Days 3 and 4: New Orleans

Let the eating begin!

Before embarking on this trip, I promised myself that I would be good and try my best to stick to my new 1,400 calorie diet restrictions. I packed healthy snacks for the car rides like apples, reduced-fat Cheez-Its, a bag of rolled oats to make for breakfast, and peanut butter and bread (yeah, I brought a butter knife). I even got oatmeal and a fruit smoothie at McDonald’s for breakfast/lunch before we left Memphis when all I really wanted was an Angus burger.

But the deal was off when I got to New Orleans. NOLA is a place I’ve always dreamed of visiting and the food always played a starring role whenever I thought of my future visit. No way was I going to let my cholesterol ruin this trip for me. Sure I could have fun without eating a boatload of calories, but I didn’t want to regret not eating something because of a stupid diet. You wouldn’t go to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory and have a single piece of sugar-free fudge would you? I might never have another chance to sink my teeth into crawfish or the fried deliciousness offered here. A couple days wouldn’t kill me… this city and dinner in Memphis would be the only stops where food played a large and unique part of the visit.

(A bumper sticker in the restaurant we had lunch at on Monday)

You better believe I’ve kept my promise.

Sunday, after we recovered from out Bourbon Street outing the night before, we headed out for some boiled crawfish, shrimp and a platter of fried seafood at one of Christiana’s favorite local spots. Before the first course arrived, I could already smell how great it would be. Instead of bread, Deanie’s brings you a bowl of cooked red potatoes to munch on, which have been boiled in the same broth as the crawfish.

When the critters got there, Christiana had to show me a few times how to peel them. I had never seen, let alone eaten, shrimp with the head still on it, so it was a little difficult to peel. While Christiana kept saying that the crawfish were small this year, the Gulf shrimp were huge and delicious! After the meal I may or may not have commented that I might not be able to eat New England shrimp again the same way. There was something sweet and tasty about the meaty Gulf shrimp.

When you eat crawfish, you are supposed to suck the head after you rip it off because a lot of the juice it is cooked in resides there. Ally never sucked the head before in her previous visits and told me she speculated that it might be the brain that you suck out. Christiana said it wasn’t brain, so I took a chance and sucked the head with caution, and I am glad I tried it—it was a quick burst of flavor, no brains.

For my main course, I chose a platter of fried catfish and shrimp. I was good and ate very few fries and barely any of the catfish. Mostly because I was so full and knew I had a good two days of eating ahead of me.

After lunch, we hit up the drive-thru daiquiri joint and sat by the lake to soak up some of the sun. Needless to say we needed some naps by the time we got home.
For dinner, Christiana and her roommate Rachel took us to their favorite local Mexican place, Juan’s. I got some delicious tacos with a kick of spice. After dinner, we hit up the gelato place.

On to the next day…

On Monday, Ally and I explored the French Quarter. Before heading downtown, we stopped for breakfast at a coffee shop. Instead of choosing the decadent cranberry muffin, I chose a hard-boiled egg and a banana. I figured a good decision now would make up for the grease I would consume later.

My two missions for the day were to have a beignet (fried donut) from Café Du Monde and some jambalaya. I accomplished both and they were better than I ever could have imagined them tasting. The beignet tasted like a superior version of fried dough and I wanted more than the order me and Ally split. I also got a Café Au Lait (half coffee/half steamed milk) from there and poured the leftover powdered sugar into the coffee.

I had the jambalaya for dinner, as well as blackened gator and blackened oysters for an appetizer (split amongst the group of course). I had had fried gator in Jacksonville a few years back and it was pretty greasy and fatty—Christiana told me it was cooked wrong and she was right. This gator was delicious! And the oysters were also amazing.

After dinner, Christiana and Rachel took us to a shop to pick up some pralines (pronounced praw-lines). Because I had never had them before, I bought a small pack for two reasons—in case I hated them and in case I loved them. I'm sure you can guess the result (hint: begins with an "l").

It’s safe to say I successfully ate my way through New Orleans. And as promised, it will be time to observe my diet once we cross the Louisiana - Mississippi state line.