AMLI Blog | Living Apartment Life

The official start of summer is just days away, but barbecue season is well underway across most of the country. The next time you want to impress at a cookout but don’t want to prepare anything too elaborate, try one of these simple barbecue recipes.

Cookbooks have helped home chefs wow their families and friends with delightful meals for generations. The rise of the Internet may have been accompanied by a decline in cookbook sales for a while, but they have definitely made a comeback. In the past few years, a cookbook trend has been making gourmet food prep easy. If serving epicurean dishes is your goal, but you don’t have a lot of time or culinary prowess, here are six cookbooks to consider.

Hailed as “the new kale” for the range and volume of nutrients packed into a single serving, seaweed is growing in popularity at restaurants and in grocery stores. Once it finds its way into our apartment kitchen for the first time, however, many of us have little idea what to do with it. DIY sushi is probably the go-to option for many. Thankfully, though, this veggie-of-the-sea can also be easily integrated into recipes for several other snacks, sides and even main dishes that you can enjoy anytime, any place.

The Seattle food truck scene is out of control. In 2013, four of Seattle’s trucks were listed on The Daily Meal’s rankings of the best food trucks in America. In 2014, Where Ya At Matt made Thrillist’s exclusive nationwide list featuring just 21 food trucks. If you’re looking for great street eats but are overwhelmed by the array of options, try one of these well-respected Seattle food trucks first. They’ve all been vouched for, again and again and again.

What are your plans for the summer? If they don’t already involve entertaining outdoors, then you’d better reevaluate. Unless, of course, soaking up the great outdoors with a refreshing cocktail and close friends doesn’t sound like your ideal way to spend a summer day. We found some refreshing, modern summer cocktails that don’t require much time or energy to prepare, and are perfect for the warm summer months. They make entertaining easy and will be a hit with your guests.

In the Windy City, food is taken seriously by chefs and eaters alike. But Chicago food goes beyond it’s famous hot dogs and deep dish pizza. The city is in the middle of a burger craze…they even have their own Burger Fest in the summer. So the next time you’re on the prowl for a burger that won’t disappoint, consider one of these popular patty-topping combinations.

Hip for more than a decade and showing no signs of slowing down, the highly walkable neighborhood of Uptown Dallas has a lot to offer. Good restaurants are no exception. If you live in an Uptown Dallas apartment and want to treat yourself to some of the finer foods in life, check out the following places.

Provencal tapenade, edamame hummus, bell peppers stuffed with Swiss chard and pilaf, and quinoa salads of all varieties are some of the more trendy mains and side dishes of the moment. Whether you’re looking for the latest health-blasted culinary infusions or a steak that will rock your sense of taste and your choice-side of potatoes, West Palm Beach, Fla. is a good place to live. The area boasts dozens of excellent dining options for a range of palates and budgets. Here are five hot spots that fall on the finer side of the restaurant spectrum.

Thanksgiving dinner tradition predates our country’s independence. How has it changed over its nearly 400-year-long existence? You might eat some of the very same dishes shared by Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians at Plymouth in 1621, but chances are the dinner spread in your apartment looks a bit different than what was enjoyed at “the first Thanksgiving.” To understand how the traditional Thanksgiving dinner has evolved over time, let’s take a look at several of today’s most popular menu items and whether or not they appeared on the table at the first harvest celebration.

Do you experience a lack of energy most mornings that you wish could be replaced with a drive to tackle the day ahead, cross items off your to-do list before 8 AM, and maintain a feeling of general healthiness and well-being? While getting a good night’s sleep and exercising regularly are vital to full body-and-mind health, nothing can kickstart your day like a superfood-infused smoothie. Here are some health- and immunity-boosting superfoods you can include into the blended delights you whip up in your apartment kitchen.