weekly menu posting

sunday: ginger chicken soup with veggies with  brie and chive biscuits (if i'm feeling ambitious) -- i've been eying the rotisserie chickens at costco for awhile, so i wanted to find a recipe that i could buy one.

monday: chicken with goat cheese vinaigrette --  jared found this recipe, i'm excited to try it out goat cheese and orzo, yum.

tuesday: chicken salad and carrots, pita chips with hummus -- thought this would be a good way to use the leftovers from the rotisserie chicken and by the way did you know that hummus is pronounced [hoom-uhs], who knew.  i can thank ina garten for teaching me that. 

wednesday: slow-cooker spaghetti bolognese --  we made this a couple of months ago, super easy and delicious. 


thursday: tortilla encrusted oven-roasted tilapia with roasted brussels sprouts -- i bought some frozen tilapia from costco and it is amazing, can't get enough.


friday: jared is hanging out with teddy and i'll be packing


saturday:  headed out for holiday

 

cinco anos

this past weekend jared and i celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary.  it doesn't seem possible to me.  some days it feels like just yesterday that we were walking down the aisle and other days it seems like we've been married forever.

over the weekend i was thinking about some of my favorite things we've done over the last five years and i thought i'd share a few:

*traveled to some amazing places with our friends and family
*survived the swine flu
*cooked up a storm in the kitchen
*became members at a super cool church
*started working for the same great company and getting to carpool
*graduated from financial peace university

we are blessed beyond belief.  

weekly menu posting

sunday: cheese and crackers and a bowl of lucky charms -- not the typical meal but we had some leftovers from the weekend festivities that i figured i better not let go to waste.

monday: taverns, baked potatoes and peas -- i didn't do my usual sunday grocery shopping so this is what i came up with when i got home. 

tuesday: shrimp scampi -- i love ordering shrimp scampi at restaurants, but feel there are a little skimpy with the shrimp, one benefit of making it at home.

wednedsay: dinner out, location tba -- we are headed to the civic center to watch memphis, but we typically pick somewhere downtown to dine at beforehand.

thursday: chicken with a dijon, maple, rosemary glaze and fresh garlic green beans -- this chicken looks fantastic and the best part is you pretty much just throw it in the oven, done and done.

friday: jared is headed to greenbriar and i am undecided -- it is a tradition for jared's grandpa and dad along with a few others to eat here the friday night of the relays, they've been doing it for at least 10 years.

saturday: jethro's -- it is drake relays weekend so this is a must stop.

weekly menu posting

last week got a little out of control with starting my new job full-time, so therefore no blog.  but i do promise we ate some good food in the evenings.

here is our menu for this week:

sunday: cheese quesadillas with guacamole -- my parents sent us home with gauc from our favorite mexican restaurant in MP.

monday: dinner out with our friends brock and lindsay -- we hit up on the border, i hadn't been there in a few years and i thought it was pretty good.

tuesday: goat cheese tomato soup with a grilled cheese -- i love goat cheese and i'm pretty excited to use my new immersion blender (thanks to the easter bunny a.k.a mom & dad!)

wednesday: chick-fil-a -- dinner out with les and nic.

thursday: mexican lasagna -- i love lasagna and i love mexican, so why not put them together!

friday: dinner out -- location tba, jared and i are celebrating our anniversary one day early.

saturday: trostel's dish -- heading out for leslie's bachelorette extravaganza.

sporty spice

first the bike and now golf clubs...might as well start calling me sporty spice.

calista gave me the deal of the century last week, she sold me her old golf clubs for a bargain price.  thanks friend.

between my new bike and and now my own golf clubs, i'm starting to feel slightly "outdoorsy" and/or "athletic." two words i would have never thought would have ever described myself.

growing up i never really played sports because i was never aggressive enough, for example while playing 6th grade basketball i fouled a girl and then apologized profusely.  from that moment, i think my parents knew sports wouldn't be my thing.

 the good thing about the new "sports" i recently picked up is that you can do them by yourself, with a group of friends or with my lovely husband. 

hit me up if you're interested in swinging some clubs or going for a bike ride.

