Happy Weekend!
I got the most adorable Valentine in the mail from my little cousin Maya (she’s 5).
I enjoy how she addressed it to “Maya Janna”.
Love that backwards “J”.
The enclosed drawing/letter: 
Us frolicking in the sky (obviously) 
Love you too Maya!
How CUTE!!!!
I had a long day of studying yesterday and my late night class and when I got home I was WAY too tired to whip something up for dinner. Not to mention we didn’t have much food around.
So I took this opportunity to try a new restaurant out – Souen, a Japanese-based macrobiotic restaurant.
I picked up a Seaweed Salad and the Macro Plate (ideal balance of steamed greens, vegetables, brown rice, beans and hijiki seaweed). I got it with tahini-dill sauce on the side.
Here’s my macro-plate smothered in the tahini-dill sauce: 
The veggies were perfectly cooked and so fresh tasting and the brown rice was soft and nutty and yummy. And that tahini-dill sauce… HEAVENLY! It was Macro-licious!
I ate almost all of it and felt pleasantly satisfied afterward. It was a nice feeling… being able to eat lots and not feel super stuffed.
I think I should have veggie-centric dinners like this more often, I felt really really good after eating this.
And I just want to reiterate how AWESOME tahini is. I don’t know why I haven’t had it more often. HEAB is seriously onto something with her tahini love! Must purchase this in the near future.
Just finished my lunch of Lemony Herbed Quinoa (x2) with a couple of my fave olives on the site. Also had 2 turkish figs 
I finally found out the name of those olives: Castelvetrano
Pick some up, if you ever see them. They are YUMMY! Here’s an article all about them.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Do you like pickled/brined foods (like olives, pickles, or pickled veggies). If so, what is your favorite pickled item?
Most of the time I would say olives, but you just can’t beat a REALLY GOOD pickle. However, those are hard to come by.
February 20th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
My dad always used to make us grilled cheese sandwiches growing up, and on the side he would fill little bowls with green olives and bread and butter pickles. That was one of my favorite meals growing up, and I still LOVE olives and pickles. Never met one of either that I didn’t like.
Veggie-centric dinners and tahini sauce – sounds perfect to me!
Cute cute Maya – so sweet.
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Janna Reply:
February 20th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Aw! That’s so cute. Ditto about the olives and pickles – although sweet pickles aren’t my fave, but I don’t hate them
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February 20th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
That restaurant sounds awesome!! I love any kind of seaweed and the different things they offer are so interesting!!
I love the letter. How cute!!!
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February 21st, 2010 at 3:53 pm
i LOVE pickled/brined food! really just about anything, but pickles and olives are my faves
i showed you some love on the blog today…thanks for being such a wonderful blogger 
[Reply]
Janna Reply:
February 22nd, 2010 at 8:15 am
AW Thanks so much Heather!!!
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February 21st, 2010 at 8:28 pm
I LOVE MAYA JANNA
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February 21st, 2010 at 9:21 pm
The card is lovely!
I have been wanting to try a macrobiotic restaurant and that dish sounds perfect. I am actually craving brown rice now, weird.
I have always hated vinegar and anything pickled, oddly enough. Pickles and olives are my two least favorite foods, behind tomatoes. And I don’t like kim-chi or other pickled stuff. I don’t know why, either. Maybe I just didn’t get the “pickled” taste buds or something? Hmmmm…
Have a good week Janna!
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March 1st, 2010 at 3:30 pm
[...] more veggie and green-centric meals (they just make me FEEL [...]
March 31st, 2010 at 3:02 pm
[...] But I was still in charge of everything! The biggest help was actually my 5 year old cousin Maya, who spent the WHOLE day cooking with me. Such a trooper. Her mommy helped [...]