Recipes

5 Books That’ll Make You Cry (in a Good Way)

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Is it weird I occasionally love a sad story? I used to hesitate recommending books that left a tear in my eye, thinking something must be inherently wrong with me if I sometimes enjoyed a drama or tragedy that pulled on my heartstrings.

However, over the past few years I’ve realized that these types of stories serve as a catharsis – something for me to fix my emotions on and connect with in a deep way, similar to a moving piece of art or a compelling film. Can you think of a better feeling than being completely immersed in a character’s story, whether it’s happy or sad? Although I love comedic and light hearted stories just as much, often they don’t move me or motivate me as much as stories with gravitas do. Thus, sad stories continue to reign my reading stacks!

This summer I ran through a series of serious-minded stories, and most of them were fantastic reads. Here are a few I recommmend (have your Kleenex handy):

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Easy and Delicious Pesto Chicken. Seriously.

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You know how some recipes claim to be simple, easy, low-mess, etc? But they inevitably end up being either

1)way more complicated than they first appear

2) require expensive ingredients that can only be found in specialty stores after hours of searching, or

3) easy to make, and cheap, but flavorless.

After these culinary disasters, I usually end up looking something like this:

My Tables of Content Pesto Chicken

 

HOWEVER. This Pesto Chicken recipe does NOT apply to the typical traps of a “basic” recipe. In all honesty, I wish I had come across this recipe a few years ago when I was first learning how to cook – it probably would have motivated me to learn a little quicker!

This recipe requires four basic ingredients that you can get for less than $15, an oven, and a baking sheet. I think you can manage. My one demand is that you make sure you buy quality pesto sauce. It need not be expensive, but since this is such a simple recipe, suffice it to say it’s important to have quality ingredients as they are all front-and-center.  Otherwise, have at it!

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Zucchini Parmesan Crisps

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This weekend, the hubs and I finally unpacked enough of our kitchen supplies to cook again!

Zucchini Crisps My Tables of COntent

Get in my belly, veggies!

For me and C, food is our love language.  When we were dating in college one of our favorite “date activities” was to cook a meal together. Sipping on wine while mixing up ingredients, talking about our week while helping each other set the table, and flirting over bites of pasta are some of my favorite memories of both our pre-marriage and newlywed life.

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Pork Lettuce Wraps

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I spend about 80% of my time trying to figure out ways to make yummy food healthier.  This recipe saves me all the trouble (and the calories).  Packed full of flavor, fun and easy to assemble, and just darn pretty.  Original credit goes to the Taste of Home website (see link here). Their website is awesome, check it out! though we’ve added a few ingredients to the mix (Sriracha.  Never forget Sriracha).

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