One of the best things about doing e-mealz is that each meal includes a side dish. I’m so very guilty of making an entree and then 2 minutes before I serve it up saying, “Oh. Maybe we should have some vegetables with this?” The side dishes e-mealz suggests are usually simple like cut up cantaloupe or a salad with bacon, tomatoes and ranch dressing. But I just like that it gets me out of my box to try new things!

So, because I’m a little hungry I thought I’d share my

Top Ten Favorite Side Dishes That Have Less Than Five Ingredients and You Can Make Even When You Forgot You Needed A Side Dish

{*waggling eyebrows*}

1. Balsamic Honey Carrots

I learned this one from Chef Druck when we did a Healthy Food Chat for The Motherhood. Just cut up a few carrots, throw in a little balsamic vinegar, some honey and maybe a little oil and water into a pan. Put on the lid and steam/cook for a few minutes until desired tenderness. This is Lydia’s favorite! So yummy! And I’m sure it would be delicious with other veggies, too.

2. Dressed Up Broccoli

I found this one on All Recipes. It’s basically just bread crumbs, butter, garlic and parmesan cheese sprinkled on cooked broccoli. Then broiled until brown. I could eat an entire bowl.

3. Sweet Baby Carrots

OK, baby carrots freak me out. You know they are STAMPED out of real carrots, right? Why?!

But this was a surprisingly yummy side dish from E-Mealz. Combine 1/3 c orange marmalade, a couple of tablespoons of water, a hunk of butter, and 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg plus a little salt in a pan. Add carrots (baby or not), coat and then steam until done.

4. Cranberry Slaw

I am not a big slaw fan. Maybe because it usually shows up on the potluck table with the top just torn off from Wal-mart. Anywhoo. I *am* a fan of sweet/tart food. And this one fits the bill– mix 2 T cider vinegar, 1 T sugar, 2 t olive oil, ½ t salt. Add to 4 c coleslaw mix and ½ c dried cranberries. It was so yummy! The kids even liked it! {Got this one from E-mealz, too!}

5. Diced Potatoes

This is our old standby. And honestly, I could eat it for every meal. I like to dice (with my Vidalia Chop Wizard, a gift from Staci) potatoes of any kind–sweet potatoes, plain old Idaho potatoes, red potatoes and even purple potatoes! Then dice up an onion, bell pepper or jalapeno to mix with it. Pour on a little olive oil and some salt. Then bake at about 400 for 20 minutes. Oh, yum. I want some right now!

6. Broccoli with Poppy Seed Butter

This is another All Recipes find. It’s so easy–just a few spices, some poppy seeds and parmesan cheese. Pour over broccoli and devour. YUM.

7. Roasted Veggies

I asked my friends on facebook what their favorite side dish was and the landslide winner was roasted veggies–broccoli, asparagus, red potatoes, etc. Just grab whatever veggies you have, coat them with a little olive oil, some salt and pepper and throw them in the oven for 20-30 minutes. Done.

8. Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes

I haven’t tried this one yet, but since I obviously love potatoes, honey & throwing things in the oven this one is perfect. Thank you to one of my messageboard mamas on facebook for the suggestion: Cut 3 large sweet potatoes/yams into 3/4″ chunks. Toss with 1/3 cup olive oil, 1/3 cup good honey and 2tsp cinnamon. Bake on a cookie sheet for ~30 min @350. Tip: the honey kills a cookie sheet so cover the whole thing in foil and then a sheet of parchment paper.

9. Lundberg Jubilee Rice

OK. This isn’t actually a quick side dish. In fact, it takes an hour to cook. But oh man, is it yummy! It’s especially good if you cook it in broth instead of water. (You know you should ALWAYS use broth in place of water, right?)

10. Bread and Butter

I know, it doesn’t seem that great. A poor-man’s side dish even. But ever since I have been making my own bread and buying real butter? It is like the best thing ever. I find myself craving bread and butter for a snack. I’m not kidding. The crusts are even delicious!

