Baked Ribs: There are meals you just expect to be difficult to make at home. Ribs, for some reason, always seemed too aspirational for my skill level. But I love to order a gorgeous plate from FD’s Grillhouse, where a half rack of fall-off-the-bone ribs is only $16. This is why I stopped in my tracks when I was at Sam’s Club last week, noticing a huge package containing two full racks — four plates’ worth at FD’s — was only $26. Could I attempt ribs at home?
The answer is: unequivocally yes. In fact, it was so easy I felt it qualified for a “Dinner Done Easy” spot. I used this YouTube video to learn how to trim my whole rack to neat St. Louis-style rectangles. Then I used this Inspired Taste recipe for easy baked ribs. I skipped the complicated homemade BBQ sauce and just brushed them with Sweet Baby Ray’s.
Keep the sides simple with a baked potato or a bag of frozen sweet potato fries, and your favorite green vegetable.
And the best part? One Sam’s Club package gave us dinner, a second rack for the freezer, two bags of shredded rib meat to tuck into fried rice or beans later, and even rib drippings I skimmed and saved for soup stock. That’s a lot of meals out of one cut of meat.
I send a “things to do” email every Sunday night to tons of moms in the Springfield, Mo. area. It’s full of free, often outdoorsy ideas that always match the season we’re in.
DEAR SPRINGFIELD MAMA 
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