It's Bananas! B A N A N A S! August sure is! This month is BIRTHDAY madness in my tribe and I love celebrating all my heartbeats! I agree with Betty...my heartbeats are only getting better. My heartbeats are so awesome and I get so excited for to celebrate their special day. I am a big believer in putting emphasis on a birthday than during the holiday season. We celebrate and over do so many other holidays, I think someones day of birth IS the most important holiday.
Without this special day, this person would not exist in our lives.
Take the time to celebrate the people in your life by making a special effort on their birthday. Let them know how grateful you are they were born into this world and are a part of your life. Show them the profound impact they have made on you. Celebrate their greatness on their special day and remind them they only get better with another year.
Nutrition Nosh Two.Weekly Conversation.
My conversation today is with Registered Dietitian, Nicole White
In the past year, the University of Iowa’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics hired a Registered Dietitian to be their Director of Sports Nutrition. Sports Nutrition is quickly becoming a popular job opportunity for Registered Dietitians and working with all types of college athletes. So, I was very excited when I reached out to Nicole and she agreed to be a part of this podcast. Nicole shared some great information about the blood, sweat and tears she put into finding the perfect sports nutrition job for her and some advice for others looking to get into the profession. You can hear Nicole’s passion throughout our conversation for her job and inspiring others.
Connect with Nicole: nicole-white@uiowa.edu
Nutrition Nosh Three. Week in Review.
Birthday fun has started! I got to kick start August with a little early celebration of my favorite Carlena! You see, Carlena has a little bit of a milestone birthday this year (welcome to the 40's club doll!) and her hubby is surprising the shit out of her with a fabulous vacation, which they should be leaving on a jet plane right about now headed for the tropics.
Since I was unable to join them for the sand and sun, it just so happened another one of my friends, Jackie, also joined the fabulous 40's club a few weeks ago. She has a beautiful lake house and invited us all out for a fun-filled ladies celebration.
A day at the lake was nothing short of a lot of food, cocktails and laughs. I know my salty snacking Carlena very well and she would much rather have a cake make of chips than one made out of flour and sugar. So I packed up a few bags of Doritos, Corn Nuts (another one of her favs) and a bottle of Grey Goose.
The rest of the girls made sure to have special cakes made for the birthday girls and snazzy glasses for lake day cocktails.
All of us ladies do not get to see each other a ton, so it was a special day of catching up and celebrating. The weather was perfection, 80 degrees, tons of sun and calm waters. I think the best part of the day was all of us trying to get on a 10 person raft to float on the lake. Pure comedy.
We made this lake day count with some kick ass food! The girls made delicious BBQ chicken and pork sammies, beans, fresh salsa, delicious dips, freshly squeezed margs and some puppy chow I also brought to selfishly curb my own sweet tooth.
And at the end of the day, we relaxed and took a soak in the warm and cozy hot tub.
Then it was time to start week two of Augustmania! I was asked again to judge the Iowa Farm Bureau Cookout Contest at the Iowa State Fair.
I really look forward to being a part of this event every year. The entries are unbelievable and I get to taste a variety of delicious recipes.
This year, I judged the combination group. There were 8 different items and all of them were really delicious. There were 2 that really impressed me was Rod's Bacon Wrapped Shrimp created with shrimp from Iowa, Triple M Shrimp in Rockwell City (and of course bacon from Iowa). I had no idea there were shrimp farms in Iowa!
My second favorite combo recipe was these ever soooo tasty Gyro Nachos made with a flavorful and a perfectly cooked mix of lamb and beef. Shawn, the creator of the recipe said he was inspired by learning about the country Greece in school. He hopped on Pinterest for some inspiration, made his own tzatziki sauce and this recipe. I loved his passion! I loved these nachos! You can download these 2 recipes and the entire cookbook from the competition from Iowa Farm Bureau here.
This is also the first year I took the time to go give the Butter Cow a visit. I had never seen it before. It is quite impressive. And it reminded me how much I love butter. #UndeniablyDairy #DairyGood
Each year, they also do a special butter carving and this year was of Laura Ingalls Wilder who lived in Iowa for a portion of her life. You should have seen the line for viewing both of these on a Tuesday afternoon. It was wrapped around the building.
So, I decided I needed some cookie dough ice cream from the Dairy Barn to make the wait even better. I was a little full of nachos, but who can resist dairy delicious ice cream! After I finished my butter viewing and ice cream eating, I jotted home to get ready for birthday fun, round two!
That same day, Carlena came to Des Moines in the afternoon to celebrate "Part Two" of her birthday with a trip to the Iowa State Fair with our friends Jason and Lindsey for some live music! I asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday and tickets to Flo Rida it was!
The concert was so fun! We forgot how many awesome and dance worthy songs he has. It was 2 hours of non-stop fun. The Iowa State Fair had some great concerts this year and I am glad Carlena chose this one!
Another year of celebrating my beautiful and amazing friend. I am so lucky to know her and to have great experiences with her to create everlasting memories.
Nutrition Nosh Four. Weekly Workout Playlist.
Nutrition Nosh Five. What I Love Right Now.
I love cheese curds. Fried. I will never go to the Iowa State Fair and not have a warm toasty basket of these golden gooey lovelies. I may have had one after the Cookout Contest and another one after the concert. Maybe it is an Iowa thing, but for some reason they taste so good at the fair. No ketchup, ranch or any other dipping sauce needed. This fried cheese stands alone.
Until next year my tasty friends....
~AE
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