Cody and I have driven from Arizona to Austin and vice versa over 5 times now…. Hopefully (and sadly), we just made our last trip on that drive.

Everyone knows that road trips make it especially difficult to eat healthily.

Fast food, candy, and energy drinks entice more easily. Especially when there are basically no other options.

I’ve gotten better at preparing for these road trips because we don’t want to just eat junk the entire time.

So, for our 15-hour trek from Happy Jack to Austin this time, I prepared better snacks and some pre-made food to keep us occupied.

We didn’t purchase a single snack or fast food item on our entire drive 🎉

I’ll share with you all my favorite healthier pre-packaged snacks in this post and what I prepped.

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Snacks

At the cabin, I had been loving ordering from Thrive Market. They really do have a great selection of items with the best prices and was extremely convenient for me living so far from the store. I started ordering most of my canned goods and packaged items from there the last few months.

The shipping was always fast too even living in BFE Happy Jack.

What I ordered for the road trip:

Lesser Evil is one of my favorite healthier snack alternative brands. Their ingredient list isn’t 100% perfectly paleo, but pretty dang close. I want to try more of their cereals and other snacks. I’d try anything from this brand. You can typically find some of their products at Sprouts or Whole Foods, but Thrive Market seems to have the best selection.

• Sun Poppers by Lesser Evil

Okay, I’ll admit. We ate these at the house before we even started our trip haha! But they were legitimately our favorite snack of what we bought. These are an incredible sour cream and onion chip alternative! They are SO GOOD! I’ll definitely be rebuying!

• Cheddar Space Balls by Lesser Evil

These are also incredible and are a great alternative for Pirate’s Booty! That’s what they tasted like to me. So good and just the right amount of cheesiness and crunchiness.

• Cinnamon Sugar Space Balls by Lesser Evil

These cinnamon space balls are good and are lightly sweetened and flavored, to the point where they could use a bit more sweetness. But they still satisfy the sweet tooth a bit and are nice and crunch. (I do prefer the Siete Churro Chips below, though!)

• Mexican Wedding Cookies by Siete

Siete also makes some of my favorite gluten-free, healthier alternatives. (And they’re Austin based yay! We love.)

I love their tortillas and their hot sauces and spice packets. I’ve had these cookies before and these are our favorite kind if we had to pick between these and the chocolate ones.

• Serrano Sea Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips by Siete

Another staple by Siete and they use avocado as their oil. Super clean ingredient list. Delish.

• Churro Chips by Siete

Okay… I tried these after our road trip and these are INSANE! These are the perfect amount of sweetness and crunch. I was never a huge Cinnamon Toast Crunch girlie but I feel like these are the paleo snack version of a classic American cereal. I want them right now. YUM!

• Baked Crunchy Organic Apple Chips by Bare

These have always been a favorite of mine, but I can’t buy them often because I’ll eat an entire bag in one sitting. So crunchy and good.

• Organic Dried Mango by Mavuno

I always try to find dried fruit without any additional sugar. This kind by Mavuno is great. Trader Joe’s also makes a good organic dried mango without any added sugar.

• Jalepeño Grass-Fed Beef Sticks by Chomps

A staple for our protein intake on the road. I tried the Italian ones on our Portugal trip but Cody and I both prefer the jalepeño ones best.

• Sea Salt Crackers by Simple Mills

Simple Mills is also one of my favorite healthier alternative brands. They make delicious crackers, graham crackers, and baking mixes too. Highly recommend trying some of their items!

What I Prepped

This might be a hot take but tuna salad makes an incredible road trip snack. As long as the people you’re traveling with love you and are okay with consuming fish in the car 😃.

We weren’t going to eat this until our long haul 10-hour drive the second day, so I kept everything separate in a cooler until we were ready to eat it.

• 2 tuna cans

• Finely diced bell peppers, celery, and carrots and kept them in the cooler

• Jar of mayo in the cooler

• Tupperware

• Silverware

When I was ready to eat, I just mixed everything together in the Tupperware and ate them with the Simple Mills crackers and the Siete chips! It was super easy and I could feed Cody while he was driving. It was missing salt and pepper so next time I’ll have that handy or keep a little salt and pepper packet from In-N-Out to use 😉

Other easy meal/snack ideas:

• Smoked sausages

• Charcuterie meats and cheeses

• Prep sandwiches ahead of time

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THANK YOU, LOVE YOU, BYE!

Erin

Here’s your new favorite cozy weather soup! 

Seriously, I eat this for breakfast, lunch, or dinner in the fall and winter when butternut squash is in season. It’s perfectly light, nutrient-dense, fresh, and flavorful.

I like to keep extra butternut squash around in order to make this soup whenever I don’t know what else to make, am short on time, or just feel lazy on a cozy day. They can last one to three months sitting on your counter. 

I also like to add bacon drippings directly into the soup for extra flavor. Fresh herbs also give this soup depth and freshness. I wouldn’t substitute the fresh herbs for dried ones, but you could if you were desperately craving this soup but didn’t have fresh herbs on hand.

Give this a go. You won’t be disappointed!

@erinnnmeckSimplicity at its finest 💛 Easiest Butternut Squash soup for fall 🍂 full recipe in the comments 🧄💛#butternutsquashsoup #fallrecipe #souprecipes #paleorecipes #fallrecipes #simpleingredients

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Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

• 1 pack bacon (reserve the grease)

• 2 tablespoons butter or ghee

• 2 cups yellow onions, chopped

• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

• 1.5 tablespoons fresh sage, chopped

• 4 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash (cut into ½ inch cubes)

• 1 ½ teaspoons salt

• ½ teaspoon pepper

• 4 cloves garlic, minced

• 6 cups chicken stock

What To Do:

1. Cook bacon to your desired crispiness, set aside, and reserve the grease. 

2. Add butter and 1 tbsp bacon grease to a large pot. Add your onions, parsley, and sage. Saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. 

3. Add in the garlic, salt, and pepper and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. 

4. Add in your squash, stir, and cook until your squash starts to become soft, about 10 minutes. 

5. Add in your broth until the squash is completely submerged. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook until you can poke through the squash with a fork. 

6. Uncover and add in ¼ cup of bacon grease and stir.

7. Blend! 

   1. If using an immersion blender: You can immediately blend until smooth in that same pot.

   2. If using a NutriBullet or regular blender: Allow the mixture to cool for a few minutes before transferring to the blender. Pour the blended mixture back into the pot.

8. Ladle the soup into bowls, top with your cooked bacon pieces, a spoonful of bacon grease on top, and enjoy! 

Notes: 

• If needed, add more liquid to the soup after blending everything together to reach your desired consistency.

• Bake the butternut squash ahead of time to save time on the day you want to finalize the soup. Peel and cut the squash. Bake at 400 for 35 minutes, stirring halfway. You won’t need to wait for the squash to soften. You can add in the roasted squash and immediately blend!

• Use veggie stock and omit the bacon for a vegan recipe. 

• Omit bacon grease for a lower-calorie meal. I personally love the taste of it in and on top of the soup.

• Any blender works for this recipe! Work in batches for a smaller blender, like a NutriBullet.

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Please leave me a comment and a heart ❤️ if you liked this post and recipe! Subscribe if you want recipes and cooking inspiration delivered straight to your inbox.

I hope you feel inspired to cook and create rather than order and wait.

THANK YOU, LOVE YOU, BYE!

Erin

I’m here to share the easiest dinner recipe, potentially ever.

Using all condiments that you likely already have in your fridge and pantry, this is a super easy meal if you’re low on time or if you haven’t gone to the grocery store in a week or two. 

This recipe is from Cody’s grandma, Nan. And everybody knows that any recipe that comes from grandma MUST be good. 

Just trust me on this one! This is a better Sloppy Joe’s recipe than any canned or packaged Sloppy Joe mix out there and only consists of 7 ingredients.

I haven’t seen any other Sloppy Joe’s recipes that have as few ingredients as this one. But trust me, it does not lack flavor! 

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Homemade Sloppy Joe’s Full Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground meat (beef, turkey, elk, vegan — whatever you want)

• 1 large yellow onion

• 1 large bell pepper (or two small ones), any color

• 1 cup ketchup

• 1.5 tablespoons yellow mustard

• 1 tablespoon vinegar 

• 1-2 pinches sugar (I use coconut) 

What To Do:

1. Dice your onion and bell pepper and set aside. 

2. Heat a pan over medium heat and add your meat. Break apart the meat and cook for about 5 minutes until some pink is gone.

