RSS Feed

The North Vermilion Patriots have outscored their last three opponents 39-1.
The Patriots beat Cecilia, 15-1, on Thursday, Beau Chene, 15-0, and again on Saturday, West Ouachita, 9-0.
North Vermilion improves to 9-3 and, as of Monday, is ranked No. 5 in the Non-Select Division II Power Point rankings.
North Desoto (10-2) is No. 1, and Pearl River (9-2) is No. 2.
In the win over Cecilia, Blaze Duhon drove in four runs to lead the Patriots.
He doubled in the second inning, scoring two runs, and he hit a home run in the fourth inning that scored two runs.
The Patriots scored at the bottom of the first frame thanks to two doubles, one hit by Cooper Petrey that scored two runs.
The Patriots scored five runs off three hits in the second inning. Jackson Romero hit a solo home run and Duhon doubled scoring two runs.
The Patriots hit three home runs by Duhon, Romero and Alex Landry.
Petrey hit two doubles.
Drew Durke pitched five innings, struck out five and allowed one earned run to pick up the victory.
In the win over Beau Chene, NV led 15-0 after only three innings.
Brock Broussard had three hits for NV.
Duhon threw three innings to earn the victory. He gave no earned runs, three hits and fanned six.
In the win over West Ouachita, Kevin Marix got the win on the hill after throwing a 3-hitter over three innings.
Blaze Duhon collected three hits. He hit a home run to right field in the fifth frame, doubled in the second and singled in the third inning.
With two hits were Avery Stutes (2-for-4, 1 RBI) and Petrey (2-for-4, 1 RBI).

HIGH PROTEIN ALFREDO

INGREDIENTS

-3/4 cup refrigerated Alfredo sauce
-1 1/4 cups chicken bone broth
-3/4 cup of high-protein milk, such as Fairlife 2%
-1/2 tsp garlic powder
-1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
-Black pepper to taste
-8 oz protein pasta, such as Barilla Protein, prepared al dente
-1 (5 oz) can tuna
-1/2 cup peas and carrots
-1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
-1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

MISE EN PLACE

-Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
-Lightly grease 8x8” pan with nonstick spray.
-In a large bowl, whisk together Alfredo sauce, bone broth, milk, garlic, and Italian seasoning.
-Stir in cooked pasta, tuna, and peas and carrots until well blended.
-Transfer to a baking dish.
-Submerge pasta as much as possible.
-Sprinkle with cheese.
-Cover tightly with foil.
-Bake for 40 minutes.
-Uncover and bake until bubbling and lightly golden on top, 10 to 15 minutes.

CHICKEN CASSEROLE

Similar to above

INGREDIENTS

-2 tbsp vegetable oil
-6 skinless boneless chicken thighs, or half breasts
-1/2 cup teriyaki sauce, or Worcestershire
-1/2 cup Ranch/style salad dressing
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, or your favorite
-3 green onions, chopped - optional
-1/2 (3 oz) can bacon bits, or bacon you cook*
-6 tbsp

MISE EN PLACE

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
-Add chicken.
-Sauté 4 to 5 minutes on each side until lightly browned.
-Place browned chicken in a 9x13 pan.
-Brush with teriyaki sauce.
-Spoon on salad dressing, onions, and bacon bits.
-Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until chicken is cooked through.
One serving of this tasty casserole does have approximately 530 calories with only 7 carbs plus 26 grams of fat, but you get a whopping 63 grams of protein. This is close to a perfect recipe.
Your body needs some carbohydrates for energy, and proteins are essential for building muscles, bones, skin, hair, and blood cells. Proteins also aids in digestion, regulates hormones, and supports your immune systems.

*Boo always has cooked bacon in the fridge. He cooks a package of thick cut bacon in the oven in a pan fully lined with foil. After it cools, he wraps the bacon tightly in a ziplock bag and sometimes uses the bacon fat for cooking. He uses a couple of slices almost every morning as part of his breakfast.

