Nothing says summer quite like a good burger! This time we are teaching you how to make a perfect smash burger and there’s one secret that is life-changing.

Look, I don’t know why smashing a burger, literally the one thing you should NEVER do to meat totally works in this recipe, but it does. Ok, I do actually know why, it’s because it caramelizes every single piece of that patty thus making for more flavor in each bite, but the point is, it doesn’t make sense and so therefore you should absolutely eat it. 

It’s kind of like that crazy wedge salad story; it’s simple and therefore it’s the beeeeeest!

Cade and I discovered smash burgers when we were in our first few years of marriage and I think it’s actually what kind of turned me from burger hater to burger enjoyer and now lover. I still loooove a crispy chicken sandwich, don’t you get me wrong, but a smash burger will always make my mouth water. 

They are juicy, buttery, and have those crispy edges that are the star of this burger show. And the best thing about this is that smash burgers are simple and cook so fast…exactly what you want to feed the fam on a busy summer weeknight or to feed a crowd for your 4th of July festivities!

Ingredients for Smash Burgers

There’s nothing crazy going on with these ingredients. The crazy comes in the cooking technique, so your ingredient list looks like this:

Burger Patties

• Canola Oil
• Burger Buns
• Butter
• Ground Beef (60/40) – this probably sounds crazy, but just ask your butcher and trust me on this one…all the flavor comes in the higher fat content!
• Salt
• Pepper

Toppings

• American Cheese
• Lettuce
• Killer Burger Sauce
• Pickles
• White Onion

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

Grilled Corn and Roasted Tomato Pesto Pasta

It’s one of my favorite quick dinner ideas for summer – grilled corn and roasted tomato pesto pasta is so fresh and ready in just 15 minutes!

When you find something that the whole family will eat, you make it in every form possible! By some miracle, all my kids will eat pesto. PESTO! Of all the things! I’m not complaining because pesto is life!

We have pesto pizza, pesto paninis, pesto veggies, pesto chicken pasta, and even pesto tarts! See…all forms possible and every one is so delish!

This recipe is so tasty with a little smokiness from the roasted tomatoes and grilled corn. I love the addition of the bocconcini for the creaminess and added protein. It’s also healthy and so satisfying!

What Ingredients Go in Roasted Tomato Pesto Pasta?

This ingredients list is simple and so yum! You’ll need the ingredients for homemade pesto and then just a few other items to get this recipe on the table. Here is your list:

• Pine Nuts
• Garlic
• Basil
• Olive Oil
• Tomatoes
• Grilled Corn
• Parmesan (fresh)
• Sea Salt
• Pepper
• Penne
• Bocconcini

The measurements for each can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.

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The older we get, the faster the years pass, but what if there was a way to slow things down and savour every moment?

Do you remember how long the summer holidays felt when you were a kid? Weeks stretched out like aeons, and the next school year was but a distant dream. As we grow up, those weeks seem to shrink. Suddenly, we find ourselves in disbelief – not quite sure how another year has passed.

Time is a tricky thing, and our perception of it can stretch and shrink. When we’re young, we haven’t got many years under our belts, so it tracks that years feel longer (for a 10-year-old, one year is 10% of their life). Children are also developing, soaking up new information and growing. They’re having more new experiences, and creating formative memories.

As adults, one year feels like a blink of an eye compared to the number of years we’ve been around. We have far fewer new experiences, and tend not to be learning and growing at such a rapid pace. Days become more formulaic and predictable, making them seamlessly blend together. After all, our brains can only hold onto a certain amount of memories, so unless we do something out of the ordinary, we’re likely to let go of the same-y ones.

Now we understand why time rushes past as we age, what can we do to slow our perception of time?

1. Inject some new experiences

Routine and sameness makes the days whizz by, so try to incorporate spontaneity into your life. Taking trips to explore new places, learning a new skill, and connecting with new people are all brilliant ways to do this, but it can be as simple as finding a different lunchtime walking route, or changing up where you’re working from.

Tap into your inner child and see the world through their lens. Ask ‘Why?’ more often, say yes even when it scares you, and follow the threads of your curiosity – see where you end up.

2. Pay attention and savour more

An easy way to hit the pause button in your daily life is to be more mindful and pay attention. This may be noticing the gorgeous light streaming through the window, taking a minute to relish your morning coffee, or even being fully present during a conversation.

Savouring is about really enjoying and taking in every detail of something. This may look like going for a walk and focusing on the way the sunshine feels on your skin, or taking pictures of the flowers you pass. Try engaging all your senses and notice what you see, hear, smell, taste, and feel. When we stop to pay attention, we pull ourselves out of auto-pilot, and plant ourselves in the present.

