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Martini, Scrabble & Tofu

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Last night I broke our “no eating out” for the rest of the month rule and convinced the Hubz that we needed a night out on the town. He agreed that we have been cooped up in our apartment for the past week only leaving for work and groceries. It was time for a date night out. We started our date night at Drink in hopes that the special drink of the day would be something we wanted but it end up being raspberry vanilla infused vodka, um gross. So instead we decided to go with martinis, olives for me and a twist for him. We decided that we would take our time and draw the night out as long as possible so we sipped our martinis and played a round of scrabble. We had fun and let a few not so “legal” words pass. Once our glasses were empty and our game complete we headed just a few doors down to one of our favorite restaurants Pacific Rim. The first thing we saw though was a sad sign saying that they would not be renewing their lease and therefore would be closing at the end of the month. So with that being said we went in and made sure to order our favorite dish one last time. Unfortunately this is when the photos get a little less than clear, I realized after I had already left home that I had forgotten my camera on the counter, FAIL. 

I decided that I would stick with another martini with dinner but unfortunately this one just wasn’t as good and the olives were teeny tiny; I really hate when you don’t get good olives in a martini.

After ordering our drinks we started with the vegetable dumplings which weren’t really that good, they were greasy and had little flavor. I was hungry though so I topped them with sriracha and dipped them in soy sauce. 

For our entrees the Hubz and I both got our favorite dish the Grilled Spicy Tofu which is marinated tofu that is grilled and then topped with a spicy red sauce and served with brown rice, steamed veggies and kimchi.  It was just as good as I remembered it and I ate the whole thing. I am sad to say this will probably be the last time I ever eat it….hmmm maybe I will try to recreate it.

I know these photos are awful! The Hubz said “those don’t even look like food”

Dining Locally: New Moon

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At least once a week you can find me at New Moon Cafe blogging, working on school or enjoying a cup of coffee with the Hubz or friends. There are many coffee shops in Downtown Burlington but New Moon is by far the best for getting something healthy to eat, finding a table to work on and has the best free Wi-Fi.

New Moon Cafe

The menu at New Moon includes sandwiches, salads, breakfast items, soups, quiche and baked goods. I really love their roasted veggie paninis but lately my favorite has been the create your own salad. My favorite combination is greens, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, carrots, chickpeas, cucumber and lemon dressing. There are three sizes of salad; the small is massive and they don’t skimp on the artichokes which are my favorite.

Yummy Salad Beast

When it comes to beverages they have the best cold pressed iced coffee, wonderfully sweet and spicy chai lattes and their drip coffee is really delicious as well.

Delicious Coffee

My only complaint about New Moon is that it isn’t open on Saturdays.

A Night of Indulgence

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Over the last nine months I have finally found a method of eating that works for me. It is all about the  90/10 Rule (sometimes 80/20); what this means is that 90% of the time I try to eat really well and then 10% of the time I will indulge GUILT FREE.  I think for too many years I have been overly concerned with that I am eating and making myself feel bad for indulging even just a little.  Now that I have stopped being so hard on myself I find that it is so much easier to follow a 90/10 or 85/15 or some weeks 80/20 diet.  I know that I have control over what I eat and that if I can do really well 90% of the time than for me that is great.  I don’t need to be eating really well 100% of the time to feel healthy and happy.

Last night I let myself have that 10% GUILT FREE. After work Neil and I had 2.5 hours before our dinner plans so we decided to take advantage of the time and headed first to The Farmhouse for a beer, snack and round or three of darts. This is where our night of indulgence starts; we both enjoyed a nice beer but since I hadn’t had lunch we decided to get an order of their fries (they are to die for).

After beer, fries and darts we took a little walk around downtown Burlington before meeting Laura for dinner at A Single Pebble this really delicious family style Chinese Restaurant.  We had a gift certificate and were excited to use it since that meant we could order all the yummy dishes we wanted without worrying about spending too much (this place is a little pricy). So for dinner we had (please note all dishes were requested vegan- there are some dishes that appear to be vegan on their menu however are not so ask your server before ordering):

Double Garlic Broccoli

Mock Eel- Fun Fact: This was Alton Brown's "The Best Thing I Ever Ate with Chopsticks" (Foodnetwork)

Tan Tan Noodles

Mock Prawns

Dry Fried Greens Beans (my favorite dish)

We ordered way too much food and ended up leaving with a bunch for leftovers. We really enjoyed everything but the favorite dishes of the night were the Dry Fried Green Beans, Double Garlic Broccoli and Tan Tan Noodles.  The one thing that we really were not impressed with however was the service.  We had arguably the worst table in the house and then our service was awful; our sever only came over to our table 4 times in the 1.5 hours that we were there. We also ended up sitting for nearly 30 minutes being completely done eating before anyone stopped by the talk to us, fill our water glasses or ask if we needed anything else.  Normally we have a really good dining experience and come here frequently for special nights out but tonight was just an off night.

Do you indulge guilt free once in awhile? What are your favorite indulgences?

Dining Locally: Duino! (Duende)

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This past weekend the Hubz and I decided to have an afternoon date at Dunio! (Duende) in downtown Burlington, VT. This small restaurant is part of Radio Bean a local cafe known for it’s weekly musical performances and off beat atmosphere. Since Duino! (Duende) is off the main street in downtown Burlington we always forget about it but after our revisit this past weekend I think we will be frequenting it more often.

The theme behind the menu at Dunio! (Duende) is unique and different from other restaurants in the area since its focus is on international street food.  The menu is small but provides enough inexpensive vegan friendly dishes that you won’t be disappointed.  They also have an extensive drink menu with wines, beers and specialty drinks as well.

I started with a Manhattan

And the Hubz had a Five Dollar Shake: Stout, espresso, and maple syrup

For my meal the Hubz and I shared the soup of the day which was a creamy squash soup with thai spices it was really yummy and came with grilled bread.

And we shared the Mujadara: Lentils & rice cooked with onions served in a pita with tahini, hot sauce, lettuce & tomato & tabouleh salad- this was really tasty!

Overall we really enjoyed the laid back atmosphere, delicious (inexpensive) food and we will be back again soon.

Ratings:
Value: 4/5
Food: 4/5
Vegan Friendly: 3/5
Atmosphere: 4/5

Dining Locally: American Flatbread

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Our pizza from the last post was actually inspired by a visit to American Flatbread a few weeks ago where we sipped the best beer and ate the most delicious pizza. This is one of our go to restaurants because they have amazing flatbread that is made from local and/or organic ingredients.  Plus they keep it simple- their menu has a salad (which is amazing) and a number of flatbread creations as well as an option to create your own flatbread.  THAT IS IT. They don’t need to put anything more on that menu because it is perfect keeping it simple.  They also have a special salad, vegetarian pizza and omnivore pizza each night as well as dessert specials.

On top of having a great salad and flatbreads they easily accommodate vegans and they brew their own beer. Now their dining menu maybe short and sweet but the beer list is extensive and filled with a great selection of microbrews as well as their house made which are all really good.

Veganized Special- white pizza with delicata squash, apples, garlic and maple glazed hazelnuts

Art Hopping

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After a crazy week at work it was nice to come home to these yummy treats:

Hail Merry sent me a few of their treats to sample for my OpenSky Shop .  I immediately decided to try the blonde macaroons which are raw, vegan and gluten free and AMAZING! I am a huge fan of raw macaroons and should really make them more often but these are certainly a great treat!

I wasn’t feeling to hot in the morning so I finished my work and headed home to rest for awhile.  When the Hubz got home he convinced me to get out and go to the South End Burlington Art Hop with him.  I was as little reluctant at first since I still wasn’t feeling great but went anyways. We ended up having a great time and the fresh air and walk around town seemed to be just what I needed.  After a while we got hungry and we decided to get some food.

Neil with his I'm hungry face on.

Downtown was crowded so I suggested that we try Miguel’s since it was near the water, away from the crowds, and we had never been there before.  We decided to sit outside since although cool out it was a beautiful night.

We started off with the special margarita of the night: prickly pear

We also snacked on a few chips and salsa but we were good and didn’t have too many and spoil our dinners.

For my entree I got the Tres Tacos with the vegetarian chili which was delicious and filled with bulgar, sweet potatoes and beans- with my tacos came pinto beans, rice, pickled onions, lettuce and tomato.

The Hubz got the portobello fajitas which were amazing! He was kind enough to give me one and in return I gave him one of my tacos.

Overall this place was amazing! We had great food, great service and a wonderful atmosphere to enjoy it all in (and the company wasn’t half bad either).

New Moon and Jivana Spa

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Friday after work I headed downtown to meet the Hubz and grab a bite to eat before we headed to our spa appointment. I decided that I we should try a place we had never been, New Moon Cafe,  at first glance I thought the place was super tiny but when we got in a little further we realized the place was huge!  We have decided that with the free wi-fi we probably will be spending a lot more time here, except strangely they are not open on Saturday’s.

The Hubz and I shared the grilled veggie sandwich (sundried tomato pesto is vegan!), a Gus soda and a bag of Zapp’s Spicy Cajun Crawtators chips. Everything was delicious!

After our bite to eat we went for a walk to kill some time before our spa appointment.

Finally it was time to enjoy our spa treatment! Since there were no cameras or cellphones allowed I didn’t get any shots but let me tell you it was amazing! Here are some photos from the Jivana website:

Entrance

Entry and Massage Room

The Sugar Scrub Table

After the amazing Balinese massage I had a sugar scrub and left the spa feeling refreshed, renewed and so relaxed.  I decided to go with the lemongrass massage oil and body scrub and it really did smell wonderful.

After our spa appointment it was getting pretty late so we decided to go out for some yummy Asian Food.  We got the avocado roll to share and then I got a big bowl of tom kar soup with tofu, veggies and udon noodles. The Hubz got this great dish which was almost like a deconstructed sushi roll both amazing and ridiculously filling.

Q: What are you treating yourself to this year?