SIDES & SALADS

Simple Garlic Ranch Layered Salad

Simple Garlic Ranch Layered Salad

This simple garlic ranch layered salad recipe is all about texture—crisp lettuce, smoky bacon, sweet peas, and a cool, creamy garlic ranch dressing layered together in the simplest way. It’s the kind of salad you spot right away at a summer potluck, usually sitting in…

Broccoli Cauliflower Salad

Broccoli Cauliflower Salad

This broccoli and cauliflower salad has been a favorite of mine since childhood and continues to be a go-to dish well into adulthood. It’s followed me around for years. It has been at every Thanksgiving, Christmas, family BBQ for as long as I can remember;…

Wild Rice

Wild Rice

There’s something comforting about a bowl of wild rice, it’s the kind of ingredient that transforms a simple meal into something special. Whether you’re serving it as a side dish or the heart of a main meal, this wild rice brings a depth of flavor…

BBQ Black-Eyed Peas

BBQ Black-Eyed Peas

Sometimes during the summer, we grow weary of the tradition baked beans recipe. This recipe for BBQ black-eyed peas is what we go to as a close second option. Or, if you stick to the new year’s resolution of black-eyed peas, this might work for…

Green Chili Rice

Green Chili Rice

This green chili rice recipe is easy to make on a budget and is a great side for any meat. We’ve served it with pork chops, steak, and chicken enchiladas. Plus, it is also a different way to change our basic rice. Ingredients for Green…

Scalloped Corn

Scalloped Corn

Honestly, we have corn so much in our household that we have to mix it up periodically, so we don’t go into burnout. This scalloped corn recipe isn’t an everyday corn dish, but it does work well, for Sunday dinner, Easter, or most all other…

Garden Pasta Salad

Garden Pasta Salad

Garden Pasta Salad This Garden Pasta Salad is a go-to in our house especially in the summer! It’s cold, light, and uses ingredients we have on hand most of the time. At our house at least it always seems like we are invited to several…

The Best Tangy Pork and Beans

The Best Tangy Pork and Beans

This might be the best tangy pork and beans that we have ever made. I worked in a grocery store for the first 17 years of my life, and I was always looking for different ways to dress up everything that was ordinary. Yes, I…

Cream Cheese Muffins

Cream Cheese Muffins

This is a savory recipe rather than sweet. It would be another option other than cornbread, but cornbread is good too. These muffins still go great with any stew, chili, or soup. Of course, if you wanted you can always add a little diced jalapeno…

Simple Spinach Salad

Simple Spinach Salad

This is a simple spinach salad that can be put together in just a few minutes.  This would be great for a hot summer day, when you might want something a little lighter to go with a BBQ or some sort of potluck gathering. If…