A Pinch of This, A Dash of That: Frozen Yogurt

Showing posts with label Frozen Yogurt. Show all posts

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Road Runner

Is it just me, or does everyone become somewhat of a creature of habit?

Lately it seems like my week is spend pounding the books, running errands, and doing things around the house. But lately, come the weekend, I am always hitting the road to go somewhere. Case in point; 3 weekends ago, I went down to Minneapolis for spring break, 2 weekends ago I was down in Minneapolis again for the Kenny Chesney concert (recap here), and this past weekend I spent in Fargo, North Dakota for some girl time and shopping. I actually think this weekend will be spent here being that I am swamped with homework.

The highlight of last weekend?

Spotting this self-serve frozen yogurt place in Fargo. They just opened and it’s the closest one to me—only 2 hours away!

I got the Red Velvet Cake and the other half Vanilla topped with some strawberries. It was as close to heaven as you can get!

I also went and saw the Lincoln Lawyer that recently came out in theatres. I am really fussy when it comes to movies, especially when it comes to this genre, but I would no doubt give this five stars! It kept me guessing and the acting was great. I am buying this when it comes out on DVD!

Another trend I’ve been acclimating to lately is cooking/eating in on the weekdays and eating out on the weekends. Does anyone else do this? I find it kind of nice not to have to worry about cleaning up the kitchen and having someone else do the work for a few days. This past weekend I got to hit up one of my favorite buffets, the Golden Corral.

I got a little of everything…

Grilled steak, onions and peppers, broccoli, carrots, baked potato..followed by 2 more plates :-)

I also ate at the Green Mill. Usually I get the chicken parm, but I decided to switch it up this time and get the blackened walleye with a baked potato. It was really good—the red pepper rub definitely made the filet unique and spicy!

In other news, I taught my last cooking class of the spring season last night. It was called “Spring Fling” and featured how to prepare a five course meal highlighting spring produce.

Stay tuned for the recap and recipes from my class Monday!

Do you have a weekend routine lately?

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Spring Break

Thursday already?

Happy St. Patty’s Day!

Lucky Charms Cupcakes

{Va-va-vanilla cake topped with whipped vanilla frosting, and garnished with Lucky Charms cereal.}

Andes Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

{Andes Chocolicious Cake studded with bits and pieces of chocolate mint candy bar, topped with a whipped mint frosting, and garnished with more chocolate candy bar pieces.}

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Wow, I guess time flies when you’re on the last stretch of the semester! I can’t complain though, I had a great spring break that was busy, yet relaxing in the way of just not having to get up and go to class. I spend the week down in Minneapolis which is always a good time. I’ll keep the words to this post on the sparse side and just fill you in with pictures. By the way, if you haven’t noticed I am playing extreme catch up with my Google Reader, so hang in there! =)

We kicked off spring break by going out to Dave and Buster’s, which if you don’t know, is like a big restaurant/arcade all in one. Tons of fun!

We also spent a day at the Mall of America doing some much needed shopping!

All of that shopping sure works up an appetite!

Healthy Express strawberry frozen yogurt topped with bananas and a layer of strawberries.

Friday started off with lunch at Jimmy John’s, which I had never eaten at before. I decided on the Totally Tuna, which is fresh housemade tuna, mixed with celery, onions, their tasty sauce, alfalfa sprouts, cucumber, lettuce, and tomato. But instead of getting it on a sub, I opted for the JJ Unwich which is basically a lettuce wrap.

We had to make our way across the metro to get to the Xcel Energy Center for the Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournaments. I picked up some new diet sodas for the ride.

I am in love with the blue kind!

I also tried a new-to-me yogurt…

~~Weight Watcher’s~~ Amaretto Cheesecake—pretty tasty!

We had a lot of fun at the games—17,000 people total were there!

That night, we ate at one of my favorite places ever—Red Lobster!

I got the stuffed flounder and grilled shrimp with a baked potato—hit the spot as usual!

The next day we hit up Bunny’s Bar and Grill in downtown Minneapolis—it’s basically a sports bar with superb food!

I got their tomato basil soup with a spinach and egg salad—I would highly recommend both and cant wait to go back and try more dishes on their menu!

We spent the rest of the afternoon pretending we were in a tropical getaway, but instead just hit up the water slides at the indoor Water park of America.

Our last night we decided to go out to a really nice, authentic Italian restaurant. I had never been to a Buca’s so I was pretty excited! It’s a really fun dining experience; they give you a tour of the kitchen, and everything is served family style. So for example, you order 5 entrees and everyone takes a little of each—way fun!

We ordered the Chopped Antipasto Salad(Diced pepperoni, red onions, pepperoncini peppers, cucumbers, provolone, feta and Gorgonzola cheeses, tossed with our fresh lettuce blend in our signature Italian vinaigrette), Spicy Chicken Rigatoni (Awaken your taste buds with a new favorite - tender chicken breast sautéed with garlic and red pepper, tossed with peas, a spicy rosa sauce and imported Italian rigatoni pasta), Chicken Carbonara (Tender chicken breast, prosciutto and peas with imported Italian spaghetti tossed in our creamy Alfredo sauce), Prosciutto Stuffed Chicken (Breaded chicken breasts stuffed with mozzarella and prosciutto, baked and topped with marinara, served on a bed of pesto cream sauce), and the Garlic Mashed Potatoes (Our famous mashed potatoes made with skin-on red potatoes and dare we mention…garlic).

Let’s just say when this meal was done, I was one full girl!

After all was said and done, we made one last trip to Sam’s Club to stock up on food. To say we barely had any room in the car would be an understatement—we won’t need food for at least a month!

What did you do for St. Patrick’s Day??

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Hittin’ The Texas Roads (Part I)

Before I tell y’all (ok, so I tried to pull of a Texas accent) about my trip down south, I first need to introduce you to my newest addition.

Yes folks, that’s a beautiful Canon Rebel XS camera—my dreams officially came true this past Christmas. Thanks mom and dad! So of course Ms.Canon got put to work this past week as I toured Texas for the first time. And my Casio digital camera has officially filed for retirement.

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My gram and I left for Texas last Thursday. What seemed like a start to a nightmare (delayed flights, 4 hour bus ride, 6 hours layover in Minneapolis airport), finally led to waking up to some Texas sunshine Friday morning.

I thought it was so weird to see everything still decorated for Christmas minus the snow. Is it just me, or does Christmas just need snow?

Downtown Austin

I think I mentioned this before, but my cousin is opening up a bistro in downtown Austin on 6th street, so this trip was highly anticipated for me—I knew it would be a lot of things food related! She is starting from scratch in an old historical building.

It’s going to focus highly on brunch, appetizers, and a wide variety of wine. She is also renting out the bottom half for test kitchen needs! She plans to open in April..I can’t wait to see how it goes!

Starting a restaurant from scratch is no easy feat. I realized this as we paged through plans, forms, and more plans!

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Then my cousin knew I’d jump at the chance to visit the HUGE Whole Foods. When I say huge, I am not exaggerating! We spent at least two hours browsing, admiring, and of course eating at the famous hot bar.

Throughout our browsing, I bought this gorgeous kabocha squash..

I admired the gorgeous bakery displays..

And after working up an appetite walking around, we ate at the hot bar.

Check out the gigantic salad bar!

Glorious grilled salmon!

Grilled salmon, grilled squash, sautéed broccoli. So fresh & delicious!

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And of course, a day spent traveling is not complete without some shopping. This was on the top of my list!

The All in One Bakeshop is the largest cake supply store in Central Texas. I had a few things I’ve been looking for, so I figured this would be the spot! It was a baker’s delight!