Monday, Monday…. You always seem to come too soon. At least this past weekend was a pretty good one spent with family! My dad’s birthday is on the 17th and usually always falls right before Father’s Day so we make a big weekend out of it and spend time doing Dad stuff. It’s more fun than that sounds… Continue reading
happiness
Mexican Bell Pepper Casserole
You know what’s no fun? Growing out a pixie haircut. 90% of the time you just have to deal with looking stupid. The other 10% is the two days right after you get it trimmed (because you have to get it trimmed like every other month so all your layers can catch up) when you look fairly decent. Then day three hits and you’re back to looking stupid again. And there are only so many ways you can hide your stupid-looking hair. It’s too short to really do much with and the things you can do with it require 5,498 bobby pins, half of which you lose throughout the day causing you to wonder if your body is absorbing the bobby pins and if at this point you are made up of 50% bobby pins. You could always wear hats and scarves and bandannas unless of course, you are one of those people who look stupid wearing those things so you get to pick between looking stupid in a hat or walking around with stupid-looking hair.
This is my life. Every. Day.
Can you tell I’m having some emotions about growing out my pixie? Continue reading
Basil Hummus Dressing
Yes, I know I didn’t put DIY Wednesday in the title of this post. I’m not losing it. Or if you didn’t notice, I’m not a crazy person just prattling on about post titles. Ok, maybe just a little…
Anyways, I’m starting a new “series” if you will but it isn’t really a series at all, just more helpful recipes for the middle of your week. Wednesday is when most of us feel done with the week. We are exactly the same amount of days away from Friday as we are from Monday and for some reason, it feels like the weekend will never get here. We’re tired of work and we come home and realize we have nothing to make for dinner. That’s where many of us throw in the towel and order pizza.
Or maybe you’re like me and prep a few things on the weekend so you don’t have to figure out your dinners but you are getting bored of the exact same meal and want to throw a little variety into your food. That’s where these Wednesday recipes are going to come in handy. They are all things that are made with simple ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen and can be thrown together fairly quickly. 
I don’t have a catchy name for these recipes yet. I know DIY Wednesday was creative genius so I will have to top that one. But I do know this basil hummus dressing is amazing and goes well on anything. It’s like summer in dressing form. Just a few ingredients and a quick whir in the blender and you can use this for salad, coleslaw, chicken, fish, zoodles, or as a dip for vegetables. Plus, if you want to keep it bean-free you can just use a few tablespoons of raw cashews that have been soaked in hot water for 15 minutes to thicken your dressing. 
See? I’m always thinking of solutions for you!
Basil Hummus Dressing 
- 1 cup packed basil leaves
- 2 tbsp hummus OR 2-3 tbsp raw cashews soaked in hot water for 15 minutes
- 1 tbsp shallots, diced
- 2 cloves, garlic
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp fresh black pepper
- 1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk
- Put all of the ingredients into the blender and blend until you have a smooth and creamy dressing. Taste and adjust any seasonings, especially if you used cashews instead of hummus.
You can use any type of hummus you would like whether it’s your favorite store brand or your own homemade. I just happened to have a little of my favorite hummus leftover so that’s what I used. Enjoy!
Back To Reality
I feel like there are only two camps when it comes to returning from vacation. Either you are super ready to get back to things and your regular routine or you just don’t wanna return to reality.
Our little cottage for the week. We stayed at Timber Ridge Resort and it was awesome!
I’m definitely in the second camp.
Made it up one of the many dunes at Sleeping Bear Dunes.
We’ve been back home since Friday, but I’m still resisting getting back into the swing of things. Saturday we spent the day at the beach and Sunday was just a lazy-do-nothing day. I know eventually (like today) I’ll start being an adult with responsibilities, but I really enjoyed my week away from the “real world”.
View at the end of the Empire Bluff Trail.
Have you ever just checked out of the everyday grind? Like really unplugged? I won’t say I totally removed myself from social media, I mean, who finds a taxidermy museum and DOESN’T share it on Instagram and Facebook? Selfish people, that’s who. But I will say I didn’t check my email, or constantly scroll through my Facebook or Instagram feed and it was really nice. If I missed anything, it wasn’t life-altering because the world still turned.
View from the highest point on Mackinac Island. There is more on the island than fudge and horses!
I don’t need to be connected 24/7.
Me refusing to get any closer to the dead stuffed lion than this. Also, that ox is blue in the background
The albino deer we dubbed the “Come at me bro” deer due to his hoof placement
And that has been a really hard concept for me to grasp because I work from home so I am ALWAYS connected. I always feel like there is something I could be doing. I always feel like I’m not working hard enough. I always feel like if I take a break, I’m missing out on some opportunity to better myself, my life, my home, my blog, my work.
We found a lot of fun stuff to take our picture in front of like this giant rooster….
But that’s ok. This vacation taught me that in order to give my best it’s completely ok to not always be working, or doing something, or checking something, or fixing something. Things will be just fine and life will keep on coming and if I actually rest, I and my work will be better for it.
And this wooly mammoth made of scrap metal….
That’s just one of the many lessons I learned during my week off, and I’ll share more in the coming weeks, but enjoy some of these awesome adventures I had and maybe schedule some down time for yourself.
And this ferocious bear!
Who knows? You might find your own two-headed calf to marvel!
Not making this stuff up folks!
My Best Summer Recipes
Since summer is (almost) officially here, I thought I would share some of my best summer recipes to get you ready for the warm months ahead!
I could eat this on repeat and never get tired of it. I love the bite of vinegar, the crunch of the cucumber, and the sweet of the tomato/basil combo. Make a huge batch of this and eat it throughout the week because it gets even better with time!
This is a great dish to bring to a BBQ or potluck because it makes a lot and doesn’t have to be served hot. Plus it’s free of gluten, dairy, eggs, and meat so it can please a lot of diets. Oh, and it’s delicious.
This is a re-do of my original BBQ sauce and it’s one of my favorite things in the summer. I use it on vegetables, in marinades, and try to put it on every dish. It comes together quick and doesn’t have any funky ingredients.
Ok, hear me out on this one. I know cold soup sounds really unappetizing and for a long time, I avoided gazpacho because gross. But when it’s really hot out and nothing sounds good because it involves heat in some way, gazpacho is really refreshing. And this one is super creamy and delicious and you can have a refreshing dinner quick.
I like making this casserole ahead of time and then serving it up cold or room-temperature. It’s best if you do all of the cooking in the morning so you don’t have the oven on during the hottest part of the day. And the tahini BBQ sauce is finger-lickin’ good. Yeah, I said it.
Have a vegetable garden and 20 lbs of vegetables that you don’t know what to do with? Send 10 lbs to me and then use the other 10 lbs to make this ratatouille!
If you like key lime pie and popsicles then boy are you in luck! These take a little bit of prep work but once they’re done you will be thankful you made them! Cool, tangy, and refreshing, they’re perfect for hot summer days!
Life Healthfully Lived 