Sushi!

So last week, Wednesday I believe, our good friend Brett came over and we went out to Sushi. There aren't a lot of amazing sushi places immediately near us, but the best of the bunch is a place called Sushi Planet. We rarely go, because Amanda didn't really enjoy sushi until relatively recently. I blame this on the California Roll, which everyone seems to try first and it tastes like garbage. Amanda is becoming increasingly more adventureous with food, as am I, of late. It is weird all the things I never liked before Amanda and I started going out. The list includes beans of all kinds, cheesecake, and guacamole. Now I could eat those 3 things all the time, but probably not together. That is gross. I digress.

Sushi! If I remembered what we ordered, I would tell you. I was pretty out of it all last week following the surgery. So here we go!

Edamame, which is amazingly as always for being so simple.

Tuna, Crab, Salmon, and Avocado...at least I think

I am ususally of the less is more school of thought with sushi. Too much going on can be disgusting. It appears I was completely out of it, because I ordered this:

Which had crab, shrimp, tuna, and probably more stuff. It was good, but too much. I like clean flavors with sushi.

This was some sort of lobster thing.

Like I said, I think less is more. I should stick with this idea from now on and not go for the overpriced specials. You live, you learn.

We ordered way more, but some how that is all we photographed. I think I had something with eel at some point, which was amazing. Wow, I was totally out of it.

So, best sushi you've ever had? Is less more? I want to try sea urchin soon, but we don't see a ton of that on menus here. I have a mission to try anything intended to be eaten.

BTW, my arm is doing better. It is gnarly bruised, but doesn't hurt much anymore. I got the giant bandage off next Monday. I can't wait.

Eating in San Diego

California has a few breweries but none near where Andy and I live. Luckily we spent a week in Andy's old stomping ground...San Diego!

Andy, his mom Josie and I went to Stone Brewing Co. for dinner one night after Andy spent the day at a teacher's conference. Our friend Coral turned us on to the brewery and their awesome food.



I ordered pear cider since I wasn't in a beer mood but wanted something. It was delicious!



Andy ordered duck tacos with black beans and rice. He was thrilled.



I ordered Macaroni and beer cheese with sausage. It was rich, cheesy and amazing. I never have macaroni and cheese like this anymore and I really miss it.

Josie order the currant cider which was even better than my pear! Next time I'm getting that. Andy ordered the Stone IPA which he loves but I find a little hoppy. (I prefer pale ales or wheat beers.)



Later in the week, I met with Coral and her adorable daughter Hannah. We went to Oggi's pizza which was new to me. I ordered the Santa Fe personal pizza. It was delicious. The crust was perfection. I ordered a salad on the side and ended up only eating half the pizza.

Next up, we went out to Sally's Seafood on the Water



Crab cakes were ordered.



And sushi! We all really enjoyed this place. I'm not huge into sushi but I tried a spicy tuna roll and enjoyed it.

Completely unrelated but worth mentioning, I have been considering signing up for my first half marathon on October 17th. I've completed three relatively slow 5k's but I alternated walking and running with all of them. Lately I haven't been running much at all. Knee and heel pain keeps me away.

Anyhow, I want to work with a podriatrist on my plantar fasciitis and see my current doctor about the knee issues and get their okay before signing up for the half. I still plan on walk/running because it works for me and I'm not concerned about my time. I really just want to complete a half marathon. It's a big dream of mine and signing up for a big race will keep me motivated to continue running. Still, with the pain and irritation I've been experiencing, I wonder if it's possible. I'd have 12 weeks to train using the Hal Higdon novice plan.

Anyway, I just wanted to know your thoughts. I will also see what the doctors think and let you know.

Trying new things.

Yesterday I went out to lunch with a friend. She suggested a couple of things and I decided on Thai food! I always get the same two things though, so I decided to change it up a bit.



I ordered Cashew Chicken.



It came with one crispy & crunchy eggroll. I love eggrolls!



And a rice heart. This won me over. I was going to avoid the white rice but how could I resist this?



I mixed it all together like "londy-londy wanna go down." (Yes, I am listening to Fergie's-London Bridge right now.)

After lunch and an impromptu shopping trip at Tar-jay, I came home and busted out my 30 day shred video. I haven't been running since I hurt my knee. Luckily 20 minutes of the Shred video + 20 minutes of pilates burns the same amount of calories. (Keep it mind, I wasn't running very fast or far.)

Jillian Michaels is intense. I barely made it through this one. I also did side planks. Why didn't anyone warn me? Side planks are officially the devil. My body hates me today.

