Souen Macrobiotic Restaurant: The Best Lunch Ever

This morning after meeting (3rd week in a row!) Bobby and I went to Souen, a macrobiotic restaurant, for brunch. You might remember that I experimented with macrobiotics last year (actually it was just over a year ago this month) and I really enjoyed it. I cultivated my love of kabocha and I learned a lot about how the food we eat impacts the way we feel. Here are some resources:

So today I wanted to try going back to macrobiotics again. I opted for “Brunch A” ($8.50 – well worth it!! Huge portions for me):

  • Kenchin-Tofu Drop Soup: tofu, shiitake, burdock, carrot and watercress in kombu kuzu broth.
  • Corn Bread or Spelt Bread (I got corn bread, duh – with miso tahini dressing)
  • Steamed Vegetables (carrot, daikon, squash and greens)

Bobby got “Brunch B” ($11 – oddly enough this was less food than Brunch A):

  • Yuba: steamed tofu “skin” marinated in kombu-shiitake broth.
  • Mixed Grain of the Day (basmati wild rice)
  • Goma-Ae: steamed special greens with black sesame sauce.
  • Goma Tofu: soy free, creamy and nutty sesame “tofu”.
  • Stewed Vegetables: cooked carrot, gobo, yam cake and lotus root in tamari broth.

I thought this was possibly the best lunch/brunch I have ever had. And there were flowers, soy sauce, and sesame seeds:

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My soup came first. Bobby and I actually swapped soups because we each liked the other’s better.

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The cornbread was really interesting (in a good way) – it was not very sweet at all and tasted healthy (again, in a good way). It came with miso tahini dressing (I finished this dressing and got more – so good). Two related recipes that I made before:

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My veggies came last. The kabocha was ripe and perfectly steamed. The carrots and daikon were also perfectly steamed. Even the kale was delicious! (Sometimes I think it’s boring.)

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Here was Bobby’s spread (clockwise from top left: spinach, rice, tofu skin thing, sesame tofu thing, and soup):

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I thought that Bobby’s gomae (steamed spinach with sesame sauce – I have a recipe here) was really yummy. He thought it tasted a little bit like dirt, but I honestly thought it was great. I also thought his goma tofu (tofu made with sesame) was good, but he didn’t like the texture much. Next time he is getting fish. We’re going to bring his mom here when his family visits in March (!). I think she would appreciate it.

Brunch dessert was a piece of Macasure chocolate. I saw it at Whole Foods yesterday and picked it up. Really good! Bobby liked it too.

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I’m gonna end with a mantra that I was contemplating this morning during my hour of silence:

May everyone be happy, well, and peaceful.

How was your weekend?

I Love Chipotle Burritos & Grits. And Wedding Planning.

Today I got Chipotle for lunch. My fajita burrito had…

  • Wrap (why don’t they have whole wheat yet?)
  • Rice (yum! I love the way they season and butter this)
  • Carnitas (shredded pork)
  • Extra fajita veggies
  • Tomato and corn salsas
  • Lettuce

I ate a little more than half and put it away (I was at lunch with Bobby). Five minutes later I was still ravenous (Bobby was just finishing up his burrito – exactly the same as mine but with beans instead of fajita veggies) so I finished it off. Yum.

Ah, here was my breakfast today – grits with coconut oil and maple syrup. My dad used to make grits all the time when I was growing up. Actually – he still does. Every time Bobby and I go to New Jersey he makes us fried grits and they are amazing.

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I have been very busy wedding planning this week (did I mention I’m trying to plan a wedding in 5 months?). Luckily it’s a simple wedding and I already have the dress ordeal behind me. It was not an ordeal at all.

Anyway, I didn’t get to do my walking yesterday and then I didn’t walk again today (raining). So tonight I plan on doing my Diane Von Furstenberg exercises (sometimes I call them DVF exercises or dvf stretching). I haven’t been into yoga lately but that’s okay. My interests come and go in phases (not that yoga is going – it’s just not top priority right now).

What’s your favorite burrito? What do you put in it? Where do you get it?

Perfect Sunday.

Title inspired by Caronae (I love her blog – a beautiful writer and wonderful woman).

This morning I woke up at 10:10am. Meeting starts at 11. Bobby had said he would go with me this week, so I got him out of bed at 10:30 (late) and we showered and went on our way. We were only 20 minutes late and I enjoyed the silence and the few spoken words for the next 40 minutes.

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We left meeting and began to walk. Our promenade followed 15th street over to Union Square, and then into the Trader Joe’s wine store where we got three bottles of three buck chuck. We sauntered down to Souen but it was closed; something wrong with the boiler room. Then I remembered hearing about a fantastic vegetarian lunch place nearby: Quantum Leap.

To celebrate pancake Sunday I ordered the multigrain pancakes with fresh bananas and apples ($8 something). My condiments were butter (healthy animal fat) and minimal syrup. It was a satisfying and satiating meal and some of the best pancakes I have ever had (the best are from my dad’s recipe).

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Bobby ordered “The Mexican” ($10 something), which consisted of a vegetarian chicken enchilada thing with guacamole, sour cream, salsa, fake sausage, and eggs. It was fine. I’m not a savory breakfaster.

