Salads & Sides

tailgating side dishes

Best Carnitas Nachos Recipe- Game Day Food Ideas

Football season is almost upon us and if you know me or have been following along with the blog for a bit, you probably know I’m a big football fan. As much as I love going to football games, watching them at home with a killer spread of favorite tailgate foods while you cheer on … Read more

tailgating side dishes
feta cheese salad recipe

Easy & Delicious Watermelon, Feta & Orzo Salad Recipe

Watermelon Feta Orzo Salad is the most delicious salad for these warm summer days. Full of simple ingredients this is the fresh salad that you need for all your barbecues.  Unlike a traditional Greek salad with red kalamata olives, juicy tomatoes, and crisp cucumbers, this great recipe calls for cold, juicy and sweet watermelon, salty, … Read more

feta cheese salad recipe
cherry tomatoes salad recipe

Simple & Delicious Cherry Tomato Salad Recipe

Fresh basil, ripe tomatoes and fresh mozzarella balls…this cherry tomatoes salad recipe screams summer and is the perfect addition to all of your BBQs this summer. It is one of my favorite recipes and just about the easiest thing you can make.  This post contains affiliate links. Click here to read my full disclosure policy. This simple … Read more

cherry tomatoes salad recipe
chick fil a market salad recipe

Make This Easy Chick-fil-A Market Salad Copycat Recipe

This Chick-fil-A Market Salad recipe might just be Ashley’s favorite salad of all time. So many menu items at fast food restaurants are just not the healthiest, but I love that with Chick-fil-A I can drive through a fast food chain restaurant and find something that is full of fresh ingredients. If you are looking … Read more

chick fil a market salad recipe

How to Make Delicious Baked Cinnamon Sugar Apple Slices

This is the simplest recipe that makes the most delicious apples for snacking and adding to LOTS of other amazing recipes. I’ll be sharing several more recipes in the coming weeks that incorporate these delicious baked cinnamon sugar apple slices, so be sure to pin this recipe so you can find it again easily! 🙂 … Read more

delicious fall salad recipe

Easy & Delicious Fall Salad Recipe

With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, if you’re anything like me you are finalizing your menu and starting to prep your shopping lists. I always like to have a salad as part of our menu, just something light and fresh to balance all of the heavy comfort food. This easy and delicious fall salad recipe is a … Read more

delicious fall salad recipe
the best thanksgiving stuffing recipe with apples

Best Thanksgiving Stuffing Recipe with Apples

I was having a conversation with a friend today who said that Thanksgiving is her least favorite holiday. She doesn’t love all the pressure of cooking the perfect meal and the time that goes into it, only for it to be gobbled up in 10 minutes. It’s funny how different people think about things. I, … Read more

the best thanksgiving stuffing recipe with apples
Pietros antipasto salad platter recipe

Summer Salads for a Crowd : Antipasto Salad Platter

I have been spending a fair amount of time over these past months at home sifting through tens if not hundreds of thousands of pictures from the past 15 or so years. It’s been a great project for all our “stay at home” time, and I’m amazed by how many pictures I have forgotten about … Read more

Pietros antipasto salad platter recipe
Gluten free stuffing recipe

Easy Thanksgiving Side Dishes : Delicious Gluten Free Stuffing Recipe

I can’t believe it’s time to be thinking about Thanksgiving menus already!  Do you host at your house, or do you usually go somewhere else?  This year we’ll be heading to my aunt’s house in San Diego and I can’t wait!  She has the most amazing property…her own farmhouse and gorgeous oak trees lining the … Read more

Gluten free stuffing recipe
nordstrom cafe recipe for salads

Nordstrom Cafe Signature Chinese Chicken Salad Recipe

Many of my favorite recipes for delicious salads happen to be from Nordstrom Cafe. In Orange County, my local Nordstrom is about a 5 minute drive, so I make sure to plan frequent visits for lunch when I’m there. In Salt Lake, our closest Nordstrom isn’t to much much further, but what I find interesting … Read more

nordstrom cafe recipe for salads
Easy burrata and heirloom tomatoes appetizer recipe

Easy Burrata and Heirloom Tomatoes Appetizer Recipe

Lately I have been frequenting one of my favorite lunch spots for their delicious burrata and heirloom tomatoes appetizer.  It is SO yummy I can eat it as a meal.  With the start of the new year coming soon, that means it’s time for New Year’s parties, Hollywood awards season parties and football parties and … Read more

Easy burrata and heirloom tomatoes appetizer recipe
Roasted vegetables 3

Easy Roasted Vegetables Recipe : Easy Side Dish Ideas

I am always on the hunt for healthy, delicious and most importantly EASY side dish ideas.  My kids are good about eating vegetables as long as they taste good, and fortunately, this easy roasted vegetables recipe is SO good it will have the kids begging for more.  Mine did last night!  These deliciously seasoned roasted … Read more

Roasted vegetables 3
Beet salad with goat cheese pinterest

Delicious Beet Salad Recipe

As a kid I always thought I despised beets.  The first few years John and I were married he always put beets on his salad whenever we were at a salad bar and I though it was disgusting. lol!  Well fast forward a few years and I have gotten older and wiser…and now I’m sad … Read more

Beet salad with goat cheese pinterest
Potato salad 2

How to Make The Best Traditional Potato Salad (with egg) Recipe

With temperatures heating up and BBQ parties on the calendar I figured it was a good time to share my favorite go-to potato salad recipe.  I love potato salad, but I have to admit I don’t make it terribly often because it is time consuming.  Every time I decide to just grab some from the … Read more

