Uh, yes … I agreed to try bison for the first time ever in my life. Have you ever tried it?
These Bison & Turkey Sausages were really good and a nice change from the usual breakfast food of fruit, paleo muffins or plain ‘ol eggs. They do complement eggs very well though which is how I had them a few times.
Paleo Bison & Turkey Sausages
The sausages didn’t taste like bison. Well, I can’t really say that with a straight face as I hadn’t tasted bison before. I guess what I should be saying is that it didn’t taste odd or unpleasant but was a really good sausage. How good? Well, I could probably have them every morning. (laughing)
Seriously! They were that good and perhaps part of the reason was some of the ingredients that were used such as maple syrup, cinnamon and sweet onion. Check out the recipe for yourself to see.
Then, by all means try them.
The National Bison Association says that bison has a slightly sweeter and richer flavor than fine beef. Now, if anyone should know bison, shouldn’t it be them?
“Nutritionally you are getting more protein and nutrients with fewer calories and less fat.” The National Bison Association
If you decide to try them, let me know what you think. I don’t believe you’ll be disappointed.
After having our taxes done this year, we settled into a local St. Paul, Minnesota restaurant called the Downtowner Woodfire Grill.
Downtowner Woodfire Grill
Upon entering, we were seated almost immediately by a hostess who would become our waitress. She was very efficient at her job and served us our drinks/water immediately and then took our orders.
The restaurant has a quiet ambiance and I especially liked the fire that they had going. It made it seem relaxing to me — almost like I was at home.
Our food came quickly and looked quite scrumptious until I took my knife and cut into the sirloin steak that I had ordered. Unfortunately, as seems to happen more often than not, it was not well done as I had ordered. So, the steak went back and they returned it in a timely manner.
It’s always uncomfortable for me when this happens as I sit there and eat what’s left on my plate — in this case, it was garlic mashed potatoes and veggies. The feeling is one of incompleteness which I guess shouldn’t be an odd feeling since my meal is incomplete. (Is there a philosophical sentence in there?)
Anyway … everything tasted pretty good. My husband had Pork with Basmati Rice and Vegetables …
Pork with Basmati Rice
My son had the Tenderloin Filet with Horseradish Mashed Potatoes and Vegetables …
Tenderloin Filet with Horseradish Mashed Potatoes
I’m not a big fan of horseradish and had never heard of it being added to mashed potatoes, have you?
I had the Sirloin Steak with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Vegetables …
Sirloin Steak with Garlic Mashed Potatoes
The steak does look a little overdone on the outside, doesn’t it? It actually tasted a little charred but good.
We would definitely eat here again if we’re in the area. It is a little pricey though — the Tenderloin Filet was $29.95.
The mashed potatoes were a treat for us because we’re not eating potatoes on our paleo diet — unless it’s sweet potato or yams.
I recently read a CNN article online that caught my attention.
The iPhone is being used in Tanzania to diagnose intestinal worms in about 200 students. How’s that for using technology in an innovative way?
The article states “scientists recently created a microscope using an iPhone, tape, flashlight and camera lens” with which they were able to diagnose these worms.
According to the article, this can work with any smartphone that has a good camera and zoom feature.
Check out the article below. I found it quite fascinating.
This Slow Cooker Shredded Beef recipe was easy to make (isn’t everything that’s made in a crockpot easy to make?) and tasted so delicious that I asked my son if we could please have it again as soon as possible. Â (It hasn’t happened yet as he wants to continue trying new recipes).
The ingredients have a little something for everyone. Like guacamole? It’s there. Fresh salsa? Yup, it’s there too. Seasoned beef? You got it!
Shredded Beef
We did not use tortillas because we’re still on the paleo diet so instead we piled the beef and other ingredients on top of lettuce.
I am still longing for the day when my son makes this again as it is at the top of my recipe list.
The salmon was served with steamed broccoli and mashed parsnips — two of my favorite vegetables.
In my humble opinion, salmon can be paired with just about any vegetable and taste good. Have you ever had something unusual as a side with salmon? I’d love to hear about it.
Almost 2.5 years ago, I was given an iPad for my birthday. It seems like a long long time ago since they now have iPad2‘s, iPad Mini’s, iPad with Retina Display — I’m sure they’ll come up with something else iPad soon.
But I digress.
