The Amish Cook's 5-Minute Pea and Bacon Salad

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As a busy mother of six little darlings, if there is one thing I enjoy, that is stepping into my mom’s kitchen. Laughing, I informed her, “You know, it’s just like hungry hormones are released when I step into your kitchen!” Really there is something about it; it doesn’t matter what part of the day I happen to come to her house, I always feel like I could eat!

Maybe I’ll have to do some blame-shifting here and make the excuse that perhaps it comes from being fed so well every time I’m there.

Why, recently I popped in with all six little ones and it so happened that she was just ready to head out the door to have a tea party with friends. Now listen to this, she stepped into the kitchen and pulled this most delicious looking dessert from the fridge, and yes, she had planned to take it to the party. No amount of my protests budged her decision. “This is such a rare treat, you sit down and enjoy it with your children,” she declared.

Going to the cupboard where she keeps her pretty dishes, she chose my favorite set of clear glass bowls and proceeded to fill them with generous servings for each of the children and myself. Relaxing on the sofa next to us she declared that being late to her party won’t hurt a thing.

Thirty minutes later we had covered a wide range of news, catching up in each other’s lives. Soon six little children and myself were on the pony cart and clipping out the driveway.

Now not all of you have mothers, and especially not living a mile from where you live, like I do.

Many times in the 11 years since I got married, I've told myself, “Better enjoy this stage of living close to family, because it may not always be like that.” I have come to treasure our times together. On a deeper note, God’s also been teaching me that all people are to be cared for and loved like family. And guess what? The most special part of that entire picture is that according to Scripture, if we do God’s will, we’re Jesus’ brother and sister! Really now, that is more special than any amount of words that would ever fit into an entire column, or even into the biggest book, for that matter!

I then wonder and ponder... what I can do today to splash that love on others, that no matter what, they’ll always matter to me and to the One who created life within every one of us? I’d love to hear your input.

Dear Jeanne, a faithful reader, and friend from Cincinnati Ohio, gave a beautiful example of that today. You can only imagine the scene when Daddy brought a package from Jeanne into the kitchen. From oldest all the way down to baby Joshua, we all crowded around to watch. Daddy carefully cut the tape, the flaps were swiftly pulled back by all, and guess what? There was a stuffed baby deer in memory of the one that passed away in our home and also as a token of God using difficulties in our lives to make us stronger. The children immediately started talking of how they’ll take turns to it sleep with it. Under the fawn was a beautiful book of a baby deer which I just finished reading to the children before putting them down for naps. I read page after page of the baby ‘deer’ and how God had a perfect plan for it; time and again I paused, marveling to the children how this book perfectly explains how God will use them as they grow up for him.

Now I’ll undoubtedly have to share one of mom’s specialties with you. Recently one evening she called me and asked if we’ll by chance be stopping in since she has some deluxe sugar-free dessert she’d like to share with us. Well, it turned out, that by the time we got there, she had already left for the evening. On the counter was a note telling us to help ourselves to anything we find. My, there was no turning it down. I had little ones clutching my skirts as we ransacked Grandma’s fridge, and yes, we had a party! Besides the dessert, there were burgers, salads, chocolate cake, home-canned peaches, the list goes on. “This is better than a restaurant,” I mused to myself and straight out of Mom’s kitchen at that!

The following day Dad remarked to me, “You made Grandma’s day stopping in and helping yourself when we weren’t home.” I smiled. What more could I say?

Meanwhile, I am going to share this recipe for a simple throw-together 5-Minute Pea and Bacon Salad that we love in our house!

Editor's Notes and Photos

This is a really easy pea salad that you can make in, literally, five minutes (with a few caveats). First, the only way you can make this in 5 minutes is to use bacon bits. And it'll taste fine, but I found myself thinking that it'd probably taste super with real bacon. So if you want to fry up and crumble your own bacon for this, have at it. This would still be a super quick salad, but not a 5-minute salad. My wife thought it was a little heavy on the mayo, so adjust as you think you want. I thought it was fine. But if you aren't quite as enamored with mayo as I am, maybe use ¾ a cup. I don't have much to say about the cheese, it was great, but you could mix it up a bit by adding a Colby-Jack cheese. But, man, this was/is a tasty, tasty salad!

The 5-Minute Pea and Bacon Salad recipe calls for frozen peas for year-round ease of the everyday cook, but you could use fresh. I am sure you could use store-bought canned peas (drained), it just might be a little mushier.

I enlisted my 4-year-old to help stir the salad, this is it before she really got the cheeses melded.

My 7-year-old wanted to take the photos...I would have chosen better lighting, better angles, and removed all the junk from the background, but, oh well...

I took some 5-Minute Pea and Bacon Salad outside to photograph so the sun could capture some of the color, it really is a bright, colorful salad.

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• Editor's Notes and Photos
• 🥗 5-Minute Pea and Bacon Salad
• 📋 Instructions
• 🥗 More Amish Pea Recipes
• 🖨️ Full Recipe

🥗 5-Minute Pea and Bacon Salad

• 12 oz frozen peas
• 1 cup mayo
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• ½ cup bacon bits
• ¾ teaspoons salt
• ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon onion salt

📋 Instructions

1. Thaw peas.
2. Pour thawed peas into a bowl.
3. Add remaining ingredients.
4. Stir, chill, and enjoy!

🥗 More Amish Pea Recipes

Amish Peas - Wow, these are so good!

Chicken with Peas and Rice - classic!

Summer 7-Layer Salad - Lots of peas in this!

Easy Ham & Pea Salad - Another pork and pea combo!

🖨️ Full Recipe