2019 Resolutions and Top Posts of 2018!

Happy New Year all!  Hope everyone had a great Christmas and didn't get alcohol poisoning on New Year's Eve (set the bar low, yo.)  We had a pretty chill NYE, had some friends over (who also have young kiddos) so everyone had dispersed by 9pm.  We did a champagne toast at 8pm, because hey, it's the New Year somewhere (in the mid-Atlantic).  Then we got the Lil' Man down to bed, set up our WiFi extender in our kitchen, and went next door to hang out with neighbors (WiFi extender allows us enough signal to check in on the kid's video monitor at their house...technology is great, ain't it?)

So--last year I set three resolutions: let's see how we did!

1) Eat more vegetables.  I did a pretty good job with this one, mostly by eating more salads.  I realllllllly love a good salad, guys. I know that sounds weird, but seriously.  The more stuff you put in that bowl, the happier I am. I also read the book "Eating on the Wild Side", which focuses on the fruits and veggies that provide the most nutritional bang for your buck.  So when I go to the salad bar, I load up on things like dried or fresh berries, nuts/seeds, dark greens, cauliflower (who knew a white food could be so good for you?), radishes, broccoli, etc.  

2) Exercise.  I started out strong on this in 2018, and much like almost everyone else, fizzled out somewhere around April.  Then my boss convinced me to sign up for a marathon relay to run in November, so I ramped up gym visits again...until after the relay, and then didn't really go back.  But, it's still more than I went in 2017, so I call that a win.

3) Moisturize.  This I did really well with...for the first half of the year. I had a sticky note on my bathroom mirror that read "Have You Moisturized Today?" and looking at that reminded me to do it every day.  And then...that sticky note fell down, and I never replaced it.  But I still probably remembered about once a week.  My kid's bath time is actually great for this, because he mostly entertains himself, I'm in there anyway (he and I share a bathroom), so might as well put on some lotion.

This year?

1) Use my FitBit.  I've had a FitBit since 2011, and I wear it everyday, but in the last couple years, I haven't really been *using* it.  I haven't been tracking food, sleep, water, or really trying to hit any step goals.  But The Hubs got me a new FitBit Alta HR for Christmas, so I'm hoping the newness of the extra features (detailed sleep tracking, heart rate, "nudges" to make sure you get at least 250 steps an hour) will get me back into gear.  My goal is to track food and water daily, staying under my caloric goal and hitting at least 64 oz of water a day.

I'm not making a gym goal, because last year, even with doing better about going to the gym, I didn't lose a single pound (even though I did significantly improve my running stamina).  And that's likely because I wasn't tracking my food and was still eating crap.

They say weight loss is 75% diet and 25% exercise, and frankly, I'm not good at making myself go to the gym, especially if I have other outside of work commitments (like the continuing education classes I'm taking over at the university).  But they also say that by tracking your food, you're also far less likely to eat bad crap, because it means you have to acknowledge it in your food log.  So hopefully, the simple act of logging my food will help me make good choices and eat less.

2) Get more fiber.  The USDA recommended daily allowance for women is 28 grams.  Most people are woefully under that (myself included).  People spend all this money doing detoxes and cleanses to reduce bloating/water weight, or battle with high cholesterol, when in reality, they probably just need to eat more fiber.  Soluble fiber slows digestion and allows your body to absorb more nutrients from the foods you eat.  Insoluble (bulk) fiber helps clean out your GI system.  And they make you feel full so you eat less, so that's a bonus.

3. Build Others Up.  Earlier this year I was doing some goal-setting at work and trying to create a 5 Year Plan for myself.  But while meeting with my mentor, he said something that really stuck with me.  "Maybe the question isn't 'Where am I going", but rather "Who can I bring with me?"  The idea being that rising tides raise all ships--if I dedicate time to helping others on my team succeed, we all succeed organically. So I've set a goal to have more 1 on 1 meetings with my mentees and teammates and find ways to help them be better, and look for opportunities to help them hit their goals.

Now, on to the Top Ten Posts from 2018!

