Another One Bites the Dust......... a.k.a. Stephen's Birthday

Over the past weekend, I celebrated my 28th birthday. I decided that I had been working too much and not taking a chance to relax, so I took off the weekend, packed my bags and Jesse & I went to Houston. I enjoyed spending my birthday with family as my parents also drove over and we all stayed with my sister and her husband.

To show how much relaxing we indulged in, below are the pictures of our breakfast as we left out of Baton Rouge on Friday morning. Lets take a wild guess at who has which breakfast??

If you guessed that I enjoyed the traditional Chocolate Milk and Mary Lee Donuts, you would be correct. Jesse enjoyed a nice breakfast from Community Coffee House consisting of a Latte and cake.

Of course after Jesse enjoyed breakfast and we hit the open road, she quickly pulled out her favorite travel companion, her pillow and blanket. Can you feel the love from her on my 5 hour drive as she sleeps? Not to fear, about an hour and forty-five minutes in, we had to stop in for gas. As I woke her up to let her know we were having a fill up with gas, stretch, and bathroom stop, I jokingly said, "Want to go hold baby alligators across the street??" Granted I've seen this place a bunch of times driving to Houston, but have never stopped to go. But to my surprise, she responded, " Heck yea I wanna hold a baby gator." So hopefully she'll forgive me for posting this picture below, but she was already in her sleep portion of the trip when she was suddenly woke up for this experience.

On Friday night, before dinner, Jesse and my sister and mother went and enjoyed a pedicure in Rice Village. After returning, my sister and brother-in-law wanted to take Jesse and I out for dinner to get to know her a little better, since this was the first time since we started dating that they had a chance to meet her. So we decided since it was still Lent and on a Friday, to head over to Woodrow's in The Heights for some boiled Crawfish.

Jesse and I decided to grab and early morning run on Saturday. Since the train and dogs woke us up early, we headed out about 8 am. We went to the nearby Buffalo Bayou Walking trail. We started towards downtown Houston, unfortunately it was rather foggy still, so in the pictures you couldn't see the sky-scrapers. Instead for your viewing pleasure, we provide a stretch of the trail through the trees.

After we finished our run, we headed back to my sisters to clean up and grab breakfast. My brother-in-law once again out did himself on the breakfast prepared for six people at 9 am. It was a good start to the day, which parlayed into our trip up to Cypress to the Houston Premium Outlets. This was a major item on the agenda for both Jesse and I as we had both been getting into better shape and as everyone knows, when you lose weight and inches exercising, your clothes begin to fall off and no longer fit. So Jesse was mainly looking for jeans, shorts, and some cute tops. I on the other hand had a main focus on jeans, with the wondering eye looking out for dress pants for work, some new khaki shorts, and some casual shirts. My sister and mom took the opportunity to go with us as well and the below shot of Jesse's SUV shows everyone's success in Cypress.

After the outlet mall, we made a quick b line to Chuy's Mexican Restaurant for dinner. We met up with my dad and brother-in-law, Mike. As always, Chuy's hit the spot with the delicious food, even though I was a little disappointed they would not substitute beef for chicken on the chimichanga.

Sunday morning, Jesse and I went with my parents to church in Memorial park for Palm Sunday. I must admit that having the priests we did was enjoyable. One of the priests was from the United Kingdom and he waved the palms around as someone at a sporting events would wave a rally towel. Unfortunately, my mind continued to wonder and somewhat have the occasional laugh at the thought of him at a Manchester United match. Like I said, my mind can wonder at times. But my mom looked it up when we got back to Baton Rouge and apparently the church wants us to celebrate with the palms as he was doing.

After church we stopped at a local nursery and picked up some herb plants to bring back and rejuvenate our herb garden. We then met up with everyone at Saltgrass Steak House for my birthday lunch. Aside from the pair of screaming kids next to us just to hear themselves scream, as the parents laughed and didn't try to calm the situation, it was a great lunch. I enjoyed the 6 oz. Filet Mignon wrapped in bacon topped with Bleu Cheese crumbles and melted butter served with mashed potatoes and caesar salad. Jesse enjoyed a 6 oz. Sirloin Steak served with soup.

Jesse and I broke away and headed to the Galleria to walk around and look at various stores, but I learned a quadrant to keep her away from. I know in a few years that I will need to keep her away from the quadrant of Sephora, Tory Burch, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Kate Spade, and Zara. Other than that quadrant, her eyes never really lit up.

After leaving the Galleria, we headed over to Trader Joe's to see what we've heard so much about and get a preview of what's coming to Baton Rouge. We grabbed some great things which aren't available in Baton Rouge, so we'll definitely be shopping there when it opens. And of course, I can't go without saying that while Jesse was having a pedicure, the men headed to Spec's and I was able to find one of Jesse's favorite wines, Covey Run.

