The Little Things Newsletter #478 – Life, la...

Welcome to the weekend, my friends! I’m picking up a giant delivery of peaches today and I’m giddy with peach-loving excitement. Peach jam, bourbon peach sauce, southern peach cobbler, peach crunch, peach caprese salads, everything PEACH is on the menu this week, and I’m in near-heaven over it. 

Welcome to your earworm for today – gonna eat a lot of peaches… 

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK:  Summer meals and cold pasta salads go together like peanut butter and jelly. Whether you’re eating it at a park, serving it at a barbecue or potluck, or just making it ahead of time and stashing it in the fridge for easy lunches, this vegetable-laden bowtie pasta salad always satisfies.

Tender chicken, salsa, green chile, and black beans are simmered together in the crock-pot and then scooped into warm tortillas to create the easiest, tastiest, salsa chicken tacos and burritos.

Baked potatoes are the ultimate in comfort food, and this summery twist on a loaded baked potato salad is an awesome variation on the classic potatoes. With fluffy potatoes, sour cream, cheddar cheese, bacon, and chives, there is a whole lot of flavor in every awesome bite.

Ranch dressing meets my undying love for dill pickles in this recipe for dill pickle ranch dressing. Drizzled over a salad or served as a dip for just about anything, this disappears within a few days of making it every time I stir a batch together.

This simple romaine salad was inspired on a whim when I looked in the nearly empty fridge and found little more than some lettuce in the produce drawer. Fortunately, it turns out that with little more than a head of romaine, a drizzle of oil and vinegar, and a sprinkling of salt and pepper, you can put together a company-worthy salad.

Tender pasta and the “holy trinity” of bell peppers, celery, and onion, along with a creamy Cajun dressing, make this Cajun pasta salad irresistible. Pair this flavorful pasta salad with just about any meat off the grill for a memorable summer meal.

Indulgent, rich caramel ice cream studded with buttery bits of crunchy, chocolate covered toffee make this Heath Bar ice cream an ice cream to remember.

What I’m CRAVING: Oatmeal. Seriously. I’ve been craving a bowl of creamy stovetop oats since I went to bed last night, so guess what’s for breakfast? Luckily, we’re all oatmeal lovers here (as evidenced by 50+ oatmeal breakfast recipes, whoa), and so my guys are pretty happy about the breakfast plan today.

I’m making this blueberries and cream oatmeal this morning, but I need to try this miso mushroom savory oatmeal soon. (I have a savory mushroom oatmeal in my second cookbook, and I love it!)

What I’m WATCHING is also my FAVORITE THING this week: We watched Toy Story 3 this week, on the 15th anniversary of the first time we watched it in the theater. (Thank you, Facebook memories, for that fun reminder!) That movie still makes me cry. It’s the best kind of family movie.

What I’m READING: The Witness Wore Red by Rebecca Musser. This is the story of Warren Jeff’s 19th wife, one of the women who escaped and then was brave enough to work with law enforcement to help rescue the children and the child brides inside the FLDS cult. It’s a fascinating read, and not always an easy one, but a story that needs to be told. 

This isn’t the first FLDS book I’ve read, as I’ve followed the story for many years, but this is one of the most detailed of the books I’ve found on the subject, especially regarding the prosecution and life after escape. If you’ve watched Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey on Netflix, this is 

What I’m LISTENING to: Psalms by Sandra McCracken remains in my regular rotation. It’s peace and scripture-filled music to start the day. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:17-18 NIV

Wishing you a beautiful week full of little things that make you smile!

Mary