Hello, new favorite! I think of this Cajun Sausage and Rice Skillet kind of like “jambalaya light”. It has similar flavors and ingredients as jambalaya, but it’s a slightly scaled back, simplified version, perfect...
Rice
Ahhh, red beans and rice. This classic dish has been filling hungry bellies on a dime for centuries. It’s rich, flavorful, has a TON of fiber and protein, makes a ton of freezer-friendly leftovers,...
It’s almost Friday and it’s this part of the week when my cravings for comfort food really start kicking in. It doesn’t help that it’s been dark and rainy non-stop for like, the last...
Sheet pan meals are my savior. There’s really nothing easier than roasting vegetables in the oven, and it happens to make them taste really good, too. Add a little meat to the vegetables and...
I’m kind of obsessed with meatballs. They’re easy to make, filling, they pack well for lunches, are freezer-friendly, and can be paired with so many different flavors. Plus, I just kind of think meatballs...
I love taking advantage of all the fresh produce in summer and all the color and texture it brings to my plate! This week I played around with eggplant, which has a unique almost...
It’s been a while since I’ve made something that was just a straight up simple comfort food, and after a super long week comfort food was definitely in order. These BBQ Beef and Beans...
It’s been a while since I’ve posted a “one pot” recipe, but I’m really excited about this one. This One Pot Teriyaki Chicken and Rice is incredibly easy, requires very little chopping, and is one...
New day, new burrito bowl! Seriously though, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of burrito bowls, or run out of fun variations on the burrito bowl theme. This week I made my burrito...
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...
I went down the rabbit hole of looking at diet or macro-friendly meal delivery services online the other day. It’s a booming business these days and I was really curious about what kind of...
It’s only been two days since the Vegetarian Challenge ended, but my stomach is already like, “Whoa girl, take it easy. I thought I told you before not to change things up so suddenly!”...
I had seen recipes for Peanut Stew and all of it’s many variations around the internet for years before I finally gave it a try, and I’m only kicking myself for not trying it...
Y’all know I’m all about the bowl meals, right? It’s pretty routine for me to just go into my fridge, grab whatever odds and ends I have, and throw them into a bowl for...
I found myself with a handful of leftover vegetables in my fridge this week, so you know what that means—STIR FRY TIME! I went extra tropical this time, to escape these winter blues, with...
I’m all about the simple meat and vegetable dinners. By changing up the seasonings, the mix of vegetables, and cut of meat, you can have an endless number of simple go-to meals. This week...
One of the first recipes that I wanted to try to make in my rice cooker is Spanish Chickpeas and Rice, and I finally got a chance to do so this week. This simple...
Rice cookers are a convenient and inexpensive way to cook food for those confined to small spaces or without access to conventional kitchens, so I’m going to develop a few recipes specifically for rice...
Salsa is my secret weapon on busy nights. It’s a one stop shop for adding tons of flavor, without having to dice, chop, and measure out a million ingredients. Everything you need is inside...
It’s been almost five years to the day since I first posted this Easy Sesame Chicken, and I felt it was about time for me to pay it a visit. I’ve learned a lot...
I was having one of those days today, y’all. The kind where your have a mile long to-do list but your body is just telling you to curl up and watch Netflix all day....
I can’t lie, guys. Sometimes I crave those cheap freezer burritos. They’re just so easy to buy and stash in your freezer for days when you don’t feel like cooking. But guess what? It...
Are you ready for another super easy meal prep (or weeknight dinner)? This Jerk Chicken with Pineapple Black Bean Salsa is incredible simple, but still big on summery flavor. The spicy jerk seasoning perfectly...
I have really been craving burrito bowls, so I decided to highlight them in the meal prep series this week. If you’re a meal prep pro, you’re probably very familiar with burrito bowls. They’re...
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...
Hey guys! As I mentioned on Instagram earlier this week, I won’t be doing a meal prep post this Sunday because I wasn’t able to cook anything all week and I want to get...
Hey guys, I’ve got a “cheat” recipes for you today. This Easy Cheesy Broccoli rice is what I make when I’m too impatient to make a full blown Broccoli Cheddar Casserole. This is what...
Hey guys! It’s been a little quiet around the blog this week because of chaos elsewhere and the fact that I lost my internet connection for a couple of days (my worst nightmare). BUT...
OMG yum yum yum! This recipe is an instant new favorite! I’ve been all about the skillet and one-pot meals lately because I’m super busy, so today I made this Greek Turkey and Rice...
I’m declaring chimichurri the sauce of the summer. It’s so bright and vibrant, and as I’ve mentioned before it’s good on pretty much everything! This week I made this scrumptious one-pot Chimichurri Chicken and...
The last apartment I lived in was on a super cute street in Mid-City New Orleans. I had the best group of neighbors and our entire block would often hold impromptu cookouts on the weekends....
I had a very “Louisiana” day yesterday. I made a big pot of red beans during the day and then went to a crawfish boil at night. :P I was craving red beans, so I...
Today’s post isn’t as much a recipe as it is a meal idea or example of how I build meals on the fly based on what I have in the refrigerator. I’ve posted about my...
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...
The other day I got a message on Facebook from Tiffany exclaiming how much she liked my Easy Oven Fajitas and Oven Roasted Greek Stuffed Pitas and she asked if I could create a similar...
I’m not sure if it’s a good or bad thing when I make a recipe that is so good that I want to keep eating past the point of full. On one hand, if...
As I mentioned in my last post, I’m having fun exploring the new Trader Joe’s in New Orleans. I asked everyone on Instagram to share their favorite products with me so I could sample...
You know how I love my rice. It’s the perfect, inexpensive, blank canvas for any meal. I’ve been stuck on my favorite yellow jasmine rice for years, but sometimes I want my rice to...
I love taking concepts from old recipes and reinventing them into something new. For this Tomato Herb Rice with White Beans and Spinach I’ve taken my (not) Sun Dried Tomato Sauce and used it to...
This week I played around with the concept for my classic Taco Chicken Bowls and made a “green” salsa version, or Slow Cooker Salsa Verde Chicken Bowls. Salsa is kind of a secret weapon when...
As I mentioned yesterday, I’m just coming back from vacation and am totally craving “healthy” homemade food. So, I prepared these Chili Garlic Tofu Bowls to eat for lunch the rest of the week. They’re...
I really wanted to have this recipe ready for y’all yesterday, because it really is one of those “weekend day-cooking” sort of recipes, but I have been glued to social media since late last week,...
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...
Did you know that the Dragon Noodle sauce also makes a great stir fry sauce? Truth. So when I saw that I still had a half pound of shrimp left over from my last...
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...
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...
Okay, so I made this Pressure Cooker Chicken and Rice for myself the other day just as an experiment and not for the blog. Luckily, I decided to snap some photos of the process...
Remember that Thai Curry Vegetable Soup that I made a while back that was like, “GAH! THIS IS SO GOOD!”? Well, yesterday I had a craving for those flavors again, but decided to do...
The other day I got a craving for that drooly-delicious pan-fried tofu that I made a couple months ago and I knew I had to make more. But, instead of making the exact same dish,...
Y’all know I love my bowl meals! Everything you need in one easy to eat (and transport) bowl, no need to worry about what side dishes go with what. Plus, they’re easy for you...
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...
After finally figuring out how to cook tofu and actually have it taste good (see my Sesame Tofu with Broccoli), I couldn’t wait to make more. I used the same easy pan fry method,...
This quick skillet dish is kind of like the faster, vegetarian version of the Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala that I made a few weeks back. It’s a rich tomato sauce spiked with aromatic garam...
I had a huge triumph today. I finally successfully made tofu. I’ve tried cooking with tofu in the past and could never really get it to be the right flavor or texture. When I cooked...
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...
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...
More often than not, I scrounge around in the fridge putting leftover ingredients together in a bowl to make random meals. I’ve discovered some of my favorite flavor combinations that way! This week I...
I love all things “one pot”. Cooking everything in one pot or skillet just makes my life so much easier, and when everything cooks together, all the flavor stays in the pot! This simple...
This Yellow Rice Chicken Skillet combines one of my favorite foods in the world, Yellow Jasmine Rice, with a couple of items that I found in the back of my freezer. I found some...
One of my favorite dinners from my childhood was a big bowl of rice, black beans, salsa, and cheese, or what I call “Poor Man’s Burrito Bowls.” Looking back I don’t know if that...
#FancyFriday Okay, so this Plum Salad with Lemon Ginger Dressing is a little fancy for me, but after overdosing on pasta and pizza over the past week or so, I needed a salad BAD....
I’ll openly admit that I’ve tried to make paella on more than one occasion and failed miserably. It’s probably a combination of not having the right paella pan or not using the correct method,...
I’ve wanted to make a BBQ Chicken “bowl” meal for a couple weeks now. I love bowl meals because they are easy to prepare, hold up well in the fridge, and offer a great variety...
I discovered Mujaddara probably about ten years ago at this little Lebanese lunch spot in Baton Rouge, called Serop’s Express. I didn’t know what the brown crumbly mixture was, but I ordered on a...
