happy food: corn, tomato and avocado salad

During the summer,  I crave healthy, local food like salmon, heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, blackberries, corn, peaches, the list goes on. We have a great farmer's market on Saturday mornings here in Redmond  so Waverly and I spent a fun morning talking with vendors about their bounty and trying some new things. We came home with our basket overflowing with locally grown fruits and vegetables and locally caught tuna and salmon. The sweet corn looked so picture perfect that I couldn't wait to make some for dinner that night. It wasn't until I got home that I remembered that with my braces, I can't eat corn on the cob.  Because Ina Garten is always my first stop when researching recipes, I found this recipe for Corn & Avocado Salad and used it as my starting point. We enjoyed this for dinner last night and I was so happy that it made a huge salad because I will be enjoying this every day for lunch this week.

Ingredients

Salad 
4 ears of local corn, shucked
3 avocados (with juice of one lemon if serving immediately)
1 pint of heirloom baby tomatoes
1 red bell pepper
1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely diced
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
zest of 2 limes

Dressing
juice of three limes
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon of Trader Joe's Chili Lime Seasoning Blend (This blend is genius. If you don't have this on hand, you can substitute 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper + 1/2 teaspoon of salt + 1/2 teaspoon of pepper)

Directions

Carefully remove all traces of cornsilk from the corn. Boil corn in salted water for 5 minutes. Remove from hot water and place cobs in ice water bath for ten minutes. (If you have a grill, try grilling your corn instead. The light char is a great balance with the lime and avocado flavors.)

Carefully cut bottom of the cob off so it is flat. Holding the corn cob upright, use a sharp knife to slice the kernels off the cob. If you aren't careful, kernels will fly everywhere so try slicing the kernels off in a pie plate. Add the kernels to a large bowl and set aside.

Cut baby tomatoes in half and add to corn. Add the chopped peppers, onion and zest of two limes. If you are going to serve this salad immediately, cut the avocados in one inch squares and toss with the juice of one lemon. Gently add the avocado to the salad and top with dressing. Gently fold the ingredients together. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

Notes

To meal prep this salad for a week, leave out the avocado and the dressing and add just before serving.

Before you seed and dice a jalapeño, don rubber gloves. I didn't and even after washing my hands several times, I still burned my eyes and my mouth terribly when I accidentally touched my hand to my face. It stung for a long time afterwards.

If you don't have time to shuck and boil corn, try using Trader Joe's frozen Fire Roasted Sweet Corn.

Inspiration # 576: Because of you

I don't know if you know how amazing it is when someone gets a text or a call from you. You have such power to make someone's day. Right now, text or call someone who needs to hear from you. Send someone a video that makes you laugh or let them know that you are thinking of them.

The thing is, we get so busy and we know that the people in our lives know that we love them but it's still nice to hear from someone who just wants to say "I miss you."

I love that feeling when I am in a meeting and I see a text pop up from someone I love and I know that I start beaming. It's happened more than once that someone has said to me "Good news there?" Yes, anytime someone calls or texts you to say they were thinking of you is good news.

Who is your life needs to hear "Have a wonderful Tuesday!"?

the best ice cream cones: Trader Joe's old fashioned waffle cones

One of my favorite scents is the boardwalk-any boardwalk really, Cape Cod, New Jersey, the Boardwalk at Walt Disney World. . . There is something about the scent of waffle cones, that heady warm vanilla smell that just makes me so happy. Last week, just in time for National Ice Cream Day, I found these new Old Fashioned Waffle Cones at Trader Joe's.

Yesterday, after a hot day playing and swimming, L, Waverly and I had hot dogs and corn on the cob  for dinner with ice cream cones for dessert. Several times, when we were shopping in Trader Joe's on Friday, Waverly reached back from the cart seat and tossed the waffle cones box on the floor so I  didn't have high hopes for these cones being in one piece but they were packed so well in their styrofoam nest that none of the cones were broken.   When I opened the box, there it was, that scent-that familiar vanilla with a hint of orange smell that reminds you of days on the beach or at the fair, days when you were with your favorite people being silly and wishing it was always summer.

Trader Joe's chocolate ice cream is our favorite chocolate ice cream and it paired perfectly with the waffle cone, which honestly has the crunch and taste of waffle cones that just came off the waffle maker.

These are now our house brand of cones. Later this week I'm going to try making peach ice cream with the peaches I bought at the farmer's market on Saturday morning. I think these cones will be a perfect base for the summery sweetness of ripe peaches and cream.

Trader Joe's Old Fashioned Waffle Cones are $2.49 for 12 cones.

Happy Summer Friday!