3. Add in your veggies and cook the mixture until the meat is browned and the veggies become softened.

4. Add ketchup, mustard, vinegar, and sugar. Stir and let the meat simmer in the sauce for about 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so to ensure the bottom doesn’t burn.

5. While the meat simmers, toast some buns or heat up some rice.

6. Serve over warm buns or hot rice and enjoy! 

Notes: 

1. Don’t let your meat and sauce over-reduce! You want the sauce, saucy. 

2. Omit the veggies if you don’t like them. Or half them, or double them. You do you!

@erinnnmeckEasiest Homemade Sloppy Joe’s! Perfect when you want something quick. - 1 lb ground meat - 1 large onion - 1 large bell pepper or 2 smaller - 1 cup ketchup - 1.5 tbsp yellow mustard - 1 tbsp white vinegar - Pinch or two of sugar (I used coconut) 1. Break apart meat, add veggies, and cook until the beat is browned and veggies are becoming soft. 2. Add ketchup, mustard, vinegar, and sugar. 3. Simmer in the sauce for about 20 min. 4. Serve over buns, toast, or rice, or whatever you want, and enjoy! #homemadesloppyjoes #sloppyjoe #sloppyjoes #easydinnerrecipes #groundbeef #groundbeefrecipes #groundbeefrecipe #15minutemeals

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Please leave me a comment and a heart ❤️ if you liked this post and recipe! Subscribe if you want recipes and cooking inspiration delivered straight to your inbox.

I hope you feel inspired to cook and create rather than order and wait.

THANK YOU, LOVE YOU, BYE!

Erin

We sold our cabin.

It was a new, bittersweet experience.

We loved it there, but we also knew it wasn’t our future anymore. 

In order to prepare for potential showings when we first listed our house, we spent an entire week decluttering, selling things, and making many trips to take the trash out.

If you know my husband, then you know he’s… kinda a clean freak. He’s definitely the tidier out of the two of us. 

So of course when we clean the house it can get pretty meticulous. 

“Go get a magic eraser and start scrubbing marks off the wall” type of meticulous. 

We went to great lengths to make the house look as presentable as could be for our first showing to potential buyers. 

We tidied up in the morning. Scrubbed off scuff marks on the walls. Vacuumed the stairs. Dusted cobwebs off on the outside patio. Then we left for a day out so the buyers could come to see the house. 

A few hours later, the realtor texts us after the showing and tells us the showing is over, they’re off the property, and they loved the place. 

“Great, sounds like the first showing went well!”, we think to ourselves.

Even if these aren’t our buyers, we’re feeling hopeful about this sale. But maybe these are the buyers.

The house couldn’t have been cleaner or more put together. 

An Unexpected Visitor

We get home.

A foreign feeling comes over me from strangers just walking through our house and life.

It’s fascinating to think about the stranger you envision just based on their belongings in their home.

I’m unloading the groceries. Cody’s turning on the sauna in the garage and all of a sudden I hear a loud “WTF?!” 

The first thoughts that come to mind are, what’d the visitors mess up?! What’s out of place? What did we miss?

Jump scare.

Something we couldn’t have anticipated.

A 2-foot garden snake.

Coiled up, stuck onto a sticky mouse trap.

Right in front of our refrigerator in our garage. 

NEVER before had we seen a snake in our neighborhood, let alone one in our house!!! And on the day of our first showing! 🤦‍♀️😬

COOL!

Immediate cringe and embarrassment come over us. 

“Did the buyers see that?! Where did that come from? Why today?!” 😫

We’ll never know at what point that snake came out.

The only way we could think of how this happened was that the mouse trap was under the fridge in the garage. The snake must have found his way to it, got stuck, and was able to move enough just to get himself out from under the fridge to be in plain sight sitting out in the garage. 

But, 10 minutes later we were laughing. Joking about how “what can go wrong will go wrong”.

The Life Lesson

You can do everything in YOUR power to control your space, control your environment, control a situation. And out from left field, something we’d never expect, something we never imagined, happens.

And it just goes to show, no matter how much you try to perfect something… Make it justttt right… Something external could come and change that. 

This was a similar learning lesson I had during Covid. You can plan a wedding, plan all these trips, plan your life, try to control your situation as much as possible, and something completely external and unexpected comes and disrupts your vision.

Covid was also the reason we bought the cabin in the first place, but, I digress.

In this situation, honestly, if the buyers did see our slithery friend and couldn’t handle a little reptilian, then maybe staying in the woods an hour from the nearest grocery store might not be for them.

And that’s okay.

For whatever reason, that was supposed to happen that day. 

They weren’t our buyers and over the next few days, the perfect couple made us an offer.

And it just makes for a funny story and something to laugh about now.

Welcome to my first Recipe Recap!

This series is a roundup of some recent recipes I’ve been loving from other creators.

Because every good home cook starts by learning recipes.

Sometimes, I just don’t know what to make and I seek inspiration from others. And sometimes, those recipes become favorites in my household (and favorites of my friends when I share these recipes with them)!

Sometimes I’ll change these recipes and make them my own, but sometimes, the recipes don’t need any adjustments at all.

I hope these are useful when scouring the internet on Sundays trying to figure out what to make for the week.

Enjoy and let me know in the comments if you have any favorite recipes I should try! 🤩

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Recipe Recap — One Pot Dishes

This week, all of these recipes are made in one pot! The salmon curry is the only one that technically needs another tiny pan just to make the garlic butter… but you could omit that or even do it in the microwave!

1. One Pot Hamburger Helper from Defined Dish

I think I made this once a week for over a month. It’s made in one pot and is so easy, filling, and satisfying. You may become obsessed.

I’ve also found my favorite gluten-free noodles by Jovial. They don’t get mushy and hold together really well. They’re my new favorite, go-to noodle brand.

2. Crockpot Thai Beef Stew by Against All Grain

I just made this for the first time and found it to be DELICIOUS! The curry paste I use is a little bit too spicy for me, so even though I used less than the amount she says in her recipe, it still was almost too spicy for me. Next time, I’ll use a different curry paste or less curry paste and more tomato paste.

This is gluten-free, paleo, flavorful and delicious.

3. Coconut Curry Salmon with Garlic Butter by Half Baked Harvest

I’ve made this probably close to 5 times, so you could say it’s becoming a staple salmon recipe for me. The garlic butter really does make it. If you’re bored of plain baked salmon, I definitely recommend trying this one out!

I prefer to use bell peppers instead of broccoli or cauliflower.

4. One Pot Chicken Pot Pie Pasta by Defined Dish

This is my latest obsession. By the same creator of the One Pot Hamburger Helper above, I discovered this beautiful one-pot creation.

It’s lighter, more veggie-filled, and dairy-free compared to the Hamburger Helper. It really just depends on what you’re in the mood for!

The recipe for this is in the Defined Dish cookbook, which is a book I highly recommend and utilize frequently.

This recipe by Eat Move Make almost looks the exact same though, but she uses 3 cups broth instead of 2 cups like Defined Dish. I definitely recommend NOT using the entire 3 right away, and starting with 2 and increasing to 3 if you want it creamier. Your noodles will get too mushy with too much liquid!

I also use full-fat coconut milk as my milk preference and it’s delish.

(Again, Jovial are my favorite noodles to use for this!)

5. Lemon Orzo Soup by Half Baked Harvest

Anything pesto I am in for. I love making my own pesto from home because it’s so easy, customizable, and has fewer filler ingredients than any store-bought version.

“Call me crazy but I’ve just never liked store-bought pesto”….. 😂 IYKYK.

I definitely always add chicken to this to get my protein in!

I hope you try some of these out! These truly are some of my go-to recipes (and creators)!

If you do try them out, let me know which ones become your favorites.

If you have any personal favorite recipes, I’d love to hear them in the comments so I can try something new!

Leave a comment

Please leave me a comment and a heart ❤️ if you liked this post and recipe! Subscribe if you want recipes and cooking inspiration delivered straight to your inbox.

I hope you feel inspired to cook and create rather than order and wait.

THANK YOU, LOVE YOU, BYE!

Erin

I’m proud of myself.

After months of putting this off… I grew a starter from scratch and now can make whatever sourdough baked goods my little heart desires. (It’s a pro and a con, let’s be real).

I procrastinated starting a starter because I thought it was hard and that I wouldn’t be able to get it right.

I was afraid of failing and it all being a waste.

Turns out it was (fairly) easy. Like, a 3/10 in difficulty.

The hardest part was persevering when I thought it wasn’t working.

Let me be the one to tell you that if you’ve been wanting to join the sourdough bandwagon, you can do it!

It just takes a little bit of time, patience, a tiny bit of algebra, and some learning.