3. Start single-tasking

When we try to do many things at once, our attention flits around like a butterfly which, understandably, can make it feel as if time’s going by faster. Single-tasking encourages us to focus on one thing at a time which, as well as improving productivity, can help us slow down the perception of time.

So, next time you have a task to do, shut out any distractions and focus on that, and only that.

4. Carve out some white space

The more we stuff our time with to-dos, the more our days feel rushed. We slip into reactive mode, and lack a sense of spaciousness. One way to change this is to intentionally

Homemade Steak Sauce is tangy, barely sweetened, and just a little bit smoky. Perfect for steak dipping and burger topping, this sauce is all the best parts of A-1 and Heinz 57 sauce flavors, made at home.

You only need a couple of minutes to stir everything together, then it will simmer on its own. I served this sauce with these Steak Bites the first time I made it and there was hardly a bite leftover.

Homemade Steak Sauce

I know some steak lovers are purists and eschew sauce. Personally, I love the flavor a good sauce adds to meat.

What I don’t love are overly sweet sauces. However, I also don’t want my sauce to be so sour I can hardly eat it. I’m a little bit high maintenance that way, I guess.

Give me a sauce that’s tangy, smoky, and vinegary with just a little sweetness to finish things off. This homemade steak sauce definitely fits the bill. It’s the only one you’ll ever need!

How to Make Steak Sauce

Have you been buying steak sauce in a bottle your whole life? You’ll love how easy it is to make it at home. You may never reach for the store-bought stuff again.

Don’t let the long ingredients list fool you. All of the ingredients are things you’re likely to have on hand in your pantry already and it couldn’t be any easier to mix them all together.

The body of the sauce comes from a blend of ketchup, brown sugar, soy sauce, and vinegar. Both plain old white vinegar and white wine vinegar are delicious in the recipe. Use whichever you have on hand.

A little dijon mustard, garlic, and lemon juice add flavor and zest while the red pepper flakes give the sauce a touch of spice. Be sure to use dijon mustard, not the bright colored yellow stuff, for the right taste and texture.

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Is it possible to build new habits by taking advantage of old ones?

When you’re trying to make a change, whether it’s wanting to improve your work performance, make healthier choices, or to save more money, one of the challenges is ensuring the changes stick. It’s hard. Behaviour change requires discipline and, when life is busy, it’s all too easy to find excuses that prevent you from making new routines and lifestyle choices a priority.

But you do have something at your disposal that can help – your current daily habits. Yes, one of the most efficient ways to build new behaviours is to identify an existing habit that you can ‘stack’ a new behaviour on top of.

Habit stacking is a form of implementation intention and, according to life coach and therapist Claire Elmes, it’s one of the most effective techniques you can use for successfully introducing new habits.

“The idea is to use an already existing habit to help organise your new habits sensibly and logically,” says Claire. “The existing behaviour acts as a ‘trigger’, so you are teaching your brain that, when you have completed your existing habit, you then do your new one.”

How does habit stacking work?

The habit stacking formula is simple: ‘After/before [current habit], I will [new habit].’

It could be:

• Before I brush my teeth each morning, I will meditate for two minutes.
• After I sit down to eat dinner, I will think of one positive thing that happened today.
• Before I turn the light off at night, I will kiss my partner.

Habit stacking works because your current habits are well-ingrained.“Tagging new habits onto ones that we do unconsciously allows the process to feel manageable and achievable, allowing more chances for success,” says Claire.

Once you get the hang of it, you can start to create larger stacks by linking more and more habits together. You can even create general habit stacks to guide you whenever the situation is appropriate. For example:

• If I see a set of stairs, I will take them instead of using the lift/escalator.
• When I go to a party, I will introduce myself to someone I don’t know.
• If I buy a new item of clothing, I will donate one to charity.

Tips for success with habit stacking

1. Look at the bigger picture

Where and when you choose to place a habit into your routine is important. You need to think about the best window of opportunity for when you’re most likely to be successful.

“If you’re looking to include 10 minutes of yoga in your day, it would be helpful to consider where this will naturally fit into your routine,” advises Claire.

“It might be as soon as you wake up, after getting dressed, when you’re having a cup of tea/coffee, or when you’re fully ready. You might decide that after you make your coffee, you’ll do your 10 minutes of yoga while it’s cooling down, and then you can drink your coffee.”

2. Be specific with your cue

Goals like ‘read more’ or ‘eat healthier’ are worthy causes, but the inten