Wynn Las Vegas

I’ve been a fan of the Wynn for years and have had many great meals and drinks there over the years. It’s a luxury property - the creme de la creme - and so when they invited me for a two night stay that included a couple of fine dining dinners, I was very excited!

We stayed in the Tower Suites in a Wynn Tower Suite King. The suite was beautifully appointed and the bathroom was 10/10! Our room had a view of a golf course and of the Sphere which was very cool to watch it change designs. Due to the reflectiveness of the windows it’s tricky to get crystal clear photos of it at night, but the blue globe gives you an idea.

My post is presented in chronological order how things unfolded over our 2 day/2 night trip because that’s just how my mind works.

First Night Dinner: Casual Asian

For dinner on our first night, due to our travel day going sideways (we could have driven from San Diego to Vegas and back again in the time in took us to fly to Vegas) our very late arrival and missing our previously scheduled reservation, we needed to scamper and just find something.

So we literally took the elevator down from our suite, walked out, and encountered Red 8 which is casual Asian dining.

Our objective was getting food in our belly at 9:45PM before it closed and so we went casual - and starving! If you’re looking for casual yet filling Asian, this will work. We noticed some families with toddlers so if you need a kid-friendly spot, it works for that too.

The Wynn Pools

On our next morning, I had high hopes of going to the pool because there are many and they’re beautiful! I love Vegas pools and the Wynn pools were wonderful!

But we had some weird weather for Vegas in August and it was cloudy and even sprinkled on and off multiple times during our trip, but we did have a few bursts of sunshine and were able to carve out some time at the pool.

There are multiple pools including a pool are for those staying in the Tower Suites and an adults-only pool. However, maybe because many schools have already gone back, the pools were not swimming (pun intended) with kids. I’ve been to Vegas during spring break time of year and you can expect a lot of kids no matter where you go. Bringing young kids to Vegas was not a thing when I was raising my daughter and bringing small children to Vegas, but it is now.

There are cabanas you can reserve or just find a chaise lounge - no reservations were necessary although on a perfectly sunny day and especially on weekends, the early bird gets the worm in terms of snagging lounges.

There’s a fine dining breakfast, brunch, and lunch restaurant, Tableau, located within the Tower Suites.

And while we didn’t dine inside Tableau - I’m more of a grab my coffee and go person in the mornings and got my daily coffee from Caffe al Teatro - it’s adjacent to the Tower Pools and we ordered from Tableau’s menu while at the pool one day.

The jumbo shrimp cocktail were indeed jumbo and if you’re on a protein journey, shrimp are a great call. I washed it down with a strawberry frosé which was not too sweet (no 1990s syrupy strawberry daiquiri vibes, thank goodness) and just super refreshing. Shrimp + frosé = 10/10 on both! If the weather would have been sunnier, I can foresee those frosés going down super easily.

Fine Dining at SW Steakhouse

SW Steakhouse is where we had dinner our second night, which happened to be a Friday night. The restaurant was packed and extremely lively. I learned that they have outdoor seating but due to unexpected dinnertime rain, we were told they had to move about 100+ people inside, which caused the inside to be overwhelmed for a time.

SW Steakhouse is a flagship, Forbes award-winning restaurant, with an extensive high end dinner menu. Whether you’re looking for American or Japanese wagyu; or perhaps you prefer seafood, fish, lamb, chicken, or nearly any possible type of classic-yet-elevated steakhouse side dish, this is the spot.

Tips: If you plan to dine at SW Steakhouse, you need to make a reservation. It’s very popular, very busy, and you simply need a reservation. I personally would make it clear you want an inside table when you make your reservation and ask if that can be honored. Vegas isn’t known for its al fresco dining and for me after getting ready for a night on the town, I’ll take a pass on wind, heat, or any chance of rain and opt for strictly indoor seating if given the option.

This meal was wonderful and I will definitely come back here, no questions asked!

I made a video which I am dropping here and also shared it on my Instagram feed. I have also learned that SW does not mean ‘southwest’ in this case; it means Steve Wynn. I learn something new every time I travel.

This was a ton of food! Far more than the photos make it appear. The portions are very generous!

The oysters and crab Rockefeller were very generously stuffed with crab meat and cheese and were very filling. And the crab cakes were also big, succulent, meaty crab cakes.

The tomato salad was really refreshing and helped to balance the heaviness of the other dishes, and the asparagus was my ode to a vegetable and something green. My husband loves potatoes but we did not ‘need’ a large side of potato au gratin plus fries despite it being a half order of fries.

Our steaks were fantastic but neither of us could finish our respective steaks. I ordered my filet mignon medium rare plus because I was in between medium and medium rare. Some steakhouses don’t want to mess around with the ‘plus’ and make you choose either medium or medium rare - so that was nice there was an in between. My husband ordered his ribeye medium and he was happy as a clam with it. But a 16 ounce steak is, well, BIG!

My Tips: Starve yourself all day before you come here (kidding…well not really haha!), come with another couple if you can because I feel like the sides are suited more towards groups of 3-4 rather than 2 people; and if that’s not possible I suggest ordering your absolute must-haves so that you can finish your steaks or at least make a good dent on them. And I recommend saving room for dessert!

The chocolate chip cookie soufflé with brown butter cookie, chocolate, and ice cream was the best thing I ate all weekend. I don’t consider myself that ‘into desserts’ in the past ten years or so, but for me this was 10000/10!

Gym at the Wynn

After being wheeled out of the steakhouse by crane the previous evening, a workout the next day was a non-negotiable for me.

Without a doubt, the fitness center at the Wynn is the nicest hotel gym I’ve ever been in!

I really do not feel my best in general in life if I don’t work out, move my body, or get some steps in.

Normally I would not have sought out a gym to lift weights on a short trip like this one, but it was cloudy and raining one afternoon so I said why not. And I am so glad I went! It recentered me and gave me energy to stay up and stay out for our next dinner. There are also spa treatments, massages and more at Wynn and Encore.

Tip - Take note there is a gym/spa in both Wynn and Encore so that if you are booking spa services that you go to the correct location.

Fine Dining at Casa Playa

On our final night in Vegas, we had the absolute pleasure of dining at Casa Playa. It’s located in Encore, just steps from Wynn, and you can walk easily between the two. Chef Sarah Thompson just won a James Beard Award for Best Chef Southwest and the food at Casa Playa delivered.

Think upscale Mexican that focuses on seasonal, coastal ingredients with a seafood focus. There’s also an extensive tequila and mezcal program.

I also made a video for this dining experience and posted it on my Instagram feed and am sharing it here too.

From the dinner menu, we started with a shrimp ceviche which gave shrimp aguachile vibes. It was light and refreshing because we knew from previous evenings the portions would be generous and didn’t want to over-order!

However, despite Chef Sarah Thompson being gone for the evening we were there, Chef Clarissa came out to our table to introduce herself and she was warm, kind, and truly it was the nicest touch!

She sent us out the prawns which had the presentation of almost like a lobster tail in the shell and very creative.

And we also sampled the vegetarian tlayuda (pronounced tla-LUUH-dah). If you’re not familiar, tlayudas are a paper-thin, flatbread type of item and they can be topped with just about anything from carnitas to mariscos to al pastor or veggie based. I wrote about some of my favorite tlayudas in my Ultimate Puerto Vallarta Dining Guide.

My husband opted for the branzino which surprised me a bit but it was with a zarandeado preparation which hails from the Nayarit region of Mexico, near Jalisco and not something you run into every day even in upscale Mexican restaurants. Paired with frijoles de olla, he was in heaven.

I got the American wagyu short rib suadero which is most closely related to brisket but not quite the same cut. If you’ve ever had a street taco in Mexico City, chances are you’ve had suadero which is tender and so flavorful. There were spicy serrano chiles and sauce underneath so take note! I almost got the birria since birria has gotten so trendy in the past few years, it’s not that tricky to find whereas suadero? Tricky!

Tips: All dishes can either be eaten as they are served; or you can make tacos with your protein because they serve corn tortillas too. So if you want to get your taco fix on, you can! There’s also a riff on al pastor con pina made with pork belly stacked high with mini pineapples. The presentation was adorable and I captured it in my video so if you like pork belly, it’s worth a shot.

To finish, we split the tres leches with coconut on top. It was the perfect size to share for two. There’s a banana flame style dessert on the menu but it’s more geared to share amongst 3-4 people our waiter told us.

Bars and Lounges

I’ve been drinking a lot less in 2026 than I have at any time in my life previously, and I feel great! So after two glasses of champagne or sparking wine with dinner, I didn’t have the energy or desire to partake in any nightcaps but mostly because I was just beat. Guess I am officially old. Or responsible.

In our defense, our dinner at SW Steakhouse was 3 1/2 hours and our dinner at Casa Playa was 2 1/2 hours. By 11:30pm I’m thinking bed, not bar.

But if you’re thinking bar, I’d go to either Aft Cocktail Lounge which has vibes of Rio de Janeiro meets Cozumel meets Monaco (I’ve been to all three of those destinations and I’d actually throw in Mykonos into the description rather than Cozumel). Swanky with views of the Lake of Dreams, and located right next to SW Steakhouse and PISCES so you can either go before or after your fine dining dinner for cocktails.

While we didn’t go this trip, I’d also highly recommend Bar Parasol which is also situated in between SW Steak and Pisces. They have the best charcuterie board and serve it with pretzel bread. Trust me, it’s so good and the best charcuterie board I’ve had in Vegas, and we’ve had it multiple times over the past 5 years ever since discovering it. There’s a very fairly priced champagne flight with three champagnes to wash it down with; also highly recommend that.

Finally, Little Bubble Bar at Delilah is your spot if you’re into old Hollywood vibes. Very small, chic, retro-yet-modern and sophisticated all in one.

What To Wear In Vegas?

Anything you want! Haha! Just about anything goes in Vegas BUT if you’re going to a fine dining restaurant, make sure you check the dress code.

People tend to go all out in Vegas in terms of getting dressed up and rising to the occasion at trendy, popular, or high end restaurants. There’s no other city in the world for women IMO where you can routinely get away with showing as much skin and no one bats an eye. But if that’s not your vibe, no worries. Cover up.

My piece of advice though is to always bring a sweater, jacket, suit coat, shawl or something to cover up with because air conditioning can be brutally cold. Maybe that’s because I don’t use air conditioning in San Diego but Vegas feels like a meat locker to me and I’m always cold. If it was chic to walk into dinner with a blanket I would! But I settle for a suit jacket draped over my arm to start and always finish with it on.

Let me know if you’ve been to Wynn or Encore, or if you’ve been to Vegas recently or have any plans to go soon!

Desserts and Quick Breads with Zucchini

BEST EVER Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread 💚🤎 Super moist, tender, loaded with chocolate chips, and so EASY to make! One bowl, no mixer, and THE BEST zucchini bread you’ll ever try! If you have zucchini on hand to use up, this is the PERFECT recipe for it. Plus, it’s picky eater approved and they may not even realize they’re eating zucchini! 😉

Glazed Lemon Zucchini Bread 🍋🍞 is an EASY, no mixer quick bread with bright lemon flavor and tender zucchini that keeps it incredibly soft and moist. A simple lemon glaze makes it perfect for breakfast, brunch, snacking, or a light summer dessert!

🫐🙌🏻😋 My Blueberry Zucchini Bread is ultra popular with readers because it’s a quick, no-mixer recipe that’s sweet, but not too sweet. Each bite is bursting with fresh blueberries, making it a fan favorite EVERY summer! Especially when the markets or your garden is overflowing with zucchini!

Frosted Apple Zucchini Bread 🍏🍎 The perfect way to blend late summer into early fall with zucchini and apples in this super soft, moist, and topped with the BEST frosting ever! One bowl, no mixer, EASY recipe for the best apple zucchini bread that everyone LOVES!

Zucchini Brownies 🍫🥒 are the BEST soft and fudgy chocolate brownies with the rich texture of chocolate cake. This EASY one bowl recipe requires no mixer and is filled and topped with mini chocolate chips for even more chocolate flavor. You cannot taste the zucchini at all, promise!

Banana Blueberry Zucchini Bread 🫐🍌🙌🏻🍞 This is an EASY, no-mixer zucchini bread recipe that’s packed with bananas, juicy blueberries, and grated zucchini which keep it SO soft, moist, and tender! I guarantee this will be your new favorite quick bread and your family and friends will rave about it and want seconds!

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake 💚🍫 is just the BEST zucchini cake with a soft, moist texture and plenty of rich chocolate flavor. It tastes like a bakery style yellow cake, and you cannot taste the zucchini at all! An easy no mixer recipe that you can whip up quickly!

Soups with Zucchini

30-Minute Chicken and White Bean Soup 🍗🥬👏🏻 This chicken soup with white beans, kale, zucchini, and more is easy, hearty, and healthy! Packed with flavor and texture, it’s a full meal in itself! Perfect for quick weeknight dinners and leftovers freeze and reheat great! This soup is ultra popular with readers!

🍲🧡 This Copycat Olive Garden easy Minestrone Soup recipe takes just 30 minutes to make, and it’s better than what you get at Olive Garden! Homemade always wins in my book! Hearty, healthy, EASY, comfort food to keep you full for hours!

30-Minute Italian Sausage Soup 🍲🍅🙌🏻 EASY, hearty soup that’s full of flavor from the sausage, rice, and vegetables! Comfort food the whole family will LOVE and it’s healthier from the vegetables! It keeps you warm and cozy on cold winter nights!

Savory Main Dishes with Zucchini

🍋🌿🍅 Lemon Basil Greek Orzo Salad is EASY, ready in 25 minutes, and lemon and basil give it such a FRESH taste! It’s a great meal prep recipe for make-ahead weekday lunches or serve it as a healthy side at dinner! Also a winner at parties, picnics, and potlucks because people love this easy and healthy salad recipe!

These Grilled Steak Kabobs 🥩🌶️🍍combine juicy steak with sweet bell peppers, onions, zucchini, and pineapple for the PERFECT sweet-and-savory kabob! You’ll want to fire up your grill for these! Fast, EASY, zero cleanup, and DELISH! This is flexible recipe and you can mix-and-match the ingredients based on your preferences and what you have on hand.

Sausage Rigatoni Pasta Skillet 🍅🌿👏🏻 is an EASY comfort food pasta recipe complete with al dente cooked rigatoni, juicy Italian sausage, tomatoes, fresh basil, Parmesan cheese and more! So much saucy FLAVOR, ready in 30 minutes, and makes a big batch for planned leftovers that you can enjoy during the week or freeze for later!

Summer Sheet Pan Chicken and Veggies 🍅 is fast, EASY, HEALTHY, and perfect for your seasonal summer zucchini, squash and tomatoes! A DELISH one-pan meal with zero cleanup that’s great for lazy summer days or busy weeknights!

Green Thai Curry with Chicken 💚🧡🙌🏻 An EASY, one-skillet green curry that’s ready in 20 minutes and tastes BETTER than from a Thai restaurant! It’s healthy comfort food with protein and fiber that tastes AMAZING!

This 🍅🥦🎉 Sheet Pan Sausage and Veggies dinner can be made with your pre-cooked sausage of choice and is done in under an hour. It’s a customizable recipe because you can mix-and-match the veggies you want to include! Everyone LOVES this easy sheet pan meal!

Chicken Enchilada Stuffed Zucchini Boats 🍅🌽 help you skip enchilada wraps and use zucchini instead! Easy, healthier and there’s so much FLAVOR between juicy chicken drenched in enchilada sauce, corn, peppers, and CHEESE!

Ground Chicken or Turkey Stir Fry 🥕🥦 is an EASY, flavorful, and FLEXIBLE dinner that combines lean protein with fiber from your favorite vegetables. It’s ready in 25 minutes and perfect for meal prepping! I make this ALL the time! Watch me on Instagram Stories and you’ll see 😊

Ground Chicken Green Thai Curry 💚 Skip takeout and make this EASY, one-skillet green curry with ground chicken and an array of healthy vegetables! Ready in under 30 minutes, great for busy weeknights, and tastes BETTER than from a Thai restaurant! Healthy yet hearty comfort food that tastes AMAZING and is naturally gluten-free.

🍋🌿🍅🇬🇷 Bring some Mediterranean flair to your weeknight chicken dinner with this EASY Greek Sheet Pan Chicken complete with bell peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, feta cheese, and more! A zesty marinade with lemon juice and Dijon mustard keeps the chicken JUICY and gives so much FLAVOR to the veggies!

It’s time for a monthly recap. The last one I did was for April 2026 because it was a big month. I had Mom’s Weekend at my daughter’s university, then moved her out of her dorm, and brought her back for the summer which has been truly the BEST having her home. It feels like just yesterday but it’s been 3 months.

And June/July were also big months so I am documenting the highlights. Grab a cup of coffee or your favorite beverage because this is a long one!

I turned 50 in June. I was going to do a big post about my feelings and reflections on turning 50, how I’ve grown, how my life saving surgery changed my perspective on life, but my birthday fell days after two back-to-back work trips including Walt Disney World and then to Charleston, and I just didn’t have time to really reflect.

Although I did just write this post about how I am healthier at 50 than I was at 45, and if the truth be told, I am more fit now than I was at 40…or maybe ever! At the bottom of this post I get into some of my fitness milestones.

But first, let’s talk about France! I am documenting this trip with my 19 year old daughter here so that I have the memories to look back on.

Because in 36 hours we are leaving to drive her and her possessions back to college in Utah to start sophomore year. So I need to look at these photos probably more than you do! It’s a tough, tough time on moms to leave our babies at college out of state. 🥹 I did this before but it’s still awful.

Paris For A Belated Birthday Trip

My daughter and I have been to Paris many times together the past few years including last summer. We’ve done all the name brand tourist activities - the Louvre, D’Orsay, going up the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, river cruise on the Seine, Luxembourg Gardens, the Tuileries, etc.

