Frugal In Florida

I've got one kid who is fairly picky about food. So to find something that HE likes that everyone else will enjoy too, and HEALTHY'ier' on top of it, well, I'm all in! I buy the potatoes at Costco usually ... a big honkin 20lber. About $8. They are nice and big (size of your hand) and for the most part, pretty fresh and decent ... Scrub the taters like wild. Um, I hate to say it, but they've been living in dirt for quite a while. Prick them with a fork, or cut an x shape in the skin (don't forget to do this, exploding taters in the oven really is a pain to clean!) Place them all on a baking sheet and drizzle a little oil over them. Give them a massage with the oil, rubbing it all around. Sprinkle all with course salt. Bake at 400 for 45 to 60 minutes, til they squish a bit when you gently squeeze them. Set up your bar. Go ahead, use some nice bowls ... don't just toss the containers on the countertop :) Show a little love here: Shredded chees...

I have a few favorite sites that I try to visit a few times a week ... and one of them is the Frugal Girl .  One of my favorite features is her Wednesday Baking posts. This girl can BAKE. So, the other night, as we were making pork chops and rice with brocolli and cheese, I was wishing for some bread to grill up too ... but alas, all I had was the pepperidge farm stuff and that just wasn't going to cut it, you know? So, at 6pm at night (we don't eat til late on Saturdays), I pulled out my breadmachine and added: 1 cup of warm water 3 cups of flour 1 tbs sugar 1 tsp salt 1 pkg of yeast Turned it on dough cycle and walked away. Came back, rolled it out: Let it rise for about 40 minutes and then baked at 400 degrees for 20 minutes Believe it or not, we had french bread by 9pm on the grill toasting. Yes, I did bake the bread in the oven. It was so dang easy (even a Cave Man can do it) that I made another loaf again on Sunday for the Cubanos, by memory and s...

Chili (meatless) 1 tsp oil 1/2 red pepper diced 1/2 green pepper diced 1 medium onion diced 1 clove garlic minced jalepeno peppers diced (I used small can, 1/2 of it) 1 tbs cumin 2 tbs chili powder 1 tsp black pepper 1/2 tsp brown sugar 1 can diced tomatoes 1 can black beans 1 can red beans 2 cups veggie broth 2 cups beef broth Optional: shredded cheese, sour cream, cilantro & tortilla chips for toppings Saute onions, peppers, garlic in oil. Once softenend, dump remaing ingredients in, stir well. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer, cover & let simmer 45 minutes or so. This does not make a big batch so if you are looking to have some leftover to freeze, double or triple recipe.

I made my menu plan on Sunday morning for the week. Really, should have made it for the next 2 1/2 weeks since we are leaving in 9 days to be gone for 7 ... I had some celery & carrots that were not being used up fast enough. So I thought, heck, lets make some veggie broth since dd loves the stuff (sodium laden crap in the can!) Got the big pot (not the biggest, but a big one regardless) and added some water, onions, yellow squash, zucchini, carrots & celery. I wish now I had added some pepper & such, but oh well. Let that come to a boil & then just let it simmer for a few hours. Cool and strain. With that, I'm making a small pot of chili. How small of a pot? Pretty darn small. Took 1 can of red beans, 1 can of black beans, 2 cups veggie broth, 1 can beef broth, 1 can diced tomatoes, some diced jalepenos, onions, red & green peppers (from freezer) and seasonings and it's simmering away on the stove for dinner tonight (along with cheese quesidillas). I...

It's Saturday, gorgeous out, although hot & humid and we are not on the boat. That's ok. I think DH is fighting something but does not want to admit it. Just not manly man at all to be sick!! Anyways, got the bread machine out & decided to try this recipe (again, need to track down where I got it from ... a blog, but I can't remember who!!!!). Started at 10 so it's still got about and hour and half to go yet (3 hours & 40 minutes or so I think total time?) Smells good, rising well, doesn't look wet (or dry) ... I'm hoping I finally found a recipe I like for the bread machine :) WHO Bread (if this is YOUR recipe, please let me know!!) 1 1/4 cup water 2 tbs honey 1 cup whole wheat flour 2 cups regular flour 1/2 cup oatmeal (I use old fashioned) 1 tbs brown sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp salt 2 1/4 tsp yeast 2 tbs butter. Ok, load it up in your bread machine as instructed by manufacturer (for me its water, flour, salt, make well for yeast, add pat of b...

Homemade Granola (this recipe has been halved from the original) ½ cup brown sugar ¼ cup water 2 tsp vanilla ½ tsp salt 4 cups oatmeal (not the quick cook kind) Handful of nuts (if desired, I use almonds) Preheat oven to 275 and line baking sheet with parchment (or if you must, spray with non stick spray) Mix sugar & water in microwave cup, microwave 3 to 4 minutes til dissolved. Add salt & vanilla and mix well Pour over oatmeal & nuts in bowl. Spread as thin as possible on baking sheet. Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour til brown but still pliable. Allow to cool & store in airtight container or Ziploc bag. Originally, I only used this as a snack or to top yogart. But then DH fell in love with Special K cereal with the almonds. Since it hasn’t been on sale lately, I made this & had him try with milk and that’s what he’s been eating since.