Frugal In Florida

Hey, hey ... we made it through Hurricane Irma ... that was one LONG storm and after that, I'm not so sure I'd stick it out for another one! Our weather station bit the dust as for the wind thingy ... but the rain gauge shows we got over 13 inches of rain. And the power went out at 4am Sunday. Came back on at 5pm Tuesday. THAT was a miracle in my mind. So onward with #Shelftember! Sort of. See, I had to toss a few things from the freezer AND I've been feeding 6 adults as to the usual two of us ... hurricanes have a tendency to bring unexpected guests! It's fine, I'm glad that we are able to help, trust me. So, that brings me to this recipe. Me and the Princess ran to my office on Thursday morning so she could print out some labels for her baby shower while I tried to get my office back in order. That didn't happen, really, as we had some water damage in the two offices that face south due to the 8 plus hours of driving rain and wind! Whateve...

Hey, how about a little salad recipe that's quick to whip up and yummy too!? Remember I picked up that chicken at Costco ? And was so sorry I did as we are NOT fans of that ... Well, I had to do something with it, you know? So what the heck, lets chop it up and make a salad, shall we?? This was for ONE salad ... head of baby romaine, washed and dried a nice chunk of cooked chicken a few little mozzarella balls fresh basil cherry tomatoes fresh basil, chopped For the dressing, you will need 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 1/4 cup of avocado oil (olive oil is fine as well) a small dab of grey poupon mustard a little more fresh basil chopped ;-) Get chopping! Chop the lettuce and chicken in to bite size pieces. Cut your cherry tomatoes in half. I used two of these little snack size cheese things. I cut the pieces in half as well (there are 3 balls per pack) Grab a small bowl and dump all the ingredients for the dressing in. I personally prefe...

So you all picked up (maybe?) that I'm doing a little challenge this month and trying to eat down the freezers and pantry ... aiming to spend $30 a week for fresh stuff ... So of course, to make this much more practical, you'd think I would have done a little inventory of the freezers sooner, right? Nah ... However, on Labor Day, with Hurricane Irma making a beeline for South Florida (WHAT???) I figured that was the time to do it ... so here you go! Obviously an OLD picture as the moonshine  and arrowroot powder have moved out! Oh, and while I was doing inventory, I figured I might as well organize them a little bit too and make room for the bags of ice. I just grabbed a couple of them plastic grocery bags and filled them up with ice from the big ice maker we have ... they freeze really hard as the ice cubes are "wet" when they come out of the ice bin. Will certainly beat having to buy ice if anything starts to go down this weekend coming up! At this t...

We had a quick weekend getaway at a local hotel and when we got home that Sunday afternoon, we were exhausted ... that's what happens when you live a normal life and then cram as much fun stuff as you can in a mere 72 hours. Oh, and add that we are in our 50's and we were pretending we were in our 30's. Like, honestly, NO FILTER Oye! The boy picked us up. We came home, unpacked and put everything back in it's place. *That's the key to a clean house, you know?* Then we plopped our worn out butts on the couch and flipped to the food channel. Oh, did I mention that Hubby had been gone for 3 weeks and was only home for 2 days before we whisked off for our beach vacation? Yeah, he's plumb tuckered out! Ok, back to this. Trisha Yearwood was on ... and the thing that got Hubby was the chicken thighs. See, I've got a kick ass Chicken Marsala recipe already! It's a keeper .... but man, crappy pictures :-) and it's also one of those meals that...

So we are the first weekend in to the September Challenge … whee!! Anyone else following along on the #Shelftember challenge? I’ve given myself $30 a week … fingers crossed!  Kitten is a little concerned because their cat food is part of that budget! Of course, full disclosure, I did hit up Costco last weekend (Sunday) and spent around $357.14 and finally  found the missing receipt so that shop will be shared as well. ( Here is the post! ) It should be noted that not everything was food related but because it was bought during a grocery shop, it's included! *Check out funcheaporfree.com and look her up on Instagram and Facebook ... she's giving away a FREEZER for some lucky person who is playing along with #Shelftember! Jelly! Here’s how the rest of the week played out before September 1 st hit! Whole Foods – August 31 st , 2017 Total Spent – 68.64  I did NOT notice a reduction in price of a single item like they've been marketing.  ...

Ok, maybe I went overboard ... I mean, heck, we are doing a #Shelftember Challenge for September ... $30 a week for groceries and other things picked up ... I blew the budget the last week of August and honestly, it doesn't really do any good if you go over budget and then stop cold turkey 100% ... not really a learning experience you know? Or lifestyle habit. Or just plain right.  Click here for the rest of the Grocery Shop In Review ... $2.99 each Ugh. Anyways. I went to Costco. I had a list. They didn't have a few of the things on my list. Scrubby Bubbles? Nada.Wood Polish? Zilch. Great. So I bought other things instead. And totally not related to cleaning! Here's what I picked up that fine Sunday morning (August 27th, 2017): Kirkland protein bars $17.99 18 count chocolate protein shakes $24.99 less $5 18 count vanilla protein shakes $24.99 less $5 2 boxes of Caveman protein bars $17.99 each Costco size box of granola bars $12.29 less $3.80...

Ok, ok, let's face it ... Eating a lettuce wrapped ANYTHING is not a pleasurable experience. There. I said it. Out loud.  For all the blogworld / internet to see. Come on, you are in agreement. I see you over there nodding your head. And YOU, I saw that tilt of the head. Don't be ashamed, it's the truth! So, I'm here to show YOU how I do it ... This all came from one of my meal prep posts and someone sent me an email inquiring just how I was going to eat that at the office. At my desk. In front of others. In my work clothes. Good question(s). So here you go: Wash that lettuce up and dry it out well. Layer it like so: Just lay it side by side and overlap the edges a bit. I was using the mini romaine lettuce leaves that are just little mini things and fairly firm. Set a few leaves off to the side ... you'll need these later. Place your burger in the upper portion of the lettuce "nest" Just like so ... and yes, that burg...