We’re kind of coming full circle here, with Budget Bytes. I started this blog as a log of what I was cooking up in my kitchen with my limited budget and over the years...
Carrot
Soup season is already on its way out, but I couldn’t resist one more warm and cozy pot of goodness. For this super easy and deliciously chunky Ham and Bean Soup I took cue...
I always hear people talk about how expensive vegetables are, and that’s why it’s impossible to eat healthy on a budget. Au contraire, mon frere! Sure, some vegetables are expensive, but there are so many...
Homemade chicken noodle soup from scratch is one of my absolute favorite comfort foods. Not only is it incredibly easy, but even just the smell of it simmering away is soothing and totally gives...
I never knew I was a coleslaw person until I made it myself. I had eaten it plenty of times at restaurants, never once having been impressed, and always wondering what the appeal was....
Despite its “swampy” appearance, this soup is simply one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. If you like tomato soup, you’ll adore Swamp Soup. It’s like tomato soup on steroids and with a...
Can’t stop, won’t stop with the yummy soups over here! Soup is easy, soup is filling, soup is an easy way to pack some more vegetables into your day, and soup (usually) freezes well....
There’s something super comforting to me about sautéed cabbage with butter and I eat it a lot in the winter months when cabbage is fresh and inexpensive. And because it’s just so cheap, delicious, and...
Soup is such a great food. So easy, so filling (if you do it right!), a great way to use up leftover ingredients, and the flavor possibilities are endless. I recently discovered how delicious...
You can never have enough all-purpose side dish recipes, like Balsamic Roasted Vegetables. These sweet and savory caramelized vegetables are versatile (use any vegetables), they hold up well to reheating (perfect for meal prep),...
Have you ever seen those packets of flavored tuna in the grocery store? They were on sale once and I got curious, so I bought a few. The idea was interesting, but the execution...
This Cold Peanut Noodle Salad is the perfect meal prep for summer! No need to reheat, it’s light but filling, and the flavors are oh so fresh. It’s topped off with a homemade tangy,...
I gave a little TLC to one of my older recipes this week, Spicy Tuna Guacamole Bowls! With many people avoiding meat for lent, I figured this was a good time to revisit this...
Okay, I’m going to squeeze in one more wintry comfort food dish before the weather really starts warming up! This Cheesy Cottage Pie is chock-full of vegetables in a rich beef gravy, and topped...
It’s self care Saturday over here at the Budget Bytes house and I’m eating this super cozy Coconut Turmeric Chicken Soup. With chilly temps outside I knew I wanted to make a pot of...
Here’s a little quickie for you today from week 1 of my 31 Day Vegetarian Challenge! These creamy and spicy Sriracha Chickpea Salad Wraps are super fast and easy to make, perfect for cold...
I’m already declaring THIS my favorite recipe of the winter of 2018/2019, and we haven’t even gotten to winter yet! That’s just how excited I am about this Vegan Winter Lentil Stew. I’ve made...
Pan frying chopped tofu and drenching it in a yummy sauce is my new favorite tofu technique. It’s so easy and as I think about the sauce options, the variations are totally endless! Today...
You guyyyyysssssss. This Thai Coconut Curry Carrot Soup is everything. I seriously wanted to slurp up the entire pot! It’s light, creamy, just a little spicy, and somehow perfectly fitting with this warmer than...
I’ve tried making a Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal a few times in the past, but I’ve never gotten it quite right until today. It has been a long time in the making, so I’m...
Chicken and Dumplings. What does that mean to you? There are about a million (okay, maybe more like 900,000) different interpretations of this comfort food. When I was growing up it was basically chicken...
THIS is one of those soups that makes you feel good about your health and is still incredibly delicious and satisfying. Beans are probably the most underrated super food. They’re packed full of fiber,...
It’s about this time every year that I start craving fresh vegetables. Between all the holiday food, football food, and generally heavy, slow cooked winter dishes, I need something light and fresh! Unfortunately a lot...
Do you remember the cabbage soup diet? It was one of those crazy fad diets where you were supposed to eat as much as you want of just one thing (in this case cabbage soup) and...
