menu posting (guest post)

hey everyone. jared here with another guest blog post. stacy said she received an endless number of compliments and encouraging comments/emails regarding my first guest blog, i must do it more often (yeah, i'm stretching the truth quite a bit there). anyway, here is a menu posting for the week.

monday: we had espresso black bean chili, which was on our menu from last week but we didn't get to it.

tuesday: we're having dinner with our friends, G and L, at G's house. before dinner, we're giving them a tour of costco as they're considering a membership. i bet they get one...who wouldn't want a costco membership?

wednesday: stacy is bartending for the evening, so we'll probably grab something fast before she heads to work...how does jimmy john's sound?

thursday: dripping roast beef sandwiches. a friend at work has a great garden at her house and she has discovered that i'm more than welcome to take her extra produce. she brings me tomatoes, jalapenos, salsa peppers and she most recently brought me banana peppers. looking forward to the hot and sweet taste of the pepper to go with the cheese and beef.

friday: desayuno mexicano para la cena -- a mexican breakfast for dinner. no specific recipe for this one, but we'll cook up some hash browns, onions, peppers, jalapenos, monterrey cheese, green and red salsa and top it off with a fried egg. wouldn't be surprised if we ended up making a margarita with some fresh limes too.

saturday: lemon herb dutch oven chicken. absolutely love when we cook with our dutch oven. feel like we're on a cooking show or something and i love that nearly every recipe we've made using the dutch oven involves sauteing some garlic and onions to get the dish started--such a great smell. anyway, this recipe looks great and might take some time. not sure what our official plans are for the weekend as we are going to see family on sunday, but if we're home on saturday, we'll make this. lots of good football games on this weekend (even thought the hawks are off) and can you think of a better way to spend time at home? watching college football and making a great dish!

since i'm coming up with the menu...does that mean i have to take control of the kitchen and make stacy my sous chef? this guest blogging stuff is pretty fun. look forward to doing it again.

jared

perfect lunch getaway

i got one more thing checked off my summer to do list on friday...not sure if it should count considering it was the first official day of fall. on my lunch break i walked over to meredith to visit their test garden.  the test garden is open to the public every friday from 12-2 may through september. what a beautiful place to sit and read, visit with a friend or have a picnic lunch.

i'm sad i didn't get there sooner, the flowers were absolutely beautiful and it was even the end of the season.  i'm jealous of their expert gardening skills. what an amazing resource to have to take pictures for better homes and garden.  cannot wait to get there next spring and summer!   highly recommend checking it out if you've never been. 

snob alert

went to flour last week for lunch and had a little bit of a mix up.  i was at an event that they catered a couple of months ago and they served this delicious lemon soda that i wanted to try again.  i ordered the pear and blue cheese pizza along with the champagne vinaigrette salad (in case you were curious, both were delicious but they were a little chintzy with the blue cheese.)  i then described what i wanted to drink as "a sparkling lemon soda." he charged my card and then handed me a san pellegrino (sparkling mineral water.)  what?! this isn't what i ordered.  i asked if this is the only flavor they had and he said yes.  considering i probably paid $4.00 for it, i decided not to trade it in for a coke.

as i was walking away from the counter i felt super snooty and wanted to hide.  so it left me with no choice but just to own it.  i figured hey, i love water so this will probably be the best water i've ever had (well at least it better be, considering it cost so much.) i had one sip and wanted to spit it out.  disgusting.

i just couldn't do it.  thankfully j-rod was with me and traded me his free tap water.

found what i was looking for at costco - i knew i loved that place.

pear blue cheese pizza along with the champagne vinaigrette salad.

hakuna matata

last night rach, j-rod and myself hit up lion king 3D at JC theater.  it is one of my favorite disney movies and it was even better on the big screen with the special 3D effects.  zazu stole the show in 3D as he was flying across the screen as the movie started.  as families poured into the theater a couple of thoughts came to mind:

this is probably the first time these kids are seeing lion king and they don't have a clue who JTT is. does BOP magazine even exist anymore?

how can a family of four afford an evening at the movies?  here is a breakdown of the math (carry the two...)

two adults: $26.00
two children: $20.00
one large popcorn and two sodas: $16.50

a whopping total of: $62.50

i feel like i should now say "seeing lion king in 3D, priceless." but i'm not quite sure.  that's a lot of cash to drop on one night at the movies.  i am pretty sure when my parents took me to the lion king during the first release in 1994 the tickets were $3.25. now i sound old.

bus stop

the past two days i've taken the bus to work. j-rod has been asking me to consider it for awhile now and i've been pretty apprehensive because i thought it would be super inconvenient and a huge hassle.  but surprisingly, it was super easy and i can't believe i haven't tried this sooner.  and to make it even better our company pays for it, so it is free.

here are some of the perks. our car has stayed parked in the garage. it is a five minute walk from our house to the bus stop and it drops me off a block from our office. it is stress free because i don't have to ask j-rod to stop tailgating or worry about being taken out in the parking garage. it also makes me feel like i live in a bigger city because i'm taking public transportation.

i'm now trying to bargain an ipad out of the deal.  i figured if we're saving on gas money then i should get an ipad so i have something to play with on the bus. pretty smart, huh? 

cake balls

cake balls or cake pops seem to be all the rage these days.  i volunteered to make them for my sorority's recruitment this week and when i say some i mean 150+.  saturday i headed to iowa city to rach's house (she was gracious enough to volunteer to help.)  we started around 9:00 in the morning and finished up around 7:00 that night.  i did take a break to sit down and watch the second half of the iowa game and for some pizza to celebrate the victory while the cake balls set up in the freezer.  

normally these are very easy to make but when you're making so many it took a lot longer than normal.

here is a step by step process of how you can make them yourself.  enjoy, it's a fun process!

first bake cake, flavor of your choice.  i chose red velvet.  leave cake out overnight to dry.

the most fun part - finely crumble cake.

most recipes call for half a can of frosting or 8 oz. of cream cheese, but i used the full thing.for these i used cream cheese frosting.

mix frosting and cake until all combined.

i use a medium cookie scoop to evenly proportion. 

roll into balls, wash your hands after every 6 or 7.

place cake balls on lined cookie sheet and put into freezer at a minimum of 4 hours or overnight for best results.

melt chocolate almond bark to coat. best tool i found for dipping was a plastic fork, removing the middle two prongs.

i drizzled with red candy melts for a decorative touch.

the final product, all 154 of them.

delish.

menu posting

a little late on posting my menu this week...sorry for slacking. 

monday: quick dinner at jimmy john's -- i spent the evening in indianola and needed a quick meal before i hit the road and as you know they are freakishly fast.

tuesday: pasta with peas & parmesan -- this is a go-to meal at our household, peas and pasta are two things i could eat every day.

wednesday: jethro's -- some of j-rod's family is in town and i am excited to spend the evening with them at one of my favorite restaurants. 

thursday: chicken and cheese enchiladas -- JW and NH are coming over for dinner to prep for our second golf outing of the season.  some might hit the driving range to get ready but instead we'll be watching a classic caddyshack.

friday: croque monsieur mac and cheese -- what is croque monsieur you may ask? it is a hot ham cheese sandwich with gruyere cheese that originated in france.  sounds complicated, huh? but it is actually just baked macaroni and cheese with ham with a fancy name.

saturday: espresso black bean chili -- i think this will be a perfect meal to eat while we're watching the hawks.

sunday: french toast peanut butter and jelly -- i've been craving a pb&j and came across this recipe and thought what a perfect combo.

radio game

spending time in the car can often get tiresome and during football season, we make quite a few road trips to iowa city. to keep things interesting j-rod and i play what we creatively call the "radio game."  the concept is quite simple you see, we scan the channels and whoever can name the artist first gets a point.  whoever has the most points when we arrive to our location wins. 

this morning i was killing him, with a score of 15-3. when we were approaching rach's house, he suggested next point would be all or nothing.  i am always up for a challenge so i agreed.  guess who won?  me with the beach boys, that's right...winner!

how do you waste time in your car?

hawkeye love

 j-rod was telling me about a question on hawkeyereport this evening, who is your all-time favorite hawkeye?  well this took me all of .5 seconds to answer.  i have grown up wearing black and gold my entire life and my love for the hawkeyes goes back to as long as i can remember. for years all i wanted to be for halloween was an iowa cheerleader or batgirl...both involved black and gold i guess.

here is the breakdown of my answer:


1. jess settles -- jess grew up super close to mp, so i was a fan even before he was a hawkeye. he was the keynote speaker at our D.A.R.E. graduation, a picture of him, j-rod and i ended up in our local paper. we even shared the same chiropractor for quite some time, i know...you're jealous.  but my favorite jess story involves the best gift i have ever received. one year for christmas my parents saved a gift for me to open last.  i opened it up and there was a nike shoebox, talk about a letdown. but when i opened it up inside was a teddy bear called a "jess bear."   not sure why this particular bear was named jess but i was ecstatic to have it because at the time i was obsessed with jess settles.  my parents said, you might want to look at the tag a little closer and inside it was autographed "to: stacy from: jess settles #4." i first asked "is this for real?" and after it was confirmed i started crying, then went to screaming and jumping around like a crazy person. my parents had arranged with his mom to get jess the bear to sign and get it back to me all before christmas morning. best. gift. ever.