And it’s worth it because a fresh baked homemade loaf of sourdough tastes just like bread from a restaurant… Fresh, warm, chewy, and delicious. Nothing better.

This blog post will be all about my process, tips, and what I’ve learned from making a starter and sourdough from scratch.

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The Starter

If you don’t know what I’m talking about when I say “starter”, it’s the key ingredient necessary to make a bubbly sourdough loaf.

A starter is a combination of water and flour (either whole wheat or all-purpose, or a combination of the two). The water and flour have been set long enough to ferment to create natural yeasts and bacteria. It’s a live, fermented mixture. You have to keep it alive by continuously feeding it flour and water.

Typical loaves of bread use yeast to help the bread rise and become chewy. Sourdough doesn’t use any actual yeast, just an active sourdough starter.

You can create a starter yourself, as I did, or you can buy a starter from a bakery, buy a dried starter online, or get some starter from a friend who has one (I’ll gladly share mine!).

My starter is made of whole wheat flour, rather than all-purpose, and it works great for me. My loaves have been crispy and bubbly from the get-go!

Creating a Starter from Scratch

I followed Jesha’s sourdough starter guide and recommend downloading that for full details.

Here’s the TLDR;

What You’ll Need:

• Wide-mouth jar

• Wooden spoon

• Food scale

• Kitchen towel

• Whole wheat flour

• Filtered water

Jesha recommends whole-wheat flour, as it typically ferments quicker than an all-purpose starter. Using whole-wheat flour worked great for me, so I’d recommend trying whole-wheat.

Creating a starter is just a consistent process of feeding your starter flour and water, discarding half the next day, and feeding it flour and water again.

Feed, discard, feed, discard…

Why discard? You discard so that you don’t have to feed the starter as much the next day. Imagine if you kept feeding your starter without discarding it, you’d have to feed it double the amount the next day, and this would exponentially grow your starter to unwieldy amounts.

Discarding also ensures that new flour/food is being introduced to the starter.

Once you have an active starter, you can save the discard to use for other recipes or revive it as an active starter in the future.

The Process

1. Day 1: Start this in the morning. Using a food scale, add 40g whole-wheat flour and 40g filtered water into your empty jar. Stir with your wooden spoon until there are no dry spots and cover with a kitchen towel. Keep it in a warm-ish spot but not in direct light. You want to keep it around 70-80° F at all times. Find a spot in your house that is consistently between those temperatures.

2. Day 2: 24 hours later, discard half. It doesn’t have to be exact. After discarding, feed it 40g whole-wheat flour and 40g filtered water. Stir. Cover. Set aside.

3. Day 3: Same as day 2. Discard, feed 40g flour & 40g water, mix, cover, and set aside.

4. Day 4: Here’s where you’re going to start feeding it twice a day. In the morning, discard, feed, and set aside as you normally would. 10-12 hours later, do this process again — discard, feed, mix, cover, and set aside. That’s why I recommend starting your starter in the morning on Day 1. You wouldn’t want to start it at 2 pm because once you start feeding it twice a day, you’d have to feed it around 2 am. No one wants to be thinking about their starter in the middle of the night.

5. Day 5 - 7: Same as day 4. Feed twice.

Around Day 7, your starter may be active! You can tell your starter is active when it’s bubbly, looks spider webby when you first stir it, and doubles in size 6-12 hours after you feed it.

Don’t worry if it’s not ready on Day 7! Mine took about 10 days to become active, that’s why patience and perseverance are key. Temperature and altitude can affect how quickly your starter becomes active. Keep feeding twice a day until your starter becomes active.

When your starter is active: again, you can tell because it doubles in size, is bubbly, and looks stringy when you stir it!

You’re ready to bake with your starter now!

Next Steps and Keeping It Alive

Depending on how often you want to bake, you can either keep your starter out or put it in your fridge.

1. Baking 2+ times per week: Store at the usual temperature, between 70-80° F, and feed it once or twice every day (same feeding process: discard, and feed).

2. Baking once a week or less: Store in the fridge and feed once a week. When you want to bake, take it out of the fridge 3 days beforehand. Stir the starter and discard everything but 2 tablespoons. Feed 40g flour and 40g water. Feed once or twice a day up to the day you want to bake. Your starter should be bubbly and stringy again by the time you want to bake.

How much to feed it to maintain and to bake?

To just maintain my starter, I feed it 40g of water and 40g of flour.

When you want to bake, and if you want to bake multiple things at once, you’ll need to have enough starter for each recipe, while still having some starter leftover in order to maintain it.

For example, say I wanted to bake 2 sourdough loaves and some sourdough cookies tomorrow.

The sourdough loaves need 80g of starter each, so I’d need 160g total for two loaves. And the cookies need 30g of starter. So I’d need 190g of starter tomorrow.

You’d want to be able to use this much starter and still have some starter leftover in order to keep your starter going.

If I needed 190g tomorrow, assuming I had about 40g of starter when I went to feed it, I’d feed it 100g flour, and 100g water. That feed just added 200g of volume to my starter. That way, when I go and use the 190g of starter tomorrow, I still have 50g of starter leftover in order to feed it and maintain it (40g to begin + 200g feed - 190g baking = 50g leftover).

I’d then feed my starter after I took out what I was baking with in order to maintain it.

Math…

What To Make Once Your Starter Is Active

The possibilities are endless, but here are my favorite recipes that I’ve tried so far:

• Jesha’s Beginner Sourdough Loaf: I’ve made like, 10+ of these. The bottom of mine burns at 450 - 500° F, though. I’ve found my sweet spot is baking at 350°-400° covered, for 20 minutes, and uncovered for 15 - 18 minutes, also at 350°-400°. Still figuring out what works best for me and my oven.

• Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies: Admittedly, I’m craving these immediately. I’ve made these twice, both times for friends and they were absolutely a hit. The 2nd time I let mine ferment overnight, rather than just for 8-10 hours. They spread out more the longer they fermented and were a bit softer, but I maybe could have baked them for a few more minutes. Still unbelievably delicious.

• Sourdough White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies: I might like these better than the OG Chocolate Chip 🤭

• Blueberry Poptart: Tastes like a pie. So good and flaky.

• Any sandwich using sourdough.

• Breakfast mixes to pile on top of a sourdough slice (sausage and eggs with veggies).

• Avocado toast.

• Just a good ol’ piece of toasted sourdough with salted grass-fed butter. Nothing better.

I hope you learned something new in this post and became inspired to create your own sourdough goodies. They’re truly some of my new favorite creations.

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Please leave me a comment and a heart ❤️ if you liked this post and recipe! Subscribe if you want recipes and cooking inspiration delivered straight to your inbox.

I hope you feel inspired to cook and create rather than order and wait.

THANK YOU, LOVE YOU, BYE!

Erin

There’s something about fresh sage that’s just so homey and warming.

I don’t use it nearly enough for the amount of joy it brings me.

It’s a necessity for fall cooking.

These sausages and apples are one of my favorite ways to switch up breakfast in the morning. It’s an especially unique way to enjoy breakfast without any refined carbs.

This is a quintessential sweet and savory meal, perfect for a cozy morning, or as a side dish to an entire Saturday morning breakfast spread.

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Sage Sausage and Apples Fall Recipe

Serves: 2 - 4

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground pork

• ¾ teaspoon salt

• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

• ⅛ teaspoon red chili flakes

• ¾ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

• 2 teaspoons fresh sage, finely chopped

• 2 teaspoons maple syrup

• 4 apples, cored and sliced (peel them if you’d like)

• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

What To Do:

1. Mix pork, salt, pepper, red chili flakes, pumpkin pie spice, fresh sage, and maple syrup in a bowl. Combine well and form into 10-12 patties ½ inch thick.

2. On a skillet over medium-high heat, cook your sausages for 3-4 minutes per side until they become brown, crispy, and cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside.

3. In the same pan, add apples and sprinkle with the cinnamon. Cook until the apples are just becoming soft, about 8 minutes.

4. Place sausage back in skillet to reheat them and mix to combine well with the apples.

5. Serve alone or as a side dish for other breakfast items, and enjoy!!!

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Please leave me a comment and a heart ❤️ if you liked this post and recipe! Subscribe if you want recipes and cooking inspiration delivered straight to your inbox.

I hope you feel inspired to cook and create rather than order and wait.

THANK YOU, LOVE YOU, BYE!

Erin

We were there for a total of 10 days, spending 3 days in Lisbon, and the rest down in Lagos doing a surf camp.

I’ve been to Europe before, but Portugal felt different. Down south outside of Lagos felt quiet and remote, which wasn’t what I expected but was a pleasant surprise.