CAJUN CABBAGE

My mother in law loved this

INGREDIENTS*

-1 large head cabbage, finely chopped
-1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
-1 lb lean ground beef*
-Salt and pepper to taste

MISE EN PLACE

-Gather all ingredients.
-Place meat across bottom of a large Dutch oven.
-On medium flame, stir ground meat frequently until slightly browned. Do not overcook.
-Add rest of ingredients.
-Stir until cabbage is settled in pot. It will loose more than hand of its volume as it cooks.
-Cover pot and stir until it simmers.
-Cook until cabbage is at your desired consistency. I do not like to have cabbage cooked until it’s all wilted.
*My mother in law called it “grind meat.”
I have it listed as “Cajun Cabbage” in my recipe file.
Ground meat and cabbage is one of the fasted hot meals to prepare. Once the meat is brown, the cabbage added to the hot ingredients will cook in minutes unless you have a large pot full of cabbage. I love cabbage and my mom cooked it often. When I cooked everyday, cabbage was usually a weekly meal.
I have a recipe that calls for these ingredients with adding 1 (14.5 oz) can of diced tomatoes with juice plus 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning. I’m sure this would be flavorsome, but the tomatoes would have to be cooked down before adding cabbage.
Cabbage cooks so quickly over a medium flame and should be added after your protein is cooked or almost cooked.

CRAWFISH BOIL SOUP

Looking over recipes for seafood dishes for Lent, I came across my recipe to make soup with the leftovers of a crawfish boil.
I think I shared this with you already, but it’s worth a repeat. It’s a free meal from leftovers.
After hearing about and eating the crawfish boil soup at the old John Folse restaurant in Donaldsonville, I determined the soup there was started with all raw ingredients and made into a tasty, just not boiled, soup. After our next crawfish boil, the leftover crawfish were peeled and deveined. The next morning, I brought in all vegetables from the outdoor refrigerator and started prepping the boiled vegetables. The onions were taken out of the foil and cut into slices. I took some of the skin off the potatoes. Two peeled potatoes were smashed with a fork to help thicken the broth. The rest of the potatoes were cut into bite-size cubes. With a little olive oil in the bottom of a large Dutch over, I sautéed the onions and the smashed potatoes. Don’t brown these vegetables, just warm them well for melding the flavors. I cut all the corn off the cobs and added all the vegetables to the pot, with enough water to cover the veggies. As the water came to a boil, I had the opportunity to eat all the corn left on all the cobs. The crawfish were added just long enough for them to be hot at serving.
The soup made with the ingredients that were boiled with the seasoning had a unique flavor after all were simmered together.
This can be as easy as you want. You can add the corn cobs to the soup just as they were boiled. The onions can be cut into chunks, and you can leave all the skin on the potatoes. The flavor will be the same. When my boys started adding carrots, I would add them to the soup also. Now they add mushrooms, asparagus, smoked sausage, and more, which I would NOT add to my soup. That’s too many flavors to mix together.

Our typical Louisiana weather has our cooking schedule not on schedule. We went to Pass Christian last week with a new table top grill (won as a door prize) that Boo planned to use for breakfast each morning. He also planned to grill steaks for our neighbors. All outdoors. With the coastal winds helping the temperature to feel lower and a huge thunderstorm Saturday night, we changed our plans to bacon in the oven with his breakfast eggs and leftover frozen vegetable soup instead of steaks night grill. He’s become a constant weather watcher. All of our plans are scheduled around the weather forecast. That’s usually alright with me, because I avoid outdoor time when it’s cold, when it’s hot, when it’s too windy, and when it’s too humid.

Jusqu’a la semaine prochaine!

billielandry@iosinces.com

The City of Kaplan has signed on as a wholesale electric customer of the Louisiana Energy and Power Authority (LEPA), effective June 1, 2026.
The Kaplan Council voted to become a Full Requirements Member of LEPA at its February meeting, and the LEPA Board of Directors then approved the agreement at its Feb. 19 meeting. Kaplan is the 15th municipality to become a Full Requirements Member of LEPA, meaning that LEPA serves as its wholesale electricity provider. The other 14 Full Requirements members include Abbeville, Erath, Gueydan, Jonesville, Morgan City, Plaquemine, Minden, Natchitoches, New Roads, Rayne, St. Martinville, Welsh, Winnfield and Vidalia.
Kaplan has been a long-time member of LEPA, but made the move to a Full Requirements Member because of LEPA’s very competitive power rates to its Full Requirements Members. “I am truly honored to be part of such a respected organization and to work alongside all of you in our shared commitment to providing reliable, affordable electric service to the citizens we proudly serve,” said Mayor Mike Kloesel.
LEPA General Manager Kevin Bihm noted, “With the addition of the City of Kaplan, LEPA is now providing wholesale power to 15 Louisiana municipalities, the most LEPA have served in its history. This is a responsibility we take very seriously, and the addition of Kaplan further meets our mission to provide stable electricity at the lowest possible cost to our member municipalities.”
LEPA was created by the State Legislature in 1979 as the joint-action agency for the State of Louisiana. LEPA’s current membership is comprised of 20 cities and towns that own their electric distribution systems. The member cities of LEPA include Abbeville, Alexandria, Erath, Gueydan, Houma, Jonesville, Kaplan, Lafayette, Minden, Morgan City, Natchitoches, New Roads, Plaquemine, Rayne, Ruston, St. Martinville, Vidalia, Vinton Welsh and Winnfield.

