PappaDeaux Seafood Kitchen Review

We chose to play outside all day Sunday rather than go to the grocery store so my Monday breakfast was hard boiled eggs. Lunch was leftovers so I thought it'd be a good time to throw in a more interesting post! We went to PappaDeaux Seafood Kitchen Sunday after church and had the best experience!

If you didn't get to listen to Church of the Highlands last Sunday, check out this link. It was really great! We started going to the chapel instead of the auditorium and really love the more acoustic, traditional music (and the sunshine in the windows!). I just need some sunny windows on Sunday morning. Amen?

We got to the restaurant around one which was apparently the perfect time because there was no wait. For the two of us, it was around $60 after tip so we counted it as 2 date nights. Lunch tends to be a little cheaper and less of a wait, I hear, so I would try it out before dinner. You will likely want reservations for dinner as the line is usually crazy!

The decor was so elegant. It is New Orleans type, French/cajun seafood themed and the dark cherry wood blends with busy, deep rugs in a Titanic-esque way that makes you feel special. 

The drinks looked beautiful and enticing but being that it was a normal Sunday, we opted for water. 

We did not, however, pass up the appetizers. J.T. chose the Spinach, Lobster dip and it was so good! I would definitely try this when you go. Seriously, best appetizer we've had in a while/ever! But "ever" is such a strong term.

For my meal, I chose the lobster, tomato, Mozzarella salad. It was around $17 for a pretty small serving but I was stuffed for hours! I would be a little disappointed if I got this as a dinner, but it was perfect for lunch!

We can always count on J.T. to go big or go home so when this monstrous plate of pasta appeared, I wasn't too surprised. I may have even been excited that I would get to try it too...maybe.

It was creole seafood past with crawfish and sausage. I liked the mushrooms...but did try the crawfish. I just can't get past the college crawfish boil smell and the view of frat boys sucking heads off. Call me crazy, but it's just not that appetizing to me.

On the way out I snapped a pic of the outdoor area. It was a perfect day for outside, but they were only seating inside. 

Guess that means we will just have to go back. 

We spent the rest of the day at Railroad park and loved every minute of it. 

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Secret Stages + What's on 2nd

Kathleen and I decided Friday would be our exercise off day. Virginia was off work because she is traveling to the mountains for the weekend so she opted for a solo run at home a little later in the morning. Since we didn't go to the gym, and I got the coveted broken meter parking spot at our loft, I decided to walk to work for a few extra steps. 

But first, breakfast: 

The last of my homemade yogurt with chia seeds, walnuts and a few chocolate chips added. 

Lunch was leftover salad from Taziki's. Drug reps brought lunch on Thursday so I took advantage of leftovers. I didn't take a picture because yesterday was one of the busiest I've had in a while!

Thursday, while we were brainstorming new names for a project we talked about beets...I really don't like them. I have tried about 3 times (now). The first was raw, on a salad bar...just not my thing. The second time was grilled beets, cut into shreds and on a salad-- I didn't hate that. Mary Lauren assured me I need to try them again for good measure. So she brought roasted beets and goat cheese to snack on yesterday. I have to admit, the first bite was downright gross, but I kept going, insisted to use my own advice on myself (try it 7 times), and by the 4th time, I really liked it (kind of). It may have been the goat cheese. I love goat cheese. 

There is only one food item I really don't like- mayonnaise. I have never made myself like it because it isn't really that good for you so I figure if I don't like it then that's probably best. I used to not like fish, but I made myself keep trying it and now I love it--unless it's really fishy tasting. 

If I know a food is healthy, I really try to like it, but I don't think I will be buying beets any time soon. Did you know beets are high in fiber, vitamin c and other antioxidants? A few studies over on PubMed suggest the nitrate concentration (not to be confused with nitrate from processed foods) can enhance exercise performance...and some studies say it doesn't---welcome to science! They will also stain your hands and make you think you're bleeding if you glance at it quickly! 

JT and I have been running around like crazy these past few weeks  months so we really tried to keep it low key Friday night. He is working today so we had to turn down a fun invite to a music festival with our friends. We planned on eating a pizza that JT picked out at Fresh Market last Tuesday, added a side salad, and called it dinner. I really love cooking, but there is something wonderful about an easy dinner on a weekend night. 

