Instead over the years I have mastered the art of delicious and exciting salads. I honestly cannot remember the last time I had a boring lettuce, cucumber, and tomato salad that left me un-satisfied and wanting more. However, it has been brought to my attention by a lot of the people in my life that being creative when it comes to salads can be a real challenge.

This honestly upsets me since salads do not need to be cast away as boring, so in order to revitalize their images I have decided to create a fool-proof way to making an amazing salad. Say goodbye everyone to your lack of salad creativity, this mix and match salad maker below is a fool-proof way to revitalize your salads in a snap. Just pick one food from each of the colored boxes, mix together, and serve. You could probably make close to 100 different salads by using this chart below so there are no more excuses to have a boring salad ever again.

Note: This image above should print to fill an 8.5×11 piece of computer paper, just click on the image and print for an easy to carry mix and match salad chart no matter where you may be. I find it very handy to have this on hand when grocery shopping.

This weekend we headed back up to Burlington since my sister was graduating from college! My parents decided to rent a condo in the nearby town of Stowe, Vermont so Friday morning we all piled in the car and headed up north for the weekend. My sister’s graduation wasn’t until Sunday afternoon so we had all weekend to just hang out and enjoy the fun atmosphere the area has to offer.

Friday night we went to American Flatbread in Burlington which specializes in homemade flatbread pizzas that they cook in a brick oven set on a huge pile of sand right in the restaurant. It was pretty cool to see and the pizza was incredible. They had a gluten-free pizza that literally tasted exactly like regular pizza. I am DYING for their secret!!

Saturday morning the Burlington Vermont Farmers Market was going on in the middle of Burlington so we left Stowe kind of early so that we could walk around and a do a little bit of shopping.

I LOVE this Farmers Market and wish there was one like it closer to me. The market is huge and filled with everything from produce, to bread, to meat and cheeses, as well as the local artisan craft stands.

We probably spent a good hour and a half weaving in and out of all the different stands.

After the Farmers Market we decided to go for a nice two-hour hike. The hike was pretty steep so we got in a really good workout even though the hike was on the shorter side.

For the most part I feel like if you really want a view from a hike you need to devote about 3-4 hours to it. However, this hike was pretty consistently steep so we were able to get an amazing view after only an hour and a half long climb.

By the time we were done with the hike we all were absolutely starving so we headed back to the condo for some appetizers, drinks, and a lovely family cookout + the boyfriends. I am always so bad at taking pictures when we are all together as a family and I wind up kicking myself after since my Mom is an incredible cook and always makes the best food. I have a few amazing summer cookout recipes coming your way that are literally gone within minutes at any summer party.

On Sunday we basically just hung out in Burlington while we waited for my sisters graduation to come around. While we were waiting we stumbled upon my youngest sisters favorite bakery in Burlington called My Little Cupcake, they make the most adorable cupcakes and even had a few Vegan and Gluten Free varieties.

I obviously had to try one so I settled on the Chocolate Mocha. I don’t even remember what Mike and my sister got but they devoured theirs as well.

My sister Melissa didn’t graduate until the afternoon which was kind of a bummer because pretty much right when the ceremony was over Mike and I had to head back to Boston since we had work early this morning. I would have liked to have stayed for her celebration dinner but she knows how proud I am of her! I wish I was still up in Vermont and not starting the work week in my office, guess we will just have to plan another trip up soon

I love all the bright colors and I do justify my obsession with the fact that I live in a beach town and pretty much live in a bathing suit all summer long. That has to count for something right? One for every day of the month is obviously not too over the top

Anyways enough about that, back to the weekend! Mike and I headed out to western Massachusetts on Friday afternoon because one of Mike’s brothers was graduating from college. We ended up going to a very fancy dinner for his graduation celebration to a steak house called 111 Chopped. I never go to steak houses because they don’t ever really seem to have much for me to eat as a vegetarian, but I was able to make due at this restaurant by ordering a few different side dishes of vegetables which were absolutely delicious. Everyone else at the table ordered variations of fish and steak and I don’t think a single person was disappointed. So while I can’t really recommend this restaurant to all my animal loving friends, if you like steak this place would be an excellent choice for a special occasion.