#1: Crab Boil Potato Salad

#2: Adventures in Parenting: When Your Child Isn't Perfect

#3: Adventure's in Parenting: Potty Training & Pacifiers

#4: Crunchy French Toast

#5: Bacon Wrapped Sac-A-Lait and Grilled Peaches

#6: Thirsty Thursday: Sparkling Greyhound

#7: 7th Wedding Anniversary: Copper

#8: Cajun Cashew Chicken

#9: Sporkful Sauteed Broccoli

#10: Beer Traveling with Kids: Gulf Coast Breweries

How about y'all?  Any resolutions to share? Leave them in the comments on on Facebook!

2018 Resolutions and the Top 10 Posts of 2017

Nappy New Year!  (this was a typo...but I liked it so much I kept it.  We should all be so blessed as to have a new year full of naps.)

I hope everyone had a relatively chaos-free and enjoyable holiday season!  Now, t'is the time for resolutions and looking back.  And overall, I'm pretty pleased with 2017.  Lil' Man turned 2--which means we have kept him alive and in a general state of health for another year.  We had no major medical or financial crises, and I even managed to max out my 401k.  Oh--and I chopped all my hair off for charity over Christmas.

10 inches gone to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths.

I'm hoping this will sate my do-gooding needs until I can start giving blood again in April (I got benched for a year because we traveled out of the country to an area with malaria risk).  In the meantime--I'm loving the cut.  I feel like I have so many more quick options for styling!  If I want to wash & go, I can just add a little mousse, scrunch, and head out the door. If I want to flat iron, it takes less than 5 minutes.  So glorious.

One of last year's resolutions was to eat more breakfast--and that I did. With the exception of a couple days in the summer, I ate breakfast every day, and catalogued much of it on Instagram (to the confusion of several of my friends, who thought my dates were actually a rating system). I also managed to keep up with my line-a-day journal (though sometimes by catching up a week at a time--life's crazy, yo.)

This year?

1) Eat more vegetables.  We got fruits in the bag, but we just aren't good about getting a lot of veggies on the plate.  Unless you count potatoes.  So I'm hoping to mix it up a bit more.

2) Exercise.  I know, it's so trite, but seriously needed.  We just got a 6 month family pass to the gym at our church, which is less than 5 minutes from our house.  No excuses.  I'm still working on figuring out a reasonable, measurable goal, but at this point, if I go even 4 times in the entire year, that's better than 2017.

3) Moisturize.  Winter is upon us, and dry skin is a plague.  I have plenty of hand cream, foot cream, face cream, even in-shower lotion...but do I use it?  Not really.  I feel like I should take better care of my skin now, and avoid the expensive surgeries, Botox, and firming creams later down the road.

Keeping it simple with three.  I mean, I have work goals too, but I won't bore you with those.

And now, on to the Top 10 Posts of 2017!

1) Adventures in Parenting: 15 Months, and 2017 Mom Resolutions

2) Adventures in Parenting: "Don't You Want Another?"

3) Tater Tot Poutine

4) Boudin King Cake

5) Adventures in Parenting: 16 Months In

6) Working Mom's Beauty Regimen

7) Pinterest Project: Basement Bar

8) Adventures in Parenting: 18 Months In

9) Thirsty Thursday: Sequiota Bike Shop Bourbon Slush

10) Pizza is Not an Emergency, and Other Personal Finance Lessons I Learned the Hard Way

2015 Resolutions?

So it's that time of year when we make a bunch of promises to our Future Self, hoping that our Future Self will buy in and keep them going.  But sometimes, our Future Self is a slacker who really loves pizza & peejoms.  But hey--just remember, Future Self is only human.  Much like you.  So don't be too hard on him/her.  And...don't set him/her up for failure with unreasonable expectations either.  That should help.

Did you know that "lose weight" is the most common resolution in America? (And in Britain.  But the French list "learn a new language" as their #1 resolution. Friggin' skinny Frenchfolk.)

