I started the day off at the gym bright and early. I got there by 8am and decided to do 45 minutes of cardio. It felt great! I went home and showered and had some avocado toast for breakfast. I ran a few errands and then decided to take the trip out to the raw restaurant I found a week or two ago. It takes me about 30 minutes to get there from my house but the drive is really nice and scenic and actually not stressful. The weather was beautiful and I had the windows down and I enjoyed that 30 minutes to myself.
Now, I hate what I'm about to say but it would be unfair for me to not tell the truth... I was a little disappointed with the cafe. I love the fact that it exists and the girl that helped me was super sweet but it just wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. I had checked out the menu before and picked out a few items that I was really interested in trying. When I got there, none of those items were available. I ordered a drink, which she prepared while I decided what to get from the available options.
I decided on the "Morning Glory" drink. It has oranges, strawberries and acai. I loved the flavor combination but the texture was a bit odd to me. It was very very pulpy and I guess bits of maybe orange seeds that didn't pulverize completely in the vitamix? I found myself chewing quite a bit. I'm used to and prefer a thick, creamy, icy smoothie and this was chunky and pulpy and not super cold. I love the flavor combo but I'm going to try and recreate it with a texture that is more to my liking.
A lot of the choices they had were fake meat products like burgers and sausages and meatloaf...all raw obviously. It just wasn't as beautiful and vibrant as I expected I guess? I decided to go with the pad thai. It was ok, it has a curry sauce which I didn't realize until I got it home because I didn't check the description when I chose it. I'm not a huge fan of curry sauces and was expecting a nutty sauce so it was just ok.
I feel so bad giving a lukewarm review but I was a little bummed out when I got there. I have to say that I at least enjoyed the ride out there and the ride home. It is a bit out of the way so I probably won't head back out there soon but maybe one day I'll try calling ahead to see what they have and maybe if they have a dish that I wanted to try I'd give it another shot.
A little while after that I went over to my brother's house for a BBQ he was having. A close family friend was visiting from North Carolina (she's from here and just moved there in November) with her baby so my whole family was there along with other family friends. It was a nice big group with 3 babies so it was a bit chaotic but it was so fun and the babies are adorable. And since Shen requested it...
Here's Delilah! Didn't she get so big?! She's growing up so fast. She's a funny kid, she makes me laugh a lot :) I tried to get more photos but she is always on the run so her being in the wagon was my chance to get a shot! Love this girl!
I woke up early today and hit up Trader Joe's for a few things. Nothing crazy. After I went back to my bro's house to help him watch the babies (Delilah and our friend's son, Vinny). I got home around 2:30 and have been relaxing ever since. I'm exhausted but I've had a great weekend!
Here she is this morning. She's a little bit of a mess :)
The only meal worth photographing today. For dinner I had a delicious quesadilla with fat free spicy refried beans, spinach and avocado. So good!
I hope that you've all had a great weekend! This week is going to be a long one. I have to cover for my coworker on Tuesday so I'll be working 11-9 Tuesday and Wednesday plus my regular hours the rest of the week and a few hours on Saturday. I'm going to get a lot of quality rest time in tonight :)
Have a great night!
Man, that sucks about the cafe. But at least now you can say that you tried it. And I'm with you on the smoothies - I don't like getting chunky bits. They're called smooooth-ies for a reason.
ReplyDeleteDelilah is SO adorable with her little pony tail! And those huge blue eyes! What a beauty.
Your quesadilla sounds bomb. I still want to try some gf tortillas. Maybe one day!
OMG I know! I'm already trying to figure out how to smoothify it. I have ideas ;) It was fine, at least I can say I tried it!
DeleteI know she is such a cutiepants! She is so hilarious, she has so much personality! She is going to be such a handful and give my brother a run for his money when she grows up!
Def try the tortillas!
Haha, ah too bad! At least you enjoyed the ride out there? Hopefully it wasn't too expensive. Was the drink a juice or a smoothie? And you say they made it in a vitamix? It all sounds a little off but the flavor combination does sound good. Was the pad thai kelp or zucchini noodles?
