Happy New Year Foods!

I hope y'all had a fabulous New Years Eve! I fully intended to blog yesterday since I was off-work, but my power went out around 1 pm and remained out through the night. It was magically on when I returned home from a NYE party at 2:30 am though. Symbolic much? The lights on 2018 literally went off for me, but 2019 is gonna be lit y'all!

Seriously though, I'm anticipating a pretty good year. After spending six months of 2018 unable to run thanks to two stress fractures, I'm excited to be back and training for a spring half-marathon. I said last year that 2018 would be the Year of the 50K. But of course that didn't happen. But 2019 will be my year.

I celebrated the end of a kinda crappy year last night with friends at The Big Gay Dance Party, a fundraiser for Friends for Life (a nonprofit that helps people access HIV/AIDS services and programs). I sat on the board of Friends for Life for six years, so it's a cause near and dear to my heart. The party was rad with lots of dancing, aerial performers, drag queens, and more. Here's me and my BGF (best gay friend) Andy. Unfortunately, Paul had to work in Nashville on New Years Eve and couldn't make it to Memphis.

This morning, I met friends for the Lulu's Memphis New Years Day pop-up brunch at Fuel Cafe. Fuel closed its doors as a restaurant in December, but they're still using the space for pop-ups. And my friends Don and Kenzie host Lulu's vegan brunch pop-ups often. I haven't missed one!

This one featured New Years Day "good luck" foods from the South and the Midwest. His Southern dish was a beer-braised black-eyed pea sandwich, which sounded delicious. But I had plans to make black-eyed peas at home later. So I opted for the Midwestern dish of Salt-Cured Tofu & Kraut, Roasted Potatoes, and a Sourdough Bun.

I'm sure my Midwestern readers know much more about this, but from what I've read online, pork and kraut are traditional New Years foods up there. I figure I've got double-luck now since I had a Southern luck dish later in the day. By the way, that bun was AMAZING. So soft. Don is a bread master.

I also ordered a side of Turnip Greens since I typically make cabbage for my New Years meal. That counts as luck insurance, right?

I brought a bottle of champagne to spike our OJ because New Years!

In the afternoon, I went my co-worker Caitlin's New Years Day party and snacked on some of their blackeyed peas, as well as some red wine and the most delicious roasted almonds. But I didn't take any pics.

For dinner, I made Hoppin' John Spring Rolls with Spicy Tomato Sauce! I made my usual Hoppin' John good luck New Years dish with blackeyed peas, brown rice, cabbage, and tomatoes. It's stuffed into rice paper and air-fried. So much more fun to eat this way!

Happy New Year! And hey, just in case you're wondering, I'm NOT doing a January reset this year! Crazy, I know. I've done a reset plan every year for the past nine years (or maybe more). But since I just wrapped up Health Made Simple in November, I don't feel like I need a reset now. I'm still following those whole foods guidelines most of the time!