Nashville Wife

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New Orleans Louisiana

Exploring Mexico Part 1

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Earlier this month, I posted pictures from our two-day vacation in New Orleans, Louisiana. The first day was spent touring the French Quarter, and on the second day we visited the Audubon Zoo.

On the third day, we met up with Mr. Handsome’s coworkers and embarked on a four-day Carnival cruise. (We went at the tail-end of hurricane season, so tickets were much cheaper than usual, and most of the trip was paid for by Mr. Handsome’s boss as a Christmas present/end-of-year bonus.)

Neither of us had ever been on a cruise before, so we didn’t know what to expect. It ended up being a wonderful experience, although looking out and seeing nothing but the vast ocean and knowing it was 10,000 feet deep was a bit disconcerting. Thankfully, the seas were calm the entire time.

We thoroughly enjoyed the towel animals that the room steward left on our bed, although I’m not quite sure what they are. Maybe an anteater and a gorilla?

Our cruise stopped in Cozumel and Progreso, both on the Yucatan Peninsula. In Cozumel, we took an excursion to the ancient Mayan seaside city of Tulum. Our tour guide from Sun & Fun Tours was a lovely Mexican woman whose English was absolutely perfect. She was the reason why the trip was so wonderful.

Outside the ancient city was a marketplace for tourists. There was a tall pole in the middle, and several men were hanging upside down and spinning around. It was quite a sight to see!

Later, we visited a local park and swam in a cenote (natural pool). With permission, Mr. Handsome and I did a 15-foot cliff jump. (It took quite a bit of encouragement from my husband and our group, but I finally made the leap and was glad I did.)

Before heading back to the ship, we enjoyed a traditional Mayan lunch of chicken, pork, rice, beans, vegetables, homemade tortillas, fruit, and hibiscus iced tea. It was hands-down one of the most delicious meals I’ve ever had. (The week after we returned home, I was inspired to make Mayan rice and beans for dinner. I will share that recipe with y’all soon.)

While we ate, I snapped a picture of this odd looking animal. It was the size of a goose but looked like a duck. Completely different than anything I had ever seen.

If y’all would like, I’ll share photos from our second shore excursion later this week.

 

New Orleans Cajun Style Jambalaya

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While visiting New Orleans, Louisiana, last month, we tasted Cajun food for the first time and fell in love with it. The week after we arrived back home, I scoured the internet for Jambalaya recipes and decided to make up my own. Surprisingly, it turned out great, so I thought I would share it with you. Have you ever tried Cajun food?

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New Orleans Cajun Style Jambalaya

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup butter
  • 1 medium-sized onion minced
  • 1 bell pepper, chopped
  • 5 sticks celery, chopped
  • 2 fully cooked sausages Cajun Style Andouille Sausage from Walmart, in bite-sized pieces
  • 2 large garlic cloves minced
  • 1 can tomato paste (6 ounces)
  • 1 can can diced tomatoes (14½)
  • ¼ tsp thyme
  • 1 tsp Cajun seasoning I use Weber N’Orleans Cajun Seasoning
  • ¼ tsp ground pepper
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 2 cups rice
  • Fish I use crappie. Can also use shrimp or chicken

Instructions

  1. Melt ¼ cup butter in heavy stockpot or Dutch oven on medium heat.
  2. Add onion, bell pepper, and celery. Cook until pepper is tender (approximately 6-8 minutes).
  3. Add sausage and garlic cloves. Cook another 3 minutes.

  4. Stir in tomato paste and diced tomatoes. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring.

  5. Stir in thyme, Cajun seasoning, ground pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.
  6. Stir in chicken broth, and bring to a boil. Add rice, bring to a boil, and simmer until rice is cooked.

  7. When rice is close to done, cook fish in oiled skilled (can seasoning with a bit of Cajun seasoning). Cut into bite-sized pieces, and add to rice mixture. Stir to combine. Add more Cajun seasoning if desired.

New Orleans Audubon Zoo

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A couple days ago, I posted pictures of our first of two days in New Orleans, Louisiana. On the second day, we visited the Audubon Zoo. (We must have a thing for zoos because we had just toured the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere several weeks before.) The Audubon Zoo was very clean and well kept, and there were a lot of neat exhibits to see. It took us about three hours to go through the entire property.In Nashville, the giraffes were too far away for us to get a good view, but in New Orleans, three of them were standing right in front of us as we walked past their enclosure. For some reason, they were all quite focused on licking whatever was in sight. We took a couple snapshots…

 

We walked past the elephant exhibit just as the zookeeper was performing her daily inspection. The elephants are trained to raise their feet on command so the zookeeper can examine them. The crowd “oohed” and “ahhed,” and I’m pretty sure the animals were hamming it up on purpose. Is it just me, or does the one on the left looks like it’s smiling?

 

The Audubon Zoo is home to a “giant anteater.” I thought he was way too small to be considered giant, but then again I’m no anteater expert. The little guy was extremely friendly. Maybe he thought we were bringing him some ants…

Did you know that anteaters consumes an average of 30,000 ants daily? At that rate, I can’t help but wonder why we still have ants in our world.

I can’t remember what species of bear this is, but it is apparently the original “teddy bear” (as in the species that inspired the stuffed animal). The picture isn’t great, but he sure looked cuddly!

Then there were the flamingos. Their enclosure stunk like shrimp, but they sure were pretty.