Yogurtland

I believe I have blogged about this lovely yogurt shop before... Yogurtland!  Yes, see my Las Vegas post and my Spring Break post (ok you really don't have to look back).  Both mention my most favorite yogurt shop ever.  I know there are a million frozen yogurt shops out there, but for some reason Yogurtland is my favorite.  They have awesome flavors and lots of toppings (fresh fruit is my favorite).  Any time we visit a city with a Yogurtland I make sure we stop there.  So anyway... why am I bringing this up again?  Because, great news... I just found out we are getting one in St. George!  I can't tell you how excited I am.  When I saw the signs in the store window I was literally jumping up and down in the parking lot (seriously, ask my brother and sister in law).  There was a time when I wanted a Yogurtland in St. George so much that I actually looked up how much it would cost to franchise one. Luckily someone else is footing that bill and I can just enjoy it in SG :).  I have a feeling I will be making weekly trips this summer.  Anyone wanna join me?

St. George now just needs a Zupas and I will probably live here forever.

Bountiful Baskets

I'm pretty sure most of you have already heard about Bountiful Baskets, but if you've never heard about it, or you've never tried it, I wanted to give you a little more info!  We have done Bountiful Baskets twice and so far I have been really impressed.  I think it's a great way to eat healthy and save money.

Bountiful Baskets is a food co-op.  Basically when you buy a basket from them you are pooling your money with other people in order to buy the produce in bulk for a much cheaper price.  They also get their produce as local as possible.  Each basket you buy is 50% fruits and 50% vegetables.  It costs $15 (plus $1.50 handling fee) and is usually about half the price of what you would pay for all that produce in a regular grocery store.

This is what we got in our basket today (it's a lot... sometimes we split it with our friends):

strawberries, peaches, plums, mangoes, bananas, tomatoes, yams (or maybe sweet potatoes?), green beans, cantaloupe, english cucumber, lettuce, and celery.  Pretty good for just $15! 

It's always fun because you never know exactly what you are going to get in your basket.  I find they usually have a lot of common items and then they always throw in a few items I wouldn't normally buy (such as yams and i'm interested to try the peaches, they are called saucer peaches... shaped differently but supposedly taste just as good!)  So... if anyone has some good yam/sweet potato recipes, I'm gonna need it!  It's always a fun challenge trying to find ways to use all this produce.

It's pretty easy to order a basket.  Here's what you do...
1. On Monday or Tuesday (that's the only days you can purchase a basket) go to their website and make an account (bountifulbaskets.org).
2. Then choose a site where you would like to pick up your basket (most cities offer lots of locations and all pickups are for the following Saturday... oh and this is not just a Utah thing, lots of states have sites).
3. Choose exactly what you'd like to order (they also offer bread, tortillas, occasionally cookies, and specialty baskets like mexican packs or asian packs).
4. Then pay :) and save $$$$!
5. On Saturday morning head to the site you chose at the time specified and pick up your food!  Also remember you have to bring your own container to put your food in to bring home.  It's pretty simple and fun!  I highly recommend it!  If you have other questions you can check their website or ask me.

Also... notice the fruit bowl in my picture... we found that today for $3!  We were at this furniture store just browsing for fun and they had a table full of accessories they were clearing out for 3 bucks.  I was excited b/c I almost bought a fruit bowl at Ross once for $6 but ended up not getting it.  So happy I waited!  Who knew you could find cheaper than Ross????  Well it is possible!

opening day

So happy I got my Kneaders french toast this morning.  Of course we were there for opening day!  I thought it would be crazy busy, but it wasn't.  I guess the people of St. George just have no idea of the goodness yet... that or they all just get up really early for breakfast?  We got there at 8:30.

The french toast slices were even thicker than the Provo store.  Maybe they're just getting the hang of it, but hopefully they will always be that thick.  Dan took the healthy route and ordered an omelet... i was shocked... he ended up finishing my french toast for me anyway though.  

Hooray for Kneaders!  Oh and did i mention this morning when we went out it was only 71 degrees?  I'm thinking I need to start running my errands in the morning before it reaches 100....

coupon

Dan and I are going to lunch today and we are using this coupon.  If you like Olive Garden, you should check it out.  Seems like a pretty good deal :).  I just came across it on their website.  This is Dan's way of paying me back for always adding up his employees hours for him.  Can't wait to eat some of those delicious breadsticks!

yummy!