August 13, 1940 ~ February 22, 2026

Hollins Marcel Meaux, referred to as “Marcel” or “Pops,” was born on August 13, 1940, in Kaplan, LA, to the late Rev. Hollins Meaux and Thelma Cobb-Meaux. He was born during high water, a time when most families worked in the rice mills. Hollins entered eternal rest surrounded by his devoted granddaughter Kahdijah and beloved son-in-law Roger.
Marcel received his education through the Kaplan and Abbeville School District. He was exceptionally smart, especially in the area of mathematics. As a teenager, Marcel worked in the home of a nearby family who owned a telephone company, caring for their disabled child, doing cooking, lawn mowing, and whatever they asked. He had an extensive hat collection and almost always had one on.
On January 17, 1958, at the age of 17, he joined the Army and stayed in for 23½ years until he retired in 1981. Once retired from the Army, he began his studies at Hudson Valley Community College. While a student, he received a phone call from the Watervliet Arsenal for employment as a machinist. He paused his studies and accepted the position. He spent the next 17½ years in civil service, working not only as a machinist but also as a missile tech, engineer, administrative supervisor, and ammunition specialist. Later, he reached out to an advisor at Hudson Valley, took his remaining two courses, and was granted his associate’s degree.
Throughout his Army career, he traveled to many places, including Iran, Italy, Thailand, Germany, where he had his daughter Fran, and Okinawa, Japan, where he had his son Anthony. He eventually settled in Albany, New York, where he met the love of his life, Clarrissa G. Meaux. On November 28, 1975, the two were married, and through this union he embraced two stepchildren, Robin Moore and Alvin Wimbush.
He, along with his wife, often traveled back to his hometown via long road trips to visit family. During the summers, Kahdijah and Ciaus would join them. He was a dedicated member of the Troy Amateur Radio Association (TARA), and his handle was N2YQW. He took great pleasure in volunteering on Field Day with his close friends. He would also spend every Sunday and Monday morning having breakfast with his friends, either at McDonald’s or at Don and Paul’s Diner in Waterford.
He will be received by his wife, Clarrissia G. Meaux; his parents, Hollins Meaux and Thelma Cobb-Meaux; and his brothers, Joseph S. Meaux and Phillip Meaux.
He leaves to cherish his memory his daughter, Francella Haynes (Alvin) of Opelousas, LA; his son, Anthony Meaux of Houston, TX; his stepdaughter, Robin Moore (Roger); and his stepson, Alvin Wimbush, both of Albany, NY. He is also survived by six grandchildren: Kahdijah Austin, Ciaus Simmons-Meaux, Peyton Fisher (Johnathan), Isaiah Meaux, Elijah Meaux, and Amayah Haynes; one great-grandson, Shiloh Austin, and another great-grandson on the way. Also surviving are his brother, Harold Meaux of Houston, TX; Marie Broussard of Kaplan, Louisiana; and a host of nieces, nephews, and cousins.
The funeral service will take place at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 7, 2026,at Bethany Baptist Church, 59 2nd Street, Albany, NY 12210.
Visitation will be held on Saturday, March 7, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., at Bethany Baptist Church.
Interment will follow the funeral service at Memory Gardens Cemetery & Memorial Park, 983 Watervliet Shaker Rd., Albany, NY 12205.
Funeral arrangements were entrusted to S.L. McLaughlin Funeral Home, Albany, NY.