One of my favorite side dishes to make with a meal is mashed potatoes. One day, a couple of months ago when life was very busy, I just happened to notice these Idahoan  brand instant mashed potatoes with 4 servings in a grocery aisle I was going through. They had a variety of flavors, so I bought several pouches. I wondered if the dried potato flakes could be as tasty as the flavors indicated. And yes, they are to my surprise. I am very impressed. On days when I'm running behind, it's 5:00, dinner should already be served, and I'm not going to be able to start dinner for a while yet, AND mashed potatoes are planned for that meal, this will do quite nicely. Fewer dishes are involved, and it's quick. They are pretty thick, but they don't feel heavy while you're eating them. Very creamy actually.  All you need to do is: Boil 2 cups of water. Pour the boiled water into a heat-proof bowl. Pour in the dried potato flakes.  Stir with a fork until you get a thick, mashe...

Homemade Oven Fries Oven fries are great to eat with hamburger steak, filet mignon, stir fry, and other beefy meals. Maybe you would like them with chicken too! And these are so easy to make. Let me show you how this morning . This makes 3 to 4 servings, so slice 2 or 3 more potatoes for each additional serving. Ingredients 6 or 7 small to medium potatoes butter-flavored Pam spray spray butter salt Directions First, peel and clean the potatoes. Slice the potatoes into long sections (about 4 from each potato). Line pan with aluminum foil. Spray the top of the foil with the Pam and salt. Place the sliced potatoes evenly spaced onto the foil. Spray the potatoes with the Pam and salt. Place in oven on 550 degrees.  Remove from oven when potatoes are browned. This takes 20 to 30 minutes, so keep a close eye on them. Spray with the spray butter and salt if you want more flavor. Now, serve with your favorite meat. Or these make a great snack too! Dip in ketchup if desired! #womenhelpingwo...

Nobody's Perfect! I'll let you in on a secret this morning . I cannot make good cornbread or biscuits from scratch. So, I have found some great alternatives if I need cornbread or biscuits with a meal. And I love pasta salad, and Betty Crocker has a kit that I love. It's easy and I prefer it over trying to gather ingredients separately. Martha White Buttermilk Cornbread Mix I love the way this cornbread turns out. And I do not use buttermilk. I use regular milk to make it with. Follow the instructions on the package for a delicious side dish or to make homemade cornbread salad. You should be able to find this in the baking aisle at your local grocer or Walmart. Pillsbury Grands Frozen Biscuits These are found with the other frozen breads. I prefer the buttermilk or southern style over the butter tastin' biscuits. Biscuits are greasy enough without adding all that butter (or whatever they're using for the butter flavor) to the mix. So, if you want a less greasy tast...

Homemade Potato Salad Recipe I hope you like today's potato salad recipe . It's another one of my family's favorite side dishes. I now have many of my side dish recipes on the site. Once again, this is great for holidays, picnics or a picnic meal (just cold sides as a meal) or snacking. Make ahead for a refrigerated dish. Let's dig in! Ingredients salt pepper paprika 4 cups of diced potatoes mayo mustard (may be omitted if you don't want a sour potato salad) 3 to 4 boiled eggs diced onion dill pickle relish (may substitute with sweet relish) Directions Peel and dice 4 cups of potatoes. Place them in a pot with water. Add salt. Boil the potatoes until soft (test with a fork from time to time). Salt occasionally as they boil. Boil 3 or 4 eggs while potatoes are boiling. I set a timer for 25 minutes as soon as I turn on the stove eye to start boiling.  Remove from stove eye after boiling is complete and peel the eggs. See my secret for perfectly peeled boiled eggs in...

Homemade Deviled Eggs This weekend , let's make some homemade deviled eggs. Deviled eggs are great to eat with almost anything. I make them for our holiday meals, but they're also good with picnic meals as well. We often will eat them with other "side dishes" such as homemade potato salad, cornbread salad , and pasta salad as a meal in themselves. Oh! And great as a snack too! The best news is I do NOT use vinegar in my recipe. Ingredients 6 large eggs mayonnaise dill pickle relish (may be substituted with sweet pickle relish) yellow mustard salt pepper paprika Directions Let's start by hard boiling the eggs. After boiling, rinse the eggs under cold water and let cool for a couple of minutes before peeling ( secret : don't allow to cool longer than a couple of minutes; eggs that are too hot or too cold will not peel easily; if eggs are too hot after 1st cold rinse and wait period, run under cold water for a few seconds more just before peeling each egg). Cut t...

