I’m so happy that this week is almost over.  It’s gone by extremely slow and I’ll be happy to see it end!  What are you doing this weekend?  I’m really excited about tonight.  I’m hanging out with Melissa tonight and I have been planning all week for an epic couponing trip to the supermarket and tonight is the night.  I think this is going to be my best trip yet.  I’m planning on getting a ton of stuff for free and a lot of overage to cover the cost of other items that I need that I might not have a coupon for.  I’ve done so much work for this trip and I have a ton of coupons.  So I’m looking forward to see what happens.  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed and will definitely report back that is for sure!  We are also planning on seeing what new clothes are out there and whatnot.  I’m looking forward to spending time with her.  The rest of the weekend is pretty much up in the air but Mike and I are wanting to go through some things in the house and organize it better since we are staying another year.  We also need to do our wedding album.  I can’t believe we haven’t done it yet.  We’ve officially been married 9 months today!  That is just crazy to me.  It’s gone by so quick.

So today is one of my favorite days of the week because it is Fun Finds Friday!  Today I am going to feature new nutritional bars and granola bars that I have either tried or heard about.  I love nutritional bars and granola bars as long as they taste good and they are good for you.  They are a great snack or something to take with you on the go and that is what I love about them.  Let’s get started!

Lara ALT Bars

The other day I received a package in the mail from my friends over at Lara.  They sent me a package of their new ALT bars to try out!

ALT stands for Alternative Protein Bar.  These bars have added protein in them but it’s not the normal protein you might find in a bar like this, it is pea protein.  Most bars use soy or whey protein and Lara wanted to use an alternative for people who might be allergic to that so they used pea protein instead.  These bars are Vegan, gluten-free, dairy free, and non-GMO, and the wrapper is 31% renewable.  These bars contain 10 grams of protein and range from 210 calories a bar to 240 calories a bar.  As you can see they come in four flavors: Peanut Butter Cookie, Cinnamon Apple Crisp, Lemon Pound Cake and Pumpkin Pie.  I’m looking forward to trying these out!  Thanks, Lara!

Luna Carrot Cake Bars

Carrot Cake is the newest flavor from Luna!  I’ve always been a huge supporter of Luna bars.  I even took a huge box of their protein bars on my honeymoon, that is how much I love them.  When I saw that they came out with carrot cake,  I knew I had to find it!  I’ve had it twice since finding it and it’s one of my favorite flavors!  The bar is a cinnamon-spiced bar with carrots, walnuts, white soy chips, and raisins with a vanilla icing.  You can see actual pieces of raisins in the bar which I thought was great!  It really does taste like a piece of carrot cake.  I love it!  One bar contains 180 calories and 8 grams of protein.  Definitely try this out!

Clif Builders Protein Bar in Crunchy Peanut Butter

This is a new bar from Clif Builder’s line.  It is Crunchy Peanut Butter and this bar contains a whopping 20 grams of protein and 23 vitamins and minerals!  The bar doesn’t contain artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols or trans fats.  It is a great option for those of you to have before working out.

New Odwalla Bars for Kids 

These are three brand new bars that have come out from Odwalla specifically for kids.  They come in three flavors: Banana Dunk, Chocolate Chip Kick, and Strawberry Score.  They contain only natural ingredients so you can feel good about giving any of these to your children as a snack or packing them in their lunches for school.

Quaker Big Chewy Bars

Quaker has come out with two flavors in their Big Chewy line: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip and Chocolate Chip.  These are 60% bigger than their normal bars!  My mouth is watering just looking at them.  I have always been a fan of Quaker granola bars.  They are a favorite of mine.

Fiber One Trail Mix Chewy Bars

Fiber One’s newest product is their Trail Mix Chewy Bars.  These Trail Mix chewy bars combine chocolate chunks, raisins, peanuts & cranberries.  I think they look great but I always stay away from Fiber One.  I tried the cereal once and it was not a good experience so I tend to not eat Fiber One products but to each their own.  That is why I decided to feature them.

Nature Valley Dark Chocolate Cherry Chewy Trail Mix Bar

Nature Valley’s Trail Mix line has come out with a new flavor: Dark Chocolate Cherry!  The new bar contains almonds, granola, chewy dried cherries and cranberries along with chocolate chunks!  I think this sounds like a heavenly bar to me!

Nature Valley Salted Caramel Nut Protein Bar

Nature Valley has also come out with a new flavor of their Protein line bars: Salted Caramel Nut.  This bar contains salted caramel, crisp rice, roasted peanuts and almonds with 10 grams of protein.

Nature Valley Dark Chocolate Peanut & Almond Sweet & Salty Granola Bar

This is the last of Nature Valley’s new bars and it contains granola, peanuts, almonds, and dark chocolate all dipped in a dark chocolate coating.  Yum!

So as you can see there are quite a few new nutritional/granola bars to try out!  Do you enjoy eating nutritional/granola bars?  Which are you favorites?  Have you tried any I mentioned?  If not, which would you want to try?

Alright, have a great Friday and a happy weekend!!

Last night for dinner, Mike and I had two turkey burgers that we had leftover from Monday night.  I’m not going to bother posting a picture because I had already posted a picture of my turkey burger from the night before.  Mike grilled it on our grill pan again.  I can’t wait until we can use our actual grill.  We had to move our grill from our backyard, into our garage where it is sitting currently.  You may be asking why?  Well, one day we took the grill cover off to look at it, and someone took a screw out of the lid of the grill and removed it!  So the lid was barely hanging on by one screw!  It couldn’t have fallen off by itself because it was tightly screwed on someone had to deliberately remove our cover and then unscrew the lid for something like that to come off!  There is also now a huge dent on the lid of our grill.

