New Orleans Trip 2016: Activities & Tips!

Alex & I at the Running of the Bulls NOLA 2016

This year’s trip to New Orleans was just so much fun! We definitely tried out some new experiences than years before and are excited to share them with you. When I knew my husband was going to be in NOLA for a conference, the first thing I did was visit the New Orleans Events Calendar for 2016 hand this is where the fun all started. Here is my 2016 list of fun activities and tips for NOLA (don’t forget to review my NOLA Top 10 Here):

1) The San Fermin in Nueva Orleans: The Running of the Bulls Festival in New Orleans.

When I was checking the calendar of events for things to do when we were in NOLA in July, I came across the San Fermin in Nueva Orleans and was instantly curious. Turns out…you can participate in the running of the bulls…but the bulls…are roller derby ladies strapped with whiffle-ball bats!! WHAT?!?! IS THIS THE COOLEST THING I HAVE EVER READ?!? Yes. Indeed it was. Every single person we met was awesome. The drinks were great. The music was great. Everything about this festival was great. We will be back, hopefully every single year, to participate in this event.

We made it to the end of the race!

Budget-Friendly Hamburger Lentil Vegetable Soup

This is a delicious & simple & very inexpensive recipe that you can make as your main dish chocked full of fiber and nutrients!  I'll be surprised if you pay over $10.00 for all of these ingredients. When I was interning at the health department before I became a Registered Dietitian, one of the coolest things I saw was a recipe sheet for people who received WIC benefits but didn't know what to do with the food they were getting.  With this recipe, Mom's were able to put together a nutritious meal using the dried lentils, carrots, and tomato juice they were receiving.  I put this together in a pot for some of the WIC clients to sample and it was a huge hit.  One of my favorite days of my internship.  I still make it often because it FREEZES so well (I always double the recipe because of this) and I vary between adding hamburger and eating it without any meat.

 I hope you enjoy! Makes 6 Servings

RIP you dirty, dirty pans

My family and I are moving into the home that I think we will live in for the rest of our lives.  As a Mom, I always want to spend more money on my children than myself.  I think this is normal, when speaking with other parents.  However, sometimes that is just plain inappropriate.  I am extremely embarrassed to show you all this, but I have had the same set of Teflon pans for 10 years.  I am ashamed to say that the secret ingredient to my dishes may have been those extra crunchy flakes of Teflon or non-stick coating, but lets hope that is not the case.  I needed to make an investment in my family's health, and in myself as the nutrition expert in the house.

Before:                                                                        After:

After doing some research while trying to decide what kind of pans to purchase, I found that non-stick coatings on pans tend to wear off within a year or two of use.  Where does that coating go?  In your food.  To make matters worse for me, I have a beautiful set of stainless steel utensils that were given to me on our wedding date over 7 years ago.  The quality is impeccable still!  However, we used those utensils on my Teflon pans, irresponsibly, which caused many scratches and damage.  Stainless Steel pans are extremely durable and can be a lifelong investment.  I chose pans with copper for even heat distribution.  You might argue that stainless steel pans are too expensive.  I went to Bed, Bath, & Beyond and got the Emeril 10 piece set, which came with a free cast-iron grill pan and griddle, for only $130.00 with my 20% off-one-item coupon.  If you have to replace non-stick pans every two years, then I should have spent much more than that over the course of my ten years with my old, dirty, dirty pans.  In my honest opinion, unless you can take wonderful care of your non-stick pans and plan to replace them every two-years, make the investment in some stainless steel pans and cook your heart out!

Quick & Yummy Pasta with Veggies & Garlic Bread

Here's a really easy meal for someone who has 20 minutes to make a meal:

• I box Barilla Plus Penne pasta
• 1 container of Philly Cooking Creme (my favorite is the Italian Cheese & Herb)
• 1 small summer squash
• 1 small zucchini
• 4 slices of garlic bread

Start by boiling some water for the penne and preheat your oven for the garlic bread. Cut up the zucchini and summer squash. When the water starts to boil, cook the pasta according to the directions on the box (roughly 11 minutes). While the pasta is cooking, put the garlic bread in the oven, and place 2 tablespoons of oil (I prefer a canola/olive oil blend) and saute the vegetables. When the pasta is cooked and drained, put the Philly Cooking Creme into the pasta and stir. Place the vegetables over the pasta and accompany with a slice of garlic bread. Put a nice crack of black pepper over the pasta and it's ready to go! Serve with a side of fresh fruit or salad for added nutrients and fiber. The pasta makes 6 serving. The nutrition analysis is based on a serving of pasta and a slice of garlic bread: Calories per serving: 396; Total Fat: 12.5g/serving; Protein: 16g/serving; Carbohydrates: 55g/serving; Fiber: 5g/serving; Sodium: 470mg/serving.  Also, I bought the box of pasta on sale for $1.00, one zucchini and one summer squash for $1.38, Philly Cooking Creme on sale for $1.50, and the garlic bread for $0.99 for a total of:  $4.87.  That is $0.81 per serving!

Greek Yogurt: The popular kid in school

I love, love, love Greek yogurt.  I love the texture &  I love the slight bitter twang that you experience when you eat it.  I am not a huge meat eater so finding an excellent protein source is like finding a gold mine for me.  I have tried almost every type of Greek yogurt available and my favorite is Chobani's Pineapple or Pomegranate flavors Chobani Yogurt.  However, today I had the opportunity to try the Laura Lynn Nonfat Blueberry Greek yogurt.  It is just as delicious as the Chobani brand yogurts and I would probably say I liked the consistency a little better (not as thick).  Laura Lynn is the Ingles Markets brand product and for those of you who have an Ingles Market around you, an excellent, cost-efficient alternative to paying for name brand food items.  See if there is an Ingles near you:  Ingles Markets.  If not, check and see if your local store has an alternative brand product to compare.

Why is Greek yogurt so popular now?  Most Greek yogurts are low-fat or non-fat, packing a lot of hunger-satisfying protein into a lower calorie food option.  These yogurts often contain probiotics, which help to encourage a healthy gut, therefore a healthy immune system.  Additionally, they contain a good dose of Calcium (this particular yogurt had 15% of your daily value).  Some people argue that they are too expensive.  Since the high amount of protein in the yogurt keeps you satisfied for a longer period of time, you can combine it with a 1/2 a cup of a nice fiber-containing cereal (such as Fiber One) or put some extra fruit in there for a low-calorie, easy breakfast.  In fact, I bought this yogurt for $1.00 on sale.  Leave the saturated fat and grease at the dollar menu and pick up a Greek yogurt today!

Coupons for Beginners

I love using coupons.  I especially love using coupons when I am buying an item that is already on sale. The problem is, I do not have a ton of time to devote to couponing, in fact, I have completely ignored all of the extreme couponing shows because they will only get me fired-up to taking my thriftiness to a whole new level that I just do not have time for. 

Having my young ladies in the house, I do have some pretty standard weekly staples that I include into my budget.  One is for them:  Simply GoGurt  & One is for me:  Coffee.  And when I say Coffee...I mean fancy coffee.  I don't like your standard coffee (such as a regular brick of coffee, or even a can of coffee).  I like a good grind the beans, let it brew, followed by an "I just stepped out of a Christmas Folger's commercial" cup of coffee.  But with this expensive taste and the increasing cost of coffee, I feel better if I can get a deal on it. 

There are always coupons for Simply Go-Gurt http://yoplait.com/SimplyGogurt/ which is both Mom-the-Dietitian & Kid approved.  The ladies love it as an easy snack because it's fun to eat and it tastes good.  I love it because it's a good dose of calcium & it is a healthy snack choice.  And you can freeze it to trick the kids into thinking they are having "dessert".  Whahaha!

Here are a few of my favorite coupon sites:
For those in the South:  www.southernsavers.com :  This site links the ads to the coupon match-ups.  It's pretty much perfect.  Sometimes you have to sign into a product site to get a coupon, but that works out because often they send you more coupons!

For every one else:  www.couponsuzy.com and http://smartsource.com :  Start saving now!