Hello everyone! How has your week been going?? We went camping in Mackinaw City over the weekend which was fun minus the black flies that were swarming all over near the water (apparently they arrived early this year a couple of days before we got there, causing us to miss out on our waterfront campsite! :/). We went hiking and enjoyed the views near the bridge. It was also a bit cold and felt more like fall!

I packed up some food and snacks for us to have on hand including…

These delish chocolate chip raspberry protein bars – would 10/10 recommend!

For breakfast we enjoyed some oatmeal with almond butter, honey, and blueberries, along with some chai tea. A nice way to start the day keeping warm!

The first night for dinner we went to the White Buffalo in downtown Mackinaw City (partly to escape the rain!). I had a fabulous Caesar salad with locally caught / blackened whitefish.

The second night we warmed up the soup we brought (split pea for me) as well as rolls and fresh veggies kept in the cooler. Not too bad when you can round it out with a cider and some dark chocolate, of course!

Two weeks ago was when I had to get my upper wisdom teeth out meaning that meals and snacks were less than optimal for a few days. Let’s just say the Vitamix came in handy! I enjoyed a new favorite smoothie combo a couple of times – recipe coming soon! Strawberry chocolate cacao featured above.

Happy to be back to more normal food baking a loaf of sourdough… what is better than some fresh bread and a sunny day?? Eaten with some shakshuka for dinner.

The juiciest fresh berries over plain whole milk yogurt topped with the best tahini molasses granola!

Recent salad combo of mixed greens, carrots, bell pepper, cucumber, tomato, radish, white beans, pepitas, and fresh mint dressing.

A couple of dinner ideas to round things out! This is what I refer to as my turkey zucchini skillet which is just quinoa, ground turkey, sautéed zucchini and fresh corn in olive oil with rosemary and thyme, topped with goat cheese – you must give this one a try!

Pasta with sun-dried tomato pesto and roasted veggies – this time zucchini, white onion, and bell peppers – topped with freshly grated parmesan. I love to make this pesto for the pasta dish or also sometimes have it on salmon!

Everyday Enjoyment:

More book ideas: Last week I read The Last Thing He Told Me – it was one of those books where you need to know how it finishes, hence me reading it in just a couple of days! Now I am on to The Diamond Eye as far as more fiction goes –  I have really enjoyed the other historical fiction novels I have read by Kate Quinn! They will also have you on the edge of your seat!

New Keurig: I am a bit late to the game with this one but I bought a Keurig K-Supreme at Costco the other week and I am a huge fan! I got tired of the coffee grinds I would buy not staying as fresh since Alec doesn’t drink coffee and I LOVE the convenience of the Keurig!!!

One other recipe for you: I forgot to take a photo of this one – last week I made my favorite zucchini snack cake which I would also recommend giving a try this summer!! The combination of moist zucchini and chocolate chips can’t be beat!

I hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! I will be working on Memorial Day but we have some fun plans with friends over the actual weekend which I am looking forward to! I hope you enjoy something tasty, maybe eaten outside or from the grill!!