JULY.
The month of endless summer produce, back-to-back heatwaves, weekend trips, beach days, s’mores, and our wedding anniversary.
We’ve been busy picking strawberries and blueberries this month to fill our chest freezer for the winter, eating excessive amounts of zucchini, tomatoes, and basil, spent a lazy weekend wading through the river with Peanut, have somehow managed to see family 3 out of 4 weekends this month, and are just generally living up the height of summer as best as we can.
I thought I had made it the entire month without a sunburn but alas, just this weekend I was at the beach with my sisters and despite being diligent about sunscreen, wearing my cover-up, and taking breaks in the shade, I came home looking like a lobster.
August intentions: continue getting Peanut used to being in the water/maybe learn to swim, spend more evenings sitting around a fire, go hiking in Maine, eat as many juicy peaches as I possibly can.
Also, there won’t be any new recipes on Baked Greens this August; instead, I’m spending the month re-testing old reader favorites to give them updated photos and more streamlined recipe instructions. I’ll still be posting every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but instead of new content, it will all be remakes! This will allow me to slow down and enjoy August a little more, and to also give some of my oldest blog posts a much-needed facelift!
But, before August is upon us, let’s talk July Faves. This month I fell in love with creamy iced mochas, zero-waste shampoo and conditioner, homemade ice cream sandwiches and s’mores bars, smoothies for dinner on hot days, and (finally!!) urban composting.
Come, let me tell you all about it.
CREAMY ICED MOCHAS
I’ve been drinking these on repeat all month long, and they’re seriously just so creamy, chocolatey, and perfect on a hot morning. Here’s how I do it: heat about 4oz coconut milk until just barely hot (microwave or stovetop, whatever you’ve got!), then pour into a blender with about a tablespoon of cocoa powder, 4-6 of these cacao butter discs (I find the best price on Thrive Market, just fyi), a spoonful of raw honey, and a packet of this mushroom coffee (affiliate links.) Blend together and pour into a 16oz mason jar full of ice! I’ve also done this without the coffee packet and topped the mason jar with cold brew after I poured the mocha over ice.
ZERO WASTE SHAMPOO + CONDITIONER
Fun fact: I stopped shampooing my hair over two years ago in a moment of earth-loving frustration. I felt like shampoo and conditioner bottles were such a waste, and that my hair never really felt all that clean after washing anyway, so I switched to just rinsing in the shower without any products at all. It was a fun experiment, and clearly I did it for over two years so it wasn’t all that bad, but lately I’ve been feeling like I want to use something in my hair. But with store shelves literally packed with plastic bottles, I wasn’t sure where to start. Luckily, I stumbled upon Silver Falls Sustainability Co’s shampoo and conditioner bars and haven’t looked back since. I love love love using these in the shower- just lather with your hands like bar soap, massage into your hair, rinse out, and you’re good to go. They last forever, are ridiculously affordable, can even be shipped without a label if you want, and come in a few cool scents, too (though I just opted for the unscented ones). If you’ve been looking for a more earth-friendly alternative to your bottled shampoo/conditioner, I HIGHLY recommend these! Plus, they’re so easy to travel with, since they aren’t liquid. Either bring the entire bar in a small container, or just slice an inch off with a sharp knife to take with you. So easy, and no need to waste those tiny travel sized bottles!
ICE CREAM SANDWICHES & PEANUT BUTTER S’MORES BARS
I literally made these two recipes over and over this month because they’re both just SO GOOD. I’m probably going to go bake another batch of brownies right now so I can re-stock the freezer with ice cream sandwiches for the weekend because at this point, we can’t survive without them. Here are the recipes, if you’re interested: brownie ice cream sandwiches + s’mores bars.
SMOOTHIES FOR DINNER
For real. It’s been so hot, we haven’t wanted to turn on the oven, let alone eat anything remotely warm come dinner time. So, we started adding smoothies to the dinner list a few times a week, and seriously love it. Not only are they cold and refreshing, but you can pack them full of fruit and veggies and they literally take 2 minutes to make. Nights that don’t require any time in the kitchen and only create 3 dishes to wash are seriously where it’s at. This is my go-to green smoothie recipe, but I love making smoothie bowls like this, this, or this, too.
URBAN COMPOSTING
This month I signed up for a compost pick-up service and I’m seriously so happy I did. I’m a big advocate of composting as it diverts food waste from landfills (and is obviously great for your garden!), but ever since we moved to the Boston area I’ve been struggling to figure out a way to make it work. Enter Bootstrap Compost, the thoughtful, sustainable, community-focused composting company who comes to pick up your food scraps right from your front steps, delivers you compost to use in your garden each planting season, and donates excess compost to local schools and community gardens. It is a subscription service, but they have several payment options so it’s very affordable, and is a great way to compost if you live in a city/apartment/don’t have a yard/can’t handle worms living in your house. If you live in the greater Boston area (or I think even Providence!!), I highly recommend checking them out, and if not, just search “composting services in ______” to see what your options are in your town! P.S. Bootstrap also offers office, restaurant, and event composting if you’re in the market for any of those. If you do sign up, I’d love it if you mention my name (Chelsea Colbath) in the ‘how did you hear about us?’ box. Doing so sends me two free compost pick-ups, and likewise, if you tell a friend about it, have them do the same for you and you’ll get a few free pick-ups as well!
That’s it! Tell me: what you got you excited this month? What are your intentions for August? I want to hear all about it!
See you Friday with an updated version of these muffins!