Budget Bytes: June 2011

cinnamon nut pancake mix
$2.37 recipe / 0.40 batch

One of my favorite things in life is having a big 'ol lazy breakfast. I live for breakfast. No matter what day of the week or how early I have to be up, I make time for a relaxing breakfast. But, weekend breakfast is the ultimate. Pancakes, bacon, eggs, biscuits, pajamas, coffee, newspaper... heaven.

Making pancakes from scratch doesn't always sound so fun when you're tired and trying to enjoy laziness, which is why pancake mix is pretty much the best invention since sliced bread. It takes half of the measuring and mixing out of the equation so the task doesn't seem so arduous in your sleepy, pre-coffee state.

So, here is my version. I happen to love cinnamon and walnuts so I threw them in there ahead of time. You can just as easily skip the cinnamon and walnuts and make a plain mix then just toss in the additives while the pancakes are on the skillet (chocolate chips, pecans, fruit, etc.).

As long as the pancake mix is kept in an air-tight container and in a cool, dark place, this mix should stay good for months. I live in the hot, humid south so I'm keeping mine in the refrigerator in an air-tight glass jar... with a cute label on it.

Cinnamon Nut Pancake Mix

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sloppy joe's plus
$10.97 recipe / $1.37 serving

"Plus? What is this "plus" business?" ... I can hear it now. Well, the "plus" is LENTILS! *crowd cheers* Yes, I added lentils to my sloppy joe's for added fiber and to bulk it up a bit without bulking up the price.

I know, the idea of adding lentils to sloppy joe's is going to frighten some of you to death... If you want regular old, American sloppy joe's, just make the recipe as directed but skip adding the lentils in the last step. Without the lentils this is a very good, classic sloppy joe recipe. ...but I gotta tell ya, it's yummy with lentils. They add a nice texture and almost disappear visually (see photos below). Live on the edge, give lentils a shot.

If you don't want to do lentils, you could try stirring in a can of red beans, kidney beans, or even pinto beans.

BTW, this recipe is super quick and easy so it's a real winner for beginners!

sloppy joe's plus

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marinated white beans
$1.54 recipe / $0.39 serving

I'm always trying to work beans into my diet because they're just so good for you... and I happen to think they're delicious. This quick marinated bean recipe is one of my favorites because it's so quick, simple, and insanely good. I could probably eat the whole lot of them at once but realistically, it's more like four side dish servings.

I made this recipe with canned butter beans but you can use any white bean or beans cooked from dry if you prefer. I chose the canned beans because I was short on time and I chose the large butter beans because I think they're pretty and kind of whimsical.

Marinated White Beans

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chicken shawarma
$7.98 recipe / $2.00 each

This has to be the very best chicken marinade that I've ever made. The marinade was so good that I might even use it as a sauce in the future. The flavor is an interesting mix of savory garlic, sweet spices like cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg, and tangy yogurt and lemon. It's pure magic. Next time I'll probably cut the chicken into strips before marinating to increase the surface area and magnify the flavor saturation.

I made this chicken with the intention of eating it in these sandwich wraps but then I started topping salads with it and eventually just snacked on it plain. It's just that good. You could really use this flavorful chicken for anything. I divided the ingredient list to show just the chicken & marinade in case you want to use it for something other than the sandwich, because even if you don't want the sandwich, you NEED to at least try the chicken.

If you've had chicken shawarma in a restaurant, this is a bit different. Real chicken shawarma is cooked slowly on a rotisserie with fattier bits of chicken. The result is an uber-moist, somewhat greasy delight. Also, when you buy a chicken shawarma sandwich, the lettuce is usually tossed in an oregano vinaigrette, feta and red onion. Well, I had some feta and red onion but forgot both when building my sandwich. A total tragedy... but it was still magically delicious.

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eggplant prosciutto rolls
$9.37 recipe / $1.87 serving

I know what you're thinking, "Prosciutto on Budget Bytes? Prosciutto is helluh expensive!" Yeah, it is expensive but I really really wanted it. Luckily, prosciutto is also one of those ingredients that is super flavorful so you don't need to use very much to get a big flavor bang.

I bought 1/4 pound of prosciutto (thinly sliced) for this recipe which still ended up being about 1/3 of the total recipe cost ($13.68/lb which is still inexpensive for prosciutto). So, if you want to take this recipe in a different direction, you'll probably cut the cost considerably.

You can do so many things with the filling for these rolls. Stir in spinach, pesto, nuts, olives, or maybe even something sweet like a few chopped dates or raisins. Me? I had to have that salty prosciutto!

I also whipped up my own red sauce to spoon over the rolls. It was quick, only about 10 minutes of prep time but it made about twice as much as needed. I froze the other half and I'm sure I'll be glad about it some day when I'm craving a bowl of pasta and red sauce. You could just as easily buy a jar of red sauce and pour it on instead.

You'll want a long, slender eggplant for this recipe. Short eggplants won't be long enough to "roll" and bulbous eggplants will create awkward shaped slices that will also be difficult to roll.

eggplant prosciutto rolls

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kale w/ tomato & feta
$2.92 recipe / $0.73 serving

Sometimes the best recipes come when you're just sweepin' out your fridge. All three of these items (kale, tomato, feta) were things that I had purchased and not used for one reason or another. Sometimes you just have to scan your fridge and cupboard to see if anything inspires you. You'd be surprised at how many delicious things you can make from the "left over" ingredients in your kitchen. The more you cook, the better you'll get at knowing what works together and before you know it, you'll be creating delicious meals out of what seems like nothing!

