Minneapolis Adventures | Big Things

Hello All,

Another update filled with American adventures for you. 

Where to begin?

Since my last check-in I have been exploring Minneapolis. 

My first adventure was to Minnihaha falls. It is a nature park with a beautiful waterfall. We jumped the 'closed' sign to get a better look (no one seemed to be paying any attention to the sign). After appreciating the waterfall and wishing we had brought a picnic lunch with us we went for a nice walk along the river. 

The next weekend we spent Sunday at the Mall of America. In total we were there for 8 hours of shopping fun. It is hard to describe exactly how big the mall actually is but to give you a few examples there is an indoor theme park and it took us 4 hours of shopping just to cover the first level (there are 3 levels in total). To begin our adventure we tackled the theme park. After a ride on the roller coaster and the log ride we were ready to shop. Without getting into detail I spent a lot of money for one day but it was a fun day. 

                                                                                  Mall of America theme park

                                                                                     Mall of America at night

                                                                                    Pretty Christmas tree

The week that just went we had a few little events. On Thursday we went to a charity bingo night raising money for junior rugby in Minneapolis. It was a lot of fun and the first time I had ever played bingo. Sadly we didn't win any money but a lot was raised for the kids. Friday night we went on the Movember bus. Movember is a campaign to raise money and awareness for mens' health. This event was organised by the Rugby clubs in Minneapolis. Fun was had by all. 

On Saturday Ryne and I went to the sculpture garden at the Walker Art Centre. It was freezing cold!! We took in the sights very quickly and got back in to car to warm up. We did manage to take some pictures though!

                                                            Spoonbridge and Cherry- Minneapolis sculpture garden

                                                                                             Minnesota wildlife 

                                                                                                     Snow!!

This final picture is the beautiful Minneapolis Skyline. It is prettier at night but all those photos have been rubbish because I took them while we were driving. 

I hope you have enjoyed this little update. I am going to endeavour to bring my proper camera around with me more often to take better pictures and also to get Ryne and myself in the pictures occasionally as well (a bit of proof we actually did those things and that I didn't just use a Google images picture). This Thursday is Thanksgiving I am looking forward to learning about this holiday. From what I have heard there is a lot of food involved and the next day a lot of shopping. 

Bridget x

How to Shop Healthy and Cheaply | Bites

Since arriving in Minneapolis it has occurred me that I can’t rely on my parents to make me dinner and buy groceries (I knew it was going to happen obviously but I didn’t think of the logistics). So after an unorganised shopping trip where we managed to squish the loaf of bread, I have decided to set myself the challenge to 1. Becoming better at grocery shopping and 2. Making healthy meals without spending a fortune (leaving more money for exciting adventures). As a newbie to fending for myself I have done a bit of research and together with everything I have learn about nutrition come up with a few tips I am going to try and stick to.

1.   Buy whole unprocessed foods. Most of the time it is less expensive. For example it is cheaper to buy a bag of oats and jazz them up yourself (with fruit, nuts, or cinnamon) than it is to buy a flavoured sachet of oats.
2.   Buy frozen or tinned fruit and vegetables where possible. For obvious reasons these last longer meaning you can buy them in bulk without the worry of spoilage (providing you have room in the freezer). A common misconception with frozen fruit and veg is that they have less nutrients compared to their fresh counter parts. This is not true they can actually have more nutrients because they have been frozen close to harvesting and haven’t been sitting on a shelf where nutrients can seep out. When choosing tinned products make sure there is no added salt in the vegetables and that fruit is canned in natural fruit juice or water to avoid excess sugar.
3.   Buy generic brands. A lot of the time the food product is the same without a fancy label. This doesn’t mean you have to buy everything generic even just getting the basics like rice and flour from these brands can make a difference.
4.  Drink tap water rather than buying beverages (I'm pretty good at this already but it is still a good tip).
5. Buy vegetables in season. They are less expensive and a lot of the time better quality because they are fresher.
6.  Look to buy cheaper proteins (meats, eggs, legumes) and make them more exciting by adding flavours yourself. Less expensive meats such as beef mince or tinned tuna. You can make mince go further by adding lentils or beans to bulk it out a bit.
7.  Making a shopping list and sticking to it. It is easy to impulse buy when shopping (I have found it especially tempting shopping in the US because of all the different products. I want to try everything). By doing this the shopping trip will be quick and more focused.

Something else to consider for us is that it can be cheaper to eat at a restaurant than it is to buy food at the grocery store. The aim is to find a healthy balance in life and just enjoy meal times.

There you have it the 7 little things to try and stick by over the next few months. I might do another post in the future about how practical these tips were and anything else I have learnt.

Hopefully this post is helpful for anyone who has recently started doing their own grocery shopping.

Enjoy!

I’m in the USA | Big things update

Today I have a quick update on what has been going on over the last week.

I finished up with work and then following that I spent the next few days catching up with friends and packing my two huge suitcases (I could have probably filled 3 suitcases if I was allowed to).

Finally it came time to go to the airport. I arrived at Canberra airport to find my original flight had been cancelled and that I had been booked onto an earlier flight (thanks goes to mum who made sure we were at the airport early). I was a bit sad when it was time to board my flight and after a tearful goodbye I was off to Sydney.

I was lucky enough to have a pass for the Qantas club lounge so I had a nice relaxing wait and took advantage of the free food and beverages, However I didn’t manage to find where everyone was getting the ice cream from. I was desperately hoping for an upgrade on my flight (even though I knew it was never going to happen but hey, it never hurts to dream) I got the next best thing two seats to myself 4 rows back from the front of economy. The flight was pretty smooth occasionally a bit of turbulence just to keep it interesting. With the extra room I was able to lie down and sleep.

When I arrived in Dallas I had about an hour and 10 minutes to make it to my next flight (which was in another terminal). Luckily I had a smooth run through customs and immigration making it to my flight with 10 minutes to spare. The flight from Dallas to Minneapolis was picturesque. From the air I could see a distinct line where the snow started. There was also a beautiful pink/red sunset before landing. When I finally arrived in Minneapolis I was so so happy to see Ryne there waiting for me J.

That night we went to dinner at a place called Psycho Susies and then a quick drink at one of the local bars. The following day we went shopping for warm clothes (which are much needed) and that night we went to the team’s local bar where everyone was friends and welcoming.

So far the weather here is close to what winter is like in Canberra. It is supposed to be a top of -2°C and a low of -8°C on Monday so that will be an experience for sure. I think this cold is going to take some getting used to. A few quick things I have noticed here: there are squirrels roaming the streets and the snow is very pretty to look at and a bit of a novelty for the time being.

I am going to try and post regular big thing updates. I also hope to have a nutrition post out some time in the next week.

Bridget x