weekly menu posting

sunday: peanut noodles with snap peas and red cabbage -- i decided to add a red repper, lime and red pepper flakes.  this recipe was full of flavor with lots of different textures.

monday: ravioli and vegetable soup -- going to serve this with a toasted baguette, costco had some great cheese tortellini, i figured that was close enough to ravioli to work.

tuesday: peppercorn-blue cheese burgers with a cherry compote and sweet potato fries -- i am still on the look out for frozen tart cherries, i've already been to two grocery stores, if you have any idea where i can find these, please let me know.

wednesday: dinner and YMCA date with nicole -- we're going to go spy on a potential workout class and then have dinner 

thursday: BBQ with our life group -- hot dogs, baked beans and whatever delicious sides everyone else brings to share.

friday: bacon and broccoli rice bowl -- i found this recipe in food network magazine but can't find it online anywhere to share with you.  it is topped off with a fried egg, pretty excited about this one.

saturday: BC '12 -- i'm bringing my usual, cupcakes, tortilla roll-ups and boat juice.

you know it is hot when...

you know it is hot when...a flower pot spontaneously combusts.

this is a true story straight from DSM, this flower pot ended up causing over $50,000 worth of damage.

insane.

weekly menu posting

sunday: fresh corn soup with chive oil and mixed greens salad -- this soup definitely tasted like summer, my only complaint, it took longer much than the 35 minute allotted time

monday: parmesan crusted tilapia, steamed broccoli and almond rice pilaf -- this recipe was super easy and quick, the only change i made was to add some panko bread crumbs to the tilapia crust

tuesday: pizza margherita-- this recipe has become a staple at our house, it is just that good

wednesday: frisee, avocado and blue cheese salad with a toasted baguette-- going to add a hard boiled egg for some extra protein

thursday: grilled jerk chicken with pineapple-rum glaze and grilled pepper onion mix --hopefully it will finally cool off so we can break out the grill otherwise this will be made inside

friday/saturday: celebrating with kyle and sarah as they tie the knot

squre foot gardening

the day we planted

this year i am trying something new with my garden, square foot gardening. i got a book and employed jared and my dad to help build the rest. one of the main differences in square foot gardening verse traditional gardening is the soil composure.  it is made of a mix of 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 peat moss and 1/3 compost. it is clearly working, my garden has completely taken off.  i've already harvested some radishes and green onions and should have some peppers this week.

here is what we have planted this year:

sweet potatoes
russet potatoes 
garlic
peas
carrots
tomatillos
roma tomatoes
grape tomatoes
big boy tomatoes
green beans
asparagus
bell peppers
jalepeno pepper
radishes
red onions
green onions

now

weekly menu posting

sunday: pizza quesadilla -- got home and was craving pizza but didn't want to wait on the delivery guy so we made pizza quesadillas with some pepperoni and banana peppers

monday: the garden grill -- dinner with kyle and sarah at a new restaurant in johnston

tuesday: spicy avocado chicken enchiladas -- i love my mom's enchiladas but thought it would be fun to try a new recipe

wednesday: thai flavors -- dinner at thai flavors before we head to zoo brew with our small group

thursday: tex-mex chicken and white cheddar spaghetti -- i think this recipe sounds super simple for a week night meal

friday: dinner out tba -- we're headed to ankeny to visit the sievers' and see their new house

saturday: homemade pizza and root beer floats -- teddy is spending the night so i wanted to pick something that he would enjoy. if you haven't tried the prepared pizza dough at trader joes' yet, i would highly recommend it

and that's what you missed...

i so badly want to finish that with "on GLEE!" well can you believe it is july? last july i was on sabbatical but those days are long over.  after an insanely busy june, i'm hoping to kick back and enjoy the dog days of summer.