Once we saw that, we were both incredibly upset.  It was an expensive grill and I don’t know who in their right mind would go underneath someone’s grill cover and mess with their grill.  Needless to say, I didn’t want to see what was going to happen next so we are now storing it in our garage and when we want to use the grill, we will grill in the front of the house.  Annoying?  Yes, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.  All eyes point to the people above us.  I don’t know who would do such a thing to someone’s property but I don’t want to take anymore chances.

Enough of that, let’s shift gears now.  I came across a travel article today and whenever I see something interesting, I automatically want to share it with all of you.  It was an article that Good Morning America posted about six travel destinations that have flown under the radar and are worth checking out.  I thought it would be interesting as most people are planning for summer travel, this might be an option for those of you look to get a good bargain and travel somewhere new!

1.) Lake Placid, New York

Lake Placid is most famous for hosting the Winter Olympics in 1980.   The summer is said to be the most beautiful time of year to visit New York’s Adirondack State Park and the town of Lake Placid.  There are a wide range of hotels for each budget but the article is saying that the Mirror Lake Inn is comparable in all price ranges.  They also say to check out Happy Hour at the famous Dancing Bears Bar on main street because the beers are poured from taps encased in blocks of ice!

2.) Beaufort, South Carolina

Beaufort was named one of the happiest seaside towns in America by Coastal Living magazine in 2013.  It’s located between Savannah and Charleston.  This town is known for its historic architecture, exquisite local cuisine, and rich African-American heritage.

3.) Walland, Tennessee

Walland is located at the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains and most people visit here for Blackberry Farm.  Blackberry Farm is a small-luxury hotel on 4200 acres of land.  This hotel was recently named the number one hotel in America by foodies from Bon Appetit and has been on numerous world’s best lists.  Food is the center of the experience at this hotel.

4.) Krakow, Poland 

Krakow has been called Europe’s best travel bargain and came in at number three on the 2013 European Backpacker index for the continent’s cheapest city this year.  It is estimated that a person on a serious budget could get away with $25 per day including hostel accommodations, meals, a few alcoholic beverages and a major sightseeing attraction.  It is said that now is the best time to visit this travel destination before the prices go up.

5.) Anguilla, Caribbean

The new hotel, the Viceory Anguilla is a modern hotel with a Miami-style vibe and is said that the summer is the best time of year to get a bargain at this resort.  This summer the resort is offering a family package that includes a $100 daily resort credit and free meals for kids under 12.  The food in Anguilla is supposed to be excellent.

6.) Greenwich, Connecticut

Greenwich has the reputation for mansions and Wall Street moguls, however a luxury hotel, Delmar Greenwich Harbor Hotel as been built.  This hotel is on the harbor and is within walking distance of restaurant and shopping.  Greenwich Avenue is home to over 600 stores and is referred to as the “East Coast Rodeo Drive.”  Greenwich also has several beaches and is a quick train ride to New York City.

So what do you think?  Have you ever been to any of these travel destinations?  Which one would you most want to visit and why?

I’ve never been to any of them.  To be honest, I’ve only heard of Lake Placid, Krakow, and Anguilla. I remember Anguilla because several of the Real Housewives have gone there and I remember watching them film there.  I think it looks beautiful there.  I also love how Beaufort South Carolina and Greenwich Connecticut sound.  I didn’t realize that Greenwich has shopping that is like Rodeo Drive.  I would love to check out a place like that.  Not that I could afford anything on that street but sometimes it’s fun to just pretend and window-shop a bit.

Alright, well have a lovely Thursday!

Drop Dead Diva wasn’t supposed to come back and then managed to get it renewed somehow.  That show is hit or miss sometimes.  A show that I’m not sure if it is coming back or not is Love in the Wild.  Mike and I watched both seasons of that show and really liked it. I hope it comes back but I haven’t heard a thing about it.  I’m looking forward to Big Brother.  Mike and I are always hooked on that show.  I hope they have good people this season because last season wasn’t too great.  I can’t even remember who won!  That tells you it was bad.

Anyway, let’s move on to some food talk, shall we?  On Monday, Mike made delicious turkey burgers for us!  He split the ground turkey into four so it would make four patties.  We each had one on Monday and then we are most likely going to have one tonight for dinner.  We took a break last night.  He used new barbecue sauce we picked up, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder to season the ground turkey.

New barbecue sauce we tried

I am not a big fan of barbecue sauce.  I am very picky with the flavors of it.  So I wasn’t sure how I was going to like it mixed into the burger.  I liked the fact that it had honey mustard flavoring and it actually wasn’t too bad.  I’m curious to see what it would taste like with pulled chicken in the crockpot.  I might have to try that at some point.

My dinner plate with roasted veggies and roasted homemade sweet potato fries

My turkey burger with cheese

The burgers were juicy and had a ton of flavor!  The barbecue flavor wasn’t overpowering and I made sure not to add extra because then it definitely would have been too much for me.  I liked how the cheese blended with the barbecue flavoring.  Mike cooked the burgers perfectly!  I refuse to make burgers because he cooks them the best.  We used our grill pan for the burger but I am definitely looking forward to using our grill outside to make these.  I love the flavor of grilled anything!

Last night, my stomach wasn’t feeling so hot and I really didn’t feel like cooking anything elaborate.  We both wanted a break from a burger so we decided on a favorite of mine, breakfast for dinner.  I had eggs and a cinnamon raisin bagel with Earth Balance “butter.”

