Same favorite place, new favorite lunch

 What up?  I've been rather MIA for awhile.  And it's because we were gearing up for a trip south to one of my favorite place ever.  And then we came back to the eternal winter.....so I had to get over my depression.  But I'm back.

Sanibel is my happy place.  In my childbirth class, they told us to think about a place that makes you happy and relaxed, and for me, that's Sanibel.  I love every minute of being on that island.  I love the lack of stoplights and commercialism.  I love that it is perfectly acceptable, normal, and in fact expected that you eat dinner at 5:00 pm and go to bed by 8:30.  I love that you can get around fastest on bike.  And I love that we have already had the fortune to introduce our children to this happy place.

And they thought it was pretty rad too.

But every once in awhile we had to drag them ourselves away from the salt and sand to nourish our bodies.  And we put together a tasty little dish, which has become my new favorite go to for lunch.

Even though it was best the first time we made it in Sanibel (#everythingtastesbetterinsanibel), I am loving this dish (and closing my eyes and picturing myself returning to the beach as soon as my plate is clear).  

Avocado Egg Salad (measurements are approximations; I don't like to measure)

6 hardboiled eggs (diced)

1 avocado (diced)

1/4 c. chopped onion

1/4 c. chopped celery

1 T. relish (or chopped pickles)

2 T. dijon mustard

2 T. mayo

salt

pepper

dill

any other herbs (parsley, chives, tarragon, etc.)

Mix all ingredients together; serve on a bed of arugula (or on a sandwich topped with arugula).

Then return to the beach for more fun in the sun.

Just a dad and his little mermaid.

Gone.

We have had enough of this winter and decided to jump ship.

Yesterday, this happened...

...and we were champions.  Morning flights and the last row of the plane are the way to go with kids.

Yay for us!

The rest of the afternoon looked like this...

and this...

and we are loving it.  

We are so happy to introduce Camp to our favorite place!!!

Weeknight Done Right

I've already mentioned how obsessed we are with this collection of cookbooks, but really we think any Williams-Sonoma cookbook is well worth the investment.  The majority of our favorite recipes come from said cookbooks, and from them we've learned so much about cooking techniques and unique ingredients that elevate our culinary skills in other recipes as well.  Some time ago we scooped up this gem, since we are a fan of tasty food and even more so meals that are quick and easy.

By the way, this book is $1.99 via Barnes and Noble right now.  You should do yourself a favor and add it to your bag.  The recipe I'm sharing tonight is worth ten times that (and there are some other good recipes in there as well!).  

But back to the good stuff.  We made this deliciousness for dinner last week; it was our second go around with this meal and I think we were even more in love with this dish the second time.

Lucky for me, this recipe is also found on Williams-Sonoma's website, so I don't even have to type it out for you.  Seriously, it's good stuff.  We used a spicy turkey sausage (we have been trying to return to our no-mamal week nights; we haven't totally eliminated beef and pork from our week night meals but I would say we have poultry, fish, or vegetarian dishes 75% of the time) and it was great.  This meal is super easy and is full of flavor.  I always love dishes that call for wine in the cooking process because it validates my urge to have a glass the rest of the bottle with dinner.  The first time we made this, we were fortunate to find some arugula to go on the side (and scoop up with bites of sausage and beans), but this time we weren't so lucky.  The arugula I had purchased earlier in the week went bad before we could make this, and despite my best effort at sending Ryan all over town, we were unable to find any.  He came home with a leafy blend (spinach, radicchio, etc.) that we used instead.  Since they don't tend to have as much flavor in themselves as arugula, we lightly dressed it with one of my new favorite dressings.  

Ever try this?  It's delicious!  Light and flavorful it is the perfect dressing for a simple salad.  The lemon flavor was a great addition to the rest of the dish.  We ended up scooping up bites of salad, beans, and sausage all together.  It was divine!