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We walked over to Peanut Butter & Co where I realized I should never work in a place like that unless I want to be obese. (We didn’t get anything.)

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We followed 5th avenue all the way home. I got votive candles at Pier 1 and a tea at Starbucks with half and half and all the spices.

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Came home. Went back out to Gap and Banana. Got some things on sale. Came home. Made dinner (teriyaki turkey and tofu for bobby; lamb and veggies and various animal fats for me). Drank wine. I drink wine now. It was cabernet.

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And now I will either go get frozen yogurt or relax in front of the olympics. I don’t know how much I like the olympics. It seems like everyone in them has serious food or body issues. Did you notice that? I guess it takes a considerable obsession to be as good as those athletes are.

Signing off now. Big week ahead. What did you do this weekend?

Acupuncture Treatment: Stress and Hormones

This is an overview of the treatment for hormonal imbalance and treatment for stress. Acupuncture treatment can be very helpful for both. It’s an effective natural treatment for stress.

I’ve had a few people emailing me asking for recommendations that my acupuncturist told me. So I will just put them out here for you all to see. A lot of the mindfulness exercises can be good for anyone.

Acupuncture is great for: stress, digestion, hormonal problems, and more. I mainly went because of my digestion and a hormone thing!

Eating recommendations:

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  • Eat: lamb and bison, lightly spiced. (Cinnamon and chili are good.) (This is for the hormone thing.) (I made lamb here and here. Used spices here.)
  • Eat: Eggs and bacon. Alternate between turkey and regular bacon so I don’t get bored. (Reasoning: animal fats are good for hormone regulation as long as they are from free-range/organic animals.) (Also for hormones.) (I made bacon here. Eggs and bacon breakfast here.)
  • Eat: black beans with some coconut oil. (For hormones.) (Ate them here.) (Coconut oil here.)
  • Eat: lemon rind/zest in cooking; oranges. Something about the rid of these citrus fruits is good for digestion.
  • Eat: ginger and garlic. Good for digestion. Also very warming.
  • Snack idea: rice cakes with coconut oil.

It is good to keep a balance – meat and carbs are acidic in nature, so to balance them out, we need alkaline green leafy veggies. Lots of them!

Other recommendations:

  • Soak feet in hot water with lavender and epsom salts. Don’t let the water get cold! Do this for 20-30 minutes.
  • Take a hot bath after dinner with lavender and epsom salts.

Meditations to try:

  • Lie on your back (savasana). Breath in and out with your chest. Imagine your heart is expanding and making your chest rise. Keep focusing on the strength and power of your heart. (5-15 minutes.)
  • Sitting or savasana. Focus on an area of your body that may feel neglected or needing love. Imagine a tiny light the size of a dime radiating from the center of that place. Now imagine it growing and radiating out from that body part until it is big enough to envelop your whole body. Now take all that energy and begin to compress it back into a smaller and smaller light. Eventually the light goes back to the size of a dime (still in the same location). Repeat if necessary. (5-10 minutes.) I got this one from an intenSati class with Lindsay.

Books:

  • Feeling Good by David D. Burns. Cognitive therapy isn’t just for depression!

Have you tried acupuncture? What about other Traditional Chinese Medicine? (Coco has a good series on this stuff too.)

Gourmet Park and Nutty Butter Fats

The other day I got a package from Maranatha – 2 jars of nut butter. They sent me one jar of no-stir peanut butter and one jar of no-stir almond butter.

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Let me tell you – I thought I didn’t really like almond butter… I was so wrong. This almond butter is great. Both the almond butter and the peanut butter are slightly sweetened with organic cane sugar.

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Thanks, Maranatha! I can’t wait to experiment with these. So far I’ve just had them plain, in oatmeal, and on rice cakes.

I work long hours so recently I have been going to Gourmet Park for dinner. My favorite thing to get is the unlimited topping salad for $6.95. You pick a base (I get romaine), one “meat’” (I get either bacon or shrimp, depending on my mood), and unlimited gourmet toppings.

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This one had (I think I’m forgetting some): roasted oily eggplant, roasted oily Brussels sprouts, broccoli, roasted peppers, corn, peas, water chestnuts, baby corn, mandarin oranges, artichoke hearts, sprouts, and probably some other things. I always get the honey mustard dressing on the side.

Gourmet Park also has a sale on their prepared food after 6:00pm – it’s all half off. So I get prepared food for $4/pound (normally $4/half pound).

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This one was some Asian-inspired cooked salad of broccoli, black sesame seeds (Coco likes these!), peppers, and some other unidentified veggies. Underneath (hiding) are a bunch of oily peppers. I’m really into oily veggies lately – they are so good. Fat is good.

Tonight I got a big dish of something with cauliflower. It was Indian-inspired, I think.

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I topped it with some beef, salmon, and crab (salmon and crab are in that left corner). I also got some oily eggplant and some mashed potatoes. Very filling. Gourmet Park is helping me eat a variety of foods without having to worry about planning my meals.

In terms of exercise I’ve been sticking with my walking routine. Today I actually walked 4 miles instead of 2 because I walked home from work while chatting with my parents.

How often do you talk to your parents? Sometimes I talk to them every day and then other times I will go a week or even more.