Budget Bytes

UPDATE: If you didn't already know, I FINALLY joined twitter a few days ago! I've never used it before, so I'm still trying to figure it all out. Hopefully soon I'll graduate from twitter-school and begin to tweet those clever quips that twitter users are so famous for (hopefully). Hop over to @Budget_Bytes if you want to encourage me along the way!

And, as always, you can find me in my comfort zone on Facebook.

Cheers!

Labels: minipost

As soon as I cut this grapefruit open, I realized how much I LOVE grapefruit. It's been too long, dear grapefruit. Sweet, tart, fragrant grapefruit...

You probably need to be a grapefruit person to like this recipe, and a ginger person for that matter. Grapefruit can be somewhat bitter, which turns some people off and attracts others. I like the tart/bitter flavor so much that I usually don't put any sugar on them at all, but when paired with spicy ginger, a little extra sweetness didn't hurt. The result is a warm, juicy, sweet, slightly spicy, and super fragrant breakfast treat.

I have to thank Amelia for sending me this link to Broiled Grapefruit with Ginger from Girl Cooks World. I've wanted to try broiled grapefruit for quite some time, but I wanted to do something more than just plain grapefruit. Adding ginger is exactly what I was looking for. I swapped honey for the brown sugar because I love honey and ginger together and I felt it would be a little less sticky sweet. Brown sugar will definitely give you a more classic, brown, caramelized topping than honey, so keep that in mind.

One more note: cooking times for this will vary quite a bit depending on how hot your broiler is, how close you place the rack to the broiler, and the size of your grapefruit. Broiling happens fast, so just check the grapefruit every couple of minutes until it's cooked to your liking.

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Labels: breakfast, easy, fruit, gluten free, quick, vegetarian

I'm in love.

The dressing alone was enough to make me swoon. It's just a very simple and basic dijon vinaigrette, but it's so good that I kept dipping my spoon in for taste after taste. And because kale is so "sturdy," it stands up well to being pre-dressed with the vinaigrette. I just made the salad moments ago, but I'm sure it will still be tasty tomorrow, even after having the dressing on it all night. In fact, I'm sure the juice from the apples will start to mingle with the dressing and make it even better.

I love that this salad mixes so many tastes and textures in one bowl. You have the almost bitter flavor of the curly kale, the sweet and crisp apples, crunchy walnuts, and super sweet raisins. All of which is topped off with a tangy dijon vinaigrette. It just all works.

Eat this salad with a cool glass of crisp white wine, some awesome crusty bread, and maybe some cheddar cheese. That's what I call the perfect summer dinner.

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Labels: easy, gluten free, quick, salad, sidedish, vegetables, vegetarian

Frozen vegetables have their pros and cons. They're quick, convenient, and they can be quite cost effective (can be), but they are always limp upon reheating.

For that reason I really don't like to use frozen vegetables for stir fry. But you know what? Some nights having something to eat in 15 minutes is way more of a priority than having crisp vegetables. I know you've been there. So on nights like that this is a quick way to spruce them up for just a few pennies more. It's every bit as good as those frozen veggies that come already in sauce, but half the price.

The main reason I wanted to share this recipe is because I wanted to demonstrate how easy a basic sweet and sour sauce is. You can use this same sauce on any type of stir fry - chicken, pork, tofu, eggplant, whatever. Sweet and sour sauce only requires a few basic ingredients and literally takes seconds to mix together. Plus, you can customize it with spices like red pepper flakes, ginger (as I did here), or even black pepper. So put that jar of sweet and sour sauce back on the grocery store shelf. You don't need it.

I served this along side my Thai Turkey Meatloaf and it was PERFECT.

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Labels: asian, easy, quick, sidedish, vegetables, vegetarian

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 cards with retro pictures of jello molds and other hideous foods from the 1950s. But you know what? After one bite you forget allll about what it looks like. Even the smell is enough to change your mind. This loaf is insane (in a good way).

If you're not into loaves of meat, I found that this mix makes a pretty excellent Thai turkey burger as well. To taste test the seasoning I had to cook a small dollop in a skillet and it turned into a little mini turkey burger. Quite delicious. Pop one of those onto a Hawaiian roll and you're golden. Or, you can do it in meatball form.

I covered my mouth-wateringly delicious (yet ugly) meatloaf with a spicy Sriracha glaze. If you don't like spicy, you can use a jar of sweet chili sauce (not spicy as the name may imply) or even a sweet and sour sauce. But, you know, I had to have my sriracha!

Oh, and this makes a pretty big loaf. It can easily be halved if needed.

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Labels: asian, easy, main dish, Turkey

I had an email from a reader (sorry, can't find the email to fetch your name!) a while back requesting that I try to make a raita similar to the one she had at Trader Joe's. Unfortunately, I've never had raita and there isn't a Trader Joe's near by where I could get some to try. I looked into the recipe anyway and was intrigued. Raita kind of looks like the Indian version of tzatziki... and I LOVE tzatziki.

So, if you're unfamiliar, both are a yogurt based sauce used for dipping, putting on flat breads, or whatever else you'd like. They're creamy, cooling, and tangy. I looked up some recipes for raita and found that there are a million different versions out there. Some with cucumber, some with ginger, some with green onions, some simply with yogurt and a couple of spices . I liked the idea of having both cucumber and ginger to make it extra "cool" on the palate, so I went with that. You can definitely experiment with this and make it your own.

