Happy Wednesday! How is your week going? I have been enjoying the sunshine, longer days, and getting outside early in the morning!

Also, how is it already almost 4th of July weekend? The start of summer seems to be flying! We are headed to my grandparents’ for the weekend and will be enjoying the time on the water and time with family. And of course some delicious food! (Cherry pie and vanilla ice cream, anyone??)

Onto this week’s inspiration for some tasty eats!

Speaking of dessert, the lemon coconut shortbread cookies I alluded to in my last EE post were just as good as they sound! Sally always has the best baking recipes! I like that I can feel confident trying new recipes from her blog since they always turn out well.

I made a big batch of roasted tomato soup for the first time. Homemade tomato soup beats the canned kind, hands-down! No surprise there! I loved how this recipe incorporated roasted tomato and roasted garlic, as well as caramelized onion.

Toppings of parmesan and basil are a must! Served alongside veggie sandwiches with an herbed goat cheese spread.

More tomatoes with this baked eggs dish. I roasted a bed cherry tomatoes, then added parmesan, basil, a drizzle of olive oil, and salt and pepper, then cracked a couple of eggs into the tomato mixture and baked it all in the oven until the egg whites were fully cooked. Cheap and creative egg dishes for the win!

The juiciest fresh strawberries with my usual overnight oats topped with almond butter and honey. My favorite way to start the day!

More strawbs, this time alongside some oatmeal pancakes that I whipped up for a Saturday brunch. I have been trying various oatmeal pancake recipes over the past few months and haven’t been getting the result of a truly oatmeal-like pancake like I have in mind, so finally decided to just make up my own recipe and see what happened. These turned out much more in line with what I was going for! Hearty oatmeal texture in pancake form. Drizzled with organic maple syrup and served with some refreshing iced coffee with almond milk.

Amazing green goddess salad that I had at work. I made a few modifications to the actual menu item, but my salad included mixed greens with roasted asparagus, beets, cucumber, pepitas, feta, tempeh, and the BEST herbed tahini dressing. Seriously one of my favorite dressings of all time! Follow Juicy Kitchen on Facebook or Instagram for more delish meal inspiration! (Or come see us in-person and enjoy the food for yourself!) 🙂

Sauerkraut made with organic purple cabbage fermenting for the next week…

Making your own sauerkraut couldn’t be easier! I use The Pioneer Woman’s instructions.

Shakshuka making it’s regular appearance, served along with a piece of crusty homemade sourdough. Never can go wrong here!

Some intensely fudgy and gooey mocha chip muffins sweetened with dates and applesauce. Do yourself a favor and give these a try!

I had one the next morning at brunch along with fresh berries, plain yogurt with my favorite molasses tahini granola, and a dreamy cashew chai latte! The latte was made from one of my favorite cookbooks by the amazing Cookie and Kate!

More granola over a refreshing tahini date smoothie. Can you tell that I am a fan of tahini??

Leftover sun-dried tomato hummus that we made at work, with carrots and crackers for dipping!

One of my favorite summer dinners to make – pasta with roasted veggies (zucchini, red onion, and red bell pepper), avocado basil pesto, and freshly grated parmesan. Side salad on the side for all the veggies!

What is one of your favorite ways to enjoy summer veggies??

Everyday Enjoyment:

These comfy shorts from Athleta: I could wear running shorts all day every day, but I am not that into “regular” shorts. However, these are quite comfy and ones I can get on board with! I have them in black and would highly recommend!

Fun and refreshing summer drinks: We have some amazingly refreshing blueberry lemonade at the cafe which I have been enjoying, along with iced lavender honey lattes, the horchata I made at home, and regular iced coffee/teas. I would love to try this raspberry peach lemonade or watermelon mint mojito!

My friend Allison’s podcast: Check out The Better Belly Podcast for loads of tips and info related to gut health and overall health from a functional medicine-based perspective! I have been learning a lot and really align with Allison’s framework in a lot of ways!

Have a wonderful rest of the week!