Quinoa Jambalaya

One of my New Year's resolutions this year is to branch out and prepare meals I've never made before. It's easy to get stuck preparing and eating the same dinners each week. If you don't experiment with new ideas, you'll quickly become bored with your kitchen and menu. The kitchen is a creative space. So let's keep it interesting by trying at least one new recipe a month. Look forward to trying new recipes and gaining new skills! When you do this, you'll discover more about yourself too. Sometimes you might make a meal you don't like, and that's okay! The success comes with branching out of your comfort zone.

I was intimidated by jambalaya, but I made it manageable with this recipe. Stews, chilies, and soups are nice because you can throw the ingredients in a pot or slow cooker and let it cook itself. After a cold, windy day in Alabama this jambalaya was the perfect way to wind down and warm up.

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Total: 70 minutes
Prepares: 10-12 servings

Here's what you need:
3 stalks celery, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
2 jalapenos, diced
15 oz frozen cut okra
3 C vegetable broth
0.5 C water
14.5 oz canned diced tomatoes & green chilies
1.5 C quinoa
4 links Andouille sausage
1.5 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 TBSP olive oil
1/4 tsp red cayenne pepper
2 TBSP Sriracha sauce
1 TBSP Cajun seasoning

Here's what you do:
1. Dice the veggies, slice the sausage into thin rounds, peel the shrimp.
2. Heat 1 TBSP olive oil in a large pan and add the celery, onion, and peppers. Stir occasionally and sauté until the veggies are soft, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the remaining olive oil, sausage rounds, and stir occasionally for another 5 minutes.
4. Stir in the vegetable broth, water, quinoa, tomatoes and green chilies, frozen okra, Cajun spice, and cayenne pepper. Reduce to medium-low heat and allow to simmer for 25-30 minutes, or until the quinoa is cooked. Stir occasionally.
5. Add the shrimp and allow to simmer until the shrimp are cooked and pink.
6. Add additional seasoning, sauce, or salt and pepper for extra flavor! If you don't want it as spicy, try using only 1 jalapeno or removing the seeds. I'm on a spicy kick so I wanted all the spice I could get!

Nutritionals:
Calories 233
Fat 10g
Carbohydrates 18g
Protein 17g
Sugar 4g
Sodium 1332 mg

I have several containers full of left-over jambalaya. I put a few in the freezer and some in the fridge, so I'll be eating this for a while! It takes time to dice the veggies, but once the jambalaya is ready you'll realize it was all worth it (especially during those lazy days when all you'll have to do is reach into the freezer and heat it up)!

Pro tip: Use a food processor to dice the veggies. It'll save you time and isn't near as tedious.

August's Resolution

Now that the 8th month of my year of resolutions is here I am having a tough time deciding what to do. Each month I have done something different but for this month I think I'm going to try something that goes along with my resolution from July. My resolution for August is to only go out to eat once a week. I find myself spending a lot of money at restaurants because it is an easy way to see friends and be social. I love going out to eat... I love everything about it. Except I find that most of my money goes there. I've tried this a couple times before so we'll see how it goes!

Resolution Recap:
1. January - spend less time on my phone
2. February - take Denny to the park twice a week
3. March - avoid chips
4. April - dress like an adult
5. May - read 3 books for fun
6. June - try foods I normally wouldn't
7. July - budget
8. August - only go out to eat once a week

July's Resolution

Having been out of school for a few months and into my new job for a little I've decided that an appropriate resolution for July is to start making more of an effort to stick to my budget. It takes a little while to adjust to life after school and it was hard for me to see where exactly my money was going. I downloaded Mint, a free app for budgeting, and it has helped a lot. It categorizes all of your purchases on your cards, allows you to make budets by category, and tracks your spending for you. Since I've graduated I have been looking at my spending patterns and trying to decide an appropriate budget for each month. It is also helpful to see where the problem areas are and where money can be saved

Things I've learned about budgeting:
1. The word budget immediately makes me think: not spending any money, not having any fun, and not shopping or going out to eat... but it doesn't have to be that way. If you allocate enough money to the important things then you can have room for the fun things too.

2. Going out to eat is expensive. It is SO cheap to cook at home. Going out to eat is a social thing for me and is the main time when I see my friends, making this especially hard for me. I bring my lunch to work each day and try to only go out to dinner a few nights a week. I make sure to ask what the drink specials are and try to order smart from the menu. It is even better when I can bring some food home and have it for lunch the next day.

3. Self control is hard. When my friends ask me to go to the beach, dinner, or to shop it is so hard to turn down the offer. I have to take a step back and see how much money I have already spent and see if it is worth it. I want to see my friends and do all the fun things they want to do, but sometimes it is easier to offer up alernative ideas to spend time with them. It doesn't cost any money to go on a walk and it is fun and affordable to cook dinner together. It's hard to get creative but if it will help you stay within what you can afford then it really is worth it.

Hopefully now that I have been working for a while I can finally stick to the budget I have made for myself. It's a puzzle figuring out what you need but I'm confident that this month it will come together.

Resolution Recap:
1. January - spend less time on my phone
2. February - take Denny to the park twice a week
3. March - avoid chips
4. April - dress like an adult
5. May - read 3 books for fun
6. June - try foods I normally wouldn't
7. July - budget

June's Resolution

This is my 6th month of resolutions and I am pretty excited I have kept it up. It gets hard to think of ideas but resolutions should be challenging and get you out of your comfort zone!

Do you get in a habit of ordering the same thing when you go out to eat? I have a "favorite" at just about each restaurant I visit regularly. I always order it because I know I will like it. Well this summer is all about trying new things for me and I think I need to start by actually experimenting with these menus I so frequently never look at. So for June my goal is, when I go out to eat, to order something from the menu that I normally wouldn't try. What can you change up?

Last month my goal was to read 3 books for fun and I did it!! I read:

If you  need something to read this summer the Divergent series and each of these short books are easy reads and hard to put down!

Resolution recap:
January: use my cell phone less
February: take Denny to the park twice a week
March: avoid eating chips
April: dress like an adult
May: read 3 pleasure books

May's Resolution

I am so proud to say that I graduated from The University of Alabama with a BS in Food and Nutrition! These past four years flew by and I can't believe I have already completed undergrad. Everyone tells you that it goes by quickly, but you really don't know until you do it yourself! I enjoyed every moment at The University of Alabama and am excited to see what the future holds for me.

Roll Tide!!!

With everything being crazy because of graduation it has taken me a few days to come up with an appropriate resolution for this month. After having been in school my entire life, I think that for this month my resolution will be to read 3 books just for fun!!! I need a break from the text books, reports, and exams and this is the perfect get-away from all that. First on the list is the last book in the Divergent series (Allegiant) and I can't wait to bask in the sun and get started.

Resolution Recap:
January: spend less time on my cell phone
February: take Denny to the park twice a week
March: avoid eating chips
April: dress like an adult
May: relax and read 3 pleasure books

April's Resolution

Month 4 of 12 months of resolutions is already here! I can't even believe it. With graduation quickly approaching I thought it would be fitting to make this month's resolution one to help me ease into real life (ah scary). At the University of Alabama the dress code is pretty close to pajamas. The average girl wears either leggings or Nike shorts and an excessively large t-shirt. Is that even cute? I'm not sure. So for this month I'm going to try and wear actual real clothes to class at least twice a week. It doesn't sound like a lot but going from wearing gym clothes to real clothes... it's an effort. I've realized I go shopping and have these cute clothes but I never wear them. Now that the weather is approaching bearable, I don't have much of an excuse. Plus, like I said earlier, graduation is exactly a month from tomorrow and I don't think the real word wants me to wear t-shirts and gym shorts.

Resolution Recap:
January: spend less time on my cell phone
February: take Denny to the park twice a week
March: chips
April: dress like a real 22 year-old

March's Resolution

For each month of 2014 I've decided to make a different resolution. So far, it's been really fun to see what I can change each month and how each change affects my routine. For March I've decided to avoid eating chips. I have a crazy obsession with Doritos and chips at Mexican restaurants - I love it all. It's really getting out of hand. So... to try and reign this back in I'm going to see if I can avoid eating them all together. Seeing at Lent starts today, it's also what I will be giving up for Lent! It will last a little longer than just March but I'm excited to see if I can handle it. Maybe it will also get me ready for spring break later this month! :)

Resolution Recap:
January: spend less time on my cellphone
February: take Denny to the park twice a week
March: chips

February's Resolution

Month 2 of 12 months of resolutions has already been full of excitement. Yesterday I completed my 8th half marathon. I realized last week I have been running marathons for 5 years now... time is definitely flying. My goal for yesterday was to beat 1:40:00 in the half and I DID IT!!! I trained for week and ran the 13.1 miles in 1:38:59!! I even placed 4th in my age group of 576 people. I am still so excited and proud that I achieved my goal. This shows that if you really set your mind to something, you can achieve anything. I know I proved that to myself this weekend.

This year was the 5th anniversary of the Rock and Roll New Orleans Marathon. I have done either the half or full each year they have had this race. In honor of the 5th anniversary they posted a "wall of fame" for all those runners that had participated each year!

Ok so back to resolutions... After having a full 1:38:59 to think about what I wanted my resolution to be for this month, I decided it would be taking my dog, Denny, to the park at least twice a week. With such a busy schedule it's hard to get her out and running. I know she gets anxious (because she will pick up a toy and put it in my lap... usually when I'm in the middle of writing a paper) and this will help that!

Resolution Recap:

January: Spending less time on my cellphone 

February: Taking Denny to the dog park twice a week

12 Months of Resolutions

I know it's a little late, but I've been thinking a lot about making resolutions. I read an article in The New York Times that said a third of resolutions are broken before February! I couldn't believe that. People make these promises to themselves and they don't last but a few weeks. That's when I decided I was going and make a different resolution for each month of 2014. Some of them are health related, some are about saving money, and some are breaking bad habits. I'm excited to see what I take from this and to see which resolutions stick!

My January resolution is to put my cell phone down.

After watching this video (seriously go watch it, it will change your life), I realized I need to spend more time in the moment and less time stalking miscellaneous social media. When you're hanging out with friends, nothing is worse than watching them play with their phones. Why do people feel the need to see what other people are doing instead of actually talking to the people they're surrounded with? No app on my phone should get more attention than the people I'm around. 

I mean seriously... these people don't even look like they're having that much fun: