This watermelon fruit salad features a refreshing, colorful mix of watermelon, cherries, and berries tossed with a handful of fresh mint in a sweet, tangy honey lime dressing.

Watermelon Fruit Salad

We’ve made it to the middle of the summer, and along with the heat, comes the perfect excuse to indulge in all the vibrant, sweet fruits the season offers.

Today, I’m sharing a simple yet irresistible recipe that’s already become my favorite snack this summer.

Someone around here may have made this salad three times in the past couple of weeks just because she kept waking up craving it. Go ahead and call me a fruit addict – I’m fine with that.

My husband handles most of our grocery shopping and at this point, he knows there is going to be a watermelon on the list every single time he heads to the store. I never can get enough of it in the summer.

This watermelon fruit salad is not only a feast for the eyes but also a burst of flavors that will leave you feeling refreshed and energized. Whether you’re hosting a barbecue or just looking for a healthy treat, this salad is easy to make and sure to impress.

Any combination of fruits will work nicely in this recipe. You’ll need a total of 12 cups worth of chopped fruits.

Classic Basil Pesto Sauce

This post covers how to make pesto sauce, how to store it, and more! If you’ve never made homemade pesto before, you’ve been missing out!

This a perfect summer recipe to use up all that basil in the garden! I swear basil multiplies overnight. I can’t keep ahead of it, but homemade pesto is one of my favorite ways to use it up!

Homemade Basil Pesto Sauce Recipe

I don’t know why, but I had never had pesto until college. At least I’m pretty sure I hadn’t. And I honestly don’t even remember who made it when I did finally have it. All I remember was that it was a basic pesto pasta and I loved it.

I’ll be the first to admit that I ate waaaaaay more than I should have. It was slightly nutty, cheesy, and super fresh. Could there be a better combo? We use pesto all the time now and we even make it a few different ways depending on how much of everything we have like our 15-Minute Pesto Pasta, pesto butter grilled cheese, creamy pesto chicken pizza,  or the bacon pesto grilled cheese sandwich contest I won with Tillamook. However, in the end this is our ultimate, absolute favorite classic pesto recipe.

A classic pesto recipe is easy enough to make, but storing is a bit tricky. I have two ways that I store it and a third that I’ve heard great things about but never tried it. But we can talk about storing it after we discuss the actual classic pesto recipe.

Basil Pesto Recipe Ingredients

This is such an easy pesto recipe! It requires minimal ingredients to whip up. Here’s what all goes into this homemade pesto sauce:

• Fresh Basil
• Garlic Cloves
• Pine Nuts
  • NOTE: The best substitutes for pine nuts are walnuts, almonds or cashews.
• Olive Oil
• Grated Parmesan Cheese
  • NOTE: The best substitute is pecorino romano cheese.
• Salt

The measurements for each can be found in the recipe card below.

How to Make Pesto Sauce

To start this homemade pesto recipe, I just heat up a skillet over medium heat, add both the garlic cloves and the pine nuts and let it cook until golden, shaking the pan occasionally. Then, I remove the nuts and allow the garlic to finish turning golden as well.

An added bonus is that the garlic slides right out of its skin when it’s toasted this way. I love that. So, yes you read right, toast the garlic in its thin skin and then remove after it’s golden.

Place everything except the cheese and salt in the bowl of a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth. Stir in the cheese and add salt to taste. Yes, making this classic pesto recipe is that easy. If you want to go totally authentic, you can use a mortar and pestle to blend the pesto together.

Welcome to the weekend, my friends! I’m planning to get out for a walk, read my book, cook and photograph some new dishes, and work on a puzzle with my boys. Nothing too exciting for anyone else, but it all sounds lovely to me right now. I hope that your weekend is filled with many of your favorite things too!

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK: Supercharge your cookout side dish game with this dill pickle potato salad. Classic tender potato salad gets a glow-up with scandalous amounts of dill pickles, pickle relish, pickle seasonings, and hard-boiled eggs.

This creamy corn with jalapeno will be your new cookout side dish go-to. The sweet pop of fresh corn is enrobed in a rich, creamy cheese and jalapeno sauce and pairs beautifully with just about anything you can cook on your grill from steaks to chicken to pork and beyond!

