There is something so incredible about Louisiana strawberries that I can’t get enough of them. A few days ago, I made some iced green tea, and after convincing myself that it didn’t look like a jar out of Howard Hughe’s home collection, I realized it wasn’t as satisfying as I wanted it to be.

It needed some gorgeous, sweet, perfect strawberries!

Strawberry Simple Syrup Recipe :

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 1 lb strawberries, hulled & sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and simmer on a low heat. I left it on for about two 30 Rock episodes on Netflix. We don’t have any clocks in our kitchen, so I time things by TV. It works. I separated the syrup from the compote strawberries and saved them in different jars.

Here are a few different things I tried out with the syrup ::

Strawberry Pimm’s Cup :: Favorite, favorite, favorite. I could drink these all day and all night.

• 2 oz Pimm’s
• 1 1/2 oz Hendrick’s gin
• 1 oz strawberry syrup
• lemonade

There were similar experiments in mixing involving tequila, which were delicious in their own right. Ryan also used some of the residual berries to garnish one of his super fancy mint juleps, but I haven’t the slightest clue how he makes them.

And, of course, my improved “took the healthy right out of that” green tea!

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Last week, I tried my hand at making homemade Popsicles! I ordered a set of molds off of Amazon and set to work.

In a blender, I mixed up a banana, a can of cream of coconut, and a can of crushed pineapple in its juice. I had a TON of mix left over after I filled the molds, so I blended in some Myer’s Rum and made pina colada cubes!

I might have used a little too much rum, because they are strong! I’ve only had little spoons at a time and it feels like I’m doing a shot. A cold, creamy, delicious shot.

I’d love to learn some more Pop recipes, so please share if you’ve got any!

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I’ve been dying to go get a hard-core peel off a layer of skin exfoliating scrub the last few months, but just haven’t had had the time or the extra money to spend a day at a spa. Instead, I made some coarse sea salt scrub at home, and it worked just as well – and cost a tiny percent of what I would have spent!

What you’ll need :

• 1 cup coarse sea salt
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon orange zest

Mix up the salt and the coconut oil, adding just a little bit of oil at a time. I didn’t melt down the coconut oil beforehand, so it was still a bit thick, so I had to stir it up quite a bit so that it didn’t clump. You might want to use a little more or a little less, depending on your own preference. Drizzle the lemon oil & orange zest, mixing all the while, and that’s it!

All together, the ingredients totalled around $15. I had everything in the house already, so I can’t say for sure. I used Organic Expeller Pressed Virgin Coconut Oil and Coarse Mediterranean Sea Salt, both from Whole Foods 365 brand.

I used two scoops tonight (each sized as pictured below), and still have a ton left over. Between this and my beloved Lush Big shampoo, my tub is going to feel like I’ve spent every day swimming in the ocean!

I originally found the recipe on Pinterest, and just altered it a bit. I think the original poster used almond or vegetable oil, but I had the coconut in the house, and I love the way it smells! Coconut oil is also a great moisturizer, so that’s an added bonus.

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Needless to say, my entire body chemistry was altered. Obviously, quitting smoking impacted my metabolism, and the first few months definitely heightened my sweet tooth. I’d find myself stopping off to buy Butterfingers bars, going through gallons of Ben & Jerry’s, and gorging like a happy little diabetic-to-be.

I felt like the garbage I was eating, and I was gaining weight pretty quickly.  And, for some reason, I kept on going with it almost all year.

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At this point, I feel like I should add a disclaimer.  I am in no way fishing for compliments on how thin I am, that I look great, or any of the other things a lot of girls expect to hear when they start in on the “OMG, I need to lose so much weight!”. I know that I’m not over weight. I know that I was pretty underweight for a very long time, and that wasn’t healthy, either.  I do know that I don’t feel great about myself right now, and that I shouldn’t feel like hell after I eat. And  that’s why I’m doing something about it.

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Just about a year ago, I was waiting in line at a bookstore, and there was a display next to me for Tim Ferriss’ 4 Hour Body book. I bought it, read it cover to cover, and it made sense to me. Some of it, at least. There was so way I was going to start taking ice cold showers, and I’m not all that interested in tripling my testosterone or gaining huge amounts of muscle mass. That aside, The Slow Carb Diet plan was smart. It excludes sugars, fruits, and grains, and encourages meals consisting solely of proteins, greens, and legumes. It also has included in it one Cheat Day a week, where you should binge on whatever you want. It claims that not only will this one day a week prevent you from cheating the rest of the week, but by spiking your caloric intake, your metabolic rate won’t slow to the reduced diet, thus always burning more fat.

Fonderia's Mean Biscuits

I ate myself so stupid on Cheat Days that I threw up more than once, and had massive food hangovers the following day. It was a double edged sword.  On one side, it really showed me how what I ingest really, truly affects my well-being in every sense. I’d be groggy, bloated, and have a headache.  On the flip side, it gave me a terrible mentality of “well, I could just have a little mini-cheat right now”.

We all do things that are bad for us. All of us do it, and we do it all the time.

I fell right back into pizza and sandwiches, fries and ice cream, and wound up right back where I started. I felt gross and way too full all of the time.

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Late summer of last year, I started doing some more research about Slow Carb and No Carb diets, and found out about The Paleo Diet.  It follows the basic rules of our roots as hunters and gatherers – if it’s real food, eat it. Eat what our bodies are designed to ingest and turn into fuel, without all the added crap. We weren’t built to handle refined sugars or grains, preservatives, neon colored additives, or whatever those multisyllabic science experiment sounding ingredients are.

So, I gave that a go, and I felt AWESOME. I had tons of energy, every meal was multi-colored and delicious, and I never felt like I was going to burst after I ate.  Somewhere along the path between then and now, I fell off the wagon. I gained back all the weight I had dropped while Paleo-ing it up, and I am now recognizing the err of my ways.

As of yesterday, I’m back in the game. I’m totally sick and tired of feeling sick because of something I’m consciously doing to myself.  I’ve past the 24 hour mark with no sugar and no grains. I drank my coffee black with no sugar, skipped the Po-Boys and King Cakes I’ve been indulging in since moving, and bought some fresh produce and chicken breast at the grocery store.

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For lunch yesterday, I hit the salad bar at Whole Foods, which might be my new home away from home. I forget exactly what was in it, but I remember finding some chicken breast, baby spinach leaves, strawberries, and pecans.

Dinner was a chicken and peppers sautee that is so easy to make, and totally delicious.

You’ll need :

• 2 skinless chicken breasts, sliced or cubed – I always get the hormone free, vegetarian diet happy meat. Read your labels!
• 2 red bell peppers, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1/2 white onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp coconut oil

Sautee the onions in the coconut oil until they’re golden. This will smell amazing. I stood over the pan the entire time taking breaths so deep I got a little lightheaded.  Throw in your peppers, and when they start to brown, add your chicken. I stir it around from time to time, just to make sure everything is cooking evenly. Cover it up and let everything marinate in each other for about ten minutes, and then serve!

We added a scoop of Whole Foods Spicy Guacamole to each serving, and it gave it a really nice little kick!

Today for lunch, we had the leftovers, which are even better the second day. For a snack, I had about 2 oz. of raw almonds with strawberries. I could eat every almond in the world if put in front of me, so I’m now conditioning myself to measure them out.  I only had coffee for breakfast, and was ready to eat by noon. I’m going to be creating a breakfast menu for myself soon, even though I’ve never been a big morning eater.

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Since I’ve now went on at great length about all of this, I’ll let you to it.  Here are a few links that I’ve found informative, should you find yourself interested in reading up a bit more about the Paleo diet & its many health benefits.

Robb Wolf’s FAQ
Paleo Food List
The Paleo Diet
The Paleo Diet Wiki
Nom Nom Paleo - great recipe resource!

Expect more updates on my adventures in food!

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For a million and one reasons, The Mister and I packed up all of our belongings, bid farewell to New York City, and moved into this shotgun house in the most magical and amazing city in the world, New Orleans.

Our last home was decorated in what we liked to think of as a “Martha Stewart Opium Den”.  We had lots of overlapping carpets, piles of books and movies, and overstuffed furniture.  We also had a lot more space, and a lot less windows, than we do now.  This time around, we wanted to make the most of the space we now have, eliminate the clutter, and enhance the enormous amount of natural light we get. Of the fifty boxes of books we sent down (Yeah, I said fifty. We’re well-fucking-read), we only kept a very select few titles out, and left a few shelves open for future additions.

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Aside from the books, we decorated the living room with bits and pieces from both of us. Ryan is a very gifted bartender, with a passion for fancy pants cocktails, and has a very complete bar.  We were able to fit it all onto a baker’s rack we inherited from my dad last year, and have all the bottles of liquor and bitters displayed.  Our mantel is a combination of bits and pieces that we’ve collected over the years, and Ryan’s one artistic endeavor – which is a pretty awesome piece, in my opinion.

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The new home is influenced in part by Sleep No More, the very odd and interactive production we saw this past fall. There are actors, and there is a running storyline throughout, but we spent our entire experience in the Hotel exploring the very intricately dressed sets. Each room had something secret to share, but you had to search just a tiny bit for it.

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Did I mention ridiculously high ceilings, a million miles of hard wood floors and cabinets, and actual appliances?!  I can do my own laundry in my own home now!
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The new bedroom was the biggest challenge we had : one small closet. We both had a ton of clothing, which we had to sort through to decide what to keep and what to store.  I did manage to get everything that stayed with us into one dresser and into the one closet, with absolutely zero room to spare. It will definitely put a curb on my compulsive shopping habit, which I suppose is a good thing.

One day, and probably one day soon, I’ll devise a better – and more aesthetically pleasing – organizational method, which I will share with you. Until then, just picture a very packed closet, full of dresses and suit jackets.

The top of my dresser is still fairly empty, save for my jewelry, and current reading stack.  I’m hoping to find a big antique mirror to hang above it, and add some smaller treasures to keep the girls on my wall company.

There’s also a purple bathroom, complete with a deep Southern style clawfoot bathtub and scalloped sink, which were impossible to take decent photos of.

And, most importantly, Princess Fatty loves her new home, and all of its sunny spots to lounge.

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