The Hubz and I started our weekend with a trip to Miya’s Sushi in New Haven CT. I just happened to find out on Friday morning that my friend Lisa is 105 Academy right now with Bun the owner of Miya’s. Well she must have put in a good word because when we arrived at the restaurant later that evening for dinner they rolled out the red carpet. We were spoiled rotten with amazing food and drinks all night. I honestly can’t tell you everything we ate because there was so much that I forget. However I did photograph it all so you can see all the beautiful amazing food we ate. One of the items that was our favorite that you can see in the first row of photos is the vegan Toyko Fro- it’s these yummy fried potatoes with a creamy sauce on top – it was to die for. Also yummy was the pumpkin miso soup; I had never experienced anything like it and if I was able to I’d eat it everyday.
As for the sushi, we were treated to a number of small samples of different rolls and they were all absolutely amazing and unfortunately I can’t remember all the names. I do however know that I was in love with all of the ones with roasted garlic it was a yummy surprise in every bite. You really can’t go wrong ordering any of the vegan sushi at Miya’s because it is all delicious and super inventive. Now that I know Bun is at raw school at 105 Degrees I will be curious to see if he adds any raw vegan dishes/sushi to his menu.
If you haven’t already figured it out Miya’s is the best sushi I have ever had and I would gladly move to New Haven just to eat there everyday. I encourage anyone visiting, passing through or if you just live within a 5 hour radius to jump in their car and go there now and get yourself some amazing sushi.
This weekend has been filled with great new recipes, great conversation and the most amazing chocolate I have ever had. On Saturday after a crazy morning filled with bagels, markets and lots of coffee the Hubz and I came home to prepare for our dinner guest. We took a break from cleaning and organizing to enjoy a Dominex Eggplant Burger over greens with tomatoes and avocado served with rutabaga flax fries.
Serves 2- pre heat oven to 425F. Peel and cut 2 small rutabaga into fries and place in a bowl. Toss the rutabaga with 1 teaspoon of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of flax meal, 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast, 1 teaspoon chili powder and a pinch of salt and pepper. Bake for 25-30 minutes until tender and browned.
More cleaning and a little napping happened and then it was time to make dinner for Allie from Healthy Balance, Healthy Life. Allie wanted to make hummus using her new food processor so that set the tone for the entire meal. I decided to go with a Mediterranean themed meal which included lemon-garlic-oregano marinated tofu, tomato, onion and pepper skewers, olives, pita, tahini-parsley dressing and carrot sticks and radishes with Allie’s roasted red pepper hummus.
tofu and tomato skewers
onion and pepper skewers
The marinade/baste for the veggies and tofu included:
1 cup vegetarian chicken broth (could sub vegetable broth)
2 Tablespoon chopped parlsey
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon thyme
2 teaspoons oregano
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 Tablespoons olive oil
Whisk these all together and pour over skewered veggies and tofu and allow to marinate for 2-4 hours. Remove from the marinade and place on parchment lined baking sheets; pre-heat oven to 425F. Place the remaining marinade in a small sauce pan and place over high heat; bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer until the sauce has reduced by half. Remove from the heat and brush the veggies and tofu. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove and baste with more of the reduced marinade; return to the oven and bake for 15 more minutes. Remove from the oven once again and baste the veggies and tofu with the remaining marinade. Turn the oven on to broil and broil on high until the veggies and tofu are lightly browned.
carrot sticks and radishes
yummy mixed olives
tahini-parsley sauce and whole wheat pita
Allie's Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
Serves 4- in a small sauce pan heat 1 Tablespoon of olive oil, add 1/2 a minced sweet onion and saute over medium-high for 5-6 minutes until the onions soften. Stir in the garlic and 1 (15oz) can of rinsed and drained chickpeas; cook for 2 minutes. Stir in 1 (12oz) package of defrosted frozen spinach, 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast and salt and pepper to taste; cook until heated through.
For dessert we enjoyed Lulu’s raw chocolate which is easily by far the most amazing raw chocolate I have ever had. I find a a lot of raw chocolates do not have enough of a chocolate flavor and are sometimes chalky tasting but this chocolate was amazing and not only is the best raw chocolate I have ever had but one of the best chocolates. I will blog about these more once I try the other flavors I have.
After our late night chatting and enjoying Proseco with Allie we dragged ourselves out of bed this morning and headed to my parents house for the day. We enjoyed the day with my parents, grandma and Aunt Carol; we ate, played cards and laughed. When we got home we were hungry and ready to enjoy a nice high-raw dinner. This week we are going to eat high raw in hopes of detoxing our body a bit after enjoying lots of pasta, bread and drinks this weekend.
Dinner tonight consisted of a spicy carrot-avocado soup and raw tuna salad sandwiches which was served on multigrain Manna sprouted bread.
Spicy Carrot-Avocado Soup (raw)
Serves 2-3
1 & 2/3 cup carrot juice
1 avocado
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 jalapeno
1 small garlic clove
pinch of cayenne pepper
Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.
The Raw Tuna Salad recipe came from Ani Phyo's Raw Food Essentials
You can get the Aioli Mayonaise recipe for the mock tuna sandwich here.
I feel like I did increase my raw food intake however not as much as I had originally imagined. I love to be in the kitchen and I find that cooking is a way for me to relax and be creative. I would like to become more creative in the raw foods world- step out of my comfort zone and work on more raw recipes this summer.
I don’t keep track of my exact weight so much nowadays but I know that my clothes feel better and that I am getting closer to a weight that I am comfortable with. I currently started the P90X to jump start my year and get me ready for some intense backpacking this summer with the Hubz. 3. To run a 5K
Well this did not happen. I started the C25K and it was going really well and then I just stopped. I don’t really know why but I know this one one goal that I had for 2010 and will probably end up on my 2011 list as well. 4. Blog more
I have blogged more and not only that I blog with more of a purpose. I feel that 80% of the time I blog with a purpose and that is at least a 25% improvement since last year which it a success! However there is always room for improvement and I will keep improving my blog. I even wrote my first e-book and I am starting on my second one! 5. Find a job that makes me happyx2
No I am not a fire fighter- I just work for them!
Not only did I find a job in March 2010 that I absolutely love I started a program through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition to become a holistic health counselor. I now not only have 2 jobs that I love plus write a blog I love, I am a housewife to boot!
Over the last 12 months I have left my awful job, found a new job I love, started a health counseling program, became pregnant, moved, had a miscarriage, healed, became more dedicated to my blog and became a happier, healthier person. Stay tuned for my goals for 2011.
Do you set yearly goals for yourself? Do you find that this works for you?
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