cupcake atm

this is old news but i still have to share (i've been a little behind on the blogging lately.)

sprinkles now has a cupcake atm, how fun is that! i follow them on twitter and they said there has been no wait for their LA bakery but the cupcake atm has had a line around the block.  it has been dispensing 1,000 cupcakes a day. wow.

cannot wait for our next trip to LA!

state basketball

this weekend we had the opportunity to cheer on our hometown, mount pleasant, in the boys state basketball championship game (first time since 1918.)  it was a nail biter but we won in double overtime. it was great watching the whole community come together to cheer the panthers on and it was fun seeing so much maroon and gold in des moines. in other good news for the third year in a row, mp took home the sportsmanship trophy. 

i dug out an old mp basketball shirt to wear to the game but my mom vetoed it, apparently after 10 years some things should be retired.

weekly menu posting

i'm sad to report no menu this week. it is a crazy busy week for me so jared will have to fend for himself, thankfully he has a freezer full of leftovers to choose from.

sunday: popcorn, cheese, pickles and olives -- growing up this was a regular sunday evening meal minus the olives.

monday-thursday: dinner with my fellow scu participants.

friday: pizza night with g&l.

saturday: st. patrick's day outing with our life group.

riDQulous savings

dairy queen is offering a great deal in the month of march, buy one blizzard get the second for $0.99.  yes please. what better way to celebrate the warm weather today than with a blizzard and at a discount to make things even sweeter.

i went with the banana split blizzard while jared chose the mint oreo (on a side note, did you know oreo turned 100 today? happy birthday oreo!) 

yummo.

weekly menu posting

sunday: greek salsa chicken -- i think i need to stop planning meals for friday evenings.  it is hard to get motivated to come home and cook a meal on a friday.  no biggie though, we just moved last friday's meal to tonight.

monday: skillet lasagna -- while i love a traditional lasagna, this will be the perfect week night alternative.

tuesday: slow-cooker cheesy chicken and rice -- this looks amazing, i sure hope it turns out because i am pretty excited to try this recipe. (pictured to the left.)

wednesday: p.f.chang's knock off lettuce wraps -- every time i've frequented p.f. chang's i've ordered the lettuce wraps.  they are incredible.  i have high expectations for this one.

thursday: gusto or jimmy john's -- i have to bartend so we'll grab a quick meal out before i have to head to work.

friday: dinner out -- location is still tba, but i'm learning from experience and planning a meal out on friday.

saturday: cheeseburger soup -- whenever i go to smokey row, i always order the cheeseburger soup so when i saw this recipe i thought immediately of that delicious soup. 

opt out

i don't know about you but i get a ton of junk mail including more credit card offers than i know what to do with. i either tear them into little tiny pieces or pile them up until i can find time to put them through the shredder.

did you know that you can completely opt out of all those offers? if you go to this website, you have the option of opting out for either five years by submitting it electronically or permanently by mailing in a letter.  thank you dave ramsey for sharing this little secret with me.

now if we could only opt out of all the political junk that shows up during election season.

bubble gum flavored apples

has anyone else seen or heard of these things?  well they do exist, they are called crazy apples.  they are flavored to taste like bubble gum, grapes or tropical fruit.  hmm, i just don't know.  what is wrong with a straight up apple? i am pretty sure most people enjoy the taste of regular old apple that grows on a tree.  don't scientists have anything better to do than mess with stuff like this?

fail

today we had food day at work and i brought cake balls. apparently i should have thought out my sprinkle color choice a little bit better.

here is what i found myself saying the majority of the day "no actually we're not expecting, i just like the color pink."

i was also told if underwriting doesn't work out i could open my own cake ball bakery. how fun would that be.

fail on my part.

weekly menu posting

sunday: madelyn's birthday party -- we headed to indianola to help miss madelyn mae celebrate her second birthday. 

monday: tuna  noodle casserole -- classic comfort food, perfect for a monday evening that will leave us with plenty of leftovers for the week.

tuesday: baked tilapia, steamed broccoli and veggie rice -- healthy and a quick meal before we have to head to our weekly financial class.

wednesday: miyabi 9 -- we are going to bring it on the musical at the civic center.  miyabi 9 will be the perfect pre-show dinner, best sushi in des moines.

thursday: pulled pork and goat cheese quesadillas -- i have some leftover pulled pork hanging out in the freezer, so this should be a quick easy meal utilizing things i already have in my pantry. 

friday: greek salsa chicken with oven roasted potatoes -- another pinterest find.  i could care less about the chicken or potatoes, i'm more excited about the tomatoes, olives and feta. 

saturday: dinner out -- my aunt and cousin are staying with us this weekend so i'm sure we'll find somewhere great to eat at.

last weekend eats

better late than never...we spent last weekend in the quad cities visiting jared's brother, jason.  it was full of fun, relaxation, the t.v. show bones and great food. here is a snapshot of what we ate while we were away:

whitey's ice cream: i love this place.  it takes me straight me back to summers when i was a camp counselor.  we spent some quality time in the quad cities and i always ordered the same thing...the razzle dazzle with watermelon sherbert.  it is pretty much a smoothie with banana, orange juice and strawberries.

smoothie concoction: jason is on a smoothie kick. he pretty much takes whatever fresh produce he has and puts it all together in a blender. i was skeptical at first but it was actually really tasty and obviously very healthy.

trattoria tiramisu: we weren't sure where to eat dinner saturday night but ended up at this delicious little italian restaurant. i ordered the linguini alla marina. the food was delish but everything else could have used some work.  have you ever seen the show restaurant impossible?  chef robert irvine would have destroyed this place.  at one point during our meal the fire alarm went off and no one moved. i have a feeling it might be a regular occurrence. 

blue bird diner: on our way back to dsm we stopped by iowa city and had brunch with my sister, rachel at the blue bird diner downtown.  it was so good but i recommend getting there early because the place was jam packed.  i had ratatouille with a cheesy polenta with over easy eggs.  one of the best breakfast dishes i've ever had!