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Link up your Top Ten list and join in the Top Ten {Tuesday} fun! All you have to do is WRITE a top ten list, PASTE it  below, LINK back to me in your post & then start LOVIN’ on the rest of the participants with facebook likes, stumbles, comments and tweets! For better and more succinct guidelines see my Top Ten {Tuesday} page!

Best Under 5 Ingredients Side Dishes: Top Ten {Tuesday} is a post from: ohamanda.com
Happy New Year! Here are some of my favorite resources to help you make the most of 2012! One Bite At A Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler, an ebook by Simple Mom!
Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule, finally get your house under control!
E-Mealz, online meal-planning with shopping lists! {20% off with code SKINNY when you choose one of their healthy menus}
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Anyone remember the fabulousness of my Rice Krispies Fruity Shortcakes? I know, you’ve probably been dreaming of them the last few months. Well, never fear, I have come up with a new CHRISTMASY version of Rice Krispies treats that you are going to LOVE.

See, Rice Krispies and The Motherhood contacted all the bloggers who had done those Springy treats (and some other seasonal challenges) to do a show-stopping Christmas treat. And although, I’m not super creative in the food department, I like a little show-stopping Christmasy challenge.

As I was thinking about this TWO things came to mind—first was this cute little craft Lydia and I were planning on making this year—it was a craft-foam gingerbread man inside a snowglobe. It’s something we found for 75% off after Christmas last year. I figured I could make some gingerbread men Rice Krispies and put them in a snowglobe!

But then something EVEN BETTER came to mind—my very favorite cookie from the Fickle Pickle! Anyone remember it? (Because I’ve blogged about it several times and just tweeted it last week!) OK, fine, you don’t know every single thing I love by heart–but if you’d ever had their CHOCOLATE GINGERBREAD COOKIE you’d never forget it!

So, that’s what we did. We made TWO batches of Rice Krispies Treats. One gingerbread and one CHOCOLATE gingerbread! Ready for the deliciousness?

Here’s what you need:

6 cups of Rice Krispies
1 bag of marshmallows
4 tablespoons of butter
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon molasses
1/4 cup cocoa {optional for Chocolate Gingerbread}
Assorted frosting, candy, etc for decoration

The key here is mixing all your spices in with the butter. Once the butter is melted, just stir the spices in until your butter is nice and…spicy. Then add the marshmallows and coat. Then stir until melted. Keep it on low the whole time otherwise your treats will get crunchy. I don’t know why, but it’s true. Look how yummy that is:

After adding the Rice Krispies, I poured them into a baking dish and cut out gingerbread man shapes. A jelly roll pan might be a little easier for using cookie cutters because the treats would be thinner. If you were really crafty, you might be able to mold them into gingerbread people shapes, but I couldn’t figure it out. You saw my Rice Krispies Cannonballs, I could barely make circles!

Lydia loved the fruit-by-the-foot and the marshmallows (I cut them in thirds with scissors so the colored sugar would stick to it!). Asa just liked picking up the candy and eating it. Pretty sure he didn’t even decorate his gingerpeople.

Lydia’s creation!

Somehow only 2 of my gingerfolk escaped my stomach long enough to have their picture taken. And get their picture taken they did—inside a winter wonderland snowglobe! It’s just a big clear round bowl I found at Michael’s. I poured a little glitter in it and swirled it around. It made it sparkle and shimmer. Then I attached a cute snowflake ornament, added a little bit of that snowy cotton stuff and I think our little Ginger couple are as Christmas-y, wintery as can be!

I used cut mini-marshmallows and green sugar for the gingerbread person on the right. Along with some red fruit-by-the-foot-straps. The chocolate gingerbread guy on the right looks a littlThen I laid out the candy (in a muffin tin, my fave!) and let the kids have at it. e Santa Claus-ish with a fruit-by-the-foot tunic, edible pearl belt and green M&M buttons. Oh, and don’t forget his cut marshmallows with red sugar for shoes.

