no. 120: buffalo salmon bowls with EASY ranch!!!

Plus, the best smelling blow dry hair mist!!!!

This week has been all about getting myself back into the swing of my LIFE. I am back to waking up to an alarm clock, I am finally responding to e-mails, I am making homemade chicken stock, and I am cooking myself dinner. I even back-squatted at the gym for the first time in over a month, and I’m so sore that I’m nearly unable to take Pepper for a spin around the block. Feels good to be back!!!!

Before we get into my dinner recipe fixation from this week, here are a few things I’ve been loving.

ASTR the Label Open Cowl Back Mini Dress

I’m sure you’re sick of hearing me talk about the weddings that I’ve been attending, but last weekend I was in Monterey for one (don’t worry, this was the last of 2024) and had such a lovely time. This may come as a surprise to you all given how much I love to rent dresses, but I actually am the proud OWNER of this dress. I wore it to the rehearsal dinner and got so many compliments.

It’s a good dress, mmmkay!?!?

The gold color is so good IRL and it’s very comfy!! And what do you know, it’s on sale now for $60 (also available in black).

Kristin Ess Style Assist Blow Dry Mist Heat Protectant Spray

If there is one thing that this stint of weddings has shown me, it’s that I have no goddamn clue how to style my hair. I have watched every ‘wedding guest hair updo” TikTok video and I still somehow have nothing to show for it. So, my strategy has been to blow dry my hair and hope for the best.

I saw my friend, Sara, the other day, and I when I gave her a hug, I was immediately INTOXICATED by her scent. I asked her what perfume she was wearing and she said she WASN’T wearing any perfume, I was merely catching the smell of this spray in her hair. So I obviously bought a bottle the next day and I can confirm it smells divine. It also worked great when I used it to blow dry my hair before the wedding.

I still don’t know how to style my hair but at least it smells amazing, now.

Key Fob Replacement Battery

My dear Rav-4 has been trying to tell me for months that the key has a low battery, and I continued to put it off because it seemed like it was going to be an insurmountable task. The key finally died which left me no other option but to figure this out.

For whatever reason, I was convinced that this endeavor would involve using some sort of annoying tool, consulting Youtube, and perhaps the worst of all, asking a man for help. Lucky for me, it involved none of the three! I successfully ordered the correct battery from Amazon (only a brilliant woman could do that) and replaced it myself, using my real-life experiences and intuition to guide me through the process.

If your car fob battery is low, too, this is your sign that YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS!

Buffalo Salmon Bowls with EASY Ranch

Serves: 2

Active time: 25 minutes

Total time: 35 minutes

I made this on a complete whim for dinner on Monday night, and it was so damn good that I continued to make it every night this week. It was loosely inspired by the buffalo chicken bowl at Sweetgreen, which I had the night prior (my go-to meal after traveling or coming off a weekend bender).

I am trying to work through all the random stuff in my freezer (which is a full time job FWIW), and I stumbled upon a plethora of frozen sockeye salmon filets that I completely forgot about, so buffalo salmon bowls it was.

The buffalo salmon bowl that started it all!

Sockeye salmon is a notably lean fish, so if it’s not prepared with some exciting sauces and things, it won’t taste like a whole lot. My friend, Amanda, very poignantly referred to it as the ‘Kate Moss of fish’. Not even an ounce of fat on it. Of course, you can use whatever salmon you like for this recipe, but I will say, this is a great way to zhuzh up a famously “less fatty” fish. PROTEIN GANG, RISE UP!

There are a lot of components that make this bowl great. The shortcut ‘ranch’ adds a nice creamy, cooling component to the dish. Do you need me to tell you that ranch and buffalo sauce taste good together? The celery, carrot, cherry tomatoes, and cabbage add a ton of refreshing, crunchy textures (use whatever veggies you like/have), and the peperoncini adds some bright, pickle-y flavors which are essential. If you don’t have peperoncini, use any pickled product here.

I feel like there is some confusion on the difference between buffalo hot sauce and buffalo wing sauce. The wing sauce simply adds some fat into the equation, whereas the hot sauce is entirely peppers and vinegar. You can use either product for this recipe, just bear in mind that if you’re using the hot sauce, it may have a spicier, more vinegar-forward flavor. You can also melt some butter into the hot sauce and make your own wing sauce. The more you know.

I know that blue cheese is a hard sell for some folks, so if that’s you, sub in crumbled feta or goat cheese. You can also just use your favorite store-bought ranch, if that’s easier. I don’t care!

This has been such a GOOD dinner fixation, and I’ll be sad after I’ve worked through all my frozen sockeye fillets. Time to stock back up, I suppose.