Simple Summer Celebrations

Last weekend my kiddo spent a good part of her time worrying about having to go down the big slide at swim lessons Monday morning. Monday morning came around and she decided she just wasn’t going to go to swim lessons at all. Well, that’s not really how I roll, and while it was between her and her teacher whether she went down the slide or not… she was going to lessons.

When I picked her up she was so proud to tell me she’d not only gone down the slide once, but twice! That right there is reason enough for a celebration for me. Being really afraid and doing it anyway… yeah, that’s what I want to instill in my kiddo.

We went grocery shopping and picked up an angel food cake (my favorite) and some strawberries and blueberries. I thought a simple strawberry sauce would be really nice to go with it. Here’s what I did, and it was absolutely easy and delicious!

Simple Strawberry Sauce for Angel Food Cake

1 container of strawberries. (I got quart size so I could use some for the sauce and slice some raw)
1/3 c sugar
1 tsp  vanilla

Cut the strawberries in half or quarters, and put them in a pot. Turn on the heat, add the sugar and vanilla.

Smash the strawberries a bit to release the juices.

Heat through until they are really soft ~ they will smell amazing.

With a stick blender blend until smooth. (you could also use a regular blender ~ but no extra clean up with the stick blender).

Once smooth put into a container and refrigerate for a couple hours until cool.

That’s it. I poured a pool on the plate and then sat the cake down on top of it, and then diced more strawberries for the top and added blueberries as well. I wish I’d thought to take a picture ~ it smelled so good and I was so excited to eat it I completely forgot. 🙂

Weekly Menu Plan

We’re sticking to simple meals again this week… trying to keep it cool.

Homemade Pizza
ham, pineapple, mushrooms, black olives

Mexican Skillet
Rice/beans

Chicken Cacciatore ~ crock pot
pasta/salad

Sausage Tomato Skillet
pasta/salad

BBQ chicken ~ grill
potato salad

Pork Roast ~ crock pot
mixed veggies

Leftovers one night

It’s nothing fancy, but it will get us there. 🙂

If you had as hard a time as I did this week coming up with ideas for your menu you can download my Month of Meals “cheat sheet” where you can write down your family favorites which makes it a little easier to think of things to put on the menu.

You can also check out Meal Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com, hundreds of people have submitted their weekly meal plans ~ you’ll find tons of ideas to get you going.