Frugal In Florida

Hubby's out of town and I had to hit up the store on Friday night and Saturday morning ... needed a few things to finish up the Meal Prep with Friends event I had on Saturday. FYI - the word friends should be singular as it was just two of us but that just doesn't read right! Trader Joe's - July 21, 2017 Total Spent - $128.38 *I actually have a video posted here !* "8 gallon" insulated bag $6.99 (why are TJ's bags my downfall??) Frozen veggie fried rice $2.29 1 pound jumbo shrimp $9.99 Bottle of rose wine $3.99 2 4 pks wine (in cans) $4.99 each (one white one rose) 2 boxes of angus beef burgers $6.99 each 2 40 oz bags of frozen b/s chicken thighs $6.99 each 2 mac & cheese boxes $2.99 each 3 pk frozen brown rice (cooked) $2.99 3 bags of riced cauliflower $1.99 each Bag of almond flour $7.49 3 pkgs of pepperoni $3.29 each 2 dozen large eggs .99 cents per carton 2 large avocados $1.69 each 2 cans of Matcha Green Tea .99 cents each Truffle...

Let's face it, I am NOT the most ideal person to be telling YOU how to handle your money. I only share what I do and what works for me ... it's obviously not the same for you, or you, or my neighbor, my sister, my best friend and so on. BUT what I do know is this: DEBT IS AN EMERGENCY! And yes, I did make that the biggest font that blogger would let me use. I guess what I'm trying to say is that what works for me or your best friend may NOT work for you ... but as long as you remember the big bold blue words above, you will find what does work for you. I've been having a few issues lately that I've mentioned ... Hubby has been out of work for over 18 months. We call him semi-retired because we were banking on selling the house fast, paying off the mortgage and reducing our household expenses by 50% if not more.  Ahem. That has not happened just yet. Like really not yet.  I came home today, on a MONDAY no less to a $600 quarterly homeowners ins...

Hey! Are you ready for a new to ME recipe? One that would be gluten free, grain free, low carb, keto? Not so much Paleo (cheese baby) OR Whole30 (just because!) How about just good and different?? That works for me! Me and a girlfriend planned a cooking session for Saturday afternoon since Hubby was out of town and I was on a mission to use up some protein from the freezer (we are looking to get new appliances in the main kitchen to up the house sale-ability and will get rid of guest kitchen fridge/freezer, move the main kitchen fridge over there) ... I have 4 pkgs still of ground chicken that I scored a while ago from Target so why not have this to just play around with? So many things changed and I ended up making this on Friday night (just me, the cats and that lonely can of sparkling wine from Trader Joe's) while I pre-cooked some bacon. I'm glad I did as it was so stinking good! Yes, I will share a piece with my girlfriend in the middle of our kitchen session...

Friends who meal prep together, stay together. Right? Right! Hubby's out of town for another 10 days so I asked a girlfriend of mine if she wanted to come over during the weekend and do a little cooking session. I don't think she quite understood what I meant by that.  She just heard, Jan's cooking, a few yummy things and yada yada yada. And to make life even sweeter? I was using protein (meat) that is already on hand to clear out the guest kitchen freezer ... Hmmm.... I made a list of a few things to make and shared with her by email. A couple of suggestions were things I've made before and enjoyed and figured she'd like for some future lunches and dinners ... and there were a few things I've had on my list of things to try that finally, maybe, I could get around to! First up: Mexican Beef in the Instant Pot Yup, roast was in the freezer and the balance of stuff in the pantry (tomato paste from freezer as you really should be freezing ...

I have a girlfriend coming over this weekend to do a little cooking together and meal prep work ... she's not much of a cook and is always intrigued by the stuff I make so why not make it a group effort? This is on the plan!   I hope you are breaking out the   InstantPot  and CrockPot a little more often because it's quick and doesn't heat up the kitchen! I mean, seriously, what other reason do you need?  Oh ... yeah, it makes some pretty good food too! Yup, lunch at my desk was pretty exciting! I had this with riced  cauliflower and green beans ... yummm So ... this recipe comes from  Nom Nom Paleo  ... same place  That Damn Fine Chicken  came from ... and a few other recipes to be shared very very soon as well! Anyway. It seems that beef just does not go on sale much any more so the last time I went to Costco, I just bit the bullet and picked up a big hunk (actually 2 hunks in one package) of beef and tossed in t...

Ok, ok, let's make ONE thing clear ... I am NOT a low carb girl by any means. I AM aware of my grain and dairy intake and well, traditional pizza just totally blows that right out the door. I'm also really into the crock pot cooking stuff, which is WHY you get  another  version of a  pizza , MY way ;-) Yup, I LOVE pizza ... the sauce, the gooey cheese, the pepperoni, the seasonings ... they all just sing to me!  I just don't particularly care to ingest the dough (don't get me wrong, I LOVE THE CRUST!!!) as I always seem to have major digestive issue after eating pizza and I already know that flour stuff doesn't help my hands at all ... so I'm always looking for another way to get those yummy flavors and make my tummy somewhat happier as well! Look at that 'crust'! This recipe came through Pinterest, of course, and a site called  Recipes That Crock  ... I spent a lot of time browsing once I got there so make sure you have a few minutes of...

You probably don't know this but I've not been inside a grocery store since Hubby came home ... crazy, right? He's been a few times but me? Nope! I made up for it though on Saturday. Hubby was running to Target so I went to Publix (in the same shopping plaza) since we were trying to save time ... sadly, he should have come along as I spent more than I wanted. July 15 - Publix Total Spent - $153.04 Blackberry / Cucumber LaCroix $4.39 Cherry / Lime LaCroix $4.39 2 cartons of Vita Coconut Water $3.34 each 3 containers (single serve) yogurt $1.00 each Small bottle horseradish $1.95 4 bags of Caesar Salad mix b1g1f $4.09 x 2 1 pound container mushrooms $2.99 Zucchini $3.03 2 pkgs of sausage crumbles $3.00 each Large container spring mix salad $5.99 3 bottles cold press coconut water $3.99 each 4 Digornos pizzas $5 each 2 bottles of Almond Milk/Cold Brew coffee $4.99 each (Califia) Jug of OJ $3.34 Half of a spaghetti squash $2.86 Bottle of ketchup $3.59 ...