Lately I’ve been trying to branch out beyond my garlic and onion obsession and play with new flavors. Miso is something I haven’t experimented with in the past, but I’ve wanted to explore for...
It’s time for another “sweep the kitchen” recipe! You know how I love these recipes. Food is not only expensive, but it’s also the number one contributor to landfills, so I always try to...
I’ve been making a lot of soups lately and not being very diligent about chopping and freezing my leftover vegetables, so I found myself this week with a refrigerator full of vegetables and wondering...
While red cabbage is still on sale for $0.50/lb., I’m just going to keep going with it! This super simple Sesame Slaw is fast, fresh, and a nice break from the heavy, cooked down...
It’s funny that I’m calling this Sausage and Tortelloni Soup when the motivation behind making it was all the vegetables that I packed into the pot. I was craving vegetables, but didn’t feel like...
I don’t make fish often because it tends to be on the expensive side, but I’ve really been craving it lately. Add to that my continued efforts to try to buy higher quality and...
Have you ever gotten flavor overload? Like if you eat too much and the next day all you want to eat is something really simple? Okay, maybe that’s just me or because I work...
I’m alllll about the casseroles in winter. They’re warm, filling, and comforting. This week I took my favorite Broccoli Cheddar Casserole and beefed it up a bit. …Er, chickened it up a bit. I...
When my body is tired and achey, or I’m feeling a bit under the weather, I always throw together a pot of this Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup. The aroma that fills my house as...
While checking the sale flyers for my grocery stores last week I noticed that Whole Foods had beef stew meat on sale for $3.99/lb. and I was ALL OVER that. I was finally able to...
You guys know that I love my bowl meals, right?? They have everything you need in one bowl, with more flavor, texture, and color than you can shake a stick at. But the more...
I was craving a stir fry with those delicate little rice noodles and a salty, spicy, curry based sauce this week, so I revisited my original recipe for Singapore Noodles, increased the curry powder (because...
Okay, one last Thanksgiving post before the big day! I couldn’t let this year get away from me without making some stuffing (yeah, my yankee blood still calls it “stuffing” and not “dressing” like...
If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen my stories about adventuring through the new Trader Joes in New Orleans. I’m so excited to finally have a Trader Joes near by because...
What happens when an unusually cool Autumn breeze blows by and I get a sudden craving for split pea soup, but am waaay too tired to do any actual cooking? I grab a bag...
I hate using the term “diet”, so let’s just say that ever since I got back from vacation I’ve been focusing on healthy lifestyle choices. I’m trying to focus (again) on increasing my vegetable...
I know, I know, two cabbage recipes in a row? While I’m sure some of you are delighted, some might be totally “over” cabbage. But I’m all about reducing waste over here, so I...
If you’re one that struggles to work vegetables into your diet (isn’t that pretty much all of us?) you’re going to love this Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry. It’s full of vegetables and absolutely addictive. And...
This post is a little different than my usual. Instead of a “recipe” this is more like an experiment. It’s no secret that I love salad bars, I even wrote a post about How...
It’s HOT outside, so I’m experimenting a lot with my slow cooker this week. Slow cookers are awesome not only because they’re mostly hands-off, but also because they contain their heat well and don’t...
I loooove me some broccoli. When it’s cooked, anyway. For some reason the flavor of raw broccoli has always rubbed me the wrong way. BUT I know raw broccoli is super healthy, so I try to...
Confession time: I’ve been spending way too much on sushi lately. So, I decided to revisit one of my very first Budget Bytes recipes from way back in 2010, Sushi Bowls. For most people, making sushi at...
My pasta situation is getting a little out of control. My pantry is starting to overflow with half-full packages of pasta and a girl can only eat Bowties and Broccoli so many times per week....
I was in the mood for lasagna this week, but it’s already in the 80’s here in New Orleans, so I decided to make a garden vegetable lasagna soup instead. Lasagna soup is great...
This recipe started out as a craving for lettuce wraps and ended up as Hoisin Stir Fry Bowls with Spicy Peanut Sauce because, IMHO, it’s just a whole lot easier to eat things out...
Okay, so technically I didn’t “stir fry” anything here, but this is what you make at home to mimmic stir fry when you don’t have the proper equipment. This was really more of a...
