Goodbye July - Hello August !

Goodbye July - Hello August!

Wow!  So hard to believe that July is ending and August starts tomorrow.  Rabbit Rabbit to those who love the magic of the last day/first day of the month.  During this pandemic the days have all blended into each other and I find myself surprised that the summer is slipping away.  Today's post is a hodgepodge of recipes, decor for the summer, things I bought on Amazon, and books I loved. 
 So glad you stopped by for a visit. 

Healthy Eating

Since my husband's heart attack we have been eating very healthy.  We always ate healthy, but we have ramped it up...no soda, chips, lots of salads and fish.  We try to eat salmon twice a week and one of my favorite ways to prepare salmon is packet cooking. Place salmon on a 12x18 sheet of  heavy duty foil.  I don't use heavy duty...just double up on the regular foil. ( Some of my friends mentioned that it is not good to cook with foil, but in checking out this article from healthline  it seems not to be an issue) 

I spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray to make sure that the fish does not stick to the foil.

You can use any variety of vegetables...This time I used sliced sweet potatoes....

and asparagus.

Place the veggies on either side of the fish, drizzle with olive oil and this time I added a little white wine, too.  Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Fold the packet up and seal the edges.  Bake in a 450 oven ( put the packets on a baking sheet) for 18-20 minutes - or, in these hot summer months - put the foil on a med high grill and cook covered for 16-18 minutes.  When cooking is finished open the foil carefully...there will be steam.

Just plate the meal and enjoy!  Clean up is easy as you just throw away the foil.

You can mix up the veggies for different meals.   Here I used on piece of salmon and sliced it in two pieces since I was using a lot of veggies...zucchini and new potatoes.  I substituted Smart Balance margarine for the olive oil to give his dish a buttery taste...and used Italian seasoning on the zucchini.  Have fun, experiment, and enjoy and easy yet healthy meal!

Summer Decor

Once the July 4th holiday has passed I usually swap out my flag/patriotic decor for something with summer flowers.  And sunflowers are always beautiful for August...

This wreath is one of my favorites and I love the way the yellow and green colors look against the navy blue door.

This simple coffee table decor is just a mix of items I had in the closet...blue beads from Dollar Tree add a light touch.

While I love apartment living here at Our New Vista, and don't mind the gardening work of weeding, watering, etc. - I do miss picking flowers from my garden for our table.  Luckily I found these beautiful silk flowers at JoAnn Fabrics...at 75% off!  I cut them up and put them in the white pitcher I had used for the hydrangeas in July and added the silver tray with the shell edge.  I bought this years ago at Ross.  I keep all these items in my spare room closet/sewing room/junk room and find I can often "shop" my house for items to use. 

Fruit and lemons always say summer to me and I rarely swap out my Turtle Run wine bottle lamp because I love the colors on it.

 A welcome in the foyer with a print out from Ann at On Sutton Place says it all with the quote from Laura Ingalls Wilder - "Home is the nicest place there is."

Usually you will see masks hanging on the door handle so we are ready whenever someone comes to the door.

Van Gogh's  Starry Night is one of our favorites...and I added a small print of Sunflowers for the summer.

A sunflower pillow brightens up the navy chair.

AMAZON BUYS

Is everyone else finding they are shopping online more than ever...seems a package arrives every day.  I really liked having an Echo in the bedroom - use it for our alarm, to turn on the night stand lights, listen to music...but I did not like the dark color and the amazon name on it.  Traded it in on an Amazon deal and upgraded to the Echo Dot in a lighter color with the time read out. 

I like that it shows not only the time, but the temperature if I ask what the weather is like, and it also shows a countdown when I use it as a timer.

I am very happy with how it looks on the nightstand.

READING!

We have been watching lots of movies during this pandemic...and I have been reading more than I ever have in my life - and that is saying a lot for a librarian. Here are some of my favorite books that I read this month...

I love historical fiction and this took me to London during WWII.

Great story about flowers, foster care, life, and LOVE!

This was my favorite July read...Iran in 1953, present day USA, and all the love and life in between.

Thank you so much for stopping by Our New Vista today.  I would love to hear what you are reading, cooking, and how you are decorating.  Have you stopped decorating because "nobody" will see it?  I thought of that, but I love for our home to look good so I will continue to decorate for the two of us!  Please leave a comment below - I would be thrilled.  And be well, stay healthy and be safe!