Even if you didn’t want to do gingerbread people and all the {amazing} decorations we did, you could still do the gingerbread or chocolate gingerbread flavoring. It was really easy, the flavor was light and not overwhelming. It’s just nice and Christmasy. In fact, I took the leftovers to church last Sunday (not a very pretty presentation, mind you, because I had just stuffed all of them in a ziploc bag) but everyone who tasted them loved them! (Am I right, ladies?)

I will be making these for Christmas this year. Seriously, they are yummy, Christmasy and simple to make! What? You’d like to make them, too? Well, Rice Krispies is giving a $100 Visa Giftcard to one of you–just think of all the Rice Krispies treats you could make! Just leave me a comment with how awesome you think my gingerbread men are a fun way you’ve seen or made Rice Krispies treats!

Abbreviated Rules: No Purchase Necessary. Contest Ends Tuesday 12/21/10. For complete Official Rules, go to http://web.mediacdt.com/docs/motherhoodholiday. Open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia who are 18 years of age or older at time of entry. One entry per person. Subject to complete Official Rules. Void where prohibited. Sponsor: The Motherhood; www.TheMotherhood.com.

Disclosure: Thank you to Rice Krispies and The Motherhood for providing me with Rice Krispies galore and a stipend to fund my creation!

Chocolate Gingerbread Rice Krispies Treats {*giveaway*} is a post from: ohamanda.com
Happy New Year! Here are some of my favorite resources to help you make the most of 2012! One Bite At A Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler, an ebook by Simple Mom!
Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule, finally get your house under control!
E-Mealz, online meal-planning with shopping lists! {20% off with code SKINNY when you choose one of their healthy menus}
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In my first vegetable share box, I correctly identified some SWEET POTATOES! Lydia and Asa have been eating sweet potatoes since they were babies. That was also the first time I began to eat sweet potatoes. I never liked them growing up–maybe because I’d only had the the marshmallow casserole version or the overcooked baked-potato version. Apparently I’d never had them in their God-given form: SWEET POTATO FRIES.

Sweet potato fries are practically our favorite food. We make them regularly–sometimes just quartered and drizzled with olive oil, sometimes diced (for little fingers) and mixed with onions and peppers. A few weeks ago I found the most delicious potato fries recipe ever from (my  new favorite blog name) THE PURPLE FOODIE. She used regular old russet potatoes. But I decided to grab my new fresh-from-the-farmer sweet potatoes! OH MY YUM.

Her directions were honestly a little too foodie for me, so here’s my normal-person-not-so-good-in-the-kitchen version:

Ingredients:
Sweet Potatoes
3 T Cornstarch {I’ve made these twice, once with cornstarch & once with flour. Both worked fine!}
8 cloves of garlic
1 1/2 t salt {Purple Foodie suggests sea salt and I actually had some in my cupboard!}
1 1/2 t pepper
1/4 t cayenne pepper {cut it down if you’re wimpy like that}
1/2 t garlic powder
6 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil.

2. Cut sweet potatoes to desired size and shape. Boil for 5 minutes. Take potatoes out of pot and drain or pat dry. Pour into large bowl.

2. Heat olive oil in pan. Cook garlic for 2-3 minutes. (Or until it smells good to you.)

3.  Pour olive oil (try to hold back the garlic) on top of potatoes. Mix to coat.

4. Mix cornstarch, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and garlic powder in small bowl.

5. Pour dry ingredients over potatoes. Add garlic. Mix to coat potatoes.

6. Place in one layer on baking sheet. Bake at 440 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

If you make and eat these and do NOT say, “Oooh, Amanda!” with thankfulness and admiration in your voice, I will give you your money back! They are that good.

