Sorry for the lack of posts lately… well actually, to quote our lovely middle school friends: sorry, not sorry! We have been busy enjoying our summers without a lot to write about.
My day today was spent enjoying this amazing poolside view…
The weather has been fantastic here and spending a lot of time relaxing outside is a must whenever possible! Besides that I have been working out, finishing up my summer courses and running a leadership course at the rec centre I used to work for which has been a blast! That also means I got to work with Ryan for a couple of weeks which is fun but it means we have to be more on top of things like lunches and morning routines since we usually leave at different times. So because of that and because I have a lot more energy in the summer I’ve been cooking/food prepping up a storm!
Here are some of the favourites in our household lately:
1. Salad Bar Lunches
We have been doing this one quite a bit this year because it’s so easy and delicious! It takes a bit of time to prep on Sunday but makes things so easy for the rest of the week that it’s definitely worth it. We just cut up celery, peppers, cheese, avocado, apples, and cucumber (or whatever other veggies are around), hardboil some eggs, and wash some lettuce (and leave it in the salad spinner for ease). The night before or morning of we just each toss whatever we want into a big contatiner, bring some dressing and we are good to go!
2. Fruit/Veggie “Chips”
We don’t have a dehydrator but I’ve been experimenting a bit with making different fruit and veggie chips over the past while. I just turn the oven on to 200 and bake them for a long time. Our favourites have been banana chips, yam chips, and carrot fries – although everything has been delicious. If you haven’t tried carrot fries yet please get on it – Now! They are just so good! This stuff takes a long time so I usually only do it on a day when I have laundry/coursework/chores that need to get done so I’m home for a while.
3. Favourite “Healthy” Cookies
This recipe 
I found a while ago but have just been absolutely loving! No sugar, so easy, so good! I love that you only need four ingredients and they are ingredients we pretty much always have around the house. Peanut butter, banana, oats and chocolate chips… so good! (They don’t last as long as regular cookies so keep them in the fridge or eat them fast!)
4. “Healthy Nachos”
I got the idea for this recipe here. For these nachos I used the yam chips I made and then topped them with black beans, onion, peppers, and cheddar cheese. Finish them off with a little guacomole and they were delicious! (I happened to use wayyyy too many black beans so I compensated by using wayyyyy too much cheese to hold it altogether – delicious but much less healthy than they were meant to be!)
Do you have any delicious summer recipes for us to try?
What other things have you been doing this summer?
Tale of Two Teachers 
That pool looks amazing!!! I love the natural rock and views in the background. It almost looks like it is on a cliff edge or something. Glad to hear your summer is packed full of fun and keeping you from the blogging world. 😉 I really like the idea of salad bar lunches. I definitely eat a lot more salads during the summer because they are refreshing and light. I really enjoy quinoa salads and ceviche during the summer too!
Salad bar idea is great! Glad you are enjoying summer! My favorite new summer recipe is watermelon lime popsicles. I bought some individual Popsicle molds at a dollar store. The watermelon (no seeds or remove them) is blended up with a little lime juice, then put in the molds. Very refreshing frozen! Can’t wait to try your 4 ingredient cookies as soon as the weather cools down a bit.
Oh those sound delicious! We love Homemade Popsicles here so I will definitely give that a try! Thanks Karen! Hope you are having a great summer!
Karen continued…swimming in the ocean, at the pool and getting ready to “milk paint” a dresser.