I feel like I needed a whole day to recuperate from our 4th of July celebrations even though ours was non-traditional. Since my mother is in town I decided we needed to take a road trip and see some sights on a holiday. The roads were pretty empty until we arrived at our destination. It was definitely a popular place to be!
We went to the Sleeping Bear Dunes Park up north in Empire, Michigan. I had been wanting to go but the opportunity had not been available. We left at 8:30am and it took us more than 3 hours to arrive to Traverse City. We checked out the Cherry Festival and after an hour we had a picnic lunch by the lake.
After lunch, we headed to the dunes. It was the most perfect day to go out and see Lake Michigan and the bluffs at its magnificence. What beautiful nature! I was bummed though because I forgot my camera! I had to take all these with my rinky dinky cellphone! You can still get the picture right?
So here are another set of dunes that overlook the bluffs to the left. You think there is no drop off but there is. People were racing down to the lake at a steep incline. It made me soooo nervous!
It was gorgeous though! We attempted to climb some other dunes but we started so late in the afternoon that we did not finish a small section. The sand was super hot and we ended up getting small sunburns but it was part of the fun! We almost felt tempted to take a dip in the water.
It was VERY cold. We were content with wading our hands in the water. Next time we’ll catch our deaths! Ha ha ha. SO our 4th of July was spent seeing some great parts of the country. We got home in time to see the fireworks right at 10:15pm. It was a real great show and a wonderful way to end the night.
But wait, you must be wondering about the food right? Yeah, well, we celebrated the day before because we knew we would be out all day. I grilled some hotdogs served them on sourdough buns and made a non-traditional potato salad. It was a great lunch too!
I think this potato salad is a great way to feed greens to your kids and to get the vitamins from the sweet potatoes too. Ryan took a bite and thought it was interesting and different and then he got a 2nd helping! That is always good! I hope you give it a try because it is very tasty!
Sweet Potato and Broccoli Salad
serves 6
4 cups sweet potatoes, peeled, cubed and cooked (2 large potatoes)
2 cups steamed broccoli, chopped (half a broccoli head)
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
4 Tablespoons cilantro. chopped
3 Tablespoons Vegenaise
2 Tablespoon extra vrigin olive oil
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
In a large pot, add cubed sweet potatoes and cover with water. Boil for 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are soft. (You can roast them too, but it is so hot in our kitchen I quickly boiled them)
Meanwhile, steam your broccoli, in larger pieces. Do not steam them chopped. Chop the broccoli after it has steamed for 5-10 minutes. It should be bright green and slightly crunchy.
Drain the potatoes in a colander and place in a large glass bowl to cool for 15 minutes. Add the chopped broccoli. After the veggies have cooled, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
Refrigerate the night before or eat at room temperature. Either way, the salad is delicious both ways.
