That Time I ate my way through New Orleans and Alabama + Clean, Grain Free, Gluten Free, Vegetarian Pho

I had a work conference in New Orleans last week and thought I'd have all the time in the world to catch up on blog stuff, eat healthy, have some quality time for myself... not so much. Not at all actually. It was an amazing time though! It was my first time in NOLA - Harrison flew down on the last day of the conference and some of my friends from Florida came up for a few days on the town. Then we drove to Alabama to see Harrison's family and hit Grady, Montgomery and Birmingham (sadly we were just there for a minute, I was praying for some downtime to finally have a drink with my blog crush Nadine but it was non stop).

For New Orleans I highly recommend every single restaurant we stopped at in NOLA but my favorites were Charbroiled Oysters @ Drago's (I don't even do oysters), ghost tour with Free Tours by Foot, and Frenchman Street. My fav stops in Birmingham: The Purple Onion (Harrison has been talking about this restaurant since we met) and Kelly Ingram Park. Here are some highlights:

Bourbon Street!

Maison on Frenchman Street

Harrison's Grandma Pearl had this food waiting for us when we arrived to her house (no cell service, no internet, no neighbors. Quite different from DC life!)

Exploring his grandma's property - Harrison spent summers here!

Boppin around the farm

And now it's back to the real world womp.

Before I left for the conference I attempted some pho. Let me start by explaining that I once had  Vietnamese co-workers who introduced me to this incredible dish, but who also always ordered for me (in Vietnamese) and I have never been able to re-order or re-create the exact dish. It's not quite paleo (rice noodles, sorry) but it is super healthy and super super delicious. Mine was also a little heartier/less soupy than your average pho but I loooved it.

Servings: 5
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 head broccoli, chopped into florets ($2.50)
• 1 12 oz package of snow peas ($2.00)
• 32 oz broth ($1.50) 
• 2 cups water
• 1 package pho / rice noodles (I found mine at Wal-Mart! - $2)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 stalks celery, chopped ($1)
• 1 jalapeno, sliced and seeded ($1)
• 8 oz sliced mushrooms ($1.80) (I used a package from Wal-Mart also)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon minced onion
• Serve with fresh basil, fresh cilantro, and sririacha sauce

Cook the noodles according to the package directions (I just put mine in a covered bowl of water and let it set for 20 mins. Too easy).

Combine the broth, water, onion, salt, garlic and broccoli in a pot and bring to a boil, then let simmer for 15 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and let simmer for another 5-10 minutes. Serve with the basil, cilantro, hot sauce, or anything else your heart desires!

Do you like pho? Do you make your own? What is your favorite New Orleans stop?? 

Paleo Meal Plan for the Week + Paleo Veggie Bowl

Monday already?!? Whatever, I'm excited because I have a short work week before I head to Richmond for friends' wedding! I started hand therapy last week (yes that's a thing and ICYMI) and got a splint and have been able to use my right hand again- hallelujah!

This weekend I binge watched OINTB (hallelujah again) with a friend and some PALEO FRIENDLY CHEESY NACHOS. Saturday was my sister in law's high school graduation party, complete with a moon bounce - those things are just as fun at age 29 as they were when we were kids, except I seem to fall a lot harder and sweat a lot more? Sunday I was determined to get. it. TOGETHA after 2 weeks of being out of commission. I food prepped:

Which included a soft boiled egg gone rogue:

Went to Wal-Mart to pick up some groceries + $100 worth of things I didn't know I needed. I have been hearing about this Trader Joe's rationing coconut oil drama (is that really a thing? I haven't seen it at my TJ's lately so I am assuming it's true?) and was not at all surprised to see Wal-Mart has capitalized on this "crisis" with a whole new section (a little more expensive but it's there!):

I looked up "pantry organizer" on Amazon and ordered the top 3 best sellers (this, this and this), and did ALL THIS (no before picture because just looking at the before is too stressful. This makes my type A heart SING):

I also did a lot of terribly adult things that 20 year old Lindsay would be humiliated to hear qualify a "great weekend", but I guess this is growing up? Anyway, here's my meal plan for the week, lots of experiments and new recipes to come:

A few weeks ago I was browsing Pinterest for plant-based recipes (Netflix has officially scared me away from meat- not cutting it out but def cutting down) and came across lots of veggie bowls but all were creamy or noodley or rice-y so I put my own paleo spin on it.

