mint lemonades & normal lives?

i've been at home now (with the exception of a 16 hour day in columbus, ohio on tuesday) all week, and i've been fully taking advantage of all the chores that people with normal jobs have; i.e. laundry, cleaning, taking out the recycling, and best of all, grocery shopping & making dinner at home! believe me, when you travel & eat out for EVERY meal, the last thing you want to do is dress up and go sit in an uncomfortable chair and pay wayy too much for a beer. so last night i made a quick trip to whole foods (and spent way too much for overpriced groceries) and speaking of overpriced, every few months, whole foods puts out a little flyer called the whole deal (the most recent is valid from april 1 - may 31) with coupons and recipes from martha stewart's everyday food mag.

i flipped through, just for ideas for healthy recipes, and ended up cooking a delicious meal. first, obviously i poured myself a drink. santa cruz lemonade (perfect mix of sweet & sour), muddled mint, and a splash of vodka in my most favorite glasses from appalachian spring (my favorite trinket store---they now have an amazing website).


i'm usually hesitant to cook fish in the house (usually opting to grill it outside, or occasionally, broil it in aluminum foil). this recipe calls to "steam" the salmon, which i've never done before. i didn't follow the recipe exactly. i bought one 6-oz salmon fillet with skin (whole foods has a wonderful fish selection, and i'm convinced it's way cheaper than harris teeter, too). i steamed it skin side down with sea salt & ground pepper, a 1/4 cup of water, and a splash of lemon for 7 minutes. then i added lima beans (whatever was in the fridge) and steamed for a few more minutes.


i threw it all together with some pasta & mint. i didn't like the added mint. i would have rather had it with a more lemony sauce, but it wasn't horrible. the salmon was perfectly cooked, and i used it to make a great salad nicoise for work the next day.

(i really love straws)

i love these stacking bowls that my step-mom made for me a few years ago. you can't see them too well in this pic... hopefully i can take some good fotos this weekend while i'm at home. she's really into her pottery and she's amazing. i'd love for her to have a great website, too. trying to get the lil sis to help out with that (hint, hint)!