I'm sticking with planks though. They get the job done. And my abs are purely flab. I could use some strong muscle under there.



Dinner last night was sushi.



I don't really love sushi, so I ordered tempura for Andy and I to share and some veggie rolls.



These asparagus and shrimp rolls were out of this world good. I actually ate them!!! I split this with a friend.



mmm tempura asparagus. These rolls are good because it's just a tiny piece of tempura. And it's surprisingly not too greasy.



Andy got spicy tuna.



An eel roll. Which he tried to convince me to try, but I refuse to have any of it!



I'll stick to my veggie rolls thank you very much!

Challenge total so far- $70.34. Not too bad. Not too good. I still have tons of samples and a few celebratory meals left but still. I have made quite a few excuses-"oh this doesn't count because (insert lame excuse here.)"

Overall, I have learned a lot from the challenge. Restricting my spending forces me to be creative with dinner. I've learned to try new things and to keep an open mind. Next month I'll probably cap our spending at $300. Keep in mind we were spending up to $500-$600 a month on meals out, coffee and groceries. I know we won't get back there. I enjoy cooking way too much and making dinner at home is SO much cheaper than going out.

I'm not disappointed in how we are doing with the challenge because it was designed to teach us to make due with what we have. I think the point of the challenge was not to focus on the number so much but to limit the spending. I can't even tell you how many times I used to impulse shop. We still have way too much in our pantry and we are going to use it all!

$29.66 for 12 days? Yeah, not gonna happen. Should I raise the number from $100 to $150? Or should I just see how we do?

Also I miss greek yogurt. I had some coupons which were great but now I have none! SAD. Guess I'll have to wait to December.

Bluefin Grill

Andy and I went to Bluefin with my friend Cassandra and her boyfriend Micah. I hadn’t seen her in forever and it was great to hang out!
I’m not a fan of sushi at all and Andy love love loves it so…I am letting him blog.

Hi, this is Andy. This blog was actually my idea, which Amanda has now stolen. I am fine with this, but now I am relegated to second class blogger. I’m not bitter…heavens no. On with the show
A bit of background. Amanda hates sushi, so I never eat it. Sushi for one is depressing. So on the rare occasion she is interested, we go. Bluefin is a weird place. It is like a Sushi/Grill fusion type place without the pretention. You can order a side order of cheeseburger. Not the place you would think about sushi, but it is one of the better ones in the area. The above roll is a 911 roll, which is one of the chef specialties at Bluefin. It is a spicy tuna roll with avocado on top and 911 sauce. What is 911 sauce? Your guess is as good as mine but it's good. It is sort of pink and thick. It isn’t spicy at all, so the name is a misnomer, but makes me sing Lil Wayne songs, so it works. Too obscure?

Here it is up close. The avocado was surprisingly fresh. Back to the 911 sauce. It was probably more sweet than spicy and the spicy tuna was not really spicy, but it usually never is. Misleading name aside, it was good. Not amazing, but good. And it looked cute, which is all you can really ask for. Interesting side note. The website for this restaurant calls this the 9/11 roll. Something tells me this was unintentional, but a 9/11 roll is not something I want to eat or even contemplate.

Next up, Crunchy Roll. Basically a Shrimp Tempura roll with crunchy tempura bits on top and a sweet sauce on top. This was outstanding. I don’t get too exotic with my sushi, mostly because I have no one to indulge with, so my sushi choices are rather vanilla, but the Crunchy Roll was perfect. The tempura was perfect and light, the sushi rice held together nicely, and the sauce was the perfect amount to not overpower the sushi with sugary, soy sauce flavor. You can also see the bowl of edamame. Edamame is a fancy name for steamed soybeans. No idea why, but they are amazing. It is so simple, but one of the most satisfying things in the world. I do not enjoy ginger, wasabi, or soy sauce with my sushi but from others at the table, they were all good as well. Kikkoman never disappoints. Amanda is going to take over. Thanks for reading!
….Amanda here. I feel guilty for not loving sushi, like I’m letting Andy down by not indulging in raw fish parts. Oh well. I can’t help being a fish-hating freak!
So instead of sushi…I had pasta!

Creamy pesto sauce with chicken, asparagus, red bell pepper and penne. This definitely puts me at 2000 calories for the day. Well worth it considering I stood on my feet from 8am-7pm! (Working is a drag sometimes! And I was probably on my feet for only 8 hours or so…but still. I had a long day!)
I couldn’t finish the pasta. It was excellent and fun to eat but carbs are carbs and will never cease to fill me up. Thank God I had a fairly low calorie lunch!
See ya’ll tomorrow!