Need Ideas for Fast, Easy and Cheap Side Item

The costco spinach and artichoke dip is to DIE FOR! If you buy a big Hawaiian loaf and hollow it out, no one will know the difference b/c it looks homemade then!

Cheap and Easy: Dice (in a food processor if you have one to make it quick) a jar of green olives with the pimentos. Stir them in with 8 oz. regular cream cheese. Serve with crackers. I've made this many times, and people cannot believe it's just 2 ingredients!

Hi S.!!
It is hard to narrow my favorite easy recipe down but here is one that I always make for our neighborhood BBQs. It is a huge hit with the kids and the adults.

1 pkg bacon
1 pkg little smokies
brown sugar
toothpicks

All you do is cut your bacon in 1/3s. Wrap a piece of bacon around each little smokie and secure with a toothpick and place in a 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle the top with brown sugar (enough to cover each one) and bake in a 350 oven until they brown and the bacon looks like it is crisp. I will usually line my 9x13 pan with foil to make clean up easier. Then all you do is put them on a nice platter, maybe put a small bowl of BBQ sauce and you are set!!

Enjoy that little one of yours!! The grow up so fast!! MY baby started Kindergarten this year! If you ever need more recipes please let me know, I am a Pampered Chef Consultant and love to help people with recipes and also help them stock their kitchens!!

Have fun at your party!
S.
____@____.com

You could grab a bag of apples, slice them up with an apple slicer, place them on a veggie tray and have caramel to dip them in.

I know you said you didn't want to go store bought, but heated up Zarda beans are great. You can get a decent size tub from Wal-mart for pretty cheap.

You could take this heavenly dip: 1 pkg ranch dressing mix, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup mayo, 10 to 12 oz of shredded cheese,and
8 oz brick of cream cheese. Soften the cream cheese and mix the ingredients together. Goes great with celery or crackers. It gets rave reviews everywhere.

Here is a really great dessert. You'll need 2 small boxes of instant vanilla pudding, a tub of Cool Whip, 3 cups of milk, a box of graham crackers and a tub of chocolate frosting. Mix the pudding with the milk and let it set up in fridge for a few minutes. Mix with container (smallest size, can't remember what that is) of Cool Whip. Take a 9x13 pan, cover the bottom with one layer of graham crackers (leave them in sheets of 4 as they come, you'll probably get 5 or 6 on
each layer). Put half of your pudding/CW mixture on top of grahams. Repeat with next layer of crackers, then pudding mixture, and top off with layer of grahams. Open the can of frosting, leave the lid off and microwave in 30 second
intervals til it's melted, but be careful not to let it burn or it will be ruined.

I promise all of these to be quick and simple. I am in almost the same shoes as you as I am 29 yr old mom of seven month old boy with a canine and feline boy too! So you know I wouldnt lead you astray!

If you have a costco card, there is a broccoli slaw salad in the cooler section w/fresh veggies that is really easy and good. It is a lot like the other recipe mentioned however everything is included in the kit. And it's only $5; makes quite a bit.

This has always been a surprisingly simple hit at picnics/parties and the kids LOVE it. Oh! It's healthy, too, but don't tell the kiddos! Let me know if you choose this and how it went, please!

Broccoli Slaw: The five minute side dish!

Two bags prepared "broccoli slaw" from produce section
celery salt
ranch dressing

mix "some" ranch until you have the moistness you desire. You don't want it thick and sloppy. A light coating goes a long way. Season with a bit of celery salt and stir well.

Truly, that's it.

I am from the south and to us barbegue is not barbeque without slaw. Our friends are in cooking contests all the time and win, their slaw is outstanding, and all you do is buy a bag at the store cut up, add onions, apple vinegar, sugar, well let me know if you need the recipe, its easy

Cous-cous! It takes 10 minutes tops (boil water, pour it in and it sets for 5 minutes!. You can add dices tomatoes and green onions or broccoli or bell peppers or whatever floats your boat and it can also be served cold or room temp and it doesn't taste bad! My kids love it!!! They ask for cous-cous for dinner all the time and how can I refuse a healthy side that takes little effort?

what about a rollup of some kind? ie - flour tortilla with some type of meat and veggie in it. cut it up into small pieces and whalla!!!!!

those suddenly salads are good, or any kind of lipton sides (rice or noodles) or rice a roni. not a typical bbq food, but tasty and SUPER easy. good luck and have fun! (when my son was born i took over the "cheap and easy" stuff at our get togethers too!)

Here is a corn dip recipe that I am always asked to make for parties or get togethers. It is soooo easy!

1 cup sour cream (you can use light if you want)
1 cup mayo (you can use light if you want)
3 cans mexicorn, drained
1 can rotel, drained
1 package (2 cups) finely shredded cheese
1 Tbsp seasoning salt to taste (I always use more then 1 Tbsp)

Mix everything together and let it sit in the frig for at least 2 hours. I usually make it the night before and let it set over night to thicken up.
I serve it with a bag of the small round tortilla chips.

Enjoy! :)

Dill Dip in a bread bowl - get a loaf of pumpernickel bread...hollow it out & nother loaf to chop up into pieces for dipping. There are tons of dip mixes at the grocery store...think all you would need is a thing of sour creme to mix in.
Or cream cheese with pepper jelly poured over the top & crackers
Hummus & pita chips - not the cheapest but easy & really good
Make a quick salsa - can of black beans, 2 cans of rotel tomatoes, can of corn (unsalted), can diced green chilis &/or jalapenos, chop up some red onion & cilantro and squeeze in some lime.
Good luck!!

How about a cucmber salad...its cheap, easy, cool and refreshing? My Grandmother used to make one that was just thinley sliced cucumbers, thinley sliced red onions, a little sour cream, dill and salt all mixed up. You hardley need any sour cream, because the cucumbers "juice" makes it spread easily throughout. Yummy!

hmmm...the ramen noodle salad is always a hit. One recipe that I have used a lot for a quick dish...well it is more of a desert so it might not work but one to keep in mind for the future if it doesn't...

1 block of cream cheese
1 package of crystal light to go lemonade (you just need one serving and depending on how tart you want it, I would suggest starting with only half the pack and add more if you want.)

mix the two and form into a ball. Serve with graham cracker sticks

cut up fruit - seedless watermelon or cantaloupe is always a hit. Cheap and easy - one suggestion - don't buy it already cut up. It costs a lot less if you cut it up yourself and it only takes a few minutes to cut up.

That raman noodle slaw is fast, cheap and easy.

1- one pound bag of slaw
1 - bunch chopped green onions (which I don't always have and don't worry about it)
2 pkgs dry ramen noodles.
3-4 Tablespoons for sesame seeds (again don't always have)
3/4 cup slice almonds (I usally always have those because I use them for so many things, but just buy a small already slice package in you're store's nut section.
Toast seeds and almonds (I sometimes throw some sunflower seed meats in there too) at 400 degrees until just browned.

Crunch up dry noodles in a bowl, save the flavor packages.
Add rest of ingredients and toss with dressing.

Dressing:
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
2 flavor packages from noodles.
Wisk together and pour over noodles, slaw, nuts and seeds.

I've seen several variations to this but this is the one I use fairly consistantly.

Good Luck

Lori K