My breakfast for dinner

It didn’t photograph too pretty but it definitely made me feel comforted.  I even had a decaf coffee to go with it.  I felt like I was just eating breakfast even though it was night-time.  I really love eating breakfast foods.  They are simple to prepare as long as it’s eggs.  I’m not too talented at making pancakes.  I need to work on that.  I think I need the Perfect Pancake pan.  Have you seen that thing?

My problem is I have never make them the right consistency or the right shape/size.  I wonder if this pan really works?!  I’d be curious to try it out.  I saw it at Walmart over the weekend and I was tempted to buy it.  Those infomercials are so tempting especially the cooking ones.  I always get sucked into watching it or watching QVC.  I love that.

Do you ever have breakfast for dinner?  Have you tried the Perfect Pancake maker?  Does it work?

Alright, have a lovely Wednesday!

Anyway, I had mentioned yesterday that on Friday, Mike and I had the opportunity to try a new restaurant.  I didn’t want to throw it into my post yesterday.  I thought it deserved an entire post of its own because that is how impressed I was and couldn’t wait to share with you!  The restaurant Zoës Kitchen just opened up in the Bucks County area, Newtown to be more specific.  It is a restaurant that has a counter that you go up to and order your food and then you select a table and they bring your food out to you.

Zoës Kitchen was created by Zoë Cassimus who was born in the Mediterranean and raised in the South of the United States.  The entire menu at Zoës is inspired by her family recipes and her simple, and fresh from the garden sensibility.  One of the most impressive things about Zoës is the fact that all ingredients are delivered fresh daily.  They try to use as many local ingredients as possible.  The employees hand-wash, cut and prep all of the ingredients that go into the food every single day.  Their kitchen contains no microwaves, none of the food is fried, and the only frozen products they use are the seafood products.  Everything else is made fresh.  The kitchen contains lots of fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs, olive oil, and lean proteins.  The kitchen is open so you are able to watch them prepare your food as you wait.

I love the food is contains no preservatives.  The menu is dietary conscious meaning that they are able to accommodate gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan’s.  The manager told us that Zoës is known for their chicken salad.  That is what really put Zoës on the map.  I will go into more detail about the chicken salad in a bit.  They are also known for their hummus which is prepared fresh every single day.

Something I thought that was interesting about the restaurant too is Zoës grandmother’s chocolate cake which they refer to as Yaya’s Hand-Made Chocolate Cake.  The manager said that all of the employees learn how to make this chocolate cake and they make it fresh every single day.  They sell it in containers and you can tell by looking at it that it wasn’t prepackaged, it really does look like a fresh piece of cake that was made and sliced that day.  I love the details that this restaurant takes into serving it’s guests.

Inside of Zoës

Mike and I knew that we had to order Hummus to share because we are hummus fanatics and the fact that it is prepared fresh every day really made me want to try it.

Hummus with pita

The hummus was smooth and tasted very fresh.  It was light and full of flavor.  I love the olives as a topping and I liked the fact that it wasn’t coated in oil!  I hate when restaurants top hummus with oil.  You don’t need that!  The hummus is plenty and I like that Zoës serves it just like that.  The pita was perfectly toasted and was a nice compliment to the hummus.

I was so overwhelmed when trying to order that I had no idea what I wanted!  The entire menu sounded great and I knew that if I liked it, I would be back so I decided to try 1/2 a Chicken Salad Sandwich and Greek Salad.

1/2 Chicken Salad Sandwich and Greek Salad

You might notice that the Greek Salad is dry.  That is because Zoës leaves their Greek Dressing on the table so that you are able to decide the amount that you want on your salad, yourself.

Greek Salad Dressing

I’ll first start off with the Greek Salad.  All of the ingredients tasted fresh.  The cucumber and peppers were crisp so you could tell that they weren’t sitting out for days.  The lettuce was fresh as well.  The dressing was delicious!  It had all the right amount of Greek seasonings that you think of when you think of a Greek salad.  I really liked the fact that the dressing was on the table.  It says on the bottle that it is prepared fresh in the store.  You can tell that it only contains natural ingredients because it tastes so fresh and is fragrant.  I loved the dressing.

The chicken salad, I could probably go on for days about.  I HATE when chicken salad is completely taken over by mayo.   Don’t get me wrong, I love mayo but I don’t love when it overtakes chicken salad.  This chicken salad only had a touch of mayo and it had to be one of the best chicken salads I’ve ever had.  It was light, and had celery in it.  It really tasted homemade.  I would definitely have that again when I go back.  You can even buy their chicken salad in tubs to take home with you!

Oh, before I forget!  I tried their Decaf Hibiscus Green tea and it was one of the best green tea’s I’ve ever had!  Plus, it was pink!

It had a light hibiscus flavor yet still had that green tea flavor you want.  I could have probably drank a gallon of it!  Lucky for me, they sell reusable cups that are bigger than their regular cups.  I think I need to purchase one so I can have a lot of this tea at once!  It was SO good.

Mike decided to try their Steak Kabobs which is also a popular item at Zoës.

Steak Kabobs

The Steak Kabobs were served on a bed of grilled potatoes and freshly roasted vegetables.  I don’t know if you can tell but if you look at the vegetables you can clearly see they are fresh and not frozen.  The broccoli was tender yet still had a crisp bite to it.  The carrots were fresh and the potatoes were wonderful.  Mike couldn’t stop talking about how great the steak tasted.  It was perfectly tender and soft to the taste.  I am not a red meat-eater anymore but I tried a small piece because I was curious.  In that moment when I tried it, I loved it!  It was cooked the only way that I like red meat.  It was nice and soft and the seasoning really made the dish.