After dinner, we walked around our neighborhood to check out Secret Stages. I don't know much about it but it is a music festival in Birmingham where up and coming, largely unknown, bands play on various stages set up around the city. A pretty cool concept that you can learn more about over on my friend Lauren's blog Something Lovely. We actually ran into her and Max on the street and saw her super impressive "Press" badge! Check out her recap after this weekend. I'm sure it is going to be great!

I have always wanted to peek inside "What's on 2nd" since my dad told me it's one of his favorite shops downtown. He has worked in Birmingham for over 20 years so he found a few places he likes. The store closes at 6 each night so we haven't had a chance to go by...he stayed open later due to the festivities so we wandered around checking out old figurines, games, lamps, photos, ads, and our favorite- records! We picked out some Elvis (naturally) and I'm listening to the concert series as we speak.

We came back home to watch a movie and found Pretty Woman, which JT has never seen! What?! We had a snack of strawberry "frozen Greek yogurt". I always put yogurt in the freezer so it can thaw to a perfect consistency for lunch and make good froyo when blended. I put 2 containers into the Ninja with 1/2 a banana and 1/2 cup milk and we shared the end result.

The movie was ending as the Baron's game was ending, so we skipped the last of the film to catch the Friday night Fireworks. We admired the Blue Moon while walking to a spot to see the show. 

The best seat in the house!

We could really see better than this picture  suggests, but the best part is hearing the echo of the fireworks off the city buildings. I'm short so JT probably had a better view.

On our walk back, we admired Morris Avenue. It is a cute little street that goes under the bridge and looked so retro in black and white. 

Back to those beets, how do you like them prepared? Or do you?

Remember to check out Something Lovely!

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Thirsty Thursday with the Birmingham Barons

Thursday morning started early for Rainie, Virginia and I with a "Strength" class. This is the same class as Tuesday morning but just with a different teacher. I was still sore from Tuesday as about half that class was spent in some form of a plank and today was no different. This teacher was loving the planks as well, and for me planks are one of the hardest exercises, it really uses your entire body. We keep thinking they will get easier, and while Virginia thinks they are,  I still think they still are the toughest, but I do like a good challenge.

Note: see that blue piece of felt... we use those as gliders, those are the second hardest thing to use when exercising, they definitely add an extra challenge to any move or exercise.

Breakfast: Homemade yogurt + Oats + walnuts  (sorry not the most appetizing pic)

Snack: Homemade granola Bar

I mixed it up and I made a different recipe this time, it involved literally just taking what I had in my pantry that sounded good, putting it in a large mixing bowl and mixing/mashing really well, spreading them out in a 9x13 pan and letting them set in the refrigerator overnight. The next day I cut and froze them individually. 

I used: ripe mashed bananas, oats, chia seeds (help hold it together really well), honey, applesauce, and peanut butter. I don't have an exact recipe as I was just throwing stuff in the bowl till it came to an acceptable consistency but next time I will write down a recipe to share.

Lunch: 
Usual salad but with my favorite summer topping: Strawberries! They are so good right now! + some bleu cheese, vinaigrette dressing, and walnuts. I also picked up some Honey roasted cashews at Walgreen's last night because they were on sale, 2 for $5.00 and sounded delicious. I am always the one that picks the cashews out of the mixed nuts so I had to try these!

Afternoon Snack: My favorite flavor = black cherry

Dinner: My family had plans to go to the Barons baseball game at 7pm so after work the whole fam met at Newk's for dinner before the game. I always order the same thing at Newk's... the Black and Bleu Salad, and I never get tired of it. It comes with shaved steak, gorgonzola cheese, pecans, cherry tomatoes and onions. I always get the Bleu Cheese dressing on the side because they give you so much of it and its pretty creamy. One day Ill mix it up but right now my thought is why mess with success?

After dinner we headed to the baseball game at Regions Field. It was pretty crowded as it was Thirsty Thursday ($2.00 beers!) so Kelly, my dad and I all got some Blue Moons and headed for our seats.
 

It was great weather, not too hot, especially once the sun went down. I watched the game with my family in our section for a while. My friends also had plans to go that night, so a few innings into the game I headed over to their section to sit with them for a while. Its always a good time with the #clinnuts :)

 

 It was such a great night at the Barons game, although I didn't pay too much attention to the actual game ;)  And I'm super proud of Birmingham to continue to have more and more fun things to do around town!

