Hello and Happy Wednesday! How is your week going so far?

I love being well into spring and have been enjoying the sunnier days and brighter early mornings! It seems like the flowers on the trees have bloomed early this year — so beautiful lately!

We’ve had a full April so far, with various weekend plans, an eating disorder-related conference I attended, and celebrating my 30th birthday this past weekend. Crazy to be out of my 20s and into a new decade! 🙂

Lettuce get to some delightful springtime eats!

Backing up a bit to Easter Sunday, after church we went with family to Avalon Cafe in downtown Ann Arbor. I had THE BEST salmon salad bowl! I said, “This is one of the best salads I have ever had!!” I don’t give out food praise like that lightly and if I don’t mean it…

(From the menu) — Indian spiced salmon, greens, crispy chickpeas, cucumbers, pickled tomato + onion, golden raisins, and a creamy curry vinaigrette. The salmon was perfectly cooked and the dressing was heavenly. The only thing I would have changed is no tomatoes since I didn’t feel like they really went with the rest of the flavors.

New smoothie alert! Usually I whip up a version of my berry cacao smoothie, but wanted to give a non-protein powder smoothie recipe a try, since sometimes protein powder doesn’t sit the best with me. I made this green smoothie from Ambitious Kitchen with frozen kale + mango + pineapple, ginger, avocado, and almond milk. HOWEVER, I ended up adding my usual protein powder scoop since it made it taste so much better! *Sigh.* I think I just need to find a different brand without the added probiotics. OR try to sweeten up the smoothie a bit more with some dates / other flavoring.

Smoothies are our Wednesday late-evening dinner routine after I get back from my yoga class. I always have granola on the side and then it’s on to my usual dark chocolate to round out the night.

For dinner last Friday / for various meals over my “birthday weekend,” I made my favorite chicken salad (somewhat of a DIY version w/ shredded chicken, grapes, celery, herbs, pecans, a bit of red onion) and almond flour blueberry muffins. Eaten alongside salad w/ raspberry vinaigrette. So good! I could eat this every day.

On my actual birthday we went to Pacific Rim and I got my favorite ahi tuna dish that I usually get when we go there for birthdays/special occasions. I always love the presentation!

Other birthday festivities included relaxing over the weekend (yoga, walks, getting my nails done — nothing too much which is just the way I like it!) and going to the Dixboro Project for lunch with my family on Sunday. The food and ambiance were wonderful!

They also brought us this beautiful tray of oysters for free which I found funny because I was recently saying how oysters are one of the few foods I haven’t had but would like to try. I was relatively neutral about them — didn’t mind them, but also wouldn’t necessarily seek them out!

I had a delicious spring salad with chicken, lavender latte, and lemon bars (one of my favorites) that my mom brought.

One rainy day I tried an orange shrimp stir fry recipe which was fun to make! I like shrimp a lot but don’t often cook with it since it tends to be more expensive and I don’t usually have time to go out and get shrimp to have it fresh for the day I want to use it. Served over a (hidden) bed of quinoa. I plan to experiment with more shrimp recipes as I’m able over the spring/summer!!

We used to have grilled shrimp all the time growing up and it was always such a tasty dinner!

My absolute favorite spring asparagus pasta w/ peas. I make some modifications to the recipe I linked, but the recipe I linked is the gist of it!

Love all the fresh herbs (mint + parsley), in-season asparagus, and buttery lemony sauce.

The other dish that is another go-to springtime favorite is green veggie curry, w/ carrots + onion + asparagus + greens. Served over brown rice.

If you have a functioning oven and access to a grocery store, do yourself a favor and whip up these tahini chocolate chip blondies pronto!!  (I used brown sugar instead of coconut). Already dreaming up another time to make them soon, served warm w/ a scoop of vanilla ice cream! Alec and I were both raving fans from the moment of first bite.

Getting out the leftovers for a dinner of pistachio chicken, roasted asparagus, and baked potato (served w/ plenty of butter + salt + pepper). Also our usual side salads w/ homemade dark balsamic. Simple and tasty!

We are all about the leftovers here. I usually cook on Mondays, and then we eat leftovers on Tuesdays. I generally cook 3x a week tops, and then we do leftovers on the other nights.

Sun-dried tomato pesto over chickpea pasta w/ roasted veggies (carrot + zucchini + white onion + red bell pepper) w/ plenty of shredded parmesan and red pepper flakes. One of our favorite dinners! I mix and match the veggies depending on time of year and what I am feeling.

Another tray of all the roasted veg in preparation for almond curry veggie bowls. So good! I like to add roasted carrot in addition to the cauliflower + sweet potatoes.

New breakfast bowl of yogurt, homemade carrot muffin, lots of peanut butter, drizzle of agave, and frozen berries. You all know I LOVE my overnight oats, but I have had to experiment with some new breakfast options lately due to some gut health and poor digestion dynamics. Can share more on that at some point.

Lastly, taco salad bowls w/ mixed greens, roasted sweet potatoes, roasted red bell peppers + red onion, ground beef w/ taco seasoning, salsa (we love the organic salsa from Costco), and homemade guacasaca. Chips on the side for scooping and for the all-important crunch!

Everyday Enjoyment:

Beautiful spring trees!: As mentioned above, the flowers on the trees have been especially beautiful lately! Looking at other photos I have on my phone of the same/similar trees, they seem to be blooming several weeks early this year. We have one tree in beautiful bloom right outside the main window in front of our townhouse, and simply looking at it while lying on the couch was one of the highlights of the past weekend! The little things!!!

Michigan basketball updates: It may only be April, but in our home we focus on Michigan sports (primarily football + basketball) as a year-round endeavor! After the exhausting and discouraging past basketball season, Alec and I are encouraged by the new coaching hire, recruiting updates, and transfer additions!  I typically love watching Michigan basketball over the winter but couldn’t even bring myself to watch because of how discouraging it felt and how off the team cultural dynamics seemed. So that was a bummer, but am glad things seem more interesting and inspiring. I stay reasonably informed over the off-season since Alec provides me with all the key updates!

The stupidity of the English language: Alec and I randomly came across this video over the weekend and I found it absolutely hilarious. Lol. There you go!

What do you enjoy most about spring?
What’s something fun you have been eating lately??

Have a good rest of your day!