Soul Food| Food For Thought

Fried chicken, collard greens, ham, yams and biscuits are just some of the food that come to mind when I hear someone talk about Soul Food.

In my attempts to stay on point with the #NoFastFoodFebruary challenge, I went to the web for inspiration on meal ideas and stumbled across the PBS documentary Soul Food Junkie. This documentary looks into the culture of southern cuisine and the impact it has had on the health and food choices in black communities.

Near the end of the documentary, a point was made that soul food is not necessarily the "traditional" southern foods or meals we think of BUT can be any food/meal that you find to be delicious or "good to your soul".

So, with ALL OF THAT being said... What food is good to YOUR soul? What meals are staples in you household?

Mine would have to be...

Spaghetti

I know it seems simple but I load it down spinach, peppers, squash, zucchini and onions. For our meat, I use turkey sausage and regular ground turkey. And lastly, whole grain spaghetti noodles.
This dish is made at least once a month and I make enough to last a few day so I have some to take to work and still eat for dinner. I love this meal because it is so simple to make however, over the years I've adjusted it from what i grew up eating.

No Fast Food February

It's that time again!!!

February is coming and I'm attempting to do the #NoFastFoodFebruary challenge again this year.

In short, the idea of No Fast Food February is to avoid  take out food of any sort for the entire month. While accepting this chanllenge, I plan to share meals and recipes with you to give a glimpse into the domestic side of Creatively Coiled.

( Click >>> here <<< to view some of last years meal ideas)

Care to join me?

Well c'mon! Use the Hashtag #NoFastFoodFebruary on Instagram and share your meal ideas and recipes. 

Ready... Set...Go!

Pick 6 - Winter

Well, hello Spring. Even though the warm weather hasn't officially settled in  I must say that I am looking forward to any sight of sunshine and warm weather BUT, before we move on past the chills let me share my...

Hair: African Braid Durban Twist Hair - I lucked up on this at a nearby beauty supply trying to figure out a quick way to style my hair. What really caught my attention was the definition: as if it were in large twist. The texture of the hair is softer than other braiding hair I have used in the past which is also a plus for me. I wasn't in the mood to do any detailed styling so I resulted to simple top knots to keep my hands out of my hair for a while. I buy this hair again and attempt to install kinky twist.






Fashion: Trench coat from Target - I purchase this coat well over 4 years ago for $13.00 from Target and I absolutely love it. With the cold weather that hits North Carolina, it is nice to have a nice long coat to wear. It is also machine washable so I have no problem keeping it clean.






Beauty: Very simple for the this Winter - A cocoa butter stick. Along with dry skin I suffer from hyper pigmentation  on my face which happens very easily when I mess the the acne on my face. If I catch these dark spots soon enough, I'm able to correct them by slathering cocoa butter on spot before I go to bed.








Skin: Shea Moisture Massage Oils - If you didn't know already, I'm #TeamSheaMoisture. Once out of the shower, I simply apply this to my skin without completely drying off to help lock in moisture. I've been enjoying the Olive and Green Tea oil.








Accessories: Stud earrings from Target - I wear these literally everyday when I'm  not looking to over do the ear glam. They are simple but "blinged" out a bit where I do not feel like I am doing too much.

Random: Hmmmm. I would have to say that my random this Winter is BAGELS - I've really been leaning with them hard this season as a quick breakfast. I have  enjoyed all wheat and poppy seed bagels 

with Garden Vegetable cream cheese.




Share with me your favorites from Winter :)

No Fast Food February UPDATE

February has come and gone so, I wanted to come and give you my...

UPDATE

I honestly enjoyed this challenge as it forced me to really plan out our meals: prepping food a day in advance and going into my recipe box to pull out some recipes that I hadn't used in a while. Along with this challenge, we tried our best to prepare meals that consisted of fresh produce so there was a lot of fresh veggies filling the fridge and with there being more fresh food, we were more moved to go ahead and actually cook and eat so none of it would go to waste.

With the cold weather taking over the month, comfort food was the name of the game: 

Pictures Clockwise: Grilled peppers and onions (rice not pictured).
Turkey Kielbasa, peppers, potatos and onions.
Buffalo chicken, broccoli, cheese and potatoes.
Turkey chili.

We enjoyed a lot of hearty meals throughout the month and had the opportunity to take a crack at making a soup (mind you, this is was a very random soup where I literally just purchased broth and veggies...Chopped 'em up and threw them in a pot... It turned out yummy):

Shared via Instagram

Shared via Instagram

With all of this being said. I am sad to report that I only made it 14 days straight without any fast food (insert sad face here). See, what had happened was...Sir and I hit the town and on Valentine's night and had all the intentions of coming home and preparing a meal HOWEVER, mother nature saw fit to hit Wake County with winds so harsh that when we arrived home, our power was out. 

All in all, we had takeout food 5 times last month...Which to me, was still good although I would have loved to complete the full 28 days with just home cooked meals. This was easy on the pockets and helped us clean out the fridge and actually start eating more of what we purchased. 

I will be trying this again. 

Did you participate in #NoFastFoodFebruary? If so, did you make it through the month?

-creatively coiled

No Fast Food Febuary

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

POSITIVE ENERGY TO ALL IN 2015

Watching what we eat is easier said than done. Over the past 3 years sir and I have worked on improving our eating habits to assist in our physical and financial health however, depending on "variables" that play a part of our daily life, we've found it to be difficult at times to stay on track: 

Late work day: Grab a fast food meal on the way home.

Late night(s) out on the town: Grab a fast food meal on the way home. 

Forgetting to prep dinner and/or just not in the mood to cook: ...You get the gist...

We have certainly come a long way as I can remember a time when we ate out almost everyday. There are some fast food restaurants that have been completely removed from the radar and we make better choices when ordering but it can get better. 

While we aren't as bad as we use to be with eating out and/or ordering in, we are still looking to improve this habit. I have personally noticed that when I do eat out a lot... I feel bad physically.

Mission for the month: No Fast Food... Again, easier said than done with it being so easy to just hop in the car and swing through someones drive-thru for a quick bite but, with the help of Pinterest (ie: yummy fast food meal substitutes) and restraint, we can make this happen. 

Our plan is to avoid outside foods all together: fast food and ANY sort and dining out will be prohibited this month. I know some are thinking "well, what about Valentine's Day?". Well... what about it??? We can still have a lovely dinner at home (as we have many times. I really enjoy preparing dinner rather than going out on V-Day).

I'll be sharing some of our meals via social media (mainly Instagram @Creatively_Coiled) and maybe at the end of the month I'll post all the pictures her on the blog. 

Do you and your family make it a point NOT to eat out? Do you have any tips that would help others avoid the call of fast food?