Pickle Lemonade

I love pickle flavored anything and am very into all the pickle snacks around lately! This drink was inspired by Popeye’s pickle extravaganza (possibly named something different) with so many pickle flavored foods and a frozen pickle lemonade. This drink has lemon and pickles plus some cucumber and sugar to cut the extreme sour. Spike it with some lemon vodka if desired!

The rest of my fam isn’t as into pickles so making a single serve option was my method. I’ve confirmed my preferred chips (Utz pickle ones are best, Aunt Vicky’s are spicy pickle and in 2nd but hard to find, Doritos pickle ones are 3rd, Pringles pickle chips are 4th).

Pickle Lemonade
Ingredients: (for 1)
8 oz lemonade
2 slices lemon
3 slices cucumber
1 teaspoon white sugar
4 pickle chips or 1 spear, chopped
2 tablespoons pickle juice

Directions:
Add lemon, cucumber, and sugar to a glass or shaker and muddle it to get it crushed, mixed, and all the flavors out.

Add in the lemonade, pickle juice, pickle slices, and vodka – if using. Shake or stir well.
Add ice and a pickle garnish. Enjoy!

I loved it. The cucumber adds some nice freshness against the strong pickle and lemon. This would be great to offer as an option to spike or not per drink. It wouldn’t be everyone’s pick(le) but I loved it and will totally repeat as a fun treat…a drink with a pickle garnish to snack on is the best!

Peach Crumble Parfait

This feels like you should eat by a pool at a fancy hotel one morning. I don’t gravitate toward sweet breakfast but this was perfect – so peachy with only a little sweet from the chia pudding, and granola and tart with the yogurt.

Peach Crumble Parfait
Ingredients:
(for 2 as breakfast meals, 4 as breakfast sides)
chia seeds + vanilla almond milk
2 peaches/nectarines
1/2 cup granola
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
optional: whipped cream

Directions:
Prepare the chia pudding as desired (I did 3 tablespoons chia seeds + 3/4 vanilla almond milk) and refrigerate for 1 hour to overnight.
Chop the nectarines.
Layer the bowls or glasses with chia pudding, granola, yogurt, and peaches.

Continue layering and top with whipped cream.
Enjoy!

It has such a balance of textures. I love the fruit serving, the protein and dairy of the yogurt, the granola is necessary for the crunch. When it is hot, this hits the spot.

Mojito Slaw on Fish Tacos

Mint, lime, sugar, and cucumbers nod to mojitos…minus the rum. Our mint grows with abandon and this was a fresh and beautiful way to use it over some crispy fish tacos!

Mojito Slaw
Ingredients:

1, 14 oz cabbage slaw mix
1/4 cup mayo
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon rice vinegar (or champagne vinegar or apple cider vinegar)
1/2 cucumber
~10 mint leaves
(optional: tortillas & fish as tacos)

Directions:
Dice the cucumber, chiffonade the mint, and zest the lime. Add to the cabbage.

Stir in the mayo, sugar, vinegar, and lime juice.

Refrigerate 20 minutes – an hour, but not overnight.
Taste and adjust as needed.

Optional – air fry breaded fish and serve on tortillas with slaw.

It’s fresh and bright with perfect creaminess. This goes well as a side with anything on the grill too. The mint gets wilty so it doesn’t keep as well!

Hail Caesar, Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza

{originally published in 2012 and updated in 2025}

California Pizza Kitchen introduced me to pizza on a salad and I’ve loved it since my high school days. This pizza was overdue for a refresh – even if it hasn’t been quite as long as it has been since high school!

Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza
Ingredients:

1 pizza dough ball
¼ cup tomato sauce/crushed tomatoes
Caesar Salad (3 tablespoons + 1/4 cup)
1 cup mozzarella shredded
1-2 chicken breast (marinated in Caesar dressing), grilled and sliced
1 heart of romaine
¼ cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Preheat pizza oven/oven to 400 degrees.
Stretch pizza dough out onto a floured baking pan or pizza stone and top with tomatoes and a drizzle of caesar dressing. Sprinkle cheese on and chicken.

Cook the pizza until crisp and melty – our pizza oven is 1-2 minutes.
Let sit a minute before slicing.

Chop the lettuce and toss with dressing, parmesan, and pepper.
Top the pizza with salad.
Enjoy!

This is the best of both worlds. Cheesy pizza with juicy chicken and then cool crisp lettuce.

June Recap 2025

Our June started at a medium pace with some soccer rain-outs, a drizzly girls trip, and lacrosse winding down. Then we kicked into full-gear for Flag Day! J’s birthday! Father’s Day! Pool time! Last days of school, and end-of-year parties tired us out. It was such a full month and I’m a bit tired from the end of fiscal year as well. 

Perfect Patty Melts were this year’s birthday burger and were a hit! The garlic Texas toast made them. 

I had some Passion Fruit Bubbly cocktails that were so fun…which reminds me I’m due for a round of those!

We had Corn Relish on hot dogs as an ideal way to use corn early into the season before the peak! 

July will be full of camps and swimming. Work should chill-down a bit. I have some plans to make cool sides, a pizza-redo, and maybe a new breakfast!

The Big Kid:
He had a fun end of year. He’s so undecided about fall sports and I wish there was longer time to think about it. I’m not excited to pack camp lunches unless he starts developing some more options of packable things! He had such a nice group for last day of school swimming.

The Littler One:
We went to see a ballet of Sleeping Beauty with light-up costumes. It was so fun – not exactly a must-see but a nice/entry-level way to go to a ballet. She had lots of classmates for her last day of school bounce house.

Goals for this upcoming year:
Year of replacements/upgrades! I didn’t think of one this month!
Restaurant Recreations – nope
Special ingredient focus – raw corn for the corn relish was unusual for us!
More fish – I need to get on these, huh!
What I’m reading – I read The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop and was enchanted by her dance background! I also read The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue and found it creative.