tornado drill

today we had a tornado drill at work.  it was the first tornado drill i had participated in since high school.  i hadn't been instructed where to go at work but i heard rumblings of either heading to the bathroom or to the stairwell. the warning went off right at 10 and i followed some of the pack to the bathroom.

well i chose wrong. 

i don't think i need to say much more.  thankfully no used the bathroom while we were in there but that doesn't mean someone hadn't just left.

next time, i'm headed to the stairwell.

food day

brownie batter dip

friday we had a food day at work to celebrate the conclusion of the scu, let's just say i didn't eat lunch that day.  we had an impressive spread of goodies, anything from dips to fruity pebbles rice krispie treats. 

i contributed brownie batter dip (a recipe i found on pinterest) with teddy grahams for dipping and a champagne cake from the bake shoppe in windsor heights.

here is the recipe if you're interested.

ingredients:

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 1/2 c. butter
• 2-3 c. powdered sugar (varies by desired consistency)
• 5 tbsp. all purpose flour
• 5 tbsp. cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar
• 3+ tbsp. milk (varies by desired consistency)
• 1 tsp. vanilla

directions:

1. whisk together the cream cheese and the butter with a hand or stand mixer.
   
2. add 2 cups of the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, and 1 tbsp. milk.
3. add the flour, cocoa powder, vanilla, brown sugar, and 1 more tbsp. of milk if needed.
4. whisk all until smooth.
5. add remaining powdered sugar and milk alternately until dip reaches your desired consistency.

 

they did a great job decorating the cake

a day off

a couple of weeks ago jared and i both took a day off work and it was pure bliss.

i was able to sleep in, get some exercise and watch the price is right all before 11, my day was complete but we didn't stop there. 

we then headed to starbucks and did some people watching and paper reading.  it reminded me of one of our favorite past times; when we're on vacation in los angeles we sit outside for hours just observing. it isn't quite as thrilling in west des moines in case you were curious.

then onto rasmussen bike shop for some bike shopping.  we've wanted bikes for awhile now and finally committed.  we took a test drive in the parking lot with a couple specialized bikes.  i was pretty nervous to go for a ride, it had been years since i had been on a bike.  the kid working who went by "skippy" asked how long it had been since i had been on a bike, he said "like ten years?"  i started thinking about it more like fifteen. eek.  but thankfully i didn't fall off.  jared wanted to try a different bike that needed to be put together so we took a break and went across the street for lunch.

we had lunch at abelardo's.  i was not impressed.  the service was slow and my food was cold, never a good combination. i've heard good things about the ingersoll location, so maybe i will have to try that one out sometime.

after lunch we went back, jared liked the bike they put together for him so we said yes to the bikes. i used my dave ramsey techniques and even negotiated a cash discount.  after we decided on the bikes onto the accessories (every girl's favorite) we went.  it was fun picking out a water bottle, a little computer thing and a helmet.

when we went to head home we ran into one small problem, both bikes wouldn't fit in the car.  so jared took one for the team and rode his back home.

well one week down and i made it 7 miles.  we took our bikes to church, subway and around the block a few times.  i'm starting slowly but i'm looking forward to a fun new hobby!
 

my new ride

lunch at abelardo's

our pile of biking accessories

weekly menu posting

sunday: crispy breakfast pitas -- we had this for dinner tonight and it was so good.  light but filling, i would highly recommend trying it for yourself. 

monday: civic center season announcement party -- looking forward to a fun evening and hearing all about the upcoming broadway season.

tuesday: rosemary chicken in pita bread -- wanted to find another recipe so the pitas i had from sunday's recipe wouldn't go to waste. 

wednesday: baked spinach pea risotto -- this recipe shows up on my blog more than any other. our friends are coming over to try it for the first time, can't wait!

thursday: lemon-dill shrimp and pasta --lemon, pasta and shrimp, this has to be good.

friday: dinner out -- jared's parents are in town and we'll let them pick where they want to eat.

saturday: pizza margherita and spinach salad with strawberries and almonds  -- we made this pizza a couple of weeks ago and i haven't stopped thinking about it since.  it was so delicious, i'm excited to make it for my in-laws.