Servings: 3
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

• 2 heads cauliflower ($5)
• 2 carrots ($.50)
• 2 stalks celery ($.20)
• 1/2 onion ($.50)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 10 oz bag of snap peas ($2.50)
• 2 bell peppers (any color is fine) ($2)
• 1 large yellow zucchini squash ($1.50)
• 1 large green zucchini ($1.20)
• 1 10 oz package of mushrooms ($1.80)
• 2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• Sea salt to taste
• 3 teaspoons olive oil or cooking fat of choice
• Serve with: I used this paleo Italian dressing but my friend Maggie introduced me to this amazing honey lime dressing that I'm going to use next time)

Cut the cauliflower into florets and place 1-2 cups at a time in the food processor to make cauliflower rice. If you don't have a food processor, I used to just grate my cauliflower on the cheese grater which works just as well (just a bit messier). Season the cauliflower rice with 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder and some salt, and saute over medium heat (with  1 tsp olive oil) for about 5-10 mins, or until it is soft.

Now chop all your veggies. I use the $19 Vidalia Veggie Chopper and it takes about 5 mins to chop all these veggies. It's amazing and lasts forever - Harrison's mom has had her's for 5+ years).

Coat a large frying pan with olive oil and turn the oven to medium heat. Start off with the carrot, celery and onion. After about 3 minutes, add in the peppers, garlic and snap peas. Sautee for another 3 minutes then add in everything else, including the rest of the seasonings.

Once everything is cooked, scoop out some cauliflower rice and top with the veggies and dressing of choice!

What are your favorite veggie dishes? Any miracle organizing products your recommend??

Paleo Chorizo Sweet Potato Skillet + Catch Up

After a monthish of being MIA I'm baaaack! Let's catch up- here are 10 things I've been up to in the last few weeks:

1. Went to Atlanta for my college roommate's wedding (3 of us lived together 3 years of college and all got married within a year of each other) wearing a $10 thrift store dress (!).

2. Watched Love & Basketball for the first time (yes - somehow I was a teenager in the 90's and never saw this).

3. Turned 29 (and am fine with it!)

4. Bathed two dogs who HATE water.

5. Ate so much Mexican food that I got tired of Mexican food for the first time in my life.

6. Broke a glass in my sink, sending 1000000000 tiny shards of glass down the disposal. Texted my brother who fixes everything, found out you can VACUUM TINY GLASS PIECES OUT OF YOUR SINK as long as it's not too wet down there.

7. Went to Atlantic City for a friend's bachelorette party where I sipped delicious pina coladas on the beach and had my first experience with male strip clubs.

8. Got a salad craving for the first time in years, ate salad every day following for 2 weeks (recipes coming).

9. Enjoyed the shit out of married life. Life without the stress of planning a wedding, and not having to make 100000 world-ending decisions is amazing.

10. Went to a fun gala with some nice arm candy (also in a thrift store dress).



And now for the last Mexican-ish dish I ate before declaring I am done with Mexican food. It's a one skillet chorizo dish:

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Servings: 8

Ingredients:

• 1 package of chorizo (~17 oz) ($5.00)
• 2 medium sweet potatoes, diced ($2.00)
• 1 onion, diced ($.90)
• 3 stalked celery, diced ($.70)
• 2 cups fresh spinach ($2.00)
• 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced ($1.00)
• For serving: fresh cilantro and diced avocado

Using a sharp knife, slice the chorizo long ways and peel the skin off each link. Put the sausage into a large frying pan and heat over medium-high heat, breaking up the sausage into crumbles as it heats.