Here’s what we saw, what we ate, where we went, and what I learned.

For the mems.

Lisbon

We took a red-eye from Toronto and landed late Thursday morning, so we had all afternoon to explore. Though, the amount of sleep we had didn’t allow us to make it too many hours.

Cody had decided before our flight left from Toronto that he was going to hammer a cold brew and work the entire flight….

Classic.

So he slept all of 20 minutes that entire flight, but he did get a lot of work done.

I, on the other hand, slept probably about 5 out of the 8 hours, so I was at least feeling okay by the time we got to our hotel in Lisbon.

Hotel

We stayed at the Atlis Grand Hotel. It was really nice, I would absolutely stay there again. Good sized rooms, a nice gym, good staff, a cute rooftop, with a good location.

We were able to walk basically everywhere we wanted to go from this spot. Though, we opted to take an Uber to breakfast one morning just so we could eat sooner.

And just a note, an Uber to breakfast cost us $4. I feel like you can’t get an Uber, even just a ride down the street, in the States for less than $10.

Everything overall was just less expensive in Portugal (at least everywhere we went).

Food

There is some incredible food in Lisbon. I wish we could have stayed longer to enjoy more of the city’s food scene.

Day 1

That first evening we got there we tried to stay up as long as possible to adjust to the time change.

We went for a walk, got some Coke Zeros and decafs, and found a tiny cute Italian place:

Valdo Gatti

We were traveling with some friends so between the four of us we got two pizzas, some ravioli, and two house salads.

The salads were honestly the star of the show. Fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, with a light balsamic dressing. Delicious.

It was about 4 PM by the time we finished and we hoped that would hold us over until morning.

We ended up falling asleep around 6 PM… Which maybe wasn’t the best decision as Cody and I awoke at 12:30 am hungry…

“Should we get food?”, we said to each other. 😂

The search for open restaurants commenced.

We found a cute, tiny halal place less than a 10-minute walk away, Kebab Hut. We got some chicken shawarma wraps and crispy, salty, hot french fries…. 10/10. Just what we needed for a midnight snack.

I slept again from 3-7 and in very Cody fashion… he didn’t go back to bed and instead, binge-watched a show.

Day 2

Something that we Americans found surprising about Lisbon is how late everything opened. Coffee shops didn’t open until 8 or 9 am, but we were awake at 7….

Unfortunate.

We waited until past 8 and then found the yummiest spot, Manifest, for breakfast and I had maybe one of my favorite breakfast spreads ever.

But it was dinner that night that was one of the most memorable meals from the entire trip.

Rosamar, Lisbon

It seemed like a tiny restaurant when you walked in, as it felt smushed against other buildings on the street and seemed like it would hold a max of 10 people. But when you walk in, it opens up to an entire back patio and a full upstairs.

With our two friends, we were able to try about 10 items on the menu:

• 3 different kinds of oysters (24 in total)

• Watermelon ceviche

• Octopus tostada

• Tuna tostada

• Crab croquettes

• Coconut clams

• Sliced peach dessert

• Basil fried cake

• Plus, a bottle of wine, 2 glasses of wine, an old-fashioned, and a mocktail

• And water (which you have to pay for in Europe, usually)

All for less than $250.

The highlights of that meal were everything except the croquettes (bottom left image). Not for us. Though, beautiful.

Activities

With only 3 days in Lisbon, we mostly just ate, walked around, and slept.

We did explore the castle that’s visible throughout Lisbon, Castelo de S. Jorge.

The views from there were incredible, I’d recommend going just to see the city from an incredible spot. It was about a 30-minute walk from our hotel through the city to the castle.

Some of my favorite memories were the pets that the homeless like to keep for themselves. We saw multiple rabbits and a guinea pig. 😂 The man with his guinea pig honestly seemed so happy feeding his little friend all the hay in the world.

Didn’t see a lot of dogs in Lisbon at all.

Overall, we loved Lisbon. The walks in the city are hilly and provide great exercise. The different viewpoints within the city where you can see the ocean were pleasant surprises. The food was memorable with only having spent less than 72 hours there.

We will be back.

Lagos

Something we learned was that all the Europeans seemed to pronounce Lagos, more like “Lah-goh-sh”, with a “sh” sound at the end.

We rented a car to drive from Lisbon down south. The hotel receptionist at Atlis Grand helped us book the car to be delivered to us at the hotel.

The car was dropped off to us and they asked us, “oh, since you’re American, do you know how to drive manual?”

Stereotypical American I guess, because neither Cody nor I did.

Luckily, our friends did, so it all worked out, but just beware! Make sure to specifically rent an automatic car while in Europe if you don’t know how to drive manual.

Surf Camp

We spent the next week at a surf camp near Lagos called Tiny Whale Surf Lodge.

Driving in, the location was more remote than I had anticipated.

The surroundings looked like brown, California hills with some greenery, but a lot less populated. The hills weren’t covered in houses like they are in Southern California. And it felt a lot more deserty than SoCal’s suburbia.

The Lodge was near an entire field populated with solar panels and a lot of open space with a one-lane road leading up to the Lodge.

We didn’t seem to be passing by many people or many houses hardly at all.

It felt unfamiliar and strange driving in when we first arrived, but by the end of the trip, I appreciated the quiet, low-key location.

Beaches

We surfed 6 out of the 7 days of the camp. One of the days was an off day, but Cody and I and a few others decided to still hit the waves anyway.

These were the beaches we went to:

• Bordeira

• Porto Mós Beach

• Praia de Monte Clérigo

All of them were incredibly beautiful and quiet. Porto Mós was the busiest because it’s closest to the city center of Lagos.

Monte Clérigo, pictured below, is this remote, tiny town on the edge of the beach, with a one-way street leading to the beach and the town. The buildings are colorful and modest. I hadn’t quite seen anything like it before. It was so cute and memorable.

Bordeira had the longest stretch of beach but also the longest walk carrying a heavy soft-top surfboard down a long stairwell. It was actually one of the worst parts of the trip carrying the surfboard that far. 😂

Photo by Lola Lasry

Food

Food was included in our stay at the Lodge and they fed us good, simple, healthy food throughout the days, like:

• Chicken with salad and veggies

• Pot roast with potatoes

• White fish with bell peppers and potatoes

• Seafood curry with rice and green salad

• Salmon with mashed potatoes and broccolini

• And their last night special: fried chicken. YUM.

The desserts were delicious too, with the absolute highlight being an almond cake? It didn’t really seem like a cake at all… It was about a half-inch tall, with what seemed like 8 layers within it. We don’t really know what it was but it was a thin, cold cake with layers of milk and white chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, and toffee. I wish I had taken a photo and I wish I could recreate it.

People

There were about 24 of us at the camp together. We were the only Americans.

The coaches and most of the other campers were from a wide assortment of European countries: Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Ireland, England, Scotland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Wales, Greece, and Serbia. Then one from Australia and one from New Zealand.

One of my favorite parts about the camp was being surrounded by people from all different backgrounds. I loved getting to learn bits and pieces about each specific country everyone was from and hear anecdotes about their life and their experiences.

Something else I found interesting was that while most of them spoke a native language first, their native languages were different from each other (i.e. German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, etc.).

However, we all were able to communicate with each other through English.

It just was a mind trip for me to think about how for a lot of them, English wasn’t their first language, and between them, they didn’t know each other’s native language, but everyone knew English.

Some people’s English was better than others, of course. But we could all connect through this common language.

On one hand, it makes me grateful to speak one of the most common languages in the world. But on the other hand, it motivates me to want to learn another language. I find it so fascinating that there are so many different ways that this sentence I’m typing right now can be translated.

I also get saddened by the fact that (I assume) most people can understand me when I’m speaking English and can eavesdrop on my conversations, but I couldn’t do the same to them lol. I can’t speak in code if I’m speaking English.

I’m on my 150+ day Spanish Duolingo streak but I want to double down on learning and make language learning a lifelong skill that I continue to develop.

Out and About in Lagos

We had time to head out to Lagos throughout our week at the Lodge. Finding the best food a city has to offer is one of Cody and I’s favorite things to do, so we went on the hunt for some good good.

We got empanadas, burgers, sushi, and many desserts and decafs.

• Empanadas & Co for empanadas — 10/10. Extremely affordable and delicious. The Spicy Chicken is my favorite. Cody liked the Spicy Beef and the Cheese & Ham.

• Cafeteria Oceano for lemon cake, coffee, waffles with Nutella, and crepes with Nutella — 10/10. We didn’t check Google, we just walked in here. It’s diner vibes but has a wide selection of gelato and desserts. The cake was delish, and the Nutella waffle was a highlight as well.