2. b.j. armstrong -- i was super young when b.j. played for the hawks, but he is the first memory of iowa athletics i have. when i was in 4th grade we had to make a list of things we wanted to accomplish in our lifetime and one of mine was to meet b.j. armstrong. i got the opportunity to meet b.j. when coral ridge mall opened back in 1998.  scheel's hosted him as the guest of honor at the grand opening.  i stood in line for which seemed like days and when i finally met him i was shaking like a leaf and could barely get "hello" out of my mouth. i was happy to check that one off the list, phew. it was also fun following his NBA career.  i was also secretly pulling for him to get the iowa basketball coach job a couple of years ago, but i am happy with how fran is working out so far.

3. ricky stanzi -- "if you don't love it, leave it. USA #1"  does it get any better?  i actually was a huge fan of ricky before his famous orange bowl quote. he understood that as an iowa athlete he represented more than just football. remember the princess jenna and just try and ruin my day stories?  he was mature beyond his years.  i might even have to watch a few kc chiefs games this year.

4. jeff horner -- talk about a CRUSH. yes, it is true i called him at his house, just to chitchat. jeff was a good basketball player but i'm pretty sure the only reason i liked him was because he was super cute.  the day he got the job at valley hs as the basketball coach, my dad called and asked me if i was getting a season ticket?  the answer was no but i wouldn't mind running into him at the grocery store.

win or lose, i will always love the hawkeyes, even if they occasionally break my heart. go hawks!

contagion

i saw contagion this past weekend and really enjoyed the flick.  i loved how it was different than any other movie i've seen, typically i don't care for these types of movies. it kept me very engaged, was very fast-paced and had a ton of star power. but the reason i liked the movie so much is because i could see how a contagious disease like the one featured in the film could take over the world and cause  people to do crazy things (don't worry i'm not giving anything away with that description, i tend to ruin surprises so i am being extra careful.)

unfortunately the movie has turned me into a slight germaphobe. as soon as i walked out of the theater i found myself searching for hand sanitizer. then monday someone sneezed near me while i was warming up my lunch and a look of horror came over my face. i find myself avoiding handrails and doorknobs. i have also tried every hand sanitizer dispenser at work and haven't found a single one that had anything left in it.  i also plan on getting my flu shot early, maybe you should too.  :)

i recommend checking it out but beware it could change your entire thought process on contagious diseases. i'm sure this new phobia of mine will fade with time but for now i will be washing my hands excessively.

 

you googled what?

i often say what did people do before google? i use it for everything, multiple times throughout the day. so i thought it would be fun to track everything i google over the course of a couple days.  i originally intended to do this for an entire week but after the list kept growing i decided i needed to cut it back to just a couple of days. 

*ground turkey recall -- i woke up and heard on the news there was another ground turkey recall.  i then began to freak out because just the day i made an egg casserole for hawthorn hill with turkey sausage. i then became thankful to have not seen an additional news story about several children getting sick from a donated meal.  phew.

*can you drink coffee while fasting for your health assessment? -- i had my health assessment monday morning and wanted to know if i could at least get in some caffeine before 9:40 that morning.  the answer is yes in case you're curious but only if you take your coffee black so i was screwed.

*21 celebrities who have killed someone -- we were studying liability in my class at work and our trainer mentioned something about this list online so of course i had to check it out for myself.  the most shocking i found, matthew broderick killed two people in an automobile accident in ireland with jennifer grey as a passenger in the car.  apparently they were dating at the time...who knew.

*estilo des moines -- i needed to make a hair appointment and didn't have their number stored in my phone.

*food bank of iowa -- looking to do some volunteer work so i needed contact information.

*the rainmaker -- this movie came up in my class at work and i've never seen it before. it is about a lawyer fighting a corrupt insurance company.  it has been added to my must watch list, i love matt damon.

*cake pop recipe -- this weekend 125 of these delicious treats will be created at our house for my sorority's recruitment next week. 

*contagion movie poster -- needed a visual for my upcoming movie review blog. 

