BUDGET meals save on groceries

Hey friends, welcome back. With everything getting more expensive lately, groceries included, I wanted to help you save some money in today's video. So today we're going to be making three budget-friendly recipes that are made with simple ingredients that don't break the bank and still taste super satisfying. And an exciting new update as well, we've gotten loads of requests for more budget-friendly recipes and so we've created a budget-friendly filter in our Pick Up Limes app. This is going to help you find even more budget-friendly recipes that help keep your grocery bills low. So if you've ever been interested in trying out our app, or if you want to return to it, we're going to keep helping you out with your budget by offering a 25% discount off of our one-year subscription. This is going to be available for a limited time only and only through our website. So if you want to check it out, scan this QR code right here, or there's a link in the description box. For now, let's dive in to making these recipes. First up, we're going to make a homemade peanut granola. Some granolas can be super pricey, especially the ones that are loaded with a bunch of fancy nuts, but this recipe keeps things super simple with just seven simple ingredients. We're going to start with adding three cups of rolled oats to a large bowl, along with half of a cup of peanuts, which I'm actually going to just coarsely chop first. Plus we can add some ground cinnamon and a bit of salt and then just give it all a quick mix. And now for the wet ingredients, I've just got some natural peanut butter here, made from 100% peanuts, no added oils or sugars. We're going to add some of this to a small pan, along with some maple syrup, or you could use agave syrup for a more budget-friendly option, I'm just Canadian and love maple syrup. Plus we're going to add a bit of melted coconut oil and vanilla extract. Then we're just going to let this gently heat up so it all mixes together easily, and when it's smooth, we can pour it over the dry mixture in the bowl. Once you've given everything a really good stir and it's all very well coated, we can then transfer the mixture to a lined baking tray, and then we can pop it into the oven at 320 Fahrenheit or 160 Celsius for about 20 to 25 minutes, just be sure to give it a stir halfway through. Once you've taken it out of the oven, just let it cool down, it will continue to harden as it cools, and then you can transfer it to a jar to store and keep for breakfast for days to come. I like to enjoy this with either plant milk or most often some yogurt, plus whatever fruit I've got on hand. I know I'm showing berries here, it's not the most budget-friendly ingredient, but truly, any fruits that you have and that you love will work great. For the next recipe, we're making a buffalo pasta salad. This one's big on flavor, low on cost, and we're going to be using beans as a protein source because it's filling and affordable, but first, let's cook our pasta. One little quick tip, anytime you're cooking pasta specifically for a pasta salad, cook it for two minutes longer than al dente. The reason is because when pasta cools, it hardens, but you don't want a hard pasta in your pasta salad. So to keep it nice and soft and a beautiful texture, just slightly overcook it. Just a little bit. While that cooks, we're going to prep our veggies. Shredding some carrots, chopping some celery and red onion, along with some cherry tomatoes and the best part, in my opinion, the pickles. Then we're going to plop everything into a large bowl, and we can move on to the stove. We're going to, in a small pan, heat up a splash of oil and lightly crisp up some butter beans just for a few minutes. In place of the butter beans, if you prefer, chickpeas, lentils, or mock meats would work well here too. For the creamy, luscious dressing, we're going to use vegan mayo, some unsweetened soy yogurt, Frank's hot sauce, that's what's making it buffalo style, and we're also going to add our own homemade ranch spice mix. This is such a versatile spice mix, we use it in loads of recipes, so I'll link the recipe for this for you in the description box below as well. And then just mix everything together. When the pasta is cooked, we're going to add it to the bowl, along with the beans, we're going to pour over the dressing and toss everything together. Come on, how good does that look? It's so creamy, hearty, spicy, tangy, all at once. When you're ready, you can serve it up in some bowls, it's just like the perfect recipe for a weekday lunch, or even for meal prep. This next recipe is my new favorite weeknight dinner, it's a cozy eggplant orzo, you're going to love it. We're going to get this recipe started by cooking the orzo first, until it's al dente. Alright, while that's cooking, we're going to prep the only two ingredients that need chopping for this recipe, one medium onion and one eggplant that we're just going to cut up into bite-sized pieces. Then we can heat up a bit of oil in a sauté pan, add in the onion and cook this until it's soft and golden. Then we can add in some tomato paste and a few heaping spoonfuls of vegan red pesto, and then just let that cook for about a minute to really help bring out the flavors and caramelize the tomato paste a bit. Next we're going to toss in the prepped eggplant, along with some cooked cannellini beans for plant protein, a splash of water, some soy cooking cream, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper, and then give everything a stir, cover the pan with a lid and let it simmer until the eggplant becomes soft and melt-in-your-mouth creamy. Alright, while that's simmering, I'm going to make an optional topping that's really simple to make, and it adds the perfect crunchy finish to this dish. So even though it is optional, I do definitely recommend it. We're just going to heat a little bit of oil in a small pan, toss in some croutons with some Italian seasoning, and just cook it for a couple of minutes until it's golden and toasty and that's it. When the orzo is al dente, we'll drain it and add it to the sauce in the pan, and then just stir it all together. When everything is beautifully coated, you can then plate it up right away, top it with those crispy seasoned croutons and a sprinkle of fresh basil if you've got it. This orzo is just so creamy and comforting and full of flavor, and it's made with just a handful of very simple ingredients. And that's it! Three easy, budget-friendly recipes that'll help you save money without sacrificing on flavor. If you want even more budget-friendly recipes, be sure to check out our new filter for it in our app, and actually we've even created a curated recipe collection with budget-friendly recipes that you'll find on the homepage of the app. So if you want to snatch our 25% discount through our website while it's still available, be sure to scan this QR code right here, or check out the link I'll leave for you in the description box below. But thanks so much for hanging with me today, friends, I really appreciate it, I hope you enjoy these recipes, Pick Up Limes signing off, and I'll see you in the next video. And that's it! Oh! What was that? You can't see really with this shirt, can you? If I pull it also, then yes. Six months now. This recipe keeps things super simple with just seven simple ingredients. I said simple twice. Who cares, right? Come on. My little rabbit.