The Little Things Newsletter #473 – Life, laughter, and lots of great food!

Welcome to the weekend, my friends! It’s a muggy, warm Saturday here and I have a fairly blank day on the calendar. I enjoyed my yoga class this morning, then a church breakfast with friends. After I send this newsletter out, I plan to hit the couch with a book and turn myself into a vegetable for the rest of the day. Fortunately, the fridge is packed with leftovers and there will be no need to cook anything tonight. 

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK: Craving something quick, flavorful, and just a little spicy? This ground beef and cabbage stir fry comes together in minutes—with crisp vegetables, savory beef, and a subtle heat that keeps you coming back for more.

Frito pie casserole is the large scale, crowd-friendly version of walking tacos; seasoned taco meat with beans topped with melted cheese and crunchy corn chips. If you want to make it a meal in one, top as you would a taco with lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, onions, and cilantro.

This brown sugar salmon recipe uses the air fryer to cook a piece of salmon to seasoned and subtly sweet perfection in mere minutes. And while I stand firm that the air fryer rocks salmon, I understand not everyone has one handy, (or you might need to cook for a larger crowd!) so I’ve included the instructions for cooking it in a standard oven.

Creamy ham pasta with tender sweet peas comes together in less than 30 minutes for this pasta night favorite. Whether you start with leftover ham or grab ham specifically to make this, everyone will love it!

Give your tuna sandwich a high octane upgrade with this spicy tuna salad recipe. A little bit of hot sauce and some jarred jalapeños bring the heat to this anything-but-boring tuna salad. You’re going to look forward to lunch all morning long.

Homemade pie fillings taste infinitely better than store-bought! And to make things as easy as can be, you can make this cherry pie filling recipe with fresh or frozen cherries.

I have a well-established love of ice cream, with over 150 ice cream recipes here on the website, and yet I still make this simple ice cream recipe at least once a month. There’s a reason why we call this the easiest (and best!) ice cream you will ever make or taste.

What I’m CRAVING: My friend Rebeca’s crispy bang bang salmon bites are screaming my name. I’m borderline obsessed with salmon bites lately and that recipe and sauce sound like an awesome combination. (I can’t believe I still haven’t shared my favorite recipe for salmon bites, and I make it almost every week lately! It’s coming soon though, I promise.)

My FAVORITE THINGS this week are my dishwashing gloves. I’ve been using them daily for over a year now. Unfortunately, there was an incident while washing a sharp utensil this week and I accidentally poked a hole in them. I immediately dried my hands and ordered a replacement pair.

I love these gloves so much, I’ve even gifted them to friends. Yes, I’m the kind of person who gifts cleaning products or random pens or whatever else I happen to be enjoying so much I want to share it. 

What I’m LISTENING to: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins has been this week’s listen. This is the prequel to the original Hunger Games trilogy. I enjoyed watching the new movie with my nieces last year but hadn’t read the book. So, this was an extra fun read/listen for the deeper storyline.

“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24 ESV

Wishing you a beautiful week full of little things that make you smile!

Mary