Dining out at a restaurant is always nice; but what about when you want to have take-out food for dinner, without the price of take-out. Try these budget cafe recipes for a variety of choices, without the high cost of actually going to a cafe. There are several selections of inexpensive tarts, soups, and desserts, so you can mix and match until your heart's content. The best past of this recipe collection? You'll have leftovers of you favorite restaurant specialties for half the price! Bon appetit!

Pasta Salad Photo: ©Brianna Lehman

Perk up the same, old roasted chicken and potatoes with one of these sauce recipes for winter dishes. Whether it's savory, tangy, or downright buttery, add new flavor to your daily menu by coordinating these sauces with your favorite meals. Bon Appetit!

Butter Sauce Photo: ©Glen MacLarty

Fresh lemon zest gives any dish a sweet, invigorating vibe. Bring that sunny flavor to your winter menu with these sweet and savory lemon recipes. Lemons happen to be in season right now, so a nice size bag of them equals big flavor, high quality, and good savings. What could be a better way to brighten up the winter? Bon Appetit!

Lemon Pastry Cream Photo: ©Flickr user avlxyz

After fiddling around with almond cream filling for the Epiphany cake, I found I had taken a liking to it. Actually, I developed an unrelenting craving for it, so I worked on incorporating it into a king cake recipe for Mardi Gras next month. Let me tell you, it's delicious. The flavor of rich almond cream melds so deftly into the mildly spiced sweet bread that it could be a year-round treat. Just make sure to trade the tri-color sugar sparkles for something subtle, like pearl-toned sanding sugar; otherwise, the bright colors may get some well, that's sure creative "compliments" any other time of the year.

Kings Cake Photo: Martin Rottler