Make It At Home!

A few weeks ago, Josh and I were analyzing our budget (I know, how old are we?!) and trying to figure out where we could cut back on spending. I said, "I wish there was something that I spent money on everyday that I wouldn't mind cutting out."

I saw on a billboard one time that a lady saved all the money that she usually spent on her morning latte, and donated that money to the United Way. It was a huge chunk of change. (And think of all the calories she saved herself by making her own at home!)

We both brainstormed for a few nights and realized what we spend money on most. It's not going out to eat. It's not spending weekends at the spa. It's not cigarettes, booze, or drugs.

It's ice cream.

Hesitantly, we both decided it may be in our best interest to give up going out for ice cream and frozen yogurt, except on special occasions or when we have people visiting from out of town--because everyone knows when you're in Iowa, you HAVE TO go to Whitey's.

Of course, that doesn't mean we can't eat it. Especially when we find recipes that teach you how to make it yourself.  :)


Homemade Fro Yo

• 3 1/2 cups frozen fruit (we used a mixture of honeydew, cantaloupe, pineapple, grapes, peaches and strawberries)
• 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1/2 cup sugar*

Process the frozen fruit and sugar in a food processor...

Until it looks like this.

Keep the blade moving, and add the yogurt and lime juice to the feed tube. You may have to scrape the sides of the container a few times. Do this until your frozen yogurt looks like this...

Not that it would be much of a struggle, but you should totally eat it right away. 

Oh yeah, I put the * next to sugar on the ingredients list because I don't think you really need it, unless you are using plain yogurt. There should be enough sugar in the yogurt to make it taste good. 

Enjoy! :)

Gran-ooola-la!

This weekend went by way too fast, I think. I spent a majority of my Saturday at work and volunteering at a swim meet. I've never been to a swim meet, but I got to be the timer for a few hours this weekend, and it was really cool. It definitely made me want to get back into the water. Maybe I'll do that sometime this week!

On Sunday, Josh and I went to church, and then decided that we would go hiking. We missed the "nice" morning weather though, and got outside right when the sun peeked out from the clouds and decided to shine again at 100 degree weather. Ughhh. Will it never end?! 

It's hawwwwwwt.

Like sweating through my shirt walking out to the car hawwwwt.

And I don't know if it's because of the hot weather or us being more active or what, but we both noticed that we were insatiably hungry yesterday. We have very little snack foods in our house (I think it's because I have convinced myself that every packaged snack food is "bad for you"), so we decided we should make our own! 

I should probably mention that these granola bars are good for you in moderation.

I will also mention that the original recipe comes from this website , but we made a few moderations according to what was in our pantry :)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup oats
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup raisins

The recipe is really easy. Melt the peanut butter, honey, and vegetable oil in a sauce pan on medium-low heat. Mix together the oats, chocolate chips, and raisins and place into a greased 9x9 pan. Pour the melted oil and honey mixture on the oat mixture and fold together. Spread it evenly in the pan and place in the refrigerator overnight to harden. 

What You've Missed in the Past Month

As I mentioned in my last post, the past few weeks have been a crazy mixture of a million new things happening all at once. I started a new job at The Gap (helloooo employee discount!!)...

 Josh and I got to see fireworks together TWICE (which made up for last summer when we weren't able to see them together at all!)...

And we got to see them with Kasey and Brad, who we are lucky enough to see more often than I have in the past four years..

Susan and Eric came to visit...

And we got a little wild at the park...

And last but not least, my best friend in the whole wide world is getting married in September, and she asked me to be her maid of honor. She also has a matron of honor--her long time childhood friend, Abbey--who lives in MN. Together, we planned a Bachelorette Party and Lingerie Shower for our girl, Lisa. 

Naturally, the first thing I documented was the food. Each bridesmaid brought food to share, and look at this amazing spread! Yummy!

Melia, one of Lisa's future sister-in-laws, made beautiful cake pops. Just look at these babies. They are so beautiful, you don't want to eat them! (But then you do. And they taste even better than they look!)

After everyone was fed and happy, we played a trivia game with Lisa. It was pretty much The Newlywed Game, except Keaton wasn't actually with us. I came up with some questions and called Keaton before the party to get his answers. Lisa had to answer all the questions the way that Keaton would, and for every one she got wrong, she had to chew a piece of gum. Needless to say, she pieces started piling up, and here is the wad she had in her mouth at the end!

Cecily came up with a game called "Who's Got the Groom?". It was a great way to get everyone to meet each other and open up a little bit. She cut out pictures of hunky celebrities (+ Keaton) wearing tuxedos and put them into sealed envelopes. When each guest walked in, she was handed an envelope. We all opened them at the same time, and whoever had the picture of Keaton won a special prize. The lucky winner was one of Lisa's friends from high school; however, Lisa stole mini-Keaton with full intentions of bringing him to The Shout House with us.

The Shout House. The most hilarious place you could go for a Bachelorette Party. (Ok, I've only been to one Bachelorette Party in my whole life, but I thought it was hilarious.) It is a piano bar, where the pianists do super inappropriate renditions of well known songs. Our group was one of 8+ other Bachelorette Parties, so  Lisa welcomed the shared embarrassment of standing up on stage with a few other bachelorettes that night. The two piano players serenaded the ladies with "Baby Got Back", and all of the friends of these girls had a great time cheering them on!

In order to make some extra cash to fund our party, Abbey came up with the idea to sell Blow Pops at the bars we went to. We stuck a bunch of Blow Pops into styrofoam cones and made bouquets. It turns out that if you walk around with a bunch of pretty girls in dresses chanting "suck for a buck! suck for a buck!", you can make a pretty decent amount of money. We ended up making $35 in about two hours. Not bad, really.

 Here is a picture of Abbey, Lisa, and me toasting to Lisa's last "single lady" night.

Oh, and my favorite picture of the evening. You see, in downtown Minneapolis, you pay WAY more money for drinks than we Stout girls are used to. Lindsey and I bought Souvenir drinks, and we couldn't figure out what made them "souvenirs", except for the glass. As we looked around, we noticed that these glasses were left all around the room. We decided that if we were going to pay $15 for a drink, we were going to get our money's worth. Being that Lindsey is the queen of having everything in her purse, she decided she would snatch them up. 

(When we got back to the hotel that night, Abbey walked in with three white bags full of CLEAN souvenir glasses for everyone who ordered a drink. Apparently The Shout House takes care of you better than we gave them credit for. Oh well. Now we have a set!)

All in all, I think the party was a success. Everyone made it home safe and sound, and we all have many pictures from a night to remember!

Sabbatical

Hello everyone--

I am so sorry I haven't posted anything in so long! Life has been extra busy lately, since I have been co-planning and preparing for my best friend's Bachelorette Party and Bridal Shower. I will be back this weekend with many stories, and I will share them with you! Hang tight for a few more days!