• Barbosa — 8.5/10. We went here for a night out with the Lodge crew. I had some wine, some salmon tartare, and a burger. Good food, but nothing extremely memorable. But I’m a tough critic.

• WA Sushi Lounge — 10/10. We got the Harmony Plate which is to be shared by 2 and it was actually incredible. I’m still thinking about it today. Such fresh fish and I liked that it was kind of a Chef’s choice of nigiri, sashimi, and other appetizers. I will be going here next time I’m in Lagos. The location is across the Marina too so we got to see a different side of town that we otherwise wouldn’t have.

We were late to the game trying Pastel de Nata, which are Portuguese custard tarts. Almost like a creme brulee filling, without the hardened sugar top, in a super crunchy dough. We had to try them before we left, so we hunted them down at the airport and got two each before we left. It was probably a good thing we didn’t know about them earlier, otherwise, we would have had two a day :) 10/10 recommend.

We also each got two Thai massages at Nuad Thai. Massages were necessary after surfing for 6 days straight. We got combination massages which is where they stretch you and crack you throughout the massage. Was it painful? Yes. But did I feel good afterward? Also yes.

Final Thoughts

Travel is so romanticized. Being in new places is cool, but the actual travel part of it is no fun. Especially when you encounter rude people on a long-haul flight. Don’t be that person.

Portugal was absolutely worth it and since it’s on the west side of Europe, traveling there actually wasn’t the absolute worst.

The food was delicious. The cities are beautiful. The ocean is refreshing.

I’d love to visit Porto, Peniche, Ericeira, and more places in the Algarve next time.

Portugal will for sure be calling us back.

🤍

I was listening to Taylor Swift’s 1989 Deluxe Edition album a few days ago (not Taylor’s Version yet… patiently waiting).

I hadn’t listened to the voice memos that she provides on that album in years.

When I re-listened to them last week, I found her writing process so much more intriguing than I had in the past.

I encourage you to go listen to the voice memos, but in them, she’s talking about her writing process and how she creates songs using different techniques.

She said it happens differently every time. Sometimes she’ll have a melody that’s already created and then the words come to her. Sometimes she’ll know the words but not have the melody all the way nailed down. Sometimes she’ll just have a concept and she’ll collaborate with others to finalize it.

What I found most fascinating is that there are points at the beginning of her writing process where she’s literally just mumbling words along to the melody.

Not a complete English sentence to be found.

She knows the general gist of what the song sounds like but doesn’t quite have the words behind it down yet. She just mumbles jibberish until she gets to the part of the song that is the most developed at that time.

And I just found this to be such a good reminder, that:

The completed product isn’t there in the beginning.

The first draft of something isn’t the final version.

An idea doesn’t have to fully be fleshed out before you begin executing on it.

You don’t have to have something fully finalized or fully thought out before sharing it with someone.

You have to work on something in iterations before it reaches its full potential.

A first draft could literally be jibberish and the complete draft is a Grammy award-winning song.

I’ve heard many times that when it comes to writing, a first draft of something should just be a “vomit draft”. Just spit out what you have to say, don’t edit it, just get words to paper.

It’s not going to be done and complete right then and there, but just getting your thoughts down is the first step.

So many times I feel like I find myself trying to make the first draft of something perfect.

I go back and edit my thoughts before even completing my full brain dump.

I think that before I start something, I have to know exactly how it’s going to look when it’s done.

I feel like the first draft of something needs to be the completed version.

I’m afraid of uncertainty and not knowing exactly what the end product is going to be stops me from starting things.

And I want to use this as a reminder that even one of the greatest artists and songwriters in our history (in my opinion 😉) doesn’t have a song fully fleshed out when she begins.

Her end product isn’t “perfect” at the beginning.

She doesn’t fully know what’s going to happen but she still executes on the idea anyways.

Maybe the song makes it to the album or it doesn’t, but her executing on her ideas to create a final product allows her to pick and choose her best work.

Consistently creating, whether the art sees the light of day or not, allows for improvement, practice, and iteration.

This is a frequent reminder that to improve at anything, you must iterate repeatedly.

Even Taylor herself says “I’ve never been a natural, all I do is try, try, try”.

I’ll be keeping that in mind when I feel like I don’t want to start something because I can’t complete it right then and there, or when I am afraid of the uncertainty of what the final product is going to look like, or when I feel like my first draft isn’t good enough.

The first iteration is not the last.

I’ve been making my version of this green smoothie (?), juice (?) for years now since I first learned it from Mona Vand!

It’s a staple recipe for me whenever I feel like I need to get some extra nutrients in, want something light, feel a cold coming on, or if nothing else in the fridge sounds good.

It has fruit, veggies, and loads of antioxidants from the raw ginger and fresh lemon.

It’s fresh, it’s light, it’s unlike any other smoothie I typically make for myself, and it’s delicious.

Seriously, don’t be intimidated by the greens, it actually tastes amazing!

I hope you love!

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Healing Detox Lemon Ginger Green Smoothie Recipe

Serves: 1

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water (or coconut water, or aloe vera juice — don’t use a milk substitute)

• 2 cups spinach, frozen (see notes)

• 1 banana, frozen (see notes)

• 1 apple, cored

• Juice from 1 lemon

• ½ inch fresh ginger, peeled

What To Do:

1. Blend your spinach and your water first! This helps achieve a smooth consistency and that vibrant green color.

2. After you have a smooth texture with your spinach and water, add the rest of your ingredients.

3. Blend until smooth. Pour into your glass. Enjoy!

Notes:

1. You don’t need to use frozen spinach or frozen banana, but these help get the smoothie cold. I usually always have a big tub of spinach frozen and frozen leftover bananas. Otherwise, you could just use cold water if the rest of your ingredients are at room temperature.

2. Don’t use too big of a ginger piece or the smoothie will be spicyyyy. If that’s what you like then by all means, go for it.

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Erin

A few years ago I lived across the street from Ingo’s Tasty Food and La Grande Orange in Phoenix.

I never tried Ingo’s until my last week in that townhouse when my roommates recommended it…

BIG mistake. I had it 3 times that week and missed out on a lot of eating pleasure (although, I’m sure my bank account thanked me).

Here’s what you need to get from Ingo’s if you go. My roommates Lindsay and Leslie taught me what the good good is, so this is all thanks to them:

• The chef’s salad (it should be a romaine-based salad, with white beans, pickled red bell peppers, almonds, cheese, avocado, and dates) ADD CRISPY CHICKEN. Do not skip the crispy chicken. It makes the salad 10x better. One time I forgot to add it and I nearly cried. Also, the dates make this salad. Don’t omit.

• Potato chips WITH SPICY AIOLI. You need the spicy aioli. The other two sauces just don’t cut it compared to this one. Ask for a spicy aioli side, they don’t automatically provide you with it.

That’s it. That’s what I get. Just don’t forget the crispy chicken or the spicy aioli or sadly, you likely will be disappointed.

Now that I live hundreds of miles away from Ingo’s, I have to get this salad fix at home.

That’s where this creation came from. Using a rendition of all of the components that Ingo’s adds, this is my version (Erin’s Version 💁🏼‍♀️).

The only thing I’m uncertain about is the type of dressing Ingo’s uses. It’s a light vinaigrette of some sort so I did my best to make something light and easy!

The chicken I make is a paleo air fryer crispy chicken. You could totally use store-bought fried chicken or make actual fried chicken if you prefer. This is my healthier creation, but I would absolutely splurge on a homemade crispy fried chicken from time to time.

I like to prep all of these ingredients and store them cut up separately so I can put together a salad whenever I want, keeping the romaine separate so it stays fresh and crisp.

This is one of the more time-consuming recipes on my blog so far because of the homemade crispy chicken, but it’s absolutely worth it in my opinion.

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Gluten-Free Healthier Crispy Chicken Salad Recipe

You’ll need to make the crispy chicken, make the salad dressing, and prep the rest of the salad ingredients.

Crispy Chicken Salad Recipe:

Ingredients:

The below measurements are for a single salad.

For the salad:

• 2 cups romaine, thinly chopped in ¼ inch size pieces

• 2 tablespoons chopped Mama Lil’s picked red bell peppers (see notes)

• 1 ½ pitted dates, finely diced

• 2 tablespoons Marcona almonds, chopped (see notes)

• ¼ cup Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed

• ½ small avocado, diced

• A handful of manchego cheese (or omit for dairy-free. More times than not I omit.)

• 1-2 pieces paleo air fryer crispy chicken

• 3-4 tablespoons Simple Herb Vinaigrette (recipe above)

For the Simple Herb Vinaigrette Dressing:

• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

• ½ cup white wine vinegar

• 1 ½ tablespoons honey

• 3 teaspoons Dijon mustard

• 2 ¼ teaspoons garlic powder

• 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano

• 1 ½ teaspoons dried basil

• 1 ½ teaspoons dried parsley

• 1 ½ teaspoons salt

• ¾ teaspoon ground black pepper

What To Do:

1. Mix all dressing ingredients in a Tupperware or Mason jar with their lids on. Stir or shake until combined. Use right away and store extra in the fridge, shaking well before use.

2. Cut the chicken into bite size pieces.

3. Toss together all salad ingredients. Drizzle with salad dressing.

4. Enjoy!

Notes:

1. Mama Lil’s Substitute: Mama Lil’s is what Ingo’s actually uses and so do I. They’re great. If you don’t want to buy these, just use any pickled red bell peppers or red bell peppers, diced. Regular will just be missing a little zing from being pickled. You could also pickle some bell peppers yourself.

2. Marcona Almonds Substitute: I find Marcona Almonds at Trader Joe’s. If you can’t find them, just use roasted, salted almonds, or omit — though the almonds do add your crunchy element to the salad.

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Erin

My crispy chicken recipe is inspired by Danielle Walker’s Eat What You Love paleo, gluten-free, and dairy-free fried chicken recipe.

I created my version when I was re-inventing Ingo’s Crispy Chicken Summer Salad.

I cook my crispy chicken in an air fryer as opposed to actually frying in oil.

This truly is the best healthy, paleo crispy fried chicken recipe that I’ve tried!

I like to prep a lot of this because it reheats well and it’s fairly labor intensive, so I want to make it worthwhile. This recipe makes a lot of extras so if you’re just cooking for yourself or don’t want leftovers, cut this chicken recipe in half!

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Paleo Gluten-Free Air Fryer Crispy Chicken Recipe

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

• ⅓ cup plus ⅔ cup arrowroot powder

• 1 ½ tablespoons coconut flour

• 2 large eggs

• ⅓ cup full-fat coconut milk

• 1 ½ teaspoons hot sauce (I use Cholula or whatever’s in my fridge!)

• 2 ¼ cups blanched almond flour

• 3 ¼ teaspoons garlic powder

• 1 ½ teaspoons onion powder

• 1 ½ teaspoons salt

• 1 ¼ teaspoon paprika

• ½ teaspoon cayenne or red chili flakes

• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper

• 4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

• Avocado oil spray (or olive oil)

What To Do:

1. Preheat your air fryer at 380° F for 15 minutes.

2. Get out 3 separate shallow bowls.

   1. In the first, combine the ⅓ cup arrowroot powder and coconut flour.

   2. In the second, mix the eggs, coconut milk, and hot sauce.

   3. In the third, combine the almond flour, ⅔ cup arrowroot powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, paprika, cayenne or chili flakes, and black pepper.

3. Pat your chicken thighs dry. Working one thigh at a time, dip each piece into the arrowroot coconut flour mixture, making sure all sides are covered, and shaking off any excess. Then dip into the egg mixture, coating all sides. And finally, coat each side in the almond flour mixture.

4. Add 3-4 chicken thighs into your air fryer at a time depending on their size. Give each piece a light spray with the avocado oil spray.

5. Air fry at 380° for 11 minutes. Flip, and then cook for another 8-11 minutes at 380°, until golden brown and cooked through.

6. Repeat until all of your chicken is cooked.

7. Serve warm on top of your salad! Or eat alone (with ketchup) as chicken nuggets. Yum.

Notes:

1. Storage: Store leftover chicken in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

2. To Reheat: Place breaded chicken back into the air fryer and bake at 350° for 8 minutes. We don’t want to cook it at too high of a temperature because we just want the chicken to get hot again, but not overcooked or burnt.

3. Deep Fry: You can absolutely deep fry this chicken if you’d prefer that method over air frying.

4. Other Eating Methods: This is a great healthy chicken nugget recipe for kiddos too! Serve the thighs sliced with ketchup… yum. I’ll admit, I eat at least one thigh like this whenever I make this recipe. OR pile on top of waffles and douse in syrup. How ever you want to eat this chicken is up to you.

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THANK YOU, LOVE YOU, BYE!

Erin

I tried Rachael Kirkconnell’s cucumber bell pepper salad that went viral on TikTok and it’s REALLY good!

I don’t know where or how she came up with this combination but it’s delicious.

In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s a “salad” made up of cucumbers, mini bell peppers, everything but the bagel seasoning, chili garlic crunch, and a ginger sesame salad dressing.

It’s light, it’s salty, it’s flavorful, it’s summery. It’s not really a salad but is a delicious vegetable side!

My biggest criticism of it is that it’s just a side, though!

It’s not really a full meal unless you ate a LOT of it. And then still, it’s just vegetables with seasoning and sauce.

So, I wanted to take the original recipe and turn it into a full meal.

With the simple addition of brown rice fusilli and air fryer chicken thighs, this meal is now complete!

This is a flavor combination that could be used in so many different ways.

Try out the side or the full meal and let me know what you think!

This is a new pasta salad staple in my house.

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Chicken Cucumber Pepper Pasta Salad Recipe

Serves: 3

Ingredients:

• 1 box brown rice fussili (Jovial is my favorite — it doesn’t get mushy at all!)

• 1 ½ pounds boneless chicken thighs (any chicken you have works, or omit for vegan)

• Salt and pepper

• 4 mini Persian cucumbers (or about 1 regular cucumber)

• 8 mini bell peppers (or about 1 ½ regular bell peppers), any color

• 1 tablespoon Everything But the Bagel Seasoning

• 3 tablespoons ginger dressing (the kind Rachael uses, Makato, is really good. I found it in the refrigerated section at Sprouts)

• 2 teaspoons chili garlic crunch

What To Do:

1. Cook your pasta according to the instructions.

2. Season your chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Air fry for 7 minutes, flip, cook for another 5. Once cooked, cut chicken into small, bite size pieces.

3. Slice your bell peppers and cucumbers.

4. Add cooked pasta, cooked chicken, bell peppers, and cucumbers to a large bowl.

5. Add Everything Bagel Seasoning, ginger dressing, and chili garlic crunch.

6. Mix together. Taste and adjust the seasonings to your liking.

7. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Notes:

1. This can be made into single servings, too. Just serve yourself as much pasta, chicken, and vegetables that you want and eyeball all the other measurements. You got this!

2. If you want to store this as meal prep or save for later, don’t dress the pasta with the ginger dressing or chili crunch. Only dress the salad when you’re ready to eat, that way your pasta doesn’t get mushy.

3. Serve cold for leftovers! Or store the veggies separately from your pasta and chicken. Reheat chicken and pasta slightly, then add bell peppers, cucumbers, and your dressing ingredients.

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I hope you feel inspired to cook and create rather than order and wait.

THANK YOU, LOVE YOU, BYE!

Erin

There is no better teriyaki flank steak recipe than this!

Sweet, salty, and smoky. This is a perfect recipe to grill up in the backyard over the summer. (I won’t discriminate any other time of year, but something about a perfectly cooked, flavorful steak in the golden hour sun does something for the soul).

This is one of Cody’s Nan’s recipes and any recipe from your grandmother MUST be delicious.

This recipe is all in the marinade and uses ingredients you most likely already have in your refrigerator or pantry. You could absolutely use this marinade for other meats too, like chicken or salmon.

I highly recommend making this when you want to enjoy a summer golden hour or impress your friends or family! This steak is always a hit when I make this for guests.

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Teriyaki Flank Steak Recipe

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 4 lbs flank steak (see notes)

For the marinade:

• 1 cup water

• ½ cup soy sauce

• ½ cup honey

• 4 tablespoons ketchup 

• 8 cloves fresh garlic, minced

• 4 dashes ground ginger (or about a teaspoon of fresh minced ginger) 

• 2 teaspoons beef bouillon (or 2 beef bouillon cubes)

What To Do:

1. Combine all marinade ingredients into a saucepan and bubble at a simmer for 20 minutes. It should become thicker and decrease in size by about ¼. Set aside and cool for 20 minutes.

2. Tenderize the flank steaks slightly by piercing them with a fork. Place tenderized steaks into a Ziploc bag or Tupperware. 

3. Pour the cooled marinade over the steaks and marinate in your fridge for at least 4-8 hours, but ideally overnight. Shake well so all sides are coated in the marinade. Flip the steaks over halfway through marinating to ensure all sides are soaked.

