summer salad series/watermelon basil feta

If you're lucky enough to have good watermelon this early in the season, then it's pretty much required that you make this salad.  

I'm from southern Illinois, and we have a very distinct way of eating watermelon around here.  We salt it.  I know, it sounds crazy, but if you like chocolate dipped pretzels and candied peanuts, you might get where I'm coming from.  Salted watermelon is the ultimate in salty-sweet, and so is this salad.  

Watermelon & Feta Salad

serves 2

1.5 cups watermelon, cubed

3 cups arugula

handful fresh basil leaves, shredded

2 oz feta cheese

olive oil and balsamic, whisked together

plenty of salt and pepper

Basically, you toss everything but the dressing together, then mix in the dressing and season to your liking.  Pretty simple, really delicious.  

this toddler explains why i don't eat animals better than i ever could

my favorite things

I would just like to send a giant thank you into the universe for creating this perfect product.  I am a little hippie-ish when it comes to my product use, but let's be honest.  Sometimes these natural products just don't WORK and this is probably the most true with deodorant.  A few of them work on smell but not sweat, some work on sweat but not smell, and most just don't work at all.  Sadly, I had pretty much resigned myself to just using Dove, which is great IF you can put it out of your mind that it works by clogging up your pores with cancer-causing aluminum.  

When reading my tea leaves posted about this deodorant cream, I was a little skeptical.  Would it be gloppy?  Smell weird? Just plain not work?  I ordered it anyways, seeing as it was the cheaper of two options I had recently heard good things about (the other being THIS).  It arrived in literally two days, I've worn it in 85 degree weather walking my dog, and here is the verdict: this stuff wins the world.  

You can get it HERE.  

i want to be wearing...

Anybody been to Forever 21 lately?  I have a lot of friends who have quit shopping there (probably because, um, we're no longer 21.)  I can't really stand going into the physical store, their customer service is terrible and they only let you take 6 things into the dressing room at a time, but I love to keep tabs on their site as my favorite place to find inexpensive dresses.  I nabbed this one a couple days ago and I think it's basically the perfect incarnation of this summer's cutout trend - playful without being at all trampy or too revealing.  I can't wait to wear it to my next picnic outing.  Now if only it would show up on my doorstep, like, NOW!  THIS gif perfectly captures my feelings about online shopping....

my favorite kale salad

There is a time for brownies, but that time is not today.  After a few weeks of pretty indulgent food (Jazzfest and all the Cajun, Cinco de Mayo and soooo many margaritas) I need to step up my healthy game this week.  Which means kale salad.  

I actually looooove kale salad.  I have no issue eating it instead of a sandwich and french fries, and it takes very little work to put together.  

Here is my favorite recipe: 

Serves 2

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp champagne or white wine vinegar

3 mashed garlic cloves

1 minced anchovy (not required, but I like them!)

dash of coarse salt

pinch of red pepper flakes

1 bunch of kale, any type

1/4 cup shredded parmesan, and a few shavings for the top

1 tbsp breadcrumbs

1.  In a large bowl, whisk olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, garlic cloves, anchovy, salt, and red pepper flakes together to make the dressing.  

2.  Add kale and toss to coat it.  Let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes or so.  This softens up the kale and takes some of the bitterness out.  

3.  Add grated cheese and breadcrumbs just before serving, topping with a few shavings.  

Note: you can refrigerate this until it's cold again before serving after step two, but I don't mind it a bit warm.  This also keeps in the fridge for about two days.