Faves and Life Lately – 11

It’s time for another Faves and Life Lately where I share what’s going on in my life and some of my favorites I’ve come across.  Always fun to share and I hope always fun for you to read!

Freezer Meals

I’m trying not to put too much pressure on myself before the twins arrive, but I do want to try to get ahead on a few freezer meals.  I know I’ll need everything from snacks to dinners, so below is a list of a things I am going to attempt to make in the next month!

• Freezer meal chicken enchilada casserole
• Freezer to crockpot jambalaya 
• Veggies lasagna
• Quick and healthy breakfast cookies
• Make ahead freezer quiche
• Egg cups

These recipes are all ones that are great to make ahead and freeze so you can pop into the microwave or oven whenever you’re hungry and don’t have enough time (story of our lives, right?!)

Oh and how can I forget?!  My latest favorite recipe – eggless waffles!  I know these are a breakfast food, but I will eat them all day any day.

Reading/Audio

In case you don’t get my emails (I send a once a week email and love the email community!!), then you don’t yet know about my (borderline) obsession with Audible!  I spend a lot of time in the car, so I get to listen to a lot of Audiobooks.  My latest favorite is Daisy Jones and the Six, and before that I listened to Where the Crawdads Sing which was was one of the best books I’ve listened to all year!

Another thing I’ve recently discovered is Morning Brew.  I love keeping up with the news, but don’t exactly have time to sit down, enjoy a cup of coffee and watch the 6am newscast.  It’s much more convenient for me to get a quick newsletter, with a recap of the top stories, in my inbox.  That way, I can read it when I need a work break and dig deeper into stories if they interest me.  So, I use Morning Brew.  

A few fun things

I have been loving cooking with Ben lately.  I’m cherishing all of the moments with just one little one!  He loves banana so we make all sorts of banana recipes.  Lately, we made a batch of these banana snack cake and they didn’t last long!  And the easiest banana muffins. We all love them.

 

We also celebrated a super fun Mother’s Day this year.  Ben, certainly with Nick’s help, made me the cutest gift.  I LOVE it.  It’s an adorable apron pictured below.  I’ve been wearing it ever since Mother’s Day every time I cook.  They also crafted up and adorable card, which I’ll cherish forever.

 

Now that we’ve passed Mother’s Day, I’m already thinking about Father’s Day.  This is another ‘last one’ before the twins arrive, so we’ll be spending a fun day together with the three of us.  I always have a hard time with gifts for Father’s Day, but I’m sharing a few things that Nick has loved in the past!

Hydroflask Growler: I love all things Hydroflask and usually use mine for water (it helps water stay cold forever!), but they also have this larger size that can be used as a beer growler.  Any beer-lover will appreciate this gift.

Sphere ice cube trays – this sounds silly, but these specialty ice spheres are the best in cocktails!  

Yoda Best Daddy Mug – come on, how adorable is this?  Perfect for the Star Wars lover.

Personalized Leather briefcase – if you have to carry papers back and forth from work, might as well do it in style.  I love this simple, but personalized briefcase.

Hammock – for the ultimate in relaxation, a hammock is a great gift.  Hammocks always make me think of the islands and swaying in the breeze.

Farmer’s Markets

I love this time of year!  I would so much rather purchase food from the farmer, as opposed to the store.  And it’s always fun to get to talk to the person who grows or produces the food.  When farmer’s markets begin for the year, I always make this recipe first.

And when fresh berries start to come to the market, the first cake I make is this lemon cake piled high with the freshest of berries!  It just tastes like summertime!

Yet another thing I love getting at the market is tomatoes.  On the blog, I share 10 ways to use fresh tomatoes so there is always a reason to pick up a bunch of tomatoes!

Happy summer to you all!