Friday, April 17, 2009

Thursday Eats - and Anni Phyo's Raw Donut Holes

Hello everyone!

It's Friday!! Are you excited!??! Because I am! :o)

Yes, this has been a short week but it's also been madness around work. On Wednesday (easily my busiest court day in months) I was unable to enter court at all. I arrived to a court clerk telling me not to go inside because there were reports of a bomb. I thought they were kidding since at that point the roads had yet to be blocked off. Well it turned out it wasn't a joke.

And yesterday . . . well yesterday was a trip. It was a very hard day in court and I was worn out. In fact, the fiance was with me and he was concerned that after a life-time of days like yesterday I may have some sort of breakdown. I don't think it was that bad but I hope not to have many days like that.

As a result, I'm sure you can understand why I'm so happy that it's Friday and the weekend is practically here!!!!!!! :o) Tomorrow, if the weather is good, we plan to go to some natural hot springs and have a picnic while we're there. I have high hopes for an absolutely lovely day and beautiful pictures to share with you!

Now, let's get to yesterday's eats before we cover Anni's Raw Donut Holes . . .

Yesterday morning I indulged in a Green Monster. I took a picture of this one while it was blending. I probably should have thinned it out a little but I was in a rush to get going so I just kind of tossed things in and then pressed blend!


After a busy morning I had a break of only about 30 minutes to grab lunch. I was in a random small town high atop the Rocky Mountains so my options were limited. Usually, when I have a longer lunch break I head to a proper restaurant but with so little time I ended up at the only fast-food restaurant in town.


I ordered their grilled chicken sandwich (dry), with a water instead of a pop, and a side salad with balsamic vinaigrette. I only ate the sandwich and brought the salad home with me. It wasn't the best burger but it did have an impressively big piece of chicken breast and the bread is whole wheat. So overall probably not at all bad as far as fast-food goes.

But don't worry bloggies - I made up for my relatively sad day of eats with a crazy yummy dinner! You see after we drove home, the fiance and I ran around doing some errands. He's decided he'd like to try fishing (as an excuse to sit outside in beautiful surroundings) so we went and bought him some gear, I also picked up the book I ordered for the blogger book club (Jessica Z), bought some goodies for my first blogger exchange ever (with Jenn from Eating Bender), and a present for my dad's birthday.

After all that running around we both realized we were hungry so we decided just to eat out. At first we didn't know where to go but when we decided we definitely hit the mother-load! When the waitress informed us that the special was an extremely (!) reasonably priced lobster and steak, we both decided to go for it!


The lobster was insanely good! In fact I would definitely go back for more. The small piece of sirloin was good too but the lobster definitely stole the show. The salad was also very yummy! I love this restaurant because their salads are so complete! At a lot of places salads are after-thoughts but not here!!!

After dinner we headed home, digested for a while and then headed for a run. Here's a tip - don't go for a run after a steak and lobster dinner!!! My tummy did a serious number on me and I had to come back home after 15 minutes. My shins were also feeling kind of terrible. I don't really know why . . . maybe it has to do with the heels I wear?

Still I wanted to work out so after my very short run I did Rodney Yee's Power Yoga - Flexibility. Now I know - next time run first and indulge later because boy oh boy did that hurt! :oP



Now for something I highly recommend . . .

A while back I bought a couple of RAW "cookbooks." Recently, I decided to try making one of Anni Phyo's desserts. Funny thing is a couple of other bloggers had the same idea too! My recipe of choice? Anni's Raw Donut Holes:


These little guys look just like the real thing (timbits anyone?) and taste even better. In fact I would say they're extremely similar to a Larabar. Same type of ingredients and made in much the same manner.

I had one of these before a run and I have to tell you it made for great fuel! I could actually feel the extra kick in my run. This despite the fact I was running into a very strong head-wind! :o) Goooo raw food!!!

They're super easy to make and don't worry you don't have to buy the cookbook to figure out how. Anni has uploaded a video to YouTube showing you how to make these yummy little balls:



I hope you'll try them and enjoy them! The ingredients are relatively easy to find and most food bloggies have food processors so that's pretty easy. In terms of the almonds, I recommend slivered ones that are soaked for about 10 minutes prior to using in this recipe. It will soften them up and make it easier for the ingredients to come together! :o)



Around the Blogosphere

Erin over at I Walk in this World, is hosting a Blogger Auction and Bake Sale on Tuesday, April 21st!

