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.