Sharing the last of my Japan posts! We had the most magical time in Kyoto and I’m excited to share the details with you if you’re considering adding this to your travel list!

More posts from our incredible time in Seoul and Tokyo:

Seoul recap

Korean head spa experience

Tokyo recap and why I love Japan

and Tokyo eats + gf picks

Kyoto recap, bamboo forest, and monkey park

So many of our friends had told us to take a bullet train to explore nearby areas while we were in Tokyo. Okinawa, Nara, Kyoto, and Osaka were highly recommended. I think I mentioned in a previous post that I was intimiated by planning this trip, and adding another travel leg felt like a little too much for my brain. One of my friends told us that we’d regret going to Tokyo and not seeing Kyoto, so we decided to make it happen… and it ended up being my personal highlight of the trip.

While Tokyo is bustling with bright lights and tall buildings, Kyoto feels like more cinematic, serene Japan. Think lantern-lined streets, temples, and geishas.

The bullet train was SUCH a cool experience – we were going 200mph and it was so pleasant and way more enjoyable/hassle-free than air travel –

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Creamy ranch dressing meets crisp vegetables and tender bites of pasta in this Ranch Pasta Salad. It’s a cool, easy dinner to beat the heat, and with a total prep and cook time of 20 minutes, it’s my kind of summer meal.

This simple pasta salad has already been made several times this summer, especially when I’ve happened to have several of the ingredients already prepped. (If you happen to have some homemade ranch salad dressing already, you can substitute half cup of ranch dressing for the dressing ingredients listed below, making this meal even easier to pull together!)

Ranch Pasta Salad

Pasta salads have been frequent favorites on our dinner table for years now. They’re hearty enough to be a meal on their own, and they also pair well with almost any entree for a heartier meal.

My whole family loves the bacon ranch pasta salad that I’ve been making for years now. It is a seriously hearty pasta salad – definitely a meal on its own. But for this salad, I wanted that ranch flavor we love, but I wanted to keep the salad a bit lighter and fill it with crunchy fresh vegetables.

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These s’mores cookies are everything I love about a summer campfire wrapped up in one ridiculously good cookie. They’re packed with graham crackers, melty chocolate, and gooey marshmallows tucked right inside.

I’m a perfectly golden, never burned marshmallow girl. If my marshmallow catches fire, we’re starting over. I didn’t wait all year for camping season to eat charcoal. My family grew up camping. It’s what we did in the summer, in the backyard, girls camp and boys camp, and for spring break.

My mom is an amazing camper and can bust out the most amazing Dutch oven, campfire, reflector oven and even tin foil dinners. But the real star of the show was always dessert. Her peach cobbler in a Dutch oven is still one of the best things ever about my childhood, but right up there with it is a good s’more. Nowadays I’m not super into s’mores but put it in a cookie and I’m allllll over it!

Ingredients You’ll Need

These easy s’mores cookies are made with all the classic campfire ingredients—graham crackers, chocolate, and gooey marshmallows—plus a few baking staples for the perfect soft and chewy texture.

• Flour: Creates the structure and chewy texture of the cookies.
• Crushed Graham Crackers: Add that classic s’mores flavor and a hint of honey sweetness.
• Baking Soda: Helps the cookies spread and bake up soft.
• Baking Powder: Gives the cookies a little lift and tenderness.
• Cornstarch: Keeps the cookies extra soft and chewy.
• Salt: Balances the sweetness and enhances all the flavors.
• Unsalted Butter: Adds rich flavor and creates tender cookies.
• Brown Sugar: Adds moisture and a subtle caramel flavor.
• Granulated Sugar: Sweetens the cookies and helps create lightly crisp edges.
• Egg: Binds the ingredients together and adds richness.
• Vanilla: Enhances the chocolate and graham cracker flavors.
• Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips: Add melty chocolate in every bite.
• Hershey’s Bar: Delivers that classic campfire s’mores chocolate flavor.
• Large Marshmallows: Create a gooey, melty center inside each cookie.
• Whole Graham Crackers: Form the perfect crunchy base and complete the s’mores experience.

This Asian chicken marinade is the easiest way to make juicy, flavorful chicken at home. It’s sweet, savory, and packed with bold flavor from simple ingredients like soy sauce, honey, garlic, and ginger.