So this trip, in honor of turning 50 in June (I recently wrote about how things are different for me) I wanted NOTHING on our agenda that felt like pressure!

No big tours, no lining up in the 100F heat in a long dress with covered knees and shoulders to go inside a church or fighting crowds into a museum…nope. My birthday gift was not doing that to us!

It was also a trip from a Monday to the following Tuesday, but given that the flight alone from LAX to Paris is 13.5 hours, there’s a significant amount of time lost due to sheer travel (23 hours door to door from San Diego to central Paris because that CDG to central Paris taxi was 2 HOURS, welcome to summer in Paris). So I didn’t want to over-plan and over-commit us!

Macaron Making Class

I only put two things on our entire agenda in Paris and the first was an Emily in Paris-themed macaron making class. It was a 3 hours class in the afternoon and it was “air conditioned” but if you know Europe, you know that their definition of AC is very different than in the US. Nevertheless, it helped us get into 80-85F temps rather than 100F like it was outside.

France and most of Europe were in a heatwave, as they are every summer lately during June-August. 95-100F (38-40C), and there’s very little air conditioning. This why no AC is another topic, a rabbit hole to go down. Google it, but the consensus is it’s expensive, people fear AC for their health and that it’s bad for you (yep), and bad for the environment. So in the meantime, hundreds if not thousands of people in Europe die from the extreme heat during the summer. Another topic, not my wheelhouse. Let’s get back to macarons! 🍪

Making macarons is quite an intricate process and there are lots of steps along the way where things can fail from ingredient selection to technique to the actual baking and temperature regulation.

I asked our instructor if French people actually make these?? And she said no! She said French people buy them and if they want to make a dessert, they make something much simpler like a cake. I want to be French then.

While it was very interesting learning about how to make them, and always great when I walked into everything prepped and measured, I would never embark on the project of trying to make macarons at home in California.

The first, last, and only time I ever previously tried to make them my daughter was 2 and she’s nearly 20 now. So I took an 18 year break. It was interesting to learn from our instructor (a professionally trained chef and pastry chef and restaurant owner) where things could go wrong and what to do and not do. But back in my own kitchen, I don’t love macarons enough to try to master them!

I also asked her if she thinks that the age of the egg whites matters because I have read “tips” that suggest that old eggs for macarons are better but she said it doesn’t matter.

The reason they’re purple is that she had us make a vanilla filling and a lavender infused filling, hence the purple color she had us tint them. I am not the biggest fan of lavender in food so I preferred the vanilla.

After our class we were hungry! We found our way to a Mexican-inspired restaurant. Why Mexican? Because for me personally, French cafe food in all the cafes that you walk by is very one-note and lacks veggies, spice, or something that feels “fresh”. A chicken caesar with breaded chicken is the closest to fresh you can hope to come in any of the casual cafes, but when I saw someone eating Mexican, we said ok there’s some freshness and fiber there so we stopped. The pervious day I had gotten a salmon poke bowl at another cafe.

I am not linking them because nothing was good enough to recommend, if I am being honest. It was fine in the moment but not memorable. 100F really kills appetites and desire for anything like a big heavy burger or a bowl of French onion soup! I also don’t like day-drinking at peak afternoon heat so I drank Coke Zero rather than champagne.

Perfume Making Class

The second of only two activities I had planned for us was a perfume making class! Our instructor explained to us how to use a combination of up to 10-12 different essential scents ranging from cola to bergamot to vanilla to orange and everything in between to create our own 100ml bottle of perfume to take home with us.

This was also a good activity to do in the heat of the day because it was held slightly underground (about 10 steps into a ‘basement’ type setup) so it was inherently cooler, but definitely not cool.

We learned about how certain scents are teasers are the initial burst of what you smell when you first spray a perfume, some last a few hours, and then others last for many hours 8+. Our instructor made it very easy and it was overall fun.

My only complaint was that the four people sitting at our wheel of scents were not good at sharing. They need to go back to kindergarten and learn how to share with their neighbors.

They would hog the wheel and spin it without regard for us. Kind of like shopping on a spinning rack at a department store - one should be mindful of others also attempting to shop and not just whip the merchandise without some consideration for others. But these people were happily (purposefully?) oblivious which made it trickier than it needed to be to smell, jot down notes, and then re-encounter the scents we initially were drawn to, smell again, and make sure we loved it enough to have it in our perfume. There were 110 scents to choose from and we needed every minute of our 2 hour class!

My tip if you do this class or any other perfume making class, is that if you have an inkling when you’re choosing your tour times that one class may be less full than another, choose the less full one! This is an activity that depends on group sharing of bottles and the less people there are, the better IMO. Whereas with macarons, it doesn’t matter - everyone has their own bowl and spatula and ingredients and you’re not sharing really ever.

Crepes For the Win

Mother Daughter Time Was The Best!

Always Awe Inspiring: The Eiffel Tower

Nice, France (Côte d'Azur)

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I’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars on kitchen equipment, appliances, gadgets, and kitchen stuff. I’ve had some gems and I’ve had duds. Actually, way more duds that gems over the years. I’ve also been “influenced” by other food bloggers and social media influencers and many times I’m convinced they either have low standards, or simply cannot cook because the item just isn’t good, or both.

I’m dishing on what I own, why I love it, and why I think you’ll love it too. Or not. I’m sharing so that you save your money and don’t end up with a dud or overpay senselessly.

• Some of my picks are squarely in the “it’s worth the splurge” ✅ camp.

• But in some categories, I love the more budget-friendly and “save” option.

• In some categories the splurge is less than 20 dollars apart from the save.

• And in some categories I actually recommend both the splurge and the save, for different reasons or different people based on how you cook.

• And with some, just flat out avoid it. 🚫

All of my opinions are just that, my opinions. We all have one. But mine are not sponsored, endorsed, or “influenced” by a brand to post or not post my reviews.

Air Fryer

Splurge ✅: Cosori Stainless Steel - I’ve used at least 10 air fryers over the course of the last 10 years, and without a doubt, this is the BEST of all of them. First, this 6.5-quart machine just looks beautiful on my countertop. Next, the safe nontox ceramic coating in the cooking basket is so resistant to anything sticking to it making cleanup a breeze and it’s one piece, no little grooves and grates to pick caked on food out of. And it’s a beast of a workhorse in the actual air frying department. It cooks faster and more evenly than any other air fryer I’ve ever used. There’s also in-app cooking for those more tech-loving than I am. All around, I adore this machine and highly recommend it.

Save: Ninja Air Fryer Pro It’s a highly popular brand and there’s nothing wrong with this air fryer, but I don’t love the black box look personally and the other finishes just aren’t as sexy as the Cosori stainless steel. The Ninja is also noticeably smaller at 5 quarts, so it can’t cook as much nor as fast. However, if you need an air fryer and are cooking for 1 to 3 people, it’s likely big enough for average meals.

Slow Cooker

Splurge ✅: Ninja Multi Cooker - A 10-in-1 machine that comes in either an 6.5-quart or 8.5-quart size. Since I personally don’t tend to make slow cooker recipes that I need to sear first on the stove and then slow cook, that feature of this slow cooker isn’t that big of a deal to me. It also steams, sautes, and more but I use my slow cooker to do just that - slow cook. I’m also not a huge slow cooker recipes consumer in my personal cooking life when I’m not developing and testing recipes for my site. I’m more of a “how can I get this done in 20 minutes (not 3-6 hours)” kind of cook. However, if you slow cook frequently and want to have multiple functions in one machine, people rave rave rave about this unit and for all you get, it’s only $109 which is a DEAL!

Save ✅: Crockpot 7-Quart Manual Slow Cooker is an old school, no frills, add the food, set it and forget it, type of machine that’s $44 bucks. Personally, as a low tech person, and as a person who isn’t trying to do 8 functions in one when I reach for my slow cooker, this is what I have and have had for about 10 years and it works great and gets the job done. I’ve also had much fancier slow cookers that I’ve gifted to friends because I am not fancy enough to use all those features, and more importantly, I don’t have the storage space for extra slow cookers!

If you want a slightly fancier model without tons of functions, this Crockpot 6-Quart Cook and Carry ✅ is really handy. Because many times when you’re going to make something in a slow cooker, it’s when you’re bringing a dish to someone’s house for an event and you start the dish at your house, or make it fully at your house, but want to transport it. And either finish it there, or plug it in to keep warm once you’ve arrived. This is so nice because it takes the risk out of things spilling during transport!

Nonstick Pans

👀 This is a category where the price difference between the splurge vs the save is vast; and there are two splurge-worthy pans I highly recommend.

And…I also recommend the Save pans because at the price point, they’re a no brainer. Especially if you’re on a budget, or you may have a kid going away to college or in their first apartment, or you need a gift for a younger couple that is practical and useful but doesn’t break that bank, etc. Or…you tend to ruin pans and cannot justify something more deluxe.

Splurge Winner🥇✅: Caraway 4.5-quart saute pan with lid (or Amazon link for faster shipping) is the gold standard for me in nonstick cookware when I need a roomy pan because this skillet is big, wonderfully heavy and it means business. If you cook bigger meals, bigger pieces of chicken breasts or salmon, batch cook for meal prep, make big stir frys with lots of volume from veggies like my Chicken Egg Roll in a Bowl, this is a no-brainer skillet. Also great for big egg scrambles, omelettes, crepes, pancakes, seafood, fish, and more!

Splurge 2nd Winner🥈✅: OurPlace Always Pan 2.0 (or Amazon link for faster shipping) doesn’t stick even with delicate proteins like eggs, chicken breasts, seafood and more! A very high quality nonstick pan that comes with a spatula and steamer basket at a great price point with 6 color options. Slightly smaller than the Caraway above which is why for me personally, I don’t reach for it quite as much because I love cooking in bulk and having planned leftovers. But if you’re cooking for 1-2 or 3 people, it’s perfect. Comes with a lid, steamer baske, and wooden spoon, too. You get more extra “stuff” with OurPlace than Caraway.

Save🥉✅: Redchef Nonstick Skillet Set is what I recommend if Caraway​ or ​OurPlace​ aren’t in your budget, because you can get a 3 pan SET for less than the price of 1 of the other name brand pans. I highly recommend this budget brand of safe nonstick skillets because the ceramic coating is great, the overall quality is wonderful, the handles stay cool to the touch, food slides right out, and basically these are great dupes to Caraway!

Who Redchef pans are for IMO: If you’re not a great cook (you know who you are), or you tend to ruin pans (you’ve got the Midas touch lol) or handwashing pans isn’t for you, then get these and not Caraway or OurPlace because with the price point on those, you simply will want to take better care of them..

Tip: If you need just ONE pan for eggs, ✅ this is the one (budget) pan I reach for because sometimes I just make two scrambled eggs and don’t want or need a bigger pan to clean up. Our ‘egg pan’ as I call it (but it’s useful for all your nonstick needs) is always in rotation among family members because someone is always making eggs in my house.

Spatula (Flipper, Turner)

“Splurge” (but not really because it’s so superior and inexpensive) ✅: Missen Stainless Steel with Silicone Tip is an ELITE spatula that gets up and under food without breaking it. For flipping eggs, pancakes, omelettes, crepes, getting under burgers, pieces of chicken, fish or seafood - it’s is a breeze with this perfectly angled, thin-yet-sturdy, spatula. The silicone tip protects your nonstick skillets (like the ones above) so you can use it with confidence!

Save: (as in, save your money please) 🚫 Turners that look like these feel very clunky and very grandma’s kitchen tools. We have evolved. Unless you’re flipping a 14 ounce steak, I just don’t see where these have their place. Eggs? Hella to the no. Pancakes? Nope. I’ve honestly thrown so many of this type of turner away because they take up room and break my food or scratch my nonstick pans. Bye.

Dutch Oven

👀 This is another category where the price difference between the splurge vs the save is vast and while I’ve had my Le Creuset pieces for 20+ years now (omg I am old) so I can truly vouch for them over the long haul and the test of time, I don’t think you’re making an error if you get the Lodge by any means.

Splurge ✅: Le Creuset 6-quart round Dutch oven is the old school, old standby Dutch oven that most serious cooks have. I was gifted mine by my mother long before I even really knew how to cook. It wasn’t until I started cooking more and started my food blog that I truly appreciated what a Dutch oven is useful for:

Soups, stews, chili, sourdough, roasts, turkey breast, anytime I double or triple a recipe and the quantity won’t fit in any other skillet, I use my Dutch oven.

Save ✅: Lodge 6-quart round is 1/3rd the price and you’re getting solid craftsmanship. I just looked it up and Lodge has been around since 1896. It’s not French and not imported like Le Creuset is (therefore likely helping deliver on a great price point), and it’s a workhorse and you cannot go wrong with it.

Bottom Line: I believe every kitchen needs one Dutch oven. I personally also love my Le Creuset 8-quart oval. It’s an investment in your future (chef) self. And you can gift it to your kids or grandkids. You only need to buy this ONCE in your life. There’s a Lodge 7-quart oval that’s 1/5th the price!

Mini Food Processor/Chopper

Splurge ✅: Cuisinart 3-cup is handy to have around to make sauces, vinaigrettes, dressings, marinades, mince fresh herbs, chop nuts, and more. It’s for those times when it’s more than you can do well by hand (or care to) but the amount of food involved is smaller than will even hit the blade on a larger model or when you don’t want all those dishes. I just looked it up and Amazon told me I bought mine in just a few years ago back in 2013 and its still going strong.

Save: Hamilton Beach 3-cup gets great reviews on Amazon but since I’ve been going strong with my Cuisinart for 13 years, I’ve had no reason to purchase others. There’s less than an $18 dollar difference separating the splurge and save and I think the splurge is worth it.

Food Thermometer

This is a category where the price points are far apart and the functionality isn’t all that different. And while I can speak to the longevity and true workhorse nature of the Thermapen One because I’ve owned mine for 5+ years and have used and abused it during that time as a professional food blogger, and it continues to function flawlessly. But on the flip side, I think at a certain level, a thermometer is a thermometer - so get whichever one your budget allows.

Splurge ✅: Thermoworks Thermapen One (or directly from the Thermoworks site) is the gold standard in food thermometers for most food bloggers. I’ve had mine for 5+ years, probably longer, and I still take the temperature every.single.time when I make chicken on the grill, a whole chicken, a turkey breast, or a whole turkey that’s foolproof. There is simply no way to “just eyeball” 165F degrees. Close doesn’t cut it because undercooked poultry and your family now has a raging case of salmonella and overcooking, while safer, is a recipe for just dry, tough, bad meat. The Thermapen One is extremely fast (less than 1/2 second) and supremely accurate. It’s the Rolls Royce of food thermometers and makes a great gift for that person who has everything.

Save: ✅ AlphaGrillers has over 90,000+ ratings on Amazon so clearly, they’re doing something right! If all you need is a thermometer to get the job done and just have one (rather than guessing) and you’re fine with a 1-2 second wait time, then get this! It’s 12 bucks very well spent!

Recipe Tips & Notes For Warm Weather ‘Cooking’ (and still want protein)

Tips to make these recipes even easier, quicker, and cooking-free - with the exception of boiling pasta or quinoa for some of them:

• Any recipe that calls for chicken, feel free to use leftover chicken you’ve already made or use rotisserie chicken to keep it really easy and oven-free.

• You can also make a slow cooker whole chicken or air fryer chicken which both work in your favor to keep your house cooler since those two appliances don’t put off much heat.

• Because many warm weather recipes are salads of some sort and possibly vegetarian, it’s easy to incorporate extra protein by tossing in leftover chicken, rotisserie chicken, garbanzo beans or black beans depending on the recipe, perhaps some diced hard-boiled eggs. It’ll depend on the recipe and what sounds good to you of course.

• All vegetables are mix-and-match based on what you may have on hand or a surplus of, and personal preference. So if you love tomatoes or have garden fresh zucchini coming out of your ears, add til your heart’s content!

• Most all of these keep well and are make-ahead friendly so you can make them meal prep style and enjoy in the upcoming days.

No-Oven Recipes For Warm Weather & Ready In Under 30 Minutes

Summer Ravioli Salad 🥗🍅 has crisp-tender zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, and chickpeas over spinach with cheesy ravioli and a dijon vinaigrette! A HEALTHY summer pasta salad that takes advantage of fresh produce! Use your favorite kind of ravioli.

🌽🍅🥗 My go-to warm weather meal, this Garden Fresh Summer Quinoa Salad is loaded with everything fresh, light, and healthy! Great for parties, potlucks, and lunchboxes (because there’s no mayo), it’s easy, flavorful, and great to serve as a side dish or main course!

Mandarin Orange Chicken Pasta Salad 🍊 EASY, ready in 30 minutes, and packed with Asian-inspired flavors! Juicy sesame chicken, pasta, and lots of healthy vegetables! Feel free to mix and match based on what you have on hand.

Garden Fresh Tortellini Pasta Salad 🍅🥒 Juicy tomatoes, cucumbers and corn with creamy avocado, basil and parmesan tossed in lemon vinaigrette with cheese tortellini! Healthy, easy, ready in 15 minutes!

This EASY 15-minute Avocado Mango Shrimp Salad 🥑🥭🍍🍤 with tropical fruit, avocado, red onion, lime juice, cilantro, and plump JUICY shrimp will become a new FAVORITE! Healthy and light with an assortment of wonderful flavors in every bite that’s perfect for a snack, quick lunch, or casual summer dinner!

Lemon, Sun-Dried Tomato, and Almond Quinoa Salad 🍅 is fast, easy, and fresh! Bright flavors and loads of texture! This clean-eating salad keeps you full and satisfied! Healthy never tasted so good! No mayo and great for outdoor events or lunch boxes! Add leftover shredded chicken or rotisserie chicken to boost the protein.

Shrimp Ceviche 🍤🥑🍋‍🟩 This is the EASIEST way to make traditional shrimp ceviche and it tastes the BEST! Ready in 30 minutes, great as an appetizer, side, or as a healthy main course that everyone LOVES!

