4th of July Food & Recipe Ideas, New Clothes & Shoes, Fireworks (2024)

Hi Bloggies! I hope you’ve had a good week so far and that you’ve past the Hump and now 4th of July weekend is just a little bit closer! What’s on your agenda? There’s a possibility that my friend Amber and I may get into a little trouble Saturday night. Kind of like old times. I am hoping it pans out and that we do! Back molestation not withstanding of course.

Today after the gym, Skylar and I went to Fashion Valley Mall.

The Mother Ship: NM

It’s a typical Southern Cal open-air outdoor mall. But the stores are anything but typical.

Bloomie’s off in the distance. Didn’t want to haul my camera around so I left it in the car once I left the parking lot but it’s a great mall. Nordstrom, NM, Bloomie’s, MAC Store, True Religion store, every imaginable Forever 21, H&M, Nike Store, Abercrombie, Bebe, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, you name it, you can relieve yourself of thousands of dollars here, in a hurry. Oh you better believe, I used to. God, it was great.

Anyway I had a mission. New Shoes. Look at these old ones that are only 4 months old.

My toe is poking through. Not good.

So I found some brand new Air Vomero 5’s in a brand new color they just got yesterday at the Nike Store. (The holey-toe shoes are also Vomero 5’s. Super light and squishy feeling shoes. If you like to squish with extreme cushioning, these are your shoes)

No more toe holes. Not sure why I do that but my toes can rip shoes after about 3 months! And yes, I keep my toenails very trim. It’s just my gait and stride I think.

No trip to Fashion Valley would be complete without hitting up Forever 21, ala Katie style

Super soft navy blue burnout V-neck

Lounging shorts

L.A. Girls…Do it Better t-shirt

I couldn’t resist this one!

Even a medium is super baggy on me. I guess that’s the style, at least according to the cashier who was half my age. Seriously though, all the shirts were like this in so many stores.

And they all have huge slits in the armpits or there were really loose fitting tank-tops that were like wearing nothing. So as long as you can rock a sports bra or cami underneath, I guess they’re fine. All the styles are cool and lightweight, that’s for sure!

Skylar was a trooper with me for 2 hours at the mall. Only one mad dash to find a ladies room when she told me with about 17 seconds warning she needed one. But we made it.

From yesterday…
Thanks for the feedback on my Kombucha making efforts and if you’re grossed out or not. Sounds like most of you are hanging in there with my science project, and many of you actually thanked me for posing about it. Yay! As Evan said, it’s like a train-wreck. You just can’t help yourself but to stare.

It was interesting that very few of you had any juice recommendations for me. It seems that no one drinks juice anymore. Which is probably a good thing since most juices contain lots of everything, except juice.

Thanks for chiming in about experiencing missing-a-workout-anxiety. I am okay with just skipping workouts. I just get antsy when I plan to workout, but then at the last minute, life happens, things come up, and workout plans are foiled. Sounds like I am not alone, though. Who likes to get all psyched up for nothing. And it carries over into other aspects of life for me, too. If I make plans, I like to do what I set out to do. If I never made plans, who cares. But once I do, I like to stick to them. Seems that lots of you are the same way.


Moving On…
I want to Highlight Some Recipes that I think would be fun to bring to a 4th of July Party or a Summer backyard BBQ or Pool Party. I am selecting these because they are fairly temperature stable (i.e. softserve’s great but you can’t bring that to an outdoor party) and also things that will appeal to vegans and omnivores alike. You don’t have to tell them it’s vegan. God forbid they thought they were “eating healthy”.

These recipes show that high raw, vegan, gluten free food can taste great and be easy to make!

Dips:

Crackers & Chips:

i.e. Homemade Mary’s Crackers!

Entrees:
Spiralized Zucchini Pasta with Diced Veggies and Peanut Sauce

Wraps:

Or you could swap out the Cucumber for zucchini and wrap those. Cukes or zukes, doesn’t matter.

Fresh Vegan Spring Rolls and 2-Minute Peanut Sauce

I have to have Tons of Peanut Sauce with Every.Single.Bite.

Peanut Sauce + Rice Paper Wraps with Fresh Veggies = Perfect!

Desserts:
Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse

No Bake Vegan Rum Cake Balls in the spirit of a little alcohol in your dessert for the Holiday!

You can Never Have Too Many Rum Balls!

High Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls

High Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls
I’ve never met anyone who hasn’t liked these. I’ve been told at least a couple hundred times by readers they’ve made these, and always with rave reviews from everyone who samples them.

No-Bake Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls (with a High Protein Option)

Only requires a bowl and spoon to make. No fancy appliances!

No-Bake Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls (with a High Protein Option)

And what’s as American as Apple Pie for the 4th? Well, a slight tweak on traditional apple pie…

For a Comprehensive list of All my Dessert Balls, Click Here
For a Comprehensive List of All my Chocolate Recipes, Click Here
For a list of Mainly Savory Dishes that use Nutritional Yeast, Click Here
For Oat and Oatmeal Recipes, Click Here

Tip of the Day: Did you see who won my Give Away for Newman’s Own Organics 6-Chocolate Bars?

Click Here to See Who’s Going to Be Taming Their Inner Chocolate Beast

Questions
1. How often do you replace your athletic shoes?
I have read that running shoes need to be replaced every 500 miles. I concur with that for me, because I am prone to injuries and aches and pains running on 500+ mile shoes. For me, 500 miles generally comes around 4 months. And low and behold, that’s when my toes pop through, too! There are certain things to skimp on. Good shoes is not one of them! I pushed the envelope and tried to save money by not replacing my shoes in a timely fashion and I messed up my knee for months. Not good. So lesson learned, for me. Some people I know, though, are fine with thousands of miles and years on their shoes.

2. 4th of July. What are your plans?
As I said at the top of the post, there’s a potential chance Amber and I may go out on Saturday night for a bit. Other than that, the weekend is wide open so far.

3. Do you like fireworks? Have you ever shot off your own fireworks?
As a kid, I used to like fireworks displays. My mother loves them. Some people just do. I will say that after about 10 minutes, I get bored. It’s like yes, they are pretty, yes they look cool, but I begin to lose interest.

I do, however, like shooting off fireworks of my own! When we lived in the Carolinas, we would buy fireworks in South Carolina and go down to the beach and shoot them off there (not totally legal). And for the couple years we were living in NC, we’d buy them in SC, take them back to NC where they are not legal, and shoot them off there anyway on the beach. And, I’m not talking about huge, ridiculous fireworks. And yes, fireworks are nothing to play around with because they can be extremely dangerous, but I think that’s part of the fun! Nothing like 4am on the beach, 4th of July weekend, with friends, well-fed, well-liquored, shooting off firecrakers with the sand between your toes. Ahhh, such fun memories!

4. Do any of the recipes I posted catch your eye? I’m curious to know what people gravitate towards…dips, desserts, entrees, what looks good?

5. Do you have any signature party entrees or celebration-type food you like to make? If you have a link, I’d love to see it, or just tell me about it.

Stay Tuned For A Semi-Hot Topic Post…