Maple Tarragon Roasted Carrots
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My dad’s side of the family always has cooked carrots in some form for most holidays. One year, I hosted Thanksgiving and while I felt obligated to serve some form…
Side Dish Recipes
My favorite healthy, real food side dishes & recipes for busy families can be found below. All recipes are grain-free, dairy optional and kid-approved. Need help meal planning? Check out my meal planning service!
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Homemade Applesauce Recipe (Fall Favorite!)
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I have fond memories of making my homemade applesauce recipe with the kids every year. We no longer live in an area with apple trees (too hot down here!) but…
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Root Vegetable Gluten-Free Stuffing
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Stuffing is such a part of Thanksgiving for so many people (me included), but I’ve never loved the boxed, processed stuffing mixes that just seem bland and mushy. Sure, there are…
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Healthy Green Bean Casserole From Scratch
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Green bean casserole is probably my favorite Thanksgiving dinner dish of all time. Unfortunately, cream-of-mystery-franken-foods-soup is not healthy. Neither are the french-fried onions that typically grace the top of this…
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How to Make Healthy Jello
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Oh, jello … the sugar (or chemical) laden mystery food of hospitals and cafeterias. I went to public school and got my fair share of this stuff back then. The…
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Loaded Cauliflower Recipe (With Bacon!)
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Cauliflower isn’t a vegetable everyone in my family loves. The kids will eat it if it’s loaded with butter, but for some of them, it’s not on their favorites list.…
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Watermelon Salad With Feta
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Strawberry and feta salad is hands down one of my favorite summer salads. This refreshing watermelon salad with feta cheese and mint leaves though is just as delicious. It’s bright,…
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Air Fryer Zucchini Fries
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I love how happy and healthy spending time outside makes me feel, so I garden. Part of the result of that is that there’s always an abundance of zucchini during…
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Chicken Broccoli Casserole
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No one loves a good casserole recipe more than a mom. From her perspective, it’s a complete meal, loaded with veggies, and baked all in one dish. It’s easy for…
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Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus
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Like my strawberry cheesecake parfaits, prosciutto wrapped asparagus is one of those dishes that looks elegant and impressive but is actually really easy and quick to make. It works well…
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Savory Sweet Potato Fries Recipe
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Sometimes I struggle with side dishes. I feel like I’ve already put enough effort into planning the main dish, so sometimes the vegetable sides become a minimal-effort afterthought. Fortunately, Real…
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Roasted Cabbage Slices
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My name is Katie and I love cabbage. I never really thought I’d say that. I’m not a huge fan of coleslaw. In fact, I usually use broccoli instead of cabbage when…
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Maple Pecan Butternut Squash
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Winter squashes are, to me, the chicken of the vegetable world. They’ve got a nice flavor but are a mostly blank slate that is delicious with different seasonings and preparations.…
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Roasted Brussels Sprouts Recipe
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Brussels sprouts… the dreaded vegetable of childhood! However, cooked the right way, these can become a favorite for both kids and adults. Seriously, I have kids that get excited when…
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Simple Roasted Okra Recipe
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One summer, when my kids were helping their grandparents harvest and preserve vegetables from their garden, the okra were producing like crazy. They kept coming home with bags and bags of…
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Delicious Deviled Eggs Recipe
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It’s not always easy to think of healthy dishes for entertaining or to bring to a party. (Not everyone appreciates homemade sauerkraut, I guess!) Deviled eggs are one dish that…
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Sweet Potato Casserole
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Sweet potato casserole is beloved (by some) as a classic holiday recipe. If I’m being honest, I’m more of a plain baked sweet potato kind of gal, but since some…
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Light & Zesty Taco Slaw (A Healthier Take on Coleslaw)
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My family enjoys hitting the local taco truck once in a while for a fun dinner idea and a break from cooking. We especially love their chicken tacos which come…
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My Big Fat Greek Salad
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I love oregano for its medicinal qualities as well as its amazing flavor. So whenever I can use it in a recipe, I’m happy to. This Greek salad is a simple way…
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Zucchini Fritters Recipe (Healthy Alternative to Tater Tots!)
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Tater tots were a very occasional treat when I was growing up. (I confess, I loved them.) The grated zucchini in these fritters mimics the texture of tater tots and…
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Garlic Roasted Mushrooms
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Garlic is one of my family’s favorite flavors, so it’s no surprise that we loved these garlic roasted mushrooms. They’re simple to make and go with almost any beef recipe (poultry…
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Thai Peanut Butter Noodles (With Shirataki)
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When my family stopped eating grains, one of the hardest things to give up was pasta (my husband is Italian after all!). This Thai peanut butter noodles recipe uses shirataki noodles…
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Fresh Roasted Asparagus With Parmesan and Sea Salt
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Asparagus is one of my favorite vegetables. My husband, on the other hand, grew up hating asparagus because he’d only ever had it from a can. (Think about the difference between…
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Homemade Cranberry Sauce Recipe (Low Sugar)
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I’ve always thought that homemade versions of classic recipes taste much better than store-bought versions, and cranberry sauce is a perfect example of this. Although I loved the canned jellied cranberry…