Whether you’re grilling, baking, or meal prepping, this easy marinade transforms a simple chicken breast into something incredibly delicious. This is the marinade we use when we want guaranteed juicy, flavorful chicken every time.

Why You’ll Love This Asian Chicken Marinade

• Made with simple pantry ingredients
• Sweet, savory, and perfectly balanced
• Works for grilling, baking, or stovetop
• Great for meal prep and freezer meals
• Makes chicken incredibly juicy and tender

Ingredients for Asian Chicken Marinade

You’ll find most of these ingredients already in your pantry or refrigerator…

• Ground Ginger: Adds warm, slightly sweet spice and classic Asian-inspired flavor to the marinade.
• Ground Pepper: Brings a subtle heat and depth that balances the sweetness of the sauce.
• Onion Powder: Adds savory, slightly sweet onion flavor without any texture.
• Garlic: Fresh garlic gives bold, aromatic flavor that deepens as the marinade cooks.
• Sweet Chili Sauce: Adds a touch of sweetness with mild heat and helps create that sticky, glossy finish.
• Soy Sauce: Provides salty, umami-rich flavor that forms the base of the marinade.
• Balsamic Vinegar: Adds tangy sweetness and helps balance the richness of the sauce.
• Honey: Brings natural sweetness and helps the sauce caramelize beautifully when cooked.
• Brown Sugar: Adds deep, molasses-like sweetness that enhances the sticky glaze.
• Cornstarch: Helps thicken the sauce so it coats the chicken perfectly.
• Water: Used to create a slurry with the cornstarch for smooth thickening.
• Chicken Breasts: Lean and tender, they soak up the marinade for juicy, flavorful results.

How to Make Asian Chicken Marinade

1. Make the Sauce: Whisk all the ingredients for the sauce together in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat until it comes to a boil. When it starts to boil, whisk in the cornstarch and water mixture. Reduce the heat and let it simmer until thickened. Then let it cool completely.
2. Marinate the Chicken: Once the sauce is cool, pour half of it over the chicken in a ziploc bag. Let it marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Reserve the other half of the sauce for later.
3. Grill the Chicken: Heat a grill to medium-high heat, then add the chicken and reduce the heat to medium. Cook for 5-6 minutes then flip and grill for 5-6 minutes more.
4. Serve: Let the chicken rest for 3 minutes then slice and serve with
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These zucchini taco boats are everything we love about taco night packed into a lighter, veggie-loaded dinner. Tender zucchini gets stuffed with seasoned taco meat, rice, beans, corn, salsa, and plenty of melty cheese for a meal that’s hearty, healthy, and totally satisfying.

Even better? They’re easy to customize with whatever you have in the fridge and perfect for using up leftover taco meat, chicken, or rice.

When we were first married Cade was obsessively healthy. Remember how he wouldn’t eat my Mom’s famous caramel brownies? Ugh, still an eye roller for me. Anyway, we would think up cheap, easy and healthy options for dinner and a Mexican chicken with brown rice was one of our go-to meals. As the years wore on we added different ingredients like corn, beans, and spices.

Fast forward a whole heck of a lot of time and it’s a totally different meal now. When I started hearing about stuffed peppers I immediately thought of stuffed zucchini instead. I mean, stuffed peppers are great, but there’s something I like even more about a stuffed zucchini recipe.

What are Zucchini Taco Boats?

If you’ve never had a zucchini boat, you are missing out! It’s a summer staple at our house when the zucchini plant starts going crazy. It consists of a zucchini sliced in half, scooped out and stuffed with whatever filling you want. For this version, we stuff it with taco filling. We also have a classic Italian stuffed zucchini boat that you should try as well!

Ingredients You’ll Need

The ingredient list is full of simple, wholesome ingredients that come together to make a seriously flavorful dinner. Most of them are pantry staples, and the filling is super easy to customize based on what your family loves.

• Zucchinis: The perfect sturdy base for the taco filling while keeping the recipe light and veggie-packed.
• Olive Oil: Helps sauté the meat and vegetables while adding a little richness and flavor.
• Ground Turkey: A lean protein that soaks up all the taco flavors beautifully. Ground chicken, beef, or shredded chicken also work great.
• Cumin: Adds warm, earthy flavor that gives the filling classic taco seasoning taste.
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