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Summer 2019 Reading List

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Hi! Hope everyone’s summer is going well;) I still haven’t finished The Lord of the Rings, but I have some books lined up that I want to read after I’m done, so I’ll share them with you guys today. There’s a bit of a mix of genres on this list, as well as some heavier reads. I know that I only have three titles picked out so far, but if I finish them and start reading other books then I’ll definitely let you guys know which ones those are.

I know that a lot of people don’t like reading unless they have to, but reading is awesome in every way. It’s pretty much like a portal into thousands of different worlds, worlds that you create using your imagination. Plus, it makes you smarter! Do you know how many weird words I’ve found out about while reading The Lord of the Rings? So I really hope that you guys give reading a try this summer. You just need to find the right book. To help you out with that, here’s my reading list for Summer 2019!

1. Sherwood

This novel centres around Marian, Robin Hood’s fiancé. When Robin dies, Marian decides to take his place as the protector of the village of Locksley by disguising herself in his green cloak. It focuses around the idea of being your own hero. After reading The Lord of the Rings, in which I think there are a total of about four women mentioned in the whole series, I thought it would be nice to read a novel with a strong female lead. The storyline also seems less complex than the books I’ve been reading recently, so I think it will be a fun, relaxing summer read;)

2. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

After giving my brain a short break by reading Sherwood, I will then put it to work again by picking up Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It follows a father and son on a motorcycle trip across the American Northwest. Along the way, they discover more about life and it’s “fundamental questions”, whatever that’s supposed to mean. This looks like it should be an interesting read, because I’m into philosophy and learning about living your best life. However, I’m hoping that it doesn’t get too dry. If it does, I might just stop reading it and move on to the next book on my list.

3. The Winner Stands Alone

This book is written by Paulo Coelho, who also wrote the alchemist, a novel that you should definitely read if you haven’t already. The Winner Stands Alone takes place at Cannes Film Festival, and follows five people who are looking to acquire fame and fortune, things that the world values as important. The main idea is that you should follow your own dreams, not those that are given to you by society. I think that this is a really important concept, and so I’m excited to see where this book goes.

That’s my reading list for this Summer! Again, if I read any other books, I’ll post them on Instagram for you. Also, I wanted to let you know that I’ll be posting three times a week in the summer, starting next week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I’m super excited!

Yours Truly,

MyDayIsBooked;))

Neapolitan Nice Cream

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Hello everyone! Summer is here and I’m craving some sweet treats! So I brought out my blender and made some delicious Neapolitan Nice Cream😋. Nice Cream has a texture and taste similar to ice cream, but it’s generally made with frozen bananas. It’s light and refreshing, perfect for a hot summer day! This Nice Cream is super easy to make, and only requires 4 ingredients (not including water) to make all three flavours; vanilla, strawberry and chocolate. Make sure you give yourself time before serving to freeze your ingredients, as well as the final product. Here’s the recipe!

Neapolitan Nice Cream

Serves: 3-4

Total Time: 4 hours

Ingredients:

  • 6 medium bananas
  • 6 strawberries, washed
  • 1 tbs vanilla extract
  • 2 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
  • Water

Directions:

  1. Chop up the bananas into round slices, keeping each banana separate. Split them evenly into three ziploc bags; two chopped bananas per bag. This is so that you can make each flavour of Nice Cream separately.
  2. Remove the stems from the strawberries and cut them into small slices. Put them in with one of the bags of bananas. This bag will be for the strawberry Nice Cream.
  3. Place all of the bags in the freezer, and freeze for at least 3 hours, or until all of the fruit is completely frozen.
  4. Once the strawberries and bananas are frozen, remove the bags from the freezer.
  5. Empty one bag of just bananas into your blender, along with the 1 tbs of vanilla and one tbs of water. This is for the vanilla Nice Cream. Blend until a smooth texture forms. It should look something like this:
  6. Scoop out the Nice Cream from the blender and use it to fill up one third of a lined loaf pan. Put the loaf pan in the freezer while blending up the other flavours.
  7. For the strawberry flavour, empty the bag with the bananas and strawberries into the blender and blend until you reach the same consistency as the vanilla. Scoop it into the loaf pan to fill another third of it, then put it back into the freezer.
  8. Now it’s time for chocolate! Put the last bag full of bananas into the blender with the 2 tbs of cocoa powder and 1 tbs of water, and again blend until you reach that perfect consistency. Fill up the last third of the loaf pan with the chocolate Nice Cream.
  9. Place the loaf pan in the freezer for about 30-45 minutes before serving, to get the perfect texture. If your Nice Cream gets to hard, let it thaw on the counter for a bit before digging in. Enjoy!
  • I hope you like this healthy summer treat! To be honest, I think chocolate was my favourite flavour, but the other ones were great too:) I gave my dog a little scoop of the strawberry and he loved it! Have an awesome week😊😊🍦🍦

Yours Truly,

MyDayIsBooked;)

 

July Bullet Journal Set Up with June Monthly Recap

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Wow! I can’t believe that we’re already halfway through the year! I’m excited though because summer is here and it’s time for a bit of a reset. Today I’ll be showing you my July Bullet Journal Set Up, as well as some other pages in my journal. My theme this month is monarch butterflies, inspired by AmandaRachLee;) It turned out really pretty, and the orange and yellow colour palette is summery and fun. In addition, I have my June Monthly Recap, and a Mid-Year Review. Let’s get into it!