Italian Chicken Pasta Salad 🇮🇹🍅🥒 Easy, ready in 20 minutes, and healthy! Bursting with fresh flavors from juicy tomatoes, cucumber, basil, parmesan, and tender chicken tossed in a tangy lemon vinaigrette!

Quinoa, Cherry, and Goat Cheese Salad 🍒🌿 tastes like a salad you’d get at a from Whole Foods or a trendy restaurant! Healthy, EASY, and loaded with juicy cherries, tangy goat cheese, snap peas, mint, and more! The PERFECT light yet satisfying salad with so many great flavors!

Lime Cilantro Shrimp and Black Bean Salad 🍤🥑 features tender juicy shrimp, black beans, avocado, cilantro, and more coated in a lime sauce that’s a FIESTA in your mouth!! An EASY and HEALTHY Mexican-inspired salad that’s ready in 10 minutes!

Tomato and Mozzarella Pesto Pasta Salad 🌿🧀🍅 Tender pasta, cherry tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella are coated in Parmesan cheese and DELICIOUS pesto sauce! EASY, ready in 15 minutes, and great for easy meals with planned leftovers or for parties because it feeds a crowd!

Cucumber Watermelon Salad 🥗🍉🥒 An EASY salad with watermelon, cucumber, arugula, goat cheese, candied nuts, and drizzled with a homemade balsamic glaze! A PERFECT summer salad for those days when it’s too hot to cook!

Southwest Chicken Cobb Salad 🥗🧀🍅🌽 A Southwestern spin on traditional Cobb salad complete with tender chicken (use rotisserie to save time and not cook), crispy bacon, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, black beans, corn, and avocado over a bed of Romaine lettuce!

Shrimp Stuffed Avocados 🍤🍅🥑 If you like ceviche, you’re going to LOVE these EASY avocados stuffed with a mixture of shrimp, tomatoes, cucumber, red onions, and more – plus some hot sauce for a touch of heat! There’s a time-saving shortcut so these are ready in 15 minutes with no fuss!

❤️🤍💚 My EASY Fresh Caprese Quinoa Salad is packed with fresh Italian flavors. You can mix and match the ingredients to use up any fresh produce you have on hand, making it great for summer potlucks, barbecues, and meal prep!

Nothing like a brush with death last October at age 49 from a highly acute, incredibly painful, and very freak health scare that resulted in emergency abdominal surgery to really scare me straight. I wrote about it here.

After spending the rest of the fall and holiday season recovering physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and putting aside the questions of how and why did this happen to me, I embarked on 2026 with all kinds of New Years “resolutions”, although I didn’t call them that and at the time, they weren’t well crystalized. I just knew I wanted to become the healthiest version of myself that I could be.

Coupled with the fact that my 50th birthday was just in June (5 weeks ago), it was the milestone birthday motivation that I needed to really dig down deep and that’s what I’ve spent 2026 doing.

The proof is in the pudding. I’ve dropped the midlife weight I didn’t love about myself and didn’t want to ‘just accept’ was part of midlife. And every single metric from my blood pressure to my sleep quality (read the Oura ring section if you’re into sleep talk) to my hormone levels are better than they were a year ago.

The irony is that I wasn’t living an unhealthy lifestyle before but I knew I could do better and be better. I have always eaten a balanced diet and have been a lifelong avid runner, walker, yogi, and into fitness and health.

But somewhere in the mix of perimenopause, getting married in my late 40s and getting comfortable, sending my only daughter off to college last fall, not having any work-life balance, I wasn’t where I wanted to be. I wanted to change things about myself, my diet, my fitness and that’s what I did.

I’m sharing what has worked for me. A one-size approach never fits with diet and exercise so your situation, circumstances, and body will be different than me and mine.

However, I am sharing my perspective as a 50 year old woman rather than a 20something influencer fit girl. It’s easy to be fit in your 20s but it requires precision, dedication, discipline, and intentionality in your 40s, 50s, and beyond and I wanted to share a more ‘mature’ perspective because I feel it’s sorely lacking.

Side note: I’ve never looked or felt better than in the last 6 months when I’ve given up my hard core running and cardio and swapped it out for heavy lifting in the gym 3 times per week and walking 15k+ steps a day (not running) in addition to my dietary changes.

Take what you want and delete what doesn’t work for you. This is what has worked for me. Don’t be mean, don’t make excuses, don’t shoot the messenger. Thank you in advance.

Thank you for reading, being here, and what I love about this platform is that after 17 years of creating 3000 free recipes online and sharing them freely, I can actually write and share about other things that are tangential to recipes and share about my journey because I’m proud of it.

Eat more protein.

I’ve written about this before but quite simply put, eating between 0.7 and 1.0 grams of protein per pound (not kilo), of body weight is non-negotiable. For me, my bare minimum target is 100g daily but I feel better when I’m in the 110-130g range.

In your 20s and 30s, maybe even into your 40s, I believe the human body can compensate and get away with less (or more). A less than ideal diet, less sleep, less structure to meals, less intentional workouts, less skincare routine, more alcohol, more late nights, more vices, and you just kind of get by.

When I think back to one of my first apartment and what I “had on hand”, it’s comical and actually anxiety-provoking now. A tub of peanut butter and a box of Triscuits in my “pantry” and some grapes and Gatorade in my fridge and I didn’t bat an eye. I didn’t keep alcohol on hand because that would have involved planning for one, or more to the point actually buying it myself, but I was broke. However, aging is the great equalizer and you can’t pull the same stunts in any aspect of life - including with protein.

Protein helps me feel satisfied not snacky, it’s essential to preserve or build muscle, it helps me sleep better at night and function at a higher level during my waking hours in both my work and my workouts. My 30 High Protein Recipes ebook is clutch for easy meals with at least 30 grams protein per serving.

Just me grilling chicken and veggies which is my other job. 😉

Eat More Volume (aka Fiber)

In order to stay full, keep your digestion moving, feel more satisfied, and actually have to chew your food so you don’t just inhale a 500 calorie plate of pasta in 5 minutes, build meals that have lots of veggies or leafy greens in them.

There are so many Instagram reels out there comparing what 100 calories of veggies looks like vs. 100 calories of everything else. Madelaine Rascan is the queen of volume eating and inspires me. Watch, think, learn, change.

Planning meals.

In order to consume 100g+ protein daily, one must consume protein at every meal. You can’t subsist on carbs alone until 5pm and then slam 100g protein for dinner. It doesn’t work that way, shy of if you’re an NFL athlete with regard to the 100g protein at a sitting.

You have to plan our your meals and have a mental map of where you’re going for each meal and they all should include 30+ grams of protein or you’re not going to be successful.

I’ve got a roundup post with these 15 High Protein + High Fiber Recipes with a Mexican Flair.

And there’s this 15 recipe High Protein + High Fiber Recipes with Beans roundup.

I figured out a framework for how to eat.

When I think about what I’m going to eat any particular meal, I always start with my protein source and then build everything around that. I cover this more below.

Protein first, then all the vegetables I want and crave. Sometimes fruit for breakfast or snacks, especially when it’s warm.

I avoid processed carbs including bread, pasta, rice. They’re heavy, they don’t serve my body (they may serve yours, only you know); I’m gluten sensitive, they mess with my digestion, and if I am going to eat processed carbs, I’ll just go for cake, not bread. So that plan makes my meals really simple. It’s not that I never eat them, but I don’t plan them into my meals.

For that carby feeling, roasted sweet potatoes or kabocha squash are my favorites because they’re nutrient dense.

Not Eating What My Spouse or Child is Eating Just Because They’re Eating It

Your body, nutritional needs, goals, and everything else is unique to you. Not sure why we ever thought that we should all be eating the same. We probably shouldn’t.

Eating as much and the same types of food (tacos, carbs, repeat) that my spouse enjoys took me into a 20 pound weight surplus that crept in slowly over the last 6 years. It works for him, it was not working for me.

He’s a grown man and can make his own food if he doesn’t want to eat what I’m eating. He can go out, order takeout, go on a water fast, enter a pizza eating contest, I really don’t care. It took 6 years for me to come to this place that I don’t have to be responsible for him, he’ll be fine. Same for my 19 year old daughter, although she’s on my plan overall and is easy to cook for when she’s home from college.

But I’m not going to eat what my husband eats, just because he’s eating it, because it doesn’t serve my body, my needs, or my goals properly. It actually over-serves me on fat, calories, and carbs; and underserves me on protein, fiber and real nourishment that I need. As women, we need to let go of this mentality that we’re the same and eating the same is perfectly fine. Or I did at least because in my case it wasn’t working.

Are you cooking separate meals? Hell no you’re not. He and your kids can eat what you eat! Your grown spouse can make his own food, or if you really want to be “nice” about it, you can ‘adapt’ some of the things you’re going making to still suit what he likes without going too out of your way. Watch Madalaine’s video for inspiration.

Eating the same (sometimes boring) meals over and over.

Eliminate the guesswork, eliminate the ‘what am I going to make for dinner tonight’ question because I already know. I’ve got a half dozen recipes I make but again, when the bulk of my plate is grilled chicken and veggies, there isn’t tons of need for all these “recipes”. The irony of being a food blogger and having created 3000+ original recipes and now I am here in my health and life journey isn’t lost on me.

When I listen to interviews, view reels, or read articles written by those who are very fit, very health conscious, and have physiques that I want to emulate, and have mental toughness, and an approach to life that creates success and that’s contagious in the best possible way, one common theme is eating things on repeat.

If this isn’t for you because you want “variety”, that’s great. You do you.

I’ve done that whole it’s Wednesday night at 6pm and I’m starving, nothing prepped, no idea what I’m making because I thought I wanted “more variety this week” and didn’t plan properly.

But the truth is I’m grumpy, my spouse and/or child are even grumpier, and the temptation to eat out (expensive, unhealthy, and I’ll never hit my protein goal anyway) creeps in. ←— I’d rather have meals on repeat than that.

I’m not saying that I am eating the exact same thing day in, day out. However, there’s a pattern to my recipes for my meals.

The rest of this post is for paid subscribers only. I cover my protein source go-to’s, my framework for creating recipes, favorite recipes I eat on repeat, how I measure and track my food exactly, and lots of behind-the-scenes photos and videos.

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The Easiest Blueberry “Pie” Ever

Crustless Blueberry Pie 🫐💜💙 A FAST, no-mixer, crustless pie that’s perfect for summer entertaining, picnics, or potlucks! Somewhere in between pie, cake, and blondies is what you get with this FABULOUS blueberry dessert recipe! Take advantage of those FRESH blueberries! One of my most popular blueberry recipes of all time.

Muffins To Munch On

Healthy Blueberry Muffins 🫐💜💙 These skinny blueberry muffins are made with Greek yogurt instead of butter, and there’s only a little vegetable oil and sugar in these. Don’t worry, these don’t taste like health food or that they’re missing anything at all!

Moist Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins 🫐👌🏻⭐️ are hands down the best homemade blueberry muffins EVER! They’re fluffy and moist thanks to the addition of sour cream in the batter. Not to mention they’re bursting with fresh blueberry flavor. These are bound to be your new favorite muffins!

If you like to eat just the tops of your muffins, you’re going to LOVE this EASY recipe for soft and tender Blueberry Muffin Tops! 💙 Bursting with juicy berries in every bite and anly 1/2 cup sugar in the entire batch!

No-Mixer Quickbreads That Are Actually Quick

🫐🙌🏻😋 Blueberry Zucchini Bread is a quick, no-mixer recipe that’s sweet, but not too sweet. Each bite is bursting with fresh blueberries, making it a fan favorite EVERY summer! Especially when the markets or your garden is overflowing with zucchini!

Blueberry Banana Zucchini Bread 🫐🍌🙌🏻🍞 is an easy quickbread recipe that’s packed with bananas + juicy blueberries + zucchini! A perfect way to use everything up and I guarantee this will become a new favorite quickbread!

🫐🍌🍞 Brown Sugar Blueberry Banana Bread is super moist, slightly tangy, loaded with blueberries in every bite, and balanced with a touch of dark brown sugar. Smear some of the homemade blueberry butter onto a slice, and prepare to fall in love!

Bars, Crisps, and Crumbles To Impress

These Blueberry Pie Bars 🫐💙💜 are one of my all-time favorite blueberry dessert recipes! You can even use frozen blueberry recipes if you don’t have fresh blueberries. These bars have the flavors you love in a blueberry pie, but are so much EASIER than pie because there’s no pie crust to make. A true reader favorite with 800+ 5-star reviews! ⭐️

🫐💙 These EASY Blueberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars are buttery and packed with blueberry flavor! They have a perfect chewy meets crispy texture from the oatmeal crust and crumble topping with soft berry filling in the middle! They take just 10 minutes of prep and then go straight into the oven. So quick to make and a crowd pleaser every time! Either fresh or frozen berries are fine.

🫐🙌💙 My EASY Blueberry Crisp is finished with a crunchy oat topping that’s impossible to resist! This fruit crisp is delicious as is, but you could also serve it with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Cakes To Crave

🫐 Blueberry Coffee Cake with Streusel Topping is an EASY, no-mixer cake studded with juicy blueberries and topped with big buttery streusel nuggets that are just SO GOOD! Not overly sweet, it’s PERFECT with a cup of coffee for breakfast, brunch, or a snack!

Glazed Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake 🍰🍋🫐 Almost more berries than cake in this soft, fluffy lemon blueberry bundt cake! The tart lemon glaze is plate-licking delish!

Blueberry Cream Cheese Cake 🍰 is a light and tender blueberry sponge cake stuffed with tangy-sweet cream cheese filling and bursting with juicy blueberries in every bite! An EASY, no-mixer cake recipe that’s sure to be a family FAVORITE!

Blueberry Muffin Pancake Cake 🎂🥞🫐is a fast and easy cake that tastes like a big buttermilk pancake that ran into a blueberry muffin on the way to the oven. It’s fluffy, tender, and moist from both the buttermilk and sour cream that’s incorporated into the batter!

Breakfast and Brunch To Savor

Blueberry Dutch Baby Pancake Recipe 🫐🥞😍 This oven-baked pancake has the chewiness of crepes with the thickness of clafoutis, and making it is as easy as making pancake batter! Because it’s baked, there’s no need to stand around flipping pancakes!

Soft and Fluffy Dairy-Free Pancakes with Blueberries 🥞 are healthier pancakes that are soft, fluffy, and light! I load these up with blueberries, but you can tailor this recipe to suit your preferences!

Blueberry Baked Pancakes 🫐 🥞Craving pancakes but not the work of standing at the stove flipping them? Make these EASY oven baked pancakes with only THREE ingredients!! Perfect for weekend brunch or as a make-ahead weekday breakfast!!

Overnight Blueberry Waffle Casserole 🫐😋 Chopped blueberry frozen waffles are layered with a brown sugar and cream cheese mixture before adding more blueberries! A creamy CUSTARD mixture is poured over top, followed by a buttery brown sugar streusel topping. There’s so much wonderful flavor in every bite of this MAKE-AHEAD breakfast casserole!

🍁🥞🫐 Pumpkin Dutch Baby Pancake with Blueberries is a family favorite! We’re talking about just one big oven-baked pancake, so there’s nothing to stand around waiting to flip! The batter is made in the blender, making this the EASIEST pancake ever! Gluten-free and dairy-free options provided.

The Star of Your Holiday Table!

🫐🍷Move over boring cranberry sauce and make Red Wine Cranberry and Blueberry Sauce instead! Cranberries are so much better with blueberries and wine! Make your own fresh cranberry and blueberry sauce in 30 minutes. It’s so EASY, and everyone LOVES it! People write to me every year and tell me it was the best thing at the Thanksgiving and Christmas meal - not kidding.

Teriyaki Salmon Bowls Are a Healthy Powerhouse

Protein + Veg + Carb in One. These salmon bowls are the perfect meal-in-one with protein, carbs, and vegetables served altogether. We’re talking teriyaki glazed salmon that’s spooned over a fragrant bed of jasmine rice and then topped with crisp carrots and cucumber, hearty shelled edamame, creamy avocado slices, nutty sesame seeds, and fresh green onions.

It’s giving all the Whole Foods Fancy Hot Bar Recipes Vibes.

Homemade Teriyaki Sauce. It’s the MVP🏅of these Asian-inspired salmon and rice bowls. Use some of it to marinate pieces of salmon with before baking and the remainder is drizzled over everything in the bowl for savory, unami, crave-worthy perfection. You can use store bought which I discuss below in the recipe area.

30 Minutes and It’s Ready. The salmon bakes for just 12-15 minutes and during that time, prep the other ingredients. Use English cucumbers that don’t need to be peeled, a bag of shredded carrots saves time, toss a handful of frozen shelled edamame into a glass bowl with water for 5 minutes in your microwave. Use ready rice (frozen or microwaveable) to cut down on cooking time and effort (or just skip the rice and go low carb).

Use all the kitchen hacks and shortcuts you can!

Protein Packed. If you’re on a protein journey, this salmon bowl has you covered with about 44 grams per bowl!

Make sure to check out my High Protein Recipes book which is a great resource!

The recipe is for paid subscribers only so if you don’t see the recipe, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Thank you for your support!

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La Valencia in La Jolla, California

When I was a little girl growing up in the midwest and I pictured southern California, I pictured sweeping views of the Pacific ocean and beach, palm trees, coastal elegance and sophistication.

Fast forward to just after my college graduation, I left the snow and cold behind, over 25 years ago at this point, moved to San Diego and have never looked back!

So when I think of something very Californian and even more niche, very San Diegan, it doesn’t get any more San Diego-inspired than La Valencia, located in La Jolla (coastal San Diego).

Fun Fact: My husband and I actually had our wedding reception at La Valencia three years ago!

The hotel originally opened its doors in 1926 and is celebrating their 100th anniversary with some fun offerings including their 1926 Social Club which is throwback to jazz, the Roaring 20s, along with great food and drink on their sprawling patio every Thursday evening in the summer. First come, first serve.