(PS–that money guarantee was just hyperbole.)

linked to Things I Love Thursday

YUMMY Garlic Sweet Potato Fries is a post from: ohamanda.com
Happy New Year! Here are some of my favorite resources to help you make the most of 2012! One Bite At A Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler, an ebook by Simple Mom!
Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule, finally get your house under control!
E-Mealz, online meal-planning with shopping lists! {20% off with code SKINNY when you choose one of their healthy menus}
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I told you about my current bloggy gig? I’m doing a little friendly competition with several other bloggers to create some special Rice Krispie treats! So far, it has been very fun. First I got a little package in the mail–some easter grass, a little chickie and a secret word: RECIPES. Our mission (if we chose to accept it) was to locate each other on twitter and piece together our instructions by putting our secret words in order. This is how I let my Team Rice Krispies girls know my word…

OK, so it was a little backward. But you love it, right? Our secret sentence finally said…uhm…I can’t remember but it was something about Moms’ Yummy Easter Treats and Recipes.

Anywhoo. The point is, I had to come up with an original EASTERY RICE KRISPIES treat recipe. Seriously. Is that even possible? You’ve seen my prowess in the kitchen. Actually, no, you haven’t. Because I don’t have any. I read cookbooks. I copy recipes online. I don’t invent things.

So, I did what I do best. I called my dad. He told me he once made Rice Krispies into the shape of a snake. *sigh*

Finally after a little grocery shopping, a little playing in the kitchen and two adorable taste testers, I came up with something. Well, two somethings. Are you ready for your new favorite dessert?! Welcome to the world, FRUITY SHORTCAKES!

Do you love them?!! Oh my goodness! Just wait till you see how easy they are!

Ingredients:

6 cups Rice Krispies

half stick of butter

1 pack of marshmallows (I think the mini-marshmallows melt quicker and easier)

fruit (I used blueberries and strawberries but probably any fruit you liked would work)

whipped topping

optional: food coloring

Rice Krispies
1. Melt butter. Pour in marshmallows. Stir until melty and smooth. (Add food coloring here if desired.)
2. Pour in Rice Krispies. Stir until covered evenly.
3. Pour/press/smash in fruit. (I had to fold in/poke in the blueberries. Purree strawberries and other soft fruit.)
4. Form into…hamburger shapes.

Whipped Topping
1. Dethaw FOUR HOURS in fridge. Or microwave on high for 10 seconds. (Hmmmm….what to do?)
2. Stir in fruit until uniform in color. (I just purred the strawberries, but I reduced the blueberries by smashing them with a spatula and rolling them around in a saucepan for a minute or two.)

Now, put the two together and garnish with MORE fruit. Yay! Don’t you love it?!

I liked the blueberry one best, but my husband liked the strawberry one. Regardless, they are seriously delicious. I’m not just saying that. They are yummy. The only thing I’d do next time (because I really am going to make these again) is make them mini size. I’ll form the Rice Krispies about the size of a mini-muffin with a dollop of the whipped topping and a strawberry or blueberry on top. Mhhmmm. Don’t you just want to pop 5 or 6 in your mouth?!

Now, here’s the fun part— on Monday March 29th all ten of the Rice Krispies bloggers are hosting a Rice Krispies SCAVENGER HUNT. If you find all the “easter eggs” you could win 1 of 3 super cool Rice Krispies prizes! So, come back on Monday to play along!

So, which one are you? TEAM STRAWBERRY or TEAM BLUEBERRY?

Disclosure: This is part of a paid campaign sponsored by Rice Krispies® cereal

Rice Krispie Easter Treats is a post from: ohamanda.com
Happy New Year! Here are some of my favorite resources to help you make the most of 2012! One Bite At A Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler, an ebook by Simple Mom!
Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule, finally get your house under control!
E-Mealz, online meal-planning with shopping lists! {20% off with code SKINNY when you choose one of their healthy menus}
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When we first moved into our house, you may remember that I did not have a stove. So, I had to get creative with crock pot and oven only recipes. I would crack open my Everyday Food magazines (the only cooking magazine I get and have actually ever been able to understand) and just stop at the first recipe that didn’t require a stove.

