Happy 2018, everyone! For my first post of 2018, I wanted to share a little of what we’ve done in the last few weeks and then share a new recipe with you all. We were so fortunate to have Christmas with both of our families last month! We stopped in Fort Payne for the weekend before Christmas and celebrated John’s grandmother’s birthday, and also had an early Christmas with the Stanleys! Allie and I baked cookies, we watched their church’s Christmas program, and we enjoyed time with family. The next weekend we drove down to Stuart, Florida and spent Christmas weekend with my family! We spend some time with the new puppy (who is the most energetic dog I’ve ever seen), had an amazing dinner at Benihana, and enjoyed Christmas day despite the broken AC.

Since getting back from Stuart, and when I’m not working, we’ve been organizing and optimizing our house, specifically our kitchen! (Stay tuned for more about how we are making our home smarter) We put more shelves into our pantry which has helped SO MUCH with storage. We also put another shelf into one of our cupboards, purged old and unhealthy foods, and reorganized the pantry and cupboards! It feels so much neater and less cluttered. We also added some flowers, new decor, and some new utensils and useful pieces we were in need of!

It’s been a while since I shared a recipe, so I’m excited to be getting back to trying recipes and making new ones! This is a take on the dressing from a favorite salad recipe of ours. I changed it slightly to make a bigger amount that we could keep in the fridge, but I may even go bigger for our next batch so it will last longer! I found this bottle recently and have been dying to make a fresh salad dressing for it! This recipe is super simple and quick to throw together for several days of salads, which is great for our goal of eating more healthy and fresh foods this year!

This dressing is a mix of fresh lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, and a mixture of spices and garlic. I used the items below for this recipe, and I got a normal jar lid for the glass for when it needs to be shaken. Just mix the items together and then put them in your favorite mason/oil jar and shake before serving!

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Let me know if you’ve tried this recipe and your thoughts on it! Happy New Year. 🙂