Such Lovely Food in a Lovely Setting

My friend met me at La Valencia and we had such a wonderful time catching up, sharing stories, and enjoying a three-course meal and some bubbles.

It was affectionately referred to as ‘Giggle Water’ back in the day. I thought that was so cute that it appeared that way on the menu.

The service was wonderful despite it being crowded and busy! Word has gotten out. A special shoutout to Christian and Jeremy who were so attentive and helped make the night even better.

No Matter The Trip, Use or Bring These!

I travel a lot and I never check a bag, not even on long trips or to Europe.

So I have to make the most of my carryon luggage which is: my suitcase + my overstuffed purse (there’s a reason it’s called the Never Full) OR backpack.

The items below are all things that I keep in my purse of backpack to have within reach on flights. Or they go into my suitcase which is in the overhead bin.

Bendy Travel Pillow - No more U-shaped collars around your neck! This one molds to you. Enough said. It’s sticking out of my purse in the photo above.

Earplugs that Work - Whether it’s on the flight itself or beyond, these protect against snoring spouses, overly chatty seatmates or the people around you having conversations so loudly, or the crying babies, the toddlers with the blaring video game, IYKYK. Or once you’re there the neighboring construction, leaf blowers and landscaping machines, noisy hotel rooms, or back home in your own house, these work! Multiple colors and each pair comes with various tips so you get the perfect fit for your ears. Put these in your cord organizer wallet below.

​Cord Organizer Wallet​ – Keeping all the cords, cables, and charging blocks organized is important on planes, in hotels, or Airbnbs and this one does the trick. I have the smaller size but recommend the larger size if you have a lots of cables/cords/blocks, i.e. more than 5 or so. Although see my next item to get away with bringing less.

All in One Charger for iPhone 15, 16, 17 + Watch or Earbuds​ – A great combo that charges EVERYTHING connected together to make for less messy cables.

One Charger For the US and North America, South America - Stop carrying all those chargers and blocks! Just get this one.

One Plug In/Charger For Everything for Europe - Going to Europe? Get this ONE thing. It’s just that simple.

Earbuds - Self explanatory for watching downloaded videos on my phone, listening to a book, music, or sometimes I’ll put on some really zen spa type music to try to get some sleep or relaxation.

The Holy Grail Makeup & Toiletry Kit - This is a knockoff of the Parallel brand which is $155 AND it’s always sold out. I have looked for years and years to consolidate ALL my makeup, hair, beauty, creams, pills, etc. into ONE kit for travel so that I am not lugging multiple bags in and out of hotel bathrooms and back to my suitcase.

This is a big, roomy kit and I love that all your products stay upright. Honestly best dupe ever and I truly love it. I traveled with it to Disney last week and it has changed my travel game. I have looked and looked for years and years and bought so many other dob kits, makeup, toiletry bags, it’s all here - forever. Super high quality and EQUAL to Parallel which I have it in the smaller $110 size but the Holy Grail as I call it is just so good.

​Best Backpack for Laptops + Stuff​ – Not only does it hold a fullsize laptop, it holds a ton of other things like your sweater for the plane, water bottles, all your family’s snacks (you’re stuck with the job, I know). Lots of compartments, great zippers, high quality. Honestly this is better IMO than a Tumi for a fraction of the cost. I’ve had mine since 2020 and still going strong.

The Little Fold Into Itself Backpack - Great for day trips, longer days when you have more than you can fit into a purse but don’t want a bigger or more structured backpack. This lives in my suitcase, always, just in case. I have the 24L and it’s perfect and light as a feather.

Lululemon fanny pack DUPE - Great when I need more space but don’t want to carry a purse and my running/walking belt (see below) is too small. Think Disney Day, museum day, sightseeing and exploring day. Easily fit your phone, battery pack to charge it, chapstick, small stick sunscreen, credit cards, bit of cash, keys, pack of gum, Tylenol, etc. A “long day out” of the hotel or Airbnb and exploring, this is great.

Running/Walking/Day Belt​ – This fits very close to your body (great when traveling to prevent pickpockets) and can hold chapstick, a full size large iPhone, ID, credit card, a little cash. I go for daily walks and runs with this, I’ve ran marathons with it, and have toured European churches where they say you can’t bring anything in. Super practical.

Compression Socks - Call me old, but if the flight is longer than 3ish hours, I am putting these on at the gate before I board because afterwards, I feel so much better. No puffy feet, ankles, legs. 3-pack for cheap - give one to your traveling companions, or put a second clean pair in your suitcase for the flight home.

Everyday Socks - Many trips involve sightseeing, tours, and lots of steps exploring or walking to and from your lodging to restaurants, and often it’s quicker to walk than to try to get a taxi or Uber if there’s congested city traffic. These are the perfect socks for your cute Adidas or casual yet comfy daytime shoes.

Blister-Free Socks - Don't let a blister ruin your da or your trip! I've tried so many socks for warmer weather months when my feet are hot, the weather is humid, and I’m more prone to blisters in my athletic or walking shoes - especially for those 10-20k steps days. The padding is just right, they're not too thick, not too thin, they work to prevent blisters. Slightly thicker than the above socks in the toe/heel areas.

Supportive Cute Sandals - I was so skeptical about these - like who wears sandals rather than comfy sneakers on a sightseeing-related trip - but an influencer friend wore these all over Italy exclusively on 20k steps days. So I was influenced.

I bought the tan pair (or on Zappos). Then I loved them so much I bought the pale minty aqua.

And then the black (or on Zappos) shown below. Hot Tip: Zappos has really good sales, lightning fast shipping, and super easy returns/exchanges and a loyalty program so your spending turns into points and money off later. If you have an Amazon Prime account, you can link it to your Zappos VIP account to double your points (earning 2 points for every $1 spent). So when possible I get my shoes there!

Also let’s talk about the pants above. They’re the Ruti On The Loose Work Pants. I resisted buying them, I didn’t want to love them, but they’re unreal good. So good, and yes, worth it. Lightweight, don’t wrinkle easily, the comfiest pants ever that feel like you’re wearing nothing, elastic waist. I am almost 5’11” and I am in the regular length (not sure who wears tall?) and they hit me cropped like I wanted; waist is true to size, legs are gloriously roomy but the cut is flattering. They’re my new flight and travel day pants, 1000%. The top I have in about 10 colors, it’s this top, also true to size.

Airplane audio adapter - Especially useful for kids or those “addicted” to seatback entertainment. Rather than be forced to use those uncomfortable earphones that the airline passes out, to listen to the seatback shows or movies on flights with your own earbuds! This gadget plugs into the seatback and then with some bluetooth magic, you’re listening to the seatback entertainment but with your own earbuds or earphones.

Phone Power Bank Charger - You will burn through your phone battery by noon when you’re navigating walking with GPS, or trying to find a lunch spot that everyone can agree on, or trying to pull up yet another QR code for entrance to something, not to mention all those pictures and videos you’re taking. Get this for peace of mind with your phone battery life!

Kindle - If you’re an avid reader, get one. This one is at a great price, the battery lasts weeks, and you will adapt to it and come to love being able to “bring” so many books with you!

Pills & Supplement Case - Even if I was going to check a bag, I wouldn’t put my pills in checked baggage and this is perfect especially if you take collagen pills, probiotics, or bigger pills (and you need to take 3 to 6 of them per day) then you need this organizer. Magnetic, seals well, everything stays organized.

Zote Bar Soap - You may need to wash your socks, under garments, swimsuits, and maybe a shirt or two in your hotel shower or sink and this soap is great! No one in my family breaks out from it, yet it’s strong enough to clean your clothes, and in a solid bar formula so it doesn’t count as a liquid. I always have a bar of it in my suitcase.

Apple Air Tags - Stuff one in every suitcase you have! I also have cat collars with them just in case my cats get loose! Or dog collars.

Snacks, Supplements and Emergency Food

Prevent Jet Lag, Boost Immune System & Circulation - I’ve taken this twice now and it works as intended. The taste of the lemon-lime is lemony but not too sweet and it doesn’t have any shred of stevia flavor. I like that it has vitamins, also a bit of magnesium which is good for muscles and digestion too.

Clear Protein with Electrolytes - The ONLY protein powder that I’ve ever tried that ACTUALLY DISSOLVES without issue. Barely needed to stir it with a spoon. No shaker cups, no clumps, no undissolved blobs, these are elite. I travel with them, I love them, I get a cup of water from a Starbucks or the first place I see when I get off an airplane, add a packet, and drink. Not only is there protein, but there’s also electrolytes which save me from altitude or travel-induced migraines, headaches, and just feeling off. Does not upset my stomach at all. Also great for early mornings when you don’t want “creamy”, chocolaty, or heavy traditional protein. I also have a link through the Arrae website and if you’re willing to sign up for autoship, it gets a lot cheaper.

Calm Magnesium - If you struggle with digestion and not feeling regular on trips, make sure you take magnesium at night! It helps everything move along. Separately, it’s great for muscles, and sleep! Helps your body relax so you can get the rest you need.

Bloat Gummies - Feeling bloated and puffy and traveling, combined with restaurant meals out and food that’s not in your usual wheelhouse, these little gummies are great. Keep a couple in an old pill container or small ziplock in your purse.

Favorite Probiotic - Along with helping digestion, this helps your immune support, respiratory support, and more - all of which is taxed more than usual when traveling.

Pills & Supplement Case - Even if I was going to check a bag, I wouldn’t put my pills in checked baggage and this is perfect especially if you take collagen pills, probiotics, or bigger pills (and you need to take 3 to 6 of them per day) then you need this organizer. Magnetic, seals well, everything stays organized.

Chomps - Rather than eating some random food I don’t really want when I’m out and about but need something to tide me over, I always have a Chomps in my purse - or two - for family members who want to hone in on mine.

Amazing Meat Sticks - These are amazing, better than Chomps IMO but they are about half the size, which may or may not be helpful. They’re so flavorful, juicy not dry, highly recommend them. I usually have 1-2 of these + 1-2 Chomps at all times in my purse for flights and while I’m on my trip, depending on the day and what we’ll be doing.

Quest Birthday Cake Protein Bars - 20 grams protein, 12 grams fiber (which is about HALF of your recommended daily fiber intake in 1 bar so IMO they could be also sold as high fiber bars!), 1g sugar. When I travel, sometimes I just want something that tastes like home and for me, this is it AND I get a huge protein + fiber boost for 180 calories.

Aloha Bars Variety Pack - Cleaner ingredients, more natural, and my daughter loves the peanut butter and I’m all about the cookie dough. The variety pack is a great place to start. No “frosting” or coatings on these so they stand up to being throw into the bottom of your purse and or weather really well.

Hair Tools So You Don’t Have To Rely on The Hotel or Airbnb

Compact Flat Iron​ – Love this thing. Very small but mighty! Extremely slim. It’s also great to keep in your gym bag, daughter’s after-school sports bag, or gift idea. Inexpensive at under $15 and powerful.

Collapsible Hair Dryer​ – 1875 watts so you don’t need to spent an hour drying your hair! The best compact dryer I have tried and it’s about 1/10th the price of a Dyson travel dryer! This is one of those travel essentials for anyone who needs a blow dryer and you don’t want to count on your hotel or Airbnb option - many seem barely functioning and take hours to dry your hair.

Going To Europe, South America, or Long Haul Trips

Passport Holder​ – Great quality, I bought one. Then I bought a few more for everyone in the family.

One Plug In/Charger For Everything for Europe - Going to Europe? Get this ONE thing. It’s just that simple.

European adapter + charger​ – If you only take one charger to Europe (or South America) or another locale that doesn’t use US-style outlets, this is your gadget.

The Suitcase I’ll Die On a Hill For + Packing Cubes

Best Suitcase EVER​ – Not a carry on but if you’re traveling, you need to know about this. I’ve tested the Away brand, Samsonite, Tumi, and this is the suitcase I’ll die on a hill for.

I’ve taken it to 3 continents over the last 10 years including a month’s worth of possessions for South America during the pandemic; 3 weeks in Europe in the summers of 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and a variety of 2026 Europe trips. With just this and the Best Backpack I’m set for 3 weeks. This suitcase is expandable, and it’s a CARRY-ON, and the wheels are stationary.

It’s super high quality, it has so many pockets and compartments, it’s just a super solid piece of luggage. My daughter and I both have had our suitcases for 10 years and they’re still going strong with tons of travel later. Suitcases, like purses or wallets, are very personal and for me, this is so much better than a Tumi based on the actual available interior size compared with the exterior footprint.

Best of all, it fits in overhead bins on domestic airlines like Southwest (sometimes the bins can be smaller) and it fits in the overhead bins when traveling on long haul flights internationally. Let’s say you thought you were flying Delta (bigger overhead bins) but really it’s an AirFrance codeshare flight or, this fits.

If you prefer this suitcase with 4-swiveling wheels, it exists. I personally don’t like it when all four wheels move because I think it’s harder to wheel over cobblestones and it may roll with a mind of its own while on trains or buses when you don’t want it to, but wheels are personal preference.

Packing Cubes - If you still aren’t using them to organize AND maximize space in your suitcase, you’re missing out. Hop on the packing cube train. I’ve stretcheddddd these to their max capacity for 3+ years now, this exact set, all over Europe and South America, and they’re perfect. Zippers intact, no rips.

Tell me what you don’t leave home without?

Housekeeping Detail: Before we getting started talking about books, I want to remind you that today is the last day of the Amazon Prime Days Sale.

I just created a post with What I Put In My Cart and Bought, made a Reel, and last week I shared some of my Favorite Deals and Why I Recommend Them!

My Brutally Honest Book Reviews

I keep all of my books I’ve read on my Amazon Book Page! I wish I had time to update another platform like Goodreads but I don’t.

Here we go….

Whistler - 5/5 stars AMAZING LOVED IT! Along with Buckeye and Strangers, this is one of my very few 5 star reads of 2026.

Ann Patchett wrote it AND narrated Whistler so it was especially perfect. Reminds me of when Julia Whelan narrated her own, My Oxford Year, which is currently Free on Kindle Unlimited.

Whistler is a story of a chance encounter of a grown woman and her husband randomly encountering the woman’s stepfather who was only a part her life for a few years in her childhood. This is a story of family, of loss, of what could have been, yet to be reminded that what we do have is beautiful. I cried, I thought about my own family, choices, my mortality, my childhood, my adulthood, just such a wonderful book. I had a few 25k step walks listening to Ann Patchett because she is a master storyteller, a creator of characters so real you feel like you know them. I didn’t want this book to end. I laughed, I cried, I thought about my life, my choices, how one seemingly small choice can affect so many things, with ripple effects for decades.

One of my favorite lines of the book - and it was mentioned a few times and a few ways - was something to the effect of that you really have no idea what’s going on in someone’s relationship or behind closed doors. And isn’t that the truth. You will LOVE this book.

And if you haven’t read her Tom Lake, which is narrated by none other than Meryl Streep, run and download that too.

This Story May Save Your Life - 4/5 stars. A thriller with some romance aspects, it follows a couple of friends (a man and a woman) who are podcasters. And the woman’s husband disappears and turns up dead. It’s a whodunnnit type of thriller with some twists and turns that kept me guessing. Listening to it because of the podcast element to it is the way to go.

If you want more in this thriller + podcast plot, definitely check out Listen For the Lie (currently FREE on Kindle Unlimited) and None Of This Is True.

Yesteryear - 4/5 stars. Long review, lot to say! This is a really hard review to write because I am very conflicted about the book. To preface how eagerly anticipated this book has been, it was contracted to be made into a movie before the book even came out (4/7) starring Anne Hathaway. I think the movie could be good but rarely do I watch movies based on books because they don’t tend to live up to the book or things are drastically different, etc.

Back to the book, we follow an influencer who amasses a huge following on Instagram showcasing her life as a tradwife. Meaning, she is a good Christian woman, says yes to her husband, has a lot of kids, loves to make her own bread, you know the woman. But I actually kind of hated her. Not that she’s a tradwife, but that she seemed to really hate both her followers and her children. And I couldn’t really get past that. There were sections in the middle that were really hard to listen to for me because of the contempt she seemed to have for both. My finest days were the ones I spent parenting my now 19 year old when she was younger and so it made me kind of sad to hear her talk about her children and her followers too.

There’s also a past-present theme going on, and in the beginning of the book, I was really confused, I still kind of am. The one thing this book DOES do very well is talk about what modern feminism looks like, what does it mean to be a woman, a wife, a tradwife, a mother, there’s all of that. The narration was good, although I am not a fan of this narrator. She also narrated Heart The Lover (another book I didn’t really love too much despite the hype, thought it was boring and plain with some weird stuff mixed in) and this book also had weird stuff. I can see why the narrator narrated both if that makes any sense. This may be one of those books you just have to read to see for yourself and I can see people totally and completely loving this book - or not. It would make a great book club book and I read it for that reason (have not met yet to discuss).

The Measure - 3.5/5 stars. I had originally given this 4/5 stars but nearly 2 months later, it feels less memorable to me. The premise of the book is, if you knew how long your life would be, would you want to know? Would it change how you live the life you have? Would you do anything differently? My criticism with this book is that it felt very lengthy and points and I don't feel like it needed to be that long to get the point across. This is a great book club book! And I would definitely want to know, and all the details, surprise me? Nah, tell me.

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lyon - Volume 1. FREE on Kindle Unlimited. 3/5 star range for me and I guess I don’t get the hype with this series. It's fine, but not that interesting, and felt very provincial and simply not too exciting. If I'm going to read historical fiction, I want to really dig into some historical fiction.

Perhaps the Emma journals get better? For me, one was enough. I’ve got a TBR a mile long and more books than time, so after one I am moving on. One good thing is that these books are very short so if you either want a short book OR you have a goal for the year of X number of books, and just need something to add so you can check it off, this will suffice.

