Appetizer: Heavenly Stuffed Wings – de-boned chicken wings stuffed with ground chicken, silver noodle, cilantro, water chestnut and black mushroom. They came with this great sweet dipping sauce. This was kind of scary at first (fried! processed! breaded!) but the deliciousness made up for it.

For dinner we shared 4 dishes. The Blue Mango Fried Rice – a big house special: chicken fried rice topped with sweet garlic pork.

The Green Curry – eggplant, bamboo, and bell pepper are soaked in coconut milk, with a hint of basil (cannot be mild).

Mushroom Mountain, as usual – soft tofu, baby corn, bamboo, straw mushroom, and bean sprout stir-fried with a bit of green curry paste. Sesame seed are sprinkled on for a beautiful finish.

And Basil Chili Chicken, also as usual – with bell pepper and onion.

After dinner we went out for dessert (frozen yogurt) at Golden Spoon – pumpkin pie and chocolate flavors. The toppings were raspberries, mango (not ripe, unfortunately), and crushed brownie bits.

Blue Mango never disappoints. And neither does Golden Spoon. If you ever get a chance, go there! (I’m talking about the Blue Mango on Stevens Creek – I hear the other one is not so good.)

Now that I’m in NJ I don’t have Blue Mango. But I do have Edo Sushi! Bobby, Julia, and I all went out for dinner tonight. I love this place. Edo Sushi is a Japanese and Chinese restaurant on Route 31 in the same shopping center as Pennington Market. It’s about a 10 minute walk from my parents’ house.

First is the tea… (unlimited and free – my two favorite qualities). Notice my cool NY key chain – it’s kind of vintage because it has the twin towers on it. I think I got it back in middle school.

I got chicken and broccoli with the sauce on the side (brown sauce).

The other pictures didn’t come out, but Julia got veggies and tofu with the sauce on the side (also brown sauce). Bobby got the Dragon vs. Phoenix – chicken, shrimp, and veggies stir-fried with yet another brown sauce. He also got a big pot of rice.

We finished everything. The check came with pineapple cubes and fortune cookies. Yum! I love Edo’s.

This dinner was nice after my indulgent afternoon… My parents gave me a massage + facial combo for my birthday and I finally used it. I went to Sydney Albert Salon Spa in Princeton. I’d highly recommend this place – I’ve been going there for years and I’ve always loved everything. Their haircuts are amazing, the facials are fantastic, and the massage was wonderful. Bobby also got a massage and he loved it.

While we were getting pampered, our Relocube arrived. Now we have to unpack it. I’m going into the city tomorrow, but when I get home I think we’re going to try to start sorting through all of our stuff. It’ll be a big project.

What’s your favorite restaurant?

Like this post? Check out...

• July 12, 2008 -- Rosemary Roasted Vegetables and WHB
• March 18, 2009 -- Yogurt Winners!
• December 12, 2008 -- Giveaway! (Pumpkin Pecan Butter)
• April 14, 2009 -- Yoga, Salad, Award. Goodnight!
• July 16, 2009 -- Some favorites

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The nutritional info (in 1/4 cup serving): 150 calories, 1.5 grams of fat, 31 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams fiber, 4 grams protein. The cereal is wheat-free, gluten-free, and dairy-free. Ingredients: whole grain brown rice, corn, white sorghum, buckwheat.

Neither of us have food allergies, but we love trying specialty foods. We’re both a little lactose intolerant, but we kind of ignore it. I love trying all kinds of foods though, and gluten free products are usually mighty tasty. This cereal is made of brown rice, corn, sorghum (?), and buckwheat.

It was great mighty tasty. I made 2 bowls of it this morning. I soaked each serving in water before cooking. I didn’t drain them; I just added the soaking cereal to boiling water. Bobby’s bowl was savory:

• 1/4 cup cereal soaked in 1/2 cup water + another boiling 1/2 cup water
• dash of salt
• 1/2 shredded string cheese
• 11 sauteed shrimp (olive oil, garlic powder, chili powder, sesame seeds)

My bowl was sweet:

• 1/4 cup cereal soaked in 1/2 cup water + another boiling 1 cup water
• dash of salt
• 1/2 of a wallaby organic raspberry yogurt
• a few handfuls of nature’s path smart bran
• sesame seeds
• maple syrup (unpictured; added later)

You boil water and add the cereal. Then turn the heat to low and cook it (covered) for 5-10 minutes or until it’s the right consistency for you. You have to stir it occasionally. The more water you use, the bigger the cereal will be. Bobby doesn’t like volume foods for breakfast so I didn’t use as much water for his. I used lots of water for mine.

Mm, mm… mighty tasty. I feel like there might be this whole new world out there of amazing hot cereals that I didn’t even know existed. My staples have always been oat bran, oatmeal, and grits. What should I try next?

