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boursin mashed potatoes
$7.55 recipe / $1.25 serving

I knew I needed mashed potatoes to go with my herb roasted pork loin last week, but I didn't want plain old potatoes. I decided to spruce them up in the fastest, easiest way possible... with some Boursin cheese!

Boursin is a tangy, creamy cheese that comes in a few different flavors (I used "garlic & fine herbs"). It's great as an ingredient in dishes or just by its self on top of some crackers. I'm not getting paid by Boursin to use their product, I just like it. It's a little pricey, but every now and then I can swing it.

Boursin is far from the least expensive cheese out there and I know that many of you may not be able to find it at your grocery store. BUT, you can also make this "from scratch" instead of with the Boursin short cut! To your potatoes add about 6 oz. of regular goat cheese (or chevre), along with some minced garlic (about a tablespoon) and some chopped herbs (dry or fresh - try basil, oregano, and parsley). Either way, the low cost of the potatoes helps stretch out the higher cost of the relatively expensive cheese.

Boursin Mashed Potatoes

I garnished with some fresh parsley that I had on hand.

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very pinteresting!

Are y'all as crazy about Pinterest as I am? It's an endless source of inspiration and I just can't get enough of it! ...And now Budget Bytes is on Pinterest!

I've created boards for most of my main recipe label categories and pinned the recipes within each. Now you can repin old recipes with ease. For those of you who have had trouble pinning from my site, I hope this is a good fix. Also, I've discovered that pinning via the browser toolbar button works with my site! Just go to "About" on the top of the Pinterest website, choose "pin-it button" from the drop down menu, and then scroll up to the pin-it button for bookmark bars. As far as I know, it works with firefox and chrome, but it might work for other browsers too!

If you've never been on pinterest or just don't have an account, you should still be able to see my pin boards. The pin boards are a great wat to easily browse Budget Bytes recipes visually! So, check it out! :D

Happy Pinning!

P.S. A "vegetarian" board will be coming very, very soon.

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honey balsamic carrots
$2.39 recipe / $0.60 serving

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 glaze on everything.

Honey Balsamic Carrots

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herb roasted pork loin
$6.09 recipe / $1.52 serving

Okay, if you haven't quite honed your kitchen skills yet but you still need a recipe to impress, this is the recipe for you! This recipe is super easy and pretty much fool proof. Just mix up some herbs and oil, smear it on the pork, and throw it in the oven. The end. You probably want to get a meat thermometer to make sure it's cooked through, but other than that, you're home free.

Meat thermometers (like this one) can be found in the kitchen utensil aisle, near spatulas, potato mashers, whisks, and items like that. They're usually only around $5 and they'll save your butt. Pork needs to be cooked to an internal temperature of at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit. For more info about thermometers, internal cooking temperatures, and food safety, click here.

Anyway, back to this recipe... This is a basic herb rub that can be applied any number of meats. If you're not into pork, try chicken breasts or even a beef roast. It's simple yet oh so flavorful!

Also, pay attention to the wording on the pork loin when you're shopping. Pork tenderloin is a smaller muscle than regular pork loin. It's leaner, more tender, but also about twice as expensive. So, keep an eye out.

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facebook 10k GIVEAWAY! [CLOSED]

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the number 10,000, but there are indeed 10,000 followers on Budget Byte's Facebook page! Pretty unbelievable, but I'm happy to have each and every one of you! :D So, to say thanks, let's have a GIVEAWAY!!

I've survived the past 10+ years with just a basic chef's knife, a bread knife, a paring knife or two, and one, yes one, lonely steak knife. But that doesn't mean that you don't deserve more! I want some lucky soul out there to have a really great set of knives for their kitchen. So, I found this set from Chicago Cutlery that has amazing reviews and includes all of the pieces that I would want to have. Oh! And it's available for international shipping! So come one, come all!

Chicago Cutlery 18-Piece Insignia Steel Knife Set with Block and In-Block Sharpener

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taco seasoning
$0.34 batch

I used to be a "packet seasoning" junkie. It just seemed so easy. But really, how difficult is it to measure out a few spices? It takes five minutes, max. So, I've experimented with different combinations of spices for taco seasoning over the past year, and I think today I found the winner! One batch of this is roughly equal to one of those packets that you can get at the grocery store and it's 10 times more flavorful. You can even mix up big batches of it and store it pre-mixed in an air-tight container.

