Tasty Baked Potatoes

My husband is a typical "meat and potatoes" type guy so I like to find a variety of ways to serve up one of his favorite side dishes! This is a SIMPLE twist on the typical baked potato and he's in LOVE with it!

Ingredients

• Baking potatoes
• olive oil
• sea salt (or regular table salt is fine too)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Wash potatoes and prick lightly with a fork 2-3 times
3. Cook in microwave for 8 minutes, turning after 4.
4. You want to be able to feel a little give in the skin but not so much that it breaks
5. Remove them from microwave and brush with olive oil and salt
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes

This recipe makes the skin SUPER yummy! I cook four potatoes...one for myself, one for the kids to split and two for Zach ;)

Broiler Corn

One of my personal favorite side dishes, and super quick and easy to whip up for the whole family!

Ingredients:

• frozen bag of corn kernels
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Put oven on High Broil
2. Lay corn (still frozen) out on baking sheet. I have a family of four and typically only use 1/2 a bag at each meal as this isn't very good left over!
3. Drizzle olive oil over corn
4. Season with salt and pepper
5. Heat for 5 minutes in oven

YES! It really is THAT SIMPLE!!! And it's delicious! 

Butternut Squash Fries

Orange vegetables are a tough sell in my house and these allow me to make sure my kids get the nutrients they need!

Ingredients:

• 1 butternut squash
• Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Peel and cut squash into strips
3. Coat lightly in olive oil on a baking sheet
4. Sprinkle with salt and pepper
5. Cook in oven for 30-40 minutes, the longer you bake the crispier they will become

I serve them with a little side of ketchup for my 4 year old and he gobbles them down! I keep them in a tupperware and serve at lunches!

Frozen Bananas

My kids enjoy eating bananas each morning for breakfast. Since I only grocery shop once a month I've had to get creative to make them last! Both of my kids love the frozen bananas so much that they prefer them over the fresh ones!

• I buy roughly 20 bananas at the start of each month
• I wait until they are starting to turn brown...like this:

• Then I PEEL each banana and break it in half
• Next I place each half in a Ziploc freezer gallon sized bag (and in this case I do think the brand name is worth it as it tends to cause less freezer burn than other freezer bag brands)
• I am careful to lay each one flat in the bag

•  After all of my bananas are in the bag I carefully lay the bag in the freezer making sure it stays laying flat so the bananas won't stick together after frozen!

• Each morning I grab one half of banana for each child and let it thaw a little before cutting it into pieces for them! They are also EXCELLENT to add to smoothies!
• I recommend if you're going to eat them to do so rather quickly as after a while, when they get fully thawed, they get very mushy!

Poppy Seed Chicken and Noodles

My sweet sister-in-law made this dish for me after I had surgery and it was SO GOOD I ate it for several meals while resting in the bed :) When I cooked it for the first time my son said it's his most favorite thing I've cooked yet!

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 sleeve Ritz crackers
• 1 tsp poppy seeds or more if desired
• 12 oz sour cream (I used 1 and 1/2 of the 8 oz serving containers)
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 box fettuccine noodles (I used whole wheat)

 Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cook 1/2 box of noodles, according to package
3. Boil chicken on high heat until boils then reduce heat to medium and let simmer for 20 minutes. Drain and then shred.
4. Mix sour cream and soup in a bowl...I also seasoned with salt and pepper
5. Combine butter, crackers and seeds in a separate bowl
6. Pour 1/2 soup mix in baking dish then top with chicken, noodles, remaining half of soup mix, finally top with cracker mix
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes

When I made this I realized once I had already started preparing it that I had bought sesame seeds rather than poppy ones! Oops! I just didn't have seeds in it and it was still SUPER yummy! I can't wait to try it again with the seeds next time ;)

Garlic Green Beans

I don't like to use canned goods often but this is a quick way to eat some green vegetables when in a rush to get dinner on the table!

Ingredients

• Canned green beans (any type)
• Garlic (I buy the big container of it and keep it in the fridge to have on hand)

Directions

1. Pour green beans (including juice from can) in pot on stove
2. Add 1 tsp of minced garlic
3. Let cook on a low setting for 20 min or so (I just let it cook the entire time I'm making the rest of our dinner!)

Honey Carrots

None of my family really enjoys eating carrots...yet we ALL love this recipe!!! 