*glee new york episode song list -- i was re-watching the season finale tonight and forgot about how great the music was and wanted to know who sang some of the originals.

thank you google, i don't know what i'd do without you.

tailgate food

bloody mary bar - my favorite tailgate cocktail

one of my favorite parts of fall is football season. while i love the iowa hawkeyes, i love all the good food that comes with tailgating just as much.

last saturday we had some of friends over to watch the iowa/iowa state game and had a smorgasbord of good eats.

here is all food we chowed down on during the game:

bloody mary bar
mimosas
great harvest bread cinnamon rolls
fruit and strawberry dip
burgers and brats
lil' smokies
spinach dip
cheesy potatoes
potato & poblano gratin
pumpkin bars
s'mores bars

no, we didn't have a block party, there were just six of us.  but i am pretty sure i ate enough for my entire block, including eating my body weight in spin dip.

even though the game didn't turn out how i would have wanted, we sure had a fun day full of great friends, fabulous food and lots of laughs.

great harvest bread cinnamon roll - best in DSM

menu posting

this week's menu is all inspired by rick bayless.  i love him! i am trying to talk j-rod into a chicago trip just so i can eat at one of his restaurants. all of the recipes below are out of rick & lanie's excellent kitchen adventures (one of my favorite cookbooks) with some slight modifications.

monday: grilled pizza with goat cheese, green salsa and bacon
tuesday: sweet & sour stir-fry
wednesday: chicken and biscuits
thursday: i am playing bartender so we'll have to get a quick meal before i have to jet most likely JJ's.
friday: dinner out
saturday: ribs, potato salad and baked beans
sunday: pasta &pesto

the menu is slightly ambitious because rick bayless doesn't take any shortcuts.  for example, i am making homemade pesto, sweet & sour sauce, biscuits and bbq sauce.

my top five tv shows

i'm getting really excited for the fall television lineup to get back into full swing.  i am not a huge tv junkie but i really look forward to a few shows every week. 

my top five shows on tv now are:

1. modern family
2. big brother
3. top chef
4. parenthood
5. the office

close contenders include glee, guilana & bill, anything on food network and keeping up with the kardashians (don't judge me.)

but when it comes to my favorite television show of all-time it would have to be the wonder years.  i love it so much, it always has a heart-warming feel and a great lesson at the end. i recently discovered a channel, hub tv. they feature the wonder years nightly at 8:00, which is great because the series isn't available on DVD.  i have my DVR set so it records nightly, it is a great go-to when i have 20 minutes to spare. hub tv also shows great classics like doogie howser, fraggle rock and happy days.

i would love to hear some of your favorite shows.

PSL

it's the little things in life.  one of those little things for me is the pumpkin spice latte from starbucks.  this is my favorite coffee drink hands down. 

i knew DSM had no shot at winning the latte early so i was anxiously awaiting tuesday so i could have my first one of the season. well today i headed to starbucks, it is a holiday so i could justify the trip. when i got the counter, i said to the barista, "the pumpkin spice latte arives tomorrow, correct?" she confirmed but said they had received it and i could have it TODAY!  as soon as she said that, i tried to restrain myself from jumping over the counter and giving her a hug.  

as soon as i had my first sip, i knew fall was here. 

menu posting

spinach & pea risotto from the last time

monday: stacked sweet corn, beef, bean casserole (this was supposed to be on the menu last night but casey's taco pizza had been in my mind since i saw it advertised over and over again on the big screen inside kinnick.)

tuesday: grilled lemon chicken with cabbage-corn slaw (pretty excited about this one, lemon chicken is one of my favorites on the grill.)

wednesday: spinach & pea risotto (repeat recipe alert, this made the menu back in march and i absolutely fell in love with it.)

thursday: tortilla crusted tilapia with roasted potatoes and lemon with thyme (the recipe calls for dill but my garden has a ton of thyme so i decided to utilize my own herbs instead of buying dill at the grocery.)

friday: dinner out - location TBA. (still trying to chip away at the top 100 list before the new one arrives 9/14.)

saturday: ia/isu tailgate, one of my favorite days of the year. we're fixing up bobby flay's chipotle honey-glazed chicken wings and cheesy hashbrown potatoes.

sunday: we are making breakfast casseroles for hawthorn hill this month so i thought about making a second one for ourselves to enjoy. 

make it rain

and i'm not talking about throwing bills in the club.

we went to the iowa game on saturday and it rained and poured and then rained and poured and then the wind came through, now push repeat. on friday i watched jeriann on the morning news like i always do and she said rain before the game not during not after, so i left my poncho at home.  when we were getting ready at j-rod's parent's house that morning, his dad recommended we pack a couple garbage bags just in case.  thankfully we took him up on his offer. i had the opportunity to get a poncho one more time when we pulled into iowa city.  at the time it wasn't raining and the poncho was $1.19 and i was thinking $1.19, nah i am not going to need that.  if i only knew what was to come. the rest of the day i found myself thinking, really i couldn't spend a $1.19, ugh.

about fifteen minutes prior to kickoff, the rain came and didn't go away.  so the garbage bag came on and didn't come off.  at one point it was raining so hard i thought i was going to lose my contact.  i was trying to block the rain so i could adjust it and next thing you know a stranger put his hat on my head.  in most circumstances i would cringe but i decided i needed to just go with it.  who knew a baseball cap could provide so much relief?  very thankful for that stranger and his hat.
 
 thankfully the hawks won which made standing in the rain a little easier.

looks like a lady gaga outfit of sorts

working those garbage bags

j-rod ringing out his socks

rach and i smiling in the rain even with a stranger's hat on my head

home sweet home cooking

we were able to travel back home friday night. it was a quick trip but long enough to have a home cooked meal.  it's been a long time since we've been home but even longer since since i've had my mom's cooking.  she is an awesome cook. as soon as we walked in the door, she said she just got back from the store and had purchased 5 pounds of butter.  she could give paula deen a run for her money but i knew our food would be amazing and it did not disappoint. i have to give my dad some credit in all of this too, he is a great sous chef and master of the grill.

what was on the menu you ask? grilled smoked chops, scalloped corn, garlic mashed twice baked potatoes and pineapple fluff salad.  and to end our meal, oreo ice cream dessert.

if i had to pick my favorite part, i would have to go with the mashed potatoes. followed by a close second to the pineapple fluff, but it was all so good.

there is just something about your mom's cooking that can't be beat! 

zombie burger

after so much hype prior to opening, i decided i need to check out zombie burger sooner than later.  we got there right at 4:30 when they start serving dinner and there was already a line.  in their first couple of days of opening they were expecting hundreds but instead thousands showed up.

i love how they decided to set things up. on one side you can order at the counter and sit casually or take it go and on the other side they have a full ball with table service. 

they spent a lot of time on their creative theme and it totally paid off. i am not a zombie/horror movie fan but i think their theme is super creative and you can see it all throughout the restaurant. 

the menu is full of burgers, hot dogs and a few salads.  i knew i had to get a burger, but there were so many to choose from, 21 to be exact. you can get a single, double or triple patty and it can be either a special grind beef patty, chicken breast, veggie patty or a grilled portobello. warning to the health conscious, you might want to avoid the fries topped with cheese curds and gravy.

i finally decided on the juan of the dead. it had a green chile cheese croquette, caramelized onion and chipotle mayo.  j-rod went with the flamethrower, on it was buffalo sauce, blue cheese, onion rings and ranch mayo.  the food was to die for (sorry i know, lame.) i think it'll take zombie a little bit of time to adjust to the insaneity but i can't wait to go back. next on the list to try...a spiked milkshake and deep fried hot dog. 

highly recommend checking out zombie burger, george formaro did it again.  pure genius.

meals from the heartland

tonight j-rod and i volunteered at the annual hunger fight for meals from the heartland.  what a fun experience.  in case you're not familiar with meals from the heartland it is a non-profit organization who raise money and then package meals and send them all over the country and world to people who would have otherwise gone hungry.

in two hours we packed 17 boxes, which is 3,672 meals! each meal package contains rice, soy protein, vitamin powder and dried vegetables. as i was packaging the food i couldn't help but think, i wonder how this tastes? is it even good?  at the end of your volunteer shift i was surprised to find a sample waiting for you to try. i was shocked how good it was and how much flavor it had. it made me feel even better about sending these packages out for people to enjoy.
 

as you know i am a huge fan of food and i can't imagine going a day without it. did you know that just $20.00 buys 100 meals? two burgers, fries and a coke that we ate before our volunteer shift cost almost that much at zombie burger. thankfully all the packaging shifts have been fulfilled for this year but it isn't too late to donate. i decided to give up a meal out next week and up our donation so that a few extra people could have a meal.

tonight also reminded me of what a wonderful place the state of iowa is, while some might think our fashion is insulting (i would like you to know i rocked the hairnet tonight,) there are much more important things in life. my team was a full of strangers coming together to serve. 

i cannot wait to volunteer next year and would love to have a whole team of my friends join me.