4. After marinading, sear the steaks on a grill for 15-20 minutes (or a cast iron pan if you don’t have access to a grill), flipping halfway until the internal temperature reaches 135° F. 

5. Rest for 10 minutes, slice against the grain, serve with your favorite sides, and enjoy! 

Notes:

1. Costco sells VERY large flank steaks, usually in packs of 2. This recipe would easily cover one pack of 2 from Costco. Otherwise, if your flank steaks are around 1lb each, I use this marinade to cover 4 smaller steaks.

2. You can split this marinade recipe in half if you’re just cooking for yourself! Trust me though, you’ll want some leftovers of this to last you a day or two, so I recommend making extra! 

3. If it seems like you have excess marinade and won’t need it all, save some in an airtight container and use it for another meat dish later in the week.

   1. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight when ready to use.

4. You can sub out the honey for brown sugar or coconut sugar if you prefer, or even maple syrup depending on your preference.

5. Use canned or tubed garlic if you don’t have any fresh.

6. I set my Trager to 450° F, and they took about 15-20 minutes total.

7. I served my steak with crispy potatoes with a spicy aioli and asparagus and it was just what I needed!

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THANK YOU, LOVE YOU, BYE!

Erin

Pho is what I crave after any day of travel. The warmth and lightness of the broth with the meat and the little bit of veggies is the perfect meal in my opinion!

Because I live nowhere near a Vietnamese restaurant, I decided to embark on the journey of learning to make pho myself.

I started with making a beef pho, and honestly, this chicken pho is 10x better and 10x easier.

I think part of the intimidation of making pho is the unique spices, but they’re so easy to find on Amazon! After you get those, this is a set-it-and-forget-it recipe and only takes an hour!

Seriously, this is so easy, I’m obsessed. Watch my video below if you don’t believe me.😄

@erinnnmeckThis was easier and better than I expected 😛 Homemade Chicken Pho - 1 cinnamon stick - 2 tsp coriander seeds - 4 star anise - 1 cardamom pod - 1 tsp whole cloves - 2 onions - 1 large piece of ginger (about 3 inches long) - 3 lbs chicken thighs - 1-2 chicken carcasses - 5 quarts water - 1 tbsp chicken bouillon - 2 tbsp fish sauce - 6 tsp sugar 1. Toast spices then set aside 2. Cut onion and ginger in half and toast in your oven or air fryer until slightly charred 3. Add raw chicken thighs, chicken carcasses, onion and ginger, and spices to the pot 4. Add about 5 quarts water (16-20 cups of water) 5. Add chicken bouillon, fish sauce and sugar 6. Bring to boil then simmer for 60-90 minutes until your chicken thighs are cooked through 7. Remove chicken thighs and strain the broth 8. Serve the chicken thighs and broth with toppings! Toppings - Rice noodles - Jalapeño - Bean sprouts - Red onion - Green onion - Sriracha - Hoisin sauce #homemadepho #chickenpho #pho #bonebroth #vietnamesepho #healthysoup #healthyrecipes

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Homemade Chicken Pho Recipe

Serves: 4.

Ingredients:

• 2 yellow onions (cut in half)

• 1 large piece of ginger (about 2-3 inches long, cut in half)

• 2 teaspoons coriander seeds

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 4 star anise

• 1 teaspoon whole cloves

• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds

• ~ 4.5 quarts of water (around 18 cups)

• 1 leftover chicken carcass + 4 pounds of bone-in chicken thighs (see notes)

• 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon

• 2 tablespoons fish sauce

• 6 teaspoons white or coconut sugar

Assembly Ingredients:

• Jalepeños, thinly sliced

• Red onion, thinly sliced

• Green onions, thinly sliced

• Bean sprouts

• Rice noodles (I always use pad thai rice noodles, I like the thicker noodles)

• Hoisin sauce

• Sriracha

• Lime wedges

What To Do:

1. Char your onion and ginger in your air fryer or oven at 400° for about 15 minutes, until slightly black and golden.

2. Turn on a large stock pot to medium-high.

3. Combine coriander, cinnamon stick, star anise, cloves, and fennel seeds. Once your pot is heated up, add your spices to the pot (no oil) and toast them for 3 minutes or so. Be careful not to burn them!

4. Once your spices are toasted, add your water, chicken carcass and chicken thighs, toasted onion and ginger, chicken bouillon, fish sauce, and sugar.

5. Bring to boil then reduce to a low simmer. Cover for 60 - 75 minutes.

6. With about 10 minutes left in your simmering time, prep your assembly ingredients.

   1. Make rice noodles according to their instructions

   2. Thinly slice jalapenos, red onions, and green onions.

   3. Cut limes into wedges.

   4. Get out your bean sprouts, sriracha, and hoisin sauce.

7. After 60 - 75 minutes, remove your pot from the heat and remove the whole chicken thighs. Set aside.

8. Working in batches, use a ladle to strain your broth through a fine mesh colander over a large bowl or another large stock pot.

9. Discard the excess (carcass, onion, ginger, spices). Your broth should be a golden brown color and not have any impurities left in it.

10. Shred your chicken thighs (and get out your rotisserie meat if using a rotisserie chicken).

11. Assemble your bowls with noodles, chicken, broth, and everything else you desire (bean sprouts, onions, etc.)

12. Top with sriracha, hoisin, and a lime wedge squeeze, and ENJOY!!!!

Notes:

1. For the chicken carcass, always save and freeze these from when you bake a whole chicken. If you’re using a previously frozen chicken carcass, get 4 pounds of bone-in chicken thighs for the broth, as this will be your meat for the soup.

2. If you don’t already have a chicken carcass, just go get a rotisserie chicken from the store which will be both your carcass and your meat! Shred the chicken, save the meat, and then use the carcass for the broth and use 2 pounds of bone-in chicken thighs in addition to the carcass. You still want some flavor the thighs will add to your broth, but you won’t need as much meat for serving since you have the rotisserie meat.

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THANK YOU, LOVE YOU, BYE!

Erin

If you know me personally, you’ll know that I typically crave, create, and eat Asian-inspired meals.

I really think I could eat sushi every day (for breakfast) and never get sick of it.

Because I grew up on a lot of Asian-inspired meals and Chinese food, it’s where my mind goes when I think of combining ingredients together.

Today, I was running low on vegetables in my fridge and was trying to think of what I could make with minimal ingredients.

So, it should be no surprise that something Asian-inspired is what I came up with and decided on a Vietnamese vermicelli bowl.

I knew from all the previous vermicelli bowls I’ve had in Vietnamese restaurants, a tangy, light, sweet fish sauce was a necessary component.

This entire recipe is easy and can be prepped and cooked in less than 30 minutes.

The first thing Cody said to me when I came back upstairs after giving him his plate was, “that was bomb”, so this one’s a win. 🙂

It’s the perfect mix of warm and cold. It’s like a cold and warm salmon noodle salad! 😂

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

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Salmon Vermicelli Bowl Recipe

Makes 2 bowls and likely no leftovers 😂

Ingredients:

For the bowls:

• 1 pound salmon (I always use wild-caught and leave the skin on. Personal preference! I like the skin nutrients, as the skin contains a lot of healthy fats. Remove the skin if you prefer.)

• Salt & pepper

• 3 tablespoons butter

• 2 small shallots

• 3-4 small cloves garlic

• 2 mini cucumbers or ½ large regular cucumber

• 2 medium whole carrots, sliced thin or shredded (I used baby since that’s what I had in my fridge! Whatever you have, works)

• 1 lime

• ¼ cup roasted, salted peanuts (optional, I didn’t use these on Cody’s)

• 1 pack rice noodles (I prefer a pad thai rice noodle)

For the Vietnamese fish dipping sauce:

I mostly followed this recipe here. Her recipe called for a Thai chili and shredded carrots, both of which I omitted, so my version is below.

• ¼ cup fish sauce (I use Red Boat, always)

• ¼ cup white sugar (or coconut sugar)

• ⅓ cup water

• 2 tablespoons lime juice (I use fresh limes whenever possible)

• 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar

• 1 clove garlic finely chopped (I did use tubed garlic this time, I’ll admit it)

• 1 ¼ teaspoons chili garlic crunch (I used Trader Joe’s but any kind like Momofuku is great!)

What To Do:

1. Make your dipping sauce by mixing all of the ingredients together in a small bowl until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside.

