Mary Beth Johnson is a wife and mum to four schooners, as she’s dubbed her children. On a normal afternoon, you would find her in moccasins, skinny jeans and a comfortable tee, camera in hand. Recently moving to the suburbs of Atlanta, Mary Beth spends her days homeschooling, sneaking away to the bookstore, trying to act the part of a southerner, and sifting through recipes in The Vegetarian Times. Food is her love language.

Summer is winding down for us now that my girls have begun school and the herbs have all long died from the heat in July. We still have our pool days and our trips to the library to get books, but August brings a new pace of living and we are enjoying the routine. There is a margin to my days that I don’t remember having in a long, long time and I find myself better able to keep up with the housework, say “yes” to temporarily raising a caterpillar, and pluck my eyebrows.

I have three cookbooks that I hope to methodically go through this fall. I like to push myself to learn new skills, so I want to try my hand at more gluten-free baking and experiment with ingredients I would ordinarily shy away from. I have been marking the pages that interest me and when a cold front courses through Georgia I’m going to brew a cup of tea (I never do that) and watch Julie and Julia to get me thoroughly in the mood. Just the idea of cooking feels romantic to me.

Until yard sale season comes and I find myself a proper crockpot and until a week comes where we don’t see the 90’s I will continue to perfect the art of summer lunches. Can you tell it has been a theme for me? I tried this version of a Mediterranean salad with chickpeas and packed up a bit to give to my friend for her lunch the next day. I can’t think of anything better than having a lunch prepared as a stay-at-home mom without having to do a single thing. It was glorious to pull this out of the fridge for a few days…

 1 15-oz can garbanzo beans (chickpeas)

 1/8 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

 1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced

 1/2 cup roma tomatoes, diced

 1/8 cup olives, sliced

 2 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

 1/8 cup red onion, finely chopped

 1/2 cup english cucumber, diced

 DRESSING:

 2 tsp. lemon juice + 4 drops YL lemon Essential Oil

 1/2 tbs red wine vinegar

 1/4 tsp. garlic, chopped

 1 tbs plain low fat greek yogurt

 Pinch of salt and pepper, to taste

 Optional: pinch of stevia

 Drain and rinse chickpeas. Place in a medium bowl. Wash and dice vegetables to small bite size pieces. Add to the bowl with the chickpeas. Crumble feta and add to bowl along with the olives. In a shaker or water bottle, add the ingredients for the dressing, and shake to mix. Pour dressing over chickpea salad and toss to coat with dressing. Chill in fridge for about an hour or enjoy immediately!