This weekend , I want to share another family favorite side dish in our house - homemade cornbread salad. This is a cold dish, so make it ahead of time to allow it to chill before the meal it will be served with. Great to eat with holiday meals, for picnics, or as part of a cold summer meal. My family enjoys eating cold meals in the summer - tossed chef salad, homemade cornbread salad, pasta salad , homemade potato salad, and homemade deviled eggs . I'll have recipes for the potato salad and deviled eggs soon. Ingredients Martha White buttermilk cornbread mix 2/3 cup milk of your choice (doesn't have to be buttermilk [gross!]) 2 medium tomatoes (diced) 1 small onion (diced) 1 large cucumber (outer flesh diced if you don't want the seeds in your salad)  OR 1 small cucumber (diced with the seeds) 1 16 oz. bottle of Kraft peppercorn ranch dressing Directions Combine the cornbread mix and milk and bake according to the instructions on the package. Let cool for a few minutes; ...

Grilled Flavors with Your Oven Happy Saturday morning, everyone! Today, I want to tell you how to make corn and hotdogs in the oven so that they taste and look like they just came off the grill. As with any grilled food, you can the scorch the corn or char the hotdogs as light or as dark as you like.  Corn on the Cob Image courtesy of  Christina Branco  via Unsplash For the "grilled" corn taste you'll need clean corn (right?), aluminum foil, salt, and margarine. Preheat the oven to 550 degrees. Tear off sections of aluminum foil to wrap around each ear of corn later.  Set each ear of corn onto its individual foil wrap. Spread margarine over every inch of each ear of corn. Salt the margarine that you spread onto the corn. Wrap corn tightly in the aluminum foil. Place wrapped corn on the aluminum-lined baking pan with the foil seal on the corn facing up so you can maintain as much of the margarine inside the foil as possible. Put in oven on middle rack position to co...

Baked potatoes are not only a great side dish, but they also can be a meal in themselves. I just love to eat microwaved baked potatoes for lunch. I "fluff" my potatoes to make them easier to add other ingredients to as well as easier to eat. Keep reading today's post to find out what my secret is to fluffy potatoes.  Image courtesy of makeyourmeals.com via Pinterest Patricia's Fluffy Microwaved Baked Potatoes First, wash your potatoes . Follow the microwave manufacturer's instructions to bake the number of potatoes you're going to make. Once baked, slice the potatoes from end to end - leaving about 1/4 inch unsliced on each end. Next, use a fork to "fluff" the potato flesh. Keep poking and gouging until it's very fluffy.  The fluffiness will prepare the potato to better absorb and mix in the margarine and/or sour cream . Once you have your margarine or sour cream added, you can add bacon bits (NOTE: I make my own from fresh microwavable bacon)...

I want to share my easy mashed potatoes side dish recipe with you  this morning . This recipe includes only 5 simple ingredients, and it's easy to make any day of the week. Or make ahead and serve 2 or 3 days later. Sorry, there are no specific measurements; you just use your senses for this one. 😁 Patricia's Easy Mashed Potatoes First, wash about 10 or so  russet potatoes  (more if you need to make more, fewer if you need make less) Peel them. Then cut them into chunky cubes.  Next, rinse the cubed potatoes in a colander.  Place the potatoes in a pot and boil. Stir frequently. Add a few shakes of salt from time to time. Once the potatoes are soft (they're ready when a fork easily goes through a couple of the cubed potatoes), pour the potato broth into a glass bowl or large glass measuring cup (32 oz. with a handle works great). It will be hot so handle with care! Pour the potatoes into a separate bowl.  Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of margarine . Add a few mo...

Today , I'm going to share my easy homemade creamed corn recipe with you. My family loves it, and I think yours will too! The recipe below feeds up to 8 people. And this is soooo much better than canned creamed corn, which I will not eat at all. Sorry Green Giant et al.  Patricia's Creamed Corn Recipe To begin with, you'll need 15 to 20 ears of corn . Next,  clean the corn . After cleaning, cut off the kernels. As the kernels are removed, slide the edge of the knife down each cob to extract the remaining juices. 😉This part can be a bit messy but it's worth it. In the skillet, melt 2 sticks of margarine on high. It will melt faster if you cut each stick into 4 or 5 smaller sections. Put your corn kernels and extracted juices in the skillet once the margarine has melted. Stir until the corn is coated with the butter.  Pour in a full can of evaporated milk ( shake well before opening). Bring to a boil, then turn down to medium heat. Cook at this setting until the marg...