Apparently, if I made any resolutions last year, I did not post them here.  But I did make a post about jumping on the fitness bandwagon right after Christmas last year, so let's count that.   In that post, I shared a bunch of the tools I was using to help get/stay fit, like my FitBit, some apps, food logging, etc.  And I stuck with it...until The Scoop opened for the season & I became consumed with other things.  Well--I do still wear my FitBit every day, so at least I stuck with that.  AND I lost 20 lbs of ice-cream weight, so at least that was beneficial!  AND I didn't put it all back on during The Scoop season, so double-win!  Granted, I'm still a little fluffy around the middle, but I feel a lot better about my situation today than I did a year ago today. :)

So, resolutions for 2015?  Again, I hate to set Future Self up for failure, so I'm aiming for "life-improving, but not unattainable".  

1. The 2015 Reading Challenge.  The Hubs was skeptical, but I checked my "Books I Read This Year" board on Pinterest and I did in fact finish 50 books in 2014, so this is completely doable, and might even help give me some direction when I run out of books on my Hold list & am floundering for what to search for next.  My local library has a large ebook & audiobook selection available via the Overdrive app, which is great for my 1-hour roundtrip work commute. (The audiobooks, not the ebooks.  That would be dangerous. Sheesh. PS—where’s my autopilot car, Future Self?)

2. I'm continuing with my Virtual Trek across the US.  I had a goal of getting to the MO/IL border, which would have been about 1200 miles, or 3.3 miles per day on average.  Alas, I was about 230 miles short of this goal, with an average of 2.6 miles/day.  So I decided I want to get my average up to 3 miles /day, which should put me at the KS/CO border by the end of the year.  Assuming I don't die of boredom from virtually trekking across Kansas, of course.

3. POST MORE!  I dearly appreciate those of you who've been reading here for a long time and have patiently put up with my sporadic posting for the last two years while we've owned The Scoop.  But now that The Scoop is sold, here's hoping I'll have more time to chat with you lovely people about food, family, craftiness, and the occasional cocktail. (PS--if you use the UnTappd app, feel free to friend me!  Username: feauxcajun)

4. DuoLingo every day.  Errr....Maybe every other day.  I'm trying to focus on learning Portuguese, but I also have lessons going in French, Italian, and now Irish (Gaelic).  They also have Spanish, German, Dutch, Danish & Swedish.  ALL FREE.  And it's available online and via apps (iPhone, iPad, & Android).  It's a fun game-type setup, and there's a social function so you can compete with friends.  (Username "heywood417" if you want to friend me!)

5. Volunteer more.  My schedule gets pretty packed, so a lot of the time I tend to donate $$ or stuff instead of time.  I'm not putting a number on this--"more" is probably sufficient (given that 2014 consisted of "picking up trash twice").  There's lots of opportunities in my community, so I just need to whittle out some time now & then.

I think that rounds the year (and me) out pretty well--a little bit of something for the mind, body & spirit in there.

How about you--any resolutions for the year?

Semi-Homemade Ceviche!

So, did everyone have an enjoyable and safe New Year’s Eve?  Sober Chauffeur in tow (or a cabby)?  More curious—were you dressed appropriately for the weather, or were you dolled up in gravity-defying heels and sparkly Spandex that barely covers back door?  I saw an uncountable number of the latter while I was out this New Year’s Eve.  Granted, this is a college town, so maybe we’re privy to a larger ratio of these gals, but they still just leave me scratching my head.  It would be one thing if it had been 70 degrees and dry outside.  But no.  We had below-freezing temps, ice on the ground, and freezing drizzle coming down.  You couldn’t pay me enough $$$ to attempt walking in 5 inch platform heels while surrounded by black ice.  Heck…I’m relatively positive that I couldn’t do it even without the ice.  Give me cute, comfy flats any day.

Actually, in this weather, give me waterproof shoes with good tread.  That’s probably safer.

(I dub thee “Lady Faceplant”).

But they are quite festive, aren’t they?  And somewhat reminiscent of warmer climes.

Much like ceviche. (HAH—you didn’t think that segue was gonna work, DID YOU?  BAM.)

Ceviche is one of my absolute favorite foods EVER.  It’s so fresh and zesty with tons of texture and flavors, and you can eat it with a chip.  Like coastal nachos.

