What’s Cooking This Week 🍽️

This past week, I treated myself to a little staycation in the city with a friend visiting from out of town. We fully leaned into the fantasy—cosplaying as “ladies who lunch,” shopping our way through Chicago’s Gold Coast like we didn’t have a care in the world. And honestly? It was bliss.

We slept in, grabbed lattes en route to one luxury store after another, bounced between happy hours and fabulous dinner reservations, and gave ourselves permission to press pause on reality for 48 hours of uninterrupted girl time. As a born Southsider who's spent her life just an arm’s length from one of the best cities in the world, it felt like a breath of fresh air to see Chicago through a new set of eyes.

It was also a much-needed reminder: stepping away—even just briefly—is a form of self-care I often forget. I'm a natural do-er, constantly fueled by the next thing on my calendar, but it’s these slower, unhurried days that leave me feeling most recharged. And as a girl who loves to dilly dally, this little girls' trip was exactly the reset I didn’t know I needed.

Now it’s back to real life—work, laundry, and the age-old “what’s for dinner?” question. But as you’ll see in this week’s menu, I’m still finding little ways to romanticize the mundane.

Here is what’s cooking this week:

STEAK SALADS (20 Minutes + Marinade time)

For Easter last week I made a batch of what might be my favorite go-to summer pasta salad. It is fresh, full of bright flavors, and the crispy shallot vinaigrette brings it all together with a deep garlicy-onion deliciousness. Having cooked nearly every recipe from this food creator’s catalog I knew that vinaigrette makes an appearance in several other recipes, one of which being these steak salads. So for a forecast of sunny and 65, we’re pulling out the grill and having ourselves a little ‘Steak Salad Sunday’ made famous by this Tik Tok account who has a lovely catalog of steak salad recipes.

What You’ll Need:

• Marinated Skirt Steak:

  • 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce

  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

  • 1/3 cup olive oil

  • 2 garlic cloves

  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt

  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

  • 1 1/2 lb skirt or flank steak

  For the Salad:

  • 3 cups arugula

  • 3 cups romaine

  • 1 medium cucumber

  • 1 avocado

  • 2 green onions

  • 3 oz feta cheese

  • 1 oz freshly grated Parmesan cheese to top

  Crispy Shallot Vinaigrette:

  • 1/3 cup olive oil

  • 1 large shallot or 2 small shallots

  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar

  • 1/2 lemon

  • 1 tsp honey

  • 1/2 tsp dijon mustard

  • Pinch of kosher salt and pepper

THE RECIPE 🍴 : https://broccyourbody.com/simple-grilled-steak-salad/

MISSISSIPPI CHICKEN (Crock Pot)

Life hacks that will never get old: putting the crock pot in charge of dinner every Monday. Sorry if you’re sick of hearing this, but it is a habit that has grown to be something both my husband and I look forward to every week. Bonus for this recipe is that it requires a super short ingredient list. I serve like an Italian beef on fresh rolls, toasted with a little mozzarella cheese.

What You’ll Need:

• 4 large chicken breasts boneless skinless

• 12 pepperoncini peppers + 1/4 cup juice from the jar

• 1 packet ranch seasoning mix (the creator suggests Hidden Valley)

• 1 (1 ounce) packet au jus seasoning

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)

THE RECIPE🍴: https://www.saltandlavender.com/mississippi-chicken/

SHEET PAN SAUSAGE ( 30 Minutes )

If you Google “Sheet Pan Sausage Dinner” your search results will yield a plethora of variations of this recipe. Not necessarily this specific recipe, but I can say with confidence that some form of sheet pan sausage + veggies is one of the most cooked meals in our house. I typically pre-cut the veggies when I have the space in my schedule to do so, then come dinner time it’s a ‘pour on the pan and put in the oven’ situation. No watching the stove, no extra steps, and this works really well when you have random produce in your fridge you need to use up. Feel free to mix up the veggies in the mix, you may just have to adjust your cook time accordingly.

