Nine Recent Recipe Wins

that I already want to make again

On The Sunny Side #21 is a weekly round-up where I share a few sunny things that have brightened my days, what I’m reading, watching, and obsessing over too.

Happy Sunday All!

I hope you are having a relaxing weekend filled with friends, family, and (hopefully) sunshine. It just so happens that, that’s exactly what my weekend looked like (although more sunshine would’ve been nice 🙃). We celebrated a friends belated birthday at our favorite restaurant in the West Loop: Monteverde. It’s our go to for all special occasions—pro tip, if you can’t find a reservation online try emailing in, that’s what I did this time around and the team sorted everything out!

snaps from the weekend

Seeing as I’m taking a break from audiobooks, I’ve been loving putting on the Nancy Meyers’ Kitchen playlist while cooking/eating dinner. It’s peek dinner vibes and is giving main character energy. Pour yourself a glass of white or some bubbly water like me, bust out that lemon zester and you’ve got an ideal (my ideal anyway) weeknight pairing. Couldn’t recommend more.

Speaking of cooking: I’ve been having a lot of fun in the kitchen trying out lots of new recipes. Some weeks I can’t be bothered to scour the internet for recipes and other weeks I am dying to switch it up. Lately I’ve been adding in at least one new recipe a week and I had to tell you about the latest hits!

Get your grocery list ready and let’s dive in 🤎

I have nine recipes for you that I’ve tested out and get mine and my hubbies big ole stamp of approval. All of these recipes take about 30-40 minutes (some are far shorter) and are perfect additions to my repertoire of easy weeknight recipes.

Quick Coconut Chicken Curry I don’t always make curry but when I do, I gravitate towards recipes like this one. I added a sh*tload of bok choy because I needed more greens in this one which helped soak up the sauce well. When I made this again, I wouldn’t add in the chicken stock, it was too runny for my liking (I prefer a thicker sauce).

Crockpot Creamy Buffalo Chicken Meatballs this recipe surprised me in 1/how easy it was to prep and 2/how freaking delicious these meatballs were. You can mix this up with veg, hot sauce of choice and you could totally take out the rice and sub farro or even a simple mixed salad.

Creamed Feta Garlic Herb Butter Salmon out of this whole list, this one is probably my favorite of the bunch. It’s creamy and comforting, and will make any salmon hater a fan. Tasting note: I’d recommend using heavy cream and not coconut milk. I’ve made it both ways and with the coconut milk it was far too runny.

Burst Cherry Tomato Basil Chicken Rigatoni I made this one for dinner last week and loved it. I will 1000% be making it again, and I will make sure to have an apron on when bursting those damn tomatoes that may or may not have gotten on my slippers…. you’ve been warned.

Sheet Pan Ginger Chicken and Brussels Sprouts admittedly I didn’t use the marinade in this recipe, rather a premixed one we already had at home (bc if you recall: we work smarter not harder in my household) and it turned out wonderfully. A great alternative for when you’re craving Chinese takeout.

Buffalo Chicken Burgers with Whipped Feta Spread okay so the whipped feta is the star of the show here which is great because this recipe makes far more than you need for the burgers. Combine that with the buffalo chicken patty and you’ve got a restaurant worthy meal in minutes.

One-Pan Salsa Chicken and Rice mmmm this one is delicious. The way the flavors of the salsa marinates the rice and chicken while it cooks 🤤 and how the chicken comes out perfectly tender. YUM! Plus I love only having to clean one pan.

Cottage Cheese Pizza Toast I’m always on the hunt for lunchtime recipes I can whip up quickly that keep me filled throughout the workday. This one does just that—it’s extremely simple and it might not seem like it should work but trust me it does. I like it more as a flat bread ‘pizza’ instead of just toast.

Homemade Vanilla Simple Syrup for those of us trying to cut down on our $8 takeout coffee addictions, you need to try this recipe. I never knew making simple syrup was this easy… way more cost effective than buying simple syrup too!

What I’m Reading

Blahhhhh this week did not start off with a bang reading wise. I picked up Welcome Home Caroline Kline after seeing a rave review from a trusted book pal, but unfortunately it’s not hitting. I’m setting it aside for now and instead picked up my library hold of The Sirens by Emilia Hart, which fifty pages in seems to be heading in a good direction.

What I’m Watching

Obviously we watched The White Lotus season finale and I for one, loved it. I rank it as my second favorite season of the series so far—I’m not sure anything can live up to season two—and the final episode was the best of the bunch. I really enjoyed how everything wrapped up, although 💔 my friends!!!

Then we binged the new Daredevil series on Disney+. Compared to other Marvel series it’s darker and grittier (seems to be in line with the Netflix version, although I never watched it). A tad too violent for my liking but I’ll overlook it seeing as Charlie Cox is very attractive, and I like the ethical dilemma we’re seeing with the two main leads (great character writing IMO).

What I’m Loving

My beloved Nespresso decided it needed to be descaled this week and seeing as we didn’t have any descaling solution (could we acknowledge how annoying it is you can’t just use white vinegar for this), I needed a solution for my afternoon coffee fix. Enter in: Kirkland Cold Brew. Drink it on it’s own or with some of that vanilla simple syrup mentioned above, and oat milk and you’ve got a café worthy afternoon bevvy.

That’s it for me. Did you read, watch, or make something amazing this weekend? If so, feel free to let us know in the comments below🤎

Until next time,

MacKenzie