hurricane hiatus

If you weren't already aware, I live it the wonderfully unique city of New Orleans. And if you also weren't aware, it attracts hurricanes like cat hair to a black sweater. If the hurricane is on this side of the globe, it WILL get sucked straight into New Orleans. That's just the law of the land.

ANYWAY, hurricane Isaac isn't looking so bad, but just bad enough to foil my plans for cooking on Tuesday and Wednesday. Instead I'll be watching the rain drops and sipping on a glass (or two, or three) of wine until the power comes back on and the flooded streets drain away.

Hopefully by Labor Day weekend (when I have another couple of days off) things will be back to normal, the grocery stores will be re-stocked, and I'll be able to cook and photograph some more yummies for you!

If you want to see what it's like inside of a hurricane follow me on Facebook and Twitter, I might post some photos!

xoxo
Beth

how to: make chicken broth

I'm going to start this by admitting that this is the VERY first time that I've ever made my own chicken broth. I've been meaning to for years... and it's almost hypocritical of me not to, but for some reason I never got around to trying it.

So, don't read this post as a "definitive guide" to making chicken broth, but rather a "here is my experience, you should try it too!" Also, because I know there are A LOT of you who have been doing this for years, I'd love it if you'd share your tips, tricks, and experiences in the comments so that we can all learn from each other :)

So what was my experience? OMG, so easy. Seriously, dump it all in the pot and let it go. Come back later and you have a magical golden liquid full of flavor and good for you nutrients. Why wouldn't you want to do this?! Plus, I always get warm and fuzzy inside when I know that I've reduced my waste. By making broth you get to use every last bit of goodness in your chicken and vegetable scraps. I can't wait to make some vegetable broth too!

A couple good tips I've already gotten from readers:

1) Save your vegetable scraps from other recipes in the freezer until you're ready to make broth. Just make sure they're well washed first to remove sand and dirt.

2) Theresa suggested making the broth in a slow cooker instead of on the stove top for even less baby sitting. Let it go all night and you'll have an ultra-amazing broth by morning!

I can't wait to hear everyone else's tips!

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slow cooker chicken

Cooking a whole bird is probably my least favorite task in the kitchen. Something about it just makes me want to moan and groan and ... well, just find someone else to do it!

Until I found this method. It's SO EASY. I first saw this on Slow Cooker From Scratch, and have since been seeing it all over pinterest. So, of course, I had to try it out.

It's easy, you can season it any old way you like, and it's a great alternative to the store bought rotisserie chickens. The meat is ultra tender when done and with just a few minutes under the broiler, the skin is just as golden and crispy. You can serve this whole as a main dish or pick the meat off to use on sandwiches (say good bye to salty deli meat!), burritos, tacos, enchiladas, salads, or a million other things.

I have a fairly large slow cooker and to this day I still don't know it's official size - it's somewhere between 5 and 7 quarts. I chose a 5 pound chicken, which by the look of it, would fit nicely in my cooker. It just barely fit. So, my suggestion is to find a chicken that looks like it will fit, and then pick one that is smaller than that one ;) My chicken yielded about 6 cups of cooked meat.



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blueberry banana baked oatmeal

Will I ever get tired of baked oatmeal? Probably not. It's easy, cheap, deceptively filling, and I can cook it one day and then eat it throughout the rest of the week.

I love this version because I barely had to add any extra sugar thanks to the super sweet bananas. I used only 1/4 cup for the entire batch, and honestly, I probably could have cut that down to 2 Tbsp. Bananas are fantastic. The frozen blueberries were delightfully tart against the sugary bananas, which made them a perfect mate. If you're lucky enough to have fresh blueberries, this recipe is a great way to use them up!

If you've got a few extra bucks, adding some nuts would be a nice texture contrast (try walnuts or almonds)!

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BIG NEWS

Sooo... you know how you've been asking if/when/where is there going to be a Budget Bytes book?

IT'S FINALLY GOING TO HAPPEN!

Yay! As of yesterday, a book is officially going to be made. I'm partnering up with Avery (part of Penguin) to make the first Budget Bytes cookbook and I CAN'T WAIT to get started.

That's all the info I have to share for now, unfortunately, as all of the details still need to be worked out. Rest assured, I'll keep you up to date and let you know just as soon as you can get your hands on one!

ALSO

Perhaps you've noticed that the blog is looking a little "cleaner" this afternoon? I decided it was time to shape things up around here, so I've got a brand new design ...but not so different that you'll feel lost or alienated. Updated, but familiar. Ahhh... so fresh and so clean, clean, clean!

BIG THANKS to Jacquelinne at Smitten Blog Designs for helping me iron out the design details and get the coding done (I don't speak CSS). I love it!

That's all for now, peeps!

XOXO
Beth

taco stuffed shells

But Mom! Everyone else is doing it!

I don't know who the first person was to stuff pasta shells with taco fillings, but it's definitely a good idea. I kept seeing taco shells around the internet, so I had to make some, Budget Bytes style.

I made this recipe affordable by using homemade enchilada sauce (takes less than ten minutes), homemade taco seasoning (takes about two minutes), and beans cooked from dry in my slow cooker (cooked ahead of time and kept in the freezer until used). It took a little thinking ahead, but it definitely saved some bucks.

This recipe ended up being a little more work than I anticipated and I dirtied more dishes than I like to, but in the end it was well worth it. It made a HUGE batch of ten large servings, nearly all of which went into my freezer. I've been eating these amazing shells for almost a week now and have yet to get tired of them!

I didn't realize that the ground beef I bought was in a 1.5 lb. package instead of just one pound, so thats part of why it made so much. You could also do this with just beans and no meat if you want it even less expensive!

I paired this with some cilantro lime rice and I was a happy, happy girl.

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(not) sun dried tomato sauce

You know those little jars of sun dried tomatoes packed in delicious herb infused olive oil that cost about $5 a pop? This is just like that, except not. Ha!

This was completely a happy accident and now my life will never be the same. I started out wanting to make something similar to this magic sauce, but was going to use it as a base for my homemade pizza tonight, so I added some tomato paste to make it more, well, pizza-like. When I gave it a taste I was absolutely stunned. it tasted just like those oil packed sun dried tomatoes!

I was so happy because nearly every time I'm at the store I want to buy them, but the price always holds me back. Now I know I can make something that tastes really, really similar and for VERY little money.

So, what do you do with this "sauce"? Well....

• Use it as a pizza sauce (like I'm going to do tonight)
• Toss warm pasta in it, and then top with some parmesan cheese
• Use it as an uber flavorful sandwich spread (best with focaccia or other hearty bread)
• Use in place of garlic butter on sliced french bread for a tomatoey version of garlic toast
• Just go ahead and dip really good, crusty bread in it!

It's so good that I'm sure you can come up with a million more yummy things to do with it!

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dragon noodles

Ooooh lawdie. This is my new favorite quick fix! It takes about 15 minutes, is totally rich, flavorful, and SUPER SPICY. Like, "burn a hole through your stomach" spicy. Call me crazy, but sometimes I want that. No, I crave that.

So, this one goes out to all of you heat seekers!

The simple sauce for this recipe uses only pantry staples and perfectly balances sweet, salty, and spicy. The richness of the butter helps smooth everything out, cilantro adds a fresh note, and the green onions lend a savory back note. It all just works and it happens to be incredibly simple. That's what I'm talkin' about.

I made a small two serving batch because I just wanted something quick and easy. You could easily scale this up, if needed. If you want a heartier dish, try using two eggs rather than just one. Also, I used two tablespoons of butter, which made for a very rich and delicious sauce, but I suspect that it would still be amazing if you cut the butter in half.

If you can't find the same noodles that I used, don't fret. You could make this with ramen type noodles or even regular linguine. The noodles are just the vehicle for all of the other yummy ingredients!

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red enchilada sauce

Enchilada sauce is one of my very favorite things, ever. I love when it soaks into a flour tortilla while baking and makes everything tangy and spicy and good. Mmmmm.

Unfortunately, I was less than impressed with the last can of enchilada sauce that I bought and my local grocery store doesn't have much of a selection. So, I thought it was high time that I made some myself.

I'm kicking myself for not doing this sooner.

It literally takes about 5 minutes, uses ingredients that I always have on hand, and tastes about a million times better than that sad can that I used the other day. Plus, I made twice the volume for half the price. I'll never go back to the can. Never.

I made a vegetarian version out of sheer laziness, but if you're a carnivore try using chicken broth in place of the water for more flavor oomph (I've had a cold and apparently, mixing chicken base into hot water to make broth just takes too much energy).

You can adjust the heat by adjusting the amount of cayenne pepper. The heat comes from the cayenne pepper, not the chili powder, which is generally mild. So, if you want the sauce mild, either leave out the cayenne or use less. I used 1/4 tsp and it only had a slight kick - kind of like medium salsa.

Now on to the good stuff!

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vegetable tamale pie

Do you want evidence that this recipe is good? How about the fact that I've been eating it for lunch AND dinner for the past three days straight, and I still wanted a piece for breakfast this morning. Seriously.

There are a million and two ways to make tamale pie, some being more like actual tamales than others. This one is not so much like a real tamale, but it's amazing all the same. I decided to go with a cornbread crust instead of polenta because A) I'm in love with corn bread and B) I wanted something that could soak up yumminess from the bottom of the pan. It definitely worked.

I originally intended to make this a beef tamale pie, but I bullied myself into doing a vegetarian mix because I felt like I needed more beans and vegetables in my life. If you did want to do beef (or chicken or pork), simply switch it out for the sweet potatoes, beans, and peppers... or add them all in there together! It's very flexible.

P.S. I know the ingredients list looks long, but it's really quite simple to make. Promise!

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