Crawfish boils are such a fantastic spring/summer pastime in the south. During my first few years in the north, I would make sure to get my fill of crawfish when I came back to visit Mississippi. However, I really wanted to share the fun experience with my northern friends and family. I was super pumped when I did a little research to find that there are companies who ship live crawfish for an overnight delivery. I have ordered from Louisiana Crawfish Company a few times now, and they have been great to work with! 

During a recent visit to Toronto, I was able to soak up some amazing food inspiration. The city has such a rich food culture and I always come home ready to create or recreate something tasty! 

There probably isn't anything more southern than sweet tea. In high school, I worked at a restaurant that literally made large garbage can sized batches daily. The servers would swing into the kitchen and dunk a pitcher to keep the endless refills flowing! One of the culture shocks I experienced when moving away from the south was the lack of sweet tea elsewhere. Sure, you can order an iced tea and doctor it up with a packet of sweetener, but it just isn't quite the same. If you come to visit me, you can pretty much bet on being offered a glass of sweet tea (or honey lemonade).

During the majority of my 20's, I lived in southern Mississippi where I was only an hour and a half drive from New Orleans. I fell head over heels in love with the city and all of the wonderful cuisine. I cannot say that I have a favorite Cajun or Creole dish because they are all near and dear to my heart, but gumbo is probably the most well known. Over the years, I have experimented with different gumbo recipes and tried to reach that authentic Louisiana gumbo goodness. After some trial and error, this is where I landed and it hasn't let me down!

Brunch is one of the best things about the weekend. You can snooze in a bit through the morning if you want, and still enjoy all of the wonderful goodness of breakfast.

Pad Kee Mao, aka Drunken Noodles, is such a fun and very easy Thai dish to prepare at home. While I love grabbing Thai take out when I am in a rush, stocking up on ingredients can save a lot of money if you love to eat Thai as much as I do. 

I have been seeing a lot of progress in the plant-based protein trends recently, and I am liking it! I don't think I can give up meat, but I am not opposed to the idea of reducing my intake. I have always considered myself a partial vegetarian because of my vegetarian mother, so I am totally in support of all the mainstreaming.

I love all of the food videos that float around on social media these days. Lately, I have seen several Korean BBQ recipes that I have been wanting to try. Most call for sugar, however, and I have been trying to cut back on processed sweets. So I decided to try making bulgogi with honey instead. I also added ginger and chili sauce for a little extra kick. This dish was so simple to prepare and insanely tasty! I served it with rice and steamed broccoli. This dish is also the perfect filling for lettuce wraps! 

During one year that I lived in Arkansas, I developed a massive Pad Thai obsession. Probably due to the fact that I was working full time and also pursuing my MBA online at night, and there was an Asian fusion restaurant that delivered to my house. I was always crunched for time, and definitely got to know the delivery folks there on a first name basis.

Fat Tuesday isn't until February 28th this year, but carnival season is well under way in New Orleans! Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday, which is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday that lands 47 days before Easter. While Mardi Gras is technically only one day, carnival season kicks off each year on January 6th. Even though I am not down in Nola watching the parades this year, I am still participating in the festivities from up here in Ohio. Even if it's just in my own kitchen!