Fat Tuesday

Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday in French and in the Catholic tradition it is your last chance to party it up before Lent, the 6 week preparation for Easter. Lent is a somber time, Mardi Gras's antithesis and it lasts a lot longer too. During Lent you are supposed to abstain from earthly pleasures or give up bad habits and indulgences to make your life more simple and "clean."

Now religion and religious affiliation aside, I do believe that Lenten season is another time to take stock in what is going on in your life and make some changes. It is like a New Year's resolution redo. You all know I am really into New Year's Resolutions. It is just that I really appreciate outside structure when I am trying to make a change. Lent tends to focus on giving things up for the six week period before Easter, and one great thing to give up during this period and beyond is smoking.

I think it is great to be creative and one example is trying to give up 30 minutes of each day for a brisk walk. Or you could give up eating refined sugar or white flour - you know little sacrifices but you will feel a difference in your energy and health after living without those things for only a week. Another thing you could give up is 5 pounds of flesh. Yep, focus on eating right and exercising regularly and see if you can lose some of the extra weight you have been carrying around with you.

You may not be Catholic. You may not even be Christian, but I like to think of this season as a spring cleaning for my soul. How about you? Tell me below.

Every year on Fat Tuesday I like to make my version of Jambalaya, a Cajun inspired rice dish with fish and sausage. I love Jambalaya because it's the South's take on Spain's paella. There are many variations and usually I cook an elaborate, recipe with long steps. Unfortunately this year I have to work late on Fat Tuesday and as much as I would love to, I won't be able to spend several hours chopping and standing over a stove. So this year, I searched for a quick easy recipe of the classic Mardi Gras dish. Check out the recipe, read more

While some may be celebrating Fat Tuesday today by whipping up some of YumSugar's yummy recipes, New Orleans, the city which has always championed the Fat Tuesday festivities, is sill recovering from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Apparently the city is turning to text-messaged donations in an effort to defray the costs of Mardi Gras and of course, rebuild the areas that are still very much affected by the devastation. City officials are working with PayPal, a money-transfer website, to raise funds via text-message and online giving, said the AP.

Costs of the Carnival celebration, which concludes Tuesday, include $4 million to $5 million for police overtime, trash pickup on parade routes and other public expenses. The Text to Give program will run for a year, but the goal is to raise $1 million. How can you help? read more