home decor

These Vegan Fudgy Chocolate Brownies are super chocolatey, nutty, and delicious. Made without oil or gluten. You guys…I seriously have the best recipe for Chocolate Brownies  EVER!  It’s straight out of Laura Wright’s new cookbook,  The First Mess,  and I have permission to share it with you today. I’ve been following Laura’s blog ( The First Mess ) for many years now, and I was  SO  excited to hear her recipes would be making it to print. I’m a  HUGE  cookbook collector, and I couldn’t wait to have her delicious creations in my kitchen collection. There were so many recipes to choose from, but I just had to share this fabulous dessert. I just can’t say no to chocolate…can you? My  Snickers Cream Pie  and these  Peanut Butter Cups  get me every time. Fudgy Nut and Seed Butter Brownies Ingredients ¾   cup   smooth nut or seed butter   (I like roasted almond, hazelnut, or sunflower butter) ¼   cup   + 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup ¾   cup   unsweetened applesauce 1½   teaspoons   pure

Here’s the story about how I made this recipe for Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry. A few weeks ago, I got an email from Angela touting the deliciousness of a dish called “Crack Slaw“. With such an interesting name, I had to check it out. It’s basically a quick stir fry made with cabbage and beef (or pork or turkey) that is  so good  that it’s supposed to be insanely addictive. Wouldn’t you know it, I saw two more recipes for this “crack slaw” on the same day that Angela emailed me! So, I took it as a sign from the blogging gods that this addictive beef and cabbage stir fry just  had  to make its way onto Budget Bytes. I happened have a half pound of beef in my freezer leftover from my Baked Beef and Black Bean Tacos, so I used that as the meat component for the stir fry. Honestly, I think pork or even ground turkey would work just as well or better, and will most likely be less expensive than beef. You can use a whole pound of meat if you like extra protein, but I found that the half pound

Black forest cheesecake pie is no bake and can be made in just minutes! Ready-to-use chocolate cookie crust with two layers of smooth cream pie filling. Top with a spoonful of canned cherry pie filling and you have a seriously amazingly delicious dessert loaded with chocolate, cherry, and cheesecake flavors. This pie. There really are no words for it. It is one of those things that you make and ask yourself “did I really just make this pie because it is so dang good!” I think it’s even more surprising because this pie can be made in just minutes. Minutes people! Sometimes I like spending hours in the kitchen making everything from scratch and making gourmet things. But then other times ( most of the time!) I like quick, easy, simple, and crazy delicious recipes that I know I can count on. This black forest cheesecake pie is one of those. Black forest is traditionally a chocolate and cherry combination. And trust me when I say that this pie is loaded with chocolate and cherry flavor. Yo

merging two favourites into one delectable parcel, these chicken fajita sweet potatoes are a deliciously creamy way to change a meal from boring to fiesta! okay, so that sounded as cheesy as these are in cheese, but it’s the only way to best describe the flavour in these chicken fajita stuffed sweet potatoes. Healthy and filling comfort food in the form of sweet potatoes stuffed with a chicken fajita filling. I cannot begin to tell you how amazing these are. Or were, as the case may be. Especially only being 206 calories each! Simple to make; no chef skills required. Just good-sized sweet potatoes and an oven. This recipe is so versatile, it’s a no fail situation using raw or cooked chicken breast, peppers (capsicums) of all colours, some red onion, and tex-mex inspired flavours. With a quicker 20-minute version, or a slower ‘hour and 15 minutes’ version, these taters will fast become a family favourite! Twice Baked Chicken Fajita Sweet Potatoes Chicken Fajita Sweet Potatoes | Health

THE BEST GRILLED CHICKEN AT HOME Don’t like to grill chicken outside in the chilly temps?  you can also bake this chicken in the oven, use a  grill pan  on the cooktop or I love to use my  Foreman Grill  on the kitchen counter. GRILLED CHICKEN TIPS: Use chicken tenderloins, they cook up quick.  If you don’t have tenderloins, you can make your own by butterflying a whole breast or pounding it out and cut into strips with a sharp knife. Marinate or brine ahead of time for grilled chicken that’s full of flavor. Prep your grill.  Make sure the grates are clean and rub a little oil or non-stick  grill spray  onto the (clean and preheated) grates right before cooking so the chicken doesn’t stick. Do not use high heat.  Cook chicken over medium, indirect heat on the grill. Close the lid.  Food cooks quicker and evenly when the grill lid is closed. Use a thermometer. Chicken should be cooked to 165°F, so you should use a meat or instant-read thermometer to check that the chicken is done. Ins

Have you ever wondered what  exactly  a Meyer lemon is? Besides noticing that they fill up the produce aisles in late winter with their vibrant yellowish orange color, I didn’t know much about them.  So, being forever curious, I decided to do a little research. Meyer lemons, it turns out, are native to China and are thought to be a cross between a regular lemon and a mandarin orange that are deep in color and flavor. Sweeter than regular lemons, some people will eat Meyer lemons by the slice. And, most interesting of all, the fruit was introduced to the United States in 1908 – the last year the Cubs won the World Series for the next 108 years making it the longest drought in American Sports History, to be finally broken November 3 2016 in one of the most epic games in world series history. Today I am not only talking about Meyer lemons and Cubs baseball, however. It gets even better. I know, hard to imagine. But wait for it… With my lemons I made these  vegan Lemon Bars  for a sweet an

Amazing “Taco” Marinated Chicken with the most delicious Grilled Corn & Avocado Salsa. Our little guy (Bentley) is going through a bit of a hitting stage. His  older  brother might even be a little terrified of him . In attempts to combat the hitting, I’ve tried just about everything. One thing that works (somewhat) is making him give a “soft rub” if he does hit. I’ll say, “be soft, give it/him/her a rub.” (By “it” I mean whatever object he’s hit. Because yes, I really make him rub objects he hits haha). But that “soft rub” has now pretty much turned into a very passive aggressive hit. It starts as a hard hit and before he pulls his arm back, he also softly rubs. My more recent attempt to stop the hitting included buying a book on Amazon called “Hands are not for Hitting.” It got dozens of rave reviews and reviewers swore by this book in helping their kids to stop hitting. The minute it came in the mail, I read it to the boys. Except every time I said “hands are not for hitting”

THIS RECIPE FOR WHOLE30 GRILLED SALMON WITH AVOCADO SALSA HAS BEEN PINNED ALMOST 2 MILLION TIMES! HAVE YOU TRIED IT?! IT’S A MUST MAKE AND MY VERY FAVORITE RECIPE ON THE COOKIE ROOKIE. ENJOY! my favorite things to post are easy and delicious recipes. this one is easy, delicious AND healthy. its so flavorful that you’ll really have to wonder how it could be soo good for you.  Whole30 Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa might just be my favorite recipe on my entire site. my friend Bre mentioned on Instagram that she would like me to find a Whole30 approved recipe to post.  she is currently participating in and leading a Whole 30 group for January. after doing some research, i found out that Whole30 is a program of stripping certain foods like sugar, grains, dairy, and legumes from your diet completely for 30 days.  i have heard a lot of people mentioning this lifestyle change lately. you can find out more by clicking HERE.  i’m not currently participating in the program (could you tell f

This Low-carb Chicken Zucchini Enchilada is made with “zucchini tortillas” and it’s loaded with enchilada sauce, chicken and cheese. It’s also gluten-free and very flavorful! I’m going to start this post saying that I LOVE this Low-carb Chicken Zucchini Enchilada recipe, just because I really DO. When I saw this recipe video on the Delish website I was a little skeptical about cooking enchiladas with zucchini. However, I thought it’s such a different recipe that I decided to adapted this recipe from Delish. I’m glad to say that it turned out amazing and my whole family loved it! My husband even repeated the plate and I liked so much that I’m now thinking that future enchilada recipes will be made with “zucchini tortillas” I love this Low-carb Chicken Zucchini Enchilada because it’s lighter than the traditional recipe and also the filling is AMAZING. This is definitely a great twist on this Mexican dish especially now that is spring and soon summer! Zucchini is such a hit throughout the

I am so excited to share this recipe with you guys today! It’s a recipe that is SO simple to make and one the kids absolutely loved. In fact, we’ve already made it twice this month. It’s for Hot Dog Nuggets! I had spotted a similar recipe in one of my many Paula Deen magazines and knew I had to give it a try. Hers seemed a little more complicated, so I wanted to make it more simple. Fortunately, we loved how it turned out and are excited to have a new recipe everyone in the family loves. You see, we’re not super fancy around these parts and tend to have hot dogs or corn dogs each month. Because we have them each month, I feel like it gets a little boring so I wanted to be able to try a “new version” of this classic meal and was pleased at how simple and delicious they were. In fact,  they are so simple even the kids can help make them. All you really have to do is slice up the hot dogs, wrap them in small pieces of crescent dough and you’re done. Easy, right? Hot Dog Nuggets Hot Dog

Anyone with an addictive personality out there? Thought so. Me too! But it’s not all bad…not when it’s something like these veggie wraps. I literally can’t stop eating them right now. I already know they’re gonna be a major part of my summer. Kat will soon rue the day she modified the recipe, made it even tastier than it was before, and then introduced me to it. That being said, no cooking skills are needed for this one (unless you count roasting a few seeds in a pan, I suppose). It’s literally just throwing the right ingredients together, so I’ll have no excuses! The dijon mustard (you can use wasabi if you prefer) gives the whole wrap a subtle background tang – but it’s not overpowering. I’m not a massive mustard fan to be honest, but mixed with the cottage cheese and yogurt I can suddenly see what all the fuss is about. The sunflower seeds add an unexpectedly juicy and smoky flavour to the mix, while the carrots and peppers contradict the soft wraps with a snappy crunch. I like to

Looking for a delicious new Lemonade Recipe?  Try our Pineapple Lemonade Recipe. Making homemade lemonade, simple! While we enjoy juicing, we really prefer to use a professional high speed blender when making any type of fruit juices or fruit smoothies.  Using a blender makes this a simple lemonade recipe! Most fruits have tons of pulp, they don’t have a gritty fiber like carrots. Have you ever blended carrots?  We prefer to juice or eat them whole.  There’s no need to waste any of that juicy fruit goodness in a juicer.  Pineapple is so off the charts incredible when fully ripe.  The sweetness you get from it lends itself to whatever you’re making. Pineapple is loaded with Vitamin C and Manganese.  It also contains vitamins B6, B1, Fiber, Folate and Copper.  Just one cup of this tropical fruit is about 80 calories.  It’s great for inflammation and bromelain makes it good for digestion. There’s no need for any added sugar in our Pineapple Lemonade Recipe.  The tart lemon gives you tha