Coleslaw Bobby Flay Style

Fantastic!!  I made this to put on top of homemade pulled pork sandwiches!  See recipe for BBQ Pork By Paula Dean.

Coleslaw:

• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon celery seed
• 3 tablespoons apple-cider vinegar
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 small head cabbage, cored, finely shredded
• 2 carrots, finely shredded
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal

Herbed Lentils and Rice

3 1/3 c. veg. broth                                     3/4 c. dry lentils (rinsed)
3/4 c. chopped onion                                 1/2 c. uncooked brown rice
1/4 tsp. salt                                                1/2 tsp. dry basil
1/4 tsp. thyme                                            1/4 tsp. dry oregano (I omit this)
1/8 tsp. pepper                                           1/8 tsp. garlic powder

Balsamic Roasted Potatoes

I made these with supper last night and they were so good!  Of course I saw the idea on Pinterest but when I looked at the original recipe I didn't need 3 lbs of potatoes and I am not a big thyme fan because it always ends up overpowering everything else when I cook with it!  So I checked out this recipe then kinda just rolled with it.

Baked Corn Pudding

This is one of my FAVORITE Christmas dinner recipes!!!  Its easy to make and SOOOO good.  My hubby is not a huge fan of corn, so he doesn't eat a lot of this.  But that's OK with me!  That just means I get more!  :)  I originally found this recipe on AllRecipes, but I changed it a little to fit my tastes.  If you'd like to see the original recipe, click here.

Baked Corn Pudding

1/4 cup sugar
1 box Jiffy Cornbread Mix
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can cream-style corn

Italian-Marinated Vegetable Salad

OK folks, I rarely post recipes that I haven't made yet.  In fact, this is the first one.  But I saw this recipe and it looked and sounded so yummy that I couldn't wait to post it!  I found this in one of my old Kraft "Food and Family" magazines.  Anybody remember those magazines?  They used to send them out for free.  Now they charge like $10-$15 a year.  :(  Oh well, I'm still holdin' on to my free copy from December of '08.  :)

1/2 lb fresh green beans, cut in half
2 cups cauliflower florets
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
1 cup sliced stuffed green olives
1/4 cup thinly sliced sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 cup Kraft Tuscan House Italian Dressing

Seasoned Broccoli

I originally found this recipe on the internet.  Now, for the life of me, I cannot find it again.  I found this while looking for a way to make broccoli so that my husband would eat it. - He's not a big fan of broccoli.  He really enjoyed this though.  :)

1 & 1/2 lbs fresh broccoli - trimmed
1/3 cup chicken stalk (low sodium)
1 tsp Mrs. Dash Original Seasoning
3/4 tsp creole seasoning

Corn 'N' Bean Bake

• 1 package frozen cut green beans (I have used canned...just make sure they are drained)
• 1 can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
• 1/2 cup of crushed butter-flavored crackers (Ritz)

In a bowl, combine the beans, corn, soup and 1/2 cup cheese.
Spoon into a greased 1-1/2 quart baking dish.
Top with crackers and remaining cheese.
Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes or until heated through.

Vanilla Fruit Salad

I got this recipe from Megan Kendall several years ago (and several times, because I never wrote it down on an actual recipe card until just this weekend).  It is great to bring as a side dish to a spring/summer gathering, to a baby shower or really any occasion.  I love this recipe and it's super simple!


2 cans pineapple
2 cans mandarin oranges
1 jar maraschino cherries
1 box cook (not instant) vanilla pudding


Drain the pineapple and oranges and reserve the juice.  In a sauce pan combine pudding mix with 3 cups of juice.  Cook until thick.  Cool and add fruit.


Easy and super good!

Stir-fried Asian Style Broccoli

I I originally found this recipe online on food.com.  I always like to give credit (if I know where the recipe came from - Haha!) so here is the link if you'd like to check it out: Stir-Fried Asian Style Broccoli.

(I added some julienned carrots to the mix.) 