And since I’m planted smack-dab in the middle of the country, it’s really tough to find good ceviche…since there are no fresh shrimp.  When I visit Louisiana, my best friend & I nearly always make a trip to Coyote Blues in Lafayette for ceviche and Cajun Bloody Marys. 

So when the stores started offering 16oz cocktail shrimp rings for $4.99 around New Years, I snagged up a couple rings and dashed home to pull a Sandra Lee and take a stab at my favorite Gulf specialty.

 

INGREDIENTS:
8 oz cocktail grade shrimp, tails removed

1 avocado, diced

1 large tomato, seeds removed, diced

Juice of 1 lime

handful of fresh cilantro, minced

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp Cajun Power garlic sauce

Salt & Pepper to taste

Tortilla Chips

 

DIRECTIONS:

Pretty simple—add all the ingredients to a bowl & stir.  No special order….just mix & stir until well blended.  If you like, add more/less cilantro, S&P, and lime juice to your taste.

You can eat right away if you like, but if you let it sit overnight in the fridge (covered, of course), the flavors will marinate even more.

Perfect for a party, a quick appetizer, or even as your main course!

Since I didn’t have the fixin’s for Bloody Mary’s on hand, we opted for Mothers Brewery’s new “Holy Mole” instead.

Makes 4 snack size servings or two entrée size servings.

 

NutriFacts: (includes tortilla chips)

Calories 302.3

  Total Fat 15.9 g

  Saturated Fat 3.1 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 2.6 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 8.7 g

  Cholesterol 110.5 mg

  Sodium 319.9 mg

  Potassium 545.4 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 26.7 g

  Dietary Fiber 6.6 g

  Sugars 2.0 g

  Protein 16.0 g

Best of 2012!

Here we are folks… two days in.  Have you broken your resolutions yet?  I hope not!  Just remember…I’m cheering you on.  Whatever they are, I’m here in Virtual BlogLand wishing you the best.  With tiny virtual pom-poms.  “BE! AGGRESSIVE!  B-E AGGRESSIVE!” :)

So far, so good here.  I drank five 16-oz glasses of water yesterday.  Pretty stoked about that.  Today, I’m on my second glass. 

 

So as a quick lil’ recap, I’d like to recount for you the five most popular posts of 2012! 

This is potentially more for my benefit than anyone else’s, but hey…it’s my blog.  So there.  Neener neener and stuff.

 

1. Wine Charm Pinterest Project

2. Thirsty Thursday:  Glowing Halloween Punch

3. New Orleans Stuffed Artichoke

4. Microwave Mug Muffin (I think I can thank the chocolate chips for that…)

5. Louisiana White Beans w/ Ham & Sausage

And now…what can you expect here in 2013? 

Um… More of the same?  I think this Top 5 shows a good representation of this blog.  Three recipes (two of which are Cajun), a cocktail, and a craft project.  Yessir, we’re DIVERSE!

(Hopping on the lateral train of thought: Long ago, at a different company down in Louisiana, I was pulled out of my office to go out in the field to take some staged field work photos.  When I asked why, they told me the photos were going into our company calendar that they send out to clients every Christmas, and they wanted to make sure the calendar showed how “diverse” we were.  …I was the only female in the environmental department.  Good times…)

 

All joking aside, if there’s something in particular that you would like to see more (or less) of on this blog, now’s the time to speak your mind!  Is there a Cajun/nonCajun dish that you’d really like to see my take on?  Is there something you LOVE that is horrifically, horrendously bad for you that you’d like me to attempt a “healthed up” version of?  Some crazy cocktail?  More organization/budgeting tips?  More presshuss photos of our pug?  Restaurant reviews?  Go ahead…SPEAK!

2012 Resolutions in Review.

So…resolution time.  But first, it’s of course important to take a look back, & see what my resolutions for last year were:

1. Read at least 2 books a month:  This is the only resolution that I actually 100% achieved.  According to my Pinterest Board, I finished 36 books this year!  Granted…14 of those were youth series’ books (Finally read Harry Potter and re-read the Chronicles of Narnia).  But they’re still BOOKS, doggonnit. 