Mafia Series: Book 1 Mafia Mistress and Book 2 Mafia Darling - Both FREE on Kindle Unlimited. If you read Book 1, you’re going to want to read Book 2. After that, you don’t have to keep going in the series, it ends at a point you can put them down.

These are extremely spicy books. 10000/10 level spice 🌶️. I almost hesitate to even share these! Some would call this smut but another influencer I follow calls these types of books BRADS (Beach Reads After Dark) and she mentioned this book so I gave it a whirl.

There's every crazy thing you can imagine in this book including kidnapping, the Italian mafia, murder, money laundering, drug running, a gay character, the leading man about 25 years older than the leading lady, and the spice factor is more than anything I’ve ever read. You may feel like you need to smoke a cigarette or a cold shower after some of it. You basically have to read the 2nd book after this one, but after that you're done. Books like this one are why Carly Fortune type of books (below) are forever ruined for me (snore-bore).

Our Perfect Storm 2.5 or 3/5 This may be an unpopular review but it was soooo predictable for me, very boring, with a couple common tropes including friends to lovers and forced proximity. We follow Frankie (a woman) who almost got married to a guy but he called off the wedding. And when her best friend, George, gets wind of it, they take a trip together - what should have been Frankie's honeymoon, but she went with George instead. You can see where this is going. If you're looking for a very mindless (and v predictable) beach or vacation read (or in my case, working on pull ups and lifting as heavy as I possibly can in the gym with a slightly wandering mind as I listened), this will be perfect for you. In total transparency, I'm not a big Carly Fortune fan. One Golden Summer was "fine" but Meet Me At The Lake, meh not for me. If you're a Carly fan, this is in her lane and wheelhouse and you know what you’re getting into.

Dolly All The Time - 5/5 stars! In contrast to the book above, this is a romance and while there’s predictability, it’s just a winner! I want to be Dolly in my next lifetime because there are some Cinderella story vibes and I’ve always wanted to be Cinderella! We watch how things unfold with Dolly and Stuart, who’s a super rich, good looking, businessman and their chance meeting and how things play out from there. The writing is great, it’s funny, there are points where I cried, I felt really attached to the characters and their lives. And it deals with characters in their 40s with real lives, kids, being a single parent, financial challenges, taking care of family and family struggles - all the things that made the book more relatable for me than some other more typical summer beach read type romances.

Watched: Heated Rivalry. I normally don’t watch much between my work computer screens, screentime with social media for both work and personal, I just don’t have enough hours in the day for more screentime. But I watched this on some long flights with a privacy screen on my phone (I had been warned)! It’s about hockey players, taboo relationships, and what happens behind closed doors off the ice. Only 6 one-hour episodes so it was enough for my flights there and back and glad I saw what all the hype was about. I give it a 5/5 stars because I was very entertained and always root for the relationship that makes someone happiest, whatever that looks like.

On my TBR and Pre-Order: Crash Into Me! Because The Idea of You was a 5 star read for me and it’s currently FREE on Kindle Unlimited.

It’s that time of year: Amazon Prime Days with fantastic savings on things you may need to replenish, stock up on, or that you’ve had your eye on.

Because I have access to early deals and info about what may be going on sale from June 23-26, I’m sharing items that are either already on sale.

Or that I have very good reason to believe WILL go on sale on Tuesday the 26th. In this case, I add things to my Amazon cart now and then on Tuesday I buy what I want based on how the price is looking. I don’t a crystal ball of course and things can always change.

If you don’t shop on Amazon, hey that’s great. I am still sharing these deals because I do. And I love a good sale and many of my readers also appreciate the hot tips. So let’s get to it!

I also popped all of this and more into my Prime Day Deals Storefront for easy reference.

Deals on Kitchen Items

Best Nonstick Pan (for egg especially!) - 23% off! I use this for eggs. No oil necessary. They have sets if you need other nonstick pans, but if you only need a pan for a few eggs, the 8-inch is perfect.

Best Stainless Steel Skillet With Lid from All-Clad - If you buy ONE PAN to use for the rest of your life, this is the one! I’ve had mine for 13 years and it never fails.

Cosori Air Fryers - If you want one, this one is great. But if you want one that will last a decade or more and is just the GOAT of air fryers, this stainless steel is the granddaddy of them all. Love mine!

Lodge Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven - A fraction of the price of Le Crueset and so functional! Also a 7.5-quart larger size and a braising pan. If you need versatile cookware that will last a lifetime if you take care of it AND that’s on sale, this all weighs in far above its paygrade.

Crock-Pot - Everyone needs at least one and this one is easily portable.

Vegetable Chopper - A cult favorite and they have an XL model too.

GE Profile Nugget Ice Maker - I had my last model for 5 years before I just recently got this one. The best! Lasts longer than any built-in fridge ice maker ever has for me.

Single Serve Keurig - Use mine daily! Indispensable every morning.

Ninja Cremini - Make ice cream at home. With 16k reviews, lots of people are loving this little gem.

Food Scale - If you’re weighing your ingredients for a recipe OR you’re tracking your food, you need a scale. I weigh almost all my proteins that I consume, especially my lunch and dinner, because while I can eyeball things, I like to know, to make sure I’m consuming what I think I’m consuming, and not just guessing. I track using the Lose It app.

Health & Beauty, Skin Care, Makeup & Hair Deals

TIP: In this category especially, some things will only go on sale from 6/23-6/26 so you can add to your cart now, and buy it then. Some things will sell out!

Loreal Telescopic Mascara - My daily go-to mascara and I’ve stopped using designer overpriced mascara. This one and the one below work great.

Maybelline Sky High Mascara - Solid mascara that I use and 60% OFF!

Lash Serum - Not just hype, this stuff works, period. My favorite brand! This will go on sale by Tuesday.

Whitening Strips - Luminex whitening strips that work and don’t cause sensitivity!

Whitening Trays - Prefilled with 15% concentration and very effective.

Retinol Treatment - Says acne, but it’s the best retinol! My plastic surgeon recommended it and told me to stop buying anything else. Cheap and very effective for fine lines, wrinkles, and skin texture.

Good Cheap Moisturizer - Fragrance free, nongreasy, has collagen for plumping into fine line, just works as intended.

Vitamin C with Glycolic Serum - For sunspots, fine lines, and to improve skin’s coloration and appearance, this is the ticket.

Favorite Shampoo + Favorite Conditioner - I always go back to this, it’s been a decade plus, and it works for me so well.

Digital Bathroom Scale (for you, not your food). The BEST scale I’ve ever tried! Reminds me of the high end scale at my gym that personal trainers use and it scans your body. But this is done in your home and in two seconds with all your data.

Weight, body fat, BMI, visceral fat, muscle, bones, water, and more. You put an app on your phone (it’s super easy to install, no million user names and codes), open the app, it tells you to step on the scale, and in 2 seconds all your data is passed to your phone. And it saves it so the next time you step on the scale, it tells you which categories you’re up, down, and what percentage. Super helpful tool for me after not stepping on a scale in about 5 years.

Farmacy Green Clean - Cleansing balm that melts away makeup.

Sol De Janeiro - The BEST smelling and firming cream!

Sol De Janeiro Body Spray - I love this #68 so much too!

Elemis: Rose Cleansing Balm, Cleansing Balm, Marine Cream, Night Cream This line in general rarely goes on sale, it’s definitely high quality, and if you’re new to it now is the time to try it. And if you’re already a fan, restock now to save!

K18 - Rebuilds even the most damaged hair. This stuff works miracles and I truly swear by it. My stylist told me about it years ago and I always add it to my wet hair post-washing and then just leave it in, that’s it. Just to the more fragile pieces around my face. It restructures hair rather than just putting grease or shine on it - which this doesn’t do that - no greasy hair from this.

EltaMD - Amazing sunscreen for the face that my derm recommended years ago. Lasts, doesn’t sweat off, doesn’t sweat into your eyes, I can run a literal marathon in this and it’s still FINE and my face is protected.

Collagen and Biotin Pills - Works as well as products twice or triple the price and you only need to take two a day, not a half dozen like with many brands. I’ve seen great skin texture improvement, longer lashes, better stronger nails, definitely recommend these.

Probiotics for Gut Health - They work for better digestion and GI health.

Probiotics for Women - These are life-changing especially if you’re prone to imbalances or infections, enough said.

Makeup Brush Cleaning “Bucket” and Brush Cleaning Solution - I cleaned my brushes and my daughter’s the other day (it had been way too long, you don’t even want to know) and this little bucket is key because it has a textured base so do this in kitchen sink with lots of running water and watch what comes out.

Clear Protein with Electrolytes - The ONLY protein powder that I’ve ever tried that ACTUALLY DISSOLVES without issue. Barely needed to stir it with a spoon. No shaker cups, no clumps, no undissolved blobs, these are elite. I travel with them, I love them, I get a cup of water from a Starbucks or the first place I see when I get off an airplane, add a packet, and drink. Not only is there protein, but there’s also electrolytes which save me from altitude or travel-induced migraines, headaches, and just feeling off. Does not upset my stomach at all. Also great for early mornings when you don’t want “creamy”, chocolaty, or heavy traditional protein. I also have a link through the Arrae website and if you’re willing to sign up for autoship, it gets a lot cheaper.

Streaming and Small Electronics on Sale

Firestick - HALF off! Say no more.

Roku - Great price here too.

Ring Indoor Camera - HALF off!

Ring Doorbell Camera - HALF off!

Amazon Fire Tablet - Cheap! 45% off!

Kindle - Paperwhite at a fantastic price.

Apple Air Tags - Stuff one in every suitcase you have! I also have cat collars with them just in case my cats get loose! Or dog collars.

Apple Air Pods - Get them at the lowest price of the year.

Anker Slim Power Bank - Mag charger that’s the real deal especially on trips. It’s slimmer and lighter weight than the one below.

Portable Anker Charger - This is the beast of travel chargers. A little bulkier and heavier but really works to charge dead phones fast.

Oura Ring - I love love love this thing! There’s also a Series 5 which is new and I love it even more. I’ve written about the Oura ring and why I love it here.

Dorm or Apartment Move In (or House)

Hotel quality bed pillows - SO impressed with these bed pillows that I’ve since replaced them on my actual bed at home!

Towel set - Much higher quality than I was expecting! I’ll buy these for my house when it’s time to replace towels.

Sheets - Great quality for the price and I’ve bought these for guest beds and my own bed in a vacation home.

Foam mattress topper - My daughter loved, loved, loved this mattress topper and frequently told me how comfortable her dorm bed was because of it!

Pink moving bags and blue moving bags - I cannot tell you HOW much these saved our moving day. I would recommend these for anyone who is moving rather than cardboard boxes for nonfragile items. The pink ones are slightly bigger than the blue ones. Do not hesitate, they are so worth it for any move!

Dolly - Hauling just got easier.

Door stopper - Don’t overlook a heavy duty door stopper because you simply need to keep the doorway clear and door propped open.

Tool set - Indispensable for furniture assembly.

Desk chair cover - Highly recommend this if you want to mask the appearance of ugly black desk chairs not to mention feels more ‘sanitary’ than sitting on a chair that many before you have sat on

Desk hutch - Maximizes desk space by a landslide! One of those items I wasn’t sold on until I saw it in place

Bedskirt - Hides all the precious possessions (aka junk) under the bed!

Area rug - Very soft and instantly spruces up and softens very commercial looking spaces.

Stick vacuum - Dyson copycat and if you can’t afford Dyson, this one is 75% cheaper and works just fine.

Air purifier - With all that recycled dorm room air or small space air without much ventilation, anything to help freshen things and prevent colds/flus is a win.

Power strip, power strip tower, Command strips - Hanging stuff on walls without causing damage and a damage fee upon move out is key.

Travel Related

Bendy Travel Pillow - No more U-shaped collars around your neck! This one molds to you. Enough said.

Packing Cubes - If you still aren’t using them to organize AND maximize space in your suitcase, you’re missing out. Hop on the packing cube train. I’ve stretcheddddd these to their max capacity for 3+ years now, this exact set, all over Europe and South America, and they’re perfect. Zippers intact, no rips.

One Charger For the US and North America, South America - Stop carrying all those chargers! Just get this one.

One Plug In/Charger For Everything for Europe - Going to Europe? Get this ONE thing. It’s just that simple.

Noise canceling ear plugs - Sleeping is hard enough for me, on vacations or trips it’s even harder. These help!

Airplane audio adapter - Rather than be forced to use those uncomfortable earbuds the airline passes out to listen to the seatback shows or movies on flights, this converts it so you can use your own earbuds!

Pills & Supplement Case - If you take collagen pills, probiotics, or bigger pills (and you need to take 3 to 6 of them per day) then you need this organizer. Magnetic, seals well, everything stays organized.

The Holy Grail Makeup & Toiletry Kit - Also in the above health/beauty section, but putting it in Travel too because it’s that good!

Anker Power Bank - This charger is the real deal especially on trips.

Portable Charger - Lightning connection, lightweight.

Substack is an ad-free platform and by purchasing something through one of my links, I will earn a very small affiliate commission at no additional cost to you, which helps me continue to share other content year round for free and without putting it behind a paywall. Thank you for your support! 🙏🏻

Healthy, Easy…. and NOT $14.99/pound!

I’m not trying to single out Whole Foods because in Southern California we’ve got loads of very good, but veryyyy expensive specialty markets! Gelson’s, Lazy Acres, Frazier Farms, Bristol Farms, and the granddaddy Rolls Royce of grocers…. yep, Erewhon.

Don’t get me wrong, I love cruising the oh-so-enticing and very foodgasmic deli counters, hot bars, cold bars, salad bars, it’s literally fun to me. Yep, call me a foodie, call me old, but I love seeing what they’ve got. And then I want to recreate it all!

But what I do not love is when the person working at the deli counter fills up my tiny container holding what appears to be 5 bites, and it’s $11.62. And it was broccoli salad! Broccoli shouldn’t break banks.

So here I am to rescue you from all that insanity with some recipes you can make all summer long that taste every bit as good - or better - that what you’d buy and for a fraction of the cost!

Recipe categories below include:

Chicken 🍗

Shrimp 🍤

Lettuce-Free 🌿🚫

Quinoa 🧘‍♀️

Superfoods 😇

P.S. I have an ebook of Restaurant Copycat Recipes so if you want to recreate everything from Panera’s Broccoli Cheese Soup to Starbucks’ Lemon Loaf at home (and my versions taste better!), I’ve got you covered.

No Boring Chicken Salads

🫐🥒🥗 Grilled Chicken Berry Salad is big, hearty, and chock-full of juicy grilled chicken, blueberries, blackberries, creamy avocado, hard-boiled eggs, and more! Topped with a creamy shake-together red wine Dijon vinaigrette, this is a salad that you’ll want to put on rotation all spring and summer! It’s EASY, so flavorful, and ready in 30 minutes!

🥗🥕🥒🙌 There’s lots of CRUNCH in this hearty Asian Peanut Chicken Salad made with bell peppers, red cabbage, lettuce, cucumber, carrots, and more! The protein-packed edamame and chicken make this salad very filling, and the creamy peanut dressing infuses the salad with layers of Asian-inspired FLAVOR! Put your leftover chicken to use with this FAST and EASY salad that’s great for work lunches or as a lighter dinner idea!

This Sesame Orange Chicken Salad 🍊🥗🥕 is THE salad to make! We’re talking crunchy cabbage, bell peppers, carrots, and toasted almonds tossed with juicy Asian chicken and sweet mandarin oranges. There’s a homemade tahini-sesame-ginger dressing that coats everything perfectly and takes this quick, EASY, and healthy salad recipe from good to INCREDIBLE!

🥗🧀🍅🌽 This Southwest Chicken Cobb Salad is a Southwestern spin on traditional Cobb salad, complete with tender chicken, crispy bacon, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, black beans, corn, and avocado over a bed of Romaine lettuce! Topped with barbecue sauce and Ranch, there’s so much FLAVOR and TEXTURE galore in every bite of this crispy, crunchy, EASY salad!

🥗🥜🥬 Chicken Satay Crispy Rice Salad Bowls are loaded with so much TEXTURE and layers of FLAVOR! Juicy, curry-spiced chicken along with edamame, cucumbers, cabbage, cilantro, and more. Rice is baked until crispy and it truly MAKES this dish come alive! The finishing touch is a simple homemade peanut sauce dressing you’re going to LOVE!

Shrimp Salads Stealing The Show

🥑🍤🥗 My Cilantro Lime Shrimp Salad with Black Beans and Avocado went viral on Pinterest when I first published it and people just love this one! It’s an easy, Mexican-inspired salad ready in 10 minutes! With tender, juicy shrimp, black beans, avocado, cilantro, and more are coated in a lime sauce, creating a fiesta in your mouth!

🍤🌿 This Creamy Shrimp Pasta Salad recipe features tender pasta, juicy shrimp, crunchy celery, bell peppers, and peas tossed in a tangy, zesty dressing. Quick and easy to make, it’s great for summer gatherings to serve as a side salad or a stand-alone meal!

This EASY 15-minute Avocado Mango Shrimp Salad 🥑🥭🍍🍤 with tropical fruit, avocado, red onion, lime juice, cilantro, and plump JUICY shrimp will become a new FAVORITE! Healthy and light with an assortment of wonderful flavors in every bite that’s perfect for a snack, quick lunch, or casual summer dinner!

Salads Without Lettuce Are Still ‘Salads’

Grilled Chicken Salad with Corn 🌽🍅🥑🍗 is an EASY salad that’s ready in 15 minutes and you won’t be able to stop eating it! Tender chicken, juicy corn, crisp bell peppers and tomatoes, creamy avocado, cilantro, and fresh lime juice for the WIN! When it’s too hot to fire up your oven, make this instead for a light yet satisfying meal the whole family will love and take advantage of summertime ingredients while they last!

🥚👏🏻 NO MAYO needed in this Cottage Cheese Egg Salad which is a healthier twist on egg salad made with cottage cheese! Creamy, flavorful, and packed with two lean PROTEIN powerhouses to keep you full and satisfied for hours! If you like egg salad, you need to try this EASY twist on the classic!