Now that I have a stove, I still  love my Everyday Food magazines. They are different than the Kraft Food magazines I used to get…mainly because Everyday Food’s recipes are not brand specific AND therefore most of it made from REAL FOOD. Not processed or boxed.

So, here are some of my favorite recipes I’ve tried this year. Most of them are from Everyday Food and all of them are sans processed foods.

1. Carrots & Peas. I’m always on the lookout for easy side dishes. Use a vegetable peeler to cut 4-6 carrots into ribbons. Saute in 1 tablespoon of butter for about 6 minutes. Pour in 10 oz of frozen peas. Cook for 2 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve. It’s beautiful and just delicious! (Everyday Food. September 2007. #45)

2. Meatballs from Kitchen Stewardship. This is an easy double/triple batch recipe. And easy to freeze. Lydia and I made them yesterday (with broccoli) as a secret ingredient. It was so secret she didn’t even want to tell her Daddy! She had a lot of fun making the meatballs and said, “It’s kinda funny that I’ve got cow in my hand.”

3. Roasted Chicken & Potatoes I usually buy boneless skinless chicken breasts because I detest raw meat. This recipe calls for half of a whole chicken. So, I caved and bought one. I didn’t actually TOUCH it, of course. But this was THE BEST MEAL EVER. The chicken was divine. I ate it off the bone and licked my fingers it was so good.

4. Shepherd’s Pie Most of the time Shepherd’s Pie is a creamy comfort food. This recipe is light but filling at the same time. There are no creamy canned soups and I even made it without the suggested ketchup. However, the best part of this sheperd’s pie is the carrots—you boil them with the potatoes and mash them. Then layer mashed carrots on top of the ground beef, then the mashed potatoes on top of that. SO. GOOD.

5. Yogurt, Apple Butter & Bananas. Our new favorite breakfast! Just grab a few tablespoons of plain yogurt (none of that colored stuff in tubes), then one or two tablespoons of Apple Butter (not made with HFCS), then top with a sliced banana. It’s pretty and yummy. Lydia loves it! {PS. I know there is more to yogurt and apple butter as far as whole foods go. But this is the best I can do. I’m not an expert. Yet.} (Everyday Food. January/February 2005. #19)

6. Taco Filling & More Yeah, you could just use the taco seasoning mix from the grocery store. But THIS is made from REAL ingredients and honestly, not much more difficult than dumping a packet in a pan. This recipe is made to be divided into three portions. Then frozen. Then thawed for a variety of different meals–tacos, taco salad, taco soup with squash and taco/sweet potatoes. I’ve got 2 bags in the freezer now. We might eat it tonight. YUM.

7.  Carrot Apple Hummus Wrap. I get SO bored of lunch. We eat pasta, sandwiches and hummus on  a rotating basis. So, when I found this wrap, I knew I’d love it! Just smear some hummus on a tortilla/wrap. Then layer with baby spinach, grated carrot and thinly sliced apple. Roll and eat. (Everyday Food. June 2005. #23)

8. Bar-B-Q Pizza. This one is fun for the kids because it’s fun to make your own dough. If you don’t want to make your own crust (there are some yummy whole wheat mixes out there), you can always get a good whole wheat dough from Trader Joe’s. This recipe uses jarred Bar-B-Q sauce and a rotisserie chicken. If you’re going to go more “whole” and organic–you’ll just have to figure that out on  your own.

9. Mexican Chicken & Black Bean Filling from Stolen Moments. I cannot tell you how many times I have made this recipe. It’s an easy no cook freezer meal. (Kate suggests cooking the chicken first. But I just dump it all in a ziploc bag and freeze it. Then cook it in the crockpot.) We’ve used this as tacos, quesadillas and nachos. You could also turn it into a soup, breakfast burritos or even eat it plain. It’s SO good.