My monthly recap hasn’t changed from previous months;)

Something I decided to add in this year was a Mid-Year Review page. I have a quote on the left, and in the right I’m going to do a bit of a reflection to reset and refocus for the second half of the year.

And here’s my title page for July! I absolutely love the butterflies. They’re not super hard to draw, AmandaRachLee has a great tutorial on her YouTube channel. I added some detail with my silver gel pen, and used some dots to fill up the empty space. My colours for this month are a light yellow Zebra Mildliner, and a deeper yellow and an orange Crayola SuperTips marker, so three colours. Inside the butterflies I went from light to dark, just like a monarch. There are so many beautiful quotes about butterflies that I can use this month, so I’m really excited!

My calendar is pretty much the same as in past months. I drew more butterflies, a goals section, and a space to write down blog post ideas, now that herb month is over and I don’t need a whole page for that!

My habit and mood trackers turned out nice as well. For my mood tracker, I drew a big butterfly, and I’ll colour each numbered section in according to the legend at the bottom.

Here’s my gratitude log;) I also included a Summer bucket list, because I want to write down cool things to do this summer.

To keep in shape during the summer, I drew up a workout schedule! Let’s see if I actually stick to it though😂 I also drew a quote page that is kind of my mantra for the summer; to keep a positive mindset.

Lastly, we have my first weekly spread. Im trying to keep each week on one page, so that I have more room for fun stuff like quotes and bucket lists;) This should work out because I’m not very busy in the summer.

That’s all folks! I’m looking forward to coming up with summer recipes, reading lists and bullet journal ideas to share with you over the next couple of months!

Yours Truly,

MyDayIsBooked;))

Basil Week: Kale and Arugula Pesto

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Bad news!! MY BASIL PLANT IS DEAD! I went to check it this morning and it only had about 10 shrivelled leaves on it. All of my other herbs are growing like crazy, and I don’t think that it got enough sun. I salvaged as much as I can, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to make a full on basil pesto like I’d planned. So, I used some kale and arugula instead! The colour, texture and flavour of this pesto is still amazing though. I can’t wait to eat it on pasta, fish, veggies, and in wraps! I used sunflower seeds instead of pine nuts or almonds, because they’re cheaper and still have a really good taste. Other than that, the ingredients you’ll need are super simple; lemon, garlic, olive oil, kale, arugula, and of course, a little bit of basil. Here’s the recipe!

Kale and Arugula Pesto

Serves: 4 (this recipe makes about 1 cup of pesto)

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup basil leaves
  • 3 cups kale and arugula mix, packed
  • 1/2 cup roasted sunflower seeds, hulled
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 6 tbs olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. In a blender or food processor, blend the basil, kale and arugula, lemon, garlic, and sunflower seeds until combined but chunky.
  2. With the blender on low speed, stream in the olive oil. Continue to blend until you’ve reached a fairly smooth texture.
  3. Enjoy with pasta, fish, veggies, salads and wraps!

And with that, Herb month has come to an end! I’ve enjoyed coming up with new recipes for all of the different herbs that I’ve grown, and love having my own little garden! Hopefully my other plants don’t die off😬😬. Thanks for reading my posts throughout the month;) I cant wait for summer- I have some awesome ideas! See you then☺️😊

PS. I’m planning to show you guys my July Bullet Journal today as well, so keep your eyes peeled!

Yours Truly,

MyDayIsBooked;)))

Basil Week: Tomato, Basil and Avocado Salad

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Hello:) I think that basil is my favourite herb out of the ones that I’ve posted about- the smell of it when you pick it off the plant is just amazing! This salad really showcases fresh basil, along with plump Roma tomatoes and perfectly ripe avocados. The simple balsamic dressing ties everything together. For this recipe, you’ll need to Chiffonade your basil, which basically means to cut it into thin strips. I’ll show you how to do this before giving you the recipe to this tasty salad. Enjoy!

How to Chiffonade

You can use this technique on any other flat leafed vegetable that you want to cut into strips. To chiffonade your basil, lay the leaves on top of each other, then roll them lengthwise.

Proceed to cut the rolled basil the opposite way that you rolled it. Does that make sense? When you unravel the leaves they should be cut into long strips that look like this:

There you go! Use this technique to chop the basil for your salad;)

Tomato, Basil, and Avocado Salad

Serves: 1-2

Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 Roma tomatoes cut into eighths
  • 1 ripe avocado, cut into small chunks
  • 10-12 leaves of basil, chiffonaded (I just made up that word)

For the dressing:

  • 3 tbs olive oil
  • 1 1/2 tbs balsamic vinegar
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Toss all of the ingredients for the salad and dressing together in a bowl, and season to taste.

Super simple, but also very fresh tasting and delicious;))) Hope you like it! I’ll see you later this week for the last post of Basil Week, and of Herb Month!

 

Yours Truly,

 

MyDayIsBooked