Why did i not ever think of this????

source: delia creates

This would definitely take s'mores to a whole new level!

Must try this Summer.  

Anyway, I really have nothing to blog about as of late.  Except that pinterest is my new favorite website.  It's basically like a virtual bulletin board.  Anytime you find a fabulous idea online, you can "pin" it to your board.  It's a great way to organize all the neat ideas you come across while looking at blogs, etc.  I have found many fabulous recipes!  Plus you can see what other people pin on their boards and re-pin them if you like the idea. You can also follow your friends and see what they pin too.  It is a lot of fun!  Now I don't have to try and remember all the good ideas i see on blogs.  The site is invite only, but i still have some left, so let me know if you want an invite! :)

p.s... i found this s'more idea on pinterest!  

a sweet story

Since the beginning of the year Dan and I have really tried to eat a lot healthier.  For the most part we have done pretty well.  I honestly got to the point where I didn't crave sugar at all.  It was fabulous.  And when I thought about sweets, they sounded almost too sweet!  Shocking, i know!  I didn't even know that was possible, but it is.  We would occasionally have treats when we had visitors, but I would usually just have a very small portion.  And then last night it all changed!  Dan was out home teaching and all i could think about were warm chocolate chip cookies!  I could not get their image out of my head (which by the way, i have an awesome recipe for and will one day post it).  So i figured while Dan was gone I would whip up a batch... in fact i would cut the recipe in half so we wouldn't have as many (that's healthy, right?).  I got to my pantry and found no chocolate chips :(.  This is what happens when you decide to eat healthy, you just don't buy that stuff anymore.

I waited til Dan got home and i told him i really needed a treat.  He told me there were popsicles in the freezer but i said "i need chocolate" (i know, so dramatic).  He finally agreed but said i had to find a drive through because he didn't want to go inside anywhere.  Which turned out to be perfect because we just happened to have a buy 1 get 1 free blizzard coupon @ the DQ.  Yes a blizzard would definitely satisfy this craving.

I ended up getting my favorite blizzard, cookie jar.  It is no longer on the menu, but if you ask for it they'll make it.  It is the BEST blizzard!  It is cookie dough and oreos all in one.  Two delicious things for the price of one :).  I ate it and i loved it and it for sure helped cure that chocolate craving.

Moral of the story: Cookie Jar blizzards are amazing!  That's all :)

Yum!

I just heard some awesome news today! Kneaders is coming to St. George!!! I am soooooo excited. I love their french toast and have seriously missed it since moving here. Apparently they just broke ground last week. Now all I need is a Zupas and I could stay here forever :).

I told Dan the day it opens we are getting french toast! Even if it is totally against our "eating healthy" goal.... yummy! i can't wait!

Healthy Snacks

Like many people, Dan and I have a New Year's Resolution to get in better shape.  We are starting to eat healthier (which means mostly cutting out desserts and things made from white flour) and exercise nightly (at least during the weekdays, weekends are a different story...).  Anyhow, I have been looking for healthy snack ideas because I am a big snacker.  I prefer to eat smaller meals frequently (which is actually better for you).  So... anyone out there have any suggestions of healthy snack ideas?  I'd love to hear them!

While shopping I found these:

Bunny Snacks!  I thought I'd show them to all of you, especially you parents who are looking for something a little healthier for your kids.  Granted they are probably not super healthy, but they are all natural (no preservatives) and contain whole wheat.  They are similar to teddy grahams but, I would think, better for you.  They have other flavors and sell cheddar bunnies too (similar to goldfish).  So I bought some... for me :).  And they taste good!  I just got them at Walmart and they are pretty comparable in price to the other brands.

So... any other healthy snack choices?  Feel free to share ideas in the comments section.  It would be greatly appreciated!

the Orange Peel

One fun thing about moving to a new place is checking out new stores, restaurants, sites, etc. in the area. And today I think I may have found my new favorite place in St. George. It is called the Orange Peel!