After the dinner, we went to a senior graduation gala that the school was putting on for the graduating class and their families. Not too many people were there though so we didn’t stay for too long and instead wound up going to hang out with Mikes brother and a bunch of his friends in their apartment. I haven’t really been back to a college party since I graduated and it definitely made me miss Loyola and my college friends a little bit

After an eventful Friday night, Mike and I spent the day on Saturday out in the beautiful sun helping my Dad open up our pool. I always feel like summer has officially arrived when it is open so I kind of pushed him into doing it this weekend. My sister was also going to a fancy dinner/fundraiser thing with her boyfriend, so I played the part of photographer and made them take prom like pictures out on the lawn. Don’t they look great

On Mother’s Day me and one of my sisters went with our Mom for a Mother’s Day 2.5 mile walk. My Mom has always run this race on Mother’s Day but because of some back issues she has been having we decided to do the walk instead. It was pretty funny watching my Mom justify to the walk organizer that she USUALLY does the run…she was having a little bit of a hard time accepting that we were just going to walk

After the walk the rest of the day was just spent enjoying the sun and the beach, my Dad made a nice dinner for my Mom and our grill burst into flames…guess we aren’t getting another year out of that one. Do you know that salt will put out a fire? I didn’t until I saw my Mom dump an entire container of salt onto the flames bursting out from the nobs on our grill. Guess you learn a new thing every day!

What do you have entirely too much of? Purses, shoes, sports gear…I can’t be the only one with too many bathing suits can I?

Hope you had a great weekend and are having a nice start to your Monday!

While I am keeping this recipe round-up to food only, have no fear I have an entirely Cinco de Mayo drink filled post coming your way shortly!

Since I know not everyone who reads this is a vegetarian I have included a combination of meat, fish, and vegetarian options. Trying to keep everyone happy!

Healthy Cinco de Mayo Recipe Roundup

Fresh Summer Salsa

Grilled Corn Salsa

Cilantro Lime Rice

Healthy Nachos

Springtime Recipe for Guacamole

Healthy Soft Chicken Tacos

Lighter Beef Tacos

Fish Tacos with Salsa Verde and Radish Salad

Huevos Rancheros

Grilled Vegetable Tostadas

Vegetable Enchiladas

Spanish Tortilla

After visiting Stowe, Vermont and realizing that our plans for a hike were going to have to be put on hold, we immediately filled the rest of our afternoon with an abundance of fun stops!

First up was the Cold Hollow Cider Mill which my sister was raving about so we obviously had to pop in for a visit. The Cider Mill had a ton of cider related things to try like a huge vat of ice-cold cider to take unlimited samples of, apple-cider cracker spreads, cider cooked hot dogs, and finally cider doughnuts. Basically anything that you could possibly imagine including cider could be found in this Cider Mill. Mike enjoyed a cider hot dog for a mid day “snack” and my sister bought a half-dozen cider doughnuts to share with the boys.

It was times like these that I HATE having food allergies, those Cider Doughnuts smelled amazing!

After the Cider Mill we took off for our next stop of the day…the Cabot Factory Annex Store. Cabot is known for their incredible cheddar cheeses and although their main creamery is in Cabot, Vermont they have an annex store right outside Stowe with tons of free cheese tastings.

This place was amazing! Basically you walk in and there are over 20 different kinds of Cabot Cheese available for endless tasting. Everyone filled up on the various cheeses taking multiple trips around the table, I couldn’t believe that the whole thing was free! I also learned while at the Cabot Factory Annex Store that all Cabot Cheddar Cheeses are naturally Lactose Free, due to the way they age the cheese. So anyone out there who is Lactose Intolerant good news! You can eat one of the best cheddar cheese’s there is!

Once we had sufficiently tasted the various Cabot Cheeses we walked across the parking lot to the Lake Champlain Chocolate Factory Store where we were able to sample two different kinds of Chocolate and basically stare at the amazing variety of chocolate they have to offer. Since I can only eat dark chocolate I was really excited to find out that Lake Champlain Chocolate offer over seven different varieties of dark chocolate. While this chocolate may be on the more expensive side it is definitely worth it. The hazelnut dark chocolate was by far my favorite!

Full of Cider, Cheese, and Chocolate we left the surrounding Stowe, Vermont area very satisfied. This was by far one of the more eventful afternoons I have had in a while. I really do love touring an area when it is my first time visiting. No matter where you are in the world, even if it is only a few hours from home, there is always something new to try. I would definitely recommend doing this little tour of the Stowe, Vermont area if any of you ever make it up that way!

Caprese Salad’s are a staple appetizer in Italian culture and while very simple to put together they are bursting with loads of fresh Italian flavors. While there are tons of different ways to make Caprese Salad’s one of my favorite ways of making it is with Grape Tomatoes and the small Ciliegine Fresh Mozzarella Balls (the kind soaking in water). This way lots of people can take a scoop of the appetizer, it is a much easier way of serving a Caprese Salad for a party.

Also for all you people who are lactose intolerant out there. The way fresh mozzarella, or buffalo mozzarella is made actually extracts all of the lactose out of the cheese and is perfectly fine to eat for people with lactose intolerance.