I woke up one morning, grabbed my iPad from the countertop and it slipped from my hands and fell on the carpeted floor. Fortunately for me, I keep my iPad in a padded case so I assumed everything was going to be okay. Not so.
When I pressed the button to turn the iPad on, I was greeted with a dark purple screen. I did the usual diagnostics for a novice computer person — I shut the computer down and restarted it. Hope sprung for less than a minute as when the iPad turned back on it was still the same dark color purple.
Oh well. I made an appointment and headed to the local Apple Store. The young man did his diagnostics. The screen was not broken, the iPad was working but the visual display was not working. He hadn’t told me anything I didn’t know.
“We can’t fix it because it’s too old.” Uh, well, what? Too old? Apparently, Apple doesn’t fix iPad’s that are this old. He gave me the name of a couple of places where I could take it for repair. In that regard, he was helpful.
So, off I went to a place called Gophermods. What an odd name.
Gophermods
The young man who spoke to me was really nice. He told me that it could be something as simple as wiring that was loose and needed to be taped down or it could be I needed a new LCD screen. The cost? $40 or $129.00.
So I left my iPad in his capable hands, received an email the next morning stating that it was ready, headed back to Minneapolis to pick it up and it was fixed. For only $40!
Just like that! The whole process was very simple. I could have mailed the iPad in and had it mailed back and saved myself a drive to and from Minneapolis but that would have been more costly.
I can’t say enough good things about Gophermods — they were professional and quick. What more could you ask for from a company? How about a year’s warranty on their work? Yup — they have that also.
This Chunky Chicken Soup was a delight to have on a cold Minnesota night. Large chunks of chicken, carrots and parsnips gave it a lot of flavor. This was the first time I had parsnips in soup and I approve. Although the flavor was subtle you could still taste it.
Chunky Chicken Soup
The soup was served with a Fresh Citrus and Cranberry Salad that included cranberries, oranges and baby arugula (to name a few of the ingredients).
The soup and salad were paired well together.
With the salad, make sure you add the oil a little at a time so you can taste it to make sure you don’t add too much for your taste, otherwise you’ll have a soggy salad.
My husband recently had a birthday so my son made him his favorite cake — carrot cake.  Well, it was a paleo carrot cake but did taste very much like “regular” carrot cake without being too dense.  The cake is sweetened with pure maple syrup which is okay to have on a paleo diet.
I especially liked the vanilla cream frosting because it wasn’t too sweet like cream cheese frosting normally is. This frosting is made with coconut milk and honey but didn’t taste like coconut to me.
Paleo Carrot CakePaleo Carrot Cake
The cake tastes really good served warm also.
I have to admit that I had my doubts about whether this cake would be edible but it was very very good.
Well, I have to say that these were not the moistest blueberry muffins I have ever had. The paper liner got stuck to the muffin so I had to scrape it off with a knife. Â Once I did that, I thought the muffin was “okay” — not spectacular but okay. The rest of the family disagreed and thought the muffins weren’t very good.
Blueberry Almond Crumb Muffins
I find that it is difficult to enjoy the taste of paleo bread once you’ve had the “real” thing. Do you think it’s because the almond or coconut flours that are used to make paleo bread don’t “feel” as moist in the mouth? I believe that probably would depend on what else is in the ingredients to make it moist, no?
Continuing on our adventure in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana, I noticed a strange phenomena. Just about everyone was walking around with a dog. Big dogs, little dogs, cute dogs, ugly-looking dogs — you name it, they were there. Some of the dogs were also “dressed up.”
Dog, French Quarter, LouisianaDogs, French Quarter, LouisianaDog, French Quarter, LouisianaDog, French Quarter, LouisianaDog, French Quarter, LouisianaDressed Up Dogs, French Quarter, LouisianaDog, French Quarter, LouisianaDressed Up Dog, French Quarter, LouisianaDog, French Quarter, Louisiana
I had never seen so many dogs in one place and it seemed quite odd to me. Â Then, I noticed that people were starting to gather on the sides of the streets. It appeared that a parade was going to start soon.
French Quarter, LouisianaPeople Waiting for Parade, French Quarter, Louisiana
People didn’t seem to mind being in such a large crowd and since we were there, we also found a place to stand and waited for the parade to start. Then the funniest thing happened. I figured out why there were so many dogs around. Can you guess?