It is a smoothie shop and it is delicious! I was on my way to Dan's work today and I saw it on the side of the road. So I decided to check it out. I ended up getting a watermelon, orange juice, strawberry, peach smoothie and it was soooo good! I got Dan a pina colada, strawberry, banana smoothie, but I still need to see how he liked it. Anyway, I have a feeling I may make a few more trips to the Orange Peel in the future. And if you come visit me, we can go together :)

And in other news, my sister Noelle doesn't have a blog, so I will blog about this for her. Her husband Jared started working at Dan's old company a few months ago. Just about the time Dan quit. Anyway, if you will recall last Christmas, Dan and I went to his work party and won about $2000 in cash. Well this year Noelle and Jared went to the huge Christmas work party and guess what they won? A trip to London and Dublin!!! How crazy is that? I told Dan he should have waited until after the Christmas party to quit... haha... oh well. Congrats Noelle & Jared! Enjoy your trip! I hope you send me a postcard!

Look...

I made jam!

A few weeks ago my mom taught me how to can (i love having her home!). It was so much fun. Together we canned apricot jam. It turned out awesome. I really wanted to can more jam on my own, but I got a little nervous. It is quite the process! So instead I made freezer jam, which is MUCH easier! I made raspberry b/c it is my favorite :). I can't wait to try it!

free tacos!

Guess what?  I have another fabulous deal for you all today!  A coupon for a free taco @ Rubios!  Only good at the Utah locations and it's only good for TODAY- April 15th.

Click on this link here and get yourself a free taco!  I think I'm headed to the new Orem Rubios for lunch :)

Enjoy!

Smoothies

lately I have been into finding good deals (if you haven't noticed). And when I find a good deal, I like to share it. So here is my deal of the day... free Jamba Juice! I love smoothies!

Just click on this link and print off the coupon...
http://www.jambajuice.com/20thcoupon/index.html#

It's buy one get one free. I always like those b/c they work out perfectly for Dan and myself. Maybe we will go there for FHE tonight :). I like the sound of that!

And FYI... Speaking of smoothies, McDonald's new smoothies aren't all that good. The strawberry banana is better than the wild berry though. In case you ever get one...

Guess What???

Dan and I have a new website! I'm really excited about it b/c I think it's looking pretty great! We decided to create a restaurant review website b/c we go out quite a bit. Plus it's something fun for us to do together.

Check it out and let me know what you think!

http://www.dineoutduo.com/

It's mostly for Utah Valley restaurants, but a lot of them can be found other places. So even if you don't live down here, I'm sure some of it may still be helpful. Plus we've got a page of deals at different places all over. Link to us on your blog, check back often, we're always going to new places, so it'll be updated frequently!

Hope you like it!

You've gotta try it!

For those of you in the Provo/Orem area, Dan and I suggest you try this new place...

We went there Thursday night and we thought it was delicious! The hamburgers have a lot of flavor and their fries were our favorite part. If you go, definitely get the smashfries and eat them with their fry sauce. Dan said they were the best fries he has ever had. He liked them so much, he wanted to go there again for lunch the next day!

The one in Orem is across the street from the Univ. mall. I think there are a few others in UT too. And just blogging about it is making me hungry!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

My friend made these last week and they were sooo good! I asked her how to make them and have been craving them ever since, so I tried it out today. I think it's the easiest recipe ever and very fitting for the season, so I figured I'd share :)


All you need is...
1 spice cake mix
A can of pumpkin... Either a 16 oz. can or you can use half of one of the big 30 oz. cans
1 bag of semi sweet chocolate chips

That's it!

Just mix the 3 ingredients together, put the mixture into a muffin tin that is either greased or use liners and you're all set to bake it. If you look on the back of the cake box, it'll tell you how long to cook a muffin tin for. For example, I used Duncan Hines and it said bake for 18-21 min. on 350. So you'll just have to read the back of your box.

If you're wondering... my recipe made 18 muffins.

They are amazingly simple and so yummy! Enjoy!!!

Also... if you want to know another secret, you can also use this recipe to make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Instead of putting them in a muffin tin, just put them on a baking sheet. I believe you bake them at 350 but for less time. I think around 12 min... but you may have to keep an eye on them to make sure.

chocolate cake

Here is my cake for this week:

It has clowns! I wasn't sure if i wanted to do them, but they were actually really fun to make. They are just huge piles of frosting! The chocolate cake with raspberry filling turned out delicious!

cake class

Not sure if I mentioned this before, but some of my friends and I are taking a cake decorating class. Last night we decorated our first cakes! Here is how mine turned out:

It's kind of hard to see, but I wrote "I Love Dan" on it. 1. because i do. 2. because i thought it would be funny to dedicate a flower cake to my husband. and 3. i wanted to practice my writing (i definitely need to do more of that).

