Saturday, March 31, 2012

New Food :)

In the last month Derrick and I have tried a few new recipes, courtesy of Pinterest.  The first one we tried was a Chinese sesame chicken.  Derrick is a huge Chinese food fan, and we aren't super thrilled with our options here.  So we decided to try to make it.
He's quite the chef ;) 
We ended up making szechuan chicken and sesame chicken. 
The szechuan was a little too spicy for me, but the sesame was delicious! 
To make the szechuan, we just cooked the chicken in a little oil and then added this sauce that you can find at most grocery stores.  For the sesame chicken, we used this receipe.

We also tried this zesty BBQ chicken, which we highly recommend!  It's super easy and super delicious, and it makes some good leftovers too.
Did I mention it's even a crock pot meal that takes no watching?!  I started it, left for a job, and came home to my house smelling awesome and perfectly cooken chicken! 
Then you just have to shred it up and serve it on some hamburger buns!  YUMM!

I also decided to try the yougurt bites that I've seen on Pinterest.  No receipe needed for this one. 
You need yougurt, a pan, wax paper, and a freezer :) 
I just bought a big tub of yougurt and made these over a couple of days.  They make for a great snack when you're craving something sweet and cold (like ice cream!)

Friday, March 30, 2012

Iowa Trip

Now that we've been back for almost two weeks, I think I'll finally tell you how great our last trip to Iowa was!  Derrick, Kaylan, and I went back to Iowa on Friday, March 16th and drove back to Indiana on Sunday the 18th.  It made for a very short trip, but we were able to see a lot of people. 

Friday, Kaylan took us to Bondurant to meet with our pastor for our second marriage counseling day.  Well, he forgot about us, so after a little waiting we decided to go with her to Ankeny to get some Noodle Zoo and CJ's Bagels and pick up meat from T.J.'s mom.  Then we headed back to Bondurant to meet with a guy to see our reception hall.  (Derrick and I booked it, but had never seen it.)  Finally we were on our way to Baxter.  I had to go visit Janell to talk about getting our tuxes through her, and Kaylan and Derrick were being secretive about wedding shower things.  I made it back home, got ready, and then the girls started to show up.

 I had a great wedding shower, and am so blessed with such great friends!  Some of the highlights?  A "Something Blue" theme, an awesome candy/food bar set up, a fun videotaped game with Derrick, cute button bouquet making for the rehearsal, and a fun photo booth! :)  We ended the night with a few card games and lots of catching up!  It was amazing to say the least!

Saturday we girls were all able to go to David's Bridal to get them fitted for their dresses and ordered.  It was nice to be able to go all together!  Then Kaylan and I had a baby shower for Jill West to go to, and it was great to see all those girls too.  Then Kaylan, Mom, and I headed to Mason City for a couple hours to visit with my grandma and grandpa.  We made it home by about 10:00, and I still had time to meet up with friends and finish the night off! 

Sunday it was up bright and early and back to Indiana.  The next trip to Iowa will be a bit longer, and we'll have more time to catch up!  Oh, and you probably are wishing I had photos to go with this extremely wordy blog, but I didn't take any :(  I will post some the second Kaylan gets them uploaded and sent to me! :)