After 5 minutes, add the sweet potato and stir together, heating for another 5-7 minutes. Now add the onion and celery. Continue to stir and heat another 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, stir and heat until the onions are translucent and the meat is cooked through.

Serve with cilantro and avocado.

What's your favorite skillet meal? What kind of food do you burn out on? 

Paleo Snack + Weekend Recap (late is better than never right?)

Soo it's been QUITE a week - Thursday Harrison and I flew to Memphis for my brother's SURPRISE wedding (which I've known about since October and have never kept such a big secret for so long and it was TORTURE) which was great and will get a photo dump further down.

For now though, let's talk paleo snacking. When I switched over to eating clean about a year ago, the snacks were the hardest part. Not being able to just grab a bag of chips or fruit snacks suuucked (that's right I'm 27 and still crave Welch's Fruit snacks- DA BOMB). I've kind of figured it out since (you can read about my snacking adventures here), and now I've found a new favorite refreshing snack. I prep a bunch of these little turkey rolls on Sundays and grab them on my way out the door.

Ingredients:

• 2 cucumbers, sliced thin longways (I always use my $17 NoPro Mandolin for this)
• 1 tomato, sliced thin
• 1/2 lb deli turkey meat
• salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard

Place the tomatoes, turkey, seasoning, and a dab of mustard on top of the cucumber slice and roll it up. That's it. Make a lot for the week and store in a tupperware so you can grab and go all week!

And now for the surprise wedding! My brother and his fiance are not into doing things the traditional way, so they invited everyone to their new house for an "engagement party". When everyone showed up one of the friends gathered everyone for what appeared to be a toast- talked about how they are spontaneous and break the mold and said "A good example is today. While you all think you're here for an engagement party, it's actually their wedding!" Everyone cheered. I cried. It was beautiful. Here's my photo dump: 

I found an amazing deal on a PENTHOUSE downtown on AirBnB - this view!! And it was big enough for us to host everyone for an after party and a brunch the next morning:

Thursday night we went out to see some live blues on Beale Street (if you ever make it to Memphis, Beale Street is a lot of fun!)

Ate some famous Memphis dry rub at Rendezvous:

Then went to the "Engagement Party" where they found a good use for the bathtub they ripped out of the old house:

This is when we all thought we were gathered for a toast- my brother's 2 best friends found out they were groomsmen about 5 minutes before this picture:

The happy married couple:

My MARRIED brother and me!

Have you ever been to a surprise wedding? Do you HATE KEEPING SECRETS like me? What is your favorite healthy snack??

Weekend Recap (best engagement party ever) + Breakfast Scramble for the week

This post is coming late due to a freaking amazing weekend. First up: a breakfast scramble that got me through last week:

Servings: 5
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

• 10 eggs, beaten ($2.50) 
• 1 sweet potato, diced ($.80)
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced ($1.50)
• 1 medium sized onion, diced ($.90)
• 1 green bell pepper, diced ($.80)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 4 pieces of clean sausage (I get Al Fresco @ Wal Mart for $5.00), diced
• 2 teaspoon Garlic salt
• 2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil, melted

Cook the sausages according to the package directions. While sausages are cooking, cook the sweet potatoes, onion, bell pepper and garlic in a large frying pan with the coconut oil over medium heat. Once the onions are translucent, add the eggs to the frying pan and mix as they cook. Add the sausages and mix together over medium heat until the eggs are completely cooked. Store in a tupperware for up to a week in the fridge and enjoy every morning!

Now, onto the amazing weekend. Family and friends traveled from all over country (from as far as California, Kansas, South Carolina!) to celebrate our engagement. On Thursday my cousin and brother and his fiance were in town and we explored our great city:

Then we headed to Richmond to celebrate:

My neighbors put together the MOST amazing party and decorations for us with so many thought out details!