Italian Caprese Salad Appetizer

Ingredients: 1 Container of Fresh Ciliegine Mozzarella Balls, Grape Tomatoes, Olive Oil, Salt, Basil

Directions: Mix your mozzarella and tomatoes in a medium size bowl with your basil leaves. Depending on the size of your basil leaves tear them right from the stem or tear them in half. Do not chop or dice. Sprinkle a little bit of sea salt over your mixture and pour into a serving dish. Add a little more fresh basil leaves on top for garnish. Finally drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the salad and Manga! Eat!

One of my goals this spring/summer is to try to eat 95% of my diet straight from my garden or local farmers markets. I really don’t think that it will end up being all that difficult since we tend to have a good amount of options from our own garden and have a ton of local farmers markets open on all days of the week in the area.

I am also planning a month-long challenge where I do not step foot in a grocery store! The idea of eating entirely local and all natural foods is really exciting to me and is definitely a challenge I plan to take on once the majority of our farmers markets open up towards the middle to end of May. I will keep you all posted when I decide to start my anti-supermarket month, which you all are free to join in on if you like! Most likely this will take place in June-July when our garden has begun to really turn out some produce.

I really want to try doing this because I think it will put into perspective just how much food we tend to buy on a daily basis, and how much food we really need. We as Americans buy so much unnecessary food that a lot of it winds up getting forgotten about, lost in our pantries, or going bad and needing to be thrown out.

By eating locally I know I will be significantly reducing the amount of food related waste I produce and I also think that it will help eliminate a lot of processed food cravings and will overall make me a healthier person. There is no way after spending an entire month eating solely from my garden and farmers markets that when I do return to the grocery store I will see it in the same way. I would like to try my best to make the grocery store a place I go to only for staples like say rice, almond milk, soy butter, gluten-free bread…you get the picture.

Right now the vegetables, herbs, and fruit which I can guarantee on from our garden are: plum tomatoes, baby tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, summer squash, zucchini, lettuce, basil, chive, parsley, green beans, broccoli, eggplant, and raspberries…I may be missing a few in there too. To find local farmers markets near you visit farmersmarket.com for an awesome directory!

So basically what I am going to be faced with in supplementing our own vegetables with farmers market ones depending on ripeness, and finding grains and snacks from the farmers market that I would have normally bought at the grocery store. I think the whole process is going to be challenging but eye-opening at the same time. I am also planning on purchasing this book for my farmers market cooking pleasure. Anyone else know of any other good farmers market friendly cook books?

What do you think of my anti-supermarket challenge? How often do you buy from farmers markets? Do you have your own produce garden?

Here are some of my favorite ideas so far which I am going to test run this week. Pretty much none of these recipes are dairy or gluten-free so once I narrow down my choices for Saint Patty’s Day I may try to do some modifying, and if that doesn’t work I know I have a very Irish boyfriend who will be very happy to be my taste tester.

Guinness Cake via designspongeonline.com

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes via nookandpantry.blogspot.com

Irish Soda Bread via simplyrecipes.com

Irish Potatoes via testkitchen.marthastewart.com

Chewy Irish Coffee Blondies via marthastewart.com

Green Tea Crepes via zencancook.com

Irish Coffee Cupcakes via marthastewart.com

Rainbow Cake via marthastewart.com

Irish Car Bomb Float via petitekitchenesse.com

Irish Green Layer Cake via twigandthistle.com

Can someone PLEASE transport me back to Bali! I miss the perfect weather, beautiful beaches, friendly people, and the food! The food in Southeast Asia was something complete different from anywhere else I had ever experienced. Filled with coconut, fresh vegetables, curry, spice, mango, and the freshest most wonderful fish you can imagine.

Since flying back to Southeast Asia would put me back a couple grand I thought that bringing some of Southeast Asia here in the form of an incredibly delicious soup would be a much more reasonable option in curing some of my Asian longing.

Thai Coconut-Curried Shrimp with Spinach (based from Cooking Light)

Ingredients: 2 tsp vegetable oil, 1 cup thinly sliced onion, 2 tsp curry powder, 1 cup light coconut milk, 2 tb sugar, 1 tb lime juice, 1 tb freshly minced ginger, 1 tb fish sauce, 2 tsp minced garlic, 1/2 tsp chile paste, 1 bottle clam juice, 1 pound shrimp, 6 cups fresh baby spinach.

Directions: Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion and curry powder, saute 4 minutes. Add coconut milk, and the next 7 ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 3 minutes. Add shrimp, cover and cook for 4 minutes. Add spinach evenly over soup. Cover and cook for 4 minutes.

Serve as is, with brown rice, or asian noodles and enjoy the incredible taste of Asia right in your home.

Last night after trading Valentines Day gifts Mike and I went to one of our favorite restaurants for dinner, Estragon. Estragon is a Spanish Tapas restaurant which has great food and a huge wine and beer list. If you have never tried Tapas before you absolutely need to! It is such a fun way to enjoy dinner and a great way to get to sample a bunch of different options from a restaurant’s menu.

