all things food
Introducing our DREAM dessert for Halloween (and beyond)! A peanutty, caramelly, vegan chocolate bark studded with flaky salt. It’s like a sophisticated Snickers bar (!!), but words can’t prepare you for the magic of the first bite!
Even better? Minima…
Introducing our DREAM dessert for Halloween (and beyond)! A peanutty, caramelly, vegan chocolate bark studded with flaky salt. It’s like a sophisticated Snickers bar (!!), but words can’t prepare you for the magic of the first bite!
Even better? Minimal prep time, just 5 ingredients, and it keeps well in the freezer for easy snacking for weeks (or so we think…good luck keeping it around that long!). Let’s make candy, friends!
5-Ingredient Snickers Chocolate Bark from Minimalist Baker →
These Chicken Lettuce Wraps are full of freshness and bold flavor, easy to prepare, and satisfying in every bite!
The post Chicken Lettuce Wraps appeared first on Budget Bytes.
Of all the small plate recipes, one of the easiest to prepare and one of my personal favorites is Chicken Lettuce Wraps. The crisp lettuce leaves hold a saucy ground chicken and vegetable mixture and every bite is full of freshness and bold flavor! If you love to make Asian-inspired recipes as much as I do, then you might already have a lot of these ingredients at home, which makes this recipe simple, easy to prepare, and satisfying in every bite!
This recipe includes 3 simple elements: a sauce, the chicken and vegetable filling and a dressing drizzled on top. The dressing is optional, but highly recommended :)
You can use a variety of different types of lettuce for chicken lettuce wraps including bibb lettuce, butter lettuce, green leaf lettuce or even romaine lettuce. We opted for these cute iceberg lettuce boats that we caught on sale, and the chicken filling fits perfectly inside each one. Bibb lettuce will wrap nicely around the filling and looks beautiful plated, but it can also be on the pricier side.
I love recipes that you can easily customize with ingredients you already have in your fridge or pantry. Here are few suggestions:
You can have chicken lettuce wraps as an appetizer or your main dish, but they also taste great paired with some coconut rice, a quick & easy vegetable lo mein, sesame cucumber salad, crispy rice noodles, or this simple cold peanut noodle salad. The noodle salad uses the same sweet & tangy peanut lime dressing so you can easily just make a full batch of the dressing and drizzle it on both!
If you’re lucky enough to have any leftovers, be sure to store the chicken filling and the lettuce separately. You can store the chicken filling in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Then store any extra lettuce in a food storage bag in the fridge for up to 4 days as well.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Start by making the sauce for the chicken. In a small bowl mix 1/4 cup hoisin sauce, 2 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil, 1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger, and 2 garlic cloves minced. Stir well and set aside.
Dice one red bell pepper. Drain and dice one 8oz. can of water chestnuts. Slice 2 green onions and give the peanuts a rough chop. Set these ingredients to the side.
Add 1 Tbsp cooking oil to a large skillet and heat over medium. Once oil is hot, add 1 lb ground chicken, crumble, and cook until browned.
Mix in diced bell pepper and water chestnuts into the skillet and saute for 2 minutes.
Pour the sauce mixture into the skillet and mix well. Continue to cook and stir for 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and add 2 sliced green onions and 1/4 cup chopped peanuts. Feel free to reserve some of the green onions and peanuts to add on top of the individual lettuce wraps.
Next, make the peanut dressing. In a small bowl combine 1.5 Tbsp natural style peanut butter, 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar, 1 minced garlic clove, 1/4 tsp grated fresh ginger, 1 lime, 1 tsp soy sauce, 2 Tbsp neutral oil. Mix well.
Serve chicken filling inside lettuce with a drizzle of the peanut lime dressing and enjoy!
The post Chicken Lettuce Wraps appeared first on Budget Bytes.
Curry that’s faster to make than it is to get it delivered? We’re in. We’ve done green, red, yellow, and Massaman curries, but we were missing another Thai classic: panang curry! Never had it? It’s like red curry’s richer, milder, peanutty cousin, and …
Curry that’s faster to make than it is to get it delivered? We’re in. We’ve done green, red, yellow, and Massaman curries, but we were missing another Thai classic: panang curry! Never had it? It’s like red curry’s richer, milder, peanutty cousin, and it’s SO good!
This is our inspired, veggie-packed version made with easier-to-find ingredients and your choice of chicken or tofu for protein. It’s SO rich and comforting, you won’t believe it only takes 30 minutes.
Easy Vegetable Panang Curry (with Tofu or Chicken) from Minimalist Baker →
Making homemade trail mix is a quick and easy way to make a delicious snack AND use up leftover ingredients in your pantry.
The post Trail Mix appeared first on Budget Bytes.
Trail mix is a great way to clean out your pantry and make a quick and easy snack out of your leftover forgotten-about ingredients. Because I don’t know if you’re like me, but small amounts of random ingredients tend to collect in the back of my pantry just like half-used bottles of sauces in my fridge. If you don’t stay on top of them it can quickly get out of control and result in a LOT of food waste. Instead of letting those ingredients get lost in the pantry, let’s do some Spring cleaning and make trail mix! Reduce waste and make a delicious snack? YES PLEASE.
Trail mix (also known as scroggin) is simply a mix of nuts, seeds, fruit, and sometimes other ingredients. With every handful of this simple snack mix you get a nice combination of sweet and savory flavors, protein, carbs, and fat, plus tons of texture and color, making it fun to eat. It’s an easy snack to eat on the go (no heating or utensils required) and is a great source of energy during activities where you don’t want a super full stomach, like hiking.
Everyone makes trail mix a little bit different, but the classic mix that you’ll find in stores is usually peanuts, raisins, M&Ms, and sometimes a second nut like almonds or cashews. I love how flexible trail mix is because it allows you to make any combination of ingredients that fits your budget, the ingredients you have on hand, and the flavors you prefer.
If looking in your pantry for trail mix ideas is a little overwhelming, here are some ingredients that are perfect for trail mix:
Nuts and dried fruit can be expensive, which is why I like to just use random leftover ingredients that I find in my pantry. BUT you can also tweak the ratios of your trail mix to keep the total cost low. Make sure to bulk up your trail mix with less expensive ingredients and then add in just a small handful of the more expensive ingredients.
Low Cost: peanuts, cereal, raisins, pretzels, marshmallows, coconut, popcorn
Expensive: most nuts, pumpkin seeds, dried fruit (other than raisins), brand name snacks (M&Ms, Cheeze-its, etc.)
I’ve included a very basic trail mix recipe below, but if you still need a little inspo for your own homemade mix, here are some fun combos that I’ve made in the past:
Because trail mix is made out of all dry, shelf stable ingredients, you’ll want to store it the same way you store the individual ingredients–in an air-tight container away from sunlight and moisture. I highly suggest keeping the trail mix in something clear, like a glass jar or zip top baggies, so you’ll see and remember that you have the trail mix on hand. Even better yet, divide it into small single-serving containers so you’ve got snacks ready to grab and go for the day!
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
What’s your favorite ingredient or ingredient combination for trail mix? Let us know in the comments below!
The post Trail Mix appeared first on Budget Bytes.
Cookies for breakfast? We’ve done it before and we’re doing it again. And this time it’s all the goodness of a classic peanut butter cookie in a chunky, snack-able, and crunchy granola. YUM — it’s just as good as it sounds!
This quick and easy gr…
Cookies for breakfast? We’ve done it before and we’re doing it again. And this time it’s all the goodness of a classic peanut butter cookie in a chunky, snack-able, and crunchy granola. YUM — it’s just as good as it sounds!
This quick and easy granola is perfect with milk, yogurt, or just by the handful, friends. Bonus? Just 10 ingredients required! Let us show you how it’s done!
Peanut Butter Cookie Granola (Naturally Sweetened) from Minimalist Baker →
These Peanut Noodles with Chicken are an easy meal with a rich, creamy, sweet, and savory flavor that is completely addictive.
The post Peanut Noodles with Chicken appeared first on Budget Bytes.
Are you looking for a quick, creamy, lusciously rich, and easy dinner? I got you. These Peanut Noodles with Chicken are straight-up addictive with their sweet-savory-spicy-rich sauce and tender chunks of chicken breast. Plus, the whole recipe comes together in a cinch, so this is a great last-minute meal for those days when you just need something easy and GOOD. I think you’re going to love this one!
This dish features noodles (any kind) and small bites of tender chicken breast drenched in a creamy sauce that’s inspired by Thai peanut sauce. The sauce is a rich mix of creamy coconut milk, savory peanut butter, spicy sriracha sauce, fresh garlic and ginger, a little soy sauce and brown sugar, and a splash of lime juice to keep everything bright. This easy sauce is absolutely divine and you’re going to want to spoon it over everything!
Absolutely! If you’re not a chicken fan you can easily substitute it with shrimp, cubed tofu, or even just leave it out and enjoy the noodles plain. It’s all about that sauce, anyway. ;)
I would consider these peanut noodles a meal in and of themselves, but if you’re a side dish kind of person I would suggest pairing these rich noodles with something super light. Try Sesame Cucumber Salad, Sesame Slaw, or Roasted Broccoli Salad with Almonds.
This dish is definitely the best when eaten right away because the creamy, luscious sauce tends to get soaked up by the noodles when it’s stored in the refrigerator. That being said, I probably wouldn’t turn down a plate of these noodles after reheating, but I also wouldn’t expect them to be as saucy and creamy. So if you’re big on texture making a half batch might be a better option than counting on eating the leftovers.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Make the peanut sauce first so the ingredients have a few minutes to mingle and the sauce is ready to go when you need it later. Add ⅓ cup smooth natural-style peanut butter, 2 Tbsp sriracha, 2 Tbsp brown sugar, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 clove of garlic (minced), 1 tsp grated fresh ginger, and 2 Tbsp lime juice to a bowl.
Whisk the ingredients together until smooth, then add in one 13.5 oz. can of coconut milk. Whisk until smooth again and then set the sauce aside.
Cut one large boneless, skinless chicken breast (about ⅔ lb.) into small ½ to 1-inch chunks.
Heat 1 Tbsp cooking oil in a large skillet. Once hot, add the chicken and cook until browned on all sides. It’s okay if the chicken isn’t cooked through at this point. Avoid overcooking the chicken or it will become tough.
Pour the prepared peanut sauce into the skillet with the chicken. Turn the heat down to low and stir to dissolve any browned bits off the bottom of the skillet. Let the chicken simmer in the sauce over low, stirring occasionally, as you cook the noodles.
Cook 8 oz. noodles according to their package direction, then drain in a colander. You can use linguine, spaghetti, rice noodles, ramen noodles, or any kind of long noodle.
Add the cooked and drained noodles to the skillet and stir to combine.
Top the peanut noodles with ¼ cup chopped peanuts and ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro.
Enjoy the peanut noodles hot. If you have any leftover lime, cut it into wedges and squeeze a bit over top just before eating.
SO GOOD.
The post Peanut Noodles with Chicken appeared first on Budget Bytes.
We all want granola to be healthy. And some granolas are so sweet they could easily qualify as candy. But since I tend to spend the better part of the day roaming around my apartment sticking my hand in various boxes and jars of stuff to eat, I wanted to come up with a granola that was satisfying enough for breakfast, but one that I…
We all want granola to be healthy. And some granolas are so sweet they could easily qualify as candy. But since I tend to spend the better part of the day roaming around my apartment sticking my hand in various boxes and jars of stuff to eat, I wanted to come up with a granola that was satisfying enough for breakfast, but one that I didn’t feel so guilty about dipping my hand into throughout the day. And this Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip granola fits that bill!
Continue Reading Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Granola...
What else is there to say, friends? These energy bites taste like Snickers! They have all the caramelly, nougaty, peanutty, chocolaty goodness of the classic candy bar, but in a more wholesome, bite-sized form. They’re salty, sweet, and eye-rollingly d…
What else is there to say, friends? These energy bites taste like Snickers! They have all the caramelly, nougaty, peanutty, chocolaty goodness of the classic candy bar, but in a more wholesome, bite-sized form. They’re salty, sweet, and eye-rollingly delicious!
Grab 9 simple ingredients from your pantry and you’re ready to make these delicious portable treats. Let us show you how it’s done!
How to Make Snickers Energy Bites
These tasty treats have four essential elements: chocolate, “nougat,” “caramel,” and peanuts.
Ridiculously Good Snickers Energy Bites from Minimalist Baker →
If a Butterfinger candy became a cupcake, this would be it! These decadent peanut butter chocolate cupcakes combine our moist gluten-free chocolate cake mix with a rich, FLUFFY vegan peanut butter frosting for a drool-worthy cupcake combo!
Just 7 ingre…
If a Butterfinger candy became a cupcake, this would be it! These decadent peanut butter chocolate cupcakes combine our moist gluten-free chocolate cake mix with a rich, FLUFFY vegan peanut butter frosting for a drool-worthy cupcake combo!
Just 7 ingredients and simple methods required! Let’s make cupcakes, friends!
This recipe begins with our NEW Chocolate Cake + Cupcake Mix! Have you tried it yet?
We worked so hard to perfect this vegan, gluten-free mix that also happens to be naturally sweetened and super easy to make!
Fluffy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes (Vegan + GF) from Minimalist Baker →
I don’t know if we should be telling you this but…these cookies are inspired by dog biscuits.
It’s true! Allow us to explain.
We recently created a recipe for simple, nutritious peanut butter dog treats (recipe coming soon!), and we o…
I don’t know if we should be telling you this but…these cookies are inspired by dog biscuits.
It’s true! Allow us to explain.
We recently created a recipe for simple, nutritious peanut butter dog treats (recipe coming soon!), and we of course had to sample them. “Not bad,” we thought. And we wondered what would happen if we sweetened them a bit and turned them into cookies.
Spoiler alert: MAJOR WIN.
Pumpkin Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies from Minimalist Baker →
