Good morning! 8)
Some early bird thunderstorms rained out my morning Mom walk (again!) but they’ve since cleared up, and it’s actually shaping up to be a real dazzler of a day!
I got it started with a nice breakfast, that I even tweeted my excitement about last night. Let’s see, what do we have here…
A steaming, hot cup of coffee made in my lovely, oh-so-convenient Keurig.
Getting breakfast ready to the smell of freshly brewed coffee is the BEST!
I drank mine black today, because I was feeling hard core. I never drink mine without any mix ins – and now I am feeling all caff’d UP!
Brewed directly into my Las Vegas Starby’s mug. I always thought the LV mug should be hot pink or something, and embedded with rhinestones…just a thought. 
I also whipped up an English Muffin slathered in raspberry jam and almond butter.
I picked up these Thomas 100% Whole Wheat English Muffins at the store this weekend.
They’re super fluffy, squishy and light – SO GOOD.
And even better when simply dressed. 
Rounded out with half a ‘loupe. I can tell this one is going to be juic-ay!
Don’t get me wrong – oatmeal breakfasts with tons of toppings are fun – but sometimes the simple things in life are the best. Don’t ya’ think?!
I packed a leftover Mozzarella Stuffed Bruschetta Turkey Burger for lunch. Good news – Ben declared that these have officially taken over BBQ Chicken Quesadillas as his favorite food!!
There’s just so many layers of flavor, and the mozzarella cheese stuffed inside the burger keeps the turkey so moist.
Along for the ride are some crunchy Wheat Thins and silky, whipped Basha Hommus.
A couple readers told me that “hOmmus”, spelled with an O, is the authentic, Middle-Eastern way to spell hommus. ”HUmmus”, spelled with a U, is the Americanized way to spell/pronounce it. Interesting!
However you spell it, I want to eat it. I love this meal!
Wells Blue Bunny Trip Recap: Create Your Own Ice Cream Flavor!
After the unforgettable ice cream factory tour and delicious 5-course lunch prepared by Blue Bunny’s corporate chef John Kennedy (here are two of the recipes he used in our dessert course!) we sat through a fascinating presentation about snacking & dessert trends with Blue Bunny’s Director of Insights & Innovation (seriously, it was fascinating. I eat this stuff up! Pun intended.)
Afterwards we returned to Chef John’s kitchen, where we were greeted by THIS!
Holy ice cream toppings, batman! It was clear that we had entered the make your own ice cream portion of the tour! 
Every ice cream topping, mix in and swirl in under the SUN was laid out before our very eyes. We’re talking chocolate chip cookie dough, snickerdoodle cookie dough, sprinkles of every color, cheesecake, red velvet cake, chocolate cake,
brownies, dark chocolate, apple-cinnamon crunchies, chocolate covered waffle cones, peppermint pieces, nuts, chocolate covered nuts, caramel pieces, sea salt caramel crunchies… That doesn’t even include the ice cream base flavorings like peanut butter, chocolate and black raspberry – oh my!!!
Us bloggers could hardly believe our eyes! 
Before we got started we settled in to listen to a presentation about how Blue Bunny develops new products from one of their resident food scientists.
It’s surprisingly technical, and the scientists are heavily involved in the process. Lots of checks & balances to make sure the finished product isn’t too sweet, too tart, or really, too anything! Every flavor and product should have a perfect balance. It’s hard work! (Please note how giddy I am.)
The presentation wrapped up not a moment too soon. I mean, hello, look what we were staring at!
It was time to get to work.
Chef John gave us a demo on how to create our own flavor (as if we needed any help ) He started with several scoops of premium, Blue Bunny vanilla ice cream, then added in a peanut butter base, to flavor the ice cream, and several mix-ins. After a quick whirl in a mixer, his combo was good to go!
Our turn! Clearly, we were not shy about digging right in.
