Winstead Wandering

Prone to Wander

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 Taco Casserole

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Double the recipe next time it’s taco night and use the leftovers to make this easy taco casserole. It’s cheesy, filling, and can be on the table in under 30 minutes.

Is Taco Tuesday a thing at your house? It is at ours. We always have leftover taco meat because I plan it that way. Isn’t leftovers the best part of Taco Tuesday, anyway? You can make nachos, Mexican pizzas or, now, this easy taco casserole.

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It isn’t hard to see why this recipe is so appealing. It takes all your favorite Mexican flavors and layers them in the comforting familiarity of a casserole. The refried beans are filling and inexpensive, especially if you make your own. The salsa and sour cream mixed together form a light, creamy sauce, and the cheese gets perfectly melted and oozy. Tortilla chip crumbs add just the right amount of crunch- and the perfect way to use up the rest of the bag.

This easy taco casserole might call for essentially the same ingredients as regular tacos, but I promise, when you make it, no one will complain about eating leftovers.

Double the recipe next time it's taco night and use the leftovers to make this easy taco casserole. It's cheesy, filling, and can be on the table in under 30 minutes.

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Breakfast Calzones

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With store bought dough and a few classic breakfast staples, you can whip up a batch of easy, satisfying, portable breakfast calzones.

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Another breakfast recipe means another recipe that we don’t actually eat for breakfast. Like so many recipes before this one, we enjoy these breakfast calzones for supper. We’re just suckers for bacon and eggs; top it with cheese and wrap it in dough and we’re powerless to resist.

Like so many of the recipes I share, this one can be completely customized depending on what your family likes and what you have on hand. Swap sausage for the bacon, load it up with veggies, or add a few spoonfuls of salsa. Whatever you decide to include on the inside gets all wrapped up inside the handy dough pocket, making these breakfast calzones ideal for breakfast- or lunch or dinner- on the go.

I imagine these little pockets would be fairly freezer-friendly, but I’ve yet to give that a shot (though I can vouch for the freezability of these homemade pizza pockets). Let me know if you give it a try with this recipe!

With store bought dough and a few classic breakfast staples, you can whip up a batch of easy, satisfying, portable breakfast calzones.

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Ann’s Ham and Potatoes

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With just three ingredients, Ann’s ham and potatoes is a filling, crowd-pleasing, comforting meal that tastes like it took twice as long to make.

I was a pretty picky eater when I was younger. Like, really picky. So picky that my stepmom had me make a list of foods I’d eat and tape it to the inside of a cabinet.

With just three ingredients, Ann's ham and potatoes is a filling, crowd-pleasing, comforting meal that tastes like it took twice as long to make.

It was entirely an issue of declaring that I didn’t like something even though I’d never tried it. I don’t remember why I was so afraid to venture out and try new foods, but I was, so I didn’t. Even with my picky palate, her ham and potatoes was one of my favorite things to eat.

Confession: my range of foods might have expanded exponentially in the last 10 or 15 years, but this dish still ranks right up there as one of my favorites. Part of the allure is that peaceful feeling you get when you revisit a childhood classic. This recipe reminds me of simpler times and evenings with family.

While this meal might not evoke those same feelings for you, it’s still pretty much guaranteed to be a hit. The potatoes are cut thinly so they cook through and get soft. The ham is layered on top of the potatoes, ensuring the juices drip down and flavor the potatoes. Each potato-and-ham layer is topped with cheese that gets perfectly melted and gooey. Add a touch of salt and pepper and you’re done.

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Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches

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Breakfast isn’t just for morning anymore. These bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches are easy and filling enough to be enjoyed for any meal of the day.

Breakfast isn't just for morning anymore. These bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches are easy and filling enough to be enjoyed for any meal of the day.

Bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches will always remind me of my childhood. My mom has made hundreds of these in the last twenty years for me, my siblings, and an endless array of friends. She can crank them out at an unbelievable speed.

J and I hadn’t been dating long when, as an admirer of all things breakfast, he fell in love with these breakfast sandwiches. They’ve been a stable meal in our home ever since we got married.

Of course we love the obvious: crisp bacon, perfectly-cooked eggs, and melted cheese, all sandwiched between the buttered nooks and crannies of a toasted English muffin. We also love that these guys can be prepared in about 15 minutes. We use whole wheat English muffins and, when we want to be even healthier, we’ll skip the bacon.

We rarely eat them for breakfast; for us, they’re the perfect easy, filling weeknight meal. I love them served with sliced fruit and fresh home fries. They’d be perfect with store-bought hashbrowns, too.

Breakfast isn't just for morning anymore. These bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches are easy and filling enough to be enjoyed for any meal of the day.

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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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Potato Nachos

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Potato nachos are just as awesome as they sound: thinly-sliced potatoes are cooked until tender, topped with bacon and cheese, and baked until hot and melted. Perfect game day or any day.