2. Cut your carrots into thin strips and your cucumbers into small slices, and set aside.

3. Slice your shallots into thin strips and mince your garlic.

4. Dice salmon into ½ inch cubes and season with salt and pepper.

5. Heat a pan over medium. Add butter, wait until it melts, then add your shallot and garlic. Cook for 2 minutes until just becoming translucent.

6. Prep your noodles according to their instructions — mine only took ~ 5 minutes. Watch them carefully so you don’t overcook them.

7. Add your salmon skin side down, cover, and let it be for ~6-8 minutes, then stir until cooked through.

8. Assemble your bowls with your noodles, cucumber and carrot, and salmon with the butter sauce.

9. Top with your fish dipping sauce (a heavy douse!), your roasted peanuts, and a squeeze of a lime wedge.

10. Enjoyyyy!!!

Notes:

1. Other, more traditional add-ins would be lettuce and mint. But, I live in the middle of nowhere and can’t just go get those ingredients, so we improvise (and omit) 😊 My recipe was adapted from this one, here!

2. You could also try adding red bell pepper, romaine, and bean sprouts!

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I hope you feel inspired to cook and create rather than order and wait.

THANK YOU, LOVE YOU, BYE!

Erin

This recipe is quick, simple, and has everything you need for a complete, well-balanced meal: vegetables, protein, carbs, and….cheese.

I wanted something easy to go with a Greek salad, so I quickly seasoned some pork, threw it in the air fryer, heated up some rice, and created these bowls!

This recipe is well-loved in our household and I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

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Mediterranean Air Fryer Pork Bowl Recipe

Serves: 2.

Ingredients:

• Cooked rice

For the pork chops:

• 2 boneless pork chops, cut into ½ inch cubes (you could also use chicken, steak, or salmon)

• ¾ teaspoon salt

• ¾ teaspoon ground black pepper

• ½ teaspoon paprika

• ½ teaspoon onion powder

• ½ teaspoon garlic powder

For the salad:

• 1 small cucumber, cut into ¼ inch cubes

• 1 red bell pepper, cut into ¼ inch slices

• ¼ cup red onion, diced

• ½ cup Roma tomato, diced

• ¼ cup feta

For the dressing:

• ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil, or avocado oil

• ¼ cup red or white wine vinegar

• 1 teaspoon honey

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

• ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

• ½ teaspoon dried or fresh oregano

What To Do:

1. Combine all salad ingredients.

2. Combine all dressing ingredients.

3. Add ¼ cup of the dressing to the salad and toss.

4. Combine all pork seasonings in a small bowl. Sprinkle seasoning over your cut pork chops and mix to combine well. Depending on how small your pork chops are, you might not need all of the seasoning. Discard any remaining.

5. Air fry at 380° F for ~6-8 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.

   1. Oven Instructions: Bake at 375° F for ~6-8 minutes, stirring halfway, until golden brown and cooked through.

   2. Pan Instructions: Cook over medium heat for ~6-8 minutes, until cooked through and no longer pink on the inside.

6. Add ½ cup rice, half of the salad, and a serving of pork to each bowl. Top your bowl with more feta and more salad dressing if you prefer.

7. Enjoy!

   Leave a comment

Please leave me a comment and a heart ❤️ if you liked this post and recipe! Subscribe if you want recipes and cooking inspiration delivered straight to your inbox.

I hope you feel inspired to cook and create rather than order and wait.

THANK YOU, LOVE YOU, BYE!

Erin

I’ve been making this Brussels sprout recipe for years now!

This recipe is so simple and delicious and really elevates an otherwise bland vegetable.

Made with a simple balsamic glaze from balsamic vinegar, honey, and a pinch of rosemary, these are the perfect sweet and savory Brussels sprouts to enjoy at your next dinner party.

The only problem is…once you make these, you’ll be tainted 😀 and you won’t be able to just have plain Brussels sprouts anymore. Sorry!

Hope you love.

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Crispy Balsamic Bacon Brussels Sprouts Recipe

Serves: 6-8.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds Brussels sprouts (I like the mini ones!), cut into fourths

• 8 slices bacon, cut into small pieces

• 1 tablespoon avocado or olive oil

• 3 pinches salt

• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar

• ¼ cup honey

• ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary

What To Do:

1. Preheat your oven to 400° F.

2. Prepare a baking sheet with your Brussels, bacon, oil, and salt. Mix well and lay everything in a flat layer, trying not to overlap anything on top of each other.

3. Once your oven has preheated, bake for 10 minutes. Stir and bake for another 10, or until getting crispy and just a tiny bit charred.

4. Meanwhile, make the balsamic glaze. Bring the balsamic vinegar, honey, and rosemary to a low boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.

5. Reduce to a simmer and let bubble for 10-15 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and reduced by about ⅓.

   1. Be careful not to over-reduce or over-boil, otherwise, the sauce will burn and become too sticky and hard. You’ll have to start over if this happens.

6. Once the Brussels are slightly charred and cooked, pour balsamic glaze over while still hot. Stir to coat everything.

7. Serve hot! Enjoy as an appetizer or side. (Admittedly, I will eat these until I’m full sometimes too hehe).

Notes:

1. Air fryer recipe: You could absolutely make this recipe in your air fryer as well.

   1. Preheat your air fryer for 10 minutes. Cook at 400° for the same amount of time (10 minutes, stir, 10 minutes).

      1. The only downside with this is that you’ll likely have to cook in more than one batch.

2. Half this recipe if you don’t need as much.

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Please leave me a comment and a heart ❤️ if you liked this post and recipe! Subscribe if you want recipes and cooking inspiration delivered straight to your inbox.

I hope you feel inspired to cook and create rather than order and wait.

THANK YOU, LOVE YOU, BYE!

Erin

One thing about me is I’m a dinner for breakfast kinda gal…

I cooked and ate this meal before 10 AM the day when I photographed this 😂🙈

Honestly, it makes a great breakfast! Full of protein, vegetables, and healthy fats… It’s a well-balanced meal any time of day! 🤷🏼‍♀️

Another thing about me is that I didn’t enjoy curry until, probably about 2 years ago.

What a shame.

So many delicious curry moments left behind in my early 20s.

I’m happy to report I LOVE it now (just as long as it’s not too spicy). Luckily, it’s super easy to make from home!

Don’t wait as long as I did to try curry. This is an easy recipe with simple ingredients that isn’t too overpowering with spice — it’s just right.

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Easy Homemade Chicken Veggie Curry Recipe

Serves: 3 - 4.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

• 3 pounds chicken thighs or chicken breast (I always prefer thighs), cut into ¼ inch-sized cubes

• 2 tablespoons yellow curry powder

• 2 teaspoon salt

• 2-3 tablespoons red curry paste

  • BE CAREFUL, the Mehkala brand found at Whole Foods or Sprouts is MUCH spicier than the Thai Kitchen one (see notes).

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced

• 1 medium cauliflower or broccoli head (about 3 cups), cut small

• 2 ½ cups full-fat canned coconut milk

• 2 medium-sized bell peppers (your choice of color), diced

• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice + 1 lime for serving

• 1 ¼ tablespoons arrowroot powder or cornstarch (optional - see recipe)

• 1 tablespoon water (optional - see recipe)

• 1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)

What To Do:

1. Heat your coconut and sesame oil in a large pot over medium-high. Once heated, add chicken, curry powder, and salt. Cook for 5 minutes until chicken is mostly cooked through.

2. Add red curry paste, butter, garlic, ginger, cauliflower or broccoli, and coconut milk.

3. Cover, simmer, and cook until cauliflower/broccoli is becoming tender (about 5-7 minutes).

4. Add bell peppers and lime juice and cook for another 3 minutes until the peppers soften.

5. Test for saltiness. Add more salt if needed.

6. Optional: If you want your curry sauce thicker: make an arrowroot (or cornstarch) slurry on the side by combining the arrowroot powder and water in a small bowl. Add slurry to the pot and bring to a boil. Stir and let simmer for 1 minute to thicken the sauce.

7. Serve hot with rice. Top with chopped cilantro and an extra lime wedge or two and enjoy!

Notes:

1. I like the Mehkala red curry paste better, but it has an intense kick. I probably use about 1 ½ - 2 tbsp when using Mehkala, and 3 when using Thai Kitchen.

2. Arrowroot powder is a paleo substitute for cornstarch. You can use cornstarch if that’s what you prefer and have on hand!

Leave a comment

Please leave me a comment and a heart ❤️ if you liked this post and recipe! Subscribe if you want recipes and cooking inspiration delivered straight to your inbox.

I hope you feel inspired to cook and create rather than order and wait.

THANK YOU, LOVE YOU, BYE!

Erin