ReplyDeletemaybe it was just an off-day, especially since some of the choices were out. I'm still pretty intrigued by it; I feel like it's been around for a long time. The honest review is definitely appreciated, though.
Enjoy your night!
It wasn't too expensive. I'll be willing to try it again but I'll definitely know better to call in advance next time! I asked if it was a juice or a smoothie and she said a smoothie. It was definitely a high speed blender and it looked like a vitamix but who knows for sure. It was kelp noodles which I think was part of the problem. I have an aversion to kelp noodles now because the last time I ate them I got really sick after so when that happens I develop a strong aversion to the last thing I ate. Which is why I can't eat grapefruits right now, it was the last thing I ate before I got the stomach virus recently!
DeleteI agree maybe it was an off day which is why I'll probably try it again in the future. Thanks you too!
That's too bad that the cafe was a disappointment. We went about 1/2 hour out of our way to a restaurant in Milwaukee one time. It's all vegetarian with quite a bit of raw options, but was very disappointing. We'll probably give it another chance some day, though.
ReplyDeleteDelilah is so adorable. :) It sounds like you had a pretty nice weekend, despite the cafe!
It is ok, you have to try and see I think. I'll give it another shot down the road.
DeleteThanks she really is a cutie :) I did have a nice weekend thanks!
Oh man, sorry to hear the restaurant turned out to be a bummer. I simply do not like to have to chew on something I'm supposed to be drinking, the flavor combo does sound good though! Curry on pad thai does sound a bit odd. Oh well, at least now you know. Hopefully you'll find a good raw place closer to home maybe. There's a raw restaurant here called Thrive, which I keep meaning to try, must do it soon.
ReplyDeleteYour niece is such a cutie! All my nieces and nephews are grown now, but I used to love family gatherings when they were all kids; so much fun!
Have a good evening!
It's all good. The flavors were great I just couldn't get past the texture! I want to try and get into the city and try the raw restaurants there. The plus about this place is that the prices are incredibly reasonable. If you get to that restaurant definitely post about it, I'd love to see what you think!
DeleteThanks! The kids do make it so much fun, they are at a great age now. They had so much fun playing outside yesterday!
Thanks you too!
Restaurants that one expects to be fantastic, and are not, are quite frustrating! Makes you want to open one, and get it right. Or maybe that's just me! I bet you could make better options - it'll have to next door to your bake shop.
ReplyDeleteYay, Delilah! I can imagine all the fun you had with her!
I hope the week goes quickly for you, but at least the paycheck will be worth it! More training sessions, right? :)
You know what, that was one of my first thoughts...what I would do differently if I had a restaurant. One day.
DeleteTons of fun with Delilah! I have to try and get video of her because I can't even describe how hilarious she is. She is crazy :) In the best possible way.
To be honest the pay difference will be negligible. It is what it is I guess. Gotta do what you gotta do :)
That's happened to me too when I've had high expectations for a restaurant but it only turned out to be meh. At least you tried it. I'm interested in how you plan to fix the smoothie recipe.
ReplyDeleteOh I have plans ;) just need to get the ingredients then I'll play!
DeleteThanks for the Delilah pics. She must not have appreciated her riding and steering being interrupted in order to satisfy your readers. I do miss the double pig tails on top, but the single pony works. Have you thought about sending in her pics to ad agencies?
ReplyDeleteIf a restaurant is going to go to the trouble to be all vegan, why be lame? They go out of business, it discourages other veggie restaurants from opening. At least you showed support.
Haha I try to sneak the pics in on a rare still moment :) They had mentioned sending pics in somewhere but never really thought about it seriously. She's so cute I bet she could get in somewhere but they are so busy it is hard to really figure out how it would work.
DeleteHaha I doubt it was their intention to be lame. I understand that they run out of things and it's not like things can be dehydrated in 10 minutes or anything. I was just disappointed in the selection for that particular day. I'd be interested in trying something I originally wanted to try but next time I'll just be smart and call ahead to make sure they have it!