I love Summer Fridays. I feel like there is so much promise for a long, lazy weekend. Around the country it's supposed to be ridiculously warm, so try to stay cool. Check in on your elderly family members or neighbors and Bbe sure to take your pets inside too!

'The Lion King" opens today. Being inside a cool theatre sounds like a perfect place to be! Whatever you do, I hope you and your favorite people have a happy weekend!

Celebrating "The Lion King" release this weekend

I can't hear "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" without singing along. Loudly. Actually, every song from "The Lion King" (1994) is highly addictive. When this original film was released, it didn't matter if you were six years old or seventy-six years old, when you watched "The Lion King," you sang along and when you heard it at home or in the car, you owned that song. Even now, years later, seeing the original version of "The Lion King" makes me happy.

So, like me, you probably already have your tickets for "The Lion King," the 2019 version which opens this weekend. I've watched the trailer so many times and I'm in awe regarding director, Jon Favreau's filmmaking technique.  The cast includes Donald Glover as Simba, Beyoncé Knowles-carter as Nala, James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, Billy Eichner as Timon and Seth Rogen as Pumbaa.

If you need more of "The Lion King" in your life and you happen to live near Walt Disney World, lucky you. Check out this Foodie Guide to "The Lion King" offerings at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

I would start with this Simba ice cream sandwich (that's a chocolate tail and it's available at Tamu Tamu) and close the evening with the Serengeti Sangria (Dawa Bar, Harambe Market and Boneyard Bar).

If you are in Disney's Animal Kingdom, starting July 19th, experience "The Lion King" scavenger hunt. Pick up a map at Outpost, Discovery Trading Company, Island Mercantile or Mombasa Marketplace and find your favorite characters hidden around Harambe Village. Return your map to Mombasa Marketplace in Harambe or The Outpost Shop in the Oasis by September 29, 2019 or while supplies last for a savanna surprise. 

And, of course, "The Lion King"  merchandise collection is available online and in the Disney Parks. I love this Alex & Ani bangle and I plan on getting Waverly the Nala plush. 

Stay cool this weekend in a theatre  and let me know what you think of this new version.

My Favorite Spotify Playlist; Sunny Summer Days

It's hard for me to think of a happy time that didn't have music associated with it. One of my favorite things is to create playlists for the moments in my life, from happy Saturdays to rainy days and music to pick me up when I'm feeling down. Even when Waverly was born, we created a Spotify playlist. While I listen to all of the playlists at one time or another, this Sunny Summer Days playlist is the one I listen to the most. It's filled with music that just makes me happy. I listen to this playlist almost every day and when I'm traveling, it instantly makes wherever I am feel comfortable.

There are songs that I associate with summer as a kid wearing my rainbow bathing suit every day under my shorts and tee (because you never knew where you would end up when you left for the day on your bike), songs that remind me of my favorite people and special moments and songs that  just make me feel sunny inside.

I hope that when you listen to this playlist, you feel happy and sunny too.

What's songs are on your favorite playlist?

Your own kind of happy

One of my girlfriends texted me and asked "I should want to get married, right?"

Me: "I don't know. Do you WANT to get married?" I called her. This was phone call worthy, not text worthy.

Friend: "God, no. I mean he's terrific but not in a forever-I-will-make-you-meatloaf-every-week kind of way."

Me: "Then you may want to put a pause on the whole marriage thing. Why are you asking me this? Is he about to propose?"

Friend: "I hope not but it seems like everyone is engaged and having kids and I'm just really happy being by myself and dating. My mother thinks I should get a cat or something to start. I don't get it."

That's the thing. Our parents, friends and every sometimes ourselves, we think we should do something or like something or want this thing that supposedly everyone wants. I don't agree with this. I think it's perfectly OK to not want to get married or have kids or pursue a career because someone else thinks this is what your life's path is.

If you want to get married or have kids or move to a tiny beach town in another country or adopt a pair of elderly dogs or pursue your own career that maybe is't what your parents dreamed of for you but will make you feel happy, do it. Do it for YOU, though, not because you think you should or you were programmed since childhood to do something.

You are the only one who can determine what brings you happiness. What is it that would make you jump out of bed every morning, looking forward to the day? Close your eyes and imagine your life one year from now. Do you feel happy or are you anxious? What are you doing? Who are you with? Now open your eyes. Wherever you are in your life, you have the power to make yourself happy. It's there for you.

So, accept the ring or don't accept the ring. Go back to school. Design jewelry. Reconnect with God. Move into a smaller space that better your suits who you are. Look for a different job that you're happy to go to every day.  Volunteer to walk dogs at the no-kill shelter. Paint. Skate. Start a family. Whatever it is, start moving towards your happy today.

Sometimes starting can be the hardest part but sometimes it can be the very best.