When the days become as hot as they have been lately, my meal planning becomes super simple. I want fresh, light, and easy. And what's easier than throwing together some yummy salads a couple of nights a week? I love creating salads with whatever I have in the fridge and my favorite trick to take a salad from good to great is adding some fruit to the mix! There is something about that sweet bite from fruit mixed with the other salad ingredients that is so delicious, especially if you are eating salads a couple nights a week as your main course, fruit helps to keep your taste buds excited! My grilled flank steak and cherry salad is the perfect summertime dinner, combining some of my favorite flavors onto a plate!
Sparkling Blueberry Basil Lemonade
It's getting incredibly hot outside in Texas and I've been thinking about getting a baby pool and parking me and my belly in it for the whole summer. It's the kinda hot where you wake up in the morning and can feel the heat rising as the minutes pass. And...it's not even at hot compared to what the rest of the summer will bring! I have gotten used to the fact that I'll basically be sweaty all summer long, but then again Louisiana prepared me for humid and hot days where your skin never dries. The only thing to do is to hydrate. This can mean drinking water all day, or it can also mean sipping on something really delicious to help you deal with the heat. My sparkling blueberry basil lemonade is going to make the heat a little more bearable this summer and if you spike it, it can help with a whole bunch of other stuff too...know what I mean?
Whenever I drink lemonade, it always takes me back to when I was a little girl sitting on the side of the road, where I would sell painted rocks (one of a kind, I assure you) and I would sell homemade lemonade to the neighbors.
Fresh summer corn is one of my favorite vegetables to eat. I like it on the cob, grilled, sauteed, and every way in between. In the past couple of weeks the kernels have gotten so sweet and I've been finding myself buying at least a half dozen at the store every week. My pregnancy taste buds could eat it plain with salt, pepper, and butter just about everyday, but I know that Canean appreciates a little recipe switch up from time to time if I (and baby) insist on corn being a part of our weekly diet right now. My 15-minute corn confetti is the perfect side dish to take your corn to the next level! It's fast, easy, and each bite is full of tiny flavor explosions.
We all need those fast side dishes that can be made from scratch, but can be ready with little to no effort! Weeknight meals can be saved with side dishes just like this one! No need for canned or frozen corn here, we are all about using fresh corn that is at it's peak flavor right now!
Happy Monday guys! How was your weekend? My in-laws came to visit and we boiled crawfish, went to a Houston Astros game, and got caught in a rain storm! It was a great weekend spent with family and it definitely went by too quickly, as weekends usually do! It's been raining here for the past week off and on (monsoon style) and today the sun is finally out and it looks like it's here to stay making Monday a little brighter! And if it isn't sunny where you are, I have something else that will make your Monday a little sunnier! My tomato jam BLT's are dabomb.com and you guys are going to flip out when you take a bite of this flavor loaded sandwich!
Y'all know I love my BLT's and I am always looking for new ways to dress them up to make them feel extra special.
I'm almost 21 weeks and officially halfway through my pregnancy and honestly time is flying by. I can't believe that in a little over four months we will be meeting our baby boy in person! It's so crazy that I will be holding a tiny human that Canean and I made together in my arms and I get to keep him forever. I don't know if I will ever stop being amazed by the fact that women grow a baby in their bellies and that it all starts with a tiny sperm and a tiny egg...it truly is a miracle. I'm going to go over the good (which there's a lot of), the bad, and the ugly this week in my Friday Pregnancy Confessions, so grab your coffee and pull up a seat!
Let's start with the most exciting news this week! I am finally feeling my little wiggle worm move around in my belly! I even felt two tiny kicks with my hand this week which had me more excited than I can even describe!
How was your holiday weekend? We had a great weekend celebrating our anniversary and enjoying an extra day together yesterday for Memorial Day. One thing is for sure, we had a cheat weekend, indulging in whatever we wanted in the food department. Did anyone else out there have a weekend filled with burgers and ice cream? Well we did, and today we are back to eating healthy, trying to make up for our glutenous past couple of days. If you are attempting to do the same, I have the perfect healthy salad to get you going in the right direction. My watermelon, cucumber, and mint salad is light, flavorful, and is super good for your body, especially coming off of a long weekend.
Memorial Day in my mind kick starts summer. I immediately start thinking about watermelons and ice cream cones on a hot day. And since I do not need to be eating ice cream cones every day, watermelon is my next favorite summertime treat.