2. Follow Through on Exercise:  Umm…ermm… yeah.  Not as much as I should have. I think I was doing pretty well until August, when I started taking a class at the university.  Then “class time” kinda started taking up all of my usual “gym time”.  But now that my class is over, I’m hoping to see improvement in this arena. 

3. Not to Live Inside my Cubicle:  Umm…I think I have to call this one a draw.  My original quantification for this was to take at least 30 minutes a day to go for a walk, take an “actual” lunch, or at least take a mental break.  And I have definitely gotten better, whether it be going for a mid-day drive to run errands, or taking a real, sit down lunch with my coworkers in the break room, or just stepping outside for 15 minutes to call & chat with my mom.  But I definitely don’t do it for 30 minutes a day.  That’s tough for me.  Because that’s an extra 30 minutes I have to tag onto the end of the day…and frankly…I like going home to my hubby at a decent hour.  Throw in the 3 extra hours per week I already had to make up for while taking my class, and yeah…really hard to try to make up a lot of extra time.

4. No. New. Recipes:  BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA… *wipes tear away* Yeah…One week after making this resolution, I got my invitation to join Pinterest.  EPIC RESOLUTION FAIL.

 

So…what’s on the to-do list for 2013?

1. Travel out of the country twice: We have a ski trip scheduled for mid-January to British Columbia.  We’re also in the process of trying to schedule a “Maycation” with some friends around Memorial Day.  But that’s still a work in progress.  We usually go to the Gulf around that time, but this year, we’re aiming for something more tropical that actually requires a passport.  There’s some debate as to whether a cruise vs. all-inclusive resort is better.  I’m split… I like the idea of a cruise because it means more notches on the “proverbial travel belt”, but less stuff is included, and at least three days of our vacation would just be hanging out on the cruise ship, rather than “being” somewhere.  Plus we live 12 hours from the nearest cruise port (New Orleans)…although, I’m always down for a trip to NOLA.

2. Take, and hopefully PASS, the ASBOG exam in October:  For those who don’t like to click links, that’s the exam(s) I need to pass in order to become a state-certified professional Geologist.  Right now, I’m just a “Qualified Geologist”, which means I’ve got all the requirements, but haven’t taken the test.  It’s a pretty nasty S.O.B… two exams (one on Fundamentals, one on Practice, 8 hours, a total of 250 multiple choice questions)…and a $425 price tag.  So…ideally…I just want to take it ONE time.  But we’ll see.  I’ve got a lot of study materials, so hopefully I can take those to the gym with me and tackle two birds with one stone.

3. Drink More Water:  I am habitually dehydrated.  I’m horrible, really.  I nurse a cup of coffee until about lunch time.  Then have either a soda or glass of water with lunch…and that lasts me until I leave work.  Then I have another glass of water or tea or something with dinner.  And that’s about it. 

4. Keep reading…but read more non-fiction: Of the 36 books I read in 2012, 9 were non-fiction, and that’s including Thomas Moore’s “Utopia” (which is technically fiction, but it’s more of a philosophical, social commentary type of fiction, and it’s like 500 years old).  Five of the non-fictions were Mark Twain travelogues (I’m a HUGE Twain fan, since he’s from right here in Missouri.  By far, the most easy-reading 19th century books, ever.  For 2013, I’d like to read one non-fiction for every fiction.  I’ve started with C.S. Lewis’ “Mere Christianity”, and am really enjoying it so far.

 

5.  And the only goal specifically related to this Blog—Get 100 new blog followers in 2013.  New growth here is very important to me; otherwise, why do we do this?  Why do we put ourselves out there?  To share our experiences with interested people, am I right?  To make someone think, or laugh, or get inspired.  So if you’re reading this, and you like what you see, it would be super-wicked-awesome if you’d clickity-click one of those buttons up on the left side of the page & follow this blog via Facebook, Pinterest, FeedBurner, or Google.  Yes.  I’m inviting you to stalk me.  It’s totes okay.  Well…in the virtual sense.  I would prefer no active, creepy, B-list slasher film “in-real-life” stalking.  I am just NOT motivated enough to run away from you, and my house has no upstairs or basement for me to stupidly try to hide/trap myself in.

 

So you…yeah, YOU: What are your resolutions for 2013?