Potato nachos are just as awesome as they sound: thinly-sliced potatoes are cooked until tender, topped with bacon and cheese, and baked until hot and melted.

 

This recipe is as straightforward as it is delicious. You start with large baking potatoes and slice them pretty thinly. You boil them, to allow them to cook through quickly. You know, so you can get to the good stuff.

After boiling, draining, and drying your potato slices, it’s just a matter of adding whatever toppings your heart desires- I usually do cheese, bacon, and jalapeños- and sticking the whole affair in the oven to get cozy.

Potato nachos are a pretty dangerous dish, in my opinion. Back in the day, I was a stay-at-home mom. It was a small block of time, sandwiched between my days as a banker and my current career as a teacher. During that time, I wasn’t limited to a 25 minute lunch break the way I am now. I had all of nap time to dream up and prepare recipes.

We almost always have potatoes around, and I love them in any form. I especially love a good oven-baked potato with crispy skin and plenty of butter and salt. Waiting an hour or more for a potato to bake in the oven didn’t interest me, though, so I made a couple of changes to speed things up and this recipe was born.

I used to make it for lunch, but it would be a perfect game day snack or appetizer, or a side for just about any dinner you make. Potato nachos are easy, they come together quickly, and they’re easily changed to fit the preferences of several different people. It would be no problem at all to allow your family members or your guests to customize their own portions. Include toppings like shredded chicken, onions, or fresh salsa and you can call it a meal.

Potato nachos are just as awesome as they sound: thinly-sliced potatoes are cooked until tender, topped with bacon and cheese, and baked until hot and melted. Perfect game day or any day.

 

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Bacon Cheddar Ranch Chicken Roll-Ups

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Bacon cheddar ranch chicken roll-ups are tortillas spread with cream cheese and crammed with chicken, shredded cheese, crisp bacon, and creamy ranch dressing. They’re perfect for a party or a snack-y supper.

Bacon cheddar ranch chicken roll-ups are tortillas spread with cream cheese and crammed with chicken, shredded cheese, crisp bacon, and creamy ranch dressing. They're perfect for a party or a snack-y supper.

This recipe has so much going for it.

Let’s start with the fact that it doesn’t involve any cooking (if you cook and shred large batches of chicken and freeze them in one- or two-cup portions, which I do and I recommend you do, too). The bacon can be zapped in the microwave to save time and minimize mess. The fact that this recipe comes together so easily without the need for a stove or oven makes it a perfect easy weeknight meal for hot summer days. Don’t worry, I’m thoroughly enjoying the January weather right now, but as a Mississippian, I’m always thinking of ways to beat the summer heat.

The other thing I love about this recipe is how easy it is to make changes and swap ingredients based on your taste preferences and what you have on hand. I used ranch dressing- duh, it’s in the title- but I imagine they’d be delicious with Caesar or even Italian dressing. Nearly any kind of cheese you have on hand would be acceptable, and you could even get away with omitting the bacon (but why would you?).

These little guys freeze great, making them a great option for a freezer recipe, and they’re sure to be a hit at any party or potluck you bring them to. With the bacon and the cheese, they pretty much sell themselves.

Do you love this wooden slab as much as I do? You can get a super similar one here.

Bacon cheddar ranch chicken roll-ups are tortillas spread with cream cheese and crammed with chicken, shredded cheese, crisp bacon, and creamy ranch dressing. They're perfect for a party or a snack-y supper.

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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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mexican cornbread

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Not your grandma’s pasty cornbread, Mexican cornbread is stuffed with bacon, jalapeños, corn and, of course, plenty of cheese. It’s light and spicy and the perfect side to just about anything you serve.

Not your grandma's pasty cornbread, Mexican cornbread is stuffed with bacon, jalapeños, corn and, of course, plenty of cheese. It's light and spicy and the perfect side to just about anything you serve.

First, for the record, my grandmother makes phenomenal cornbread, the way any woman born and raised in The South should. Granny’s is fluffy and flavorful and not at all packy or pasty. I’ve sampled plenty of cornbread, though, that was dense and bland.

I’m not sure why my mother-in-law first mentioned making Mexican cornbread a couple weeks ago, but I’m really glad she did. She had a recipe she’d made  before, but it was exactly the kind of packed mess she didn’t want. When she came across this recipe in an old church cookbook, made by a friend’s mother, she knew it was the one.

This Mexican cornbread recipe is perfectly balanced with sweet corn, spicy jalapeños, and salty bacon. Earthy cheddar cheese is layered in the middle and sprinkled on the top; substituting pepperjack cheese would add a nice kick of heat. The cornbread is best served warm, with the cheese melty, but it’s also tasty straight from the refrigerator. [Read more…]