French Potato Salad with Green Beans 🥔🥗🌿 is a mayo-free potato salad with soft potatoes and crisp-tender green beans! They’re tossed in a Dijon mustard vinaigrette for bright, big flavor. This EASY French potato salad will be your new go-to for summer cookouts, potlucks, picnics or a great weeknight side dish.

🥚🫑 Deviled Egg Pasta Salad has all the rich flavors of deviled eggs in easy-to-make pasta salad format! Along with tender elbow macaroni, this pasta salad includes hard-boiled eggs, bell peppers, celery, and more. It’s all tossed in a creamy whisk-together dressing. Make deviled egg macaroni salad for summer holidays and casual entertaining, or it’s great for quick lunches or as a side salad for busy weeknight dinners!

Quinoa Salads With Maximum Taste

Tips – There’s no mayo in any of the quinoa salads listed below, making them great for outdoor events, backyard BBQs or summer camp lunch boxes! And everything in this section is naturally gluten-free and vegetarian.

This Zesty Quinoa Salad 🍅🍋🥗 has been on my site since 2014 and I still love it every time! Sundried tomatoes, sliced almonds, and a burst of lemon for a salad that’s fast, EASY, and fresh! Lovely bright flavors and loads of texture in this clean-eating salad keeps you full and satisfied! Healthy never tasted so good!

❤️🤍💚 My EASY Fresh Caprese Quinoa Salad is packed with fresh Italian flavors. You can mix and match the ingredients to use up any fresh produce you have on hand, making it great for summer potlucks, barbecues, and meal prep!

🌽🍅🥗 My go-to warm weather meal, this Garden Fresh Summer Quinoa Salad is loaded with everything fresh, light, and healthy! Great for parties, potlucks, and lunchboxes (because there’s no mayo), it’s easy, flavorful, and great to serve as a side dish or main course!

🍚🫘 My Mexican Rice and Black Beans Medley is hearty enough to be a meal or makes a FANTASTIC side dish with loads of textures in every bite! It’s a super FLEXIBLE recipe that’s HEALTHY and makes a big batch for planned leftovers!

🫒🧀😋 This Mediterranean Quinoa Salad is ready in 20 minutes with Mediterranean-inspired ingredients, including chickpeas, Kalamata olives, artichokes, and goat cheese, to give layers of flavor and texture in every bite!

Superfoods Galore!

Twelve Superfood Salad 🥗🫐🥬🍇 is packed with 12 superfoods and has been a massive reader favorite over the years! This is a great clean out the fridge meal and is easily customized to suit whatever you need to use up. Best of all you just FEEL so good eating it!

Strawberry, Avocado, and Kale Salad with Strawberry-Apple Cider Vinaigrette – Make a kale lover out of anyone in this healthy salad with creamy avocado and juicy berries! The vinaigrette is tangy-sweet and just hits.

🥗🫐🍓 This Spinach Blueberry Salad is loaded with superfoods, including spinach, wheat berries (try them, so good!), blueberries, cranberries, almonds, and more. Then, the honey Dijon vinaigrette adds the perfect light touch. Every bite is full of so much FLAVOR and amazing TEXTURE!

It’s really hard to shop for guys in categories other than socks, tshirts, underwear, golf stuff, grill stuff, or tech stuff.

But if your guy is anything like mine, he’s already got plenty of that so I branched out with what I hope are some useful gift ideas. Without adding more black gadgets or bulky electronics in your space.

Many of my ideas below come from my Amazon Father’s Day storefront. But I’m also sharing non-Amazon links too.

Clothes and Workout Related

Best Bargain Golf Shirt That Feels Luxury - I actually cannot believe the quality. My husband now has three because they compete with $165 Peter Millar’s for under $25 bucks! Trust me, these are so worth it. Get all colors.

Another Great Golf Shirt - Also love this one that operates way above its pay grade!

Linen Pants - The drawstring keeps them comfy and the linen keeps them practical for warm summer weather. If you have a vacation coming up, grab these for sure.

Oura Ring 5 - New model alert, has only been out for a week. I have it, I love it, massive upgrade from the Oura Ring 4. So worth it for the data into your body and how you’re doing! It has revolutionized my relationship with alcohol and made me realize how much my sleep was being impacted; it’s made me prioritize sleep, steps, protein, all that good stuff.

I posted about it posted about it and 6 months later, I’m even more of a believer and singing the Oura Ring praises!

Hoka Clifton 10 - Like running or walking on air and rainbows. No sore feet, no excuses, best shoes. I’ve been wearing Hoka’s nearly exclusively for 7+ years and the Clifton is my favorite all-around walking and running shoe. The best happy medium shoe (no pun intended) and they also come in wide widths.

Blister Resistant Socks - I am a 20k steps a day person and I go through phases (especially during warm weather or humidity) when I get blisters. Until I tried these socks a few years ago and they’re lifechanging! Worth every penny, I wash and dry them hundreds of times before they wear out.

Short Sleeve Workout Shirt - I’ll always stand behind Lululemon’s workout gear. Amazon and knockoffs sometimes work but Lulu stuff I put through the ringer for years and years. On the best gift list on Lulu.

Classic Fit Polo Shirt - Slim and athletic-cut, rather than boxy and tent-like. If your guy looks good in fitted shirts, this will be a winner. Also on the best gift list on Lulu.

Perfect Linerless Shorts - The 7-inch length is a good happy medium, not too short and not too long for the gym, walks, runs, errands, mowing the lawn, and lounging. Also on the best gift list on Lulu.

I have this post in case you want to learn more about my workout picks - socks, shoes, clothes, etc.

Meat Delivery

ButcherBox is a fantastic option for your carnivore and protein lover. Beef, chicken, fish, seafood, and more. With my link you’ll get FREE sirloin tips, ground beef, or chicken wings FOR LIFE with every order.

You can customize your boxes to come every 4-8 weeks, and you can decide how much you want to order, either “small” or “large”. You can always add onto your order too. So if you’re on the fence, I’d get small and then you can always cherry pick things and add them onto your box a la carte style.

ButcherBox also runs random sales and if you sign up for their texts, they’ll text you when then have a deal on let’s say ground beef, you add that to your next order, and when it ships, the ground beef will come with everything else you’re getting too - so that you’re not dealing with multiple shipments arriving. Everything comes VERY well packed with ice packs.

Water Bottles

Hydro Flask - This one is on sale for under $20 bucks which is a legit really good deal! If you’re looking for a really leakproof bottle with a straw, this is the one!

Yeti with Slider Top - I personally love my classic Yeti with slider top.

Grilling

I have an entire Grilling Storefront with all my favorite grills, grill tools, and more!

I also have a Best Gas Grills for Beginners post that I wrote!

Weber Gas Grill - My grill is very similar to this one but it’s 10 years old so they don’t make it anymore. I grill 2-3x a week, for the last TEN YEARS and it’s still going strong. A great balance of big enough to grill a decent quantity of food but not huge since I don’t have a huge space.

Grill Basket - A true workhorse. I’ve had two or three in the last decade, they last for years and again, I use mine multiple times per week. Here’s a simple yet delicious Grilled Vegetables recipe. Works with almost any veggie.

Grilling Tools - I’ve tried them all. None last forever but these are solid!

Grill Cleaner/Brush - Another category that I’ve tried them all. The trendy ones lately are look like a brillo pad on a stick which I don’t love. But this brush I do love! It works and the handle is SO strong. I’ve literally snapped handles on other brushes but not this one because it’s built like a brick you-know-what house.

Tech and Tech-Related

Phone and Charging Dock - Finally a good looking docking station that’s not black plastic. I cannot stand more black electronic related stuff in my house. It’s visual impairment for me but this one passes my aesthetic test!

Sleek Phone Stand - Another one that is beautiful rather than ghastly. If your guy is on Zooms or needs an artful way to prop up his phone on his desk or nightstand, here you go.

PowerBank - After manyyyyy trips and lugging power banks across the globe that ultimately don’t power anything for more than 5 minutes, this one actually works. You get what you pay for here. The Anker brand is always solid!

Anker 3-In-1 Charger - For the modern guy with an Apple watch, mag safe phone case, and earbuds, this keeps it tidy, charged, and it folds up.

Bose Portable Speaker - I’ve never met a guy who’d say no to Bose anything! This portable speaker would be a hit for sure.

Kindle Paperwhite - For the reader in your life (also see all my Book Reviews!), this one has the best screen IMO and has weeks of battery life. It’s the Kindle I use and have no complaints.

Indian Inspired Red Curry Meatballs

These Indian-spiced beef meatballs are simmered in a homemade red curry sauce that's perfectly spicy, savory, and so comforting especially when served over a bed of basmati rice or coconut rice! Learn how to recreate this ethnic inspired dish that’ll IMPRESS your family and friends and have everyone begging for more!

I am a huge curry fan! Whether it’s Thai-inspired or Indian-inspired, it’s hard to resist all the wonderful depth and intensity of flavors in curry recipes. ⬅️ Make sure to check them out for more fabulous and free recipes that’ll transport dinner to something magical. My Thai Chicken Coconut Curry is one of my most popular recipes of all time!

These beef meatballs are richly seasoned with Madras curry powder, garam masala, ginger, coriander, cumin, and more. They’re juicy, tender, and pack a whollop of Indian flavors in every succulent bite.

So if you’re on a protein journey, they’re perfect. And my High Protein Recipes book is also a great resource!

Then there’s the homemade red curry sauce that has so many fragrant and rich dried spices in it, along with dried chili peppers, diced tomatoes, lime, cilantro, and plenty more. It’s intensely flavored, spicy without being too hot (although you can make it hot 🌶️), and is just divine drizzled over rice.

🎯 Tip: Feel free to use the ground protein of your choice for the meatballs: beef, pork, chicken, or turkey all work.

Or….

🎯 Tip: Use frozen meatballs as a hack to omit making meatballs if you prefer. Thaw them and add them directly to your already simmer red curry. You can skip the baking step since they’ve already been cooked. For recipe’s like this, Trader Joe’s frozen turkey meatballs (they also have frozen beef meatballs) are a great option or your favorite frozen meatballs (Costco, Sam’s, grocery store, etc).

I’m always a fan of kitchen shortcuts!

The recipe is for paid subscribers only so if you don’t see the recipe, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Thank you for your support!

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Sometimes you don’t need to spend a lot of money for something to be really good.

Like it exceeds its pay grade because it’s just elevating your life, making some aspect of your routine just a little bit better, or simply out-performs expectations.

And let’s face it, for under 35 bucks these days, you just don’t know what you’re going to get. But I can assure you, everything on this list I own, have used, I love it, and will happily recommend it to my best friends, family, and you too!

I have a whole Amazon Storefront of all my various favorites from kitchen to books to travel to cats so if you’re curious, it’s all there and well organized.

If you don’t shop on Amazon, that’s great. I do and I find value in it (to varying degrees) and that’s why I am sharing my favorites that are well-vetted and useful.

Kitchen

Nonstick 8” Pan - If you need a small, safe, nonstick skillet for a couple eggs, this is the one. Of course you can use it for other things but I find it’s perfect for eggs, no oil needed. And the size is great when you don’t need anything too big. When I need to break out the big guns in the safe, nontox, nonstick pan arena, I reach for my Caraway or my OurPlace. They’re a different price point, totally and completely worth it, but not under $35. They’re also much bigger, especially the Caraway and it’s more pan than I need for just a couple eggs or egg white omelette.

Silicone Spatula/Flipper - They call this a fish spatula but it’s excellent for getting under a couple of eggs and flipping them without breaking the yolks. Of course, it’s also great for fish or chicken. The angle of the flipping part, combined with the silicone coating that protects your nonstick pans, you’ll want to throw all your other spatulas out. I did.

Kitchen Scissors - This super cheap (price, not quality) set comes with two pairs of scissors. I actually have had my set for 5 years, and I am still on the first pair, they’re still not dull! And I use them EVERY day for cutting open plastic packages, for snipping herbs, for opening a stubborn anything. Basically these are free for the price-to-longevity situation going on.

Set of Two Half Sheet Pans - If yours are ratty, bent, stained, charred, weird stuff molten on, move on and get these. NordicWare doesn’t mess around and these are the most resistant to doing that one corner up, one corner down, thing that most sheet pans do in an oven over 350F. Not these. And make a sheet pan dinner or some cookies while you’re at it!

Viral Veggie Chopper - While I don’t break this out all the time, when I need it, I need it. For recipes with a fair amount of chopping or prep work, slam in those onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, etc. and let this thing chop it for you in a couple whacks. Anger management issues? This will help. That slam-down is therapeutic.

Food Scale - If you’re weighing your ingredients for a recipe OR you’re tracking your food, you need a scale. I weigh almost all my proteins that I consume, especially my lunch and dinner, because while I can eyeball things, I like to know, to make sure I’m consuming what I think I’m consuming, and not just guessing. I track using the Lose It app.

🎯 On a personal note, I’ve seen the biggest changes in my body, physique, energy, sleep, and fitness when I’m consuming 120-130+ grams protein a day and in order to know with certainty, it’s just obligatory to weigh my food.

There’s no way to know the difference between 4 ounces vs. 5 1/2 ounces of chicken when it’s sitting in a bowl on top of a salad. But that’s ~15 grams of protein which can make or break your goals for the day, one way or the other.

I wrote about protein in this post below. What to eat, how to do it, how to clock in 100 grams daily. For everyone who’s still not on board: You should be eating nearly 1 gram of protein per day for every pound of body mass. So if you weigh 150 pounds you should be eating nearly 150 grams of protein. At a minimum, 0.8 grams per pound. So if you’re 150 lbs, that’s 120 grams protein.

And I have a High Protein Recipes ebook each with 30 grams protein per serving for anyone who needs recipe ideas!

Health, Beauty, Fitness

Digital Bathroom Scale (for you, not your food). The BEST scale I’ve ever tried! Reminds me of the high end scale at my gym that personal trainers use and it scans your body. But this is done in your home and in two seconds with all your data.

Weight, body fat, BMI, visceral fat, muscle, bones, water, and more. You put an app on your phone (it’s super easy to install, no million user names and codes), open the app, it tells you to step on the scale, and in 2 seconds all your data is passed to your phone. And it saves it so the next time you step on the scale, it tells you which categories you’re up, down, and what percentage. Super helpful tool for me after not stepping on a scale in about 5 years.

Collagen and Biotin Pills - Works as well as products twice or triple the price and you only need to take two a day, not a half dozen like with many brands. I’ve seen great skin texture improvement, longer lashes, better stronger nails, definitely recommend these.

Workout gloves - No amount of time in the gym has ever prepared my palms for “toughening up”. I’ve tried. I just end up with blisters. Not to mention, this gives a little bit of help when you’re trying to pick up weights since there’s texture things are less slippery. I am a medium.

Grippy Things - I don’t know what these are really called but basically you put them in your palms (I keep my gloves on), then put this in your hand, and your grip just got so much better. It feels like you have so much more grip strength and if you’re working on pullups, assisted pullups, dips, anything where your grip strength and grip ability is at the forefront, these have been a game changer. for me. I saw these on a Facebook ad but got them on Amazon for so much cheaper than the ad was trying to sell them to me. Why is grip strength important? See below.

🎯 Also, if you don’t know, grip strength is one of the most accurate predictors of longevity and health. Just go Google “grip strength longevity” and a whole slew of information comes up including a National Library of Medicine article about it being a key biomarker.

Moving on…

The Holy Grail Makeup & Toiletry Kit - This is a knockoff of the Parallel brand which is $155 AND it’s always sold out. This is one of only a couple items on this list that is over $35 (it’s $42) but honestly I have looked for years and years and years to consolidate ALL my makeup, hair, beauty, creams, pills, etc. into ONE kit for travel so that I am not lugging multiple bags in and out of hotel bathrooms to my suitcase.

This is a big, roomy kit and I love that all your products stay upright. Honestly best dupe ever and I truly love it. I traveled with it to Disney last week and it has changed my travel game. I have looked and looked for years and years and bought so many other dob kits, makeup, toiletry bags, it’s all here - forever. Super high quality and EQUAL to Parallel which I have it in the smaller $110 size.

I love this thing so much I just made a video!

Makeup Brush Cleaning “Bucket” and Brush Cleaning Solution - I cleaned my brushes and my daughter’s the other day (it had been way too long, you don’t even want to know) and this little bucket is key because it has a textured base so do this in kitchen sink with lots of running water and watch what comes out. I don’t even want to know. Best $20 bucks for both I’ve spent in ages. Then you can prop the brushes up to dry in these little “holes” in the bucket. I set that on my patio table in the sun to dry for an afternoon and all was well.

Apparel for Both Women and Men

Lightweight Tank Top - Also for my Disney adventures, I got some tank tops that aren’t overly clingy, that can easily hide bra straps underneath, at a great price point, soft fabric, thick enough not to show every lump and bump, and this delivers. I actually loved it so much I got pink, apricot, ivory, and black. I’m set for the summer for $80 bucks :) I got a large but could take a medium. I’m 5’11” and don’t like tight anything on top. Especially in hot weather.

Men’s Golf Shirt - This shirt is so good. It competes at an elite level with those $115 Peter Millar’s which IYKYK. Honestly, run and buy this in every color for every guy you know. It’s just so so go good. The fabric is buttery soft, silky, just an incredible shirt for $20 bucks!

Next Men’s Golf Shirt - This is the one my husband is wearing in the photos above. Also a $20 shirt that plays way above its league. He’s a medium. He’s about 5’6” and 165 pounds.

Men’s Linen Pants - Purchased for a Europe trip and they’re a solid buy in many different colors.

Women’s Sweater Top - I went through a phase where I bought this in tons of colors - black, red, ivory, tan, cream - and I don’t regret it. I’ve had them 18-24 months, the black and ivory especially I’ve worn and washed the heck out of them and they’re still looking great! For work, for a casual date night, for a girls night, the ivory one for chilly church mornings with a cardigan on top. Photo below.

