maple dijon chicken

$5.53 recipe / $0.92 recipe
Maple Dijon Chicken

If you’ve spent any time on Pinterest, any time at all, you’ve surely seen a pin for maple Dijon chicken. Pretty much every blogger out there has made it and it has been pinned to the moon and back. So, I thought I’d play a little game of pintester and try it out myself, because unless every single blogger out there is a liar, this stuff has got to be good.

Of course, I didn’t want to just beat a dead horse with a stick, so I threw my own spin on the recipe. I made the basic Dijon and maple syrup marinade, tasted it, and then added what I thought it needed. … Continue Reading

4 Year Blogiversary and a New Home!

Birthday Cake

Finally. Fin-al-ly. It's no secret that Budget Bytes outgrew Blogger long, long ago. I was in denial for a few years, thinking that, "hey, this is just a hobby and if Hyperbole and a Half can have a kazillion readers and still use Blogger, so can I." Apples and oranges my friends. At some point just over a year ago I realized that my content is drastically ... Continue Reading

southwest breakfast scramble

$5.73 recipe / $1.43 serving
Southwest Breakfast Scramble

Ahhh, it's everything I love in one place: eggs, salsa, cheese, chips, and cilantro. Oh, and black beans, too! Just feed me this every day for the rest of my life and I'll be straight. This super quick Southwest Breakfast Scramble is reminiscent of migas because of the tortilla strips, but I just ended up adding all the things that I like best. It's really ... Continue Reading

how to: slow cook potatoes

Slow Cooke Potatoes

Baked potatoes are amazing, right? They're yummy, filling, super inexpensive, and a blank slate for whatever flavors you want to add. The only problem is that they take forever to cook and I never want to heat up my whole oven for just a few potatoes. Enter the slow cooker. I've seen the slow cooker technique around the internet for a while, but hadn't gotten ... Continue Reading

chana saag

$6.40 recipe / $1.07 serving
Chana Saag

Sometimes, when I'm suffering from a creativity block, all I need to do is take a stroll through Whole Foods... the freezer aisle in particular. Yesterday I did just that and saw a frozen dinner called Chana Saag. I didn't look too closely, I just saw chickpeas and spinach and knew that's what I wanted to eat. Yummmmm. I made this Indian Style Creamed Spinach a ... Continue Reading

chipotle sweet potato burgers

$6.30 recipe / $1.58 serving
Chipotle-SP-Burger-dressed

STOP. THE. PRESSES. I'm sure I was getting some pretty weird looks in the lunchroom today because I was audibly moaning between every bite of my Chipotle Sweet Potato Burger and staring at it in awe. Seriously the best thing I've eaten in quite a while (and those Black Bean & Avocado Enchiladas were pretty spectacular... not to mention the Philly ... Continue Reading

(not) Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches

$9.29 recipe / $2.32 each
Philly Cheese Steak close (1)

Guess what? I had one more container of Multi-Purpose Shredded Beef in my freezer and one more trick up my sleeve. (please excuse my chewing, I'm eating one of these as I type... and it's sooo good.) Why is it a (not) Philly Cheesesteak? Well, because it's really just a Philly Cheesesteak-esque sandwich made with slow cooked beef rather than thinly sliced steak. ... Continue Reading

roasted vegetable french bread pizza

$11.71 recipe / $1.95 serving
R+Veg+FB+Pizza+flat

Ecstasy. Pure ecstasy. This recipe turned out even better than I had imagined. You know, when you take that first bite and you're not even done chewing before you have to let out a muffled "Woah..." This roasted vegetable french bread pizza with pesto and ricotta made me do that. The pesto sinks into the bread and creates an almost garlic bread type base, the ... Continue Reading

golden rice bowls

$7.40 recipe / $1.23 serving
Golden Rice Bowl

I was talking with a friend recently who was so excited to be finally getting stove in the house that he's been remodeling and living in. So I asked, "What is the first thing you're going to cook?" "Rice. Lots of rice." he replied. Of course. It's so easy to take simple food for granted. I love simple food because it's easy to make and subtle flavors are not lost in ... Continue Reading

funky monkey baked oatmeal

$3.88 recipe / $0.49 serving
Funky+Monkey+Oats+above+dressed

Oh, this one is so much fun! (and delicious!) I really wanted to do some sort of peanut butter baked oatmeal, but I couldn't figure out what to put with it... until I thought about how mashed bananas have made the best baked oatmeals, texture-wise. And then it all just came together. What goes better with peanut butter and banana than coconut and chocolate chips? ... Continue Reading