Hello! And welcome to another beautiful day in the life of us.
Morning Routine: We are planning to get back to running tomorrow! I’m so excited! This morning, I did a Tabata workout at home and then used this video for some neck stretches. I’m still really enjoying the Mantra Meditation course from Oak, as well.
I also have an awesome new recommendation for a serum/moisturizer. Kate Somerville’s Wrinkle Warrior 2-in-1 Plumping Moisturizer and Serum is my new favorite. I still really like Hey Honey! Relax Propolis & Honey Soothing Cream as a close second, but this one ran away with the prize. It can be used both day and night, but I only use it in the morning, as I still prefer my nighttime moisturizer.
Breakfast: All the Amish Friendship Bread we’ve been eating for breakfast is not so great for my waistline, despite the fact that the Cranberry-Orange one I made this week is potentially one of the best things I’ve tasted in my life. My next Amish Friendship Baking Day is going to be the last one for awhile, as I’ve tried pretty much every variation I can find on the internet and thoroughly indoctrinated my family into the wonder that is Amish Friendship Bread. And it’s making me pudgy. That means I will finally get out of this breakfast rut and deliver on those new recipes I’ve been promising!
Tea: We’ve been drinking Emerald Sun Green Tea and Sweet Pomegranate Green Tea from The Tea Smith. We will be purchasing some summer teas probably within the next month or so. I’m excited to try out some new ones!
Lunch: I made the greatest french fries as a side for lunch the other day, thanks to the cooking whiz @eloisehuneidi. If you are not watching her adorable cooking stories on Instagram, well, you’re missing out. And if you don’t count her among your closest friends in the world, well, you’re also missing out there, too. Take it from me, she’s pretty amazing. And not just because she can cook, although she can. Very well. And she was kind enough to send me her french fry recipe last week, which we absolutely devoured. We were out of potatoes after that. If you follow her on Insta and ask nicely, maybe she’ll share it with you, too.
Snack: I finally got the crust whipped up to make chocolate pie. The pie crusts discs are still chilling, but it’s going to be so good. I will have the recipe for you on Thursday, but here’s an early pic of crust preparation.
See all that cold, cold butter in there? Now that it’s all mixed, you can see the butter specks in the dough. My pie crusts are never pretty, but they always taste like heaven (if I do say so myself). I know a lot of people use a food processor or mixer for pie crusts, but I love watching it all come together just using an old pastry blender. There’s just something wholesome and traditional about it that I really like.
Project: In the evenings, after dinner, but before I start my evening routine, Dan and I will try to find some time to squeeze in a little bit of TV together. As I’ve said before, I don’t watch much TV. I like to do things. So, as a compromise, I will work on a small project sometimes while we watch a little TV. This week, I was working on this little crocheted heart bookmark. It only took a couple hours to work up, but I didn’t have the little rose thing for the loop at the top. I ordered some and they came in the wrong color, so I’ll get that finished and show you the finished adorable little thing. For now, here’s my progress.
It’s so cute, though!
Supper: Friday was National Pizza Party Day. So, we tried out Copps Pizza for the first time. This is a local place that we’ve been planning to try for awhile. Ever since we woke up one morning and found a sign for their pizza in our yard…. (No, it wasn’t placed there by the restaurant. Never forget that we have five teenagers/young adults around here, not to mention their friends.) Anyway, Copps is a fairly new local place that offers a unique cream cheese sauce as an option on their pizzas. And I’m usually up for trying something new and different.
My husband is a huge barbecue fan, so we decided to try their Backyard BBQ Chicken Pizza. In short, it was everything we had hoped for. Copps has been added to our list of favorite local pizza places, so we are looking forwarding to supporting them more in the future.
Not the greatest picture, but absolutely one of the greatest pizzas.
Saturday, our dear friends asked what we wanted for dinner since I had been under the weather. When I asked the kids, they didn’t even hesitate – they wanted pizza. So our friends sent over a Supreme Pizza from Pizza Hut and even though I’ve had a supreme pizza before, this one absolutely hit the spot. It was hands down the best supreme pizza I have ever had. Dan and the girls agreed.
We get Pizza Hut more than I’d like to admit because it’s one of my biggest weaknesses. I love to cook, but for some reason, I really just love Pizza Hut. It’s not the convenience. I just really like it. But this was the best Pizza Hut pizza I’ve ever had. I can’t even explain it. So I guess my dinner advice for you is takeout pizza. Sorry.
Sunday, I made Garlic Mushroom Mac. This is one of our favorite Cheap ‘n Easy Meals. It probably costs $5 total for me to make – and that’s just because it has shredded Parmesan – and it feeds between eight and ten people. We typically eat leftovers on Sunday nights, but that’s a little hard to do when I didn’t cook for two days and we gorged ourselves on excellent pizza. So, I made this. It worked.
Family Time: We took a hike together just to get out and enjoy the nice weather.
We also enjoyed a fun family competition that resulted in some amazing pictures.
Evening Reading: I finished The Horse Dancer by Jojo Moyes and have started Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijjie.
I gave The Horse Dancer five stars on Goodreads, so if you are so inclined, I’d pick it up.
And that’s a wrap, my friends. I hope you enjoyed joining us!