Basically Tapas means “small plates” and that is exactly how you are served when you chose to dine this way. It’s kind of like ordering a bunch of appetizers with a few bites for each person. Mike and I have found that it is best to order a few tapas, eat and enjoy, digest a little, and then determine how many more we want to order.

Usually we order between 5-7 tapas to split between the two of us but some of those dishes are usually very small such as olives, or roasted chick peas. What I love most about Tapas is how long you get to sit and enjoy your drinks and food. You never feel rushed in an establishment like this and Mike and I can usually bank of spending at least two hours in the restaurant. It is such a nice way to spend an evening eating and drinking socially.

Last night Mike and I started off with some drinks and a few small tapas to start. We chose to go with the Aceitunas Marinadas: House Marinated Olives, Berenjenas Fritas: Roasted Eggplant Fries, and Coles de Bruselas: Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Golden Raisins. While we both loved the Brussel Sprouts and Olives, there was something a bit off with the Roasted Eggplant. I think I just didn’t really love the sauce so I probably won’t order that one again. The Brussel Sprouts however we will absolutely be re-creating for a side dish for dinner sometime soon!

After taking a little break to digest and order another round of drinks we decided on our next round of tapas. This time we decided to go with the Patatas Fritas: Potato Fries, Tortilla Española: Traditional Spanish Tortilla, Gambas al Ajillo: Garlic Shrimp, and Calamares Fritos: Fried Calamari. While this was probably a little bit too much for the two of us, it was Valentines day and we wanted to sampled what ever we liked. Absolutely all of these tapas were fabulous, however since I do not do well with fried food, my stomach wasn’t loving me by the time we finished this portion of the meal. We also decided to forgo on dessert since we had the cupcakes and cookies I had made and ended the night without really spending that much after using a gift card.

I really can’t express enough how much we love this restaurant. They even went around giving all of the ladies in the restaurant roses! While it may not be the fanciest of places, it has a really cool and somewhat undiscovered atmosphere which we love! It also has so many options for Vegan and Vegetarians while still having a ton of Meat Lovers options! This I feel is something which is really hard to come by! The service is always quick, friendly, and makes us feel right at home and we can always count on having a good meal and a fabulous time when we make our way to Estragon. I am so happy that we opted for this more “off the beaten path” restaurant rather than fighting the Valentines Day crowds and being forced into a time slot, and a very over-priced and underwhelming meal. We had an excellent time and will absolutely be back again…probably sometime soon.

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie via This Chick Cooks

Healthy Deep Dish Chocolate Cookie Cake via Chocolate Covered Katie

Blueberry Almond Squares via Oh She Glows

Vegan Single Serving Cupcake via Chocolate Covered Katie

Raspberry Swirl Cupcake via EatingWell

Pinapple Coconut Bites via Delish.com

Indulge without the sugar coma to follow! Enjoy!

Last night Mike and I went out to dinner with his cousin and his cousin’s girlfriend for dinner at a newly opened, upscale, Mexican restaurant called Temazcal Tequila Cantina. I have been wanting to go here since it opened, but since it has a waterfront view the place has been nearly impossible to get a table at. Finally I think things have calmed down a little now that winter is upon us but this place was still pretty packed for a Tuesday night.

Temazcal has an incredible atmosphere to it and I am actually dying to go back just to hang out at the bar. Their drinks were phenomenal as were their appetizers. However, judging by how crowded the bar was on a Tuesday night I am going to assume that you have to get there pretty early to get a seat on a Friday or Saturday.

While waiting for our table we all ordered drinks from the bar. Mike and his cousin both got beers while the girls ordered some cocktails. I ordered the Sueno Nuboso which was pretty much a Mojito but with coconut water in it. I absolutely LOVED this drink and will definitely be re-creating it at home.

By the time we sat down at our tables we were all definitely ready to eat so we ordered a few appetizers for starters…off of an ipad no less! They give you ipads in this restaurant to order your dinner from! I was blown away, how crazy expensive must it have been for them to buy ipads in place of menus?? What was really cool about using technology for a menu though was that every single ingredient in each dish was listed in a “preparations” section under the item. I didn’t have to ask once if there was anything that I am allergic to in any of the dishes. This was a great option to have for all of us substitution freaks out there.

For appetizers we wound up ordering guacamole for the table as well as Tacos de Carnitas which the guys split and a side ceaser salad.

After the appetizers were finished we all moved on to our main courses. I ordered a Tortilla soup which came with all sorts of mix-ins a well as a ceaser salad. I was really pleased to find that all of the food tasted very fresh and flavorful. Sometimes Mexican food can leave you feeling weighed down but this food was very clean which I was pleasantly surprised by.