We were just so impressed by this restaurant!  The funny thing was as we started talking to the Assistant Manager, Mike realized that they went to school together!  It was so random and funny!  It’s a small world!  I thought that was nice that they had a connection like that!

I don’t have enough nice things to say about this restaurant. It encompasses all the things that I want when dining out.  It’s healthy, uses fresh and as many local ingredients as possible, nothing is fried or oily, and they have a vast variety of items on their menu.

They also have an app that you can download on your phone and you can earn FREE goodies just for signing up!  I signed up after we left and I already earned, a reusable cup and a piece of Yaya’s cake!!  I can’t wait to go back to redeem them.  Also, if you sign up for their e-club, you receive a coupon for a free 1/2 pint of their chicken salad!

If you have a Zoës in your area, definitely check it out!  You will NOT be disappointed in any way shape or form!  Thank you so much Zoës for allowing us to try out your restaurant!  You definitely earned two new fans!

Have you ever been to Zoës?  Does it seem like a place that you would like to try?

Anyway, let’s recap the weekend.  On Friday, I had an extremely stressful day at work.  It seems like it’s getting more stressful and all kinds of crazy by the minute.  It’s definitely wearing me down that is for sure.  I couldn’t wait to just come home and start the weekend.  Mike and I went to a brand new restaurant which I am really excited to recap our experience for you.  I am going to do that tomorrow because I think it deserves its own separate post.  It wouldn’t do it justice to put into just my random weekend recap post.  So definitely look for that tomorrow!  I’m excited to share.

On Saturday, I was finally able to sleep in.  I think it was the first time that I had a good night’s rest in a long time.  It was in part because I don’t think the people upstairs slept at their house on Friday night.  They had a party of course but then it sounded like they left and never came back.  That is fine by me!  I got my sleep and that is all that matters to me.  I did a lot of things around the house on Saturday and then Mike and I ventured out to the store to pick up a few things.  We went to Aldi and Walmart.  I guess a lot of people wanted to go to Walmart on Saturday too because it was packed!  In fact, every store that we went to on Saturday was mobbed. I guess it was people getting last-minute Mother’s Day gifts?  I’m not sure but it was crazy!

We decided we wanted to go to Bravo for dinner.   We started off with a spinach dip appetizer.

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

I decided to order something different this time from all of the other times that we have gone there for dinner.

Chicken Scalloppini

My dinner was the best I ever had there!  The portion was huge and I was able to bring half of it home.  I would love to recreate this dish at home.  I loved the fact that the chicken had melted cheese on top!  I never thought to melt cheese on chicken.  I’m not sure why but I loved the flavor profile.  I could totally see myself doing that sometime.  It was almost like chicken parm minus the breading.  I love that!  Sometimes the breading is a bit too much for me.  I prefer it without.

Mike decided to order something new as well.  He ordered Lobster Ravioli.

Mike’s Lobster Ravioli

He was really pleased with his dish too!  He said there was even some shrimp scattered on top of the ravioli which was a nice surprise!  I was happy that we both enjoyed our dinners.

After dinner we decided to meet up with friends that we haven’t seen in a while.  I used to be a lot of closer to this friend then I am now.  I felt very uncomfortable the entire time we were there and things were said to me that made me extremely upset.  I felt attacked and put down about anything and everything you can imagine.  If you are supposed to be my “friend,” why would you treat me this way?  I don’t get it.  We have been off-and-on for years and I think we’ve reached a path where it’s just no longer working.  At least for me it’s not.  The motto of the rest of the evening for me was, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all.”  I want a life full of positive people, not negative that are going to bring me down.

On Sunday, Mike and I woke up early to meet his entire family for Mother’s Day brunch at a local country club.  I had never been to this country club before.  I felt severely under-dressed.  I didn’t even think twice about what I was wearing and stupid me wore jeans.  Never again will I make that mistake!  I guess you can tell I don’t go to country club’s much?  They had a buffet spread of foods set up.  It was a nice variety of food and it was nice to spend time with not only Mike’s immediate family but his extended family as well.

After brunch, we went home for a little bit and then picked up Melissa and my mom!  We went to celebrate Mother’s Day at Seasons 52.  We started off with a Chicken Skewer appetizer.

Appetizer

They were pretty skimpy with the appetizer as you can tell.  It tasted good but it lacked pieces of chicken.  My mom and I both ordered the Cedar Plank Salmon.

Cedar Plank Salmon

We both enjoyed our meals.  Unfortunately, Melissa and Mike did not.  I guess we should have picked another restaurant to go to. We had a gift card and wanted to use it but it was just not good.  I am not a fan of Seasons 52 anymore.  I just don’t like the menu offerings and how expensive it is.  I think it’s majorly overpriced for what you are given.  I learned my lesson about going there.

The restaurant was in a mall which just so happened to open up a Crumb’s Bakery!!  We knew we had to get cupcakes for dessert!  These are Mike and my cupcakes.

Peanut Butter & Jelly and Chocolate of Some sort

The peanut butter and jelly one was mine and oh my goodness!  If you haven’t had a Crumb’s cupcake, you haven’t lived!!!!  I don’t know how I managed to go so many years without trying one!  It was the BEST cupcake I have ever had in my life!!!!!  The cake was so moist and fluffy!!  I couldn’t believe how light the cake was.  I loved that it had strawberry preserves in the center of the cupcake.  Mike loved his too!!  Have you ever had a Crumb’s cupcake?