This was insanely good, btw. I want to make it again and throw a fried egg on top. ...but then, I like to put a fried egg on just about everything.

kale with tomato and feta

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summer vegetable pasta salad
$7.59 recipe / $0.95 serving

I've been craving pasta salad lately so onto the menu it went. In effort to up my vegetable intake, I packed this salad as full of all of the veggies that I possibly could. I'm happy to say, it worked. This pasta salad was so good that I've been eating it about twice a day!

Don't be intimidated by the long ingredient list, this salad comes together really quickly. Use whatever vegetables you can get your hands on but I find that it helps to try to hit most of the colors of the rainbow (the prettier the salad, the more appetizing). I also had about 2/3 of a jar of roasted red peppers in my fridge left over from my hummus pizza, so I sliced 'em up and threw them in there as well, but that is entirely optional.

summer vegetable pasta salad

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apricot dijon pork chops
$7.00 recipe / $1.75 serving

This one is definitely going on my favorites list!

These pork chops can be whipped up in just a matter of minutes (about 30) and require only a few simple ingredients. What you end up with is something so delicious, so gourmet-like, so pretty that you won't believe that it came from your kitchen.

I chose bone-in pork chops for this recipe just because I think they're pretty. Also, when you cook them a lot of flavor seeps out of the bones. Yeah, I know, that sounds kind of frightening but it's nothing short of delicious. Since the pan drippings are a big part of flavoring the sauce, bone-in seems to be the way to go.

You will definitely want to go with thin cut chops so you can give them a quick sear on each side and not have to worry about the inside being under cooked. If you do happen to get thick cut, you can add the chops back to the sauce and let them simmer for a while until the insides are cooked through.

Apricot Dijon Pork Chops

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saltine toffee candy
$4.63 recipe / $0.23

Someone recently asked me for more desserts... Although desserts aren't normally part of my routine, I've had this one up my sleeve for quite some time.

This is a dessert that my mom used to make us when we were kids. It's easy, only has a few ingredients, and is insanely good. We used to make it with just plain chocolate on top but I had some coconut in my pantry so I decided to throw it on there. I've also seen people top this with pecans or walnuts.

This dessert is so addicting because it's the perfect mix of salty and sweet. The salt from the tops of the crackers mixed with all of the brown sugar in the toffee is oh so good. Then there is the texture... The toffee soaks into the flakey crackers when it bakes and creates this incredible, lofty, crunchy texture. It's amazing that so few ingredients can make something so good... It's a seriously dangerous dessert!

saltine toffee candy

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salsa poached eggs & grits
$4.50 recipe / $1.13 serving

Okay, so maybe it's not salsa but it's a really delicious salsa-like sauce.

This breakfast is super easy, really filling (huge portions) and most of all tasty. It was kind of a "sweep the pantry" type of recipe. I knew I wanted eggs poached in a tomato sauce but the rest was whatever I had waiting to be used up (green chiles, green onions, and grits). Luckily, the final product was a winner. A REAL winner.

It was so good that I ate some of this for brunch and then another serving later that day for "brinner" (any Scrubs fans out there? Turk is obsessed with "brinner"). The servings are huge that if you can find a way to fit six eggs into the pan with the sauce, there would definitely be enough tomato sauce to accommodate.

salsa poached eggs with grits

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creamy avocado dressing
$4.42 recipe / $0.53 serving

I wanted to make some green goddess dressing but couldn't find the herbs that I needed... so I ended up with this instead. I couldn't be more happy with the result.

This delightfully creamy dressing packs a huge "fresh" flavor punch thanks to the avocado, parsley and lemon. I threw a little garlic in there just to give it some ground and it was absolutely perfect. I realized later that I had bought some green onions with the intention of adding them to the dressing but had forgotten all about them (I'm losing my mind). So, if you have some, try adding a few to the dressing. I bet it would be amazing.

If you have trouble getting yourself to eat vegetables, this will definitely solve the problem. I couldn't get enough crunchy vegetables dipped in this cool creamy dressing. It's fairly health too. The buttermilk is made from 2% milk so the fat content isn't super high. I used light sour cream and mayo and all of the fats in the avocado are very healthy. I gave myself free reign with this dressing and you should too.

creamy avocado dressing

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honey mustard chicken strips
$6.02 recipe / $1.51 serving

I'm not gonna lie, anything breaded is better fried than baked but I felt like being good today so I baked the chicken strips. If you give them a shallow fry in a skillet, they'll be crispier, more moist, and more golden brown.

BUT for a baked chicken strip, they're pretty freakin' fantastic. Especially with the honey mustard dipping sauce. The sauce is actually the marinade, binding agent for the panko crumbs, AND the dipping sauce. It's very multi-purpose, which makes this recipe a whole lot faster and easier than most breaded chicken recipes. No three step dredging here! Oh, and did I mention that I made it with light mayo? Yep, and it was still bangin'. But you gotta use Hellman's light mayo because that's the only one that tastes right.

Here is a tip for keeping this recipe low cost: buy the chicken and the panko in bulk. I buy chicken breasts in a large 5 lb. pack and then divide it up into freezer bags of two breasts each when I get home. If you happen to catch a "getting close to the sell-by date" sale on top of that, you'll get a super deal. Panko crumbs can be expensive if you buy them in a small box but if you have a Whole Foods or similar store near by, check their bulk bins. I got my panko crumbs for 1.99/lb. I bought about 4 cups for only $1.39. Score!

Honey Mustard Chicken Strips