Something about yoga, rainy days, and finding caramel Oikos Greek yogurt on your grocery trip can make a day relaxing. That’s about all I have to say about my day so far, so I’ll focus on last night.

As you may remember, last night Peter & I hit up the annual food festival in a local town. We basically spent three hours straight eating. At least that’s what it felt like. I’m in no way complaining. It was a wonderful time. Veggies may have been lacking and there could have been more variety in the choices, but trying out delicious food from restaurants we haven’t been to before and on the cheap makes it all worthwhile. Let me share my food rendezvous with all of you.

We got to The Avenue, which is a quaint shopping area where the festival was held, at around 6:30. We parked and made the long trek to the entrance where we were greeted with large crowds.

We bought our sheet of tickets for $10 that fed the both of us (as well as miss M) for the night.

That’s right $10 for 2 people for the food you are about to witness. I’m glad it wasn’t much more than that. While all of the food we tried was delicious, they didn’t have much variety. There were about 20 food stands and the majority of them were either BBQ, Hibachi, Mexican, sandwiches, or a dessert. We decided to pretty much hit up one of each of those places.

The first place we came across was for a cafe called Nature’s Table that just opened in our area. I didn’t realize it is part of a franchise in Florida. I liked the information I received about it and I may have to visit there one day. Peter & I sampled a mini chicken salad wrap from their stand.

After that we made our way around some of the other stands. We eyed a cupcake we knew we would be coming back for later in the evening and found a balloon for Makenzie. She loves balloons and this helped keep her entertained through the night.

Then, we stood in line for awhile so I could get some sushi and Peter could get a hibachi sample plate. I was really drooling over the rainbow and tuna rolls they were featuring, but since the whole raw fish thing is a no-no for me right now I settled for a California Roll. It’s no high quality sashimi, but it satisfied.

To let that food settle for a bit, we meandered the festival a bit more. I checked out some artwork and Makenzie grooved to the live band that played some top notch tunes. You play some classic Bon Jovi without murdering it and you win my heart. That’s all there is to it.

Now that our tummies were ready for more food tasting, we hit up our last stop for our main course type dining. We opted for some BBQ to get a pulled pork taco with spicy slaw.

The cabbage from the slaw was my veggie for the evening. Sad, but true. Apparently broccoli and sweet potatoes aren’t big hits at food festivals. That’s what green monsters are for the day after. All about balance, right?

It was now time for the second stomachs to open. You do know the dessert stomach is a separate entity, right? It is for us. We picked up a cupcake and a gelato cone. The cupcake was a basic vanilla with buttercream frosting. The cake was moist and delicious.The icing was dense and creamy and even had sparkles!

We hit up the gelato line at the end of the night. The line was long and we worried we were going to miss out. We kept ourselves occupied with lots of pictures.

Finally we got our taste of the good stuff. Ice cream always makes me smile. This…it made me grin from ear to ear. I chose the lemon sample cone. Makenzie got a sample of vanilla as well. It’s amazing how much bigger things look in kid’s hands. I promise it was not some huge waffle cone.

The small cone was the perfect topping to the night. I left a little more full than I normally end meals, but not stuffed and happy with everything I tried. I would say it was a successful night. I look forward to going again next year to either this one or another local event that is very similar but with different restaurants.

I did notice something during our food tasting extravaganza. When tasting the foods, I would really take time to savor them and I ate slowly throughout the night. I was able to be more in tune with my hunger this way and fully enjoy the experience. I also tried everything that really appealed to me. I didn’t have guilt for choosing some fattier items (hello? pulled pork, cupcakes, and icecream??) and I didn’t just eat things because they were there. It just goes to show you can make progress in intuitive eating and honoring your body and your tastebuds. It takes time, but it is possible.

• When is the last time you had an “aha” moment from a dining experience and a way your eating habits have changed?
• What is your favorite flavor of icecream? Mine is normally choc chip cookie dough. I had never had lemon before but it was AWESOME!
• What are your weekend plans? We’re hanging out with friends tonight and tomorrow night.

I'm glad so many of you are enjoying my abs post. I loved all your comments about actually preferring the ripped abs look less than a 6-pack stomach and about how you have grown to love your bodies by recognizing the unnecessary goals we can get caught up in striving for. Continue leaving comments. I love hearing your opinion on the matter.

Sweet and spicy. Two of my favorite flavors. Pretty vague, but anything sweet and anything spicy tend to make my taste buds dance with joy. The sweet and spicy combo will also show up in parts of my day.

The Sweet

Enjoying a delightful yoga class yesterday morning to stretch out and relax. I could have stayed like this all day.

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Other sweet parts of my day were a nice walk around the neighborhood, some reading time, and some playing with Makenzie. Spending time with her had me thinking that it is almost bittersweet being pregnant, because I only have 8 months left of her being my only baby.

The Spicy

The spicy part of my day was last night’s dinner. I made a Buffalo Tofu Wrap. There are a few things I love about tofu:

• It is extremely versatile.
• It is a great part of a balanced diet.
• It is EASY to cook!

For tonight’s dinner, I simply pressed the tofu for awhile in the afternoon and then got it marinating and cooking. First, I cut the tofu into bite sized pieces.

I simply used some Frank’s Hot Buffalo Wing sauce as the marinade for my half of the tofu and I used a basic BBQ sauce for Peter’s half. I let the tofu strips soak for about 30 minutes.

Then, I coated them with some panko breadcrumbs and baked at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

Next I assembled my slices in a wrap with some lettuce, onion, tomato, and blue cheese.

Plate up  some green beans alongside the wrap and allow things to get hot and steamy. I loved this wrap. Before, I would never think to combine tofu with anything other than Asian inspired flavors, but I’m glad the motivation came from somewhere when making the grocery list. Spice up your life a little with this dish.