Anyway, I can not say enough good things about this recipe.  If you've got picky eaters who refuse to eat broccoli, give this baby a try.  I bet they'll eat it!  Seriously, my hubby is NOT a broccoli fan and he gobbles this up.  The recipe calls for fresh broccoli, but you could also throw in frozen broccoli.  No biggie!  Whatever you have on hand. 

I have served this as a side dish, but I also often throw in some chicken breasts (cut into thin strips) and double or triple the sauce amount and serve it all over jasmine rice.  OH MY GOODNESS!  This stuff is good!!!  (By the way, just a side note, if you have ever wondered why the rice at the Chinese restaraunt tastes so yummy - its because they use jasmine rice.  If you've never used it before, TRY IT!!!!!!!  It will really give your stir fry meal that extra flavor boost.)

Stir-fried Asian Style Broccoli

2lbs fresh broccoli
1 Tbs cornstarch
1 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 c chicken broth
2 Tbs soy sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup vegetable oil

1.) Wash and cut broccoli; set aside.
2.) Combine cornstarch, sugar and salt.  Add broth and soy sauce, stirring until smooth.
3.) In a wok, saute garlic in oil over Medium-High heat until lightly browned.
4.) Add broccoli; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Cover and cook an additional 2 minutes.
5.) Add broth mixture and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes or until sauce thickens.

Oven Baked Seasoned Fries

This recipe was given to me by my sweet mother.  I'm not sure where she got it from, but it was during a time when she was on a healthy/eating well kick.  I thought, "OK, well if its supposed to be healthy then it obviously won't taste that good."   W.R.O.N.G.  These fries are DELISH!!!!  I even mix up a bunch of the "fry seasoning" and keep it in a spice jar so that I have it on hand. - You know, for those "french fry emergencies." Don't act like you don't know what I'm talkin' about.  ;)  Anyway, on to the recipe...

Oven Baked Seasoned Fries

1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
3 large, red potatoes
2 Tbs olive oil, divided

McCormick BBQ Potatoes

This is one of my FAVORITE potato recipes.  I'm a potato girl.  I like 'em fried, baked, roasted, boiled, mashed, smashed....  Anyway you can imagine.  And this recipe is great because its not only delicious, but EASY.  I originally clipped this recipe off of a McCormick Spice advertisement in a magazine.  The recipe originally calls for grilling the potatoes, but I wanted to bake them in the oven so I changed it up a little.  If you would like to see the original recipe, you can check it out here.

McCormick BBQ Potatoes

4 medium red potatoes, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 Tbs vegetable oil
2 Tbs McCormick Grill Mates Barbecue Seasoning
1 large onion, cut into thin wedges

1.) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2.) Toss potatoes with oil in large bowl.  Add bbq seasoning; toss to coat evenly.
3.) Place potatoes on large, wide sheet of aluminium foil.  Place onions evenly on top of potatoes.  Bring up foil sides; double fold top and ends to tightly seal packet. Place foil packet on baking sheet.
4.) Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes.

Brown Rice Casserole



I have to give credit for this recipe to my sister Michelle.  She shared it with me this year & I will be forever grateful.  Seriously.  All sappiness aside, this rice is AWESOME!  But, even better than that, its AWESOME and EASY.  Hallelujah!  I love an easy recipe!!!  And better yet, my husband LOVES brown rice casserole, so he is thrilled that this is easy enough for a weekday dinner.

First, you need a covered casserole to put this in.  The rice needs to be covered to cook properly.   That's a lesson I learned 5 years ago - on Christmas day.  I had decided to make hubby's grandmother's brown rice recipe (another great recipe that I'll share at a later time).  I had never made brown rice before, so I followed the recipe to the letter.  Except... I forgot to put a lid on it.  An hour later, when we had gummy, raw rice in a dish, I was devastated.  Lesson learned.  Casserole dish with a lid people.  (Or you could tightly cover it with tin foil, but make sure its tight.)