As 2025 comes to a close, I am reflecting on some highlights from this year. This post will focus on food & drinks, with activities already posted and more categories to follow soon!
Recipes on Our Website
Chicken Sausage & Rice Skillet
Sweet, salty, spicy – yum. This is the only meat dish that features with any regularity in the Collins-Weber house.
I made this often during the hottest part of the summer. I didn’t take any pictures so the stock photo will have to do until I make it again, oops!
This has been my breakfast almost every single morning for the past few years. I also still enjoy an occasional Green Smoothie Bowl – both are simple, but this one doesn’t require a blender and is particularly nice in the colder months.
Recipes not on Our Website
Umami Girl’s Sauerkraut & Dijon Grilled Cheese
I like to make this recipe with beet sauerkraut on sourdough bread. So good!
Budget Bytes’ Kimchi Breakfast Quesadilla
Quick, easy, and delicious. I have also made this with scrambled tofu in place of the eggs.
Fitgreenmind’s Roasted Tomato Soup
Don’t skip the onion, garlic, or bell pepper (and I keep the pepper skins on even if dark). I use coconut milk instead of “vegan cream” and serve with toasted sourdough bread.
Drinks
Tart Cherry Juice
My go-to beverage of the year has been a seltzer (lemon-lime or raspberry-lime) with a splash of tart cherry juice. For a spiked version, I have also added tart cherry juice to a gin & tonic.
Matcha
I’ve been drinking much more matcha this year. Most coffee shops offer it at this point, and it doesn’t typically give me the same jittery feeling that coffee does. I also picked up some matcha powder to make my own at home. I don’t have the traditional tools that I’m constantly seeing online, but an electric whisk has been working just fine to break up the clumps.
Drink Syrups
Maple syrup is my go-to addition to matcha and coffee, but I started testing flavored syrup recipes this winter and those have been quite tasty, too.
I’ll plan to add at least one syrup recipe to the website at some point, but it seems that this is a pretty reliable equation (simmered on the stovetop for about 10 minutes):
1 part water + 1 part sugar + flavor additions of your choosing = yum