It was time to head back to Baton Rouge and what does Jesse do?? And of course, she grabs the pillow and blanket out. 

We all enjoyed the nice break from the busy schedule and getting to relax in Houston for my birthday was the perfect choice. Even though I hate the fact that I'm climbing in age, at least with Jesse by my side and family around, I'll be aging like a fine wine only getting better as the years pass by.

Chef Masterpiece: Remoulade Sauce made from scratch

A few weeks ago I promised to share my recipe for making my special Remoulade Sauce and today I have the step by step process to help you create this great sauce. This sauce is not only great for boudin balls, but also for alligator, some fried fish, and it also serves as a great salad dressing.

Stephen's Homemade Remoulade Sauce

Nutritional Facts per serving (Serving size 1 Tablespoon):
43.6 calories, 3.2g Fat, 3.2g Cholesterol, 250.2g Sodium, 1.8g Potassium, 2.4g Carbs, 0g Fiber, 
0.1g Sugars, 0g Protein, 1.1% Vitamin A, 0.6% Vitamin C, 0% Calcium, 0.1% Iron

Ingredients: 

1 Tbsp of finely minced bell pepper

1/4 cup of finely diced onion

1/2 cup Ketchup

2 Tsp  Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp Capers, strained and diced
1/4 cup plus 3 Tbsp Mayonnaise
3 Tbsp Horseradish

1/2 Tsp Cajun Seasoning
2 Tsp Hot Sauce
                  

Mardi Gras 2013

We skipped our workout this Tuesday in favor of this:

Originally on the agenda for Mardi Gras was a simple trip to the gym and some more prep cooking, but a sudden spur-of-the-moment trip changed the day's plans. I had the great idea to take hold of the tradition we were raised around, Mardi Gras. We decided to take a quick trip over to Lafayette for some parades and lunch. Our trip to Lafayette for Mardi Gras included many fun adventures, including checking out my old stomping grounds, THE University of Louisiana........ at Lafayette. (Sorry, I'm waiting for Jesse to jump in about all the massive branding around campus saying University of Louisiana, with no "at Lafayette" attached to the name.)

*Rant from Jesse: I get angry about UL-Lafayette branding themselves as The University of Louisiana. There are multiple universities in the University of Louisiana system, including my alma mater, The University of Louisiana at Monroe. Eventually Stephen will get tired of bringing up our rivalry ;)

One of my favorite things about campus is the face that we have Mardi Gras parades roll right through it.

Only in Louisiana will you find two different
Crossfit locations sponsoring Mardi Gras floats

Before we left the parade and ULL's campus, we stopped by my favorite spot on campus, Cypress Lake. Since the business building was only twenty yards from Cypress Lake, I visited often when I was a student at ULL. I enjoy being able to brag to others that my university has a real swamp in the middle of campus and legitimately has over a dozen alligators in it, some ranging up to 6 feet in size. The university has an agreement to remove the alligators at 6 feet and move them to the Atchafalaya Basin so that it does not stun their growth, and then they replace those with baby alligators.

An alligator covered in marshy swamp water

Us standing near the swamp

I brought Jesse to a place I grew fond of when I was spending a lot of my time in Lafayette for school, Prejean's Cajun Restaurant. Not only do I find this restaurant to be some of the best food in South Louisiana period, I also enjoyed visiting friends who worked there while listening to the live Zydeco bands playing the night away with Cajun music. We both enjoyed some delicious food as you can see below.

Prejean's Restaurant near Lafayette, LA

Almost anyone who knows me knows that I'm a very picky eater, especially when it comes to vegetables, but put a few Cajun dishes in front of me and I forget the meaning of the word vegetable. Granted, at Prejean's I went with my all-time favorite Cajun dish, Fried Alligator. Most people think it would be disgusting or taste like chicken, but I'll be the first to tell you that the flavor is all of its own and either blackened or fried, it's delicious to eat. I actually buy the alligator tail meat to cook at home sometimes. I think people underestimate wild game. The meat is delicious to eat as well as being rather low in fat and calories.

Jesse decided to try a dish I have eaten on numerous occasions, as well as my mother's all-time favorite Prejean's dishes, Crawfish Enchiladas. The mixture of crawfish, cheese, and flavorful vegetables are like none other when this dish is served.

Stephen's choice (Top Picture): Croc de Jacques
(Fried alligator and hushpuppies)
Jesse's choice (Bottom Picture): Crawfish Enchilada

Here is one of Prejean's slogans.....