As promised, here's post number two about using what we've got on hand to make dinner. Tonight's special: Butt Massage Chicken, black bean burgers, and a random knish (did I spell that right?), all grilled up by my handsome guy.

By now you may be asking yourself "what the (insert four letter word) is Butt Massage Chicken?". I hate to even say, only because I know you all will think I've for some creepy obsession with the Lady herself, Paula Deen.

I don't.

But I do like her....a lot. :)

Paula is dear to my heart. Like me, she's from Georgia, though her town is easier to pronounce (I'm from Hephzibah- say that three times fast ha!). Like me, she's got a love for food and family. And very much like me, she's a hoot and a half. :)

For Christmas my awesome dad and stepmom sent me a bottle of her "Butt Massage", essentially a sweet and spicy BBQ rub. It's divine.

Tonight I used it to create a marinade for the chicken breasts I had in the freezer from the last sale. It came out great. Here's what I did:

1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1/2 cup fat free Italian dressing
1 tsp liquid smoke
2-3 tbs Paula Deen Butt Massage seasoning

Combine all ingredients- marinade chicken for 30 minutes. Grill until done.

The chicken was spicy, smoky and sweet- perfect for our al fresco pool side dinner. I'm looking forward to leftovers on a green salad for lunch tomorrow. :)

We're going on vacation in 18 days. It's going to be 7 fabulous days of fun in the sun in the Western Caribbean. If you've been following me for a while you probably know that while I try to live frugally throughout the rest of the year, I really tighten the reigns before vacations and try to save as much as possible.

One thing I love to do is go through my pantry and freezer and plan meals based only what I have on hand. It's pretty easy at first but gets a little tougher as the time goes by. On tonight's menu: tilapia tacos with cantaloupe salsa. Normally I'd have used mango or some tropical fruit, but I have to say the cantaloupe was delicious. Here's the recipe:

Cantaloupe Salsa:

1 small onion (about 5 tbs diced)
1/2 large tomato
1 jalapeño, seeded
1 cup of cantaloupe
2-3 tbs lime juice (I used the stuff in the squeeze bottle- shameful, I know)
Salt & pepper

Finely dice all of the veggies and cantaloupe. Add lime juice, salt, and pepper, marinate in the fridge until ready to use.

I saw Paula Deen say the other day that she loves salt and pepper on melon. I can totally see why. Seriously try this salsa- the combo of sweet and spicy was amazing.

I simply sautéed the tilapia with lemon pepper and blackened seasoning, and served everything with tortillas, black beans and a little sour cream. Enjoy!

I'm going to try to post the new things I come up with every night. It will help me keep from obsessing about my vacation. And about snorkeling with sharks. :)

Hello to all of my wonderful readers!  A good amount of you probably know where I've been, but just in case you don't here's the story...

Since my last post, things went from pretty bad to worse for me.  In addition to the divorce, my 45 year old aunt passed away, and I ended up leaving my job at the crazy place (long story- I'll post about it sometime) and finding a new one...in Afghanistan.  I left Tampa in late February to begin the process of deploying overseas (I'm not in the military, I went there as a civilian doing government contract work).  After several weeks of training, medical exams, and other very fun and exciting things, I traveled to Afghanistan and began my job as an Adminstrator there.  Intially things were fine for me.  I wasn't bothered by much at all, but after a while I started to become homesick.  It sucked sitting over there missing everything and everyone here in the states.  It got to the point that I couldn't even look at Facebook anymore because it just broke my heart to see everyone having fun and living life while I sat in utter boredom and misery there, and it made me miss my friends SO much it hurt.

I had an idea of what to expect- I mean, you hear the word "Afghanistan" and the Ritz Carlton doesn't exactly come to mind.  A big part of being there is learning to live without.  We went 5 days without hot water in very cold weather when I first got there.  I lived in a plywood hut with no running water.  The nearest female bathroom was a far hike from my hut.  Ramen noodles were actually a luxury item, and if you could get your hands on a power strip you were in awesome shape.  None of this really bothered me. I had a few comforts shipped over (my bedding was one), but all in all you just learn how to do without. 

The job was great, people were fine (the ones I worked with anyway), but I just didn't belong there.  I decided to come back to Florida, and I've been here about a week now.

