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    BeeyondCereal

    About Me

    Hi there! Welcome to Beeyond Cereal. I’m Nicole, the owner, recipe developer, food photographer, and budgeting enthusiast behind this frugal food blog.

    Here is where you will find all of my best grocery budgeting tips, tricks, and tasty recipes in one place. My goal is to help you master the art of saving money while enjoying delicious budget-friendly meals.

    a photograph of nicole

    Get to Know Me Better

    I grew up on a Native American Reservation, and started noticing the economic differences in my area at a young age. I also spent a few weeks every summer, traveling the country with my long-haul truck-driving father.

    During this time I developed a love for math. I learned to calculate gas mileage and distances before I was 10. I also got firsthand knowledge of fluctuations in food prices. Just the cost of an apple can vary greatly depending on where you are.

    At age 11 I joined a nonprofit youth group for girls and competed in their annual cooking competitions, often bringing home award ribbons. Planning events, calculating costs for dinner parties, and trying to maximize fundraiser profits gave me a strong foundation for budgeting and trying to get the “biggest bang for your buck.”

    As a teen, I took 3 years of culinary arts in High School where I excelled in recipe development, restaurant planning, and basic kitchen skills.

    At age 20, I met my now husband through a wrong number text message and found out he was stationed at the Army base close to my house. It was fate. During the next few years we moved around the country and out of necessity I took my financial passions to new heights.

    I learned to extreme coupon and live a frugal lifestyle by repurposing dinner leftovers and creating cheap meal plans and affordable recipes. We were able to save a lot of money and were able to pay off thousands of dollars of debt (including medical, personal, and auto).

    In 2018 I started a financial blog where I shared all of the best money-saving advice for the average person, and I started freelance writing for food blogs as a side hustle. This is when I realized I could combine my two greatest passions - food and money. I decided to wait until we were in a better place before embarking on this path.

    Then 2020 happened and I realized it was “now or never.” I took some photos of a recipe using my phone and a background made of Dollar Tree contact paper and foam board. It looked horrible, but I went ahead and posted my microwave scotcheroo recipe, and from there I was hooked.

    Since then I have been constantly updating, photographing, and calculating recipes. With my two kids and husband as my official food testers, I know that I’m in good hands.

    As this blog continued to grow, I closed down my financial blog and put all my focus on Beeyond Cereal, moving my best grocery-related advice here so it’s all in one convenient place.

    What You’ll Find on Beeyond Cereal

    1. Affordable recipes. While everyone’s definition of reasonably priced foods may vary, I try to make sure that every recipe here is affordable and can fit into almost any budget. We have recipes under $3 a serving and recipes that meals that cost less than $5 to make!
    2. Family-Friendly Recipes. You won’t find cocktails and fancy goat cheese hors d'oeuvres, but you will find recipes that kids and adults can enjoy. Comfort foods, tasty veggies, and meals that even the pickiest of eaters would like.
    3. Trusted recipes. You can feel rest assured that every recipe on this site has been personally tested by me (and my family) countless times. Every post includes simple steps without any “major skills” needed, so any at home or self taught cook can easily follow along.
    nicoles husband and kids at a rest area

    More About Nicole and the Blog

    How did you learn how to cook?

    When I was about 8 years old my mom let me melt the butter and cheese for boxed macaroni without supervision. I failed. The cheese was burnt because I didn't turn off the stove burner, and we had to steal a packet from another box and redo it.
    From this point on I put a stronger focus on actually reading recipes and following instructions. Not long after this event I found a biscuit recipe in our elementary textbook and made a delicious batch of biscuits and the tips that I learned from that recipe page are still with me today.

    What motivates you to work hard?

    My family has got to be my biggest motivation and while that may sound like a cliche, it’s true. I’ve got two kids constantly asking me if I made recipes today or if I plan on making recipes soon.
    I also have an incredibly supportive husband that will literally drop everything to be there for me, whether it's being a hand model for my photos, running to the store for an ingredient I need, being the shoulder to cry on when I'm stressed, or telling me to put the computer down and take a break. My family is my biggest support team and motivates me to try harder and do better.

    How did you come up with the name for this blog?

    I knew for 2 years that I wanted to start a food blog, before actually doing it, and during that time I couldn't think of any names, logos, color schemes, etc. Then literally overnight I had a dream where it all came to me.
    Someone had posted online the night before saying how they were so broke they could only afford to eat cereal for dinner and that really stuck with me. I wanted to share cheap recipes with everyone so that nobody felt as though they needed to eat cereal for dinner, (unless they wanted to- because cereal is delicious).
    Within hours I had everything planned from the site name to the logo, color scheme etc. I had even drafted an example logo on the computer for reference too! I wanted to share affordable recipes beyond just cereal, or rather, Beeyond Cereal.

    Where do you get inspiration for your recipes?