Full fat, strained (or Greek) yogurt is best for this recipe because it makes a nice thick, rich sauce. I happened to have some non-fat regular (not Greek) yogurt in my fridge so I used it instead of buying more. It was still delicious, although much thinner. It was still flavorful and went great with my Tandoori Chicken Bites. I also like the idea of adding a pinch of cayenne to juxtapose the cool cucumber and ginger... I might go add some now :)

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Labels: dips, easy, Indian, quick, sauce, vegetarian

A week or so ago, I got a wonderful email from a fellow New Orleanian (is that a word?) who said she had seen some yummy looking tandoori chicken nuggets at Whole Foods and she wondered if I could try my hand at making some. Well, I ran right out to that very same Whole Foods, bought the chicken nuggets to taste them, and set to work making my own.

I think I achieved a pretty close replica! Neither nuggets (store bought or my own) are breaded, but if you prefer a breaded nugget, the marinade would make an excellent base to adhere some bread crumbs too. I thought about it, but in the end didn't feel like breading would mix well with the tandoori flavor.

The tandoori spice mix that I used for this recipe was adapted from this recipe. Since most of the marinade is wiped off prior to baking, it wasn't at all spicy. I wanted mine spicy, so next time I think I'll sprinkle on a little bit more cayenne just before baking.

I baked the nuggets because that's just what you do with nuggets, but realized later that it would have been much faster and easier to just toss them onto my George Foreman grill. They'd be a little bit flatter on the grill, but SO much less time and effort.

Oh, and in anticipation of these chicken bites being spicy (which they weren't), I made a cooling raita dipping sauce to go along side. That will be posted later today!

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Labels: chicken, Indian, main dish

There comes a time in every girl's life when she needs a chocolate mug cake.

Perhaps it's one of those days where you just want to curl up on the couch all day and watch bad Lifetime movies about stolen babies (ladies, you know what I'm talking about). Or maybe you just ran four miles for the first time in your entire life and unless you counteract it immediately with a dessert, the universe will be thrown out of balance and implode, and the entire 2012 apocalypse will be all your fault. Or maybe it's your birthday and everyone forgot so there was no cake. Okay, sorry, that last one was kind of depressing. Anyway, my point is, sometimes you just need a bite of cake to make things right. Just a bite.

I was never a fan of mug cakes because all of the versions I've tried have turned out rubbery and just not at all delightful. Until I found this recipe, which for me is "the one." This is why I like it:

• It's not very sweet. (If you want it sweeter, add more sugar or some chocolate chips.)
• It's small. Other recipes I've tried have just been too big and they make me feel like I just over indulged. This one is just a few, rich, delightful bites.
• There is no egg. I find that eggs make mug cakes rubbery or spongey and they also mean that you can't scale the recipe in size. If you want a small cake, you can't just split an egg in half, right?
• There are a lot of variations. Add chocolate chips, use nutella, jam, or caramel sauce in place of the peanut butter, vegan-ize it by using soy milk in place of cow's milk... lots of options.

Don't be tempted to leave out the peanut butter (or jam, or whatever you drop in the center) because it helps keep the cake moist and rich. It simply wouldn't be the same without it.

So, shout out to Jessie at Made From Scratch for experimenting with mug cakes until finding this perfect mix. You just saved the universe from imploding!

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Labels: dessert, easy, quick, snacks

It's a miracle. Macaroni and cheese that is smooth, creamy, and gooey, is made in one pot, requires only a few ingredients, and is every bit as easy as the blue box. I'm serious. Seriously serious.

I've seen versions of this recipe around the internet for a while and I really don't know what took me so long to try it out, but thank god I finally did. This is going to be a new staple in my house and if you're a fan of mac n' cheese then you MUST try this today.

Why does it work? Well, if you're familiar with regular macaroni and cheese recipes, then you know you have to go through the whole bechamel sauce process, which can be tedious and absolutely terrifying to new cooks. The roux in the bechamel sauce is what helps the cheese melt into the sauce rather than sticking together in one big, melted clump. It's those tiny flour particles that keep everything uniform and smooth. Wellll, this recipe has a short cut version of that. By simmering the pasta in the milk, all of those little starch particles that usually make your pasta water cloudy are in the milk acting just like the flour in the bechamel sauce!! It's a one step process! BINGO!

Anyway, when I came across this recipe on pinterest and saw the process for the 100th time, I finally decided to give it a try. ...and I hope I've convinced you to do the same today.

I used sharp cheddar and I've found that cheddar melts in better than other cheeses. I seasoned with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and a bit of dijon, but you can use your own blend. Onion or garlic powder would make a nice, subtle mac n' cheese and a dash of hot sauce will add a zing. Use your taste buds to make it your own!

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Labels: easy, pasta, quick, sidedish, vegetarian

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 to Jamaica every weekend just to sit on the beach, drink rum cocktails, and eat delicious food. Of course, I'm not just going to sit around and wait for that to happen, so I'll just make the delicious food at home until it does. Ha. Right.

Anyway, I digress.

I'm not huge on desserts but every now and then I crave something sweet. This dessert fits the bill because it's not super sweet, it's just subtly creamy and sweet with chunks of sweet mango. Plus, it's just really pretty.

Normally this dessert would be made with short grain sticky rice, but since I already had jasmine rice (and can't get enough of that floral aroma), I just used that instead. So, if you're expecting a sticky mango coconut rice like you've had in a Thai restaurant (or in Thailand, for that matter), this is not it. This is just my convenient interpretation of that. Still delicious, if I do say so myself.

Oh, and I'm betting that you might be able to do better on the price than I did here. I've bought coconut milk for half that cost before, and sometimes during the summer mangoes go on sale for $0.99 each. Good luck!

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Labels: dessert, fruit, rice