Frugal In Florida

Psst ... today's the DAY!!! It's Cinco De Mayo (and yeah, I know, history states, clearly, that this is NOT a day to really celebrate but ... still! It's also my birthday!) I love margaritas. Yes, I know, I also love the  Peach Vodka  things ... but a classic margarita is really hard to beat!  And when one of my girlfriends showed up with a bottle of Patron, I knew we had to make these. Old picutre and do not have any of these bottles, except the skull dude I mean, it's not like I was WAITING for a bottle of Patron to show up on the doorstep ... I've got a pretty good selection of tequila already ... Let's make one thing clear, right off the top. Use good quality tequila! Skip right on past the bottle of Jose ... and take my advice and skip past the ones that aren't clear ... the darker the tequila, the more "woodier" it will taste and just not meant for a margarita ... I have eight bottles of tequila right now ... and only a few limes...

It's time for ANOTHER REPOST! Margaritas. Can we talk about Margaritas, just for one second? They are soooooo universal ... you name it, you can make a margarita out of it!  I've got the  Classic , the  Frozen Strawberry , the  Fresh Fruit , the  Kickin Grapefruit , the  Blood Orange  and of course, THE MANGO MARGARITA ... Here's the post from a few years ago ... I so wanted to get this post up BEFORE Cinco de Mayo but with the phone hitting the wall, seriously, I couldn't figure out a way to bypass the damn Google  2 step verification process (how on earth did I ever agree to THAT!!!???) to log in to the main computer and upload the pics ... Oh well. I'm still sharing because it's just worth it. The original recipe comes from  The Pioneer Woman  and I happened to catch her on Food TV last weekend. Raise your hand IF you like to watch that show? Me? Not so much, no offense Ree. It's just not the same as reading the webs...

It's been a few months since I've hit up Costco ... but there were a few things I needed  and well, I just took it upon myself to make the run last Saturday morning. Of course, the phone call from Hubby "We have a showing this afternoon!" cut my trip short so I will probably be hitting that store up again soon ... I stuck with the plan for the most part. A few things were NOT really shown and those items have the everlasting * next to them! Here's what we got and I'm hoping I have the bulk of my stuff for the month! 5 pounds New York Strips $41.53 (note, I butterfly these (all the way through) so they are thinner and then freeze half for later, so basically I feed 8 total) Chuck Roast $22.34 ... not sure how many pounds but a lot! ($3.99 per pound) Wild Planet Tuna $14.99 *Bumble Bee Albacore Tuna $13.89 *Brownie Brittle $6.69 24 hard boiled eggs (cage free) $6.99 3 pk of large chunky guac $10.69 5 pk baby romaine lettuce $3.99 3 pk Aidels chick...

Most mornings, I eat eggs. And veggies. But some days I am just Over. Eggs.   Yes it happens! Then I think back to when the bosses surprised me with that Vitamix for my Christmas bonus. THAT was a huge surprise ... and then I was  on a mission ... success or failure, to make every attempt to post one recipe a week using the VitaMix to see if I can really incorporate it into my life ...   I was so sad that I wasn't more excited about using it ... and I am still open to tips and recipes to try and share .... PLEASE! Enough whining (I just feel real bad STILL as it's not a cheap gift by any means) ...  Today's featured attempt was a fairly good success and I'm actually looking forward to making it for breakfast this week!  Banana Nut Smoothies 2 frozen bananas (yes, do peel them before you freeze them. You are freezing your borderline overly ripe bananas, right ?) 1 ripe pear, cut in half, seeds removed 1/4 cup raw nuts (not peanuts!), I use...

Because April is my Money Month (income taxes, boat insurance, house insurance, flood insurance AND wind storm insurance all come due in the next 45 days ... I need to stay focused on them little green soldiers and be lining them up to do battle for me!   So I've opted to make April a Money Control Month and will be doing things, even more intentionally, to reduce my outlay of cash!  Not to mention, we hosted the Princess and her Hubby's reception late February and I had a real hard time reining in the spending for March 😂 First Up is Friday Nights ... and it's all about Friday Night Pizza! Tada!  I give you  Pizza Bread! This post was shared, originally, several years ago and it was to use what we had on hand. See what an odd assortment of stores I use? Walmart (marked down bread) Pepperoni and pizza sauce from Trader Joe's (both inexpensive and the best tasting, in my opinion) and of course, cheese from BOTH stores!  Frugal Tip: Buy the mar...

It's almost May! Which means a few things special in MY LIFE: My birthday! Not so exciting as it's the 5 3 one! Cinco De Mayo - same day as my birthday! Fort Lauderdale Air Show - same weekend as my birthday! Kentucky Derby! Yup, same weekend as the above 3 things! Uhm ... I am going to need a long vacation after this first weekend in May! We are having a 'few' people over for all  the festivities and you probably already know that I LOVE margaritas ... uh huh ... but not the heartburn at 2am after a few of the ones using the pre-made margarita mix ... Hubby already has the system worked out where he just pulls out the bottle of Prilosec and sets it next to my glass. Pretty pathetic, don't you think? ;-) I had shared this recipe a while ago and decided to make these again since I am having a few friends over ... I mean, heck, I have frozen strawberries, a ton of them,  because I always FREEZE them once they sit for a few days to keep them from going to...

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 ...