Side Dish Archives - Page 3 of 5

Healthier Lemon Rosemary Dressing

March 25, 2016 by Kelly Dedeaux

Has anyone else eaten a pan of brownies in a week – for two weeks in a row? Ya, that’s been me lately! I don’t know if it’s stress, or just a really off body, or what but I’ve been bad about my sweets intake lately. This week I’m trying extra hard to find BALANCE in my eating, by including plenty of healthy meals in our menu. This Healthier Lemon Rosemary Dressing has been great for my lunches!

Oh, and I also downed a tall bottle filled with M&Ms in a day. Ya….really needing to work on my food balance!

Thankfully I’ve been doing better, planning ahead so I can have meals that I’ll actually WANT to eat, but are on the healthier side. It’s all about balance anyway, right? So as long as I eat healthy overall, it’s perfectly fine for me to still have some treats every now and then 🙂

Head over to Carrie Elle for our Healthier Lemon Rosemary Dressing recipe!

Other recipes you may enjoy…

Sugar Free Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips

March 15, 2016 by Chellie Schmitz

Feeling bored with the same old-same old snacks? Try this refreshing sugar free fruit salsa! You won’t be disappointed!

I don’t know about you, but I try to limit my kids sugar in-take. But often times, they want something sweet. Oh, who am I kidding? I do too! The sugar makes the kids a little crazy sometimes, and it makes my pants too tight. So this is a perfect sweet treat with no sugar. Fruit, it’s good for you! The kids won’t even know ya left the sugar out. 🙂 Try this sugar free fruit salsa for your next afternoon or after school snack.

Sugar Free Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips

This comes together in just three easy steps.

1. Bake the cinnamon chips.

Take flour tortillas and brush them with melted butter and sprinkle them with a little cinnamon.

Bake them at 350 for about 12 minutes until they are golden and crisp.

2. Slice & Dice

Next you’ll chop up the fruit, and put some lemon juice on it. I like the brightness the lemon adds. I used strawberries, kiwi, oranges, mango, blackberries and blueberries. Fruit salsa is really versatile, so use whatever fruit you like. Personally, I think this is fantastic combination. The citrus adds a little something extra. Yum!

That fruit looks so juicy and delicious! I just want to lick the screen! Okay, bad idea.

3. Enjoy!

Lastly, just put it all together and serve it up. I like to garnish it with some chopped fresh mint leaves. It’s pretty and it tastes fabulous.

This isn’t going to last long friends.

Most fruit salsas do contain sugar. It definitely sweetens it up a bit, but personally, I think this fruit is sweet enough just how it it. If we put sugar in our fruit all the time, we’ll start to not like it without. So do something good for your body! 🙂

You’ll also notice that there is no sugar in the Cinnamon tortilla chips. Again, you can do a blend of cinnamon and sugar, but that blend is usually made with two parts sugar and one part cinnamon (that’s a lot of sugar!) so again, in efforts to scale back on the sugar, I left it out. I think the butter and cinnamon is delicious, and the naturally sweet fruit blends it all perfectly. Have I convinced you to try this yet?

Print Recipe

Sugar Free Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips

Ingredients

4 flour tortillas
2 Tbs butter melted
ground cinnamon
1 pint strawberries hulled and diced
1 orange peeled and diced
1 mango peeled and diced
2 kiwis peeled and diced
1 6 oz container black berries quartered
1 6 oz container blueberries
Juice of 1/2 lemon
fresh mint leaves for garnish

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350.
Brush both sides of the tortillas with the melted butter.
Sprinkle both sides of the tortillas with ground cinnamon.
Using a pizza cutter, slice the tortillas into eighths.
Place the 'chips' on a baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes, or until golden and crisp.
Peel, slice and dice all of the fruit and place in a bowl.
Add the juice of half of a lemon and stir to combine.
Garnish with torn fresh mint leaves (optional)

Looking for more fun low-sugar snacks?