Wireless Bra - I like this so much better than Eby, Negative, or bras that are $65+ dollars each. I take the pads out but you can keep them in and they don’t move around. I have it in 3 colors and started buying the set but they’re sold individually. Comes with a clasp extender so if you’re between band sizes, I’d probably size down knowing that there is a band extender included in the package but you know your girls.

Travel Related

I have a large travel section on my Amazon storefront but want to feature a few key items here. But make sure to check that out for all my recs!

Bendy Travel Pillow - No more U-shaped collars around your neck! This one molds to you. Enough said.

Packing Cubes - If you still aren’t using them to organize AND maximize space in your suitcase, you’re missing out. Hop on the packing cube train. I’ve stretcheddddd these to their max capacity for 3+ years now, this exact set, all over Europe and South America, and they’re perfect. Zippers intact, no rips.

One Charger For the US and North America, South America - Stop carrying all those chargers! Just get this one.

One Plug In/Charger For Everything for Europe - Going to Europe? Get this ONE thing. It’s just that simple.

Pills & Supplement Case - If you take collagen pills, probiotics, or bigger pills (and you need to take 3 to 6 of them per day) then you need this organizer. Magnetic, seals well, everything stays organized.

The Holy Grail Makeup & Toiletry Kit - Also in the above health/beauty section, but putting it in Travel too because it’s that good!

Food and Grocery

I do not obsess with the most organic, the cleanest ingredients, the most perfect. I find value in the items in this section but just like everything else, your mileage may vary.

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts - Without a separate subscription to Amazon Grocery. This may vary by your area what’s available. However, in San Diego I can say that the quality is excellent. Tastes like a much higher level of organic, farm-raised, etc. type of chicken than it’s labeled as. Kind of like Trader Joe’s chocolate bars are rumored to be Scharffen-Berger. This chicken may likely be much more elite than it is, but because of labeling laws, they can’t over-promise things. I don’t know. What I do know is that it’s sold in 4 to 5 pound packages. I always receive 4.5 pounds. I grill it all and have meal prep done for 3-4 days.

Last week’s Amazon chicken.

Last night’s Amazon chicken.

Quest Birthday Cake Protein Bars - 20 grams protein, 12 grams fiber (which is about HALF of your recommended daily fiber intake in 1 bar so IMO they could be also sold as high fiber bars!), 1g sugar, really sweet, and if you’re eating healthy enough, these definitely taste like a treat to me.

Aloha Bars - Much cleaner ingredients so I’ve been told (again, I don’t really care and don’t obsess). My daughter loves the peanut butter and I’m all about the cookie dough.

Clear Protein with Electrolytes - The ONLY protein powder that I’ve ever tried that ACTUALLY DISSOLVES without issue. Barely needed to stir it with a spoon. No shaker cups, no clumps, no undissolved blobs, these are elite. I travel with them, I love them, I get a cup of water from a Starbucks or the first place I see when I get off an airplane, add a packet, and drink. Not only is there protein, but there’s also electrolytes which save me from altitude or travel-induced migraines, headaches, and just feeling off. Does not upset my stomach at all. Also great for early mornings when you don’t want “creamy”, chocolaty, or heavy traditional protein. I also have a link through the Arrae website and if you’re willing to sign up for autoship, it gets a lot cheaper.

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What have you bought on Amazon that’s been elite in class and just a great buy?

Planning a Visit to Walt Disney World in Florida? Read This First!

Last week I was fortunate enough to be invited by Walt Disney World to Summer Fun Fest to preview some brand new updates to some of the attractions, rides, and fun stuff they’ve been working on as part of their Cool Kids Summer launch. Let’s face it, for families with kids, summer offers the most flexibility in terms of planning time at Disney and they’re making sure to maximize precious summer vacations and your time together as a family.

Running from May 26-September 8, there are new character experiences, dance parties, and attraction upgrades to the parks, alongside exclusive family-focused deals like resort discounts and complimentary water park admission on check-in day. Yay! Make sure to check out their Summer Events page for more info.

I live in San Diego about 75 minutes from Disneyland in Anaheim and am pretty familiar that park.

However, the various Disney Parks in Florida are just so much bigger, more sprawling, and with more to do, and more going on. Planning your days before you get there so you maximize your time rather than wandering in circles or waiting unnecessarily in long lines is what I’m here to help you with. And so that everyone from little kids to big kids alike do so without melting down.

Buckle up, pour a coffee, and enjoy the nearly 100 photos I’m sharing and my experiences and insights. Here are some important tips:

• Download the Walt Disney World app and familiarize yourself with it. Disney World and Disneyland have two separate apps, make sure you grab the right one. The app can link your park admission tickets and hotel room if you’re staying on property. You’ll rescan every time you enter a new park along with your fingertip, and doing so through the app is easy.

• You’ll need the app to reserve Lightning Lanes (fast entrance to certain popular attractions which cuts down wait times from let’s say an hour to 15 minutes, for example).

• You can also pre-order food at their fast casual restaurants via the app. Order your food, walk over, tap the “I’m Here” button, your order should be ready in minutes. I find pre-ordering is less necessary in Orlando than in Anaheim but still very helpful to save time.

• Also have your Googlemaps or Maps at the ready because in my experience the Disney apps don’t quite navigate you to exactly where you want to go within the parks and true map-based apps are more geo-precise. Nothing worse than walking down a path only to figure out you should have taken a hard left rather than a softer left and then you need to backtrack. And it’s 95F.

• Buy Park Hopper passes if you can swing it so that you can go from one park to another on the same day, which is easy to do via monorail or Disney shuttle buses. It’s a way to mix up your days and see new things and freshen up your scenery. In my opinion, Magic Kingdom will always be the most crowded and if you mentally max out with that, having another park to be able to hop over to during the peak of the day may be a sanity saver if you’re not one for crowds or are traveling with kids.

• For some things, Disney transportation buses are the best option and they’re free. For other routes, like going from the parks to Disney Springs (aka Downtown Disney for all your west coasters) to from our Disney hotel which was the Port Orleans, it’s faster and very inexpensive to take an Uber or Lyft even if you’re staying at a Disney property. At the end of a long day, getting somewhere quickly for a $5.85 Lyft charge, and we were back in 10 minutes rather than 30-45, was a big win for very little cost. Rideshare is a fraction of the price in Orlando than it is in SoCal I realized and saves time and sanity.

• Common sense: Wear shoes you know are your most comfortable, tried-and-true sneakers. My Hokas were on my feet for 15 hours each day. My husband wanted to wear a brand new pair of shoes and I was like nope, not happening, because you’ll (we’ll) be suffering later.

• Wardrobe: Make it comfortable and functional. I lived in these cutoffs and different colors of these lightweight tanks. My husband wore various colors of this golf shirt and we were both happy with our wardrobe choices, given the 90F+ temps plus Florida humidity.

• Bring a power bank for your phone! You will burn through your battery with all that app’ing and toggling and Disney doesn’t have many places within the parks to sneakily plug your phone into a wall in their restaurants - trust me, I looked. So my power bank saved me.

• Bring the least amount of personal stuff you possibly can get away with. For me, I carried what I needed in my Lulu belt bag (shown in pics below). For people with kids, maybe that’s a backpack of some sort. Just remember, you’re carrying it, all day. Yes there are lockers but you will need to walk back to them to get your stuff out.

• You can bring a stroller and Disney is probably the most accessible place out there for people who need it. Ask, and you shall receive is what I’ve been told from friends who’ve been in wheelchairs, motorized scooters, who have a kid with a broken leg, special needs family members, and more.

• You do not need cash (and in fact some places are cashless), and you don’t need a bunch of credit cards. I bring one card, my ID, and tap-to-pay on my phone for everything.

• There are fountains all over the parks to refill water bottles, which you can bring your own. And you can bring in your own snacks or food. I went with a Chomps stick and a protein bar each day just in case to prevent hangry moments and keep my protein up.

Fun fact: the last time I was at Walt Disney World was in February 2016 running the Disney Half Marathon. Six weeks later I ran another half marathon at Disneyland making me “special” (or just crazy) in what Disney calls their Coast To Coast Challenge, where you run one marathon in both parks, within one calendar year.

Let’s Go To Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Our first full day started off at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

We specifically headed towards the Galaxy’s Edge area of the park. Think all things Star Wars!

We previewed the Millenium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run which is newly redesigned and for the first time ever, the crew will be in control of their own destination, leading to potential adventures on Bespin, the wreckage of the second Death Star around Endor, or the just-announced bustling city-planet, Coruscant. This is mostly a 4D/virtual “ride” and it’s incredible how realistic it all was!

Then we headed over to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. If you’re going to use a Lightning Lane pass, this is one to do it on, since it’s very popular. Although midweek, late morning, we were able to get on in about 30 minutes!

There’s a parallel attraction at Disneyland and so my husband was super excited about this one! You’re in a multi-person “cart” that moves through the ride but there’s nothing physically “scary” here since again, there’s a lot of effects and 4D without anything fast moving.

We had lunch at the ABC Commissary and using mobile order pickup, we had zero wait. We were starving by the time we inhaled our tacos, pork, and chicken salad.

Then we made our way over to the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starting the Muppets and were able to preview it before they open this newly enhanced ride to the public tomorrow.

I love roller coasters and this was a 10000/10 for me! It starts out fast, you go upside down, and my husband hates roller coasters and speed (opposite of me!) but he survived in one piece. If you’ve ever been on Incredicoaster, this is the closest coaster in terms of that overall vibe IMO.

The last time I was on the Rock ‘n’ Roller coaster was 10 years ago when I was running the Walt Disney World Half Marathon and it lived up to my memory, and then some. With high-speed thrills, a pulse pounding soundtrack with a rock remix, and a VIP list like no other, this reimagined attraction hits all the right notes! There’s also new Muppets merch. This attraction is one that if you may want to consider using a Lightning pass.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

After a really intense first 8 hours of our day, by 3PM we were ready for something more chill: like going to see the animals in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. We hopped a Disney bus over and were there in no time.

Although we didn’t have time to check out Zootopia: Better Zoogether, I wish we did because it’s a new 4D show at the Tree of Life theater featuring familiar furry faces from Zootopia and Zootopia2 and it’s a wild and hilarious adventure.

We did go on Avatar Flight Of Passage and again, I had only been on this one 10 years ago when I was at Disney for my half marathon and back then, it was without a doubt the coolest ride/adventure/attraction I had ever been on in my life! And you know what, IT STILL IS. It’s impossible to adequately describe this experience but basically you’re virtually flying on the back of a bird-like animal called a banshee and you’re viewing the world with a literal bird’s eye view. If you’ve ever been in a helicopter in Hawaii or barrel surfing big waves, there are moments that feel just like that.

My husband was blown away, and we both left the trip talking about how amazing this one is. Don’t miss it. Animal Kingdom is incredible because of all the animals, and as a bonus, you’ve got Avatar too!

We also went on a sit down 22 minute safari ride through the bush and it was the perfect relaxing ending to our day. We saw so many beautiful animals!

We closed the park down at 6PM. Note that Animal Kingdom closes earlier than the other parks because the animals need to go to bed. In the summer, it’s open later until 7PM but always check before you go.

Disney Springs (aka Downtown Disney)

Disney Springs is where you’ll find dozens of restaurants, dessert shops, boutiques, an AMC movie theater, bowling alley, bars like the House of Blues, a Cirque du Soleil theatre, and more.

After a long day at Hollywood Studios and then Animal Kingdom, we took an $8 Lyft over to Disney Springs. Specifically, we had dinner at Summer House on the Lake. I highly recommend reservations for this particular restaurant and if you’re traveling with a party of more than 2, anywhere you go, reservations are ideal, although not technically obligatory, you need to be willing to wait. You’re not the only person or family who wants to have dinner about 6-8PM after the parks.

Food, view, service, and vibes at Summer House was 10/10 and both my husband and I needed salads and healthier food and it delivered. And then we ordered the Cookie Butter Cheesecake (not healthy) but oh so good! The pastry chef at Summer House has competed in multiple baking shows on TV and you can taste it. Wow!

The previous night, following our long travel day from San Diego to Orlando, we went to Wine Bar George quite honestly because we stumbled on it and they had two open seats at the bar. We were winging it without reservations, at 8PM, starving, and things were very full everywhere else we had looked into.

We were veryyy hungry and ordered meatballs, lamb lollipops, I ordered the chicken, and my husband ordered the ribeye. It was at least 14 ounces if not more. If I were to do it again, I would skip the appetizers (or get a cheese board instead because they looked amazing) and then just order main courses because the portion sizes were extremely generous, even when super hungry.

Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom

I kicked off our second full day in the parks with media and press interviews. It was such a unique and very special opportunity to be able to talk to engineers, designers, and people who were really integral in making enhancements and changes to the various attractions in the various parks.

First up was chatting about Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin with Jeff Harmon and another team member, Kimberly. It now has all digital targets and everything came to life in collaboration with WDI. You can find new secrets, there’s an intergalactic hero, and a multi colored ring to unlock the target. Since this attraction has been a rite of passage ride for many over the past 30 years, and for many kids it’s their first ride, there’s a congratulatory message at the end, and since not all messages are the same, patrons will be encouraged to ride again.

We also chatted about Big Thunder Mountain Railroad with Wyatt Winter, who’s an executive producer and former cast member at BTM. There’s now a lower height requirement making it a whole family coaster and a fun rainbow feature in the caverns. For me, the best enhancement are the new train cars in which you ride. They’re bigger, much more cushioned, and it’s just a smoother experience, but the same track layout.

Finally, we chatted with Alec Ras, Director of Facility Asset Management. There’s a team of 250 who dedicate themselves to maintaining, beautifying, reworking, and redoing things that need it - in all of the parks, hotel properties, and more. I truly cannot imagine how many lightbulbs, garden hoses, or literal tons of paint they go through!

Speaking of which, Cinderella’s Castle is newly painted gray, after being formerly gray a long time ago, then pink, and now back to gray again. She’s a beauty!

In the Magic Kingdom, my husband and I went on Space Mountain. IMO it’s more tame in Florida compared to in California; and the wildest Space Mountain without a doubt is in Disney Paris! If you’re doing Space Mountain, do it as early in the day as you can or use Lighting to save on wait times.

We hit up Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion, and after couldn’t resist a pineapple Dole Whip.

EPCOT

After a morning at the Magic Kingdom we trekked over to EPCOT using the Monorail. From the Magic Kingdom, take it towards the Disney Hotels, get off on the second stop, and transfer to a second Monorail which takes you to EPCOT. Signage is a little light, so ask for help to make sure you do it right.

We arrived in the early afternoon at Epcot (I am going to stop using all caps because I don’t like screaming at you in my written communications), ravenous from our morning’s activities, and were ready to eat. The great thing about Epcot is that you can literally eat your way around the world.

First stop, and conveniently located to the left of the entrance, is Mexico where we ate at La Cantina de San Angel. Chicken tacos, pork, and some tasty red sangria that wasn’t too sweet.

We continued grazing and snacking around the globe, including a Peach Dole Whip, a glass of Veuve Clicquot and a French beer 1616 for my husband in France.

We had some ceviche back in Mexico, various ice creams, saw a replica of the Gardens at the Palace of Versailles and the Eiffel Tower, and much more - it was a true smorgasbord of food and culture! No complaints!

Venice vibes too!

I also spotted 3 bonsai trees that are the age and corresponding birth years of my daughter, my husband, and myself which I thought was very serendipitous.

It also happened to be the Flower Festival time of year so there were just so many incredible flowers, topiaries and all things botanical in beautiful form.

We looked at Louis Vuitton handbags (no joke, they’re there in Epcot France), took in Morocco and it felt like we were transported into another world, and admired the spectacular foliage and flowers everywhere.

The coolest thing we did was preview the newly vamped Soarin’ Across America attraction which showcase the United States from sea to shining se, and highlights some of the country’s natural beauty and iconic cityscapes. And comes just in time for America’s Semiquincentennial, or 250 years old. I was a bicentennial baby so you can do the math there.

I had never been on this before, so have no basis for prior comparison, but you truly do feel like you’re soaring above America, descending into various cities, with such cool effects. When we were soaring over Hawaii, you could smell flowers; when we were over the plains states with fields, there was a grassy smell. There was a breeze wind effects at points and really neat sensory effects so I highly recommend checking out this out!

We wrapped up with a media-only preview of some of the many things Cool Kids Summer will entail including Bluey’s Wild World. highlights, GoofyCore, Jessie’s Roundup, sampling some of the new food and menu offerings, saw some new merchandise, and it was the final event to an incredible couple of days!

Tell me about the best things you’ve done at the Disney Parks, tips, tricks, or memories! Do you have a trip planned?

Share Averie in Real Life

☀️ Hey hey, my favorite season of the year is on deck: SUMMER! I’ll always be a warm weather, longer days, go to the beach and soak in the sun type of person! And since Memorial Day Weekend is the unofficial kickoff to summer, it’s time to switch up the recipe lineup!

🍽️ I’m sharing 20 of my favorite grilled mains, sides, and easy apps!

📣 And I want to share for all the grilling fans out there, I have a grilling book sharing my favorites! And…I am grateful for your support! I’ve also got a whole collection of ebooks and bundles, too.

The Best 35 Grilling Recipes 📖🔥 Unlock the full potential of your grill with my ebook! From juicy steaks to flavorful veggies, this cookbook is your guide to mastering outdoor cooking. With expert tips and mouthwatering recipes, elevate your grilling game and create unforgettable meals every time.

Grilled Chicken That’s Next Level

Grilled Mango Pineapple Chicken 🥭🍍🍗 EASY, ready in 10 minutes, and the flavor of the juicy chicken makes you feel like you’re on a TROPICAL island! Grilled peppers on the side makes for the PERFECT summer meal!

