Hello all!! Today I am sharing some ideas to inspire your fourth of July menu to celebrate with friends and family!

We hope y’all are having a wonderful summer!!!!

I can’t believe how quickly this year is flying by. Next week is a special day for us here in the States when we celebrate our Independence on the fourth of July. I recently read the opening paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence. So, to quote Nickolas Cage from the film National Treasure, “No one talks like that anymore…but they should.” It is a wonderful document full of beautiful words. Hopefully, as a nation, we will continue to seek out and truly live the meaning behind them. Most importantly, I hope we will seek the Source out of which those ideals are birthed.

So, I wanted to give y’all a little inspiration for your Independence Day celebrations! This was the meal that Sierra and I prepared together when she came to visit us last year. The week of July fourth with my sisters is a beloved tradition. We can’t wait to share our plans for this year with y’all. (We spent 9 glorious days in Merida, Mexico!) But for now, check out the spread we created to celebrate our nation’s founding.

Our Fourth of July Menu

First off, my husband smoked ribs for us and they were simply fall-off-the-bone, tender, flavorful, yummy goodness! We used my favorite BBQ dry rub recipe which I shared a couple of weeks ago to flavor and tenderize them. One important step in preparing ribs is to remove the “silver skin” or membrane on the back of the rack of ribs. This is a really important step that you don’t want to miss or your ribs will be tough and chewy. Here is a YouTube video showing how that is done.

From this point, there are about a million different ways to cook ribs. You can smoke them, grill them, bake them in the oven. In addition, you can even throw them in the crock pot. We use the 3-2-1 method for our ribs. However, this will vary depending on your method of cooking. Definitely do your homework for ribs. But given a little time and patience, the results are incredibly rewarding…and tasty!!

For our sides, we prepared a veggie tray with Starla’s truly addictive ranch dip. We sautéed zucchini and yellow squash, and went the easy route with Annie’s Organic gluten free mac n’ cheese. Also, Sierra made the best deviled eggs I have ever tasted. She was a little devilish in her preparation because she snuck in an unexpected ingredient: sauerkraut. This was a fantastic replacement for the pickles! I’m telling you, those deviled eggs were a probiotic infused home run!

Setting the Table for Our Fourth of July Celebration

So, the table was a simple set up of stuff that was laying around the house. I always love using my blue and white plates. Next, the chargers were from Christmas festivities, the runner was a really good find from Dirt Cheap. The table cloth was a twin sized flat sheet from Walmart that cost under $5. I didn’t steal it from anyone’s bed either. Formerly, it was used as curtains before we renovated my son’s room.

Finally, our fourth of July menu would not be complete without a little cold brewed tea and kombucha. We used good ol’ Mason jars to serve our drinks.

I hope this inspires you for your Independence Day celebrations!

God bless you!

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”