This past weekend was filled with lots of family time between celebrating my cousin’s wedding and also my mom’s 60th birthday! It was crazy hot and humid for Michigan during the second half of June, and finally the extreme heat broke for the most perfect weather on Monday! My mom and I spent the day at the pool (Monday was her actual birthday) and it was fabulous.

Other weekend features included filet mignon two days in a row (with how the events lined up — probably a first for me? lol), the best strawberry shortcake (see below!), and the busyness of going to/from family events. And now July 4th is already next week! I’m not a huge summer person in general so I don’t really mind that it tends to go by fast.

How is your summer going so far?? How do you feel about summer??

What I DO love about summer is all the fresh in-season produce. Can’t be beat!

That being said, let’s get to plenty of June delish summer eats! 

After the day at the pool I made caprese salad (greens + juicy tomatoes + chopped cucumber + fresh basil + mozzarella) drizzled w/ homemade balsamic and topped with balsamic-marinated chicken that I baked in the oven. This was all so good! Served alongside the best almond flour dinner rolls. (I omit the garlic powder and like to drizzle it with extra honey before eating). So satisfying!

Continuing on with summer salads, above I am prepping one of my favorites. Juicy strawberries + chopped dates + roasted hazelnuts + feta, drizzled with dark balsamic. I have been loving this combo lately!

Did you know that Oregon grows 99% of the nation’s hazelnuts? They couldn’t be tastier! I like to by the roasted hazelnuts from TJ’s.

Recent salmon dinner of baked salmon w/ roasted veggies + rice blend (half black rice, half white rice). I think I seasoned the salmon primarily with paprika + garlic powder (along w/ some black poppyseeds). For the rice, I cook the white and black rice separately then mix it all together for a purple final product!

Black rice is especially high in antioxidants compared to other rices. For an assignment in grad school I created this black rice pudding recipe — it is a super tasty way to enjoy black rice!

All the colorful + flavorful watermelon lately with my first watermelon of the season! Cutting a watermelon always seemed like such a hassle to me until I observed the chef at Juicy and realized my life could be much simpler!!! Here is a good example video of how to cut a watermelon.

I’ve been eating the watermelon w/ snacks + lunches + dinners, and sometimes I’ve been adding a few cubes to my water for a bit of refreshing flavor. We managed to eat the entire watermelon in no time!

A few weeks ago I went to Stray Hen with my mom for lunch. I had a veggie sandwich w/ avocado, mozzarella, and a sun-dried tomato spread along with a side salad and iced tea.

Back at Stray Hen for breakfast with Alec a week or two later! This is clearly becoming a go-to spot… I like all the seating and natural lighting!

My favorite granola bowl w/ coffee. Definitely hits the spot! (I may have brought my own granola from home due to my oat sensitivity…). Doing what one has to do!

Both days at Stray Hen were the most perfectly sunny days!

I absolutely loved this dinner that we had multiple nights in a row! Chicken encrusted w/ pecans + rosemary served with baked potato w/ plenty of butter + salt + pepper, steamed broccoli, and our usual side salad. This was so satisfying to me!

A good/basic meal example of my recommended “meal structure” –> protein (chicken) + fat (butter + oil in salad dressing) + complex carb (potato) + any fruits/veggies (salad, broccoli). No need to overcomplicate things!

A deliciously moist chocolate zucchini cake that I made for our lunch after church! This could not have been simpler to whip up. While absolutely tasty on its own, next time I would even more prefer it with some vanilla ice cream on the side!

Other excellent ways to use up zucchini this summer might be –> zucchini bread pancakes, frittata w/ summer veggies, or zucchini mac and cheese.

Still going strong with my morning muffin yogurt bowls (the muffins also have zucchini!). Whole milk Greek yogurt (w/ cinnamon + agave syrup mixed in) + peanut butter + crumbled muffin + fresh berries + cacao nibs (for crunch). I’ve been loving this lately with my iced coffee w/ chocolate cashew milk.

Most days I have been doing the (above) chocolate zucchini muffins, but also recently experimented with these similar (non-chocolatey) zucchini muffins. I added more spices than the recipe lists (such as nutmeg, allspice, etc.) and omitted the chocolate chips!

Usually I bake two dozen muffins at one time, will put some in the fridge, and take the others out of the freezer as I go through them. I’m trying to gather a rotation of a few different breakfast muffin recipes that I like, and so far I definitely like the chocolate ones (which I have made several times) and would possibly make the regular zucchini ones again.

Making some sun-dried tomato hummus for my favorite veggie bowl of quinoa + roasted veggies (red onion, red bell pepper, zucchini) + sun-dried tomato hummus + shredded parmesan.

Probably my favorite dinner of the past month… shakshuka with roasted potatoes! Since I am not able to eat gluten with my gut health/autoimmunity issues, I haven’t made shakshuka for a while since I used to always eat it with homemade bread. I tried it this time with roasted/seasoned potatoes and actually found it to be a major flavor/satisfaction upgrade for this dish!!! I was surprised in such a good way! 🙂 One of our favorite dinners that we both agree we could eat every night and not complain.

Another recent dinner of Asian-marinated salmon with rice, steamed broccoli, and side salad. I have been into steaming broccoli lately (typically my go-to is roasting, which I also love).

Hands-down the best strawberry shortcake that I made for my mom’s birthday! This recipe is incredibly easy and the following comment is meant to be full praise for Ambitious Kitchen — probably one of the best cakes I have ever had! Perfectly moist, excellent almond/vanilla flavor… simply perfect. Looking forward to making this again soon. I’ve also been thinking of other fun variations with this recipe base (such as using other fruits/flavors, etc.).

Making my dad a coconut cream pie in our typical Father’s Day fashion!

One more dessert — my favorite Samoa cookies (using the recipe I used to make all the time at Juicy Kitchen) for one of our church lunches. I happily had extra for myself to enjoy throughout the week. More labor/time-intensive, but definitely a must-make a couple of times a year! I was joking that it isn’t quite as easy to whip together when you don’t have someone at the cafe washing all your dishes for you and all you have to do is bring them to the back…

I used to be obsessed with Samoa Girl Scout cookies and remember one of my friends giving me a bag full of boxes of Samoas for my birthday once!

Lastly, Wednesday night smoothies! This was a delicious tahini date smoothie (+vanilla protein) with my nut/seed/coconut granola.

Everyday Enjoyment:

Blue light blocking glasses //

Loving my amazing blue light blocking evening glasses that I recently got. They may look absolutely ridiculous, but who cares when we are talking sleep!!! I usually wear these an hour or two before bed to help with my circadian rhythm/melatonin production.

Currently reading // 

The Blue Zones Secrets for Living Longer and Between Sisters. I also recently read and enjoyed Sent by Heather & Ashley Holleman. Some SparkNotes-style takeaway points from the Blue Zones book are the importance of being outside (especially in the sun), being active (walking a lot), having a strong sense of community / regular social interaction, and having a meaningful purpose(s) for your life!

Time outside in general // 

Loving all the time outside that I can get. Walks, runs, sitting / soaking up some sun… whatever it may be! I also spent a day outside earlier this month helping my dad plant some trees for his big project he is working on at our family cottage. We’ll wait and see how this tree looks in 50 years! 🙂

Do you have any plans for the 4th??
How have you been enjoying or spending your summer so far?

Have a good rest of your Wednesday!