It's a yellow cake with chocolate pudding in the middle (Dan LOVES pudding). Next week I'm thinking I may try a chocolate cake with a raspberry filled center. Anyway, it's been a fun skill to learn, expensive, but fun! :)

Oh and in other news, we got bikes! Actually, we got my bike fixed and we got Dan a bike (one that is the right size, since he is so tall!) We are both planning on riding our bikes to work each day and it's also a fun leisure activity to do together. We just went on a ride tonight and had a great time!

Last thing- I'm so happy about the results of American Idol! Kris and Adam are the two that made it to the finals and they just happen to be my favorite contenders. Although I like Kris more :) I hope he wins!

Ok the REAL last thing, the snow shack was open on my way home from work today and I got my first snow cone of the summer! The End.

Enchiladas

So last night I decided to try a new chicken enchilada recipe. I got the recipe off of kraftfoods.com. Which has some pretty good recipes. It sounded really good, however, before you put it in the oven it tells you to cover the enchiladas with salsa and cheese (no sauce). Dan doesn't really like salsa (he thinks it only belongs on chips), so I decided to put some enchilada sauce on it. Well.... we had this western family enchilada sauce that we had gotten at Macey's, it's a kind we've never tried, but it was cheap. I then put them in the oven and 20 min. later we were ready to eat. So... turns out, the enchilada sauce was DISGUSTING! probably one of the worst things i have ever tasted. I really think the enchiladas would have been good, but the sauce completely ruined them. We ended up just scraping the inside chicken part out, which was really good. I just wanted to warn everyone out there to NEVER buy western family enchilada sauce, it is horrible. I highly recommend the Old Elpaso brand, that's my personal favorite. Anyway, just thought i'd share that bit of advice for all of you.....

turkeys!

Dan and I made these cute turkeys a few weeks ago and I wanted to put a pic of them up. They are fun to make and great for Thanksgiving! My old roommate, Melissa, taught me how to make them and we made them every year in November for people we knew. I wanted to carry on the tradition, so this year Dan help me with them and we took them to a family dinner.

They are really easy to make too! I figured I'd share on here, in case anyone wanted to try them. All you do is make the recipe for rice krispie treats (i threw in some coco krispies b/c Dan had them and i figured turkeys are brown). Instead of putting the rice krispies in a pan, roll them into balls. It's easiest if you put oil on your hands, so they don't stick. Then take an oreo and split it. With frosting (i use chocolate), put half of an oreo on the bottom of the turkey body (so it can stand) and then the other half on the back of the turkey. Stick candy corns (feathers) in between the rice krispie body and the oreo that is on the back of the turkey. Once this is done you can also use the chocolate frosting to attach a candy corn for the beak. Then i use black frosting to make little eyes. They turn out really cute and are full of sugar!

popcorn....

So the other night i was driving home from the store and i was totally craving popcorn! Dan and i were planning on watching a movie that night anyway, so i figured it would be perfect :) we got this new popcorn popper for our wedding, so i was excited to try it out.

i got home, pulled out the popcorn popper and the popcorn that came with it. i've never used popcorn like this, because it came with oil and apparently was "just like the movie theater". so i poured it all in the popcorn popper-- that is, kernels and oil. i then plugged it in anticipating the delicious buttery popcorn, but no... suddenly smoke started rushing out of the popper! i sorta freaked and was like "i don't think it's supposed to do that!" so then Dan bravely unplugged it!

well apparently you are not supposed to put the oil in with the kernels... who knew?! i guess i should have read the directions beforehand. so anyway, we had a smoke filled kitchen, a mess (oil everywhere!), and no popcorn :( i was in complete distress.

luckily i looked in our cupboard and found microwave popcorn! i was so happy! as i was unwrapping the package i saw the expiration date... april 2008. gross! expired popcorn! so i threw it out!

needless to say, we ended up not having any popcorn that night. and now i have a broken popcorn popper. not really sure what to do with it. any suggestions???