I was really happy to spend Mother’s Day with my mom.  I had a good time with her and Melissa and Mike despite the fact of the restaurant’s food.  I love spending time with those whom I love and who support me. I think that is the most important thing in life.

Alright, well have a lovely Monday!

What are you doing this weekend?  Tonight I’m checking out a new restaurant.  I can’t wait to tell all of you about it.  I’m super excited!  Tomorrow, I don’t really have any plans. I do plan on sleeping in.  I can’t wait for that.  On Sunday, it’s Mother’s Day and I am going to brunch with Mike’s family and then we are going out to dinner with my mom.  I cannot wait for that!  We are having dinner at one of Melissa and my favorite restaurants!  We are over the moon to go there!  Plus we have a gift card to use so it makes it that much better!

Yesterday after work, Melissa and I hung out together!  We ventured to the mall to a store to pick up something that we wanted to get for our mom from there.  Then we ventured to Wegman’s for dinner.  I actually got Moe’s Southwest Grill because Melissa had a coupon and I brought that into Wegmans.  I know.  I’m a rebel!    After that, we went to a few more stores and then called it an evening.  We had a great time together and I think our mom is going to love what we got her for Mother’s Day!

Today is another edition of Fun Finds Friday!  I feel like I haven’t done one of these in a while and I’m excited about today’s feature.  Today I am going to feature new ice cream flavors.  I figure since the weather is getting warmer, most people enjoy having ice cream in the summer.  So why not feature some new flavors for you to try out?  Let’s get started!

Edy’s Limited Edition Slow Churned

Edy’s has come out with three new slow churned flavors.  They are: German Chocolate Cake Spectacular, Sunny Salted Caramel Pretzel, and Take The Cake!  I don’t know about you but all three of these flavors sound incredible!  You may notice that the picture says Dreyer’s.  Edy’s and Dreyer’s are the same company.  It depends where you live if your store carried Edy’s or Dreyer’s.  Typically, I think Edy’s is on the East Coast.  That is what I have noticed.  These limited edition flavors are only around until August so be sure to pick them up when you see them!

Baskin Robbins Flavor Of The Month

Each month Baskin Robbins has a special flavor that they feature and for this month it is Blueberry Shortbread!  It is Shortbread and blueberry flavored ice creams with a lemon shortbread cookie ribbon.  I think that sounds like a light and refreshing ice cream to me.  I’d be willing to try it out.

Dairy Queen Blizzard Of The Month

Each month, Dairy Queen features a special blizzard and for this month it is Choco Peanut Butter Brownie!  That sounds like all of my favorite things put into one!  It has peanut butter topping, choco chunks, and brownie pieces swirled into vanilla soft serve.  Yum!  I need to try this asap!

Chick-Fil-A Limited Edition Peach Milkshake

I know this isn’t an ice cream flavor but it’s a new milkshake treat from a favorite fast food restaurant.  I personally don’t think I would try this because I am not a huge fan of peach flavored treats but it might sound good to some of you so that is why I am featuring it.

Ben & Jerry’s Greek Frozen Yogurt New Flavors

Ben and Jerry’s has added three new Greek Frozen Yogurt flavors to their line.  They are: Liz Lemon (Lemon Greek Frozen Yogurt with a Blueberry Lavender Swirl), Pineapple Passionfruit (Pineapple Greek Frozen Yogurt with Chunks of Pineapple & a Passionfruit Swirl), and Vanilla Honey Caramel (Vanilla Greek Frozen Yogurt with a Honey Caramel Swirl).  I think these flavors sound amazing plus they are Greek Frozen Yogurt!

Ben & Jerry’s Regular New Flavors

In addition to the Greek Frozen Yogurt, Ben & Jerry’s has added three other flavors to their regular ice cream line.  They have added: Coffee, Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz! (Coffee Ice Cream with Espresso Bean Fudge Chunks), Cannoli (Mascarpone Ice Cream with Fudge Covered Cannoli Pastry Shell Chunks & a Mascarpone Swirl), and Chocolate Peppermint Crunch (Chocolate Ice Cream with Peppermint and Fudge Swirls and Mint Chocolate Cookie Balls).  I don’t know about you but I need to run to grab that Cannoli ice cream!  I am a HUGE fan of Cannoli’s so this flavor is perfect for me to try!

Turkey Hill New Frozen Yogurt Flavors

Turkey Hill has added four new flavors to their Frozen Yogurt line!  They are: Honey Vanilla Granola (Honey Vanilla Frozen Yogurt with cinnamon granola and graham swirl), Southern Lemon Pie, Peanut Butter Pie (Peanut Butter frozen yogurt with peanut butter cups and graham crust swirl), and PomBlueberry Chocolate Truffle (Pomegranate Blueberry low fat frozen yogurt with dark chocolate fudge truffles).  I’ve grown up with Turkey Hill since it is local to PA.  I love that they are making healthier ice cream!

Blue Bunny New Ice Cream Flavors

As you can see Blue Bunny has come out with one regular new flavor and two new flavors from their Frozen Yogurt line!  The first new flavor is Caramel Fudge Sundae (Chocolate ice cream swirled with caramel flavored low fat ice cream embedded with rich dark fudge brownie pieces and laced with buttery caramel ribbons), and the Frozen Yogurt is: Chocolate Fudge Brownie (All natural chocolate frozen yogurt swirled with a fudge sauce and loaded with chocolate brownie), and White Mint Chocolate Chunk (All natural white mint frozen yogurt loaded with chocolate chunks).