 This picture makes my heart happy

We had a Motown band called Klaxton Brown that was ON POINT!

It is impossible to get a good picture by this point in the night...

How cute is the decor?? My neighbors put doors on top of barrels to make tables. Ah mazing.

And we had a "first dance" 'in which all the attention was on us. Not my favorite thing at all. Harrison on the other hand loves being the center of attention. Match made in heaven or what? (Thanks, Maria, for the great pic!)

Linking up with Biana

Easy Clean Stir Fry + West Virginia Weekend Recap

Ok so PSA: frozen vegetable medlies make life so much easier. By life I mean cooking dinner but easy dinner = easier life. This is the stir fry I made last week - it made about 4 servings but we managed to finish it in one meal oops.

Servings: 3-4
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 30

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs chicken, cubed
• 1 bag of frozen stir fry vegetable medley (I found mine at Wal-Mart)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 cups rice, cooked
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil (this is to add flavor, if you don't have it you can swap it out for olive oil or whatever you do have)
• 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons salt, 2 teaspoons pepper

Season the chicken cubes evenly with the salt and pepper. Heat a large frying pan, add the sesame oil and chicken chunks and cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly. Cook the chicken for about 15 minutes or until the cubes are mostly cooked.

Add the bag of frozen veggies, the chopped onion and the garlic to the frying pan and cook for another 15 minutes, or until the veggies are soft.

Add the rice, add the soy sauce. Stir them all together. Eat your heart out.

PSA #2: If you live in the DC area, West Virginia is the perfect (affordable) weekend getaway. I mean look:

I swear the air was so fresh and clean and everything around us was beautiful!

How cute is the "downtown" street we stayed on? We didn't want to go all-out wilderness survival so we rented a cottage I found on VRBO- $90/night and both dogs were allowed. It was perfect.

Andi hurt her paw pad so had to wear this boot all weekend...

"downtown" had a bar/restaurant where we drank some local beer. This restaurant also served Italian, Mexican, sea food, sandwiches, sold powerball tickets, and had slots. One stop shop.

"Everything the light touches shall be your's..."

Portabella(o?) Goatcheese Burgers + Worst Recap of Weekends ever

Soo this week October is going to be here, crazy right?? I am joining some friends in doing No Spending October Challenge and I'm excited to see how that goes. For now, I'm stockpiling on clothes and boots that I would normally buy in October as the season changes (post coming Thursday), is that cheating? So get excited because I'll probably be in a great mood since I (hopefully) won't be broke in October!

Anway, since grilling season is coming to a close, we've been trying to take full advantage of all things grill. Last week we tried this gem:

Servings: 2
Prep Time: 1 hour (marinating)
Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

• 4 large Portabella(o?) mushrooms ($6.00)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/2 cup goat cheese (I get the giant chunk of herbed goat cheese from Trader Joe's and slice it up and use a few slices for each burger)
• Rolls (we use Udi's)

Combine the olive oil, vinegar, onion, garlic and salt in a large ziploc bag and shake it up to mix it all together. Add the mushrooms and allow to marinate for 1-2 hours.

Spray your grill with LOTS of non-stick grilling spray. These babies wanted to stick all over our grill. Place the mushrooms on the hot grill, gill side up, for 10 mins- no need to flip or anything. 

Put them on your rolls of choice (our portabellas were thin so we each put 2 on our rolls), top with goat cheese, onions, and your choice of condiments. I just used a little extra balsamic.

This was a great weekend in which I took one picture. Friday Harrison and I stayed in, took care of some wedding details, drank some two buck chuck and a delicious Fall Salad from Sweet Green with MD crab, corn, avocadooomgggg:

(via)

Saturday I watched a freaking nailbiting game between UGA and Tennessee with a zillion Georgia fans at Public Bar.

Saturday night we cooked out and played hours of Cards Against Humanity.

Sunday I enjoyed the sunshine, I ran a bunch of errands and caught up on life stuff. And I took this one picture of the weekend: