Tuesday Tunes

I've been listening to Beach House on loop for the past few months and they are outstanding. I was lucky enough to see them live in New Orleans and was instantly charmed. Considered dream pop music, with their lithe keyboard and soothing, deep vocals, it's become a new genre I deeply enjoy.

Rainy Day Recipe - Louisiana Gumbo

On this cold and rainy Sunday, I decided to bring some warmth (and spice) into the home. For those unfamiliar to Cajun cooking, Gumbo is a classic, homey soup-like dish.

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken - quarters or tenders

1 lb Andouille sausages

1 large yellow onion

3 garlic cloves

Italian parsley

2 green onion

Olive Oil

64 oz chicken stock

3 tablespoons Dark Roux

Sea Salt

Black Pepper

Garlic Powder

Cayenne Pepper

White Rice

Food Prep:

Slice sausage, chop onion and garlic finely. Season chicken with salt, peppers, and garlic powder.

Cooking:

Lightly coat bottom of large pot with olive oil. Once hot, on medium-high heat, add in sausage. Stir frequently until browned. Remove sausage, leave oil in pot. Add chicken and brown till fully cooked. Remove chicken, add in the onions and garlic. Cook until translucent, stirring frequently. Deglaze with chicken broth, scraping the bottom of the pot. Add in roux and let it low boil for 30 minutes or until roux is broken up completely. Add in cooked chicken and sausage. Simmer 20 minutes. Add in chopped green onion and parsley.

Plate in a bowl on top if steamed white rice. Add Tobasco when needed and enjoy!

a new year, a new start

 

Happy New Year! Well, not quite there, but now's as good a time as any to ring in a brand new year and a fresh start. I'd like to talk a little about new year resolutions, we all set them, and sometimes really mean it or we treat them like wishes of ourselves, and the ball dropping at midnight is the equivalent of blowing out birthday candles. This year I'd like to resolute to being the type of person who really means to make changes.

 

Pictured above is a little representation of a few of my resolution wants. I want to conquer the ukulele, I play a little but nothing with determination. The other is to stop killing plants, I have a little bit of a black thumb. More importantly I wish to express my love towards my family more and be just plain happier. After spending the night talking to my amazing boyfriend, Ryan, I was able to take the hard pills in life and realize the blessings in my life, and about just being plain ol' happy than focusing on what I don't have perfect.

 

 

And, this year I'd like to improve on consistently blogging!

New Things

Never tried juicing before, so happening upon a vintage juicer in my garage, I proceeded to see if fresh juices was something I would grow to enjoy having around more often. I had a great deal of carrots in the fridge that I was never going to finish before they went bad, so this was the best opportunity to try carrot juice. The end result was some super exquisite fresh carrot juice and a lot of extra carrot pulp. I proceeded to turn the pulp into carrot bread!