I know it sounds crazy but I'm really glad that I went overseas.  I definitely learned a lot and had a while to reflect on my life and what's really important.  Before I went I was just a mess, hanging in limbo and feeling sorry for myself.  While I was there I realized that I have a ton to be grateful for.  Who cares about a big house and a boat?  Those things won't be holding my hand when I'm 80.  I realized that I needed to evaluate myself and appreciate the relationships that I have with the good people in my life. 

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"You know what - I miss it too".

This was a conversation I had this evening with a friend / former colleague that I happened to run into at happy hour.

She likely missed reading about deals and coupons...I miss posting that, but mostly I miss me. This blog is part of my identity.

Over the last few months life has changed drastically. Most of the changes have been positive, although none have been without a concerted effort towards adjustment. Six animals down to two (silly to some, but if you know anything about me, you know that my animals are as important to me as any other living being on this earth); big house on a plot of land traded for a 550 square foot apartment in the city; the illusion of a family replaced by the reality that in this world, one can only depend on themselves (true story).

That doesn't even touch my new job as a project analyst for a government contacting agency. One word describes my profession - CRAZY...albeit in a good way. It gives me purpose.

Learning has been key in this phase of my life. The last three months have felt like three decades, spent learning how to care for my family, animals, my AMAZING friends, and somewhere in that mix, me.

I have decided that from this day forward, I will post more. Vague, I know. It's a promise to myself to put the Blackberry down and be Tina, even if for just a few minutes every now and then.

A promise to you and to me.

Thank you Michelle.

Tina

I know I haven't posted anything lately. I have been through so many changes in the last month that I don't even know where to begin.

First and foremost, my husband decided that he wanted a divorce. This is most definitely the hardest thing I have ever been through in my life. I still don't really know why, but picking up the pieces and moving on is not a short or easy process.

I've moved into an amazing apartment in South Tampa, about 10 minutes from my new job...which is another change.

I absolutely love my new job (even though I miss my old one terribly). The people I am working with have been so supportive and took me in as family right away. The job is not easy, but I really could not be more grateful for their kindness, support, and faith in me during this time.

I get a lot of flack for blasting my life on the internet, but I don't really care. My life is an open book and my heart is an open heart. I live to help and love people and that's always who I am going to be.

What I am most grateful for is my friends and family, who have kept me going through all of this. There are so many days where I just can't bare the thought of getting out of bed (though I don't sleep well at all right now), and they have been there for me so much. I'm a very fortunate girl to have so many wonderful, caring, and amazing people in my life.

I can't say exactly when I'll be posting Frugal, Fun, & Fabulous stuff again because I just don't know. I will though- please hang tight and don't un-follow me. I am here, and I will be better...one day.

If you read this, thank you, and I am sorry. This will be the only post about my situation- I've started a new blog for that: Story of a Divorcey.

Thank you all for bearing with me right now. I love that you read my blog and love all of you!

Tina

It's been a while since I've posted about a deposit to the cruise fund. Not because I haven't been saving though! I'm so excited about the deposit today because it's the biggest one yet.

My previous company offered a referral bonus if you referred someone who was hired and stayed with the company for at least 6 months. After taxes I was left with $1,100 from that to add to the fund.

I traveled to Georgia last week. I drove up to give my cousin my older car (I got a new one), and flew back. To make a long story short, I was bumped from two flights but offered $400 for each flight as an airline credit, so that's $800 found!

Another large portion of today's deposit is a payout of unused vacation time I had- $850.

In the past couple of weeks, I saved the following amounts at various stores:

Publix: $108.18

CVS: $83.84

Old Navy: $52.38

Kroger (during my trip to GA): $8.44

That brings the total for today to $3,002.84, $271.01 OVER what I needed!! :)

Amount needed: $ 3,238.00
Amount "found"
Deposit #1: $ 183.33
Deposit #2: $112.00
Deposit #3:$59.36
Deposit #4: $47.75
Deposit #5: $163.09
Today's Deposit: $3,002.84
Remaining: None!!

We cruise on September 3, so any amounts found / saved between now and then will go straight into savings, just in case we go over budget.