New Year’s Day Recipes! Loaded Potato Cakes & Fried Cabbage!

 

Happy 2012, Readers!  Hope everyone had a wonderful New Year’s Eve, and if you had a bit of a rough morning, like us, you might have been in need of a quick, slightly less-than-healthy breakfast (or brunch, as the case may be).

Never you fear!  We have something quick & tasty that even fits in with a few New Year’s Day good luck traditions.

First: Loaded Potato Cakes

I woke up craving potato pancakes.  I have no idea why—we don’t even have any leftover mashed potatoes in the house.  But we DO have a couple boxes of instant mashed potatoes in the pantry.  Quick & easy, even with a mild headache. :D

Ingredients:

1/2 cup instant potato flakes (or, if you have leftover mashed potatoes, skip the next 4 ingredients)

1/2 cup boiling water

1/4 cup skim milk

1 tbsp light butter

1/4 tsp salt

--

2 pieces bacon, cooked & crumbled

1 slice pepper jack cheese, crumbled

1 tbsp fat free sour cream

1/2 tbsp dried chives

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp seasoning salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs

2 tbsp olive oil

 

Directions:

Add the first 5 ingredients together (or just use leftover mashed potatoes, if you have them).  Then stir the rest of the ingredients into the potatoes & mix well (NOTE: If you’re not keen on one or another of the ingredients, just leave it out.  I like a lot of stuff on my baked potatoes, so that’s why I added what I did.  Whatever YOU like on a loaded baked potato-- that’s the flavor you’re trying to duplicate).

Heat your olive oil in a large skillet until it starts to smoke.  Divide the potato mixture in half & form into 2 balls.  On a small plate, spread out the bread crumbs & place one of the balls on the plate & smash flat (maybe about 1 inch thick). then flip.  Make sure both sides are well coated with crumbs—it makes a better crust.

 

Add your cakes to the oil, and move them as little as possible.  Cook on each side for about 3-5 minutes, or until both sides are golden brown.

 

Serve garnished with parsley (or cilantro—that’s what we had in the house).  Makes two cakes.

 

We work this into our Lucky New Year’s Day foods because pork (mmm…bacon) represents health & prosperity, and the greens (cilantro) represent wealth & success.

 

And now, onto FRIED CABBAGE!  This was my husband’s recipe, as I don’t recall my mom ever making it.  My mom usually made cole slaw so we’d eat cabbage on New Year’s Day.

 

Ingredients:

About ten cabbage leaves

2 tbsp bacon grease

salt & pepper

 

Directions:

You can use the same skillet from your potato cakes for this.  Melt the bacon grease in the skillet over medium heat.  Meanwhile, wash your cabbage leaves & then place the pile between two paper towels & nuke them in the microwave for 2 minutes.  Once they come out, tear them into quarters & place them in the pan.

Toss the leaves to coat with the bacon grease, and season lightly with salt & pepper.  Cook over medium heat, constantly stirring, for about 5-7 minutes or until the leaves have wilted.

Serve & eat while warm.  Cabbage leaves are also a symbol of prosperity, thought to resemble paper currency in some countries.

 

So—any big New Year’s Resolutions out there? 

Here, I’ve come to the realization that I have a MASSIVE backlog of recipes that just keeps growing—new cookbooks, new printouts, gifts from friends… but I’m not cooking as many as I print off.  Heck—I have printouts that have been sitting inside a cookbook since 2004 that have NEVER been made.  So, in 2012: my resolution is to cook my way through the recipes I currently have, & not take in any more.  This may be hard to do, but I’m going to give it my darnedest.

This means that the recipes you see posted here may NOT be exclusively Cajun.  I hope that’s not a huge issue with my readers.  Given the number of Cajun recipes & cookbooks I have on hand, I can pretty well guarantee that there will be PLENTY of Cajun & Louisiana classics for you to sink your teeth into.  But in order for me to wade my way through this recipe hoard, I’ll be making & posting a variety of dishes.  However, I maintain my promise that they will be healthy, flavorful dishes that hopefully we all can enjoy!

Shared on 33 Shades of Green's Tasty Tuesday