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• October 18, 2008 -- Lentil Leek Soup (Blogger Secret Ingredient)

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Today we went up to Sausalito to be touristy. Bobby got this really good free-range, organic turkey burger from a place called Hamburgers. Apparently it’s Britney Spears’ favorite burger place (?).

I don’t know if these fries were organic, but they certainly were delicious (especially with oodles of ketchup).

Dad and I posed with a bird by the bay.

I opted for vanilla ice cream from Lappert’s. Honestly? Not that great. It was $3.60 for this little cup and it was not worth it. It was boring and I’ve had much better.

Dinner was more interesting. After we got home we went out to Roll House, a cheap and local Korean restaurant. We started off with side dishes (2 kimchis, a mayo waldorf salad thing, pickled daikon, and a fish cake dish that was super yum). Got seconds of some of these.

My dinner was Bi Bim Bap – fried egg, seaweed, cucumber, carrots, spinach, mushrooms, and some other things. I topped it with lots of red spicy sauce (love). When I lifted up the egg to mix it, I found a surprise – beef. Eek. I took it off and gave it to Bobby. I don’t like to send things back. I’m pretty sure I didn’t get it all off though. My meal also came with miso soup (upper right).

Bobby and my dad were full after dinner, but I had to get frozen yogurt to make up for my ice cream disappointment. Bobby did end up helping me a bit with this.

It was green tea, regular tart, mango tart, and blueberry tart. Kiwis, strawberries, and pineapples for topping. Yum.

And for today’s exercise - this morning I did Sadie Nardini’s 30 minute yoga routine – power half hour. I LOVE Sadie’s routines. I can’t wait until I’m in New York and I can take her classes in person.

What’s your favorite exercise class?

Like this post? Check out...

• November 28, 2008 -- Thanksgiving Day Wrap-up
• May 12, 2010 -- Recipe: Grilled Portobello Kale Salad
• February 6, 2012 -- February Goals + Meal of the Day #1
• March 6, 2010 -- Souen Again: The Best Dinner Ever
• November 17, 2010 -- Trying to Budget Food Stinks

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Today’s breakfast was simple – oat bran, protein powder, lots of cinnamon, vanilla, and salt. Topped with fresh maple syrup. This stuff rocks. You can still get it on sale at Amazon – $26 for 2 big jugs. Check out Alisa’s blog for the deets. The background of papers is the result of me studying for my anthropology midterm.

Dad got here late in the afternoon, and we hit up Whole Foods before going out to dinner. We got some yummy appetizers: big local globe grapes…

And Jarlsburg cheese (swiss) with organic water crackers. Dad also got this kinda cool Spicy Pumpkin Ale. I don’t usually like beer, but it was decent.

We went to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner. It’s that awesome salad/soup/dinner buffet. I forgot the camera, so no pictures. My eats were pretty standard – 2 humongous salads (mostly raw), some lentil and ham soup, and frozen yogurt with cookies for dessert.

I’m really glad my dad is here. We’re going to do some sightseeing and he’s going to help us get ready to move. I can’t believe I’m moving back to the east coast in just a few weeks. I’m incredibly happy about it. I’m going to be so much closer to my family, and it’ll be really easy to visit Bobby’s family too (just a 2.5 hour plane ride, and in the same time zone).

What do you do with your parents when they visit?

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• April 1, 2009 -- Cruise excursion – horses!
• February 1, 2012 -- What Do the Cooks Eat?
• December 19, 2009 -- Baking and Making Gingerbread Houses
• October 27, 2009 -- Let’s all go to muffin land
• December 14, 2008 -- Holidays, parties, desserts OH MY!

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But back to yesterday. Not everything is pictured, so I hope I remembered to mention everything. Disclaimer: everything pictured was eaten; not everything eaten is pictured. I like to think that this day is a good example of intuitive, varied eating. Let me know what you think.

I started the morning off with fresh goji-nutty-biscotti (recipe to come) that I baked last night. They are semi-healthy, but not overly so. I had 5 of these guys dipped in some cookie tea and a little bit of chocolate peanut butter. A little while after I did some yoga on my own (30 minutes).

Bobby and I trekked out to Borders early in the afternoon; I snagged an unpictured apple with almond butter on the way out the door. We stopped in to the fruit stand next to Borders where I had a few nibbles of cookie samples. Peanut Butter was the best (duh). After Borders we made a grocery stop at Trader Joe’s where we got (unpictured) samples of the Organic Tomato & Roasted Red Pepper Soup. In a 1 cup serving: 100 calories, 2 grams fat, 16 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 5 grams protein. They added creme fraiche and crispy bread; it was tasty.