While zucchini isn’t usually a vegetable most folks crave, these zucchini fries are about to change that! Tender zucchini wedges are coated in a crunchy, crispy, utterly crave-worthy Parmesan breadcrumb coating to create these zucchini fries.

Buttery, tender, sweet yeast rolls are bursting with juicy blueberries and tart lemon glaze in these blueberry sweet rolls. They are a perfect weekend baking project.

Blueberry peach cobbler bursts with juicy, fresh peaches and the sweet pop of blueberries under a tender, golden brown cobbler crust. This homey, comforting dessert takes no time to whip up and tastes like pure summer.

Good luck resisting snickers ice cream: peanut butter ice cream swirled with luscious caramel sauce, and bursting with pieces of snickers bars. Sometimes you just need to indulge yourself!

Mock apple pie began as a thrifty way to make a sweet treat from pantry staples in the late 1800s. I served this pie to my husband a few nights ago and he loved it. The look on his face was priceless when I later told him there was no fruit in it. The flavor is reminiscent of a combination of pecan pie and apple pie and the whole family agrees it is delicious.

Hi friends! How are you? Happy Friday to ya! What’s going on this weekend? I blocked off this morning so I could take the kiddos to the museum and bowling, tomorrow, we’re going out, and Sunday, we’re swimming with friends.

Monsoon season is here and it’s been such a welcome treat from the 110-degree scorching oven.

(This week’s reading + tubes for my Women’s Wellness test)

I’d love to hear what you have going on!

It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party! This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love to hear about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section below.

7.12 Friday Faves

Fashion + beauty + random:

Reader Faves for June! It’s always fun to look through analytics and see which products you love the most that I’ve shared here on the blog.

Here are the top picks for June:

My favorite bikini – on sale now, too! It’s functional, flattering, great fabric, and actually covers your booty

This gel moisturizer

This travel dress! I wore this walking around Sevilla with white Vejas

My go-to cleanser (that I can actually use with my super sensitive eyes)

This Farm Rio STUNNER (on sale, too!!)

This matte bronzer stick

What I use to clean my Peloton and yoga mats

This super inexpensive yet cute stadium bag

SkinMedica SPF moisturizer

This amazing anti-aging skin cream (in stock right now, too!)

Nordstrom Sale is still going strong! I’ll be updating this post with all of the currently in-stock items before public access goes live, b

Hi friends! I’m so excited to welcome Dr. LuLu Shimek to the show today. I appreciate her view on holistic wellness and she shares so many amaizng tips in this episode.

Here’s what we talk about:

– Adrenal fatigue and burnout

– How do you know you’re in fight or flight?

– What can you do to support your body?

– Her favorite wellness resources

and so.much.more.

165: Adrenal fatigue and burnout with Dr. LuLu Shimek

Here’s more about Dr. Shimek and her background:

Dr. LuLu Shimek stands as a distinguished Naturopathic Physician and the clinic director at Kale Diagnostics, wielding expertise in women’s health, biohacking, and epigenetics. Her unwavering focus centers on pinpointing the root causes of ailments, culminating in a remarkable track record of effectively treating chronic diseases and unleashing the body’s inherent healing capabilities.

Beyond the confines of her practice, Dr. LuLu is a highly sought-after speaker, disseminating her wealth of wellness knowledge on a global scale. In her groundbreaking book, “Detox. Nourish. Activate: Plant & Vibrational Medicine for Energy, Mood & Love,” she introduces a revolutionary approach to healing, harnessing the potency of botanical medicine and natural modalities.

To further amplify her impact, Dr. LuLu extends her reach through “The Genetic Genius” podcast series. Here, she takes listeners on a transformative journey, providing guidance to unlock their body’s full potential and elevate cellular performance. In each episode, her insights serve as a beacon, illuminating the path to optimal health and well-being.

With Dr. LuLu as your ultimate partner in health, you can experience life-changing transformations and achieve optimal wellness. Trust Dr. LuLu Shimek for unparalleled health and wellness advice, and take the first step towards a healthier, happier life.

Partners:

I’ve been using Nutrisense on and off for a couple of years now. I love being able to see how my blood sugar responds to my diet and habits, and run experiments. You can try out Nutrisense here and use GINA50 for $50 off.