Frugal In Florida

Whenever I know Princess is coming for dinner, I try to make something I know she loves ... that could be blackened chicken, cabbage salad, green beans and then, this dish. Now that she is a Mrs. and no longer my exclusive Princess, those days of making her favorite dish have not been as frequent ... but you better believe I make every effort to feed her when I see her! I normally have everything on hand to make this dish at a moment's notice which is why I opted to share this recipe, yet again, today ... and I'm also printing out for Princess so she can start making for her husband as well.  So yeah. Most of us have chicken and pasta and flour and butter and olive oil and lemon juice on hand. Capers, I do, most times as Hubby likes them in his salad.   WINE. Well, NOT always on hand. Ok. That's not true. But I didn't want to use the $40 bottle that my boss had given me recently. That's for sippin baby, not cooking. And yes, I know, you shouldn't cook with...

It's been a LONG time since I've made this but with the Whole30 failure over, I'm ready to dive in to some long time favorites again! So, let's get something out of the way, shall we? I'm not a fan of the so-called "low carb" plan but do realize that most people mistake the general Paleo way of eating to be low carb. It's not. And THIS dish? It's not Paleo but it IS low carb, I suppose ...  I do consider this to be a frugal meal as I almost always have bacon and chicken on hand ... throw in some pantry staples of canned shrooms and whatever cheese you have on hand and YES, it's frugal if it kept you cooking in your own kitchen!  This is seriously something that you would order in a restaurant and I bet, $16 and up is the going price! The recipe is pretty simple:

This is like my FAVORITE salad to make ... well, I suppose it's really in the top 5, I love my  steak salad  too ... and the  Olive-Y Garden  Salad, and the  Cabbage Salad  ... Anyways ... this is ONE of my favorite salads, hows that? And with Spring coming sooner than later, I figured why NOT share this again? It's so easy to do and surprisingly good! Here's what you need: Head of romaine lettuce, trimmed, washed and torn/cut into bite size pieces (if you were smart, you've already checked out the  foodsaver tip !) 1 grilled chicken breast (I generally use a leftover one) cut into bite size pieces a little bit of pasta, rigatoni or penne work best (cooked) sprinkle of fresh Parmesan cheese Caesar Dressing (I prefer Kens Light Caesar) Croutons It's so easy. Dump all in large bowl. Mix well to coat evenly. Serve. See that picture? That is made up of ALL leftovers ... the chicken was grilled for dinner a few nights ago, the salad stuff is ALWAYS ...

#WinnerWinnerChickenDinner This is really a good recipe and I need to make sure I put it on the menu rotation soon as it's been a little while since we've made it ... It may look like a lot of work but you CAN do it it parts and generally, that IS what I do as I don't like standing in the kitchen for hours on end at the end of the day, you know? Here's what you need to make this really yummy dish ... 2 large chicken breast - slice them in half (which now I know, alternatively called butterflying!) 3/4 cup flour 1/2 tbs salt 1/2 tsp oregano 1/2 tsp basil 1 tsp black pepper olive oil (ummm, says 5 tbs total, but I don't think I used that much) 4 cloves garlic, minced (or use the lovely garlic press) 5 sweet mini peppers, finely diced 6 ounces fresh spinach 3/4 cup half and half 3/4 cup milk 2 tbs corn starch 1/2 cup chicken broth Ok, the ingredient list is a LITTLE out of order based on the way I wrote it while doing (the Kindle kept losin...

Guaranteed. Juicy Chicken Breast. Yup. Really. I did type that up. Really, I  made  that the title. That's how certain I am that this is GUARANTEED to give you juicy chicken breast~ Would you like to come over and see Hubby roll his eyes when I tell him we are having chicken breast for dinner? He's tired of chicken breast. Even more so, tired of the dried out pieces of fowl because Hubby likes ALL his meat well done. Ahem. Might as well drag that chicken breast down the road and back up a few times and do a couple of burnouts over it. Ok. So let's not be so dramatic. However, if this was a Scat Pack, I might even donate a whole chicken or two .. just because ...  OH. Wait. You are here for the yummy, yet simple recipe,  not  car tips, huh? S.O.R.R.Y. I love chicken breast. But Hubby, he has this odd notion that flavors need to be concentrated, and the only way you can get that is when you cook something on low heat f...

I have no idea how I came across this recipe on  Pinterest , but it's been hanging around for a while and with our Pantry Challenge underway, it was PERFECT that I had everything on hand to make it one night this week! Now, granted, Kalyn does call it a " Low Carb Pizza Chicken Bake " but I just can't do call it low carb ... although, it does NOT have a crusty base like you'd expect ... and I will say, it was really tasty ... I'll be making this again real soon! The beauty of this is that it can be a very inexpensive, a/k/a FRUGAL, quick meal if you shop right! All this can be bought at Aldi's this week for a little less than $5 right now if you don't have ANY of the ingredients...I had everything on hand, thankfully, but it's nice to know that a quick run will get me what I need without spending a whole lot ... of course, I must keep my blinders on and not look to either side as I zero in on the ingredients needed ;-) I'm still just ama...

*I had typed this up back in 2011 and came across it recently. I was going to just delete the post, but something made me go back and read it, several times. I decided, oh hell, share it Jan, because, honestly, things have changed so much over the years, both myself and the kids, our lives in general and so on.  So, here you have it ... a little bit of reflection I must have been having that fine June day in 2011 ... *Note, I am immensely proud of how my children have come around and grown in the past 5 1/2 years! I think it's very important to remember that yes, your children are a reflection of you BUT they are also individuals who will grow as they may, no matter how hard you push them a certain way * Being a mom of older ones, specifically young adults. It goes to show you that LIFE is hard, but there are so many rewards to be had. I know I've done a fairly decent job as a mom, raised  two kids to become young adults in a fast paced lifestyle environment. Shoot, t...