Came home, made a lunchy snack. Arame (seaweed) from Heather, some sweet tomatoes, and leftover gingery chickpeas. Topped with Newman’s Own Lowfat Sesame Ginger dressing. Had 2 bowls of this. Lunch dessert: 2 tablespoons dark chocolate dreams peanut butter (unpictured).

We ended up buying that soup we sampled, so I heated that up for dinner along with salads. My salad was spinach, parmesan, pickles, olives, tomatoes, arame, sprouts, sunflower seeds, and the rest of the chickpeas. I topped my soup with kefir (my idea), sprouts (Bobby’s idea), and some Morningstar veggie bacon (my idea).

Dessert was faux cheesecake (cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, mashed banana) and 3 large handpicked apples spaced throughout the night… and the rest of those yummy tomatoes.

Do you like tomatoes? I love them in just about everything: unsweetened organic ketchup (Biz and Holly!), plain, stir-fried, in sandwiches, in salads, etc… Bobby likes tomatoes sometimes but he doesn’t like when they squirt in your mouth (that’s what she said) so he avoids the little bite-sized ones that I love.

Hey – Do you follow me on Twitter yet?

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• August 3, 2010 -- Alisa: Marriage and Peanut Butter Truffles
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• April 27, 2010 -- Nature Made Award!
• September 5, 2009 -- Raw KABOCHA

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• July 26, 2009
• July 7, 2009 (engagement celebration)
• June 15, 2009 (with my mom)
• March 21, 2009
• March 9, 2009
• December 3, 2008 (anniversary)
• November 7, 2008 (with my dad)
• October 16, 2008 (with Brittany!)
• September 27, 2008 (one of my earliest daily eats posts)

We ordered 4 things to share. We got the mushroom mountain (no picture, but there are pics in just about every other post about Blue Mango!) – ”soft tofu, baby corn, bamboo, straw mushroom and bean sprout stir-fried with a bit of green curry paste, sesame seed are sprinkled on for a beautiful finish”. We also got Basil Chili Chicken (spiciness 7/10). Wonderful, as usual.

And a new dish – green curry (spiciness 5/10). This had prawns, eggplant, bamboo, red peppers, and maybe some other things. So creamy and satisfying. This is my new favorite. Bobby can’t decide between this and the mushroom mountain.

We also got crab fried rice, which we usually get. This was both of our cousins’ favorite.

After dinner we headed next door to Golden Spoon. Golden Spoon is one of the many California frozen yogurt shops, but it ranks among the best. The yogurt is creamy, ice-free, and basically a party in your mouth.

Bobby and I got the Pumpkin Pie (!) flavor and the classic vanilla. No toppings. I also tried Peanut Butter Cup, Cake Batter, and Raspberry. All delicious. The yogurt has about 25 calories in an ounce, and this size is supposed to be about 10 ounces. It was the perfect amount for two to share.

Today I think we are headed to the Japantown Farmers’ Market (maybe with friends) and I want to get a facial.

What was the last thing you did to pamper yourself?

Like this post? Check out...

• September 11, 2008 -- Goodeats for 9/11/2008
• January 17, 2009 -- Annoucement… and dinner!
• July 16, 2010 -- 7 Instant Diet Boosters
• August 24, 2008 -- Goodeats for 8/24/2008
• June 4, 2009 -- Yoga Flow Sequence

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This is a bowl of cereal – peanut butter chocolate balls (Leapin Lemurs I believe), kamut puffs, sunflower seeds, a banana, and kefir (watered down a little bit to be more milky). I had with it some delicious cookie tea from Lupicia.

This next bowl is more cereal in a yogurt mess – kamut puffs, granola, sunflower seeds, a banana, and Oikos Greek yogurt. The granola has pumpkin seeds in it. It’s from Nature’s Path. Again, served with cookie tea.

I’ve also been digging popcorn (topped with cinnamon, salt, and chili powder).

Bobby loves homemade ramen – just fresh noodles, shoyu sauce, celery, and tofurkey slices. We get the noodles in the refrigerated section of the Asian market.

And we all know I love salads. This one is topped with lots of olives, pickled beets using Clare’s recipe (more on that later – delicious), pickles, parmesan (duh), and Newman’s Own lowfat sesame ginger dressing (it’s back!).

I’ve been using a cool site called Meals Matter to try planning more of my meals. It makes me branch out and I’ve been less inclined to snack at night when I know what my breakfast the next morning will be. Though… I have to admit. Last night I had a little bit of a snack attack with apples (the ones we picked) and a Vosges Black Pearl Bar (chocolate with wasabi, ginger, black sesame seeds – I swear it’s awesome). I did make it 2 whole days with no night time snacking, and that is big for me.

What was the last thing you indulged in?

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• October 18, 2009 -- I’m lazy when I’m lovin’, I’m lazy when I play
• August 4, 2010 -- Mara: Food Blogging and Marriage
• October 12, 2008 -- Just another lazy Sunday…
• January 3, 2011 -- Back to My Shoots. Err, Roots.
• April 3, 2010 -- The Best Friends In Life Are Free!

