The Conversation
We all look forward to blueberry season, and when it’s finally here, we crave the bite-size fruit all day every day. We want them at breakfast, in our smoothies, and piled into our fruit crumbles! But have you ever considered bringing blueberries to the dinner table? You should. This sweet and mellow berry goes along swimmingly with salads, cheeses, pizzas, and even grilled meats. We’ve got 13 *berry* delicious dinner recipes that will have you looking like Violet Beauregarde by summer’s end.
BBQ Feta and Blueberry Flatbread
Smothered with a sweet BBQ sauce and decked out with tangy feta, peppery arugula, honey-roasted ham, and blueberries, this flatbread is as summertime as it gets. (via The Sweet and Simple Kitchen)
Blueberry Honey Lime Chicken With Avocado Pesto Cucumber Noodles
This dreamy dinner option brings a refreshing medley of flavors to your chicken with lip-smacking honey, lime, and blueberries. (via Food Faith Fitness)
Jerk Salmon With Radicchio Blueberry Slaw and Sherry Vinaigrette
Up your salad game by tossing radicchio, arugula, cooling mint, crumbly feta, and blueberries in a homespun vinaigrette, then top it off with a punchy fillet of flaky salmon. (via A Clean Bake)
Balsamic Blueberry and Brie Burgers
Once you sink your teeth into this exciting burger brimming with balsamic blueberry sauce and creamy Brie, you’ll never think about a regular ol’ American cheeseburger again. (via The Travel Bite)
Wild Blueberry BBQ Chicken Wings
Chicken wings as we know them get a summer-inspired twist with a slather of wild blueberry honey BBQ sauce. (via Nutmeg Nanny)
Red White and Blue Chicken Tacos With Blueberry Jalapeño Coleslaw
If you’re looking for some next-level tacos, these bad boys are jam-packed with tender chicken, a zingy salsa, and a creamy red cabbage and blueberry slaw. (via PDX Food Love)
Southwest Blueberry Cobb Salad
This is cobb salad like you’ve never seen it before, with a bounty of fresh summer veggies like grilled corn, leafy greens, cubed chicken, and juicy blueberries. (via The Foodie Physician)
Blueberry Balsamic Grilled Cheese
You’re never too old for a melty grilled cheese sandwich — especially an elevated version like this one that brings sweet blueberries, balsamic vinegar, and fresh basil leaves to the mix. (via Hello Fresh)
Blueberry Balsamic Sheet Pan Chicken
Who said easy sheet pan dinners can’t be fancy? A sweet and fruity marinade marries savory spices in this 30-minute wonder that’ll set you up with delicious leftovers for the rest of the week. (via The Girl on Bloor)
Blueberry Chicken Salad Croissant
The creamy chicken salad we know and love gets amped up by sweet wild blueberries and crunchy walnuts in this crave-worthy croissant ‘wich. (via Not Starving Yet)
Blueberry Balsamic Chicken Meatball Pizza
Smothered in a blueberry balsamic sauce and topped with lean from-scratch chicken meatballs, this pizza pie is *not* like the others. (via Melanie Makes)
Blueberry Balsamic BBQ Turkey Legs
Don’t limit turkey consumption to the holidays; this recipe grills big juicy turkey legs and then hits them with a blueberry balsamic sauce that *screams* for summertime. (via Running to the Kitchen)
Kalua Pork Sliders With Mango Blueberry Salsa
If you love pulled pork sandwiches and are the adventurous type, then these smokey sliders piled high with mango blueberry salsa have your name written ALL over them. (via How Sweet It Is)
More From Recipes
Welcome to Selfmade Finance School, our new money series with Block Advisors to help small business owners with their tax, bookkeeping, and payroll needs year-round. This week, we explore the tax implications of bringing family members into your business.
The question for today is this: Does hiring your family members make sense for your business? Let me be clear. This is not a piece about whether hiring your family members makes sense for your relationships with those family members. As someone who is part of a family business, I could fill up a lot more than 600 words on my opinions about that. For today's purposes, we focus on whether it makes sense from an overall "good business and tax implication" perspective. As it turns out, there is a decent amount of tax nuance when it comes to employing your family. Let's break it down based on relationship to the employee:
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Spouses Who Are In Business Together
Personally, if I had to be in business with my husband, it would not go well. However, many couples build viable, strong businesses together and I say, good for them! Depending on how you have your business entity structured, it will make a big difference on the tax treatment of you and your spouse working as partners. Because a business jointly owned and operated by a married couple is generally treated as a partnership for Federal tax purposes, the spouses must comply with filing and record keeping requirements imposed on partnerships and their partners. The election to file two Schedule C (Form 1040) forms, (one for each spouse) permits certain married co-owners to avoid filing partnership returns, provided that each spouse separately reports a share of all the businesses' items of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit. Under the election, both spouses will be subject to self-employment tax and on net earnings from self-employment and receive credit for Social Security earnings.
One Spouse Employs Another
If you have a dynamic where your spouse is an employee of your business, then your spouse's wages are subject to income tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare taxes. If you are self-employed (not a corporation or a partnership), your spouse's pay does not have to be included in your federal unemployment tax account (FUTA) contributions and payments. However, if your business is a corporation or a partnership you must include that spouse's pay in your unemployment tax contribution calculation.
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You Employ Your Child
First, let's be clear. I work in my family business, but I am an adult, so I am treated just like a normal employee. However, if you, for example, run a family restaurant and want to hire your children under 18 to work for you, there are some tax benefits. But first, you should check with your state for rules on how many hours minors can work (in non-agricultural jobs) and reference the Fair Labor Standards Act for information on limitations on the kinds of work children can perform.
"This is an often overlooked or under-utilized strategy. Paying your children for true services they provide in your business can be a powerful tax-saving tool," says Cathi Reed, Block Advisors Regional Director. "If you are a sole-proprietorship or single member LLC, and the child is less than 18 years of age, the business is not required to withhold FICA or payroll taxes. The child can use his or her standard deduction against income you pay."
You Hire Your Parent
Oh dear. If you are brave enough to do this, know that you will need to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on your parent's wages and make the appropriate withholdings, but you don't have to pay unemployment taxes. Now all you have to do is convince your parent that you are the boss. Have fun with that!
Is Hiring Family Members Worth It For The Tax Benefits?
"There are some positive tax advantages to hiring family members. It's important to treat a family member like any other employee. Hiring your children can result in substantial savings for businesses. Make sure your child has real, age-appropriate work to do and a reasonable pay rate, comparable to other employees. Consult with a Block Advisors small business certified tax pro to ensure that you are complying with all requirements," advises Reed. "Block Advisors, a team within H&R Block, is dedicated to meeting the tax, bookkeeping and payroll needs of small business owners year-round. To start working with the tax experts at Block Advisors, visit blockadvisors.com."
In my opinion, you should not hire a family member solely because of the tax benefits. You should always hire based on whether that person is right for the job and keep in mind how this hire could materially impact your relationship with that person and others in your family. Finally, as I mentioned, make sure you have a tax professional on your team when making these determinations. As you can see, things can get a little tricky!
*All details were sourced from IRS.gov and blockadvisors.com
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Kestra Investment Services, LLC or Kestra Advisory Services, LLC. This is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. It is suggested that you consult your financial professional, attorney, or tax advisor with regards to your individual situation. Comments concerning the past performance are not intended to be forward looking and should not be viewed as an indication of future results. Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. O'Keeffe Financial Partners and any other entity listed herein is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS Investor Disclosures: https://bit.ly/KF-Disclosures