Rose's Insightful Eating

It’s Friday y’all! I know here in South Louisiana we are trying to maintain our composure until Sunday afternoon, when our New Orleans Saints take on the Los Angeles Rams in the Dome. My family and I will be watching the game from home, and if you’re like us, you’ll be eating something good while cheering “Who Dat!!”

It’s during this time of year, my sweet hubby, Chad, can sense the very beginnings of crawfish season just starting to descend upon us. Just last weekend, he says, “I think I’m gonna boil some crabs this weekend.” Music to my ears. I’m always ready to get the seafood boiling waters rolling. And that’s when you can cue Cardi B’s “I Like It” (the radio edit version if the kiddies are around), because we all have our opinions as to how we like our boiled seafood, whether it’s shrimp, crawfish or crabs. I want my family to sing, “I like it like dat.”

I do not mess with Chad’s seafood boiling system. He rocks at rolling the boil, however, I do express myself with what I like in the boil. I like celery, mushrooms, onions and, sometimes, Louisiana sweet potatoes. Also, I don’t like it too spicy. I’m not a fan of the burning lips. Some boilers like lots of garlic, sausage, corn, even brussel sprouts. One time I tasted the most delicious batch of boiled crawfish with big pineapple chunks.

The seafood seasons vary, but as soon as the signs start saying, “crawfish here,” families and friends start gathering around the newspaper covered table. A little historical insight about Louisiana Crawfish and the tradition of the backyard parties centered around the boil can be found at http://Crawfish.org.  The commercial crawfish industry dates back to the 1800s, but history doesn’t need to tell me that’s it’s in my DNA to love boiled seafood.

As for Chad’s boiling secrets, he says he doesn’t have any. He follows the directions on the seafood seasoning bag. I’m not sure if we’ll be boiling seafood on Sunday, but we will be blessing our cooking pot while we are blessing our boys. Bless You Boys! Who Dat Baby, Rose

“Wow–I did not expect that to taste so good. Grapefruit and avocado together are delicious. I mean I like them both separately, but together–Wow,” I conversed with myself while preparing dinner. It is not unusual for me to talk to myself. We all do it time to time. Sometimes, I’m my own best (and worst) company. That being said, I was really excited about the salad recipe I found and followed from the newspaper. (Yes, I still read the physical paper–I love it and I’m NOT a dinosaur).

Our local paper, The Advocate http://theadvocate.com, prints a section everyday titled, “Eat, Play, Live.” (To be complete, on Saturdays it’s titled “Eat, Pray, Live” to get us ready for Sunday.) Anyway, every Thursday is recipe day. I always find really good recipes in the section. That’s where, last Thursday, I found “Judy Walker’s Roux Believer: Avocado and Grapefruit Salad.” She says that this salad has “been around since at least the 1960s, maybe longer.” And I never tasted or even heard of it before. So I tried it, and it’s now a regular bringer of “happy” to my table.

Which brings me to the point of this blog, let’s “bring the happy” to our tables. I know sometimes, in our house, things can feel heavy and challenging. On any given day, somebody’s overwhelmed, tired, and/or preoccupied with something that needs to get done. I hope to do a better job of being the one to “bring the happy.” Of course, that’s often easier said than done. But, I’ll really try. And if we can collectively “bring the happy” to our tables, not despite the hard days, but because of the hard days, then, hopefully, we can net a positive effect. As St. Teresa of Calcutta, our Beloved Mother Teresa, said, “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” So with that, I will try today to do all the small and ordinary things that I am blessed to do everyday with a heart of love and gratitude. Talk to you later, Rose

Are you feeling hot and spicy today? Or does the winter chill have you feeling less than…well, less than? I think I’ll enjoy Hot and Spicy Food Day–just a little. I’m not one for eyes-watering, tongue-burning spicy bites, but a little heat here and there, I like. Just remember, it’s your tummy. You need to live with it. So use discernment when dashing the cayenne.

Some people enjoy Sriracha with their Pho, or Tobasco with their everything else. My family likes my Easy Spicy Shrimp. I think it’s a great weeknight meal because it’s a fast one dish wonder. Here’s what I use:

• 2 pounds peeled, deveined shrimp
• 2 tbsps. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 (that’s .5) tsp. Cayenne Pepper
• Himalayan Salt to taste (watch the saltiness if you use other seasoning)
• Optional: Seafood Seasoning of your choice to your taste
• Chopped onion and/or bell pepper
• 1/2 lemon

First, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. I coat the bottom of an oven-proof dish with 1 tbsp. of the olive oil. Next, I mix the remainder of the ingredients in the oven-proof dish. Be sure to squeeze a little of the lemon over your dish. (At this point, I bless the meal. I’ll write a post about this step later. I think it’s really important to put that little bit of intentional love over the food I’m feeding my family). I cover the dish with foil and bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes. Watch the time–shrimp usually cook quickly. FYI–I like my veggies a little al dente.

