Mom's Potato Salad - Cleaned Up!

I have such fond memories of this potato salad.  My mom made it for any picnic or cookout we had, father's day, memorial day, graduations, labor day, and 4th of July! My mom had this Pillsbury Cookbook, and as they claimed on the cover, it's "the all-purpose companion for today's cook."  Which for my mom, it was! A lot of her generic recipes came from this cookbook, including this potato salad.  I was lucky enough to inherit this cookbook after she passed.

My mom passed away a little over 3 years ago.  When she was alive, my sisters and I always thought she was a very "by the book" cook.  She always had to follow the recipes to a T, and if she asked us for a recipe that maybe we sort of threw together.  She needed to know exactly how many tablespoons of garlic we used, so we had to give her an exact number! But, after she passed away, and we started to make her recipes ourselves, we realized that she had the tendency to make a recipe into her own.  Although, she never recorded it, she made the same recipe over and over again and remembered "her version" of it.  So, when we look at it, we have to figure out what was it that she did to change it, because we remembered it differently.

This happened to me when I approached this potato salad recipe.  I had to confer with my sisters to figure out exactly what she did, because the potato salad recipe looked nothing like her version.  Like for instance, I thought she put pickle relish in it, but my sister doesn't think she did.  I love pickles, so I put it in my version.    Also, my mom, from what we remember, put sugar in her potato salad, but no where on the recipe does it show it.  But, with my new clean eating lifestyle, I made some adjustments to make it a bit "healthier" to eat.  I don't recommend to make potato salad an everyday meal, but you can feel a bit better about eating it. So here it is! I hope all my readers enjoy their 4th of July and make great memories, like I have with my family on the 4th!

my mom and me

Mom's Potato Salad

(serves 6-8)

adapted from The Pillsbury Cookbook & my mom

4-6 small to medium potatoes, cooked, peeled, and cubed

4 eggs, hard-boiled, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1/4 cup chopped pickles or relish (I used dill)

1/4 cup green olives with pimentos, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup organic mayo

1/4 cup plain greek yogurt

1 tablespoon mustard (I used organic spicy brown)

1 tablespoon honey

1) In a big pot, put in the potatoes and cover with cold water.  Bring to a boil and cook until fork tender.  Drain and put them in the fridge for a few hours or overnight to get cold.  

2) Also while cooking the potatoes, do the same method with eggs.  Put them in a pot, fill with cold water and bring to a boil.  But once they reach a boil, take them off the heat, put a cover on it, and let them sit for 15 minutes.  Once the time is up, drain and rinse with cold water.  Put them in the fridge with the potatoes to get cold as well.  Having the eggs and potatoes cold makes it easier to cut them up.  

3) Then take all of the chopped ingredients, with all the other ingredients, mix it all up until combined.  Keep in the fridge before serving.  Also, allowing a few hours in the fridge let's all the flavors melt together.  

One taste of this potato salad and I was back to my childhood. I sure do miss my mom, but this potato salad makes me feel like she is still here.  Happy 4th of July Everyone!