Don’t you love a sunshine-filled weekend?  I do.

Today I tried to soak up the nice weather as much as I could, because it’s supposed to rain again on Tuesday!  Don’t get me wrong, I love the rain (winter is actually my favorite season), but what is up with this crazy weather?  78° followed by rain…  Doesn’t make much sense to me.  Oh well, I guess that’s California for you!

This morning started as usual — Cheerios:

KC and I then gathered up the laundry and headed out to Walnut Creek, where I was meeting up with Ashley for a girl date.

Ashley and decided on Tomatina for lunch.  We shared the caprese piadine (remember, the inspiration for my own homemade piadine?):

I wish my pizza dough tasted like this flatbread.  I think I’ll have to scour the internet for recipes and learn to make it myself.  The TJ’s dough just doesn’t compare!

After lunch Ashley and I window-shopped downtown.  I picked up a new pair of pants from Lululemon with a gift card (I don’t have any money, remember?)

We stopped for coffee:

Caffeine keeps you going!

We powered on and did some more walking, more window shopping, and then headed to Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods for the week’s grocery shopping.

After shopping and dropping Ashley off at home, I grabbed KC and we headed back downtown to get some frozen yogurt at Yogurt Park (I had a gift certificate from Christmas — it’s finally used up!)  Sorry, I didn’t get a picture — my hands were full and my yogurt was melting!

I had a mini chocolate and cheesecake with Butterfinger pieces.  It was delicious, but I could only finish half.

After yogurt, KC and I drove back to Oakland with the laundry and groceries in tow.

We opened all the windows in the apartment (there are a lot, so it’s almost like being outside).  I decided that the weather was so nice, we should have a springtime happy hour:

Remember my obsession with the carrots and green goddess dressing at the Bar Method party the other night? Well, I decided I’d make it for myself because it was so darn good!

I bought some rainbow heirloom carrots at Whole Foods (aren’t they beautiful?) and whipped up a half batch of Ina’s Basil Green Goddess Dressing.

I only modified the recipe a little.  Into a blender went 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 3 full scallions — chopped, 1/2 cup basil,  a couple tbsp. of lemon juice, 1 tsp. anchovy paste, 1/2 cup of 2% Greek yogurt (instead of sour cream), 1 garlic clove — minced (I’d use a smaller one next time — it was pretty garlicky), 1 tsp. kosher salt, and pepper.  Blend it all up, and voila — Green Goddess Dressing.

It has a delicious springy flavor, and you can’t beat the color.  Is there anything more springy-looking than that?

I think not.

Ok, so I said happy hour right?  Well, that beautiful orange drink is actually just a screwdriver.  I made it with fresh-squeezed orange juice though — it makes such a difference!  Like I said, I’m not really into sweet drinks — juices, cocktails — but fresh squeezed orange juice?  YUM.

To make these, I juiced 5 organic oranges.  This made about 12 oz of juice (I also had maybe an ounce of lemon juice in the mix, leftover from the dressing).  I poured 6 oz of juice into each of the two glasses, added a shot of vodka to each, and some ice.  Easy peasy!  Before KC and I drank them I topped the drinks with some fizzy water.  Such a nice way to spend a warm evening!

After cocktails, I got to work making dinner:

Tuna melts with steamed broccoli.  Easy and yummy.

So I have to confess, I love steamed broccoli.  I know that many people do not share this sentiment.  If you’re not big on broccoli, maybe you should try making it a couple different ways before giving up on it (because it’s really good for you!).  Broccoli can be tossed into salads, eaten as an appetizer with dressing, steamed, boiled, roasted…  The possibilities are endless.

To make this broccoli, I just threw it in the steamer basket over some boiling water for 4 minutes with the lid on (you can cook it less if you like it to be a little crunchy still — I like my broccoli a little softer).  After steaming, I squeezed a little fresh lemon juice over it, threw on some salt and pepper and tossed it with a spoon.  (Not exactly rocket science, right?)

For the tuna melts I toasted four pieces of bread at 400° for 8 minutes (you can do this in a toaster or toaster oven as well).  While the bread was toasting, I made the tuna by mixing together 2 cans of albacore tuna, 1 medium dill pickle, 1/4 of a red onion, 1/4 of a cucumber, 1/4 of a large orange bell pepper, mayonnaise (about 1/2 a cup), a squeeze of lemon, and salt and pepper.  (All the veggies were diced fairly small before being mixed in).  This made a pretty large batch of tuna (I wanted leftovers).  If you’re only making the melts, I would cut this recipe in half.

After the bread was done toasting, I topped each slice with some tuna, 1-2 slices of tomato, and a couple slices of sharp cheddar cheese (jack, pepperjack, or provolone would also work well on these).  Once assembled, these went under the broiler for about 2 minutes to melt the cheese (this step could be done in a microwave — use 30 second intervals so the cheese doesn’t over-melt).

Making tuna melts at home is generally much healthier than ordering it at a restaurant.  Because tuna salad can be really unhealthy (hellooo mayonnaise), I like to add in a lot of fresh veggies, and not too much mayo, to keep it well-balanced.  Even though there’s cheese, mayo, and bread in this recipe, there’s also a fair amount of fresh vegetables and a nice serving of lean protein from the tuna.  Remember, you don’t have to give up what you love, but if you can find a way to make it healthier — why shouldn’t you?

Here’s my plate:

I had this, plus about 3/4 of another tuna melt.

Alrighty, time to get ready for tomorrow.  Hope you guys all had a fabulous weekend!

Also, I’ll be announcing my next 30 day challenge soon — stay tuned!