Happy Wednesday! We are back from our trip and getting back into the rhythm of the normal work week this week.

In today’s post, I have some trip highlights to share as well as lots of delicious May eats! (Mostly from the trip).

Can you believe it is already Memorial Day Weekend this upcoming weekend?? It is crazy to me how fast the year is flying by! I am going to my grandparents’ house on the lake on Saturday to help my dad with some different outdoor projects, and then we have a picnic with our church on Monday. Do you have any fun plans for the long weekend?

It has been so hot and humid this week in Michigan, it feels like it is well into summer!!

Recapping some tasty May + Idaho trip eats! 

Backing up to earlier in May with a few food photos to share. This is my favorite (cold) spring/summer pasta salad creation — chickpea pasta, arugula, random assortment of veggies (this time was chopped raw carrot + cucumber + green bell pepper along w/ steamed broccoli), green goddess tahini dressing, feta cheese, and plenty of salt + pepper + red pepper flakes. So refreshing for the warmer months!

I have been having some significant stomach pain/nausea on and off, which thankfully has gotten a lot better, but still comes up from time to time. At its worst (earlier this month), I was eating lots of bland/carb type foods such as these surprisingly delicious frozen pancakes I got from Trader Joe’s! Popped in the toaster and topped w/ peanut butter + maple syrup. These immensely hit the spot.

Food prepping the day before our trip! I made some raspberry chocolate chip muffins that we ate as part of our breakfast for several mornings. See last week’s post for more details on the food/snacks we packed for breakfasts/lunches. Lots of non-perishable travel snack ideas!

Now for a recap of our Idaho eats and a few trip highlights!

For our first dinner in the Boise metro area we went to Boise Thai Noodle House. We were insanely tired after a full day of travel (we had gotten up at a horrifyingly early hour of 2:30am Eastern…) and walking around downtown Boise.

We loved the food and service here! I had a salad that was on special w/ salmon, mango, spiced cashews, shredded carrot, red onion, and some sort of delicious spicy curry vinaigrette. The mango was perfectly ripe!

Chocolate from the local grocery store for after dinner snacking. I loved the flavors in this new-to-me bar. BUT was a bit much with all the spice from dinner and dessert considering my previously mentioned stomach issues!

Our second evening in Boise we went to Alavita downtown. We had fabulous service and food here as well!

I had a perfectly refreshing blackberry + mint-flavored cocktail along w/ a bowl featuring greens, shaved parmesan, pomegranate, radicchio, grilled pear, roasted local hazelnuts, a blood orange vinaigrette, and grilled chicken. The atmosphere and food here made for one our favorite dinners! Alec had a sablefish dish that he loved.

After touring around the area more, we went back downtown for ice cream! I had half “Cookies with Grandma” (coconut cookie dough) and half “Camel’s Back Snack” (peanut butter + brownies). Can’t go wrong!!

Next we went to amazing Stanley, Idaho, in the Sawtooth Mountains for two days. Absolutely breathtaking!

The town of Stanley was basically in between seasons when we were there (main winter/main summer seasons), which was nice in some ways since there was barely anyone up there on top of it being a Monday and Tuesday. So that was perfect for our alpine lake / mountain touring. But, that meant only one restaurant was open, which neither of us was necessarily expecting to be that good. We were definitely proven wrong!!

Monday evening we both ordered the blackened Idaho trout served w/ wild rice and grilled asparagus. The tartar sauce on the side was absolutely phenomenal. (I am not usually a tartar sauce person!)

Alec went with the blackened trout again the next night, it was that good! I was really feeling a burger and figured the local Idaho beef would be good, which it was!! Burger w/ pepperjack + caramelized onions over greens. It also came with some sort of house “Village spread” which was fabulous. We were both very satisfied both evenings!

Mid-day lunch break at gorgeous Redfish Lake. Eating some of our “snack lunch” items, including fruit pouches, trail mix, beef sticks, carrots, and energy bites/bars. We had perfectly sunny weather pretty much all week!

After our time in Stanley we drove through Ketchum/Sun Valley and then on to Twin Falls. We had a chill dinner on Wednesday at an indoor/outdoor food hall. I had a poke bowl w/ spicy salmon over rice noodles and Alec had a chicken stir fry.

Thursday dinner was spent in stunning McCall! We ate at Bistro 45 right on Payette Lake. I had a phenomenal beet salad w/ candied walnuts, goat cheese, and the juiciest grilled chicken. But, the views were of course the even better highlight!

We headed back to Boise on Friday and did some final city touring that afternoon.

Our last dinner of the trip was at Chandlers Steakhouse downtown. We had been looking forward to this for quite a while!

To start, we split an (unpictured) burrata salad w/ roasted plums, candied spiced pistachios, prosciutto (on the side, since I’m not a fan), and a citrus vinaigrette.

For the main dish I had the ahi tuna w/ wasabi mashed potatoes, a ginger tamari sauce, and shiitake mushrooms. I was really looking forward to trying this, and only found it okay! (I think I am spoiled by the ahi tuna at Pacific Rim…). BUT, if I had ordered something else, I would have kept wondering about the ahi tuna! Oh well. Alec enjoyed his filet that came w/ roasted tomato + broccolini, a red pepper coulis, and his sauce of choice.

Despite my less-than-amazing (compared to my high expectations!) ahi tuna, we still had a great time!

We finished our dinner w/ decaf coffee for me, and a trio of housemade ice cream — vanilla, chocolate, and cinnamon swirl. The cinnamon swirl was particularly good!

The next morning we (sadly) boarded the flight home for Detroit after an amazing week of adventuring!

We got home on Saturday around 7pm and I had some leftover taco meat frozen in the freezer that I was planning to pull out for a quick taco salad. I love when I have leftovers in the freezer for just this purpose!

Greens w/ taco meat, (also from frozen) roasted bell peppers + onion, frozen/thawed pineapple, cherry tomatoes, salsa, and chips for scooping. A tasty homemade dinner ready in mere minutes!

Back to my sensitive stomach the next evening, so I opted for GF bread w/ nut butter + jam. Very tasty nonetheless!

We aren’t huge toast people really at all, so it’s been funny how I have used the toaster almost more in the past few weeks than I have in the 5+ years we have had it! Lol.

A few more trip highlights!

Touring the beautiful Snake River Valley — hiking up Lizard Butte one morning. Stunning! This was probably my favorite morning of the trip.

Wine tasting at the Sawtooth Winery later that same afternoon.

My favorite trip view — driving into the beautiful town of Stanley, Idaho, with the Sawtooth Mountains in the background.

Lake touring in the Sawtooths. (Lake Stanley)

Lots of scenic mountain driving! Thankfully Alec handles all the driving and I just relax and enjoy the scenery :).

Hiking in and around the Snake River Canyon in Twin Falls. We also went to see Shoshone Falls nearby. (Taller than Niagra Falls!)

Hiking for a view of the Boise metro our first morning.

My favorite spot — Pioneer Park in Stanley with a perfect view of the Sawtooths from this bench. Also a running/biking path connecting the town of Stanley to Redfish Lake which was fun to run one morning. Lots of antelope all around me and 360 mountain views! Doesn’t get better than that.

Everyday Enjoyment:

For routine’s sake I will close the post out with a quick Everyday Enjoyment section!

1. The amazing mountain views from the past week! 
2. Being back in my usual bed after struggling to sleep over the trip!
3. Randomly re-reading and absolutely loving one of my favorite books from childhood!

What is one of your favorite childhood books?
What sort of scenery do you most prefer? Mountains, beach, lakefront…?

Have a wonderful week! 🙂