Winstead Wandering

Prone to Wander

Homemade Freezer Garlic Bread

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Don’t waste your money on the processed store-bought stuff. It only takes ten minutes and five ingredients to make your own homemade freezer garlic bread.

Don't waste your money on the processed store-bought stuff. It only takes ten minutes and five ingredients to make your own homemade freezer garlic bread.

I don’t love to admit it, but I have a weakness for store-bought frozen Texas toast. You know, the oval-shaped stuff you bake from frozen? It just pairs so perfectly with any sort of pasta dish. Of course, I much prefer homemade garlic bread, but we rarely buy any type of bread that isn’t regular whole wheat sandwich bread. You can bet if I make a loaf of French bread from scratch, I’ll be using at least a few slices to make homemade garlic bread.

Don't waste your money on the processed store-bought stuff. It only takes ten minutes and five ingredients to make your own homemade freezer garlic bread.

It occurred to me a while back that it wouldn’t be difficult at all to make homemade freezer garlic bread. It only took me a few minutes to put together the spread, butter the toast, and stick everything in the freezer. Now we have access to garlic bread any time we want it and we didn’t pay for the over-priced, over-processed version from the freezer section of the grocery store.

Don't waste your money on the processed store-bought stuff. It only takes ten minutes and five ingredients to make your own homemade freezer garlic bread.

One of the best things about this homemade freezer garlic bread- other than how awesome it tastes- is that it can totally be adapted to your own preferences. You can use any sort of homemade or store-bought bread. You can adjust the amounts of the seasonings I use, or you could add in your own favorites. You can even toss in some Parmesan cheese to kick it up a notch.

Don't waste your money on the processed store-bought stuff. It only takes ten minutes and five ingredients to make your own homemade freezer garlic bread.

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Pasta Salad with Sweet Tea Vinaigrette

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and The Coca-Cola Company. All opinions are mine alone. #SummerTastes #CollectiveBias

All your favorite summer flavors come together in one easy, hearty dish: pasta salad with sweet tea vinaigrette.

All your favorite summer flavors come together in one easy, hearty dish: pasta salad with sweet tea vinaigrette.

Pasta salad is one of my favorite summertime dishes. I love me some carbs, but I also love making those carbs guilt-free by tossing them with plenty of fresh vegetables and a light vinaigrette dressing. I love to have a batch of pasta salad in the fridge to eat on each day, but I also love to bring it to cookouts and get-togethers.

All your favorite summer flavors come together in one easy, hearty dish: pasta salad with sweet tea vinaigrette.

It’s a fairly crowd-pleasing recipe, and it can be made using any produce you want. I grabbed the veggies pictured when I bought the rest of the ingredients at Walmart; you can buy whatever sounds good to you.

All your favorite summer flavors come together in one easy, hearty dish: pasta salad with sweet tea vinaigrette.

I love sweet tea about as much as I love pasta salad. As a Southerner, I’m practically legally required to love the stuff, but I assure you it isn’t that hard of a task. What’s not to love? That’s why I considered it pretty ingenious to combine the two to create a pasta salad with sweet tea vinaigrette.

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Easy Weeknight Cheesy Garlic Baked Chicken

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Chicken is tossed in an easy garlic butter and coated with Parmesan and cheddar cheeses, spices, and crispy bread crumbs and then baked until tender and full of flavor.

Chicken is tossed in an easy garlic butter and coated with Parmesan and cheddar cheeses, spices, and crispy bread crumbs and then baked until tender and full of flavor.

Because I’m all about easy weeknight meals, and because frugality is just a way of life for us, we often don’t have meat as the primary ingredient in our dinners. Sure, almost all of our favorite recipes include meat- like chicken tacos or sausage and tortellini– but it isn’t the only component.

Frugality aside, I often avoid preparing a protein as a main dish because it can be time-consuming. I’m all about quick and easy, and trimming, marinating, and cooking larger pieces of meat isn’t my idea of an easy weeknight meal. Every once in a while I’m willing to break the rules for a recipe that promises to taste great and require minimal effort

These cheesy garlic baked chicken tenders fit that bill one hundred percent. The prep was minimal, and could be reduced even further if you chose to use jarred minced garlic. As the butter melts and soaks up the garlic flavor, all you have to do is toss the rest of the ingredients together. Because this recipe uses chicken tenders, there’s no trimming required. Simply bread the chicken and it’s ready to bake. Prepare an easy vegetable, like pan-fried romaine lettuce, while the chicken cooks and you’ll be ready to eat in less than 30 minutes.

J is a huge lover of all things meat and poultry. He’s always willing to taste test my chicken recipes. The thing is, though, he’s a dipper; he dips nearly all his chicken and beef in ketchup. So for me, the true sign of an amazing recipe- not just a good one- is when J claims there’s no dipping sauce necessary. That’s exactly what happened with these cheesy garlic baked chicken tenders: I offered ketchup, but he took one bite of the chicken and declared it unnecessary.

It isn’t hard to see why. This chicken is bathed in garlic butter for an immediate infusion of flavor. It’s tossed right in the dish of crunchy Panko to get coated with crispy bread crumbs, plenty of spices, and two different types of cheese. It’s baked until the coating is crispy and the cheese is melted, making for a full flavor experience in every bite. While J and I agree these are perfect on their own, they’d also be great dipped in homemade ranch or your favorite marinara sauce.