So I broke down the other day and bought a rotisserie chicken. I feel a little guilty because it was out of budget, but on the other hand I’m not so upset that rotisserie...
I don’t think I can accurately articulate how delicious and fresh this Nam Sod is. Imagine a fresh and zesty ginger and lime dressing that has a little bit of spicy heat, and a...
After making (and devouring) my Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes last week, I was really craving some shepherd’s pie. But, because of the strict budget I’m working with, I decided to make a vegetarian shepherd’s Pie....
So, I actually made this Hot and Sour Soup last week, but got so busy with Thanksgiving madness that I didn’t have a chance to post it until today. But that’s okay, I figure...
This week I had a killer craving for some classic spaghetti and meat sauce. But, as you may know, I like to add vegetables whenever and wherever I can to recipes, so I shredded...
A few weeks ago, my friend Jenni sent me a link to this amazing looking Bean and Bacon Soup by Taste and Tell. I had actually run across the photo on Pinterest a couple days...
I kind of wore myself out this past weekend with long days and lots of exciting activity. So when I finally made it home to New Orleans, I was feeling tired, achy, and in...
My freezer is lookin’ a little bare these days, so it’s time to start making some stuff that I can freeze portions of for nights when I just want to pop something in the...
I still had a few carrots in my fridge and half of a rotisserie chicken, so I decided to mix them up into a delicious chicken Caesar salad and stuff them into a wrap....
The “cold and crunchy” summer food cravings continue for me. So, this week I reached into my vault (text files that I created 15 years ago when I first moved out on own) and...
I’m still on a vegetable binge, wanting to eat every vegetable in sight. More specifically, I want cold, crunchy, crispy vegetables. A light summer slaw sounded like the perfect fix. This awesome Apple Cabbage...
I’m lovin’ these desserts for two! It’s such a life saver for anyone living by themselves or with just one other person. Just enough indulgence without going overboard. When a reader requested a carrot...
For the past year or so I’ve been working on the side making step by step photo tutorials for Food.com. Ever since I made this basic meatloaf tutorial, I’ve wanted to make it again and...
I can feel it, y’all! I can feel the summer coming! And in its honor, I wanted to make something refreshing, crisp, and crunchy. Hello, Cumin Lime Coleslaw! Seriously, though. Ever since the weather...
If you’ve been a follower of this blog for a while, you may already know that I’m obsessed with roasted vegetables. Oven roasting vegetables makes their flavor sweeter and deeper, transforming them into something really...
This recipe for Curried Lentils is a spin off of the ever popular Quick Curried Chickpeas. It always amazes me how a recipe with so few ingredients can have such big flavor! For this...
A couple days ago I was craving lasagna. Then I was crazing vegetable lasagna. Then I realized I was too lazy to deal with carefully layering lasagna noodles and all the other goodies to...
Whoa. Just, WHOA. I’ve never smelled anything as lovely and drool-inducing as the scent in my house the day I made this Slow Cooker Rosemary Garlic Beef Stew. It was absolutely incredible. It had...
Remember that head of purple cabbage from week one of the SNAP Challenge? Well, to my surprise, it still hadn’t gone rotten. Sure, it was a little discolored on the open/cut surface, but I...
I love black bean soup like I love chili. It’s great on its own, but it’s also fun to get creative with toppings and turn it into a bowl full of fun (okay, maybe...
Okay, so it’s not really alfredo because it doesn’t even have any cream, but it’s close enough that I’m going to call it that. This fake-out alfredo is a little lighter and doesn’t hit your...
After a long egg breakfast phase (fueled by this simple technique for soft boiled eggs), I’ve begun craving my old standby, baked oatmeal. I had the intention of making a carrot cake-esque baked oatmeal,...
I gotta give a big shout out to Neil, whose tweet inspired me to try again with a recipe that I completely failed with the first time around. Neil tweeted about an amazing vegetable...
OMG… This Chunky Lentil and Vegetable Soup is my new all-time favorite soup! I’ve already eaten two bowls since I made it today at lunch and I don’t think I’ll even need to freeze...