Well, this was a dog parade. (laughing) There were dogs in the parade who were also up for adoption. Â Coming from the Fremont neighborhood in Seattle, I shouldn’t have been so surprised but it caught me totally off guard. (A quick note — my pictures of the parade didn’t come out as well as I would have wanted because people were moving quickly and they were also throwing beads in the air that I was trying to catch.)
Dog Parade, French Quarter, LouisianaDog Parade, French Quarter, Louisiana
I was told by a friend of mine that when you catch beads that are thrown at you, you’re supposed to expose your breasts. Uh, well, that didn’t happen. I caught the beads and happily went on my way.
Dog Parade, French Quarter, LouisianaDog Parade, French Quarter, LouisianaDog Parade, French Quarter, LouisianaParade Dancer, French Quarter, LouisianaDog On Parade, French Quarter, LouisianaParade, French Quarter, Louisiana
After the parade, we walked to the waterfront and were able to see the Norwegian Star (the ship we took a cruise on) sail off on another cruise.
The Norwegian Star, New Orleans, Louisiana
Walking back to the hotel, we found the restaurant that the Holiday Inn concierge had recommended to us called Pierre Maspero’s.
Pierre Maspero’s Sign, French Quarter, Louisiana
It was a tad bit loud for me in the restaurant but we had a very friendly waiter and we heard the food was really good so I took the noise in stride.
For dinner, we had Blackened Redfish that was served with tasso grits and potatoes, Black Shrimp with jambalaya and a Red Bean Rice dish all of which was pretty good.
Our dessert was pecan pie and cherries jubilee. My husband and I shared the pecan pie and it was the best pecan pie I have ever tasted in my whole life! It was not as dense as most pecan pies, not too sweet and it just seemed to melt in my mouth.
Best Pecan Pie, Pierre Maspero’s, French Quarter, Louisiana
Don’t let the not-so-good picture fool you. This was truly an amazing piece of pecan pie!
After dinner, we walked back to our hotel room at the Holiday Inn.
The next morning, we walked to a restaurant called The Market Cafe.
Street in the French Quarter, New OrleansThe Market Cafe Sign, New Orleans, Louisiana
They had outdoor seating but it was a tad chilly to sit outdoors.
The Market Cafe, New Orleans, Louisiana
We were probably the only ones here when we arrived which was shortly after they opened. Our waiter was quick and the food, again, was good. We really were fortunate in having good food while in New Orleans.
After breakfast, we walked over to a neighborhood called the Garden District. We had decided not to take a cab but just get a feel for the neighborhood and that can always be done better on foot. Looking back, we probably should have taken a cab to the ninth ward where hurricane Katrina caused catastrophic flooding.
The Garden District, New Orleans, LouisianaThe Garden District, New Orleans, LouisianaThe Garden District, New Orleans, Louisiana
The Garden District looked more like a “regular” neighborhood and quite different than the French Quarter. The streets were a little bit wider and the homes weren’t as decorated.
House, Garden District, New Orleans, LouisianaApartments, Garden District, New Orleans, LouisianaHouse, Garden District, New Orleans, LouisianaHouse, Garden District, New Orleans, LouisianaApartments, Garden District, New Orleans, LouisianaApartments, Garden District, New Orleans, LouisianaApartments, Garden District, New Orleans, Louisiana
We also saw an old church that was boarded up and was in need of much repair. It always makes me sad to see churches that are run down and closed.
Old Church, Garden District, New Orleans, LouisianaOld Church, Garden District, New Orleans, LouisianaOld Church Door, Garden District, New Orleans, LouisianaOld Church, Garden District, New Orleans, LouisianaOld Church, Garden District, New Orleans, LouisianaBrick Cross, Old Church, Garden District, New Orleans, LouisianaChurch, Garden District, New Orleans, Louisiana
After our walk, we headed back to the hotel to get ready to go to the airport as our vacation was officially over.
So, did I like New Orleans? No — not really. It is a unique town with great food but I was troubled by the spiritualism that seems to be prevalent around town. Stores had “voodoo” dolls and, for me, there was a distasteful flavor of darkness.
Perhaps it’s because I grew up around spiritualism with its crystal balls, voodoo dolls, curses and everything else that goes along with it.
This is strictly my opinion and it may be biased because of my background. Everyone needs to decide for themselves, right?
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