...and then I cried.

On my way to work, almost daily, the radio show I listen to does a segment called  "...and then I cried." The rule is you had to have cried over something stupid and pointless. You call in and anonymously share with the world your emotional breakdown over spilling your Starbucks Peppermint mocha, or how you cried because your husband brought home takeout and didn't ask you what you wanted... even though he picked up what you always get.
It's hilarious and I love it. Shamelessly.  Like who does that, right? Because normal people don't lose it over ridiculous nonsense. I can count on one hand the number of times I cry in a year, hate crying hate hate hate hate crying. Mainly because my cry face looks like a chubby Asian, sun burnt and being feasted on by demons. If I cried pretty, like a chick flick heroine, a little tastefully dropped tear out the very corner of the eye- leaving the eyeliner I worked so hard on perfectly intact- maybe, maybe I'd cry a little more.

But probably not.

We started AIP on January 1st, like all possibly- maybe- a little- slightly heavy Americans making a drastic eating change hoping by Valentines to be a Rachel McAdams stunt double.  Super stoked about our wigged out diet lifestyle change, we hit up the produce section and said "see ya latter suckas" to the processed poison we'd been ingesting since infancy.

Trust me, more to my surprise than yours, here we are 8 days later having survived our sugar free, gluten free, nut free, bean (INCLUDING COFFEE *gasp*) free, tomato free, potato free, dairy free lifestyle.  Did I mention no alcohol? For real, it's hard folks. Because I can handle a lot with a single shot of bourbon.

So with some day four hunger going on, some new stress/gossip induced anxiety at work and an accountant emailing 15 times because I really need to start making some decisions... I won't even tell you about some lady stuff that was going on. Because we don't talk about that. Because it's 1836 and ladies just don't do that... everything detox-y came to a furious and well, pitiful boiling point because it was there, in that moment over a pie plate of half eaten spinach- I became Anonymous Lucy- and I cried.

    

Jambalaya & Ravigote

I have a confession. I'd never had Jambalaya.

It's true. Embarrassing, but true.

Last week I decided it was high time, after 23 years of life, I did it.

A friend let me borrow a cookbook, Taste of Louisiana, filled with stunning pictures and scrumptious recipes. In this book was the recipe for authentic Jambalaya and an appetizing Crab Ravigote.

First the Ravigote, I served it on a deep fried, creole spice crusted red tomato. You may have lived in the south for forever, and fried green tomatoes are our trademark, but fried RED tomatoes? A whole new level of southern deliciousness. So you've got your crispy, slightly spicy tomato, then you top it with Ravigote. Ravigote is crab, capers, Louisiana hot sauce, mayo, pepper, creole mustard and such, mixed and chilled. In laymen terms it's hyped up crab salad. But it's so good.

Jambalaya. It's hot. It's hot hot. It's burn allllllll the way down hot.

Probably would have gone over better if we hadn't just gotten over the stomach bug. We ate it. Then we sat around looking at each other praying fervently that we wouldn't be revisiting it.

The kiddos loved it! Surprisingly enough, because they are usually not into hot food, they ate it everyday for the next three days. We went through about 6 jars of sour cream.

Will I make it again? Definitely. Probably this winter when we need a good warming through.

Jambalaya: ***(3) stars
Crab Ravigote: ***** (5) stars                

Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup. Boss style.

recipe by: me

flavors: cheddar. tomato. basil.

stars: ***** (5) 

comments:

"i'm not a soup fan, but this was exactly how soup should taste. and that perfectly grilled cheese? heaven."

Bombay Chili Cheese Fries

recipe by: some tiny Indian restaurant in South Carolina I don't remember the name of.

stars: ***** (5)

comments:

"we found this little hole in the wall in South Carolina years ago. these fries will burn the heck out of your esophagus but not to worry, they are so worth it. crispy shoestring fries, beef in a chili/ketchup-y/hot-as-heck sauce, feta cheese, basil and a little shredded red leaf lettuce. divine. and dangerously addictive"

  

Resturaunt: Surin West

restaurant: 

Surin West, Birmingham, Al.

Cuisine: Thai

What I ate: Pad Thai. Coconut Soup. Super Crunch Roll.

stars:

Service: **** (4)

Food: ***** (5)

Overall Environment: *** (3)

Price: $20-30 

comments:

"while the atmosphere didn't scream "this is a Thai place!", the food was incredibly authentic and delicious. hands down Birmingham's number one Thai restaurant."

Roasted Porkloin, Honey & Thyme Carrots, Brussel's Sprouts

recipe by: me

flavors: honey & thyme on carrots, bacon, garlic & onion on brussels, apple, spinach and rosemary in & on porkloin.

stars: *** (3)

comments: 

"hearty and pretty. the flavors didn't really compliment each other so much as fought for attention. didn't dig the spinach in the pork"

Caramel Banana Pudding

recipe by: me

flavors: caramel, vanilla, banana

stars: **** (4)

comments:

"great way to spin the ol' naner puddin'. don't use a ton of caramel though, this pudding is sweet enough on it's own."