It’s time to stock my freezer with some portions of homemade chicken soup for the cold winter ahead. I’ve made a classic chicken noodle soup in the past, but I wanted to try a...
Whoever discovered beans gets a big fat medal of appreciation from yours truly. They’re just incredible. Incredible and cheap. And so is this Slow Cooker White Bean Soup. This soup is thick, warm, comforting,...
As soon as the weather warms up, I get really into salads. I like the fact that they’re cold (or at least warm or room temp) and they provide a lot of texture and...
Oh the mighty banh mi. It’s one of my favorite foods in the entire world. It’s truly the perfect sandwich. If you’re unfamiliar with banh mi (Vietnamese submarine sandwich), check out this excellent little...
I think we’re experiencing one of the last cold spells of the year here in Louisiana, so I wanted to make one last hearty, soul-warming soup. This Navy Bean Soup was incredibly easy, but...
It’s soooo cold here! (read: below 75 degrees) So, I’ve been really into soups lately, if you can’t tell. Earlier this week I got an email from Lindsay with a red lentil soup recipe...
Let me first say that I’m sure this is probably not authentic Chicken Yakisoba. I’ve never actually eaten this classic Japanese street food on the streets of Japan, but I have seen Mark Bittman...
Honey + Balsamic Vinegar + Butter = Heaven. I’m not sure if I really need to say anything more… oh wait, it’s easy too. ;) I might have to start putting this honey balsamic...
I loved eating the teriyaki meatball bowls all week but they desperately need a vegetable side to balance things out. So, I whipped up a quick Asian salad and coated it in the yummy...
I’ve hesitated to make potato soup for quite some time because all I could think about is how creamy and carby it must be. Surely it’s not good for me to eat that every...
Okay, I might just have to make egg rolls all the time. They were so much easier than expected! And, because I decided to bake mine, they’re pretty freakin’ healthy. And, wow, super inexepensive!...
Believe it or not, in the 2.5 year history of this blog, I have never made a basic chicken noodle soup. Well, I almost made it this weekend until I went perusing through my...
So, back when I lived in Baton Rouge, there was a Mexican restaurant (Ninfa’s) that kept jars of pickled carrots and other vegetables on the tables as an appetizer. Practically every time I went...
I’m really not sure how authentic this recipe is but I’m calling it kung pao chicken because it’s spicy and it has peanuts. That’s good enough for me. Ha! Okay, aside from that, it’s...
Have you ever seen those bags of 16 bean soup mix in the dry bean aisle at the grocery store? Well, they’re kinda like the ramen of the bean world. They come with their...
Wow, I’ve had so many good recipe suggestions from readers lately! And I guess that’s a good thing because I’ve been so busy with school and other projects that I don’t even have time...
Nom nom nom… (I’m eating one of these as I type this blog post) So, I’m usually not that into muffins because they really just seem like cupcakes in disguise. Morning glory muffins, on...
Today’s recipe is brought to you by the word mirepoix. Via wikipedia: Mirepoix (cuisine), a traditional French culinary combination of onions, carrots and celery aromatics. I felt it important to share this piece of...
Okay, you’re really going to have to try not to judge a book by it’s cover here. I know this Lentil & Sausage Stew isn’t the prettiest thing to look at but, OMG, it...
Singapore noodles. They didn’t originate in Singapore (theory is they’re Cantonese) and they were popularized by Chinese restaurants in Europe. How is that for a hodgepodge history? Well, I’m going to blame this one...
In effort to use up some of the things stored in my freezer and pantry, I took a quick survey of what I had available. I had a left over ham hock from making...
Why serve plain white rice with your meal when you can sneak in some veggies and a ton of flavor? I was originally going to make this dish a coconut (not) fried rice but...
One of my goals this summer was to make tomato soup from scratch… and by scratch I mean whole tomatoes, not canned. Tomato soup made from fresh tomatoes is a completely different beast from...
I’m calling this one Vegetable NOT Fried Rice because it’s like fried rice but not (in case that wasn’t obvious). I love fried rice but it is usually so insanely oily and I’m just not...
I wanted to make something to eat along side my sushi bowls this week so I decided to make some Pork and Ginger Pot Stickers. I remember attempting to make pot stickers a long...
