Budget Bytes

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 Goddess on the Cooking Channel and I watch it whenever I get a few spare minutes.

Last week I saw her make this Chicken South Indian Style and was totally inspired. Sure, I didn't have *any* of the spices called for in the recipe, nor did I have time to go hunt them down, but cooking is all about improvising. My yellow jasmine rice is one of my all-time favorite recipes that I've ever made for the blog, so I decided to use a similar mix of spices for this recipe.

And of course, there is the jasmine rice. So simple, so aromatic, SO important. This dish just wouldn't be the same without the jasmine rice. It's worth hunting down if your local market doesn't have it. Ethnic markets or major supermarkets with well stocked ethnic aisles should carry jasmine rice in large, 5 lb. bags, which will be a fraction of the cost of the small "gourmet" rice brands. Check the bottom shelf, it's usually hiding there.

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Labels: chicken, gluten free, Indian, intermediate, main dish, rice

Cauliflower was on sale!

It's a rare occasion when the price of cauliflower is what I consider to be reasonable, so when it happens, I take advantage. Roasting cauliflower is (IMHO) one of the best ways to prepare this vegetable. I love garlic parmesan roasted cauliflower, but sometimes I need to switch it up.

This recipe is incredibly simple. The mild, roasted cauliflower is nicely balanced with the sweetness of the caramelized onions and fresh peas. I used hot curry powder and I even added some red pepper flakes just to liven things up. Rest assured, if you're not a spicy person, this will still be fantastic with a mild curry powder!

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Labels: easy, gluten free, Indian, sidedish, vegetables, vegetarian

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 pantry to see what left over ingredients I had that needed to be used. I found a half bag of wild rice mix that I had left over from this holiday rice dressing last year. It's a really delicious mix of all sorts of wild rices and since I had kept it tightly sealed, I thought it was definitely worth using.

You don't have to use wild rice for this recipe, although it gives a really nice texture. White or brown will certainly work in a pinch. See the step by step photos for cooking adjustments for white or brown rice.

If you don't like creamy soups (this one isn't super creamy), you can skip the milk mixture at the end of the recipe and use chicken broth instead. Then you'll have yourself a delicious, clear broth chicken and rice soup. You've got options!

I also used the carrots and celery that I had left over from this recipe a couple of weeks ago. I just cleaned and sliced the entire bunch then froze half to use later. I was happy not to have to peel and chop today!

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Labels: chicken, one-dish meals, rice, soup

You do know that everything made between October 1st and 31st has to be pumpkin flavored, right?

Good, now that we've cleared that up...

I've been loving smoothies lately. They fill me up, kill my sweet tooth, and I can sneak in things like flax or spinach without my taste buds even noticing.

Well, the other day my taste buds actually *did* detect the ground flax seed in my fruit smoothie, but it almost tasted like graham crackers... which reminded me of graham cracker crusts... which reminded me of pies... which made me think of pumpkin pie. You following? Anyway, the ground flax really adds a pie element to the smoothie, so I wouldn't suggest skipping it.

My local grocery store was out of that wonderful $1/can generic pumpkin puree, so the cost of this smoothie reflects pumpkin prices that are more like what the rest of you are seeing ($1.69 per 15 oz. can). You can get about four smoothies out of each can. Just transfer the left over puree to a resealable container and it will stay good in your fridge all week and be ready when you need it for more smoothies!

Oh yeah, one more thing. The banana has to be frozen. Frozen bananas are what give smoothies their wonderful ice cream/milk shake like texture. I usually peel and freeze 3 or 4 bananas at a time (each broken in half). Then, I use 1/2 to a whole banana per smoothie. The bananas will brown slowly in the freezer, so try to use them within a week or two.

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Taking advantage of seasonal produce is definitely one of the most important principles of budget byting. I mean, anytime you can get produce for under $1 per lb, you've just gotta do it! Butternut squash is one of my favorite fall vegetables. It's bright color and rich flavor make it wonderful to add to soups, salads, and pasta.

Butternut squash can be quite large and a little difficult to handle. Luckily, once you get the squash peeled and cubed, you can freeze half of it and use it in recipes later. Prep once, cook multiple times. Thank you, freezer!

