This Wednesday I’m sharing all of my Fourth of July Weekend eats! One day was full of veggies while the other was heavy on the m#eeeeeats! But it was all seriously delicious and indulgent.

Friday Dinner #1 – Local’s Cafe

Friday night I got off the train and headed to Port Jefferson for a review of a new fast-casual coffee joint called Local’s Café. I can’t wait to share the story on Peanut Butter Is My Boyfriend – it was so nice learning about the owner’s story while enjoying small-batch kombucha and avocado toast!

I left with a beautiful vegan doughnut and a hunk of banana bread to go because my parent’s still wanted to go out to dinner.

Friday Dinner #2 – Spiro’s

We sat at the bar at a local restaurant, Spiro’s, and split a few incredible dishes. The lighting was super unfriendly so there’s no pictures, but we ordered the Athenian Chicken Meatballs (stuffed with feta and spinach) served atop a chickpea salad, the Grilled Shrimp & Eggplant dish (covered with feta AND blue cheese) and the Pastrami Rueben with French fries!

Friday Dessert – Local’s Café

We devoured the vegan donut at home and I finished up a pint of Halo Top chocolate ice cream. Can we talk about how great Halo Top is? Never buying Arctic Zero AGAIN.

Saturday Brunch – Better On A Bagel

Egg whites, American Cheese, Bacon, Avocado on an Egg Everything Bagel. THE only way to go when you’re on Long Island.

Something else exciting about Saturday morning? I ran for the first time in 31 days! It was a slow 2 miles but it felt GREAT to get out there!

Saturday Lunch – Yacht Club

Can you say liquid lunch? This is a summer tradition – rum buckets at the yacht club!

Saturday Dinner – #MealsByMitch

My dad is probably a better chef than half the chefs heading restaurant kitchens across America. I'm not complaining that the only kitchen he’s cookin’ out of is mine!

He made our all-time favorite meal – grilled vegetable platter with Italian bread. Can you just look at this? The amount of olive oil and garlic is unreal. My favorite is making a little open face sandwich with mozzarella, tomato, eggplant, roasted red peppers, onion and drizzled with balsamic.

Saturday Dessert - #MealsByMitch

So spoiled – Long Island strawberries macerated in sugar overnight and served atop Angel Food Cake with Cool Whip. I was made fun of because I request Cool Whip as opposed to my dad offering to make homemade whipped cream.

Sunday Breakfast

I woke up bright and early and went to boot camp at a local gym and enjoyed a giant bowl of Special K with unsweetened vanilla almond milk afterwards. Is it weird that I LOVE almond milk in my cereal?

Sunday Lunch/Dinner – Boat Tie-Up Extravaganza

The amount of food served during Sunday’s Fourth of July boat tie-up was absolutely unreal. 7 boats filled with people who love to eat meant non-stop food and drinks for 8+ hours straight.

Here’s a run-down:

1. Shrimp Cocktail

2. Raw Clams

3. Watermelon + Mint

4. Fritos/Sun Chips

5. Pinwheel sausage

6. Ribs

7. Kielbasa Sliders with Sauerkraut

8. Pork, Pepper and Onion Sausage

9. Chicken Tenders in BBQ Sauce

10. Pepperoni and Cheese

11. Chicken Gyros in Pita Pockets with homemade Tzatziki

12. Marinated Mako Shark

13. Oreos and Chocolate Chip Muffins

14. Dark Hershey Kisses + Raspberries

I decided yesterday that I need to become a shark-specific fisher-woman so that I can eat mako shark every day for the rest of my life. I knew I loved mako, but I hadn’t had it in a few years and this completely renewed my obsession. It was the most tender, meaty fish in the entire world and so full of flavor.

The chicken gyros were also incredible with a Greek salad, chicken and tzatziki layered in a pita pocket.

Food For the Soul

One of my absolute favorite things about Long Island are the sunsets – I frequently drive down to the beach just to snap a picture of the sunset when I’m home.

Fourth of July weekend provided two of the most stunning sunsets I’ve seen in a while and I was so content to take pictures for an hour + on Sunday night. It seemed that every minute the sky changed completely and I needed to take another 50 pictures.

I’m going to throw a slideshow up here with the disclaimer that not even these pictures do it justice. It was truly breathtaking to be out on the water with the sky putting on a show around us. No fireworks necessary (although we got those too!)

Sunday Dessert

Ain’t no shame in my game – eat for 8+ hours, get home, make a bowl of Talenti with Cool Whip.

Monday Breakfast

Another boot camp kicked my booty even earlier Monday morning followed by another glorious bowl of Special K with berries (with some raisins and Long Island strawberries thrown in the mix).

I also treated myself to a $4 cold brew with coconut milk from Starbucks because after an hour workout in the sweltering sun nothing sounded better!

Monday Lunch

As the sadness of a weekend home coming to an end set in, I eased the pain with leftover grilled vegetable platter.

Monday Dinner

I wrapped up the weekend with a laid back rooftop-BBQ in NYC before the rain chased us indoors.

There was

· Blue cheese, raisin & walnut crostini

· Carrots and hummus

· Tortilla chips

· Watermelon

· Omaha Steak burgers with all the fixings - grilled onions, lettuce, tomato, ketchup, pickles and even BACON

Every year I'm reminded of the fact that the Fourth of July solidly remains my favorite holiday. Even though this year my plans came together late in the game - I got to lay out at the beach, spend 8+ hours on a boat with my parents, and wrap up the weekend on a rooftop in the greatest city on earth - stuffing my face with a burger and beer. Can you say perfection.