This auction will benefit the Jimmy Fund - which helps to fund projects aimed at increasing cancer survival rates. On her site, Erin explains how cancer has touched her life . . . there's no way you can read her story and not want to participate!

Unfortunately, this auction is limited to U.S. residents only so I can't participate but I hope you lovelies South of the border will consider helping out!

Happy Friday bloggies! :o)

20 comments:

Sharon said...

Oh, lobster looks delicious! And ooh, that looks so cool with the Raw Donut Holes - thanks for sharing!!

Run Sarah said...

How awesome - I need to try cooking raw!

Run Sarah said...

Whoops, maybe not 'cooking', but eating raw :)

A Toronto girl out West said...

Sharon,

It (the lobster) was oh so yummy!!! I was beyond impressed! :o)

Hope you have a lovely weekend!


Run Sarah,

lol I call it "cooking." :oP And yeah it's super easy and surprisingly tasty. I have to try one of the savoury dishes next. In fact I've been contemplating buying a dehydrator and getting really into it! :o)

Jocelyn said...

Ew, you week seems hellish! My week has seemed just as busy! I work in sports and with baseball season here and the Mets and Yankees new stadium, etc ahh, work has been nuts.
All I have to saw is i love the words raw and donuts holes together. Maybe change it to raw cough dough and we have ourselves a winner!
All the food is good. I can always count on your blog for the eye candy

A Toronto girl out West said...

Jocelyn,

Ahhhh . . . so you understand my crazy week then! All I can say is thank God for the weekend!!! :o)

And thanks for the compliment on the pics. I put effort into making sure the pics look good so I'm happy it's working!

Balance, Joy and Delicias! said...

that donut hole seems really easy to make! :)

A Toronto girl out West said...

Coco,

They're SUPER easy! And if you flatten them out you essentially have a larabar.

I've made some knock-offs of the cherry pie larabar in the past. I should post the recipe soon!

Healthy Hollywood said...

I've been eating more and more raw foods and it's totally changed the way I feel and look! Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

You made the donut holes!!! Aren't they wonderful! I love Ani Phyo's book :)

A Toronto girl out West said...

Healthy Hollywood,

I've heard others who eat raw say the same thing! I know since I started having my Green Monsters my skin is SO much better and my nails grow faster! lol

I have to buy a dehydrator and try some more stuff out!

A Toronto girl out West said...

Foods that Fit,

They're delicious!!! And the fiance loved them too which is awesome! :o) Anything I can do to keep him away from the real thing! lol

healthy ashley said...

Those raw donut holes look amazing! And green smoothies always look tasty :)

Thank you for your comment on my post about personal training. Your story about your friend and his success really helps me as I make this transition. Some people look down on me for leaving a good job to chase something I love.... but your story reminds me it is possible to find success and do something you love! Thanks for taking the time to share!!

A Toronto girl out West said...

healthy ashley,

Don't listen to the naysayers! It takes guts to take a leap and follow your heart! More guts than most people will ever have in their lifetime! :o) I admire you for that!!!

Nutritious is Delicious said...

Thanks so much for the link to the recipe! I have been seeing those little donuts all over the place!
Oh and that lobster looks so good!

A Toronto girl out West said...

Nutritious is Delicious,

I hope you enjoy making the raw donut holes! :o)

And yeah the lobster was a huge hit!!!!

Meg said...

I definitely need to try those raw donut holes!

A Toronto girl out West said...

Meghann,

They make great running fuel - you'd love them! :o)

Marianne (frenchfriestoflaxseeds) said...

Mmmmm, Timbits...I mean, raw donut holes ;) They do look good though, and don't use anything crazy that I wouldn't eat raw, so they are definitely on the "to try" list.

You know, I've never had a proper lobster dinner, where they serve you the tail with the butter and all that? I've had lobster in things, like ravioli, but never as is.

A Toronto girl out West said...

Marianne,

Nothing weird here - in fact it's really similar to a Larabar! :o)

And lobster is yum . . . I've had some really proper lobster suppers on the East Coast. To die for!!!