Okay, so as much as I love Spoon University–and truly read it daily–my passion for food writing started elsewhere: Budget Bytes. This no-nonsense recipe-based blog boasts the slogan: “My stomach is full, and my wallet is too.” What does this mean? It means this blog is a college student’s best friend–after Spoon, of course.
Photo courtesy of budgetbytes.com
“There are two things that I will readily admit to: I am broke and I love to eat.” These are words of wisdom and truth from the creator of Budget Bytes, Beth Moncel, on the philosophy of her blog. Creating recipes that are simple, quick and satisfying, Beth does a cost analysis for every recipe that she posts.
Photo courtesy of alligator.org. Original photography by Beth Moncel.
Fajitas for $1.95 a serving? Yes please. Beth calculates the cost for every recipe and the individual price per serving by dividing the total price of an ingredient by the number of servings it offers. For example, a pinch of cayenne pepper in one of her recipes is priced at 2 cents. In addition to cost analysis, Beth posts preparation time, alternate preparations and original photos (that are gorgeous).
Photo courtesy of budgetbytes.com
Beth posts a new recipe every couple days, give or take, and you’d be amazed by the diversity of the dishes she creates. Feeling lazy but wanting pizza? Try her salad bar pizza that she posted a few days ago.
Photo courtesy of foodily.com. Original photography by Beth Moncel.
Here’s a college-dish-twist for ya. Have Ramen in your pantry? Sure you do! But who needs plain Ramen when you could spice it up? Try Beth’s chicken yakisoba. It only takes 15 minutes to prep and 15 minutes to cook, and it costs 94 cents per serving.
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Photo courtesy of weheartit.com. Original photography by Beth Moncel.
These dragon noodles are seriously delicious and insanely simple to cook. Best part? The ingredients for this dish either last a long time or are something you usually keep in your fridge anyway; ensuring you can cook this dish pretty much any time you want. 9 ingredients, 15 minutes and $2.04 for the total cost. Yum.
Photo courtesy of budgetbytes.com
This beautiful dish is the southwest breakfast scramble. It’s also pretty much what I eat for breakfast (and sometimes dinner) every day. You can’t get much better than eggs, tortilla chips and salsa.
Photo courtesy of budgetbytes.com
A recipe for homemade naan. Enough said.
My list of favorites could go on forever, so basically, you just really need to check out Budget Bytes. Once you do, hear your taste buds (and wallet) sing.