My boyfriend saw what I was cooking and said, “What is this, the “Hungry Man” edition of Budget Bytes? 😆 What can I say, this pandemic has me craving comfort food! And for some...
Mushrooms
The other day I was scrolling through Pinterest and an image of some cheesy, tomatoey gnocchi made me stop in my tracks and drool a little. But the funny part is that at first...
What is a Wonderpot? It’s a pasta dish that cooks all in one pot (a.k.a. One Pot Pasta) with vegetables, aromatics (garlic, onion), and broth so that every bite is packed with flavor. The...
Ever since I added coconut milk to my ramen broth, I haven’t been able to stop adding coconut milk to all of my savory saucy and brothy dishes. The creaminess of the coconut milk...
There’s something really special about the simplicity of pasta with butter, salt, and pepper. The creaminess of the butter and the little pops of salt and pepper sitting on the surface of the pasta,...
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),...
Pan sauces for the win! Making a quick sauce in the skillet after browning meat is one of the easiest ways to make a really spectacular meal. Those little browned bits on the skillet...
I hope I’ve convinced you to experiment with leftovers in your fridge by now. Most of my favorite recipe creations have come from me just piling whatever I have leftover in my fridge into...
Making sure I get vegetables into my diet takes daily effort. But one thing I know for sure is that if I have them prepped, I am 1000x more likely to eat them. So...
“Chicken and vegetables” sounds like some sort of boring diet food, but when you skewer them on a stick (food on a stick is always more fun) and drizzle them with the most vibrant...
Move over sriracha, gochujang is having a moment in the American food scene, and I’m really happy about it. These Gochujang Mushroom bowls feature sweet and spicy gochujang marinated mushrooms, quick pickled cucumbers, crunchy...
While planning my menu for week 3 of my Vegetarian Challenge, I took inventory of my pantry and noted that I still had about two pounds of potatoes left over from week one that...
Whyyyy don’t we have smell-a-vision yet? I feel like if you could smell this Kale Swiss and Mushroom Strata as it baked, it would be a total game changer. Forget photos, just smell it....
I’m a big fan of savory breakfast dishes and this Spinach Mushroom and Feta Crustless Quiche might be my new favorite! It’s very filling (without giving me a carb-hangover), and it’s chock-full of vegetables. There...
There’s nothing quite like a hot soothing soup when you’re feeling under the weather. This fast and easy homemade egg drop soup comes together in just a few minutes and has a ginger infused...
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...
Green Bean Casserole is a Thanksgiving classic, but one that originated in the mid-20th century, when recipes were rife with canned goods and other processed food products. Now, more than 50 years later, tastes...
I’m already experiencing temperatures in the 50’s and 60’s here in Nashville and it’s got me in FULL BLOWN fall-mode. I’m ready for cozy sweaters, campfires, and SOUP. Creamy mushroom soup has been on...
Sometimes you just need things ASAP—that is, as SIMPLE as possible. ;) That’s when I pull out recipes like these Simple Mushroom Broccoli Stir Fry Noodles. The sauce is incredible simple, but hits all...
I had a completely different plan for cooking today, but you know what? In the end I decided I just wanted some comfort food. This Cheesy Rigatoni Skillet is just another version of my favorite easy...
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...
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...
The other day I was updating my blog post for Mushroom Herb Gravy in anticipation of the Thanksgiving season, and while I sat there trying not to drink the gravy straight from the skillet, I thought,...
The other day on Facebook I asked your opinion on “classic casseroles.” The response was almost unanimous—you love them, but would like to see versions made without as many canned ingredients or “cream of”...
I got that craving for fajitas the other day and just had to have ’em. I decided to switch things up a bit from my usual oven fajitas and use portobello caps in place...
I don’t know if I told you, but I used to make pizzas for a living. I didn’t earn a lot, but it was definitely one of my favorite jobs ever. I had tons...
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...
Congee (or jook, depending on the language) is a rice porridge that I’ve wanted to make for quite some time. It’s a warm, comforting porridge made with rice, chicken, ginger, and sometimes other fun...
This recipe was originally designed to be a balsamic vegetable kebab, served over seasoned rice, but at the last minute I thought, “Why bother with skewers?” Sure, they look pretty and making food look...
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...
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...
The other day I needed something really fast and easy for lunch and I was craving Swiss cheese (weird, right?). Well, my solution to that problem was this: sauté up some mushrooms and garlic,...
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...
When in doubt, pasta + Parmesan + vegetable = a really good meal. For this version of that quick dinner classic, I added some mushrooms for extra umami, garlic because you gotta have garlic, and...
I’ve been making so many “one pot” recipes lately that I feel like it’s been ages since I’ve made a good ol’ side dish. Well, I had a bag of orzo sitting in my...
I’m really digging these one pot pastas lately. It’s so nice to just cook everything in one pot and have less to wash (especially when you don’t have a dishwasher, like me!). Not to...
Guess what time it is? Comfort-food-o’clock! And what makes better comfort food than a rich creamy pasta dish, like this One Pot Beef and Mushroom Stroganoff? This is yet another “better than the box” meal. It’s...
Is it autumn yet? I mean, pumpkin flavored stuff is already everywhere, so I’m just gonna go ahead and start making some more fall-like recipes. This is a recipe that my mom used to make,...
My favorite recipes are those that feature just a few ingredients so that the subtle and intricate flavors are not lost. …not to mention, they’re just easier to make! ;) Nearly every time I...
This recipe was a true labor of love. Sometimes food just taste better when you know you’ve put a lot of time into it. It’s not that this recipe was at all difficult, it...
So, I broke down last week and bought a burrito from the hospital cafeteria for lunch. It was SO good, but at $5.50 for the least expensive option, I knew I could do better....
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!...
I’ve been so busy lately. So, when I finally got a day off, I wanted something quick, delicious, and satisfying. I had not been meeting my quesadilla quota lately, but I was kinda craving pizza…...
I know it sounds weird, hummus on a pizza? Well, back in the day when I was slingin’ pizzas at Whole Foods, we made a special vegan pizza using hummus as a replacement for...
This post is dedicated to all of you who are still going out to eat at the Olive Garden. ;D This is a super simple, very flavorful pasta dish that will cost about the...
What makes a gravy? Well, its basically a liquid thickened by roux (flour particles coated with fat). You can use any liquid (broth, milk, cream) and you can use any fat (meat drippings, butter,...
By noon today my throat had swollen up so big that I couldn’t swallow and my head was pounding. The sickness was upon me. So, as soon as I got home I started searching...
I had a hankering for some balsamic marinated mushrooms the other day but after searching for recipes, I decided to try a batch of regular marinated mushrooms before trying the balsamic variety. There were...
