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ONE HOUR Instant Pot Gumbo

I’m a Louisiana girl. I grew up in north Louisiana and I lived in south Louisiana for 8 years… and believe me when I say Cajuns know how to cook! 

Also, most traditional Cajun recipes are NOT healthy…. 

Now, being a Louisiana girl… I have a special place in my heart for gumbo. It’s the perfect meal for a cold fall or winter day!

The basis of the dish is the roux (a mix of flour and oil cooked into a peanut buttery consistency). The roux is the HEART of a good gumbo. A lot of my friends in Louisiana didn’t make the roux themselves, but bought a bottle of pre-made roux… but it really can be made at home from scratch! read more

Christmas Reflections: The Best Gifts aren’t Under the Tree

Just two Christmases ago…

It was a really stressful time for us. Adam and I had to count, save and hoard all his vacation days just so we would have a week off at Christmas. He was working as a chemical engineer and had a great job!! but they were really strict about their vacation days and it just made everything hard to work around.

On top of that stress, all the extra costs associated with Christmas (even without going overboard with the gifts!)… it all quickly added up.

Our family was 1,000 miles away & we only saw them 2x a year – and just being that far away was really tough. We always were making sure we saved enough money to travel back to Louisiana to see family. Because we were that far away it would take two days to get there, hotel rooms and gas weren’t cheap. read more

Low Carb Cheeseburger Vegetable Soup

Low Carb Cheeseburger Vegetable Soup

Low Carb Cheeseburger Vegetable Soup

We are having a snow filled winter here in Virginia. This Louisiana girl doesn’t know what all this white stuff is that keeps falling from the sky. Thankfully, I don’t have much reason to leave the house when it snows so I get to stay warm and cook for my family.

I love cooking this Low Carb Cheeseburger Vegetable Soup on a snow day when it has all morning to simmer. Soup is the perfect winter meal. 

Soup can be a lunch or dinner during the winter months to warm and satisfy you. Bone broths are so full of nutrients that keep you and your family healthy during the sick months. Broths are also one of the 4 foods that all kids should be eating!  This is one that your kids will want to eat two bowls full of. What kid can resist cheese? read more

No Roux Chicken Sausage Gumbo

low carb, no roux, gluten free gumbo

 

No Roux Chicken Sausage Gumbo

Gluten Free, Low Carb

I have mentioned before, that I am a born and raised Louisiana Girl. You can take the girl out of Louisiana, but you can’t take Louisiana out of the girl! In Louisiana, when the weather gets cold (that one night, ha), everyone cooks a huge pot of gumbo to warm themselves. Our gumbo is full of chicken and sausage, and the trinity (onions, bell peppers, and celery). 

What makes this gumbo so special is that it doesn’t use a roux to thicken. Rouxs are made from cooking flour in butter and then basically making a very thick soup from that gravy. What I used as my thickening agent is glucomannan. I love glucomannan so much for thickening up my foods. I use it in milkshakes, puddings, whipped cream, cakes, and now my gumbo! I buy it from Amazon. read more

Low Carb Faux-tato Salad

low carb potato salad

 

Low Carb Radish “Potato” Salad

 

I may have mentioned before that I am a Louisiana girl. With all this winter and cold, I had to pull out my huge soup pot to make a pot of gumbo. The way I like to eat gumbo is with potato salad and rice. I needed to transform this very high carby meal into a lower carb one. First I made rice using cauliflower. Next I made my gumbo with no roux making it low carb as well. 

I had done some research and found that radishes were pretty low carb and similar in texture to potatoes. I figured I would try to turn my potato salad into a Radish “Faux-tato” Salad. Adam and I both really loved it. Adam was very skeptical at first. I had mad potato salad using red potatoes before, and it looked very similar in color. Adam said that is exceeded his expectations. read more

King Cake in a Mug

minute, muffin, cinnamon roll, icing, cream cheese,

Adapted from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/smoorenburg/4377455448/

 King Cake in a Mug with Cream Cheese Topping

I may live in Richmond, Va now, but I am born and raised a Louisiana girl. On top of being raised in Louisiana, I have a birthday that falls during Mardi Gras. It became a tradition for me to have a King Cake for my birthday cake for several years until I moved last year. Then my mom, hearing my laments of not being able to get a King Cake in Richmond, mailed me a King Cake from Louisiana… Let’s just say I shared… but I didn’t.   read more

The rains came down, and the floods came up…

There are some things in life you take for granted…

Every day you expect that you will wake up on time. Every day you expect that your car will start. Every day you expect that your power will be on.

And every day you expect for your toilet to work properly.

That is where my story begins.

I was 35 weeks pregnant. Not feeling great – just pushing through to the end of the pregnancy. I was done with nesting. My nursery was decorated and ready for a new baby girl. My birth kit was ordered and put together. My house was neat and clean…. Then it happened. read more

17 hours later in a Santa Fe

I am now in Richmond! This has been a long time coming, but it has finally happened.

I think the talk about moving somewhere outside of Louisiana started when Adam and I were getting married. We needed to stay in Louisiana for my tuition, so we figured we would only live here until I graduated.

Then, I started grad school in Louisiana…

Then we were part of a church plant in Louisiana…

God had his plan for us and it was apparent that we were supposed to stay in Louisiana longer than we had originally thought. read more