Breakfast banana split

Mango Parfait

Breakfast Cookies

Holiday Spice Fruit Salad

December 28, 2015 by Kelly Dedeaux

I love adding an extra dose of ‘spice’ during the holidays! No, not the HOT kind of spice, the cinnamony type that you can’t help but think of Thanksgiving, Christmas or any of those special times of year. This delish Holiday Spice Fruit Salad is just that, and makes the perfect side to any holiday meal!

I not only love the mix of flavors in this dish, such as the tangy apples and sweet grapes mixed with a creamy drizzle of sauce, but also that it’s SUPER simple to make, especially if you incorporate your family to help chop the fruits and mix the dressing!

Ingredients

1 medium Pear, diced
1 cup Red Grapes, cut in half
2 medium Apples, diced
4 tbsp. Fresh Lemon Juice
1/3 cup Yogurt (vanilla is great, but feel free to switch it up)
2 tbsp. Honey
1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Ground Nutmeg
1/3 cup Pecans or Walnuts, chopped

Directions

Toss the fruit and nuts in a large bowl gently. Set aside.
In another bowl, mix the remaining ingredients until smooth. Pour over the fruit and again toss gently to coat evenly. Best if served immediately!

We had this back at Thanksgiving, and it was a hit – especially for the kids who LOVE fruit! They even said ‘can I have that one fruit dessert’? Haha – if I can convince them it’s a dessert, then that’s a win to me!

What’s YOUR favorite fruit side dish for a holiday meal?

The Best Shepherds Pie & Cheese Bombs

December 12, 2015 by Kelly Dedeaux

I’ve partnered with Price*s® to bring you this delicious snack idea, but all opinions are my own! #PricesSouthernStyle @Walmart

You know those recipes that you grew up with, and now serve often to your own family? Shepherds Pie is one of those for us, but we wanted a way to really kick up the flavor more – make it unique, delicious and still be simple to make. We were thrilled with the result of The Best Shepherds Pie & Cheese Bombs to go right along with it! Using Price*s Southern Style pimiento cheese really gave it a nice kick, and added the perfect flavoring!

For ours, we stuck with the Price*s Southern Style Original, but if you’re more of a spicy-lover (like my hubby and our Iron Man) you’d probably love it with Price*s Spicy Jalapeño pimiento cheese! You can grab both at Walmart next time you’re there – in the refrigerated section near the cream cheese.

You can CHECK HERE for a store location near you! This Shepherds Pie goes so perfectly with the Cheese Bombs, so you get a complete meal in very little time on your part!

Ingredients – Shepherds Pie

1 1/4 lb Potato chunks
3 tbsp. Garlic, minced
1 lb. Ground Beef
2 tbsp. Flour
1 bag (about 4 cups) Great Value Frozen Mixed Veggies
3/4 cup Beef Broth
2 tbsp. Ketchup
1 tub Price*s Southern Style pimiento cheese
3 tbsp. Milk

Directions – Shepherds Pie

Boil the potatoes and garlic about 20 minutes, or until tender.
Meanwhile, cook the ground beef in a skillet until done. Add the flour, stir. Add the veggies, broth and ketchup and cook about 5 minutes, stirring often. When done, spread into a sprayed 8×8 baking dish.
Preheat oven to 375 Degrees F. When potatoes are done, drain then return to pot or another mixing bowl. Mash with the Price*s pimiento cheese and milk until smooth. Spoon over the veggie/beef mixture in the baking dish.
Bake about 20 minutes, or until lightly bubbly. Enjoy!

Ingredients – Cheese Bombs

1 can Refrigerated Biscuits
Price*s Southern Style pimiento cheese
4 tbsp. Butter, melted
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
1 tbsp. Parmesan Cheese (the green can or shredded)

Directions – Cheese Bombs

Preheat oven to 400 Degrees F. Spray or line a muffin tin, set aside.
Take each biscuit and stretch it larger, then scoop about 1 tbsp. Price*s pimiento cheese inside. Close it up and pinch the ends to secure closed. Put each into a muffin cup.
Bake about 10 minutes, or until beginning to brown.
Stir the garlic powder, Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese into the melted butter, then brush over each biscuit. Serve warm for the nice, melted cheese!

Make Your Own Cookbook with Blurb

November 29, 2015 by Kelly Dedeaux

I received a voucher to create my own cookbook with Blurb to facilitate this post. All opinions are mine alone.

Do you know how many recipes I’ve published on this site? Neither do I, but I know it’s a LOT!!! Dozens and dozens of yummy recipes that I worked hard for – and have always wanted to put into a cookbook. Well, guess what? I finally did it – at least a first draft version. And if I’d known how easy it was to Make Your Own Cookbook with Blurb, I would’ve done it ages ago!

There’s several options you can choose from – what size of cookbook, the quality of pages and color options, layouts and fonts. Blurb even offers plenty of downloadable templates making is SUPER easy to just pull up in your favorite program (like Adobe Indesign) and add all your images and texts!

I had so much fun playing with the layouts, picking which recipes I wanted to include in the book, then setting up my purchasing/ordering options simply on the Blurb website. You can even check it out and order one for yourself here! Like I said, this was just a quick version for me to test it out – and I loved how easy it was to do!

I can’t wait to sit down and really put together a fabulous, amazing cookbook again with Blurb featuring the best of the best from Busy Mom’s Helper.

Which recipes would YOU like to see in our cookbook?

The Best Breadsticks & Alfredo Sauce for Your Holiday

November 19, 2015 by Kelly Dedeaux

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #NestleHoliday #CollectiveBias

As if life couldn’t get any busier, it’s now the holiday season! Anyone else in a bit of a panic to get an extremely long To-Do list done, yet still manage the daily stuff – you know, like eating? Plus planning a big Thanksgiving feast is a whole list of tasks in and of itself! Phew! Luckily we can make our lives a little bit less stressful with delish, easy recipes like The Best Breadsticks & Alfredo Sauce for Your Holiday!

You know how my family loves pizza? I guess most probably do! For those days, or seasons, as the current case would be, that we don’t have much time to spend cooking we LOVE the variety offered by CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN® Crispy Thin Crust Oven Ready Pizza – especially their Sicilian! I like to stock up on several varieties when I’m at Walmart and keep them readily available in my freezer.

Seriously, NESTLÉ® products like this are what save my sanity this time of year! Then I just whip up amazing and SIMPLE recipes that go great with them – like this creamy alfredo sauce and soft, flavorful breadsticks!

The Best Breadsticks

Ingredients

1 tbsp. Instant Yeast
1 1/2 cups Warm Water
3 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 tbsp. Sugar
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
Topping: Italian Seasoning, Garlic Salt (both to taste)

Directions

Mix the yeast and warm water in a small bowl, set aside. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Add the yeast mixture until it forms a nice dough. Knead for about 2 minutes, then cover with a moist towel and let rest for 10 minutes.
Melt the 1/2 cup Butter and pour it on a rimmed baking sheet. Lightly flour a work surface and roll out your dough into a rectangle the same size as your baking sheet. Cut 1″ wide strips. Take each strip, bring the two ends together and twist, pinching the ends together to stay. Roll the stick in the butter you spread over your pan and then place on the pan.
Top your breadsticks with the 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, then garlic salt and Italian seasoning to taste.
Let your breadsticks rise for 10-15 minutes; meanwhile preheat the oven to 375 Degrees F.
Bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until lightly brown on the edges.

The Best Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients

1/2 cup Butter
2 tbsp. Minced Garlic
2 cups Heavy Cream
1/4 tsp. Pepper
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 cups Parmesan Cheese, grated or shredded

Directions

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic, heavy cream, pepper and salt and bring to a low boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 7 minutes.
Turn the heat to low and slowly add the Parmesan cheese. Cook another 1-2 minutes or until creamy – stirring constantly. Serve it hot so it’s creamy!

See, totally simple – and it goes perfectly with the CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN® Crispy Thin Crust Oven Ready Pizza, Sicilian, as well as their other varieties!

Check out more delicious recipes on the Flavorful Moments Pinterest board. Let me know what your favorites are!

Braided Bread

November 10, 2015 by Nikki Cole

I was about 10 years old when I first made homemade bread and I absolutely loved it. Did it take forever? Yes and still kind of does but well worth the wait. This Braided Bread recipe is simple and the hardest part is waiting for it to rise, the bread looks amazing, smells incredible, and will having people always asking for more.

With the holidays and cold weather (at least where I’m at) bread is a great snack to have or serve at any get together with friends and family. This recipe is great for a variety of bread recipes like soup bowls, scones, rolls, bread sticks, sweet rolls, cinnamon rolls, and pizza crust.

Ingredients:

¼ cup shortening
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon salt
4 cups milk (warm)
3 tablespoons yeast
9 cups flour

Directions:

Take the first four ingredients and mix them together, make sure your milk is warm and not hot, if it is too hot it will kill the yeast.
Sprinkle yeast on top of mixture and let sit for a minute. Stir.
Add 3 cups flour and stir.
Add 3 cups flour and beat until smooth.
Add remaining 3 cups flour and knead until smooth, not sticky. I usually keep mine in the mixer with the bread attachment for this part then knead a little bit more flour after for a few minutes.
Place in greased bowl and let rise until double in size (about an hour).
Divide into thirds, then divide those thirds into thirds again.
Roll each section into a snake, not too thin and even in length.
Pinch one side of the ends together and start carefully braiding down pinching the ends together at the end.
Place on greased pan and let rise until double in size (about an hour).
Bake 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
This recipe is also great for scones, bread sticks, sweet rolls, bread bowls, and pizza crust.
Makes 3 loaves.

3 Tasty Breakfasts in 30 Minutes

October 28, 2015 by Kelly Dedeaux

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of J.M. Smucker’s®. The opinions and text are all mine.

Remember earlier when I told you I was going to share some fabulous recipes that were super easy to whip up with Martha White® Baking Mixes as a base? Well here you go – 3 Tasty Breakfasts in 30 Minutes! Spend just half an hour baking and you’re set for days – and the best part? They don’t HAVE to be breakfasts! Use them for snacks, lunch, whatever you want. Woot woot!

Just run by Kroger, grab all the ingredients (there’s not many!) and get cooking for a little bit – even double the batches and freeze some for later! I’m all about working smart instead of hard, especially when it saves me some previous time. The trick to doing all of these in 30 minutes is that they’re all baked at the same temperature – do it all at once, not one at a time 🙂

Blueberry Lemonade Scones with Glaze

Ingredients

2 packages Martha White® Blueberry Muffin Mix
3/4 cup Heavy Cream
1 tbsp. Lemon Juice

Glaze

3 tbsp. Heavy Cream
1 cup Powdered Sugar
1/4 tsp. Vanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 Degrees F, spray or line a round cake pan.
Mix the baking mix, heavy cream and lemon juice. Spread into the prepared cake pan and bake for 22-26 minutes.
For the glaze, whip the 3 ingredients and pour over your finished scones. Enjoy!

Sundried Tomato and Mozzarella Loaf

Ingredients

4 Packages Martha White® Buttermilk Cornbread Baking Mix
1 1/3 cup Water
1/2 – 1 cup Sundried Tomato slices
1 – 2 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 tbsp. Basil
3 tsp. Oregano
Dash Salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 Degrees F. Spray or line a cake pan – I used a round angel food cake type pan for fun.
Mix all of the ingredients together well, pour into prepared pan.
Bake for 16-22 minutes. Serve warm for gooey, cheesy yumminess!

Wildberry Chicken Sandwich

Ingredients – Muffins

2 packages Martha White® Muffin Mix
3/4 cup Heavy Cream or Milk

Ingredients – Chicken Filling

Shredded Chicken, boneless and cooked
Mayo
Diced Celery
Salt & Pepper
Dash Garlic Powder

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 Degrees F. Spray or line muffin tins.
Mix the muffin ingredients and bake 10-15 minutes.
Mix the chicken filling together – it’s all to taste, so the amounts just depend on what you prefer.
Cut each muffin in half, add some chicken mixture, then close and enjoy the sandwich!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of J.M. Smucker’s®. The opinions and text are all mine.

Kale, Cabbage, and Carrot Fall Slaw

October 6, 2015 by Stephanie Kirkos

Hello! This is Stephanie from Steph in Thyme, and today I’m sharing a recipe for a hearty slaw perfect for fall. Loaded with kale, purple cabbage, carrots and tossed in a tangy shallot vinaigrette, this easy Kale, Cabbage, and Carrot Fall Slaw is a nutrient dense and colorful side dish.

Just because fall is here doesn’t mean we have to bid adieu to slaw. One of my favorite fall/winter variations embraces deep colors and flavors of seasonal vegetables – curly kale, carrots, and purple cabbage.

To save time and whip up this side dish quickly, I turn to my food processor to finely chop all the ingredients. A few pulses does the trick to evenly chop the vegetables while also leaving enough texture so the slaw isn’t mushy.

I have found that one bunch of curly kale, one small head of purple cabbage, and 4-6 medium carrots are a good ratio of both color and flavor. Of course, you can tweak the ratios per your taste preference and according to the size veggies you purchase.

The shallot vinaigrette is light and tangy, adding a zippy flavor to the deep and earthy flavors of the vegetables.

1/3 cup of olive oil seems like a lot, but this is a dense salad. 1/3 cup stretches the vinaigrette enough to completely coat the ingredients without drowning them.

I chill this slaw in the fridge for 1-2 hours before serving to allow all the flavors to meld. This slaw is tasty as a side to pretty much anything and is even delicious added to salads for additional texture and flavor.

Bon Appétit!

Hearty and healthy kale, cabbage and carrot slaw with a tangy vinaigrette. The perfect slaw for fall l Steph in Thyme for Busy Mom's Helper

Print Recipe

Kale, Cabbage, and Carrot Fall Slaw

Prep Time20 mins

Servings: 8 -10 servings

Ingredients

For the slaw

1 bunch curly kale ribs removed, finely chopped
1 small head purple cabbage core removed, finely chopped
4-6 medium carrots peeled and finely chopped

For the dressing

1 shallot minced
2 tsp gluten-free dijon mustard
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Rinse the kale and shake/pat dry or dry using a salad spinner. Remove the tough inner ribs. Working in batches, pulse a few times in a food processor until finely chopped (not minced into super tiny pieces, enough to have texture). Pour the chopped kale into a large bowl.
Remove the tough outer leaves of the head of cabbage. Slice in half and trim away the white, tough inner core. Slice into chunks and load into a food processor, working in batches depending on the size of your food processor. Pulse until finely chopped. Add chopped cabbage to the bowl of kale.
Peel the carrots and trim the ends. Slice into 1" pieces and pulse in a food processor until finely chopped. Add the carrots to the bowl of cabbage and kale.
In a small mixing bowl, combine the minced shallots and dijon mustard. Add the red wine vinegar and whisk to combine. Very slowly pour in the olive oil, whisking vigorously as you do so, to emulsify the vinaigrette. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour over the slaw.
Toss slaw and dressing until combined and well coated. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours to allow all the flavors to meld. Toss and adjust salt and pepper seasoning before serving.