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First I made a wrap (Flat Out wrap) with shredded apple (from Sunday) and grated blue cheese. I spread the toppings out over the wrap while I heated up my “panini press” (which is actually a waffle maker!).

I pressed it in the waffle maker for about 4-5 minutes, then cut it in half and ate it with another apple.

The next morning I was in the mood for a new creation. I sliced a banana and laid it out on the Flat Out wrap. Then I drizzled Greek yogurt and almond butter (warmed in the microwave) on top.

I stuck it in the waffle maker again.

I think I like the banana creation better, but the apple/cheese one is definitely a keeper too. I like the way the waffle maker leaves little squares on the wrap. Who knew you could use a waffle maker as a panini press?

While these guys probably can’t beat out oat bran (my favorite breakfast), they are great for switching things up. I can’t have oat bran for breakfast every day.

What’s your favorite breakfast?

On a more serious note, please take the time to visit Natalie’s Project Feed Me. It’s a donation effort to feed thousands of hungry families.

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• September 9, 2008 -- Goodeats for 9/8/2008
• April 28, 2008 -- Menu Plan Monday
• April 13, 2009 -- Sushi night, milk ice bars, salad update!
• November 2, 2008 -- First Thanksgiving Challenge Shopping Day
• August 4, 2009 -- Massaging Kale

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As usual, feel free to switch up the veggies. I think the cauliflower is pretty essential for all curries, but do what you like. This recipe is particularly simple because you can get curry paste at any local Asian market. This was my first time using it. Depending on what protein you use, this can be vegetarian or vegan.

I’m submitting this to the Blogger Secret Ingredient contest, hosted this week by Coco! She picked cauliflower.

Indian Curry

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup curry paste
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup cubed white potato
• 2 cups chopped cauliflower
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
• 8 ounces protein (tofu, chicken, etc… we used frozen chicken thighs from Trader Joe’s)
• 1/3 cup milk/coconut milk/kefir/yogurt (optional)
• parmesan, yogurt, sour cream, or other cheese for topping (optional)
• base – rice, squash, or other carby-carb.

Directions

1. Boil the water in a soup pan. Add the curry paste and mix well. Add the potato and protein. Cook for about 5 minutes
2. Add the rest of the veggies and cook for another 3-4 minutes until they’re tender. If they aren’t covered by the broth, don’t worry – they shrink down. You can also add the milk at this point. I added a little bit of kefir and it came out well.
3. Ladle the veggies, meat, and a whole lot of broth over rice or squash. Top with parmesan.

This meal was very satisfying on a chilly fall night. I had both halves of my delicata filled with curry. Bobby has been obsessed with the rice I’ve been making lately… want to know the secret? I add some salt and pepper while cooking, and then when it’s done I drop in a tablespoon of butter and mix it up while it melts.

If you missed my post yesterday, you should check it out now. I got a lot of really great responses. I talked about whether or not a raw food diet is actually “natural” or not, based on a primatologist’s research. The question was, Does cooking make us human?

I also wrote this post: Does language make us human?

I have a question for you, readers – what do you want to see more of? Daily meals? Cooking tips? Recipes? Crazy cool foods like kabocha? Scientific research like the cooking/human post? Beauty information? Product reviews? Book reviews? More workouts? Giveaways? Leave me a comment to let me know

Like this post? Check out...

• September 10, 2008 -- Goodeats for 9/9/2008
• March 6, 2010 -- Souen Again: The Best Dinner Ever
• February 3, 2010 -- Have a cup o’ tea (behavioral change)
• January 30, 2009 -- Yoga + Oats = Bliss
• October 13, 2009 -- Recipe: Goji Nut Biscotti

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Cheesy Roasted Veggies

Ingredients

• 1-2 heads of broccoli, chopped (you can use the stem too)
• Brussels sprouts, quartered
• onions (optional)
• spices: dill, salt, pepper
• 2-3 teaspoons olive oil (more if you use more veggies)
• 1-2 ounces shredded cheddar cheese (I used organic raw)
• cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425F.
2. Toss the chopped veggies with the spices and olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes on a cooking-sprayed pan.
3. Top with cheese; return to the oven for 5-10 more minutes.
4. Serve, optionally topped with more cheese.

Another recipe I’ve been loving recently is my faux cheesecake. Cottage cheese, banana, and some other yums make this a wonderful dessert. This time I added some granola for a cheesecake-type crust.

Seriously, if you haven’t made this yet – go make it. You can substitute Greek yogurt for the cottage cheese and it’s just as good.

What’s your favorite healthy dessert?

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• August 24, 2010 -- Updates
• November 10, 2008 -- Short week!

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