Honestly, I'm trying NOT to buy anything to put in either places, but sometimes, these things just jump out at me ... so imagine my surprise when I went to make this recipe back on Memorial Day and I had NO corn, either canned or frozen?? I would have sworn I had a bag in the freezer but nope ... someone must have used it up! So, I had Hubby pick up a few cans one day and then I picked up a few cans another day and now I have FOUR cans. Perfect.  Black beans, yeah, we have them but after this recipe, I'm down to ONE lonely can! Any way. This is almost like my Hurricane Food Storage Use Up Salad that I posed eons ago .. except I like this one just a tad bit better ;-) Here's what you need to make ... and by the way, it's not just for holiday bbq parties! 2 cans of black beans, rinsed and drained well 1 can of golden corn, rinsed and drained well 1 large to...

I really like doing this post weekly as it keeps me a little more focused and accountable, for the most part :-) This past week, I was so excited to have a real frugal week ... after all, Hubby was traveling from Monday to Thursday ... I had plenty of food in house to eat and I didn't have a whole lot planned as I was still on the road to recovery (which I think I can honestly say I am now!) ... but then ... life interrupted! Hubby was going to be gone until NEXT THURSDAY! O M G. I must have really been out of it when we were talking about this trip all that time. I thought he was going for 4 days and to think I would have driven to the airport at 10:30pm for nothing ... I still can NOT believe that I messed that up!  So ... with that ... here are a few of the Frugal Activities I did this past week: 1.  Did my own nails ... I haven't been doing them at all and decided to go ahead and give myself a mini-manicure after going back and forth on whether or not I wanted to go ...

This isn't really rocket science, BUT if you are one of the millions of people who cringe when it comes to handling raw chicken ... here's a pretty nifty tip for you: Cheap-o fold over plastic sandwich bags. Yup. Did you know that your hand can slide right in to one, almost as if it was a glove?? Sort of creepy, I know, and I do apologize! But I'm just trying to show you that it's a fairly decent size bag. So anyways. Turn your bag inside out and slide your hand inside the 'glove' Pick up one lonely, slimy, raw chicken breast with that bagged hand. That's one big chicken breast, isn't it?? Honestly, I would normally trim that baby a little as I don't like the little fatty pieces that get left behind. But I'm trying to show you a cool trick so read on: Next you want to take your other hand and holding the flap piece of the bag (the piece that you would fold over if it was a sandwich) and just turn the bag right side out, ri...