Lovely Meals Lately: 07-08-2020

Happy hump day, friends!

We drove to Catawba Island to stay with our friends at their lake house and it was a wonderful and delish little escape. How was your 4th? Leave any highlights in the comments!

Lovely Meals and Snacks Lately

We cannot get enough of fresh fruit these days! I like to cut up a bunch at once for easy snacking throughout the week. This massive Rubbermaid Brilliance container is the bomb.

Egg sandwich with zesty cashew cream, avocado, and arugula on wheat on our way to the lake! Courtesy of Alchemy, of course.

Nothing like a lobster roll with potato chips to really make you feel like you're living your best lake life.

I made this Mexican Breakfast Casserole for breakfast and it was a total hit! I left the chorizo off of my portion but you could easily omit it or use a plant-based one. Really great for a crowd paired with avocado and fruit.

An amazing brownie dessert that we all shared at The Orchard. It had an unbelievable graham cracker crust that I need to recreate!

My friend Helen made us dinner one night, which was a version of this chipotle sweet potato salad plus macadamia nut crusted halibut. She served it with a coconut lime sauce and local red pepper fettuccine. Restaurant quality!

I contributed dessert, which was these mini cheesecakes topped with fresh fruit and mint from our backyard. I can't recommend this recipe enough! Everyone loved them and they came together super quickly.

Next on my baking list is this raspberry ricotta cake, which my trusty pal Dylan has tried and confirmed is delish! He swears by adding 2 tsp lemon extract and the zest of a lemon.

What's a summer weekend without ice cream? I was intensely craving vanilla ice cream with hot fudge and salty peanuts (my FAVE), so Toft's really hit the spot.

If you follow me on Instagram, you know my obsession with tahini and nectarines is off the charts. Lately I've been doing it on avocado toast, but I was craving oatmeal and it was next level.

Almond flour chocolate chip cookies with chilly almond milk for a bedtime snack.

This coconut chocolate RXbar flavor has been my jam lately. I keep one in my bag for when the hunger beast strikes and I'm out and about.

Man oh man, was I craving my tuna noodle casserole! I used whole wheat bread egg noodles and added a sprinkle of cheese on top (plus plenty of Frank's). It may have been my best batch yet...

Takeout from Bamboo Thai Kitchen, which is always such a treat. We love the kimchi pot stickers to start. I always get the Pad Kee Maow (the most amazing wide noodles with veggies and sauce) and Jeff loves the Pad Thai with chicken.

5 Things I’m Loving Right Now

1. Favorite product: These Rubbermaid meal prep storage containers. I love how they're leak proof and the size of the largest one is so perfect for fruit salad, a batch of muffins, etc. They've really been coming in handy lately. (Here are my favorite $25 wireless earbuds again because I still get messages asking for the link.)

2. Favorite quote: "When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'" —Mr. Rogers

3. On my wish list: I just ordered these marshmallow skewers. We just got this fire-pit that I love so now I need s'mores equipment!

4. Favorite book: I'm excited to start Red At The Bone, which I've heard great things about.

5. Favorite article of clothing: The red dress I'm wearing in the first photo is soooo easy and comfortable! I know I'll get a ton of use out of it all summer long and I love that it can be dressed up or down. I wore this nude bralette (here it is on Amazon, too) underneath it. I also got this floral off the shoulder dress which has the cutest sleeves! I would size up in this one and down in the red one.