Category: Food

Wii redux

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What did the past two weekends have in common? We used our Wii more than usual after borrowing some games from the library.

Saturday the 7th Brother #2 came over and we played a game called Let’s Tap. It’s a really fun Guitar Hero like game except you turn the wiimote over, place it on a box, and tap the box to the beat of the trance music. You gain points according to accuracy and the intensity of your tap compared to the size of the note (bigger is a harder tap and smaller is a lighter tap). While playing there’s all sorts of visualizations swirling around in the background which can be distracting, but cool to watch if you’re not the one playing. There’s also a multi-player race where you’re a stick figure who has to navigate an obstacle course in a Tron-like setting. We really enjoyed that one. The games sells for $13 at Amazon so we might buy it.

For dinner we ordered Dominos which I used to abhor but their pizza really has improved lately. They had a deal going – 2 medium 2-topping pizzas for $5.99 each – so I got half a pizza made Hawaiian style (ham and pineapple) which was really good. I like the zesty pizza sauce they use and the Parmesan bites are damn good. I also love placing my order online and being able to dictate which toppings I want on which half of the pizza. They put PizzaHut to shame (although saying that doesn’t really express how much I enjoyed my pizza since PizzaHut sucks).

This past weekend we borrowed Just Dance 2 and Joe, E, and I had a blast “dancing” (if that’s what you call three uncoordinated people with no sense of rhythm) to all the great songs in there. It’s a fun new way to workout, and my arms are sore! It motivated me to break out the Wii Fit board yesterday which has been gathering dust for nearly a year. It was kind enough to remind me that not only did I fail to meet the weight loss goal I had entered a year ago but that I’ve gained weight since then. Ah well, maybe I can dance it off.

Another Great Weekend

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DuPage County Historical Museum

Friday morning we visited the DuPage County Historical Museum. It’s pretty small but had interesting facts about the development of our county and the surrounding communities. On the second floor was a tribute to the Girl Scouts who are celebrating their 100th anniversary this year and there’s a huge model train yard set up in the basement of the building which was cool to see.

Horse

From the museum we headed to Cosley Zoo to take photographs. I also wanted to add another frog to my collection of figurines but they didn’t have any in the gift shop anymore. After the zoo we stopped at the Danada Equestrian Center for a bit to see the horses and then headed down South to pick up K for the weekend (E had a band competition so he couldn’t make it).

On the way back home we stopped at Chick-Fil-A for lunch. I didn’t appreciate how good their food was the first time they came to Illinois because their chicken nuggets aren’t impressive, but I’ve since become a fan after trying the basic chicken sandwich and the chicken biscuit during breakfast. I tried the ice cream for the first time on Friday and loved it as well.

Saturday we went to see 21 Jump Street. It was much funnier than we expected. I haven’t laughed that much at a movie in so long. I have a feeling a lot of people are going to miss out on this gem by assuming it’s dumb when in actuality it’s the best comedy to come out in a long time. After the movie we went to FiveBelow which is a cute store where everything is $5 or less. I ended up getting a stylus for my iPad which I’m really digging. I haven’t used my finger since. :)

Sunday we did a little Spring cleaning in the garage and washed my car. We also cleaned our bikes, filled the tires and went for a short ride. Then we went to Houlihan’s where we enjoyed lunch on the patio since it was such a gorgeous day. This was immediately followed by some errands which included stopping at Whole Paycheck Foods for some Sodium Lauryl Sulfate free shampoo and conditioner which will hopefully help rid me of the seriously itchy scalp I’ve been suffering from for the past two weeks. My head is already feeling better after three uses!

Upon returning home we brought our folding chairs out and sat in the driveway for awhile surfing on our tablets and enjoying the gorgeous weather. It’s the modern equivalent of reading the newspaper on the porch since we have no porch and our patio sucks because it lacks shade and is surrounded by smokers which equals no fresh air. After we grew tired of sitting around we went for a walk.

It was such a great weekend I didn’t want it to end.

Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom

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I feel like all we did this 3-day weekend was gorge ourselves on (mostly) good food.

Friday evening we stopped at Meijer and picked up two whole roasted chickens for dinner. The chickens seemed to have more meat on them than Target’s version, so even with the kids in attendance we only ate one. We ended up taking the other one and shredding it to make chicken salad the next day; it was soooo good! I also made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner on Saturday and my meatballs came out extra yummy for some reason.

Sunday we met up with an old friend for breakfast and I tried Eggs Benedict for the first time. OMG, they were delicious! Later that day we brought pizza and fried chicken over to my parents’ house to celebrate Brother #2’s birthday.

Today we went to the outlet mall where I scored a nice sweater from The Gap for only $12 and then afterward we had lunch at a Thai place I had bookmarked. The soup, egg rolls, and crab rangoon were so good that by the time our main dish was served we were both nearly full.

I’m surprised that I’ve only gained a single pound this weekend with all the food I’ve eaten. The sad part? I’m feeling hungry right now, so if you’ll excuse me…

Birthday Freebies 2012

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I started keeping a list last year of all the birthday coupons I received and redeemed so I’m doing it again this year now that I’ve started getting them in both email and regular mail form (how Domo77 learned about my birthday I’m not sure).

I will continue to update this post as more offers come in and will add an asterisk next to every offer I redeemed.

Applebee’s – free entree when you buy one
Classic Cinemas – free movie ticket
Dairy Queen – free Blizzard when you buy one
Domo77 – $15 off purchase of $50 or more
* Houlihan’s – free entree up to $15 (and they don’t sing to you!)
Old Country Buffet – buy one adult buffet get one free (with purchase of a beverage)
* Noodles & Company – free bowl of noodles
Pit Rib House – free birthday gift (coupon doesn’t reveal what it is)
* Redbox – free DVD rental or $1 off Bluray
Red Lobster – $5 off two adult dinner entrees ($1 more in savings than the coupons that come in the Sunday paper)
* Red Robin – free birthday burger
Ruby Tuesday – free burger
* Smashburger – free Haagen Dazs shake with the purchase of a Smashburger entree
* Starbucks – free drink (any kind, any size)

I’m disappointed that I never got the buy one get one free entree coupon from Claim Jumper that I got last year. I love that place.

Bath & Body Works & The Olive Garden

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I’ve never been the biggest fan of Bath & Body Works because their merchandise is overpriced and their staff relentlessly bug you whenever you enter a store. That being said, yesterday I figured I might as well redeem the coupon I found through Slickdeals for some free lotion.

Not entirely surprising, no one was aware of the promotion and they didn’t have the 2 oz. lotions in stock. Luckily they gave me a 5 oz. bottle for free instead which is better than many other people who tried and were turned away and told “no substitutions”. It’s really unfortunately when a company runs a promotion and fails to communicate it to their staff or have supply on hand. It’s just bad customer service and can also be seen as bait and switch.

As for the scent, I do like it, but not enough to buy any more. I find all their scents get a bit annoying after repeated exposure. Plus I STILL have lotions and body washes I purchased well over five years ago. They tend to last forever since I can’t tolerate them for long before going back to a regular lotion you can buy at Target.

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Another place that’s low on my list of places I frequent is The Olive Garden. I’ve never disliked their food, I’m just not big on Italian food in general and prefer to make my own. For some reason I got a taste for them this weekend, however, so after Bath & Body Works we had an early dinner at the St. Charles Olive Garden. Joe ordered the stuffed chicken marsala and I had the 5 cheese ziti. I’ve had it before and really like it. Their salad is good too, but the breadsticks are just ok. I’ve heard people rave about them but I just don’t get it. If you’re looking for really good bread sticks try Gino’s East instead.

Dinner was relatively inexpensive thanks to a $5 coupon and some left over credit on a gift card we originally bought to be used at Red Lobster. I really didn’t need the extra calories but I’ve got two seafood meals and a chicken salad planned for this week’s dinners so it should all balance out.