Breyer’s Lactose Free

Breyer’s always had vanilla lactose free which I love because I am lactose intolerant.  In order for me to enjoy ice cream I have to take pills before.  But now I see they have another flavor, chocolate!!  That is exciting news!!  I’m glad to see another ice cream flavor that I can enjoy without taking pills!

Breyer’s Limited Edition Strawberry Shortcake

Breyer’s has also come out with a limited edition flavor of Strawberry Shortcake (filled with delicious bites of shortcake and a sweet strawberry swirl).  Yum!

So there you have a bunch of new ice cream flavors!  I hope this helps make your spring/summer a little more sweet.  Have you tried any of these flavors?  Which ones would you most want to try?  I’m dying to try almost all of the ones I have mentioned.  I see a lot of ice cream in my future!

Have a great Friday, a lovely weekend and to all of you mom’s out there, we salute you!  Happy Mother’s Day!!

Anyway, for dinner last night I knew we had ground turkey in the refrigerator that I wanted to use.  When we bought them we were planning on making turkey burgers with them.  Mike asked me in the store if we had rolls and I kept assuring him that we had some in the freezer.  Sure enough, I open the freezer and there are no rolls in sight!  I don’t know what I was thinking.  So we had to scratch that idea.  It really was annoying because I was in the mood for a turkey burger but I didn’t feel like running out to the store just to grab a package of rolls.  So we will have burgers next week.  I decided to make meatballs out of them and turn the night into an Italian dinner.

For some reason, I am missing garlic powder which is a staple in my meatballs.  So I had to forget that and remember to pick up a jar of it the next time I’m at the store.  I used onion powder, salt, pepper, and lots and ketchup.  I am obsessed with Trader Joe’s Organic ketchup.

There is something about this ketchup that tastes so fresh and tastes a lot different from those other types of ketchup.  I also like that it’s organic and it contains no high-fructose corn syrup.  I’ve been trying to keep that out of our house as best as I can.  I don’t think it’s good for the body and it’s certainly not good for my stomach issues.  So we use ketchup, and jelly that don’t contain it.  I just don’t want that in my body.  I think most of you can understand.

Anyway, I used two different types of pasta last night. I was feeling penne and shells and tossed all of that into Aldi’s Alfredo Sauce.

My dinner bowl

I also sautéed some asparagus and zucchini to add some veggies to our dinner.  It was all around a good meal and I have to say, I really enjoyed Aldi’s sauce!  We have become huge Aldi fans and try to buy as much from there as we can because it saves us a ton of money.  I highly recommend that store.

Shifting gears from foods, I came across an interesting article today and I thought I’d share with you.  I always enjoy finding articles about travel or things of that nature that I can share with all of you.  This is a list that was published on Yahoo from Movoto Real Estate.  It is about their opinion of the top 10 most exciting cities in America.  Now you might disagree completely with this list or agree.  It’s really their opinion.  The criteria that they judged the cities on was

• Park acreage per person.
• Percentage of the population age 20 to 34.
• Bars, movie theaters, museums, theater companies and music venues per square mile.
• Racial and ethnic diversity

They also had two negative indicators which were fast food restaurants and Targets/Walmarts.  The fewer of these per square mile, the higher rating the city would get.  So without further adieu, here is the list they came up.  See if you agree or not or if your city made the list!

10.) Portland, Oregon – because of the high population of movie theaters and music venues.

9.) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – because of museums and diversity

8.) Atlanta, Georgia – because of the vast array of bars, and music venue and the young population.

7.) Milwaukee, Wisconsin – because it contained all aspects of the criteria that they were looking for.

6.) New York City, New York – it ranked low because of the vast population of fast food restaurants.

5.) Washington, DC – because of its museums and parks.

4.) Seattle, Washington – the company didn’t have an explanation for why it chose Seattle.

3.) San Fransisco, California – because of the art and music scene.

2.) Boston, Massachusetts – because of bars, movie theaters, and the young population.

1.) Oakland, California – they didn’t give a reason for the top city but I’m thinking because it contained all of the criteria they were looking for and barely any fast food restaurants and Targets/Walmarts.

What do you think about this list?  Do you agree/disagree?  Do you live in any of the cities?  I think it’s very strange criteria to judge a city on.  I think there should be other factors when coming out with a list such as this.  I’m happy to see Philly on there because I’ve grown up going there since I was child and live close to it.  It is a nice city with good and bad parts just as any major city has.  I’ve been recently to Portland and I don’t know if I necessarily agree with that.  It is an eclectic city.  It just wasn’t so much for me.

I’ve been to NYC, Washington, DC and Boston.  So it’s nice to see those on the list.  I do love all three as cities.  I have to say that Boston is one of my favorite cities.  There is just something about it.  I remember traveling to Boston in the fall twice.  It was so beautiful to see the fall foliage and enjoy a big bowl of clam chowder.  It’s such a comforting city.  I love the feeling I get when I’m there exploring in the fall.  I haven’t been there since I was high-school age.  Mike has never been. So I’m hoping sometime in the near future I can show him what Boston is all about and he can enjoy a real bowl of clam chowder.  Plus, I love the Boston accents!

I just think that this company should have had other criteria before making a generalized list like this.  It is interesting to see though.  I love when they come out with lists like this.  It’s interesting to hear and learn about other places in the US.

Alright, well enjoy your Thursday because there is just one day left until the weekend!

Anyway, last night Mike and I decided to make a pizza for dinner.  This time we used Pillsbury’s Thin Pizza Crust Dough.

For a while we have been using the classic pizza dough but we wanted to switch it up and bit and try something different.  We used my favorite pizza sauce and the only red sauce at the moment that doesn’t destroy my stomach, which is Classico Pizza Sauce.