I’ve been craving Broccoli Cheddar Casserole for quite some time, and I finally got around to making it for lunch today. Yay! This awesome homemade version contains NO “cream of” soups and, thanks to...
This is one of my favorite quick, savory breakfasts and I’ve made about a hundred versions of it. It’s going to seem gross or weird to a lot of you, but I LOVE it....
If there’s one thing I knew right away starting the SNAP Challenge, it was that I was going to have to bulk out my meals considerably with inexpensive beans and grains to stay under...
Stuffed bell peppers are awesome, but I always find them slightly awkward or difficult to eat. Can’t I just throw the ingredients in a bowl and eat it with a fork?! (I feel that...
I’m loving these one skillet meals not only because they’re so easy to make, but because they’re so easy to eat. Instead of filling my plate with a main dish and a couple of sides,...
I’ve gotten a little lax with my grocery spending lately, so during the month of June I’m making it my mission to use up as many things in my pantry and freezer as possible....
So, you remember how much you love those Taco Chicken Bowls? And how they’re so easy because you just pour everything into the slow cooker and press go? Well guess what… You can do...
Jambalaya is one of the easiest, filling, and inexpensive dishes you can make. Just ask anyone from Louisiana—we live off the stuff. Flavorful sausage, savory aromatic vegetables, and rice all cook together in one...
If you don’t live in Louisiana, you might not know that we’ve got a big carnival going on right now. Parades, marching bands, crazy costumes, and (of course) beads are daily sightings for the...
Want to make your house smell seriously good? Just make this rice pilaf. The scent of jasmine rice alone makes my mouth water, but add a few spices and it’s absolutely intoxicating. This lightly...
I came up with this recipe because I had half of a flank steak in my freezer that I needed to use up. As usual, I bulked up the meat with beans, rice, and...
Sometimes, when I’m suffering from a creativity block, all I need to do is take a stroll through the freezer aisle. Yesterday, as I was perusing the freezer goods, I saw a frozen dinner...
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...
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’m still all about these easy, one dish dinners. This one is very similar to the ultra popular Taco Chicken Bowls, but it’s made in the oven and takes about an hour, as opposed...
2013 is going to be GREAT, I can feel it! This is the first recipe of the year and I already know that it’s going to go on next year’s “best of” list! It’s...
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....
Meatloaf isn’t pretty. Let’s just get that out on the table. It’s so ugly, in fact, that I couldn’t stop giggling while taking these pictures. All I could think about were those silly post...
I love all things tropical. I love the weather, I love the music, I love the FOOD. I often day dream of a prince charming who owns a jet and insists on flying me...
Betcha didn’t think you could eat shrimp on a budget, did you? Well, if you use the basic Budget Byting principle of combining an expensive ingredient (like shrimp) with less expensive ingredients (like rice...
Okay, I’ll admit, this recipe is a re-post. Savory coconut rice is one of the first recipes I made for the blog and it has been a staple in my house ever since. I...
I fell in love with Indian food last year and have craved it ever since. I’ve experimented here and there but it’s still completely uncharted territory to me. I recently discovered the show Spice...
Why am I making stews in the middle of summer? I don’t know. It just sounded tasty… and making hot food in the middle of summer never really bothered me much. So, if it’s...
Okay, this is a pretty big statement to make, but… This Yellow Jasmine Rice is the best rice I’ve ever had. Yep. The flavor is simply out of this world. The aroma as it...
This taco chicken bowls recipe is definitely “slow-cooker 101”. It’s probably one of the first recipes that most people learn to make in their slow-cooker. In fact, some version of Slow Cooker Taco Chicken...
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...
Okay, I don’t really know what this recipe is but I DO know that I started with a recipe for butter chicken (which may not have been all that authentic to begin with) and...
Last year for Thanksgiving I made an apple walnut stuffing that was *out of this world* good, despite using a boxed mix. I was so happy with that recipe that I really didn’t plan...
What happens when you’re craving something sweet while watching Anthony Bourdain travel around India? You start googling saffron rice pudding recipes. I found a few recipes that I liked (this one) but since I’m still...
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...
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...
One of my favorite things to order when I go to Mediterranean restaurants is Stuffed Grape Leaves or Dolmas. I’ve always shied away from making them at home because they seemed like they would...
I made this Cilantro Lime Rice as a side dish for the Shrimp Tacos that I made last weekend (my apologies for taking so long to post it). This rice is very simple and...
Whew, what a week… after having out of town visitors for the past four days, I am finally getting back into my routine (school, blog, sleep… school, blog, sleep… school, blog… well, you get...
