Hello and happy start to the summer season! Now that we are post-Memorial Day… 🇺🇸

I have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with this time of year. I absolutely LOVE the consistent sun, particularly in the mornings. At the same time, I much prefer the slower pace and the quietness of winter! So in that sense, I somewhat dread the busy and “loud” feel that often comes with summer.

It’s been much too cloudy for May here in Michigan, but thankfully there seems to be some more sun on the forecast! I’ll believe it when I see it.

How has your month been??

Recent meal inspiration

I recently discovered that lava cakes are one of Alec’s very favorite desserts, so I used this newfound knowledge as the perfect opportunity to make a grain-free version using tigernut flour from this cookbook. They were absolutely delish! All about anything warm and chocolatey.

On Memorial Day, I made a new-to-me recipe of Hawaiian BBQ chicken thighs, along with coconut chickpea rice and roasted red bell peppers + white onion. We loved how this turned out!

I was in trying-new-recipes mode last weekend and also made some Mexican burrito bowls — salsa shredded chicken made in the crockpot, the BEST Mexican lentil rice, roasted tri-color bell peppers + red onion, and a tasty mango cucumber salsa to finish everything off. YUM.

We hosted our friends for dinner a couple of weeks ago and I made our new favorite chicken tikka masala recipe.

Along with some coconut flour chocolate chip cookies! Very soft and almost muffin-like.

Do you prefer a crunchy or soft cookie? I really don’t care for crunchy and would choose a softer cookie any day of the week! (A bit of crisp on the edge is fine). IMO, if I wanted a crunchy vibe, I would have chosen to have some chips. 😅

Backing up to Mother’s Day, my dad made some fabulous beef tenderloin along with a savory mushroom sauce, served along with baked potatoes and a salad that I brought (with my favorite mint dressing).

I also made this blueberry cobbler, served with coconut milk ice cream! Looking forward to making this more in the future with other fruits as well — strawberry, mixed berry, cherry, peach…

Doing a lot more ground beef as well as more animal protein in general lately. Sometimes dinners are super simple — sauté up some ground beef in coconut oil + Italian seasoning + plenty of Himalayan salt, potatoes and veggies on the side! Since we don’t have a grill I find that I prefer some simple ground beef such as this more than trying to make burgers on the stove which I feel like never turns out quite that tasty (at least not when I make them this way!).

Also doing another pound or so of ground beef each week for adding to lunch salads on the regular. So good for all the healthy fat, quality protein, and micronutrients! We can add high-quality animal protein (including high-quality saturated fat sources) to the list of ANOTHER thing that mainstream nutrition / healthcare has gotten horribly wrong.

More chicken salad for lunches! This time I shredded the chicken (I use my food processor, which I think gives the best texture for chicken salad) and added my favorite green goddess herby tahini dressing, along with some green + red bell pepper, celery, and cherry tomatoes. Delish over a bed of arugula with some crackers for scooping!

I’m continuing to try to find a breakfast that I genuinely like and look forward to, now that I’m getting into a groove with my longer-term food sensitivity issues. This is what I had today that I liked a LOT!

Coconut flour bread cut nice and thick and spread with plenty of coconut butter, drizzled with honey, and topped with a sunny egg! It might not look like that much food but the bread is quite dense (there is about another egg in each slice) and the coconut butter adds a good source of healthy fat, making it a solid breakfast to start the day.

I definitely like a sweeter breakfast which is where the drizzle of honey comes in nicely!

Also happy to be eating more eggs for all the choline and healthy fat.

I find that I’m not really into scrambled eggs or savory type breakfasts on a regular basis, but a sunny egg with a bit of sweetness is proving to be something I look forward to and sits well with me in the morning!

To make the coconut butter, you simply process some unsweetened shredded coconut in a food processor for several minutes until it reaches a nice butter consistency. Perfect for adding to muffins, breads, and pancakes! Really into this.

Lastly, I now officially can live up to my blog’s name more fully, with getting into making some homemade chocolate bars!

SADLY, Trader Joe’s no longer seems to be carrying my favorite chocolate bar. 😫  After your classic grief stages including denial, anger, and finally acceptance, my chocolate-making venture was born! 🤩

Unfortunately almost all chocolate bars that I can find contain soy or other additives (including the sub-par TJ’s replacements), unless you want to be paying over $4 (or upwards of even $8) a bar elsewhere which is just not financially feasible for me given that dark chocolate is my main regular evening snack. I also liked that the Trader Joe’s kind had a good amount of iron, which most other bars simply do not. SO, I’ve been making my own at home by melting organic cacao butter and then mixing in cacao powder and maple syrup. So tasty! This is the simple recipe that I use.

I also bought some chocolate molds on Amazon that I’ll use this upcoming week!

Everyday Enjoyment

Currently reading

I haven’t read ONE fiction book yet this year! Not okay. I absolutely love a good novel, but sometimes don’t end up reading them as often as I would like because (1) I do really like reading all sorts of non-fiction and (2) I find IMO that it can be harder to find a good fiction book that isn’t either poorly written or full of garbage. Currently reading Hatchet which I never read growing up! I read the first couple of chapters the other night and could barely put it down!

Meal planning organization

The other weekend I finally had some time to reorganize the google docs that I use to keep lists of the meals and recipes that we like / return back to (lists for breakfast, lunch, dinner ideas). It feels so good to finally have this more organized, as it really helps me with planning our meals more efficiently. I also made a google doc to keep track of recipe ideas to try in the future (basically a more curated version of what I save on Pinterest). Some ideas I’m looking forward to trying in the coming months / at some point include Instant Pot Tuscan chicken, Indian-spiced shepherd’s pie, mahi-mahi burrito bowls, and allergy-friendly lemon bars.

New planner 

Recently got my new planner for summer 2025-26 — I have been using this planner for years and love it! You know you are Type A when you get super excited about a new planner and eagerly start filling it out upon its arrival. 😅

Speaking of plans, what’s one thing you’re excited about as we head into the summer months?

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