We are still on Jekyll Island for a work conference but there’s a special Soul Food Sunday post I’ve been planning to share with you guys that takes it back to when we were in Florida just last weekend.

Side note: I realize that I’m probably confusing many of you by zipping around all over the place in a way that makes no sense…my apologies, especially if you are a new reader. I LIVE in Virginia permanently, I am living in Georgia temporarily for the summer, I went on vacation to Orlando about a week ago, and now I’m in a work conference in Jekyll Island (which is in Georgia). I swear that I usually NEVER go anywhere.*end of side note*

Before I get to the food, I’d like to show you some pictures of the other places we visited that day in Orlando. We had heard great things about the Animal Kingdom Lodge (one of the Disney resorts) and so we took a drive down there to see the resort and the animals.

It. Was. Beautiful.

They have actual safari animals roaming around the hotel property. It would be so awesome to be a guest at this place!

After a long day full of fun and other adventures, my mom wanted to take us to this place called Mama Nems‘ for dinner. This Orlando joint is famous for its soul food, so we weren’t about to argue when my mom said she wanted to go.

For those of you who aren’t American/aren’t Southern/don’t hang out with many Black folks, I want to explain the name of the restaurant to you. Jason looked at it and thought Mama Nem was a person. This provided me with some hearty laughs. The name comes from the phrase “mama n’em”, translation “mama and them“, further translation…one’s family. As in, “I’m going to go have dinner at my family’s house” –> “I’m gon’ go eat at mama n’em’s.” See? HAHA, I think the name is awesome and funny. It’s owned and operated by a church, and the food was great.

We all ordered classic soul food dishes at the cafeteria style line, and we got a huge amount of food for an amazing price!

I ordered the catfish with collard greens, candied yams, macaroni and cheese, and cornbread. It was delicious.

Speaking of deep fried and greasy, you all have likely noticed that I haven’t been making the healthiest eating choices lately. I’ve slipped into a lot of my old eating habits since being at home with my family this summer. Have you noticed that I COMPLETELY gave up cutting dairy out of my diet even though I’m very sensitive to it? Those of you who are new readers might not even know that I’m not supposed to be eating dairy at all. You sure can’t tell from my posts lately! Anyways, I will address this issue in a later post but I want to thank you all for not getting judgmental and saying anything about it. Being healthy is still incredibly important to me, and I have not given it up!

On that note, we’re off to enjoy a seafood buffet. 😉 Thanks for reading!

-Lauren