    My inspiration comes from everywhere. I can see a keyword somewhere and instantly envision what it’d look like when done. I can try a food or see something and think "wow you know what could make that better?”
    Or sometimes (and most often) I create a recipe out of thin air because we have limited ingredients or time before dinner and something needs to get on the table. I find that this comes to me naturally because I can mix flavors and textures in my mind before putting them together in real life, so my "creative recipes" are often the best received from my family.
    When these recipes are truly good enough, I recreate them from memory, measuring and taking notes as I go, until they’re finally re-creatable and blog-worthy.

    What do you do with all of your leftover food?

    We eat it of course! Every meal or recipe I share on this site is something that my family has eaten (multiple times). Dinners, desserts, and everything in between. Leftover meals are either repurposed into new meals or warmed up and eaten as-is.
    Sometimes I gift cookies and banana bread to relatives to help save us from eating them all.

    Do you work with brands for sponsored posts and campaigns?

    I am always open to the possibility and opportunity to work with brands that would be a good fit.

    What do you do when you're not cooking up new recipes?

    Some of my favorite hobbies include watching TV with my husband. I love watching One Piece, Doctor Who, Friends, Gilmore Girls, Indiana Jones Stardust, and The Princess Bride. When I'm not working on this blog, I might be busy doing technical stuff on my sister's crochet blog- TheCaffeinatedSnail.com).
    When I take a break from technology, you'll likely find me engaged in activities like crocheting, reading novels, baking sourdough bread, or updating our family's financial spreadsheet. I love to stay organized and busy.

    My Work

    I have been featured and/or mentioned in various places including Parade, Yahoo Finance, Go BankingRates, Eating on a Dime, Saving Dollars and Sense, The Frugal Navy Wife, and The Pioneer Woman (example below).

    Screenshot of pioneerwoman website showin peanut butter and jelly spider sandwiches from beeyond cereal

    My Favorite Recipes

    These are some of my most treasured recipes for one reason or another. I am always going back and making these on repeat.

    • au gratin potatoes in a white baking dish.
      Instant Pot Boxed Au Gratin Potatoes
      Recipe $3.02 / Serving $0.30
    • sliced air fryer pork loin with green leaf lettuce on the sides and an air fryer in background.
      Air Fryer Pork Loin Roast
      Recipe $10.27 / Serving $1.28
    • a plate full of air fried pizza rolls next to a bowl of marinara sauce.
      Air Fryer Pizza Rolls
      Recipe $2.24 / Serving $0.56
    • salsa rice in a white bowl with lime wedges and cilantro.
      Easy Salsa Rice
      Recipe $2.43 / Serving $0.41
    • a blue bowl filled with guacamole without cilantro and scattered ingredients and chips around it.
      Guacamole Without Cilantro
      Recipe $2.37
    • Caramel Iced Coffee in tall glasses with whipped cream and cherries on top.
      Caramel Iced Coffee
      Recipe $0.47 / Serving $0.24
    • baked french bread pizzas on a baking sheet.
      French Bread Pepperoni Pizza
      Recipe $4.53 / Serving $1.13
    • mac and cheese tuna casserole in a casserole dish with parsley on top.
      Mac and Cheese Tuna Casserole
      Recipe $6.94 / Serving $0.87

    From my family’s kitchen to yours, I hope you enjoy looking through the recipes on this site and bringing new dishes to the table for affordable prices.

    Follow me on social media:

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • TikTok

    How can I assist you?

    Looking for certain recipes?

    • All Recipes
    • Frugal Recipes
    • Main Dishes
    • Desserts

    Need to save money on food?

    • Resources Page
    • Saving Money on Food
    • Grocery Shopping Tips on a Budget
    • Stretch Your Dollar
    • The No Spend Challenge Guide

    Check out my Contact Us page for details on how to get in touch with me.

    Primary Sidebar

    A photo of Nicole from Beeyond Cereal

    Hey, I'm Nicole

    The proud owner and recipe developer behind BeeyondCereal. Here, I'm passionate about showing people how to navigate the kitchen with frugality in mind, whipping up family-friendly recipes that not only save money but also bring joy to every meal.

    Learn More→

    Spring Recipes

    • an iced cinnamon roll monkey bread on a plate.
      Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread
    • a whole fresh strawberry pie garnished with whipped cream and sliced strawberries.
      Fresh Strawberry Pie
    • strawberry cream cheese turnovers with fresh berries and one turnover sliced in half stacked on glazed full turnovers.
      Strawberry Cream Cheese Turnovers
    • 4 lemon bars on a plate topped with powdered sugar.
      Lemon Bars with Graham Cracker Crust

    Trending NOW

    • a white bowl filled with cooked canned green beans.
      The Best Canned Green Bean Recipe
    • a bowl of creamy 5 ingredient mac and cheese.
      5 Ingredient Mac and Cheese
    • roasted chicken, carrots and potatoes in a baking dish with a sprig of rosemary on top.
      Roasted Chicken with Potatoes and Carrots
    • sliced banana bread on a wooden surface.
      Eggless Banana Bread
    • a sliced beef roast on a cutting board with carving utensils.
      Poor Mans Prime Rib
    • cinnamon rolls with icing on top in an 8x8 baking dish.
      Small Batch Cinnamon Rolls

    As Seen In

    as seen in various articles and websites.

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