If you look at the ingredients on this bottle it says this: Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste), Diced Tomatoes in Tomato Juice, Sugar, Olive Oil, Salt, Spices, Granulated Garlic.  So you can see there aren’t any artificial ingredients or any other type of additive.  I believe that is why my stomach is alright from it.  So if you have problems with tolerating red sauces, you should definitely try this one!  I haven’t used it for just pizza either,  I’ve put it on pasta.  It’s a versatile sauce.

We also tried new french fries from Ore-Ida.  It’s Ore-Ida Golden Thick Cut Potatoes Grillers.

We didn’t grill them but we baked them.  I think text time I will grill them because it says it only takes 15 minutes and I’m interested in trying it out on the grill!

My dinner plate

Potato Grillers!

Let’s shift gears right now from talking about food to talking about housing.  I had mentioned numerous times in the past few weeks that I was going to to give an update on our housing situation and then I never did.  I wanted to make sure that Mike and I were 100% sure with our decision before sharing our plans.  We have officially come up with a plan and made a decision so I am happy to share now.

We both thought for sure at this point in our lives that we would be buying a house this summer.  We did a ton of research and we took a first-time home buyer’s class which I completely recommend if you know nothing about buying a house.  It really did educate us and answered a ton of questions.  They provided a lot of materials for us to take with us and it was just really good experience. Yes, the class was long and sometimes boring at times but we both agreed that it was a smart decision to educate ourselves since buying a home is a huge decision and one of the biggest purchases you will ever make in your life.

We found a real estate agent that we liked and we looked at a ton of homes in our price range.  We do have a limited budget which in the area we are wanting to live is limiting us.  We ventured looking into places that we didn’t, 100% want to live to open our eyes and see if there was anything that we liked.  We couldn’t find anything.  We did see one home that we liked but they were asking entirely too much.  They were upside on their mortgage and the house needed a ton of work.  We just didn’t have the finances to do something like that right now.

We also have some requirements that we didn’t want to settle on.  We wanted at least 3 bedrooms.  We know that we want to have children soon and we know that want more than one.  So if we bought a 2 bedroom house, we saw it as a waste.  We were going to have to have the children share a bedroom until we could afford to sell or sell the house and rush to find something else bigger.  We didn’t want to put ourselves in that type of situation.  Mike also was very adamant about wanting a driveway or a garage.  I have no issues with that.  I know he loves to wash our cars so he would be lost without a place to do so.

We ultimately wanted to buy a single home but all of the single homes in our price range were in bad shape and had oil heat.  We didn’t want to venture into the world of oil heat either.  It was a very frustrating and sad process to both of us.  We were so optimistic about finding that first home and we really wanted it by this summer.  I’m also looking to make some career changes and that doesn’t sit well with a mortgage company.

So the both of us did a lot of soul-searching and decided that rather than settle and get into a home that we both didn’t love or that needed a lot of work, that we would save money, and I would do my career thing and we will rent in the same place that we have been renting in for the past three years and then look next fall/spring.  Yes, we have issues with the people above us but we are not going to allow them to dictate our lives.  We both love the inside of the place that we are renting from and feel comfortable there and don’t want to spend the money to pack up and move only to rent another year.  So this is the best decision for us right now.  Am I sad and upset?  Of course but I also don’t want to settle.  I don’t think we should do that.  We deserve more.

I do have certain things that I want in a dream home.  I’m always curious to hear what other people want for their dream home too.  Here are some things that I would love in a dream home.  Now I’m talking about a dream home that we could realistically afford to buy not ultimate dream home that I could probably never afford.

Here are the items:

• At least 3 bedrooms if not 4
• 2.5 bathrooms
• A huge kitchen with an island and stainless steel appliances with granite or imitation granite counter tops
• Hardwood floors
• Fireplace
• Open floor plan (you can look down from the upstairs and see the living room/family room)
• Driveway & Garage
• Big fenced in backyard that is big enough to plant a vegetable garden
• Finished basement to make into a movie theater/bar/kids playroom
• Huge master bathroom with a jacuzzi soaking tub

So those are some items that I would like to have in a home.  Oh, and I would also really like it if we could afford a single home and not a townhome.  I prefer to have great distance between us and neighbors.  I like my privacy.  What about you?  What are some things that you want in a future home?

Alright, well have a great Wednesday!

They say that Friday is going to be the best day of the week weather wise.  That’s unfortunate.  At least it will be Friday though and that will make it better in my book!

Last night for dinner, Mike and I had our leftover Margarita Chicken & Cilantro-Lime Rice from Sunday night.  Mike also made his guacamole again.  I love the way he makes guacamole.  It’s so good!  Although, my stomach I don’t think was liking having avocados for three days in a row.  I wasn’t feeling very good last night.  I think I need a break from avocados for a few days.  I’m not sure what we will eat for dinner tonight but I have a few ideas.  I think I will be keeping it somewhat simple since my stomach is still not 100% right now.

Do any of you watch 90210?  I have been watching since it started and last night was the second to last episode of the entire series.  Next week is the series finale.  I had been saying for a while that I was getting sick of the show but now as it gets closer to the end, I’m sad that it’s leaving.  So many shows that I have watched have been cancelled lately.  I feel like a lot of them are from the CW too.  It’s a shame.  I just hope that the series finale episode won’t be like how the end of Gossip Girl was.  That was so overdone especially since they did the same thing when The OC ended too.  I hope they come up with something original.  Did you know the producer of the show is the guy that played Steve on Full House?!  I find that so funny and random!

I’ve decided that this is going to be a very random post today.  I apologize for that.  I don’t have just one thing to talk about today, I’m just taking things as they come.  I do have something special to talk about before I go.

I was contacted by Rudi’s Gluten-Free informing me of a new contest for kids that I thought I would share with you parents in case you’d want to enter your son or daughter!  It’s a pretty cool contest if you ask me especially if your children have Celiac Disease or stuffer from a Gluten-sensitivity.

Rudi’s Gluten-Free just announced its Gluten-Free “Happy Camper” Facebook contest. This May, National Celiac Awareness Month,  Rudi’s Gluten-Free fans are encouraged to submit a 200-word essay from their child explaining what attending a gluten-free summer camp would mean to them. Based on the essays, 10 lucky kiddos (ages 8-17) will win a week-long gluten-free camp experience!

Good luck if you enter and be sure to come back and let me know if you win!!

Alright, well I am running out of things to talk about today.  I apologize for such a random post but some days are just like that, random.  Have a great Tuesday!

Let’s catch you up on my weekend.  On Friday, it was Melissa’s birthday!!  After work, I had a few errands that I had to run before celebrating with Melissa.  So I did them and waited until Mike came home.  We went over to Melissa’s house and surprised her with birthday gifts and a special bottle of wine!  I had found that Barefoot came out with a new line of drinks.  Melissa and I are big fans of Barefoot so I knew we had to celebrate with this!

Right as we were about to take a cheers, our mom came home to join in the fun!  We made a toast to celebrate Melissa’s 25th year and she opened her presents.  Then it was time to go to dinner!  We decided to go to a local Japanese restaurant since we were able to get a dining certificate for it.  It was crowded in there and we were seated next to obnoxious children watching Beauty & the Beast on dvd very loudly.  I felt horrible for suggesting to go there.  The food was pretty good and we had good conversations and laughs, so all was not lost.

We went back home and hung out for a while celebrating with the birthday girl.  I think Melissa had a lovely time.  I know I was very happy to celebrate with her.

On Saturday, I spent most of the day doing some things around the house.  Then Mike washed and waxed my car and made it look beautiful!  While it was drying, we decided to run out and get a few things from the store that we needed for the week.  Then I went out with Melissa and my mom.  Our mom had to do something for work in the city so we decided to drive her since she gets nervous driving in the city.  Melissa and I went to celebrate her birthday by having dinner together.

We went to the Mexican Post.  We started off with guacamole which was entirely too spicy!!!!  I had the WORST heartburn the rest of the night from that.  Big mistake on ordering it.

Spicy Guacamole

I ordered a chicken burrito for my dinner and I wasn’t very impressed with that either.  It was quite spicy as well.  It made me feel sick the rest of the night.

Chicken burrito

Melissa and I spent the rest of the evening venturing around Philly and relaxed at a hotel bar for a little while until our mom was done with work.  It was really nice to spend even more time with Melissa.  We have such a good time whenever we are together and we saw some beautiful views of the Philly skyline!  That made it even better!

On Sunday, it was my favorite holiday, Cinco De Mayo!  It’s no surprise that I am a huge fan of Mexican food.  I could literally eat it every single day and not get sick of it.  It’s something that I’ve always loved and I’m happy that I’ve spread my Mexican food love to Mike!  He is a big fan of it now too.  That makes it all better when you can share your love of Mexican with your husband.

We decided to make our own Mexican fiesta at home!  Let me tell you, everything turned out fabulous!!  Mike made his famous guacamole which was SO much better than the one I had on Saturday night.  We loved it so much that we finished the entire bowl that he made of it!

Mike’s guacamole!

We have plenty of avocados so I’m sure we will be making more guacamole and other things with avocados this week.  That is fine by me! I love those things!!

For dinner, we made two recipes that I found earlier on in the week from Kristin and Iowa Girl Eats.  I love her recipes and have tried several and they are always winners!  So I knew these two were going to be just as great!

Margarita Chicken from Iowa Girl Eats

Ingredients:
zest of 1 lime +  juice of 4 limes
zest of 1 orange + juice of 2 oranges
1/4 cup tequila (optional)
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon agave nectar (could use honey)
3 crushed garlic cloves
salt and pepper (lots)
4 small chicken breasts

Directions:

Combine ingredients from lime zest to salt and pepper in a large bowl or ziplock bag then mix well. Add chicken breasts then cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 1-4 hours.
When ready to grill or cook, let chicken breasts rest out of the fridge for 10-15 minutes then grill or saute over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes a side, or until cooked through.

We served the chicken over another one of her recipes for rice.

Cilantro-Lime Rice from Iowa Girl Eats

Ingredients:

1 cup long grain white rice
2 cups water
1 Tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
juice of 1/2 lime
3 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

Directions:

Bring water, oil, and salt to a boil in a saucepan.  Add rice, place a lid on top, then turn heat down to medium-low and simmer until rice is tender, about 15 minutes.  Stir to fluff then add lime juice and chopped cilantro.

Margarita Chicken over Cilantro-Lime Rice

This dinner was incredible!  The chicken was not dried out and it was moist.  It had a ton of citrus flavor.  You could really taste the orange and lime.  I loved it!  The rice was great too!  It was a replica of the rice they serve you at Chipotle!  I thought it came out amazing!  I would definitely make this entire dinner again especially for guests because it’s so impressive!  I’m really glad that we have some more pieces of chicken to grill up and some leftover rice.  It makes me excited to have Mexican for dinner for the 3rd night in a row!  Yum!

Did you do anything for Cinco De Mayo?  What is your favorite Mexican dish?

Alright, have a lovely Monday!