Hosting Small Group Dinner in Our Home

April 20, 2026April 20, 2026 RefreshHer2 Comments

We’re having dinner with our small group this week and I’m excited about the fellowship we’ll share! It’s just the best! Sometimes we struggle finding a theme so the meal will “mesh” together. I suggested we do a Sunday-type dinner with chicken and veggies.

I signed up to bring a chicken dish. I’m opting for this hearty grilled chicken salad. It’s a favorite of ours that I’ve shared before, but I share it again because it’s on my menu this week, AND because it’s so very good and I’d love for it to try it!

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Easy recipe · Lunch · Pasta · salad

A “Good” Pasta Salad

April 13, 2026April 13, 2026 RefreshHerLeave a comment

Recently I was trying to think of what to fix for lunch and I opened one of my treasured Barefoot Contessa Cookbooks and found a recipe for a cold pasta salad. It combines some of my favorite flavors – sun-dried tomatoes and Mozzarella cheese. Though I didn’t have every ingredient that was listed, I knew I could improvise and make something very similar to the recipe on the page. I love her recipes and knew it would be delicious.

The results were so good!

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salad

Fall Salad on Repeat

October 6, 2025October 5, 2025 RefreshHerLeave a comment

I absolutely love coming home from church and having guests join us for dinner. We had the blessing of hosting a young man overnight who works at The Wilds. Our daughter, Alli and her family joined us, too, and it was a sweet blessing to serve them.

I want my grandsons to have special memories of eating Sunday dinner at Gigi’s house, so it is my intention to have them as often as is possible for both of our family’s schedules. Their mommy is doing a fabulous job teaching them to be gentlemen with good manners, and it’s sweet to watch them as they are learning. Oh, they’re still tough little guys, but they know to wait for the hostess before they begin eating, to put their napkin in their lap, and to wait to be excused from the table. I admire the hard work it takes to instill those kind of good habits. I know it doesn’t just “happen!”

I was so surprised that both of my eight-year old grandsons had seconds on SALAD yesterday! But then because I know how absolutely delicious this salad is, I totally understand! It has ALL the things to make you come back for more. It’s a favorite Pioneer Woman recipe I found years ago.

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Healthy Eating · Lunch · salad

Fresh Taco Salad for Lunch

November 11, 2024November 9, 2024 RefreshHerLeave a comment

I often find lunch a difficult meal to make. I could probably fix a different kind of sandwich every day and be a happy camper, but I try to limit bread, so I don’t want to make us sandwiches very often. So what are we to have that will be filling, healthy and delicious?

I found this recipe for Fresh Taco Salad in Better Homes and Gardens Magazine years ago and found that it was the perfect recipe for lunchtime! It has all the taco flavors we love served in the form of a healthy salad.

This comes together in minutes, making it a easy to prepare for a lunch meal!

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salad · Side dish · summertime

Corn & Tomato Salad

August 12, 2024August 10, 2024 RefreshHerLeave a comment

I’ll never forget having dinner with Dale and his parents before we got married. It was a summer day in South Carolina and the fresh vegetable stands were brimming with fresh sweet corn from the fields. When we sat down to eat, there was no meat – there was a HUGE bowl of corn and another large platter of cantaloupe. Coming from a family of girls, and also parents

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