Happy Sunday friends! Thank you for stopping by for the eighth post in my weekly Sunday Morning series where I share links, recipes, and thoughts from the past week. 

Since last Sunday I was in Colorado Springs with my family, this weekly post covers two weeks of recipes and updates! We had a wonderful time in Colorado Springs with my parents and my little brother, we got to see him play football for the Air Force Academy and had the most incredible dinner at the famous Broadmoor.

Garden Update: It's been 2 weeks since planting day! I checked on it yesterday and the turnips, pumpkins,  and radishes have sprouted up into beautiful green patches of leaves. We even put up a scarecrow to keep deer and rabbits out of the garden (we dressed it up like Frank's dad, Tom!) 

We planted the following, and the highlighted veggies have sprouts currently: beets, broccoli, carrots, onions, radishes, turnips, cabbage, kale, bibb lettuce, black seeded simpson lettuce, spinach, turnip greens, mustard greens, winter squash, and.... PUMPKIN! I'll be updating this list weekly!

What I made/ate last week:

• Simple veggie heavy lunches for Frank and I! Photo below. Since he only works 5 minutes away from our apartment, we're able to eat lunch together which is such a nice break in the middle of the day, especially with his long work hours.

• The best Tuscan Style Flat Iron Steak, White Bean and Sage, Castello di Ama Olive Oil from Ristorante Del Lago at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs.

• Paprika-rubbed lemon chicken. Recipe from Alison Roman’s cookbook, Dining In.

• We had dinner at The National on Tuesday and it was absolutely incredible. I had the roasted chicken breast with chickpea pancake, frisee, Moroccan-spiced tomatoes and corn, crispy chickpeas, charred Vidalia yogurt and pomegranate.

• Tested out Jessie Snyder's chocolate chip cookie recipe, can't wait until she posts so I can share it with you all!

• Worked on some new recipes and projects, coming your way soon!

Here are a few links to things that caught my eye this week:

• I can't stop googling photos of crudité platters. Help.

• This beautiful kitchen.

• Tons of tablescapes with family-style meals, I'm just so excited for Fall and Thanksgiving my brain goes straight to huge family gatherings with food and conversation, my favorite part of the season

• This lavender lemonade cocktail. I started growing lavender in my herb garden, so this would be so fun to make!

• Apple cider bourbon cocktail! Tis the (almost autumn) season, right?

What I’m making/baking/eating this week:

• Baking our friend a birthday cake! And brainstorming ideas for my sister's 21st birthday cake in a few weeks when we go to Napa Valley to celebrate! We're taking a wine train. I am BEYOND excited.

• I'm still going a little lighter on the meals since I haven't been feeling 100% with all my food sensitivities, so I'll be making goat yogurt, simple salads, fresh soups, fish, and green juices. All foods that help me personally heal my inflammation and feel better. I'm re-reading Josh Axe's book Eat Dirt and following his "Immune Gut" guidelines. Very interesting and helpful for me!

Other musings/updates/jountings:

• My recipe for the Lemon Caprese Pasta Salad is now live! You can find it here.

• Feel free to let me know your questions in the comments, send me an email here, or DM me on Instagram, I’d be more than happy to help!

Be sure to follow along on Instagram. If you make any recipes, I would love to see, so feel free to tag me in your recipes posts! 

Have a great week!

xx, Marina