I probably should have froze half of my cubed squash because this recipe made a TON. I priced it out for 8 servings per recipe but it might actually be closer to 10. Luckily, the finished salad freezes well, too! I've been eating this salad warmed up in the microwave, so when I want to eat the portions that I froze, I'll just microwave it until it is heated through.

I didn't make a "dressing" for this salad because I found that just a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and parmesan was enough for me. If you're the type that needs more moisture, try something a little sweet, like a raspberry vinaigrette. The sweetness will compliment the cranberries nicely.

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Labels: intermediate, pasta, salad, sidedish, vegetables, vegetarian

"Oh no she didn't..."

Oh yes, yes I did.

I've had so much fun over the past year playing with different variations of the no-knead bread that when I discovered a few left over chocolate chips in my pantry, I knew *exactly* what I was going to do with them.

This recipe only takes a few hours as opposed to the long ferment time of the no-knead focaccia. I literally made it one morning while I was running around finishing errands before company came over. You can totally do this in the background of your "real life."

I basically used the same technique as I did for this cinnamon raisin bread, except that I mixed all of the cinnamon and brown sugar right into the dough. It's so good and so easy... it will be your new secret weapon!

Did I mention how good this is toasted with peanut butter for breakfast? But, I guess I didn't really have to, now did I? ;)

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Labels: bread, breakfast, dessert, intermediate

I made this recipe on a total whim today and I'm SO glad I did. It is so delicious that I want to eat it every day for the rest of my life.

And guess what? It's so easy that I just might be able to.

I wrote the recipe to use two chicken breasts but I didn't realize until it was too late that I only had one chicken breast in my freezer... so please ignore the photos that show only one. Make it with two. It definitely needs two.

It is important to note two things: A) I buy my chicken breasts in bulk, divide them and freeze them in bags of two. That is how I get the insanely low price of less than $2/lb. B) Apples were on sale as well, $0.98/lb. Even if your prices are a bit higher, you'll most likely still come out on top. Have you seen what they charge per pound at the deli for chicken salad? It's a lot... like there's gold dust in there or sumthin.

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Labels: chicken, easy, fruit, quick, salad, sandwich

It's once again the season of warm, hearty soups and you can't get much heartier than this one! With Italian sweet sausage, tons of veggies, beans, and hearty kale, this soup has a little bit of everything. It's sure to make you belly warm, full, and happy.

You can also make this vegetarian by adding a second (or maybe even a third?) can of beans instead of the sausage, and swapping the chicken base for a vegetable base. Also, you'll probably want to double up on the herbs and spices since the Italian sausage is well seasoned and added a LOT of flavor.

This soup comes together easily and is perfect for freezing. So, stock your freezer now for those chilly winter days ahead when you don't feel like going to the grocery!

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Labels: easy, main dish, one-dish meals, pork, soup

"Huh-wha? Coffee rubbed pork?"

Yep, that's what I said. I made a killer seasoning rub out of coffee (ground to a powder), brown sugar, cayenne, and the usual suspects (salt, pepper, garlic). Slow cooked pork is pretty much good anyway you fix it, but this rub adds just a touch of that deep, smokey, aromatic flavor that coffee has... plus a 'lil sweetness from the brown sugar and a 'lil kick from the cayenne. There really is just a hint of spicy from the cayenne that I think is necessary to balance the mellow coffee so I wouldn't suggest skipping it this time.

I liked this so much that I actually made two of them this week. The first roast I bought was small and extra fatty so after I cooked it, there wasn't much left. So, I went back to the store and bought a huge boston butt (or pork shoulder) and made another. And I'm so glad I did.

Pork shoulder or Boston butt is definitely the way to go for this roast. That cut has a decent amount of meat but still enough fat to keep it tender while it cooks. You can buy and cook it with the bone in if you'd like. My roast came bone in but it was about twice the size that I wanted. So, I cut half off and used it for this recipe and then froze the rest to make BBQ pulled pork on another day. You definitely get a discount if you buy the large roast as opposed to the smaller half size, so go ahead and buy it and freeze half. But please note, pork shoulder bones are a really crazy shape and unless you're familiar, you might have a difficult time removing it.

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Labels: easy, gluten free, main dish, pork, slow cooker