Cookie Salad

August 17, 2015 by Kathleen Clegg

Hi there! Kathleen here from Fearlessly Creative Mammas. Summer is almost over, which means the holidays will be fast approaching. Do you enjoy the holidays? Do you make a lot of big meals or go to a lot of pot lucks? If so, I have a dish that you can make over and over again and your friends and family will never get sick of it. My kids and grandkids really love it! It’s a salad of sort, but not your typical salad. It is called Cookie Salad, so you can tell by the title that it is not typical. It is unbelieveably good though. Believe me.

[Read more…]

The Best Strawberry Banana Jello Salad

July 5, 2015 by Nikki Cole

It is summer time and summer time means parties, bbq’s, and get togethers with lots of food and fun. With all these parties don’t forget the jello salad so here’s a simple but delicious recipe for The Best Strawberry Banana Jello Salad recipe to help you have a great party.

On our recent visit to Utah to see our families, my sister Nikki (who’s a contributor here, so the name probably sounds familiar) made the most ridiculously yummy jello salad I’ve ever had. I couldn’t help have seconds….and then thirds, and so forth! It has fruit in it so it’s healthy, right? Let’s just pretend 😉

She said it was super easy to make, too, which makes it a 100% winner in my book! I begged her to post this – so here it is in all it’s delicious, creamy glory!

Ingredients:

12 oz whipped topping
1 small package cheesecake pudding
1 lb fresh strawberries
3 bananas
18 oz strawberry yogurt (with or without strawberry chunks, I like without because Ill be adding in strawberries)
1 bag mini marshmallows

Directions:

Thaw the whipped topping, it is best to put it in the fridge over night so it stays nice and fluffy.
In a bowl combine the yogurt, cheesecake pudding, and whipped topping.
Place in the fridge till ready to serve or an hour to set up.
Close to serving time slice the bananas and strawberries and mix in.
Lastly put some marshmallows in, I usually use 3/4 a bag but you can add however much you want.
With this recipe you can replace the fruit with different fruits that you enjoy like blueberries, raspberries, cherries, etc.

I’m planning on whipping up this dish for any summer get-together we have in the next few months because I know it’ll be a HUGE hit – and I want any excuse to make it!

Tomatillo Dressing

May 1, 2015 by Nikki Cole

Hey it’s Nikki with Busy Mom’s Helper, who here likes sweet pork? It is one of my favorites! I love going to Costa Vida and getting their sweet pork burrito, but it can get expensive so I found a good copy-cat recipe. To spice it up more I added this Tomatillo Dressing that makes it more moist and adds a lot of flavor.

Ingredients

3 tomatillos
1 bunch cilantro
1 tsp garlic salt
1 lime
1 packet hidden valley ranch dressing
1 cup buttermilk

Directions

1. Cut into smaller pieces the tomatillos and cilantro and place in blender. Remove the skin from the tomatillos, most of the time the skin will fall off on its own or its really simple to peel off.

2. Add in the garlic, ranch, and buttermilk. If you don’t have buttermilk just add 1 cup milk and 2 tablespoons butter.

3. Cut the lime in half and squeeze juice into the blender.

4. Blend well, I usually blend only half the cilantro with everything for about a minute then add the rest, scrape down the sides, and blend for another minute or two.

Serve cold over any dish! I especially love it with my sweet pork burrito, but it is also great on salads as well – I have even put it on rice.

Sweet pork

Ingredients

2 pounds pork
2 cans pepsi (not diet)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 cup water
1 can diced green chilies
1 can enchilada sauce (mild, medium, or hot)
1 cup brown sugar

Directions

Marinate pork in a bag over night with 1 can of pepsi 1 cup brown sugar and garlic salt and water.
Place the content of the bag into a slow cooker and cook on low for 7 hours or high for 3-4.
An hour before you want to eat, drain the pork, shred it with two forks, then place back into the empty crockpot
Combine the shredded pork with the diced chilies, enchilada sauce, 1 cup brown sugar, and 1 can Pepsi. Stir well.
Turn the crock pot on high and let warm for about an hour.

Serve burrito style with rice, sour cream, cheese, and the flavorful Tomatillo Dressing, or over a salad.