First of all, thanks so much for all the kind and supportive comments on yesterday’s post about training.  I really was surprised by and appreciated the remarks about how I’m doing better than I think I am… I needed to hear that!  Sometimes you just need to have someone say, “You can do it!”  So – thank you!

Fun recipe coming at you!

(Claire’s cute neon flower dress is on clearance right now!)

As mentioned a million times, we’re in the middle of a heat wave and it is HOT AS HELL outside.  Like – 99 degrees hot.  So I felt compelled to make the kiddos some ‘ice cream’ to help them cool off.  Claire gave it two baby thumbs up!

This is a twist on the famous Banana Soft Serve.  But super simple – all you do is blend frozen bananas and frozen cherries.  That’s it.

Cherry Banana Ice Cream

Ingredients (serves three):

• Two frozen ripe bananas (remove skin and slice before freezing)
• 1 cup frozen cherries
• Optional:  Chocolate chips or drizzle of melted coconut oil

Directions:

• Combine bananas and cherries in food processor or high-powered blender.  Blend until smooth.  Serve immediately.

I like to add coconut oil to ours – the key is to melt about two tablespoons first, and then slowly pour the melted coconut oil into the blender as it blends.  It will freeze up into little “chips” and adds an interesting texture.  Plus – healthy fats!  If you put a scoop or two of semi-solid coconut oil into the mix, you’ll just be left with too-big chunks.

Book a Week

I’m playing catch-up! I have two Book a Week reviews for you.  I read two books in three days last week – WHOA.

Week 18:  The Vacationers

Amazon Synopsis:  “Here’s the funny thing about family: there’s no one you love more than your relatives, and yet they’re also the people who push your buttons the most. Emma Straub has captured this dilemma in her pitch-perfect second novel The Vacationers. The Post family’s vacation to the Balearic island of Mallorca is one fraught with jealousy and quiet secrets. It’s an anniversary for parents Franny and Jim, who are making amends for some rocky marital misgivings; their son Bobby and his much-maligned older girlfriend Carmen have a financial favor to ask; and high school-age daughter Sylvia has made it her mission to lose her virginity to her Spanish tutor. The novel is warm–not just for the sunny beaches that surround Mallorca, but for the compassion and humor that Straub imbues in her characters..”

My thoughts:  I tore through this book.  It was an interesting peek into the complex relationships in a family, and the characters were drawn so well that I felt like they were real people by the end of the book.  It’s a great beach read, but not super light and fluffy.

My Ratings: 3 out of 5.  For a summer book, it was smart and thoughtful. But I didn’t feel like it was a life-changing novel.

Week 19: Saving Grace

Amazon Synopsis:  “Grace and Ted Chapman are widely regarded as the perfect literary power couple. Ted is a successful novelist and Grace, his wife of twenty years, is beautiful, stylish, carefree, and a wonderful homemaker. But what no one sees, what is churning under the surface, is Ted’s rages. His mood swings. And the precarious house of cards that their lifestyle is built upon. When Ted’s longtime assistant and mainstay leaves, the house of cards begins to crumble and Grace, with dark secrets in her past, is most vulnerable. She finds herself in need of help but with no one to turn to…until the perfect new assistant shows up out of the blue.”

My thoughts:  I thought this book was predictable but fun to read regardless.  You know where it’s going by the plot summary alone, right?  Dark and twisty for sure. BUT – it was still a fun and fast read.  Again, a good beach read.

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.  Like The Vacationers, this is an awesome read for a holiday.  Fast-paced and intriguing.  I only wish the ending included more revenge!

All of my Book a Week reviews.