Do you eat gluten-free? I found gluten-free panko bread crumbs! You can safely enjoy this dish without sacrificing that signature crunch.

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Spinach and Artichoke Hot Dip

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This is not your average dip. Served warm and beefed up with artichoke hearts, garlic, and the beautiful saltiness of Parmesan cheese, this spinach and artichoke hot dip is hearty enough to be a meal. That’s a good thing, because you won’t want to stop eating it.

This is not your average dip. Served warm and beefed up with artichoke hearts, garlic, and the beautiful saltiness of Parmesan cheese, this spinach and artichoke hot dip is hearty enough to be a meal. That's a good thing, because you won't want to stop eating it.

Late October/early November is shaping up to be a sports lover’s dream. It seems like there’s some sporting event or another on TV just about every night of the week. We’re big Mississippi State fans in my house (#HailState), but we’ve usually got one game or another going on Saturdays.

This spinach and artichoke hot dip is the perfect companion for game day. It’s super easy to prepare, and it’s served warm, a nice departure from other dips. The dip is hearty and packed with flavorful ingredients like garlic, Rotel tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese. The whole thing gets melted in the oven, resulting in a gooey appetizer that’s filling enough to double as a meal.

My mother-in-law threw this together several weeks back while my sister-in-law and I were doing some freezer cooking. It was beautiful when it came out of the oven, with its golden bread crumb topping and flavor-packed creaminess. It didn’t matter that spinach and artichokes aren’t usually my thing. It turns out I’ll eat pretty much any vegetable, given that it’s bathed in some form of cheese and flavored with garlic.

We couldn’t stop sampling this dip as we cooked. When they left- and took the dish of dip with them- I saved myself a generous portion and proceeded to eat nearly the entire thing for lunch. I feel no shame about it because 1. Spinach and 2. It was so freaking good.

This is not your average dip. Served warm and beefed up with artichoke hearts, garlic, and the beautiful saltiness of Parmesan cheese, this spinach and artichoke hot dip is hearty enough to be a meal. That's a good thing, because you won't want to stop eating it.

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Quick and Easy Fresh Salsa

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Quick and easy fresh salsa is ready in minutes. It’s perfect for tacos, nachos, or just with tortilla chips.

Quick and easy fresh salsa is ready in minutes. It's perfect for tacos, nachos, or just with tortilla chips.

I did not expect to like this salsa.

I don’t care for tomatoes and I typically prefer smooth restaurant-style salsas to chunky ones. But I love this stuff.

The tomatoes are diced, so you aren’t getting huge chunks of them. The red onion adds a full flavor and crisp crunch, and the jalapeño gives the whole thing the perfect amount of heat.

When you toss the whole mixture with lime juice and salt and pepper, the flavors meld together for a quick and easy fresh salsa that tastes like it took hours to make.

Since first making this recipe, I’ve made it another half dozen times at least. I’ve enjoyed it on quesadillas and taquitos, on nachos and chimichangas. I’ve eaten more than my share of tortilla chips because I just want to shovel it in.

For those who love chunky salsa, this stuff is a no-brainer. For those who profess their love of the puréed version, I beg you to try this. I bet my quick and easy fresh salsa will be your new go-to condiment.

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copycat red lobster cheddar biscuits

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Copycat red lobster cheddar biscuits are loaded with cheese and brushed generously with butter and garlic. They might be called copycat, but honestly, they’re way better.

Copycat red lobster cheddar biscuits are loaded with cheese and brushed generously with butter and garlic. They might be called copycat, but honestly, they're way better.

This last year at school, I taught an accounting class of nine boys. No girls, just me and nine strong-willed, rowdy boys. It was quite an adventure.

Part of the way I rewarded their hard work in class was by baking for them each time every student made an 80 or better on a test. I tried out a few different recipes on the boys and, being that they’re teenagers, each recipe was well-received. This recipe, though, was requested time and time again.

It’s not surprising, really. These biscuits are packed with cheese and brushed with butter, garlic, and oregano. They’re a more flavorful version of the kind served by red lobster.

I think these guys are pretty darn tasty just the way they are, but I’ve also added bacon and jalapeños and enjoyed them that way, too.

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no clean-up baked garlic green beans

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These baked garlic green beans are easy, healthy, and delicious. The best part? They only use a few ingredients and you don’t have to dirty any pans or bowls to make them.

Green beans are ranked right up with carrots and bell peppers as one of my favorite vegetables.

I love that they have a crisp crunch and fresh flavor of their own, but that they’re easily enhanced by whatever seasonings you add to them.

These baked garlic green beans are easy, healthy, and delicious. The best part? They only use a few ingredients and you don't have to dirty any pans or bowls to make them.

These no clean-up baked garlic green beans hit all the right notes. The prep and clean-up couldn’t be easier. The beans are tossed with seasonings right on a foil-covered baking sheet, so you have no bowls or pans to wash.

The beans are coated with olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper; just a few classic flavors to bring out the fresh snap of the green beans without taking over.

These baked garlic green beans are easy, healthy, and delicious. The best part? They only use a few ingredients and you don't have to dirty any pans or bowls to make them.

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