Sunny Day Happy Face

I don't write enough about how much I love sushi. Well, I guess there really isn't too much to say besides I love sushi, and that I could eat sushi every day. My favorite kind of fish is salmon. I'll eat salmon nigiri, salmon sashimi, salmon roll, you name it. What's your favorite?



Lately, for lunch, I've been going to a sushi takeout place right across the street from me. Yesterday I got a salmon roll with cucumber instead of avocado because I thought I'd save on the fat calories. But alas, faithful reader, whenever you are faced with the choice between avocado and cucumber, make the right choice, and choose avocado, because it truly is meant to be with salmon.

Excuse the poor quality of the photos because as always, I take these with my iPhone. That's one of the downsides of owning a dSLR. I don't bring it with me unless I know I'm taking a lot of pictures, as it doesn't fit so nicely in my bag.

I've got a lot of things cooking (or baking?) for my shop, which may be released this weekend or early next week. New everything! More to choose from!

Oh, yeah, and here are some bananas:

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! We had our usual family gathering, which was wonderful. I broke my raw food diet for the day with much success, I felt fine and was ravenous! This is a typical hors d'oeuvres for our family. Pigs in a blanket (that were a little charred by my grandmother, which has never happened before, she’s an amazing cook), the most delicious shrimp and cocktail sauce, loads of fantastic cheese and crackers, pomegranate that I brought, crudités and dip, meatballs, even nachos made an appearance later for the younger kids.


I was too caught up by dinner to snap a photo, but it was great as well. Turkey, amazing cranberry sauce, sweet potato pie with marshmallows on top, broccoli, salad... delicious. For dessert, apple pie, pecan pie (with homemade whipped cream, I’m craving more already!), a pistachio pie (not good, made by a cousin, tasted like crayon) and pumpkin flan. Just a decadent meal. A sign I didn't eat enough -- I'm hungry again now!

My first week of being a raw foodist surely has had its ups and downs, from waking up Wednesday morning very alert and in no need of coffee like usual, to being lethargic and suffering from chills on other days. I went from Monday to Saturday without knowingly consuming anything that was not raw. On Sunday we went iceskating in Central Park with some friends, and afterwards we went to a health food store. One of our friends is a vegan, and as I was looking around, I came across some Raw Revolution bars. In a hurry I grabbed a few, after my friend promoted the brand as being absolutely raw, since she knows the owners. I gobbled down a chocolate and hazelnut bar. When I got home I was looking over the label again, and I noticed in the corner it said 82.2% raw. Gasp! I felt like a conservative Jew (well, I am a Jew) who just found out they had eaten a non-Kosher meal! The horror. I got over it.

Today I was full of cravings as well. Hot dogs, pizza, sandwich, oh my! After the partially-raw debacle, I started to rethink the diet. Perhaps I should eat as raw as I can, but also incorporate some cooked food, excluding all artificial sweeteners and coloring, sugar, gluten, preservatives, and dairy. That way I can have turkey on Thanksgiving!

I've already gone back to some non-raw ways. This afternoon I happened to open the cupboard to see some Herr's Natural Blue Corn chips. The only ingredients were certified organic blue corn, safflower and/or sunflower oil, and sea salt. No preservatives. Sounded very whole foods to me. So I made some guacamole and ate them together. Not awful. Doing this now and then helps put off the preoccupation with food that many dieters face. It gets very boring sometimes with such a limited food palette, and no bread-like substances.


I just made a delicious mango, banana and spinach smoothie. I love making smoothies. This one included one mango, one banana, up to a cup of water, and a handful of spinach. Don't worry about the spinach part, it adds loads of nutrition, but isn't noticeable in the taste at all.

Another asset to any raw food diet is a good juicer. One day I'd love the hefty Greenstar juicer ($499). For now, though, I love my Breville Compact Juice Fountain ($99.95). Also, the other day I ordered a Excalibur dehydrator ($209.95) -- an early Hanukkah gift from my mom (hi, mom!) Once it comes, I will be able to make raw fruit leathers and dried fruits, as well as my own, completely raw fruit bars! Yay! So that's a "taste" of my new life as a now "high-raw" foodist. More to come.

I don't consider myself to live extremely close to the Union Square Greenmarket, so I tend not to go down there for produce. But I should! I went there today to score some raw honey from Berkshire Berries, and I also picked up two zucchinis while looking around. Then I ended up buying some lacto-fermented sauerkraut from Hawthorne Valley Farms. I can't really say I've ever had sauerkraut, but I saw it was raw, and they offered as many tastes of their varieties as I wanted! Not bad. An acquired taste.


But, wait, why does it matter that the sauerkraut is raw? And, hey, the honey is raw, too? I began a raw food diet on Monday. Not to be confused with a raw vegan diet because I'm no vegan (no, I can't let you go, sashimi!) But I love this new and fun way of eating, especially because I hope it to cure a lot of my digestive issues and promote overall better health. I'd like to post more about my new raw lifestyle, but that I think will depend on interest. Interested?

Have you all ever had Ciao Bella gelato or sorbetto? There are dozens of flavors. Two days ago I ordered a pizza for delivery and an hour later it still hadn't shown up. I called the pizza parlor back, turns out they had dropped the receipt for my order on the floor so it was never made. The man taking my order offered to send over some sorbet, his "best stuff" he said. We'll, I've heard of Ciao Bella before, I might have even had the vanilla gelato before, which wasn't that great. I wasn't expecting anything special when a whole pint of Mango Sorbetto arrived with my pizza. All the other mango ice creams I've had in the past are too icy and don't taste like mangos.

If you do like mango, I urge you all to run out to your grocery store and get some. It's amazing. Its not icy, it's so smooth and, well, pure mango! So refreshing. I could literally eat a whole pint without noticing, it's so light, comforting and delicious. Fat free, too!

I found the most amazing recipe yesterday. Ever have a craving for some chocolate, but you have no cookies in the house? How about baking essentials? Of course! So you can make yourself some decadent chocolate cake in a mug, in the microwave, in just five minutes.


(Images from dizzy dee, annotated by me)

At first it seems like you might have a giant explosion on your hands, or else that the cake is going to flow over the top of the mug like lava, but neither of those things will happen.



(two images above from half assed kitchen)

Doesn't that look delicious? I made it myself last night, and believe me, it is. Well, don't believe me, you should make it yourself. Here's the recipe:

1 Mug
4 Tablespoons flour
4 Tablespoons granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons cocoa
Pinch salt
1 Egg
3 Tablespoons milk (I used soy)
3 Tablespoons canola or vegetable oil (or 1.5T oil and 1.5T applesauce)
Cooking spray

Coat inside of mug with cooking spray. Add all dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in egg, then remaining ingredients.

On the highest setting possible, microwave for 2-1/2 to 3 minutes. Let stand for another 5 minutes (optional). Spoon cake onto plate (also optional, as I ate it right from the mug without waiting.)

Original sources for the recipes on half assed kitchen and dizzy dee.