Minneapolis and Museum

It’s amazing what a little shopping, girl time, and some different scenery can do to refresh a person! Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, my grandma and I trekked 4 hours south to Minneapolis for a middle-of-the-week getaway. We usually spring clean our closets and then go shop for more! We hit all the big Saver’s thrift stores and this time we got to do a lot outside due to the unusually warm spring weather. And the highlight of my trip—The General Mills Museum in downtown Minneapolis! If you’re ever in the area it’s a must-see. And for only $10, you get access to the whole thing! Here’s a little sneak peak….

Mill City Ruins—where the Mill weathered an explosion in 1991.

Looking down from the 8th floor observation deck.

Beautiful view of Minneapolis.

One of the exhibits is the Flour Tower which is an 8 story interactive elevator ride that shows you what a day was like working in a flour mill.

Then we went to the General Mills exhibit which included history on all their brands and the Baking Lab—right up my alley!

General Mill’s top 4 produced flours.

Maybe I will work here one day?

All about Pillsbury..

Gotta love “The First Lady of Food”

And the best for last….BISQUICK!

So overall, the museum is a definite must see if your a General Mill’s fan like me!

I also needed to make a much needed Trader Joe’s stop, since the closest one is 4 hours from me!

We ate at Old Country Buffett..

I love their steamed fish and roasted potatoes with onions.

Dessert was ColdStone Creamery of course!

I got a new creation which is now my favorite—half sweet cream and half berry tart n tangy with blueberries and cinnamon added in—sounds crazy I know, but I promise it’s delish!

 

Have a super spring Sunday!

I’m Back..With Food of Course!

Wow; what a fun little jaunt to Minneapolis—just what I needed before I get dragged down by the college life in just a short week! I have a lot of stuff to share, so I will keep the chat to a minimum and the pictures to the max! Hope you enjoy my recap as much as I enjoyed my time :-)

We (my lovely grandma and I) started out Wednesday morning and made the four hour drive to the Mall of America (check out my last trip to MOA here.) Once we arrived, I was more than ready to scour the stores, but first I needed to quell my growling belly! What did I choose amidst millions of choices? Something that I love, but don’t have in my area of course!  

I chose the new Freshside Grille meal from Long John Silver's. It came with fresh grilled tilapia, half of a corn on the cob, and a vegetable blend that was lightly seasoned. It was a nice meal that didn’t weigh you down to shop, so light in fact that I split a broccoli stuffed baked potato from The Steak and Potato restaurant with my grandma. I love food courts because then you can create endless meals. What’s your favorite food court option?

Shopped, shopped, and shopped some more—I think we did a tad of retail damage!

Thursday we woke up and I had a anticipated mission—my very first trip to Trader Joe’s; exciting right?!

Minnesota only has 4 in the metro area. I was anxious to see if all the good vibes TJ’s gets was true—it was amazing! Cheap, variety, and good food—everything a foodie could ask for under one roof! Obviously I bought some good stuff.

Lots of Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze (it’s 1/2 the price there vs. what I pay here!), more No Pudge Fudge brownie mix (review here), some new bars, mini vanilla meringues, some Garden Patch Veggie soup, also not pictured some Chicken-less BBQ Pulled Chicken and a bag of TJ’s Kettle Corn.

Some TJ’s mini cinnamon raisin bagels and mini original bagels. Then some of their heavenly looking French rolls!

Some European style Mocha coffee flavored yogurt. (Yes mom I bought you one for when you come visit!)

And I was uber excited to find this..

SUSHI!! If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile I am sure you remember my complaints about never being able to try this because it is no where near me! Verdict? I am in love, so looks like I will have to learn to make my own!

And of course a rockin’ TJ’s reusable bag—for 0.99!

I have another surprise place I went on this trip too, so stay tuned for tomorrow. Also tomorrow: food reviews. :-)