Recently, we had a summer heat wave which means we are disinclined to use the oven or stove stove. On top of that the new Mission Soft Taco Gluten Free Tortillas have come into our lives, so we decided it was time to try some easy tortilla sandwich wraps.

We used the Recipe Van recipe as a jumping off point, but used ingredients we had available in the kitchen and sounded delicious together. For these wraps we used provolone, turkey, avocado, onion, cucumber, red pepper, and some Tapatio for good measure. Since we didn’t use a soft cheese or hummus the rolls didn’t hold together very well, but toothpicks are always an easy alternative.

To make these fast and taste wraps, think sushi, but with a tortilla. We alternated techniques including using a thin layer on the first third of the tortilla and on others did a thin layer of ingredients throughout. Experiment and do whatever works for you.

We’re heading into another heat wave…what is your favorite heat-friendly meal?

Over the summer, I spent some time making delicious recipes for the Joie de Vivre hotels, and I wanted to share them with you guys here! So for the next few weeks, expect a weekly breakfast-in-bed post, which I hope you’ll like seeing as much as I enjoyed creating!

The first recipe I created was for the Hotel Lincoln, which is in Chicago – where my family lives, so a second home for me, if you will! The Hotel Lincoln is equal parts classic and modern, and it reminded me of some of my favorite breakfast foods: frittata and smoothies. As trends come and go, these two will stay at the top of any breakfast list. When you’re traveling, you want something comforting and familiar in its base, with a local flair that ties you to wherever you are. Enter these two recipes – one for frittata and one for a green smoothie – the ideal start to a day of meetings, lying at the beach lakeside, or exploring the streets of downtown Chicago.

For the full post and recipe, check out the full post over on Joyride, here. I hope you enjoy this post, and get excited, because we have a few more to come!

Hey guys! In case you don’t follow me over on Instagram, I was in NYC part of last week and through this past weekend. It was a whirlwind fews day with my best girls and I had a great time laughing and eating and drinking one million Coronas in the hot, hot sun.

While I was there, and for the past week, too, I’ve not been in front of a computer much, which has been a nice break, I have to tell you. But I did manage to see some delish things around that I think you’re going to like.

1. First of all, I will sit down and rewatch “It’s Complicated” any day of the week solely so I can look at that magnificent kitchen and lust after it. Nancy Meyers makes the best kitchen sets, I tell you – loved looking at them all!

2. Summer time is too hot to cook and makes me want to eat smaller portions of not-too-heavy food – which is why these Corn and Black Bean Tacos are looking pretty good to me right now.

3. This article which is actually an excerpt from a book about how the military shaped the food we eat. Wired specifically talks about dehydrated cheese and Cheetos…but I can’t wait to read the book and find out more!

4. Completely unrelated to food, you guys I recently finished The Bully Pulpit and it was a great read. I highly recommend listening to it on audiobook – Ed Hermann reads it, and his voice makes it that much more enjoyable. It’s the tale of Teddy Roosevelt, William Taft, and journalism at the turn of the 20th century. I enjoyed listening to it so much, I am now listening to Ed Hermann read a book about Thomas Jefferson.

5.  Also unrelated (well, maybe a little) I wanted to share with you guys MVY Radio – It’s all I can listen to in the summertime, reminding me of days by the beach and nights on the back porch swatting mosquitos and covering sunburn with aloe. It’s the radio station for Martha’s Vineyard, and it’s fun to hear the weather reports for a beach more than 3,000 miles away that takes you back to 2000. You can stream it on your computer/phone/etc and it’s pretty much a general crowd pleaser.

Happy Friday, kittens. Hope you have a great weekend! xo

I made this fried dough last summer, and as fair season kicks up, I wanted you guys to have the recipe to help you enjoy the end of summer!

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Growing up on the east coast, and specifically in Connecticut, there were a handful of foods that when I now described to people seem very very strange. I love birch beer, for example, but when I moved to Michigan I realized this wasn’t a nation-wide thing. Neither was good pizza, Italian bakeries in every town, sandwiches on really good bread, Jax (oh how I love Jax!), and really good pretzel rods. The list goes on and on (don’t get me started on Dunkin Donuts) but recently, I found myself alone lamenting over the lack of fried dough, as August reminds me of church fair season, which to me is the best time of the year.

To me, fried dough is basically like a pizza – it is savory, with sauce and topped with parmesan cheese. When I moved to Michigan, the Chelsea Fair had elephant ears, but there was no savory toppings to be had. But upon bringing up my childhood of Fried Dough Fridays in the school cafeteria in my elementary days, even my fellow New Englanders in Los Angeles were confused.

I did a quick Internet search to affirm my childhood lunch choices, but there weren’t really that many instances of this delicious (albeit not quite healthy) food choice – so I naturally realized that I must make it immediately for everyone to try at home.

Luckily, King Arthur Flour yet again had an amazing recipe for us, so we followed this to a tee and then we slathered the top with red sauce and a healthy amount of parmesan cheese.

If you’ve never had the pleasure of eating fried dough this way, I suggest you head to the kitchen right now and get started. If you DID eat this growing up (or now, even!) comment please and reaffirm I am not crazy and did not make this one up!

Happy Fair season, everyone!

Sometimes, I start cleaning out my pantry and find really random stuff in there – like a bag of black rice I don’t remember buying that someone probably gave me when they were moving. Then, in the mail recently, I got a can of Safe Catch Tuna, which has low levels of mercury. Suddenly, despite the heat, all I wanted was tuna rice casserole.

This might not look like much, folks, but it was delicious, and easy to put together. I highly recommend it for a good lunch option – make a casserole on your weekend, and serve it all week long – it reheats greatly!

It’s also a great dinner if you want something that’s not just chicken – it’s got tuna, kale, and two kinds of cheese, so it’s well balanced, indeed. You could use whatever kind of rice you have lying around, but I’d recommend black or wild, because they both add a little nuttiness to the flavor of the overall dish. It’s a good pantry-emptier dish, because it relies on two of my fave pantry staples – tuna and rice. Add a little chicken broth, an onion, and whatever green you have lying around (plus cheese, who doesn’t always have cheese?) and you’re ready to go.

The full recipe is here, and I hope that you make it soon! Let me know how it turns out!