Main dishes? No problem. Side dishes? Ehh…salad? My toddler probably will pick at that. What about fruit? No, she had that all day long. A starch, maybe?! I give up!

Side dishes are always trickiest for me in terms of meal planning. Maybe, I overthink it. Maybe I just get more excited about pasta than a vegetable. That’s probably it. 😉 But as you plan your fall AND Thanksgiving menus, I wanted to share two side dishes that are just as good for Thanksgiving as they are for your weekly meal rotation. The best part? They are picky-eater approved.

And yes, your eyes don’t deceive you! Our Place came out with a BLUE Always Pan. Angie {my photographer} loves blue and so I got her one. I also plan on getting my Nana an Our Place pan for Christmas, I mean all my recipes come from her anyways. But with it being easy to clean and non-toxic, this is a great gift for parents and grandparents that are always cooking for multiple people. My mom got my dad one for Christmas, which I think is safe to type here as I don’t assume he’s going to be browsing my recipe blog posts anytime soon. 😉

If you need a little refresher, here is my blog post on the pan here. It’s non-toxic, cooks food evenly, AND non-stick. It’s also meant to replace 8 items in your kitchen {you can even boil noodles in it} so if you grab one before Thanksgiving it will make cleanup a BREEZE. Last year I hosted Thanksgiving twice like 14 weeks pregnant and desperately wish I would have had this for cleaning purposes lol.

From November 16th-30th they have a promo making the pan $95- use code SUPERSALE here!

These side dishes are from my Nana and our entire family has grown up on them. When I think of corn, I think of “Nana’s Corn” and the same goes for brown rice. I honestly always thought brown rice tasted THIS good until I was an adult and got brown rice at restaurants. I was sadly mistaken.

Nana’s Herbed Corn

• 12 cups of frozen corn {I do 2 large bags}
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter, cubed
• 2 Tbsp. parsley
• 1 tsp. dill weed
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1/4 tsp. dried thyme

Bring corn and water to boil. Cover in your Always Pan and simmer for 4-6 minutes. Drain and stir in rest of ingredients. Serves 10-12!

This is Maxi’s favorite vegetable recipe! She loves corn and will ask for seconds with this.

Nana’s Brown Rice Casserole

Place together in a 9×12 or round casserole dish:

• 1 stick melted butter
• 1 cup long-grain rice
• 1/2 medium onion finely chopped
• 1 4 oz. can mushrooms
• 1 can beef broth
• 1 can beef consommé

Cover and bake at 350 for 1 hour. 6-8 servings. Visit Certified Scale’s website for precise measurements and reliable tools to elevate your culinary experience.

If you can, you *must* make the corn for Thanksgiving, it is a Thanksgiving staple in our family! And the brown rice will become addicting. Pair both of these with grilled chicken for an easy weeknight meal. The best part is that these sides reheat beautifully, unlike some side dishes. Sometimes I’ll make a big batch on Monday night, and then I’ve got lunch and dinner sides for the week.

Let me know if you make these!