Spring time!

Today was sunny and happy.  Even when I feel completely like death and tired it is ten times better than when I feel that way in the winter.  In accordance I decided to make an 8 track to go along!  Listen to it!!

Roll down the windows and sing along

I hope you enjoy :)

(The image was taken from someone's road trip through France.... but that is for another time ...)

Apple pie ala mode

Okay no not really.  But I did make healthy (ish) apple pie pancakes!

recipe:

Apple Pie Whole Wheat Pancakes

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 TBL baking powder
• 1 tsp apple pie spice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups low fat milk

• 2 eggs
• 2 TBL honey
• 1 TBL canola oil
• 1 grated apple (I used apple sauce instead. It was all I had!)

MMMMMM. You know you want some!!

Wanna make it even better: BE FRIENDS WITH MEGAN RANEGAR!! hehe.

She gave me this for ma' bday.

MMMMMMMMMMM ^2

A Blissful Picnic

Winter is awful. I do not participate.  It is full of sweatpants every day a constant groan and awfulness.

winter.

springtime is full of hope and joy and renewal! There is nothing better than laying on a blanket in the sun and having a picnic with friends or family and just forgetting about the time and letting your mind wander....

not winter!

A beautiful morning

Recipe for this:

Volume 1 and 2 of She & Him

+
A beautiful 55 degree day full of sunshine

+
a wonderful bran muffin coated in butter and some great coffee

= simplicity equals love.


side note: I also finished the book Life Without Limits this morn and highly recommend it.  It is about a man born without limbs and he has really found his purpose in Christ and his life is incredibly motivating and inspiring.  He does more without limbs than most people do with all four! The optimism he portrays and growth he has experienced through hard times are really somethin to learn from!  Go out and read already!

Damn it feels good to be a Gangsta.

Raygun in Iowa city!! I had to get this t- shirt (sorry the picture is backwards!)

Thug life. 

Wow. My last two posts have been so up the heazy.

Future: gold chains, grillz, gangster things people put on their tires, the headphones that really cool people wear that cost a ridculus amount of cash mons.

My future:

Someday.....

I am 4 reaaal $$##@#%

I really died my hair.

I now have fuschia hair. I do not know when it comes out.

Live free. die hard.

Mckenzie Granola- I did it!

So today I was really craving some Mckenzie granola.  I checked the cupboards and we seemed to have the obvious ingredients so I went to Quaker oats and found a recipe that looked similar! The only surprise was grated lemon peel- thank you family for having this!

The Granola.

The craisens and nuts were my own addition- i know. so innovative.

How I felt after consuming the granola

Best of Des Moines Part Two: Restaurants and Coffee shops

Well these are my favorites at least...

Best for lunch/dinner:

-La Mie, Adong for Vietmanese, Proof for lunch, Alba, Lucca... the Art center has a great cafe!

Best for coffee or tea:

- Gong Fu tea ( I hope to someday try all their teas! they also have a great seating area where you can sit on the floor and drink from your teapot :)))

Some other great local spots: Zanaibars, Mars Cafe, Smokey Row, and Java Joes!

Other noteable mentions: there are some great restaurants in Beaverdale such as Flarahs, lots of great eats on ingersoll and downtown (and I am sure there are some in suburbia also... I just do not go to them..)

I have also noticed that when I am at home my blogging increases by an exponential amount

!

A series: the Best of Des Moines: Culture

The best art cultural and shopping experiences in the DSM.

okay here are a few of the givens.... the art center, science center, civic center, and hoyt sherman...

But here are my FAVES: greenwood park and the bill riley trail system, GREYS LAKE (w/ free yoga on saturdays!), the FARMERS MARKET is sooo awesome....

And I can not forget the best shopping experiences >>> The East village, Valley Junction, and the west glenn area (excluding the mall!!!)

I also can not forget some of the most recent additions to the West Village part of town! The pappajohn sculpture park makes for a great picnic or stroll and the DSM social club offers awesome activities like plays, belly dancing classes, palm readings, yoga, and lots o sweet activities!

I <3 the heartland!

One day I wanted to be a rainbow. And so I was.

Purple, fushia, and teal hair! Permanent??

SUSHI!!

So I had never made sushi before so I decided to try it!

I found a general recipe here,>>  http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/02/18/recipe-homemade-sushi/ but decided to use my own ingredients.  I may also add that my 8 and 11 year old sisters are master chefs and have more superior tastebuds than any children I have ever met.  To start out I made the rice and shiz.  I layed out all the ingredients on a platter.  I had chopped raw veggies like cucumber, mushroom, carrot, and avocado.  I also made some ahi tuna with spicyness! We happened to have some garden veggie cream cheese so that was awesome also!

After the rice was done cooking (it was special short grain sushi rice!) we laid it out on the seaweed (which was already laying on saran wrap and a bamboo sheet.  Then we put the ingredients inside the sushi and rolled and pressed and rolled and pressed and then CHOPPED!!!

Here is what some of it looked like:

haha- some pieces were prettier than others.  Fortunately we also had ginger, wasabi, and soy sauce for the perfect sushi meal! YUMMAAAY :)

And I'm just laying on the couch....

This weekend was the NCAA track and field indoor meet in Texas.

First off I wanna give a shout out to K-flo my sis' the fastest freshman, Bethany- Iowas only point scorer and an all american, and the rest of ma homies.

Second. Please watch the races.  I am just amazed at the talent and it was so much fun!

Live coverage of message boards and interviews....

NCAAs

And yeah.  I have been known to be a creep and ask for people's autographs. I maybe did one time to Jordan Hasay.... but no regrets now- I hope I kept it!

Personally I took the liberty to take a day of no running and making and eating the girl scout cookies below... watching the meet made me wish I was there, and was perhaps the motivation I needed! Though it was a nice relaxing day as well.

bloggity blog blog blog.

Homemade girl scout cookies:)

Homemade Do-si-dos!!

^^^^ that is the link to make them yourselves! I wanted to make the Samoas one but we did not have coconut or carmel  :((( try them all and let me know!

They were delish... stomach ache good.

home.

Things I love about being home that I forgot about until I came here.

- taking long bubble baths, swinging on the tree swing, and sitting on the porch.

- going to my favorite restaurants and coffee shops like : La Mie, Zanzibars, and alba.

Feeling at home!  going to bed at nine, and having a constant cuddle party with annie.

A homemade wonder and a guilty pleasure

So a couple weeks ago I bought yeast.  About every other day I would look up a bread recipe and then become intimidated because I get scared to make things I have never made before.  So I would just bookmark it and close my computer.  Then I decided I was going to do it.  I made the bread! I found a recipe called "Artisan" bread.  It it actually wonderful! I had to create a dutch oven by heating a pot with a lid and then cooking the bread inside the mini oven that was in the big oven. It was total a twenty four hour process with all the dough rising and such.  But this is what it looks like!

Also. This is the one thing I can never resist.  I think I may like it more than chocolate and  it is my guilty pleasure and when I have the chance I put so much of it on any type of bread.  Bread and muffins are naked without this artery clogging cholesterol rising wonder.

BUTTER.