10. Deconstructed Chicken and Brocoli Casserole. This is actually from Once a Month Mom…who, oh look! Got it from Stolen Moments! I made this and froze it so Les and the kids could eat it while I was at Blissdom. It looked so yummy I was kinda sad I wasn’t going to be there to eat it.

(As a postscript to this whole post, I’m using organic chicken, grass-fed beef, whole grain everything, whole/raw/minimally pasteurized/processed milk and dairy products. Don’t take this list as a perfect example of what you SHOULD be eating. This is as good as I can do and understand on this leg of my journey.)

{{And because I love her and have learned a lot about whole foods from her, I’m linking up to Jo-Lynne’s What I Learned This Week. I think ten new recipes counts as learning something, don’t you?)

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Do you have a Top Ten list to share? It can be about ANYTHING you’d like—food, films or friends. Just make sure you link up below with your permalink, link back to me and leave comments/stumble/tweet the rest of the participants! Don’t forget to use our #toptentues hashtag today!

Top Ten {Tuesday}: Whole Food Recipes is a post from: ohamanda.com
Happy New Year! Here are some of my favorite resources to help you make the most of 2012! One Bite At A Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler, an ebook by Simple Mom!
Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule, finally get your house under control!
E-Mealz, online meal-planning with shopping lists! {20% off with code SKINNY when you choose one of their healthy menus}
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In an effort to eat more whole foods, I made the YUMMIEST meal last night. I am so excited about I’m going to share it with you. If you have read my blog for long, you know this is a rarity. My recipes usually consist of oreos and cheese dip.

First we had some amazing RICE. Yeah, sounds boring. But it’s anything but. It’s a brown-wild-rice-type mix from Lundberg. I just picked it up at Publix one day. It does take 50 minutes to cook but it was hearty, folks!

I also bought a sweet potato and a PURPLE sweet potato at Harry’s (ie Whole Foods) the other day. So, I quartered them (kinda, those things are hard!), poured a little olive oil* over the top, sprinkled with kosher salt and baked for 20 minutes on 450. SO AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS.

Now. For the creme de la creme. My dad made this for me once and I thought it would be a good addition to the rice & sweet potato combo above. Here you go:

Ingredients
1 can of chick peas/garbanzo beans, drained
2-5 large carrots
a handful of pine nuts
evoo
small onion, diced

1. Pour a decent amount of oil in the pan. Maybe 2-4 tablespoons.
2. Saute onions for a minute or two.
3. Add chick peas and pine nuts.
4. Throw in a few more pine nuts because they are SO delicious.
5. Use vegetable peeler to peel/cut carrots in long ribbons. Add to pan.
6. Cook until all is desired level of done-ness.

This may sound like the weirdest dish ever but I’m telling you it is…wait for it…DELICIOUS. (that’s the 14th time I’ve used that word in this post. Maybe I should check out the thesaurus?) All four of us loved it and there is not one piece left!

OK. That’s all I got. I don’t really know how to end a recipe post. Uhm…let me know if you try it? Do you have a vegetarian meal to share?

*just remembered when I took this picture that I got this olive oil as from a PR company. just thought you should know. they have no idea I’m blogging this.

ps–this picture also just reminded me that I have to go into the basement to find out what color the paint is so I can report back to you!

and one more postscript: I’m linking this up with Amy’s Finer Things Friday!

Garbanzo Beans & Carrots: A Vegetarian Recipe! is a post from: ohamanda.com
Happy New Year! Here are some of my favorite resources to help you make the most of 2012! One Bite At A Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler, an ebook by Simple Mom!
Create Your Perfect Cleaning Schedule, finally get your house under control!
E-Mealz, online meal-planning with shopping lists! {20% off with code SKINNY when you choose one of their healthy menus}
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