What You’ll Need:

• 1 (14 ounce) Andouille sausage (any smoked sausage, chicken sausage, or Kielbasa can be used as well)

• 2 cups broccoli florets

• 2 cups bell peppers

• 2 cups zucchini

• 1 red onion

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 1 teaspoon paprika

• salt and pepper to taste

• (optional) freshly grated Parmesan cheese to top

THE RECIPE 🍴: https://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/sheet-pan-sausage-and-veggies/

BREAKFAST FOR DINNER ( 35 Minutes )

John and I don’t get many weekends off together so sometimes it feels like we miss out on those big breakfast mornings. So breakfast for dinner, aka Brinner, is the next best thing. This recipe looks comparable to a meat lovers skillet he’d likely order from a diner, so we’re gonna see how close we can come to making it at home.

What You’ll Need:

• 8-10 slices bacon

• 8 breakfast sausage links

• 1 small onion

• 1 red bell pepper

• 3 cloves garlic

• 1.5 lbs Russet potatoes (about 2 large)

• salt and pepper

• ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika

• 6 large eggs

• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese , or favorite cheese

THE RECIPE 🍴: https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/easy-breakfast-skillet/

RIDICULOUSLY GOOD AIR FRYER SALMON ( 13 Minutes )

If you made the Ridiculously Good Air Fryer Chicken Tacos from last week’s menu, this is her healthy cousin. And I’m not exaggerating when I say this, but this recipe single handedly changed my ability to cook salmon at home. It’s foolproof, it’s easy, and if you really want to do yourself a solid, ask your local fish monger if they can cube the salmon for you. The actual cook time is 8 minutes in the air fryer so for anyone that’s struggling with finding the time to cook, here is your answer.

What You’ll Need:

• 1 lb. salmon

• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon paprika

• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (not necessary to use both types, but if you have them go for it!)

• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon cornstarch

• 3/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt (or 1/2 teaspoon table salt)

• 2–3 teaspoons avocado or olive oil

THE RECIPE 🍴: https://pinchofyum.com/ridiculously-good-air-fryer-salmon

GRILLED CHICKEN KABOBS ( 50 Minutes )

I think Chicagoland has finally escaped the clutches of Faux Spring. I say that cautiously—because if I have to pull out my winter coat one more time, I might actually cry. Real tears. But today? Today I’m choosing optimism. I’m dreaming of filling our outdoor pots with flowers, channeling Martha Stewart in the garden, swapping out snow-resistant shoes for something that shows my toes, and catching that first delicious waft of charcoal from a neighbor’s grill.

There’s something undeniably magical about this time of year: windows open, a Nancy Meyers playlist floating through the house, and dinner sizzling outside. It might sound silly, but there’s a specific kind of peace that settles over John when he’s at the grill. He cues up his own go-to playlist (likely the Grateful Dead), pours two fingers of something from his best bourbon stash, and sinks into the gentle hum of the neighborhood. For a guy who works incredibly hard, these moments are his exhale—and watching him in that space brings me a joy I can’t quite put into words. So yes, I am very ready for grill season and for recipes like this one to deliver that kind of romance.

What You’ll Need:

• 1 cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 2 teaspoons paprika

• ½ teaspoon cumin

• ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

• Zest from one lemon

• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

• 1¾ teaspoons salt

• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 5 garlic cloves

• 2½ to 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs

• 1 large red onion

• Vegetable oil, for greasing the grill

THE RECIPE 🍴: https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/middle-eastern-chicken-kabobs.html

For anyone else romanticizing their days….

thanks for being here - XO

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Welcome to THE LIFE EDIT- I’m Linds 👋🏼

The Life Edit is embracing the art of celebrating life’s little luxuries. From the simple swaps and meaningful improvements, to the big transformations, we’re elevating our travel, style, and daily habits, with practical tips to make life feel more well lived.

Catch me in real time on Instagram here and here if *hopefully Tik Tok lives on forever.