Loving Minneapolis!

It definitely feels like home here. We went out to Ikea and got a few key items to dress up our home and make it feel ours. We love how it turned out! (Stay tuned for pics.) We're getting to know our neighbors and having people over, and it's awesome. For awhile I thought that Natalie would keep us from being able to have people over at night, but it was totally fine. We played games and when it came time to put her down, I did, and then we continued our night! We're making it a goal to have people over more often and be more outgoing as a couple. John really enjoys having spontaneous moments like that.

So, I discovered something amazing...John's video camera!! :) Yes, we've had it all along, but it was put away for a long time and I never used it to record anything from our married life, and that makes me sad. Now that I know how easy it is to record things, then put it onto your hard drive to make more space...I'm recording every cute little thing that Natalie does. It's so fun to document those milestones, and I'm excited to watch them and reminisce with her in later years.

So, for all the Jamba Juice fans out there, I successfully reinvented the Chunky Strawberry topper using homemade granola. It's amazing. John says it's "way better than Jamba Juice." :) It's a complete, healthy breakfast that is fast and easy once you have all the ingredients together. I tried to make the granola as close as possible to the kind you get at Jamba Juice because I'm IN LOVE with it. Here's the recipe:

4 cups rolled oats
1 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup honey powder (or brown sugar)
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp sea salt (or regular salt)
1/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup water

Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl. Whisk wet ingredients together in smaller bowl. Pour wet ingredients over dry and mix until well incorporated. Spread over a greased 9x13 baking pan. Bake at 300 degrees for about 50 minutes or until evenly toasted, stirring every 15-20 minutes. Let cool before storing in airtight container.

Here's Valorie's chunky strawberry topper recipe:

1/4 cup milk
3 tbsp light yogurt
2 tbsp peanut butter
1/2 banana
1 tsp honey
1/4 cup homemade granola
1/2 cup frozen strawberries

Add first 5 ingredients to blender, blend on low setting. Add granola and strawberries and pulse a few times until it's at a chunky consistency that you like. Top with more granola and other half of banana, sliced. Enjoy!

I know it's been forever...

Let's face it, I'm pretty bad at this blogging stuff. But, I am making it a goal to update my blog at least twice a month, since we're in Minneapolis and so far away from everyone. I promise I will do better...if not, you all can reprimand me as you see fit. :)

Minneapolis is great! We're getting settled in, and so far we love the area, we love our apartment, but most of all we LOVE the people! Everyone we have met so far has been nice, friendly and so willing to help, I can't help but feel at home here. It's crazy how big and busy it is here, we live just 2 miles away from the U of M campus and yet it takes about half an hour to get to campus with parking and traffic. The campus is the size of Rexburg itself! It's amazing seeing so many tall buildings, the view from the freeway at night is pretty spectacular. All in all, we're happy, and we feel like we made the right decision in coming here.

We're very excited about doing certain things while we're here, and as we experience each one I'll check it off the list.

-See an opera at the Minnesota Opera Center
-Go to a Timberwolves game (preferably vs. the Kings)
-Eat out at the legendary Al's Breakfast and 112 Eatery
-Take a ride down the Mississippi River
-Visit at least a few of the many lakes here
-Shop at the local farmer's markets for some rare, interesting food items

I'm sure I'll add more to the list as we become acquainted with the area and learn about other exciting things that we can do here. In other news, Natalie is getting so big and she is a very happy, smiley baby most of the time. She's sleeping through the night half the time, and she is starting to wake up cooing. She's beginning to try to "talk" to me, and her little giggles are the cutest! She's sitting in her bouncer, staring and making cute little noises at me as I type. I still can't figure out how to post pictures on here, so facebook will be my main place to share photos. As soon as I find our camera among the many unpacked boxes, I will do another "photo shoot" with her.

Lastly, it just wouldn't be a Hoffman blog post without some sort of recipe or cooking experience! This morning I made a very green smoothie, literally. It was delicious and incredibly healthy! Here it is:

1 1/2-2 cups fresh spinach
1 small banana
1 1/2-2 cups frozen mango cubes
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1/2-2/3 cup vanilla yogurt
1/2-2/3 cup juice (any tropical flavor, I used Dole 100% Pineapple Orange)

Makes 3 servings

Blend yogurt, juice, spinach and flaxseed in a blender. Add mango and banana and puree until smooth. Enjoy! I know all that spinach sounds scary in a smoothie, but you can't even taste it! It adds tons of nutrients, so don't be afraid to add a bunch. I feel very energized and ready to get things done today! Hooray!