Here’s the thing – the food scientist told us that a really good flavor of ice cream has good balance. For instance, if there were chunks of brownie in the ice cream, then maybe they’d add a ribbon of peanut butter to add a hint of savory to balance out the sweet.
If strawberries were the mix-in du jour, maybe they’d use a more tart ice cream base to create a sweet/tart balance.
I took all these helpful hints into consideration when creating my ice cream flavor.
I really did.
In the end though, my inner 8 year old dominated the situation and I ended up with THIS! Muwahahaha!!
Let’s see here…we’ve got premium vanilla ice cream, chocolate chip cookie dough, snickerdoodle cookie dough, caramel bits, brownie chunks, chopped nuts and peanut butter flavoring. I know.
I patiently waited until it was my turn to get have my ingredients whirred up to become real ice cream.
Presto…
chango!!! Best ice cream I’ve ever had. Sweet, peanut buttery, chewy, crunchy, salty – AMAZING!!
Over the top? Sure. Obnoxiously sweet? You bet. But like I always say – go big, or go home baby!!!!!
We all silently devoured our luscious, creamy-sweet creations with delight.
Even our hosts got in on the action!
I made a second bowl, but we won’t talk about that…
Best afternoon EVER!
There you have it folks! Creating your own ice cream flavor. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it!
Time for another Blue Bunny free ice cream coupon giveaway! Today’s question, which you have until 10pm tonight to guess correctly, is…
What is Blue Bunny’s most popular flavor of ice cream?
a. Bunny Tracks
b. Vanilla
c. Chocolate
d. Peanut Butter Panic
The answer to yesterday’s question was “c”. You could fill 1,000,000 pies with the amount of strawberries Blue Bunny uses in their products every year! Woah! Congrats to winner:
Ashley: My answer is C! And the picture of the Big Bopper Sandwiches is definitely a money shot!! Thanks for sharing
Congrats Ashley! Email me your address at IowaGirlEats@hotmail.com so I can get your free ice cream coupon out to you in the mail. Good luck to today’s entrants!
whoops! I meant B. Vanilla
I’m guessing A. Bunny Tracks. I grew up in Northwest Iowa–not 40 minutes from Le Mars and we consumed Bunny Tracks at almost every social event where ice cream was involved.
I guess Vanilla.
B!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gotta go with Bunny Tracks!
Vanilla please!
I guess B. vanilla. It’s just so versatile… I just had a bowl with strawberries and blueberries on top
I’m going to go with B, vanilla. It’s a classic!
I’m going to go with plain old vanilla (B), wouldn’t be my top pick but it’s the most basic. Your combination sounded awesome!! Chocolate and PB, can’t be beat!!!!
Your trip looks so fun! I’d love to tour an ice cream factory.
I’m going to go with good old vanilla (B) as the most popular flavor – the possibilities of toppings are endless (as you showed us).
Thanks for this awesome giveaway.
I would have to say vanilla – you can put tons of toppings on it, obviously! But I have seen many Bunny Tracks in kitchens lately…:)
Im going with vanilla. But I personally LOVE peanut butter panic.
Although Peanut Butter Panic sounds AMAZING….I’d say the most popular is (B) Vanilla, final answer!
Bunny tracks I think A)
B Vanilla!!!! There are too many things you can do with plain vanilla! My husband likes to put powdered nestle quick on it! Weird I know:)
Vanilla! … Your tour looks amazing! : )
I am thinking A!!
No question about it Vanilla (B) is the answer, but my personal favorite would be Bunny Tracks!
I am guessing it is (b.) vanilla. My husband and I love Blue Bunny ice cream. It’s our favorite brand — especially Chocolate Caramel Commotion!
I’m guessing it’s A bunny tracks.
Im guessing B-vanilla
I am thinking vanilla…
I’m definitely guessing Bunny Tracks!
It looks like you had a blast on the factory tour and making your own ice cream. How cool!
Got to go with “B”…..but as a Iowa girl Bunny Tracks is very yummy!
I’m gonna have to say my favorite, good ole classic VANILLA!