Rouses_May-June-2018

the Eat Local issue

Today, the Acadiana Thrifty Mom blog — which offers everything from meal- planning tips and budget-friendly culinary crafts, to Instant Pot recipes and weekly roundups of grocery store sale items — boasts a whopping 88,000 Facebook fans (and counting). “I try to help people learn how to shop for what’s inexpensive based on what’s in season and what to stock up on right now,” explains Mouton. “I also share a lot of recipes created on a budget that cater to working moms. I have two full-time jobs, so I understand what it’s like to be in that position. You want your family to have a good, home-cooked meal, but you also want to save money. In a lot of ways, [the blog] just came out of necessity.” And while Rachel’s passion focuses on bettering the culinary financial health of families, Emilie Hebert of Emilie Eats in Baton Rouge is dedicated to educating her readers through recipes that promote a healthier nutritional lifestyle. “Emilie Eats came about because of my passion for promoting a plant-based diet and healthy living,” explains Hebert, a 21-year-old student and aspiring dietitian with 62,000 Instagram followers. “The

recipes on the blog are vegan, but they’re definitely accessible to everyone.” And even though Hebert lives in a city and region better associated with meat- and seafood-heavy dishes than veggie burgers, she contends that there’s an elegant way to fuse together classic Cajun dishes with vegan ingredients. “A favorite recipe of mine on the blog is when I took my grandpa’s jambalaya and made it vegan. All it really took was substituting in some vegan sausage — the rest of the ingredients already worked!” And if you’re feeling inspired to gather up your cherished family recipes and launch a blog after reading this — or step up your dinnertime photography game to Instagram-star status — the people who have been there, done that have a bit of advice. “I get questions all the time where people say, ‘How can you help me start a blog?’ Then they realize how much work it is, and I never hear from them again,” laughs Mouton. Assuredly, it takes plenty of sweat equity to make an online presence seem effortless. But like most challenges worth tackling in

Loaded Vegan Sweet Potato Nachos by Emilie Eats

These Vegan Sweet Potato Nachos will transform your Mexican night! They’re loaded with all of your favorite toppings for an epic, healthy 30-minute meal. WHAT YOU WILL NEED 2 medium sweet potatoes, sliced into 1-inch rounds

life, with enough passion — and a whole lot of heart — there can be an entire world (literally) of people out there able to benefit from your culinary knowledge and enthusiasm. “New bloggers need to keep in mind that growth is slow, and you need to keep at it,” says Gibson. “It can seem at first like you’re throwing everything into the abyss — even with social media. But if you keep at it, your interest in what you’re writing about will be evident, and people will be attracted to it. They’ll be able to see the person behind the blog.” “It’s all about really caring and being honest,” concurs Hebert. “If you have the passion for what you’re doing, people will notice.”

1

cup black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup corn kernels 1 cup salsa 1 avocado, chopped 1

jalapeño, sliced (optional)

2

tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

Vegan cheese (optional)

HOW TO PREP Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly grease a bak- ing sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper. Arrange the sweet potato rounds in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until slightly browned and crispy. While the sweet potatoes are cooking, prepare your toppings. Arrange the sweet potatoes on a plate and top with black beans, corn, salsa, avocado, jalapeño, cilantro and vegan cheese.

Emilie Hebert, Emilie Eats

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MY ROUSES EVERYDAY MAY | JUNE 2018