I use a flat cost estimate for herbs and spices because they're just too hard to measure/weigh, so this cost is purely an estimate. I generally estimate five cents for every teaspoon, unless it's a particularly expensive herb. For salt I generally estimate half that. So, take the cost of this recipe with a grain of salt (har har har).

I really think the smoked paprika made the flavor of this seasoning pop, but if you can't get it, use regular paprika in place of it.

It's also worth noting that I usually use fresh garlic and onions in whatever I'm making with my taco seasoning, so there is no garlic or onion powder in this mix. If you won't be using fresh, you'll probably want to add some powdered.

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hearty black bean quesadillas
$6.61 recipe / $0.66 each

Words. Cannot. Describe. ...how insanely good these are!! This is my new favorite recipe, hands down. Hands down.

So, most people go to Whole Foods to explore their beautiful produce, organic meat, and other...well, whole foods. But me? I'm drawn to the junk food and convenience food. I think it's because the selection is so interesting and I feel a lot less guilty eating it. Plus the flavors of their "junk food" are much more aligned with my palate than regular junk food. Anyway, last week I stopped by to stock up on grains and stuff from the bulk aisle and I grabbed a couple frozen quesadillas for a quick splurge dinner. While they were totally delicious, I knew that I could make them better and for far less money. And I did.

I love these quesadillas for three reasons: 1) they're bursting with flavor 2) they're SO EASY to make and 3) they're perfect for the freezer! Students and other busy people take note: this recipe is perfect for you!

I called them "hearty" black bean quesadillas because they are surprisingly filling. I hastily ate two and then promptly felt like my belly was going to explode. This is one of those vegetarian recipes that meat eaters won't feel deprived eating. Promise.

Hearty Black Bean Quesadillas

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raisin spice bread
$1.51 recipe / $0.13

Here's a quickie for ya before I get started in the kitchen today... This was really just an experiment for myself, but it turned out quite tasty so I thought I'd post it!

One of my favorite things to eat for breakfast is peanut butter toast. In fact, I think I went through a phase that was at least a year long where I ate oatmeal molasses bread toast every morning. That recipe is super good, but I wanted something easier this week. So, I added a twist to the "almost no-knead" cinnamon raisin bread.

I love my Indian Spiced Oats with Coconut Milk, so I decided to add some of those spices to the cinnamon raisin bread. The result? Super good! But make this recipe on a weekend... although it doesn't take much effort, it does need to sit around for a few hours during its rise times.

spiced raisin bread

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spicy sausage & broccoli pasta
$8.37 recipe / $1.05 serving

Here's to quick & delicious dinners! This is another one that can be whipped up in practically the same amount of time that it takes to boil the pasta. You gotta love that!

I wanted to buy some spicy Italian sausage for this recipe, by my local grocery store only had sweet Italian sausage. Guess what? It was still delicious! And, if you're adventurous, you could even try some smoked sausage. Yes ma'am!

I also bought some fancy-schmancy smoked gouda to go on the pasta because I thought the creamy, smokey cheese would be a nice contrast to the spicy red pepper... and it was! Because the cheese was so expensive, I decided to mix it with a less expensive blend of generic "Italian blend shredded cheese." In the end, I didn't end up needing much cheese at all, so I could have used straight gouda and still not broken the bank. If you don't want to spring for the fancy smoked gouda, just the shredded Italian blend or some parmesan would have been great on here. You don't need a lot, just a light sprinkle to balance the flavors and textures.

I chose to use frozen broccoli florets because they're already blanched prior to freezing. This makes the cooking processes much faster. Plus, you can buy it and stash it in the freezer until you're ready to use it without worry that it will get wilty and moldy like it does in the bottom of your refrigerator!

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strawberry champagne jello shots
$10.93 recipe / $0.91 serving

What, haven't you heard? Jello shots are all sophisticated and stuff now. Don't believe me? Check out all of the insanely gorgeous gelatinous creations over at the Jelly Shot Test Kitchen!

Anyway, I know Valentines Day is all about chocolate, but I'm just not a huge chocolate person. So, I decided to make something a little more fun as a Valentines day feature. Personally, I'd probably just go for the bottle of champagne by itself, but if you're having a V-day party or something along those lines, these little wiggles would be perfect!

