Hello and Happy Wednesday!

I hope you are having a good week so far. I am looking forward to Easter weekend this week! Although it is throwing me off a bit how early Easter is this year!

Alec’s mom is coming in town this weekend and then we are doing lunch out after church in AA with my side the of the family as well. Avalon Cafe — which I’ve enjoyed in the past but haven’t been to in quite a while!

The past week or so it has gone from dark when I head out running to finally light again! So happy for this shift and to be able to go on my preferred route (which I avoid when it is dark out since there are little to no street lights…).

Hooray for spring and brighter mornings! I am into “spring cooking mode” and have on my mind to make my favorite spring asparagus pasta next week, as well as a spring veggie curry.

Recent March eats from the past several weeks! 

Lately I have been obsessed with my favorite tahini date smoothie! Frozen cauliflower + dates + chia seeds + tahini + vanilla protein powder + cinnamon + vanilla extract + almond milk. Sooo good. Tastes BETTER than a milkshake! Here I topped it w/ homemade molasses tahini granola from the Rise and Run cookbook. Often I might make a smoothie like this for a Saturday lunch.

Recent salmon dinner of spicy maple-glazed salmon w/ roasted sweet potatoes, roasted broccoli, + side salad. We liked the glaze for the salmon a lot, but next time I will double it!

Other recent salmon dinner of curry-seasoned salmon, coconut rice, roasted red onion + tri-color bell peppers, + side salad. A go-to dinner of mine!

Mondays are pretty busy for me and usually already involve some other food prepping, so lately on Mondays I have been doing more simple protein + carb + veggie dinners that don’t necessarily involve a recipe or much chopping. I try to save more involved meals for the weekend when I generally have more time!

I LOVE THIS DINNER –> so glad spring is here as I tend to save this dish for the spring and summer months. Sun-dried tomato hummus (Juicy Kitchen recipe) + quinoa bowls, featuring roasted red bell pepper + red onion + zucchini and shredded parmesan. I *think* I could eat this every day and not get sick of it, but I don’t due to not wanting to even risk ever getting sick of it… 🙂

So much hummus! In other words, what apparently happens when you follow the restaurant recipe “1x”… (still a ton…)

Mexican Hot Chocolate Thunderbird bar eaten in the car as a mid-morning snack. Whenever clients ask me for bar recommendations, some of my go-to recommendations for brands include Aloha, Thunderbird, Lara, and Macro!

New recipe that I tried of sweet potato & black bean soup. I liked this a lot, as well as the ease of making it! We had this for 2 nights and also have a couple nights of leftovers frozen in our fridge.

Deliciously juicy chicken shawarma hot out of the oven. Served over Fattoush salad w/ mint dressing, chips on the side!

Simple dinner of scrambled eggs w/ veggies (white onion, red bell pepper, + jalapeño), roasted potatoes w/ plenty of garlic powder + paprika, and a side salad. We have eggs for dinner probably at least every other week or so. Cheaper, nutritious, use up whatever veggies on hand, tasty!

Burger salad bowls from last weekend w/ greens, roasted sweet potatoes, roasted bell peppers + red onion, shredded carrot, and a chipotle sauce. I didn’t really like the sauce that much (wasn’t really what I was going for), but Alec really liked it!!! I ended up doing a separate salad the other two nights we had this w/ my burger + potatoes/roasted veggies on the side.

I made this granola w/ nuts + seeds that is 100% my new favorite granola. So chunky and absolutely delicious. I have noticed oats hurting my stomach a bit at times, hence this grain-free version to try. For the nuts I used cashews, walnuts, pecans, and almonds. For the seeds I used pumpkin seeds and chia seeds. I highly recommend giving it a go!

I’ve been enjoying it plain (YUM), w/ my tahini date or berry cacao smoothie (HEAVENLY), and with the **alternative breakfast** I have been having some days lately!

Chia pudding topped w/ plenty of almond butter + amazing granola, along with frozen/thawed blueberries + raspberries. All the nuts + nut butter + seeds to start the day!

We went to have dinner at Karl’s Cabin where our friend Kaden works and had this delicious cranberry apple crisp w/ vanilla ice cream for dessert. They have the best desserts!! The time before we had a carrot cake lava cake which was absolutely amazing / something I had never tried before. As someone who is a huge fan of carrot cake, I’d say a lava cake version makes it even better.

Lunch at my cousin Kate’s bridal shower that my mom and I hosted! Chicken w/ rice pilaf and spring salad. The food was great!

Coffee bar, mimosas, and scones upon entering!

Tahini brownies from Ambitious Kitchen — so gooey! I also added frozen raspberries to the batter which I liked. Maybe my new go-to brownie recipe??

Loving this raspberry vinaigrette that I’ve made a couple of times in the past month or so. Probably my favorite dressing now! I have tried other raspberry vinaigrette recipes in the past that I haven’t liked nearly as much as this one. I use the same organic frozen raspberries that I use from TJ’s on my breakfast each morning. I also double the recipe and only do about half the amount of shallot that the recipe calls for.

Everyday Enjoyment:

Reading lately: Extensive reading update! Currently reading Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find — and Keep — Love, And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle, and Being There: Why Prioritizing Motherhood in the First Three Years Matters (personal interest… not trying to be a mom anytime soon!). All excellent reads that I would recommend! 2 out of 3 of those are from the library which I continue to utilize on the regular. My “background reading” (as in, other books that I dabble in while in between books and/or read less frequently) continues to be Heaven (about 3/4 of the way through), Soul-Deep Beauty, and Understanding the Wounded Heart (reading w/ Alec).

I also recently read The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn. I normally LOVE Kate Quinn’s novels, but I thought this one didn’t end up quite as thrilling and there was also a significant plot twist midway through the book that I didn’t care for. So that was a bit disappointing since I was really looking forward to this one. Another recent read was The Attachment Effect: Exploring the Powerful Ways Our Earliest Bond Shapes Our Relationships and Lives. A good intro attachment read!

Other book ideas on my ever-expanding, next-up reading list include Between Sisters, Sensitive: The Hidden Power of the Highly Sensitive Person in a Loud, Fast, Too-Much World; The Connected Parent: Real-Life Strategies for Building Trust and Attachment, The Law of Rewards: Giving What You Can’t Keep to Gain What You Can’t Lose, and I’m Working on It in Therapy: How to Get the Most out of Psychotherapy.

Hopefully at least one of these ideas sparks interest for you if you are looking for new book ideas!!

Upcoming spring plans: I have this foreboding sense about how the end of 2024 might pan out with it being an especially chaotic election year, but I’m glad we have a number of spring plans we are looking forward to, and fun throughout the year to enjoy! We can only “control” what we can control in life!! Looking forward to Easter weekend w/ Goody Friday and Easter Sunday services. The rest of spring is an unusually busy one with a conference I am attending (virtually, but all day Fri/Sat), my 30th birthday weekend, a couple other fun weekend plans scheduled, an Idaho trip in May, and various pre-wedding festivities for my cousin’s and friend’s weddings in June/July.

Cognitive reinforcement: For my fellow *highly* Type A people… As someone who struggles mightily with never feeling “good enough,” something I have been coming back to mentally as often as I can is: “QUESTION *just how good you need to be.* No one expects you to be perfect. And if they do, run the other way!!!!”

What are you looking forward to this spring?
Any books you have been enjoying lately?

Have a great rest of the week!