Meet Waylon & Willie Y'all!

That’s right, those are the baby ducks I mentioned on Friday. Ever since my family and I went to San Diego a few years ago, my dad has wanted a duck. He had the best time while we were at the zoo there watching the ducks swim and land in the pond they had. Well, the day has finally arrived and he is now the proud owner of two adorable ducklings that we’ve named Waylon & Willie (welcome to the south). They are really cute but I feel like they will be all grown before long leaving all of their business all over the back yard. My dad is working on getting them a permanent water source outside so they can be happy…right now though…they are just cute little baby ducks that are fun to play with.



Despite my being under the weather, I had a fun time on St. Patrick’s Day. I love participating in themed holidays where I get to wear festive clothing. I just hung out with friends and enjoyed pretending to be Irish for the afternoon. I’m feeling much better than I was on Friday. I am more than sure that the abundance of pollen that has befallen Tuscaloosa is the reason I got sick in the first place. I felt much better after my two shots and some much needed rest. After I recovered on Friday, I got right back to business on Saturday & Sunday with exercise, errands and other things. As usual I ate too much this weekend (specifically Sunday night) so I’m back to being good as of yesterday and I am nervous to see what the scale will say on Friday.

Recipe time…





For this week’s recipe, I made Skinny Baked Sweet Potato Fries. I am not a very big sweet potato fan. In fact, I do not like any kind of sweet potato casserole or candied yam or anything like that. The only way I like sweet potatoes usually is if they are fried. I like them fried in tempura batter or fried like a regular French fry. So, in the spirit of some sweet potato fries that I’ve had, I decided to try a baked version. These were very easy to make. You just peel the sweet potato and cut it into fry shaped pieces and then toss it with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder and ground chipotle powder. Now, I’ve never cooked with chipotle before so I went a little overboard because it smelled smoky and sweet but I put too much and they were pretty spicy. Other than the heat, they were actually delicious. I served them with a BBQ sandwich. I wanted to give a shout out to Curly’s Pork BBQ. It comes pre-packaged (in the refrigerator section of the meat department near other pre-packaged dinners) and you can have one serving of it for 2 points. I put it on my 1 point (70 calorie) wheat buns and it’s a nice little BBQ sandwich and it was a perfect addition to the sweet potato fries.

I found out yesterday that one of my poems was picked up for publication in the Broad River Review. This is a print journal so I’m very excited…it’s been awhile since I’ve seen my name in the middle of a book that you can actually hold in your hands. I will let you know when that poem drops as soon as I know the info.

I hope you have a great remainder of your week!

Don’t let the pollen get you too!

Bye!

"Life’s about changing, nothin’ ever stays the same…” How Can I Help You Say Goodbye-Patty Loveless