Potato salad 2
Spinach and strawberry salad 4

Spinach Salad with Berries

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend!  We spent time at church, neighborhood egg hunts, visiting with friends, eating ham and potatoes, and getting fun visits from the Easter Bunny.  Oh, how I love these days!  It has become a tradition for us, since our dear family friends the Peo’s moved back to … Read more

Spinach and strawberry salad 4
Best cranberry sauce ever

Best Cranberry Sauce Recipe Ever

I don’t usually like to toot my own horn, but when it comes to creating a cranberry sauce recipe, I’m pretty convinced this is the best cranberry sauce recipe ever. 😉  The best part is, it was an accident.  The mishap occurred about 8 years ago, but I always forget to write about it here, … Read more

Best cranberry sauce ever
Roasted beets with goat cheese 1

Roasted Beets with Goat Cheese

There are two kinds of people… those that love beets and those that don’t. I am the latter. But I decided one day to come up with a recipe that I would like… and guess what? I not only love beets made this way… I absolutely love them.. as in I cannot stop eating them! … Read more

Roasted beets with goat cheese 1
Mixed greens with pears and gorgonzola

Mixed Greens, Pear and Gorgonzola Salad with a Cherry Vinaigrette

On of my favorite things about summer is the abundance of the best fruit around! I love cherries and wanted to come up with an amazing salad Pear and Gorgonzola salad that included a vinaigrette celebrating these ruby gems. And not just in the salad… but in the dressing as well… yup.. double the cherry … Read more

Mixed greens with pears and gorgonzola
Poisson cru recipe copy

Poisson Cru Recipe- Tahitian Signature Dish

I just returned from the most “heavenly” vacation in the French Polynesian islands and the food was incredible! A huge part of our trip was spent on the Paul Gauguin cruise ship and they shared with me their recipe for a Tahitian signature dish that is found all over the French Polynesian islands.. Poisson Cru. … Read more

Poisson cru recipe copy
Lemon blueberry salad

Mixed Greens and Blueberry Salad with a Lemon Honey Vinaigrette

People…. this here salad is beyond words! I taught it in my last cooking class and everyone in the last class can’t stop telling me just how much they love it and constantly make it. It is light, refreshing and goes with everything! I served it alongside home made pasta and it was a match … Read more

Lemon blueberry salad
Taco salad 7

Recipe for Easy and Delicious Taco Salad with a Twist

With The Big Game on the horizon it’s time to think parties!  Mexican food is always a favorite and this hearty and delicious crowd pleaser will make hosting a breeze.    I’m always on the lookout for ways to simplify life and spend less time in the kitchen while still enjoying great food.  When I … Read more

Taco salad 7
Skillet elote

Skillet Elote Recipe

This my friends… is a side dish that dreams are made of! Elote is a traditional Mexican street corn that they sell on the cob and is slathered in mayonnaise, lime, cotija cheese and spices. It’s absolutely delicious! This dish is a version of that (with a “Jenny Evans” twist!) but the fresh corn is … Read more

Skillet elote
Spinach and mandarin salad 3

Spinach and Citrus Salad Recipe

This delicious spinach and citrus salad recipe was passed along to our family by my dear friend Mandi more than a decade ago!  It has been a hit in our family ever since.  So much so, that it was served at my brother’s wedding!  It’s perfect for any time of year since the ingredients are … Read more

Spinach and mandarin salad 3
Spinach and strawberry featured

Strawberry, Feta and Spinach Spring Salad Recipe

Salads just scream spring and summer to me. The gorgeous colors and flavors just make for a beautiful meal.  The best part is, when it’s hot, you don’t have to slave over a stove!  This spring salad is one of my favorite go-to spring recipes to add to your list of easy meals. 🙂 Ingredients: Strawberries … Read more

Spinach and strawberry featured
Mexican caprese 682x1024 header

Mexican Caprese Salad Recipe

Well folks… it’s springtime and who doesn’t get all happy about that? I mean come one… the flowers are blooming, the trees are all dressed up in their best, the sun is shining, the sky is bluer than blue and the birds are singing their celebration song about surviving another winter. It’s just a gorgeous time … Read more

Mexican caprese 682x1024 header
Mac n cheese

Eat This: Awesome Mac and Cheese

Even though it’s been in the 80s here, it’s still only February, so I feel entitled to eat comfort food. 😉 A friend made this for me a few years back after I had Ash and it has been a favorite in our house ever since. The kids like to call it “fancy mac and … Read more

Mac n cheese
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Recipe: Jenny’s Kale and Apple Salad

After a month of decadent eating…. and our pants getting tighter and tighter… January is always a month where we have the goal to eat healthier. Can you relate? But eating healthier shouldn’t mean less flavor or deliciousness. That’s just plain torture if you ask me! I have a great salad I want to share … Read more

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The Best Stuffing Recipe

I don’t know about you… but me… I grew up on the boxed stuffing mix. That was all fine and dandy when I was a kid. Then… enter marriage and new Thanksgiving traditions. Since our families lived in the same town, we went to two Thanksgiving meals for years on turkey day! That’s a lot … Read more

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Thai pasta header1

Thai Chicken Pasta Salad

I don’t know about you guys, but I have been in a cooking rut lately.  I am tired of all of my old recipes and always on the hunt for new fresh ideas that don’t take forever to make. Thank heavens for pinterest! 🙂 I stumbled across this recipe last week from Better Homes and … Read more

Thai pasta header1