Ingredients

• Whole carrots (as many as you'd like...I usually do 4 or 5 carrots for our family)
• 3 Tbl olive oil
• 3 Tbl honey
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Clean and peel carrots then cut into sticks
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
3. Place on baking sheet and toss in 1 Tbl olive oil along with salt and pepper
4. Roast in oven for 20 minutes
5. Drizzle with 2 Tbl olive oil, 3 Tbl honey and 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
6. Put back in oven for 5 minutes

This is a wonderful side dish however I'm always mindful to only make enough for us to eat immediately as they aren't very good left over!

Butter Beans

I had NEVER heard of "butter beans" until I moved down to South Ga but now they are a staple in our home!

Ingredients

• Pressure cooker
• 1 bag of frozen baby lima beans
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 packet of Goya Ham Flavored Concentrate (found in the "ethnic food section" at the grocery store)

Directions

1. Put frozen limas in bottom of pressure cooker
2. Put water in pressure cooker and fill to just barely above the peas but so they are covered
3. Sprinkle with salt and pepper
4. Add packet of seasoning
5. Lock pressure cooker lid and put on stove top on medium-high heat until whistles
6. Once it whistles turn heat down to one setting below medium and let cook for 9 minutes
7. Remove from heat and wait for lid to unlock to serve

They are great re-heated too! We eat them for dinner one night then have them as left overs another night later in the week!

This same recipe also works great for ford-hooks and queen zipper peas as well!

Crock Pot Cheesy Chicken and Rice

I love crock pot recipes! Super easy to prepare and always very yummy! 

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts
• 1 8oz box of yellow rice - cooked (I can't ever find it sold in 8 oz portions so I've used both 5 oz and 10 oz size and it turns out great either way)
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 (10.5 oz) can cream of chicken soup
• 1 (15 oz) can whole kerneled corn, drained

Directions

1. Place chicken in crock pot
2. Spoon gallops of soup on top (I also sprinkle with salt and pepper)
3. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high 3-4 hours
4. Before serving add rice, corn and cheese. Stir to combine then serve hot!

I usually don't even defrost the chicken first. I stick the breasts in the crockpot first thing in the morning with the soup and just let it cook all day. Then I shred the chicken up once I am ready to add the rice and corn!

Lemon Butter Potatoes

I first had this recipe at my son's thanksgiving celebration at school. It was so good I went back for seconds and asked for the recipe! I now make this as a side dish for our family at least a couple times a month, it's one of my personal favorites for sure. 

Ingredients

• 1 bag dutch baby potatoes or honey gold potatoes (I use the honey gold)
• 2 Tbl water
• 4 Tbs butter
• Juice of 1 lemon (I used the lemon juice concentrate and 3 Tbl of that equals one lemon)
• 1 tsp Everglades Seasoning

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450
2. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray
3. Clean potatoes and cut in half 
4. Place in a bowl with the water. Cover and microwave for 7-8 Minutes
5. Cut butter into small pieces over the bowl then add lemon juice and seasoning and stir until well mixed with potatoes
6. Spread in single layer on baking dish and bake for 10-12 minutes

I usually will go ahead and clean potatoes and put them in the bowl earlier in the day so they are ready to cook in microwave when I'm ready to prepare dinner!

Microwave Single Serving Cookie!

Warning...this is a SUPER addicting treat! While it's not healthy, at least it must be better than eating a whole batch of homemade cookies since it's only a single serving, right?

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp white sugar
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 3 drops of vanilla
• pinch of salt
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 Tbsp choc chips (or a little extra if you're a choc lover!)

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients in a coffe cup
2. Heat for 40-60 seconds in microwave
3. While it's cooking pour a glass of milk ;)

Green Bean Cover-Up

This is a simple recipe that can be thrown together quickly but make a big impression! I've been making this for years and it's always a crowd pleaser!

Ingredients:

• 1 can french style green beans
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 can of onion toppers

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Open beans and drain then place in shallow baking dish
3. Stir in soup and cheese
4. Sprinkle onions on top
5. Bake for 25-30 min

I typically go ahead and mix the beans, soup, and cheese in the dish earlier in the day and keep it in the fridge then just add the onion toppers before putting in the oven closer to dinner time!