You can also make straight up champagne flavor (without the strawberry) by using all plain Knox gelatin instead of the strawberry flavored Jello. One box of Jello is equal to about two packs of the Knox gelatin. So, substitute accordingly. I used a little extra gelatin (3 envelopes instead of two) because I like my jelly a little more firm (insert joke here).

So, happy Valentines Day, everyone! And if you're by yourself this year, just have a few of these and everything will be allllllright!

Strawberry Champagne Jello Shots

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chicken noodle soup
$9.10 recipe / $1.14

It's been incredibly warm and summery here all winter, but today was cold, dark, and rainy. Which is perfect because I had planned to make a big 'ol pot of chicken noodle soup to soothe my tired, achy body. I hadn't made chicken noodle soup from scratch in probably 6 or 7 years, but I knew it was exactly what I needed. There's no bouillon needed here, folks. This broth is the real deal. Every time I've made this soup I'm always surprised at how just a few simple ingredients can create such a flavorful broth.

This soup is seriously easy but it does require some time to simmer. It can easily be adapted for the slow cooker, if that fits your schedule better. Just pop everything in the slow cooker and cook on high for four hours or low for eight. Pull the chicken out at the end and remove the meat from the bones in the same manner.

Speaking of bones, you really want to get chicken on the bone for this recipe. The bones and connective tissue add a lot to the flavor of the broth. Yeah, it sounds scary to the uninitiated, but I promise, bones are the secret to a good broth.

Chicken Noodle Soup from scratch

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crunchy asian salad
$7.26 recipe / $1.21 serving

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 sesame ginger dressing. It was just perfect. The crunchiness of the the cabbage, carrots, and peanuts was such a perfect contrast to the meatballs and rice.

The number of servings that you'll get out of this recipe will vary greatly depending on the size of your red cabbage. So, I didn't even measure servings but it looked like somewhere between 6 or 8 servings. You may get more, but I doubt you'd get less because my head of cabbage was one of the smallest I've ever seen. Also, I only used about 2/3 of the sesame dressing, so the recipe allows for more if you need it.

Pretty food is so... pretty.

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sesame ginger dressing
$2.87 recipe / $0.57 serving

Okay, okay, okay... so this isn't exactly the most inexpensive dressing in the world, but it sure does taste like the most expensive one! This stuff is hella good and it's all fresh so I know that it's worth the few extra pennies to many of you. Plus, I over paid for my ginger (and half ended up being rotten inside - grrr!).

This makes about 1.25 cups and I figured you'd want about 1/4 cup per serving. That means there are about five servings per batch, which is probably a good thing because you don't want to keep this dressing fore more than about a week in your refrigerator. It's got fresh ingredients, remember? But I'd be surprised if it lasts you that long. It's so good that I kept slurping it off a spoon. I was... uh... taste testing it. Yeah.

Instead of adding actual sesame seeds to this, I used tahini, which is pureed sesame seeds. Tahini not only gives a great sesame flavor but it acts as an emulsifier and helps keep the dressing from separating. I found that it separated a little after a long while but all it needed was a quick swirl to remix everything.

The small amount of toasted sesame oil also provided a lot of flavor. If you don't have this magical ingredient, I highly suggest it. You only needs a touch to amp up the flavor a lot. You can buy toasted sesame oil in most grocery stores in the Asian section. It might not always say "toasted" but you can tell it is because of the dark brown color.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a great salad recipe to use the dressing on!

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broccoli fettuccine alfredo
$5.48 recipe / $0.69 serving

So, this isn't really alfredo, it's more of a (not) alfredo recipe... I've made too many alterations for it to truly be alfredo, but it's still creamy and delicious!

I mean, I love alfredo with all of its buttery, creamy, parmesan-y goodness, but I also know that I can't afford to eat a 2,000 calorie meal. So, I made a few switches to lighten it up a smidge and added some broccoli florets to get in some green. If you like to live dangerously, go all out and use cream in place of the milk.

This pasta comes together super quick and uses staple ingredients so it's a nice standby for those nights that you just really don't feel like cooking. If you want to up the protein, you can quickly grill up some chicken breast on a countertop grill, slice it up, and then serve it on top. This is a super versatile recipe!

Oh, also, this recipe is super easy to cut in half... I just wanted to use the entire package of pasta and broccoli so I made a large batch.

broccoli fettuccine alfredo