Lovely Meals Lately: Week of 08-23-2021

How's it hangin', friends?

bikini

We went to our friends' lake house in Catawba Island this past weekend and it felt like a vaca!

In other news, I was recently on my friend Nina's podcast chatting about all things life after pregnancy. We're getting real! I think all the mamas out there will really relate to this one. Let me know if you listen.

Lovely Meals and Snacks Lately

I decided to make french toast casserole for breakfast at the lake since I had lots of fresh bloobs and a loaf of amazing crusty local Dan the Baker bread. I used this recipe as inspiration, but with a bunch of changes.

It was AMAZING.

First I layered half the bread cubes in a 9x13 inch dish and topped them with a heaping cup of blueberries plus ½ cup full fat Greek yogurt. Then in a large bowl I whisked together 2 cups oat milk, 8 eggs, ⅓ cup maple syrup, 1 tsp vanilla, and ½ tsp cinnamon.

Then I poured the wet mixture on top of the bread, covered it, and refrigerated overnight. In the a.m., simply bake at 350F for 30 minutes covered with foil and 30 minutes without. Top with more more maple syrup and impress everyone!

Coho salmon from our CSA that I defrosted and baked with store-bought pesto. I had a big bag of Yukon gold potatoes that I wanted to do something more fun with than roast; so I settled on these instant pot mashed potatoes with some tweaks. I did full fat Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, oat milk, and added garlic powder. Delish.

For some veggies, I boiled fresh green beans and tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder. I also tried this baby eggplant recipe because we got a zillion in our CSA and I loved it.

Can't get over these roasted fave bean snacks!

Another fajita night in the books.

Dark chocolate covered graham crackers are my obsession. Thanks, Mom!

A double batch of my sweet potato black bean burgers, roasted Yukon gold potatoes, green beans, corn on the cob, and salad. My mom was in town watching Max and it felt like a picnic!

I'm still on the avocado toast kick with salt, peaches, and tahini. Have you tried it yet? The best of the sweet and salty worlds, truly.

Travel snacks, AKA a salted dark chocolate KIND bar. I got a big pack from Cotsco that we're flying through. We also crushed snap pea crisps and carrots dipped in roasted red pepper hummus.

Last Thursday we did a pasta party and it was super easy and delish. My mom brought a package of Heinen's spinach and artichoke ravioli that we had with a yummy jar of pesto, and I cooked up some cavatelli we had in the freezer with marinara sauce. Add a salad on the side and call it dinner!

Rosemary bread baked with olive oil plus cherry tomatoes and basil from my friend Helen's garden tossed with Garlic Expressions and burrata. Easy and delish summer app!

Blackened walleye tacos for dinner out!

Vanilla ice cream with salty Spanish peanuts and hot fudge. Nothing better.

I wanna hear from YOU!

I must say I loved all the amazing comments you left on last week's Lovely Meals Lately post.

How about today we all leave a comment with a book we're enjoying? I'm currently listening to The Midnight Library on Audible and I'm really into it. Your turn!