I mentioned Tobasco earlier. Just a little insight about the Louisiana native Tobasco Original Red Pepper Sauce made by McIlhenny Company. The Company was founded in 1868 on Avery Island, Louisiana. According to http://tobasco.com, Edmund McIlhenny decided to create a pepper sauce to give the bland food of the Reconstruction South some flavor. I hope to bring my family to tour the facilities this Spring.

Whatever you cook tonight, if you decide to celebrate International Hot and Spicy Food Day, or not, I wish you an insightful experience. It may be just as Princess Tiana says, as she’s helping to make gumbo in Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, “Two shots of Tobasco, and it’s the bees’ knees.” Happy Eating! Rose

I love coffee. I know I’m in good company when it comes to that sentiment. With much discipline, I do limit my daily caffeine intake to non-lethal doses. However, I will admit I start to think about my morning cup before I fall asleep at night. Also, I would say that most of my conversations with family, friends and soon-to-be friends ends with me saying, “Let’s have coffee.”

Being a New Orleans native, I’m pretty sure my affection for the comforting beverage started in the womb. So many of my precious memories with my one-of-kind grandmother include sharing a cup of coffee. And, although coffee shops are all the rage (and I do frequent a few myself), my affection for the deep brown beverage remains based in the home, where putting a fresh pot on means I want to sit down with you for a bit and visit. Whether your “company” was over to celebrate joy or share in tragedy, the conversational coffee translated to shared community, which my New Orleans roots instilled in me.

The exact origins of coffee are unknown, although there are myths as to its discovery. (National Coffee Association) One legend describes an Ethiopian goat herder who noticed his goats gained energy after eating berries from a certain tree. Coffee’s history also includes controversy, condemnation and even “papal approval.” (Pope Clement VII) God Bless that goat herder!

Howard Schultz, the Starbucks guru himself, says, “I was taken by the power that savoring a simple cup of coffee can have to connect people and create community.” Savoring is exactly what I will try to do more with each sip. Savoring my time here with my sweet hubby and beautiful boys. Savoring my family and friends and all the blessings and all the moments. Whatever coffee’s beginnings may be, I agree with T.S. Eliot when he says, “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.” What I wouldn’t give for one more cup of the good stuff with my Gram.

In my own kitchen, next to our coffee pot, hangs a little wooden sign that reads, “This house runs on love, laughter and strong cups of coffee.” As for my latest coffee adventure, I’m attempting the French press. It’s been trial and error–mostly error, but I’ll get the knack sooner or later. I do grind our beans at home, and I like to buy good, locally roasted coffee beans. We are thankful to have few vices, so we invest in the enjoyment we get from our cups of coffee. Until we meet again, savor that cup, may your cup runneth over, and God Bless you and your family today and everyday.

Love, Rose

As a mother of four boys, I spend a lot of time thinking about what I’m going to cook, talking about what I’m going to cook, shopping for ingredients and then preparing food for my family. As the New Year comes and goes, I’m still in the goal-setting stage. Need to purge the house. Lose the baby weight. Work on that research topic. Find a creative outlet for the ideas in my head.

The “tidying up” goal has been about two years in the works. And now that my baby is about to turn six, I think that I need to really put pen to paper as to how I’m going to lose the 30 pounds that have accumulated with each pregnancy. I’m hoping the creative outlet goal helps me maintain my sanity as I try to tackle the others. That’s where this “insightful” blog comes in. “Insightful” is one of my favorite adjectives, because I enjoy gaining insight on almost any topic. And let’s face it, “eating” is one of my favorite verbs, because, well, that’s self-evident. So here it is, “Insightful Eating,” and thank you for joining me on this journey.

In an effort to feel the joy in the everyday occurrences, I decided to notice the beauty in the things I get to do all the time–like cooking. Each one of my blogs will contain my view point on a topic and how its meaningful to me. I’ll try to add some real “insight” into each blog–hopefully some real research and interesting tidbits of information (which I really love and I know will help me when I get to compete on a trivia gameshow one day.) I will also include a recipe inspired by the day’s topic. I promise that it will be a recipe that I prepared, took a picture of, and fed to my family–all in a very amateur way. I will try my best to make sure the foods mentioned are all natural, few ingredients, lower carb, virtually gluten free and usually pretty when plated.

I hope and pray that some of what I share resonates with some of you. I hope to spread some happiness and joy to the meal planners and feeders out there in the big beautiful world. God Bless you and your families today and everyday. Love, Rose

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton