tomato salad with mozzarella

first of all let me please say that i am beyond grateful for all of the kind emails, comments, texts, phone calls, etc that i received after writing this post. i feel eternally grateful to have an incredible outlet/ support system here and in real life. how could i not be cheered up after reading comments like, "hi my name is heather and i have a screamer too" and "like my Grandmother used to say - 'there's not much a good cry, and honest prayer, and a stiff drink can't help'?" i hope that i can lift your spirits one day too. i am so happy to report that the next fews days (ones that didn't involve celebrating past her bedtime) were much smoother and yesterday morning at church was a breeze! she was happy as a lark. no screaming!

as a thank you for all of your encouragement i wanted to share a recipe that i created for my mom's birthday dinner. this is a super easy tomato salad that i've enjoyed over mixed greens at work as well! makes a great side dish or main meal (if you're not my husband who only thinks it's a meal if there's meat). i was inspired after a trip to whole foods (great source of food inspiration) when i saw that the loose cherry tomato medleys were on sale.

tomato salad with fresh mozzarella
1-1.5 lbs of mixed cherry tomatoes

handful of fresh basil

1 T of herbs de provence

one container of fresh mozzarella balls

1/4 c olive oil

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1/4 t of raw honey

1 clove of garlic, minced

pinch of good sea salt + fresh ground pepper

in a separate bowl whisk together spices, olive oil, honey, lemon and garlic. in a large bowl add tomatoes, julienned basil, and mozzarella balls (i cut mine in half). cover with dressing and gently toss. allow the flavors to marry in the refrigerator for a few hours prior to serving. this salad screams summer and is a great way to use up the basil and tomatoes from your garden!

ps i am guest posting over on bridget's blog today. if you don't read her blog you are really missing out.

healthy recipes for lunch

my sweet little girl is sick. this is only the second time in her life, so i'm thankful for that. i'll be making her one of these this morning. she was still happy as a clam last night. when i was putting her to bed she was all smiles. i went to bed early. sam and i ordered pizza and i was in a carb coma. seriously, i felt so bad. anyways, sam came to bed later and said that he was going to sleep on the couch because matilda had been waking up. i insisted that he come to bed and that we'd break out the monitors. he said he wanted to hear her, so he'd stay on the couch. truth be told sam never wakes up to the monitor. my point in all of this is that sam is a wonderful father. he wanted to be the one waiting there in case matilda needed him. he said she kept saying, "help with boogers." that's why it's good to teach your kid words like booger, so they can tell you when they need help with them.

in case you are struggling with what to eat for lunch this week, i wanted to offer some suggestions. when i work, we don't have a way to heat up food so it gives me a good chance to eat raw. i eat a TON of salads. i love sprinkling them with goat cheese and lately i add a clementine in the mix. vitamin c and takes so good with mixed greens. here are some other salad combos:

beet salad

nectarine and fennel salad

lemon and kale salad and salmon

the last 2 recipes are from a beautiful blog called sprouted kitchen. if you are not familiar, you will love it!

i also make a lot of cheese and deli roll-ups (great if you are gluten intolerant- my friend jessie makes these for her kids and they're yummy!). look for grass-fed or raw cheeses as well as nitrate-free deli meat like apple gate farms. you can also add in some arugula for crunch.

i have made olivia's arugula pesto "chicken" salad numerous times. my family loves it and the leftovers taste amazing. in lieu of a sandwich i pour the chicken salad over a bed of arugula. to.die.for.

the main thing with lunch is to come prepared. if you work, pack your lunch. that way you'll feel wasteful if you don't eat it. if you're at home, think about making a little extra of your dinner so that you can have leftovers the next day. same goes for if you have access to a microwave (i don't endorse microwaves, but let's face it most people don't work near a kitchen) at work. sam always takes the rest of our dinner to work the next day. super easy. dinner recipes coming soon... i tried out one of the recipes this week and it was a huge hit!