🧄🍗 This Grilled Spicy Garlic Chicken Recipe is given incredible flavor thanks to the EASY homemade marinade. Created with everyday ingredients, the marinade is super flavorful and results in juicy chicken!

Hawaiian Grilled Pineapple Chicken 🍍🌺🍗Transports you to Hawaii with every bite of this tender, juicy chicken and the grilled pineapple seals the deal! EASY, HEALTHY, ready in 10 minutes, and perfect for summer parties, barbecues, and casual weeknight dinners!

Grilled Lime Cilantro Chicken 🍋‍🟩🌿 EASY, ready in 10 minutes, and the chicken is so TENDER, juicy, and full of Mexican-inspired flavor! Put this HEALTHY chicken recipe on your summer menu rotation and it’ll be a hit with everyone!

Grilled Tandoori Chicken 🧡💚 Recreate this Indian favorite QUICKLY and EASILY at home! If you’re looking for a new spin on grilled chicken, this is THE recipe to try. It’s super juicy, flavorful, and you’ll LOVE IT!

Pork and Steak For the Protein Win

🔥🧡😋Learn how to make juicy and tender Grilled Pork Chops on a gas grill thanks to a super simple homemade marinade that provides the perfect amount of savory flavor! When combined with the natural smoky flavor you get from the grill, these marinated grilled pork chops are a FAST and EASY family favorite! Indoor cooking instructions are also provided.

These Pork Belly Burnt Ends 🐷🖤😍 are crispy, sticky, sweet-and-savory pieces of pork belly are grilled to burnt ends “perfection”! The pork is moist, tender, and everyone goes crazy for it so double the recipe! Perfect for Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, game day parties, or as a special weeknight treat for your family!

🍯🧄 My Grilled Honey Garlic Pork Chops recipe is juicy, moist, and tender, thanks to the simple but tasty honey garlic marinade. Infused with so much FLAVOR, they’re perfect for a quick weeknight dinner idea, summer holidays, or casual backyard barbecues. Everyone LOVES the sweet, savory taste!

These Grilled Steak Kabobs 🥩🌶️🍍combine juicy steak with sweet bell peppers, onions, zucchini, and pineapple for the PERFECT sweet-and-savory kabob! You’ll want to fire up your grill for these! Fast, EASY, zero cleanup, and DELISH! This is flexible recipe and you can mix-and-match the ingredients based on your preferences and what you have on hand.

🍯🐷 Grilled Honey Mustard Pork Chops are SO juicy and tender thanks to a Dijon mustard and honey marinade. And a brown sugar and grainy mustard sauce is the perfect finishing touch to glaze these EASY pork chops that are sure to become your new favorite weeknight pork chop recipe! Naturally gluten-free and high protein! Stovetop directions are also provided.

Easy but Showstopping Sides & Apps

Bacon Potato Salad 🥓🥔🎉 This no mayo potato salad is studded with crispy bacon pieces and coated in a tangy vinegar dressing. It’s ready in just 30 minutes and the whole family will love it! Perfect for picnics, potlucks, casual entertaining, and the perfect EASY side dish!

Pepperoni Pizza Sliders 🍕😋 Pizza by way of supremely cheesy sliders! EASY, ready in 15 minutes, and perfect for parties because everyone LOVES them! Totally IRRESISTIBLE!

Italian Chicken Pasta Salad 🥗🍅🥒🍗 This Italian Chicken Pasta Salad is easy, ready in 20 minutes, and showcases some of my favorite summer ingredients. It’s perfect for summer potlucks and BBQs, a quick lunch, or as a no-fuss family dinner!

Bourbon Maple Slow Cooker Baked Beans 🫘 The BEST baked beans ever! The flavors of bourbon, maple syrup, brown sugar, molasses, and BBQ sauce intensify and concentrate over time, and the resulting beans have incredible depth of flavor. Sweet with a bit of heat, robust yet smooth, and extremely satisfying!

Grilled Mexican Corn (Elote) — 🌽👏🏻🎉 Learn how to make EASY and FLAVORFUL grilled Mexican street corn at home in minutes! Fresh sweet corn is covered in crema, cheese, and finished with chili, lime juice, and cilantro! If you’ve never tried corn this way, you’re in for a real treat!

🧡💛 This Classic Macaroni Ham Salad is a family favorite made with tender elbow macaroni, bell peppers, carrots, celery, ham, and a super creamy dressing! You can make it up to a day in advance if you want to get ahead and serve it at your next casual get-together, backyard barbecue, picnic, potluck, or weeknight family dinner! Everyone always wants seconds!

Fiesta Bean Salad with Corn 🌽 Such a fast and easy recipe to make! Plus, it’s loaded with flavor and textures galore. Two kinds of beans, juicy corn and tomatoes, crisp peppers, and green onions are tossed in a lime-chili-cumin vinaigrette that’s perfectly light!

🧀🎉🌽 Cheesy Baked Mexican Corn Dip is hot corn dip reminiscent of Mexican street corn because it’s creamy, cheesy, spiked with lime juice, chili powder, and a serrano chile or jalapeno for a touch of heat! SO EASY and ready in 20 minutes! Perfect for parties, potlucks, tailgating, or your next FIESTA!

Ham and Cheese Sliders 🍔 Baked juicy ham and Swiss nestled in soft Hawaiian rolls and brushed with a buttery Dijon, onion, and poppy seed topping! Fast, easy, and a party favorite!

🌮🎉🧡 Layered Beef Taco Dip is the good old fashioned FAST and EASY layered taco dip everyone ADORES! Made with seasoned ground beef, cream cheese, sour cream, black beans, cheese, tomatoes, and more! Perfect for your next FIESTA and a guaranteed WINNER with everyone!

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• Before we get into it, if the book isn’t at least a 4/5 stars, it didn’t make this cut. And the recipes are ALL 5/5 stars because I made them 😊 and not only that, they’re reader favorites year after year with glowing reviews.

• The books are listed in the order of what I have most recently read and move back in time. And as I went back and looked at my digital bookshelf, these are ones that really stood out for me and 6-12 months later, are still memorable.

• Here is nearly every book I’ve read in the last 18-24 months. I didn’t include a few that were just too awful and wouldn’t recommend anyone waste their time on. So let’s say 95% of all the books I’ve read are on the list. I read about 50-100 books a year, depending on the year.

Books and Recipes To Pair Them With

Yesteryear - Follows the story of an influencer who longs for a tradwife existence (honestly, why? I don’t get this!) and in the meantime is popping out kids, doing as her husband says, and making bread on her ranch. Until everything changes.

How to Make Sourdough Bread (without a starter!) 🍞 This easy sourdough bread recipe uses yogurt and sour cream in place of a traditional sourdough starter, which makes it possible to prep a loaf in less than a day!

The Measure - If you knew how long your life would be, would you want to know? Would it change how you live the life you have? Would you do anything differently? A wonderful book for book club discussions.

The Best Homemade Chocolate Ganache Cake 🍫🤎🎉 is truly is the BEST homemade chocolate cake, EVER! And we should all eat more cake in the life we’re living. Moist, rich, just one bowl, and no mixer required, for this cake that has 500+ 5-star reviews! ⭐️ The cake is topped with a smooth chocolate ganache frosting for the ultimate in decadence! A scratch chocolate cake that requires just 10 minutes of hands-on prep is always a great thing!

Buckeye - Set in a post-WWII era, this book has it all with midwesterners having affairs, illegitimate children, gay secrets, the role of women, keeping secrets, a 5 star experience!

Easy Fruit Salad 🍓🍊🫐🥝 in a trifle dish gives me 1940-50s vibes and it matches with the book cover a little bit - or just make it in a big bowl, no fancy dish required! Fresh fruit is tossed in a light dressing made with orange juice, honey, and lime juice for the perfect balance of citrus meets sweet and tangy. Works with most any fruit and can be assembled the night before your next picnic, potluck, party, or event!

Strangers - True story, biography, and wait for it… This woman’s husband decided to leave her and their 3 children in the early days of the pandemic and basically just up and leaves, no warning. You’ll really wonder if you know anyone after you read this. And you’ll champion for her.

Healthy Ground Turkey Stir-Fry 🥕🥦🧡 gives me pandemic vibes because I vividly remember only being able to obtain these ingredients at my local grocery store. A pound of ground turkey and some very common veggies no one else seemed to want. But it’s an EASY, flavorful, FLEXIBLE stir fry that takes advantage of lean protein and your favorite veggies that you have in your produce drawer! Ready in 25 minutes and perfect for meal-prepping!

Anatomy of an Alibi is a twisty thriller and another one that makes you wonder if you can trust what your signifiant other is telling you or if you know them at all. Fast paced but won’t keep you up at night. I loved the narration because I love Saskia Maarelevald’s throaty, raspy voice for thrillers. I adored First Lie Wins and this followup book for Ashley Elston was also a win for me (the books aren’t connected or series’ed in any way).

Baked Ham and Cheese Sliders 🍔 feel like something these characters would’ve eaten. They were a lot of car scenes and driving and what’s better than homemade sliders on a road trip. These are made with juicy ham and Swiss cheese nestled in soft Hawaiian rolls and are brushed with a buttery Dijon, onion, and poppy seed topping! Fast, EASY, and a party and family FAVORITE, everyone is going to want this recipe!

The Correspondent - Incredible book, listen to the audiobook because it makes it even better. We follow the story of a woman’s life, as told through the correspondence and letters she has written over the course of her life, and we learn about her, her relationships, her character, and her interactions with those around her as we “eavesdrop” into her life through these letters. Phenomenal.

Sheet Pan Lemon Garlic Butter Salmon 🍣 is a classy yet no frills meal that feels like the main character in the book, Sybil, would eat. Juicy salmon at home in 30 minutes that’s EASY and tastes BETTER than from a restaurant! The butter is infused with lemon and garlic and adds so much FLAVOR!

The Briar Club is a book I’ve discussed before and it really stands out for me because of the power of female friendships. A group of women who don’t know each other all come to live at The Briar House in post war 1950 Washington, D.C. This book is currently free on Kindle Unlimited and I would run to download it!

Waldorf Salad 🥗 is a a classic, timeless crowd favorite ! It makes a great holiday side dish - or summer side dish - that your guests will devour thanks to a sweet and creamy dressing that coats a mixture of apples, grapes, celery, walnuts, and more!

Broken Country is another book that I’ve mentioned before and won all kinds of awards for best book of… in 2025. We’ve got past-and-present, toggling back and forth with a love triangle, loss, decisions to make, secrets and jealousy. This is a love and human relationships book with the pacing of a thriller. You won’t be able to put it down!

These Oven-Baked Pork Chops 🐷 are rustic, simple yet satisfying, and would be perfect for our cast of characters in their setting - or for you! Use either bone-in or boneless pork chops and they’ll turn out PERFECTLY every time! Juicy, tender, ready in 20 minutes and great for busy weeknights! A simple dry rub gives these pork chops the perfect amount of balanced flavor!

Look Closer is a tense thriller, following a couple with a seemingly very upscale life and predictable (boring) marriage in Chicago, yet nothing was as it seemed. Complex plot, lots of characters, and if you want a full cast of narration, you’ve got it with this audiobook version. If you read other David Ellis books, grab this one. It’s fantastic! And if you’re not familiar with him, this is a great place to start.

Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Bread 🍁 is very fitting for this book because there’s a Halloween time of year element that’s very central to the plot. And there’s also running (or a vivid running scene I really remember) - and as a runner, I can attest to there being nothin’ better than some sweet carbs going down pre or post run. No mixer, so simple, make it all year long!

American Dirt is free on Kindle Unlimited! We follow the story of a woman willing to do anything to give her young son a better life after her world as she knew it was shattered by cartel violence in Mexico. They ride trains - not as traditional passengers - but they try to jump onto moving trains - to escape their old life and be transported to a new life in America, all while risking their life riding trains. This book showed me a whole world that I had no idea existed, a whole underbelly, the drive of the human spirit, that mothers will risk and do anything to give our children a better life, or a life at all. Two years later, I still think about this book.

Easy 20-Minute Chicken Tinga Tacos 🌮 with super juicy chicken has AUTHENTIC smoky chipotle FLAVOR! When you’re craving tacos, these are the tacos to make!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms! This job isn’t for the faint of heart but being a mom has been my greatest gift, my greatest life’s work, and I am so grateful to have been blessed with my daughter!

And now…onto the gifts! Other than the hair dryer, I’ve personally tried, own, and love everything on this list - or it wouldn’t be here!

Beauty Related Gifts

Dyson Travel Hair Dryer - With universal voltage for international travel! No more carrying all those adapters and worrying if your hair dryer is going to work (or blow up your Airbnb too?). Or actually being dependent on your Airbnb’s $14.99 dollar ConAir from 2002 that who knows how many other heads it’s touched. Love this!

** For the Crown Affair products below, use code AVERIE15 at checkout to save 15%!!!!!

Crown Affair Hair Towel - Shaves so much time off drying my hair. I have one, my daughter has one, highly recommended.

Dry Shampoo - The crown jewel of dry shampoo and takes my day 5-6 hair and transforms it into day 2 hair.

Mini Brush - Has both boars hair AND nylon bristles to really give the best of both worlds. Great for purse, gym bag, travel.

EltaMD Facial Sunscreen - The best I’ve ever used, period. Not greasy, gloppy, doesn’t break you out or turn you white or sweat off easily. After spending thousands of dollars on laser skin resurfacing to help combat sun damage on my face, this is the sunscreen my dermatologist and my plastic surgeon. Get it, you will not regret it!

Patrick Ta Creme Foundation and Setting Powder - I may never wear another foundation/concealer/anything else on my face. Goes on velvety smooth, not greasy, stays in place, doesn’t sink into fine lines and wrinkles, and I love love love it! Discovered a year ago and have never looked back.

Kitchen Items Built To Last

Cosori Air Fryer - Stainless steel, nontox coating, large capacity, looks beautiful on her countertop and something she’ll be happy to see everyday - not an ugly black box.

Caraway Large Saute Pan with Lid - Nontox, safe ceramic that does not stick. I have the white with gold hardware and they all have a light gray interior. Tons of color options. It’s what I use to make everything from Chicken Fried Rice to Asian Stir Frys to Beef Taco Meat. I love this size because I can cook a big batch of food for meal prep and planned leftovers.

OurPlace Always Pan 2.0 - Comes with a lid, steamer basket (great for fish, veggies, dumplings, you name it) and also a safe, nontox ceramic pan. This one doesn’t have quite the size IMO that the Caraway does above but has the steamer basket and also comes in many color options and has a cool modern matte finish.

AllClad Stainless Steel with Lid - This beauty has been in my life 13 years, and still looks perfect and works like a champ. I’ve literally cooked 2000+ recipes in it! From Thai Chicken Coconut Curry to Garlic Butter Chicken and the best Lemon Dijon Chicken, look no further than this AllClad.

I love this exact one because it has surprising depth that ones with more of a curvature at the base don’t, so you can make more food in it than it looks like.

Fitness Mama

Oura Ring - Purchased in November and have worn it every minute of the day except when showering and it’s charging, this little ring has singlehandedly changed my sleep life, my overall life habits (less drinking, less heavy meals before bed), and has made me more cognizant, aware, and just tuned in to what my body is doing all day long, and especially while I sleep.

If you’re a person who’s always slept great, you can skip this more than likely because the workout data is as good or superior on an Apple Watch or similar fitness watch (sidebar I love love love my Apple Watch and can’t be without it not even just as a watch but as a workout device, a business tool to quickly glance at texts and messages).

However, if you’ve ever struggled with sleep, insomnia, waking up and can’t get back to sleep, the Oura Ring gives you clues what your body is doing. Is your temp elevated? Your heart rate? How’s your heart rate variance? Are you tossing and turning a lot? All these “little” things are incredible to know.

Also, if you’re a younger woman and trying to family plan naturally, I think this would be so helpful. If you’re a perimenopausal woman, it helps predict irregular cycles, at least for me it has. It has predicted before I get sick that I am going to get sick so I can double down on vitamins. Just literally love love love.

Buy the sizing guide, wear it for 2 days, then decide. Also, if you’re between sizes, I personally would size down not up because when you wash your hands in a public bathroom or sink, you do not want it sliding off with soap and these rings are heavier/bulkier than normal rings so I just don’t want that weight to help propel this ring and it goes flying off!

I was between sizes, bought the bigger, regretted it after a couple days, returned it, and got the smaller size and am very happy. I have the White Ceramic which doesn’t go on sale because it’s new and I love it and would re-buy it 1000x over. Doesn’t scratch, period.

Lululemon Flow Y Bra - The GOAT (greatest of all time). I have bought it in dozens of colors over the years. The Nulu fabric is buttery soft and I love it. I buy the A-C, it’s tightish, but it holds me in, and this is my base layer for 100% of any workout activities from lifting to yoga to running. I don’t like sports bras that have an actual back clasp (this one doesn’t), and while adjustable straps can be nice, these hit me perfectly and I don’t feel there’s anything to adjust. Sports bras and tops are highly personal but this is mine.

For yoga, pilates, running, walking, or the gym, I only wear the Lululemon Align line because the fabric is buttery soft, the right amount of stretch, it lasts forever, it’s sweat absorbent and wicking, it just works for me!

I machine wash these and hang everything up to dry. I do not put any of these in the dryer.

Lulu Align Short - I always get the 6 inch inseam. My daughter gets the 4 inch inseam, but we’re 30 years apart 😉. I have it in every color, this is all I wear for running, walking, yoga, Pilates, the gym. Basically this is the only thing I wear.

Align 17” Crop Pants - When it’s too cold to run outside in San Diego in shorts, I wear cropped pants. I like the 17 inch because it comes just underneath the knee, but doesn’t go down all the way over my calf. Those are 21 inches.

Align 28” Pants - These are full length pants that come to your ankle, I’m 5’11” and they still come to my ankle. But they do come in 31 inches if you’re really tall AND really long-legged.