Taking it easy in the Big Easy – Part 3
Day 3 in the Big Easy started off with:
Haha, well actually it started off with FREE continental breakfast at the hotel. Thennnnn the Maker’s Mark (for Jarrod anyway… I think that stuff tastes like nail polish remover).
After breakfast and some meandering through the French Quarter
Then we stopped at Primo’s for some snacking:
Primo’s got horrible reviews online, but we were dying for some bruschetta and they happened to have it on the menu so we decided to ignore the reviews.
I love how all the bars and restaurants down here are open to the streets. Most of the buildings have huge windows that you can open up and it makes you feel like your are in a courtyard instead of inside the building.
I should also mention that the whether has been AMAZING the whole time we have been here. 80+ degrees, sunny, and no humidity. GLORIOUS!
I’m so glad we ignored those reviews on Primo’s! Take a look at this beauty:
Jarrod said it was the best bruschetta he ever had. I don’t know about the BEST, but it definitely was REALLY friggin delicious.
We also ordered a small margherita pizza:
This was tasty too—just needed a little hot sauce!
After lunch we had some time to kill, so we popped a squat across the street from Jackson Square to watch some street performers.
These guys were actually REALLY good!
And they drew quite the crowd!
It’s crazy what these guys can do with their bodies. I can’t do a pushup let alone hold my whole body up with one arm and spin it around like a helicopter while simultaneously bouncing up and down:
Me and the BF in Jackson Square:
After lunch, we headed to our French Quarter & Cemetery tour (which I purchased on Groupon a month or so ago). The tour only cost us $10 a piece, and it was a self-guided walking tour that lasted 1.5 hours. SCORE!
While walking around the French Quarter a random man shouted out Jarrod “Man you big as an Avatar! Look at that big ole white boy!” Neither of us have seen the movie (so we’re not quite sure how Jarrod reminded the guy of an Avatar), regardless we both busted out in laughter at the man’s explanation (as did the group of people walking behind us). Only in New Orleans 😀
You may be wondering why the heck we wanted to go on a cemetery tour on our vacation. No, it’s not because we are nearing on Halloween. It’s because New Orleans cemeteries are uniquely interesting: 
Since the city is located below sea level, all of the deceased are buried ABOVE the ground.
What’s even more interesting is that family members are added to the tombs over CENTURIES. We passed many tombs where the first family member was buried in the 1800’s and over the years more and more family members were added (even as most recent as 2004)!
Jarrod and the tour guide:
The tour guide told us that this is the tomb Nicholas Cage built for himself:
Even though this tour was REALLY cool, we both felt odd smiling for a picture in front of a tomb (hence the grimace on Jarrod’s face) 😛
After the tour, we headed back to the hotel for our daily afternoon nap (we’re like a bunch of old farts, I swear!).
We were having a lot of debate on where to go for dinner, but settled on Margaritaville. I know, I know… Jimmy Buffet is one of Jarrod’s unstated idols, and neither of us have ever been to Margaritaville, so off we went.
We wanted to push ourselves a little out of our comfort zones, so we opted for the Crab, Shrimp, and Mushroom dip for our appetizer:
It came with delicious garlic bread for dipping. I thought it was actually really good (Jarrod wasn’t quite so keen on it, but he was fully satisfied with the bread).
For dinner we went with the Jambalaya:
Jarrod said this was the best meal he had to date in New Orleans, and I agree it was DELICIOUS. And yes, that is seven (count them) seven pieces of garlic bread that we wolfed down during dinner 🙂
After dinner we strolled over to Bourbon Street and stopped on the backside of Jackson Square to snap a photo of the shadow casted on the backside of the building:
While on Bourbon St this time, we hit up several bars including Club 524, Krazy Korner, and the Bourbon Street Blues Company (again!).
On our walk back to the hotel, we both concurred that our favorite parts of New Orleans were everything we had seen OUTSIDE of Bourbon Street. Bourbon Street is definitely fun and full of crazies, but it is a little too commercialized. We both just prefer the old-world charm of NOLA over the flashing neon lights of Bourbon Street. I do wish we had an extra day in LA to visit the districts outside of the French Quarter, but alas that will have to wait til next time!
N’awlins – part deaux
Day deaux in New Orleans started off as any vacation day should: A HUGE breakfast of course.
We woke up bright and early Err… we headed to breakfast at 11:30…. whatev. Our destination was the Old Coffee Pot Restaurant in the French Quarter.
To our surprise, Guy Fieri had just been to the restaurant last month! How cool! 
The best part of the restaurant (in my opinion) was the AWESOME courtyard, which had a really intricate mural painted on all the walls.
Gentleman admiring the view:
The service was incredibly slow :-/ but I just had to keep reminding myself to take it easy. I’m used to a much faster pace of life than they have down here, that’s for sure. We were able to get some mimosas pretty quickly, so that helped to turn my frown upside down 🙁 –> 🙂
For breakfast we decided on splitting the Creole eggs and potatoes:
And some creole pancakes with mashed bananas:
Jarrod REALLY liked both of the dishes:
I wasn’t real excited about them though. The banana pancakes were super tasty, just too sweet for my breakfast tooth. And I was really caught off guard by the creole sauce. I expected something spicy, but it turned out to taste more like spaghetti sauce! We decided I was thinking of cajun sauce. Hopefully I can score some cajun food in my belly this weekend 🙂
After breakfast, we walked around the French quarter:
We spotted Cafe Du Monde, which was one on my MUST-VISIT places… but since we were still full from breakfast, we didn’t stop.
Then we walked along the Mississippi River
Until we reached the Aquarium! Neither of us have ever been to an Aquarium before, so we were pretty pumped to check it out!
I soon realized it’s incredibly difficult to capture good pictures of an fish in an aquarium!
Jarrod checking out the fishies:
This one makes me laugh every time I look at it 😀
There were two really AWESOME parts of the aquarium. First, was getting to touch sting rays:
Isn’t that out of this world??
In Jarrod’s words, the sting rays were “creepishly smooth.” I didn’t believe him til i mustered up the courage to touch one as well. After several missed attempts, I was able to brush my hand across one of the stingray’s backs. I immediately flung my arm from the water, squealed like a child, and ran over to Jarrod with my hand stuck out it front of me and a look of fright on my face. Hahaha.. I’m fairly certain I scared all the children waiting in line for their turns. What can you expect though, those things really are freakishly smooth!
The second BEST part of the aquarium was one of the final rooms on the tour that had a floor to ceiling GIGANTIC aquarium with HUGE fish, sharks, and turtles: 
I could have sat in here for HOURS! So relaxing.
After the aquarium, we did some more site seeing and then stopped at the Crescent City Brewhouse for a drink:
Even though neither of us are beer drinkers, we both thought the fermentation tanks were pretty cool!
Next stop: Johnny Po-Boys for lunch!
We split the chicken po-boy and the shrimp po-boy:
Then headed back to the hotel for some much needed sleep! First stop on the dinner path was Pat O’briens Courtyard:
This picture really doesn’t do the courtyard any justice (darn night time pictures). Just trust me that it was AMAZING.
For dinner we split the sampler, which consisted of Jambalaya, Chicken and Sausage Gumbo, and Red beans and rice:
This was hands-down our best meal to date in New Orleans. My favorite was the jambalaya, and Jarrod’s favorite was the gumbo. Don’t worry, we wolfed down the red beans and rice too 😀
After dinner, we made a much anticipated return to Cafe Du Monde!
I have been waiting to try these Beignets (French doughnuts) for MONTHS.
That is an extreme amount of powdered sugar! Ready to dive in!
These beignets were so hot and friggin delicious. Heaven in my mouth I kid you not. We may have to make another stop at Cafe Du Monde this weekend 🙂
After hitting up a few local establishments, we headed to the Casino to get our gamble on. I was feeling lucky, so I popped $5 into a 2 cent slot machine. About 5 minutes later, I decided to pull my money out:
Don’t worry, I lost the remaining 40 cents on a penny slot a few minutes later.
Jarrod nearly lost his $10, but luckily he hit the jackpot on his last spin and was able to get his total up to $9.94!
Given that I didn’t pay for any of my drinks, and that I got to keep the 94 cents because Jarrod hates having change in his pockets, I’d say I came out the TRUE winner this evening 🙂
N’awlins – part deaux
Day deaux in New Orleans started off as any vacation day should: A HUGE breakfast of course.
We woke up bright and early Err… we headed to breakfast at 11:30…. whatev. Our destination was the Old Coffee Pot Restaurant in the French Quarter.
To our surprise, Guy Fieri had just been to the restaurant last month! How cool! 
The best part of the restaurant (in my opinion) was the AWESOME courtyard, which had a really intricate mural painted on all the walls.
Gentleman admiring the view:
The service was incredibly slow :-/ but I just had to keep reminding myself to take it easy. I’m used to a much faster pace of life than they have down here, that’s for sure. We were able to get some mimosas pretty quickly, so that helped to turn my frown upside down 🙁 –> 🙂
For breakfast we decided on splitting the Creole eggs and potatoes:
And some creole pancakes with mashed bananas:
Jarrod REALLY liked both of the dishes:
I wasn’t real excited about them though. The banana pancakes were super tasty, just too sweet for my breakfast tooth. And I was really caught off guard by the creole sauce. I expected something spicy, but it turned out to taste more like spaghetti sauce! We decided I was thinking of cajun sauce. Hopefully I can score some cajun food in my belly this weekend 🙂
After breakfast, we walked around the French quarter:
We spotted Cafe Du Monde, which was one on my MUST-VISIT places… but since we were still full from breakfast, we didn’t stop.
Then we walked along the Mississippi River
Until we reached the Aquarium! Neither of us have ever been to an Aquarium before, so we were pretty pumped to check it out!
I soon realized it’s incredibly difficult to capture good pictures of an fish in an aquarium!
Jarrod checking out the fishies:
This one makes me laugh every time I look at it 😀
There were two really AWESOME parts of the aquarium. First, was getting to touch sting rays:
Isn’t that out of this world??
In Jarrod’s words, the sting rays were “creepishly smooth.” I didn’t believe him til i mustered up the courage to touch one as well. After several missed attempts, I was able to brush my hand across one of the stingray’s backs. I immediately flung my arm from the water, squealed like a child, and ran over to Jarrod with my hand stuck out it front of me and a look of fright on my face. Hahaha.. I’m fairly certain I scared all the children waiting in line for their turns. What can you expect though, those things really are freakishly smooth!
The second BEST part of the aquarium was one of the final rooms on the tour that had a floor to ceiling GIGANTIC aquarium with HUGE fish, sharks, and turtles: 
I could have sat in here for HOURS! So relaxing.
After the aquarium, we did some more site seeing and then stopped at the Crescent City Brewhouse for a drink:
Even though neither of us are beer drinkers, we both thought the fermentation tanks were pretty cool!
Next stop: Johnny Po-Boys for lunch!
We split the chicken po-boy and the shrimp po-boy:
Then headed back to the hotel for some much needed sleep! First stop on the dinner path was Pat O’briens Courtyard:
This picture really doesn’t do the courtyard any justice (darn night time pictures). Just trust me that it was AMAZING.
For dinner we split the sampler, which consisted of Jambalaya, Chicken and Sausage Gumbo, and Red beans and rice:
This was hands-down our best meal to date in New Orleans. My favorite was the jambalaya, and Jarrod’s favorite was the gumbo. Don’t worry, we wolfed down the red beans and rice too 😀
After dinner, we made a much anticipated return to Cafe Du Monde!
I have been waiting to try these Beignets (French doughnuts) for MONTHS.
That is an extreme amount of powdered sugar! Ready to dive in!
These beignets were so hot and friggin delicious. Heaven in my mouth I kid you not. We may have to make another stop at Cafe Du Monde this weekend 🙂
After hitting up a few local establishments, we headed to the Casino to get our gamble on. I was feeling lucky, so I popped $5 into a 2 cent slot machine. About 5 minutes later, I decided to pull my money out:
Don’t worry, I lost the remaining 40 cents on a penny slot a few minutes later.
Jarrod nearly lost his $10, but luckily he hit the jackpot on his last spin and was able to get his total up to $9.94!
Given that I didn’t pay for any of my drinks, and that I got to keep the 94 cents because Jarrod hates having change in his pockets, I’d say I came out the TRUE winner this evening 🙂
Big Easy – Part 1
Here’s a recap of our first day in the Big Easy:
Jarrod almost fell down the escalator in the airport. Sadly, I did not capture this on video.
We hopped in a cab and headed to the hotel, which is right on the border of the business district and the French quarter.
Our hotel is super old and super charming:
After we cleaned up, we headed to the French Quarter and stopped in at the first restaurant that caught our eye: Jean Lafitte Bistro… though oddly that wasn’t the name on the front of the building… Peculiar…
View from restaurant balcony:
Dinner!
This pasta sauce was RIDICULOUSLY amazing (though both of us weren’t impressed with the sausage).
I love the old-world charm of all of the buildings here:
After dinner we headed to drinks and some live music at the Blues Club:
Then drinks at the Beach:
Hello Bourbon Street!
Next stop, the Bourbon Street Blues Company
Cheese!
Annnnnd then we went back to the hotel and passed out! Long day of fun in the Big Easy!!
A whole day of FOOD
Guess who forgot her camera cord at home today??? That’s right, one fervent-frazzled-foodie 😀
That’s ok, now I get to take my time with this lovely Thursday post, rather than rushing through a lunch-time blog session!
Today should have marked Day #1, Week #6 of my interval training plan… But unfortunately during my run in Charlotte Tuesday morning I started to have some knee pain 🙁
I haven’t had any problems throughout my entire interval plan. I think the pain was probably caused by having to run on the sidewalks in the city in combination with the TON of walking we did on vacation.
When I woke up this morning, I was still feeling a little pain in my knee. I think I’m going to forgo running outside for a week before attempting to pick up on my intervals again. Hopefully that will be sufficient time for me to get right back on track. Until then, I’ll stick to the low-impact elliptical.
Can’t believe tomorrow is Friday already! Love short workweeks–even if it has been a hectic one. You can always gauge my level of overwhelmsion at work by the cleanliness of my desk. Case in point, today my desk looked like it might try to swallow me whole at any moment:
Breakfast #1
Leftover’s from the scramble I made Tuesday night:
This was tasty, but I was really craving some eggins with turkey sausage. Think I’ll have to pull some of my Jennie O’s out of the freezer tonight!
Stats on B#1: 141 calories, 13g carbs, 1g fat, 19g protein, 3g fiber
Breakfast #2
Long-awaited return of OVERNIGHT OATS! Missed these guys so much on vacation! I actually contemplated packing OO supplies to take on my vacation, but once I saw the exorbitant amount of food I packed I decided against it. I also nixed bringing the immersion blender and almond milk to make smoothies… haha 🙂
Last night, I mixed up:
- 1/2 cup uncooked quick oats
- 1/2 cup Almond Breeze Unsweetened Almond Milk
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- sprinkling of cinnamon
This morning, I topped the overnight oats with fresh strawberries and blueberries:
GLORIOUS!
Speaking of overnight oats, I get a whole lot of questions on how to make these. If you’re intrigued, check out my Overnight Oats Addition to the Foodie Q&A Page. Also check out the recipe page for some ideas on what to put in your overnight oats!
Stats on B#2: 200 calories, 36g carbs, 5g fat, 6g protein, 6g fiber
Lunch
While making last night’s dinner, I threw and extra chicken breast on the grill for my lunch today. I was feeling a little saucy 😉 so I decided to make up some healthified buffalo chicken.
This time, I used the following:
- 4 ounces grilled chicken with Montreal Chicken Seasoning
- S&P, Garlic Powder
- 1/4 cup Stonyfield Farms fat-free plain yogurt
- 1/4 cup Frank’s red hot
Lucky for me, this mixture made enough for 2 wraps so I saved the other half for tomorrow. I put the buffalo chicken on a Mama Lupe’s low carb tortilla:
Then topped with some tomato and onion:
I was super excited for lunch ALL day today… couldn’t wait to devour this spicy treat.
Last time I made this buffalo chicken salad, I used a lot less sauce. I think I prefer it extra saucy 🙂
On the side, I had a jumbo salad with romaine, tomato, onion, banana pepper, green pepper, and 2 tbsp Ken’s Steakhouse lite Italian Romano dressing:
Stats on Wrap & Salad: 302 calories, 34g carbs, 9g fat, 28g protein, 10g fiber
Dinner
While trying to decide what to make for dinner, I came across a bag of calabacita veggies in the freezer:
This reminded me of my shrimp quesadillas, which sounded likes a fabulous idea for dinner.
Here’s what went into the quesadillas:
First I carefully sliced a Joseph’s low-carb tortilla in half, then I topped it with a quarter of the bag of steamed calabacita veggies, a thinly sliced light mini baybel cheese round, and three large grilled shrimp that I had seasoned with lime juice, S&P, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, and red pepper flakes:
I put the other half of the pita on top of my masterpiece and grilled on the george foreman for 4 minutes until the cheese was melty and the pita was crispy. Then I topped with 2 tbsp Breakstone’s Fat Free sour cream, 1/2 a plum tomato, 1/4 cup red onion, and some banana peppers:
I love it when a meal is healthy and tastes AMAZING like this one did. Look how yummy:
On the side, I had 1 cup each of roasted broccoli and cauliflower:
These veggies were seasoned with Black pepper, garlic salt, and onion powder. I placed them on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray and gave them a good toss before roasting in a 415 degree oven for 15 minutes. Y-U-M.
Next time I make quesadillas I think I’ll sub in some pinto beans for the shrimp and make a vegetarian quesadilla with TONS and TONS of veggies…. mmm can’t wait! 🙂
Stats on the quesadilla & fixins: 296 calories, 34g carbs, 6g fat, 24g protein, 69g fiber
Stats on the roasted veggies: 55 calories, 11g carbs, 0g fat, 4g protein, 5g fiber
All together now: 351 calories, 45g carbs, 6g fat, 30g protein, 11g fiber
Late-Night Snack
Post-dinner snack tonight was a delicious fruit smoothie. I put the following into the blender:
- 1/4 cup plain Stonyfield Farms Fat-Free Yogurt
- 1/4 cup Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
- 1 packet truvia
- 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
- 1 cup spinach
- 1/4 cup frozen blackberries
- 1/2 cup ice cubes
Blueberry bliss:
How can healthy foods taste so darn good?? Still baffles me!
All together now: 101 calories, 23g carbs, 1g fat, 6g protein, 5g fiber
Special Surprise
As you may recall, the BF was out of the country for work on my birthday, and the day after he returned, we headed to Charlotte/Charleston. On vacation, he told me my present was “too big” to bring to Charleston, so I’d have to wait til we got home. He also expressed some worries that I wasn’t going to like the gift… Uh oh… 😯
All I really wanted for my birthday was a night out in Charleston and a cupcake — (which I got several times over on vaca!), so I wasn’t too worried about the gift.
Last night was THE NIGHT. I sat down with two nicely wrapped presents. I was super excited to open them, albeit slightly apprehensive.
Here’s what was in the packages:
If you are like me, you’re probably wondering what the heck I’d use two travel guides to New Orleans for. Maybe you are quicker at gathering the facts than me…. but for those who aren’t: WE’RE GOING TO NEW ORLEANS IN OCTOBER!!!! How awesome is that?!?!? Flights and hotel are already booked! Now all I have to do is research all the best places to eat 😀
QUESTION: What’s the best surprise and/or birthday present you have ever received?