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Crossfit, Cycle, Cocktails, and Crestwood Park

{Kathleen}Tuesday began with sleeping in till about 6:30a.m. then heading straight for some coffee and a shower before leaving for work. Virginia and Rainie went to a 6am body pump but I was too tired after going to the Barons game Monday night.  I decided to catch in on some sleep and fit in a workout after work.

I enjoyed my coffee on the way to work as well as a Nalgene full of water. When I got to work I ate my usual staple Breakfast. I was out of raisins and walnuts so I just used Greek yogurt, oats and peanuts. Not quite my favorite combo but still filling.

Lunch was a eaten at our department meeting. I had a spinach base and added a Mexican quinoa salad (leftovers from Sunday dinner) + cheddar cheese + sour cream and salsa as my dressing. I threw in some fresh tomatoes and bell peppers from my garden, as well. I love the quinoa salad! I eat it by itself or on top of a salad; plus, its great leftover too (hot or cold) !

Here is a link to the quinoa salad recipe!

Afternoon snack: Rainie and I walked over to Au Bon Pain for a afternoon coffee. Knowing we were going to be up past 9pm, we decided we would need a little caffeine boost. I also ate a banana and peanut butter.

After work I headed to the Shades Valley YMCA and made it in time for a Y-Cross class at 4:45. Think of this class as a mild version of crossfit, it was a good mix of cardio and weight moves but nothing crazy like flipping tires. It lasted an hour but it really did fly by as you don't know whats coming up next, so I was totally focused on knowing what to do for the next move rather than paying attention to the clock. Then since I had some time I also hit up the cycle class that started at 5:45. I love spin, however my workout buddies don't particularly care for spin, so I try to fit it in whenever I am working out solo. The instructor was great, she was upbeat and had great music which made the class fly by. After cycle I stretched some ,showered off, freshened up and headed to Jennifer's House to meet to go to Crestwood Park's movie in the park night.

 

On the way to Jennifer and Holts I ate some leftover cucumber and tomato salad, an apple, and a yogurt for dinner. I also had a PB and Honey sandwich (sorry not pictured).

 

A group of us all met at Jennifer and Holt's adorable house in Crestwood (seriously I think Jen could have been an interior decorator) prior to walking to Crestwood park a few blocks away. Jennifer fixed us all a very refreshing cocktail to walk to the park with. It was a combo of water + gin + mint + Stevia. It was very refreshing, especially when its so hot outside.

We set up picnic blankets when we got to the park and talked and snacked on popcorn until the movie started. The movie of the night was Back to the Future, a classic, apparently... however I haven't seen a lot of movies so this was my first time seeing it! It was a fun night and props to Birmingham for continuing to have more fun things to do!

Share Birmingham tips below!

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2 New {to me} Birmingham Eats

March has been a crazy month! I will update you pronto on all the exciting things that have been happening. But for now, these mouth watering food pictures will have to do.

Last night we had an Abbott sponsored dinner at Ocean in Birmingham. Abbott produces infant and pediatric formulas so for dietitians, this is kind of our version of a "drug rep dinner". We eat delicious food and watch a presentation based on scientific research made to help us better understand a specific topic. Katie, our Abbott representative is really great at making these events fun and educational. Last night's seminar was about nutrition and pediatric cancer and the food was all about deliciousness.  It's a pretty expensive place that I probably wouldn't have tried in any occasion other than this. But let me tell you, it was such a fun night filled with friends and amazing food! From the wonderful fried green tomatoes, the feta bites on the salad, the salmon with mushroom risotto, to the trifecta of desserts I sampled. If you're in Birmingham, you should try it!

I sampled Virginia's steak and decided you just couldn't go wrong with any menu item. Kathleen, Virginia and I ordered different desserts so we could sample them all and while the tiramisu cheesecake and chocolate cake were close to heaven, the creme brûlée stole my heart!

The next morning, Kathleen and I took advantage of my new downtown BHam locale to try some fancy morning coffee. We both get ready really fast and are used to commuting so we had extra time before work. We really wanted to try Revelator Coffee but they open at 7:30 so we drove a few streets over to The Continental Bakery, which is one of the cutest places I've seen! We walked around taking in the scenery while sipping coffee and still made it to work by 7:30! I could get used to this!

Birmingham pros: What downtown location is a must try?!

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