here is a recap of where i've been:

we celebrated with les and greg as they joined hands in marriage

we visited chris and calista one last time in indianola before they moved to the big city, madelyn was cute as ever

we headed home for my cousin amanda's wedding

we went to the iowa sheep festival, jared and my cousin garrett chilling eating homemade ice cream

family trip to KC, per usual we had a vacay full of good food

we headed to okoboji to celebrate jared's grandparents 60th wedding anniversary

jared turned the big 29

weekly menu posting

sunday: george's pizza and steakhouse -- we headed to se iowa for a visitation, a positive of the trip is that we got to see and eat dinner with my family.

monday: open-face vietnamese chicken sandwich with cilantro lime rice -- this sandwich sounds very intriguing to me, i haven't eaten a lot of vietnamese food so i'm excited to give this a try and this rice is a staple in our house.

tuesday: jethro's -- to start the 4th holiday off right, dinner at one of our favorite places in town.

wednesday: bistro burgers with grilled potato salad with bacon-scallion vinaigrette and strawberry-soda ice cream -- what is the 4th of july without a burger and some ice cream? especially a burger with an egg and bacon and homemade ice cream.

thursday: flank steak with arugula salad -- a hearty salad is one of my favorite things, add some grilled steak and boom, summer is here! this recipe calls for skirt steak but i had some flank steak in the freezer so i'm going to use that instead, they are very similar.

friday/saturday: home for the weekend -- headed home to spend some quality time with our family

halleluiah!

today i took my first insurance test and i'm happy to report i passed, woo hoo.  now i can have my lunch breaks, evenings and weekends back. 

here's to reading something other than a text book.

looks like i have some catching up to do

last week's menu posting

slow cooker buffalo chicken lettuce wraps

here's my menu posting for last week...better late than never.

sunday: frozen pizza -- we went with the california pizza kitchen garlic chicken.

monday: buffalo chicken lettuce wraps -- jared had this tasty slow cooker meal while i had chinese with my nic and les. it did make for some tasty leftovers.

tuesday: summer corn cakes and black beans -- it was no cheesecake factory corn tamale, but close and MUCH better for you.

wednesday: big fat vegan taco salad -- the most interesting part of this dish was the guacamame, not your typical gauc but still good and full of protein.

thursday: simon's -- it had been way too long since we'd been to simon's.  it was fanastic per usual and we had hunter as our waiter.

friday: bbq at the murphy's -- it was so great spending some time outside with my friends along with a great meal to eat and cold drink to wash it down with.

saturday: lamb dinner -- we met up with my aunt and uncle at the iowa sheep and wool festival and dined on an all lamb meal, if you've never had it you should give it a try.  some of the lamb meat was so tender, you would have thought you were chowing down on a steak.

jamaican me crazy

jared and i spent an entire week in paradise a couple of weeks ago to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary. we stayed at couples - tower isle in ocho rios, jamaica.  it was an all-inclusive resort which is nice because we didn't have any expenses once we got there. 

we spent our days in the shade due to the fact that the first day we got burnt to a crisp, reading, playing with the ipad and relaxing. i managed to get through three and a half books and nine magazines. i would love to get that much reading done every week.   we also went snorkeling a couple times, which was so much fun.  i had never done anything like that before and thought it was so cool seeing the fish and reefs up close and personal.  we ended the week with a massage outside under the stars.

the food was fantastic.  we ate breakfast every day at the buffet. i would get the same thing -- a bananarama smoothie, poached egg, two pieces of bacon and an english muffin. for lunch we would chill out at the veggie bar.  all the food was fresh and they had a great variety light options. dinner was fantastic, the restaurant had a ton of options including the catch of the day which was always snapper.  the best restaurant hands down was "8 rivers."  the quality of food was insane and the meal we got there would cost us easily $125 here.

an added bonus to the trip, we flew through charlotte airport and i stumbled upon a pinkberry.  it was pure bliss.  while the frozen yogurt shops are multiplying here in WDM, nothing compares to the original pinkberry.  the airport also had rocking chairs with big windows that you could stare out, for one moment i felt like i was in a nicholas sparks book.  this airport quickly moved up to the number one spot on my list.

it was a wonderful trip and i am super grateful that we had the opportunity to travel and spend the week together.

ya mon.