Simone Says: Last Bites of Summer?

This summer wasn't quite what I was expecting... my internship went online, I was stuck with my parents, the whole nine yards... you've probably heard that story by now. But nonetheless, I had a summer of great eats from start to finish. So I'm dedicating this post to the "finish", with some of my last bites of summer.

I question, however, if these are my last bites of summer. In Bloomington, Indiana, where I'm back at school, it usually drops a few degrees by now as the autumn winds start to pick up, but it's still sunny and 85 just about every day. So yeah, autumn is around the corner, but I'm enjoying every warm day I can get.

A few weeks ago still at home, I made sure to take advantage of every opportunity to make a great breakfast. I continued on my oatmeal trend through my last few weeks home, simmering a pot of old-fashioned oats with creamy almond milk and topping my bowl with all the essentials. I treat my oatmeal bowls like I treat each new morning: every new day is unique just like how every bowl is special. So of course, these bowls below had mostly the same ingredients but provided different but equally great vibes to my mornings.

The first and second bowls down below had oatmeal bases topped with any and all fresh fruit I had around. The third bowl, however, was game-changing; my older sister was home, and since she's naturally more creative than me in all aspects of life, of course, she inspired this creation. We threw apple chunks on the stove with brown sugar and cinnamon, then mixed in the oatmeal with chia seeds and other berries. It was packed with flavor and filled me up to prepare me for a great day ahead.

Moving on to a favorite summer dinner was Poké night. We prepared all the fix-ins for Poké bowls, like shredding, slicing and seasoning veggies, and marinating fresh sushi-grade tuna in a sweet soy glaze. Everyone in my family does Poké night differently: dad carefully throws everything into his bowl, mom opts for all of the low-carb options, my sister goes for the right mix of veggies and tuna, and I take an extra 5 minutes getting the perfect shot of my bowl. Pictures or it didn't happen, right?

Some featured mixins are the sauteed onions, slices of a perfect avocado, and the perfect tuna cubes in the middle. It was a great dinner... not too heavy and had great flavors.

Although nothing gets me going quite like a bowl meal (you know, oatmeal in a bowl, poké bowls, etc.) I couldn't help but splurge on something new. Water Dog in Ventnor, New Jersey has quite the menu, and it helps that I worked there for the first half of the summer. So of course, I knew all about their famous lobster roll.

This sophisticated lunch was unlike anything I've ever had: the meat of an entire lobster was so carefully placed in between a grilled sweet brioche roll, and the entire lobster roll was buttery and significantly great. It's hard to find a lobster roll without the extra fillings (extreme mayo or celery or onions), but this one was the perfect roll. Kudos to Water Dog for bringing this to town.

The summer was great down the shore in South Jersey, but nothing beats a day in the city (New York, that is). My mom, sister, and I hopped into SoHo for an afternoon for a quick errand, so it made sense to stop for lunch. We stopped at Two Hands to pick up something light, like this beautiful açai bowl. Topped with their housemade granola and summer berries, it was a delicious treat for a hot July day.

My time on the coast quickly flew by and I made my way back to school in Bloomington for year 3. Though I'm still living in a sorority house with limited cooking ability, I find that there's much more to do with the house food than ever before. After suggesting that the kitchen team stocks up on some house-favorites, like fresh cups of fruit, avocados and almond milk, getting creative during mealtimes has become a daily thing. Every morning, I'll make avocado toast with multigrain bread, Trader Joe's Everything Bagel Seasoning (my favorite seasoning, if you're new to this blog), and two eggs made by our great chef. And if I'm not feeling the avocado vibe, I'll always get a custom omelet loaded with veggies, instead.

Yet sometimes, I'm not feeling the whole healthy thing at all. I often head on over to a friend's apartment and take over in their kitchen to make something myself.

This weekend's kitchen extravaganza was flipping pancakes. We had great loaded chocolate-chip pancakes... I'll save you some time and not go into the details, but please understand they were fantastic.

It's great to be back at school though my semester is looking different, with most hours of my day spent watching lectures online. We're making the most of what we have in Bloomington. All I know is that I'm glad to be out of the house! Kidding. (But miss you, mom and dad!)

Fingers crossed that we get to stay in Bloomington for the entire semester as opposed to being sent home early. Cheers to staying happy and healthy.