lots of unidentifiable kinds of squash!

This has got to be one of my favorite restaurants in Tsukuba, located in Takezono. I know it is healthy and it is one of the few restaurants where I can eat so many veggies in just one sitting! The name of the place is, Ailes D'ange.

This is the "A" menu set for the day. It includes a mushroom gratin, Thai-flavoured white duck meat with cucumber, stir-fried spicy eggplant, some unidentified simmered squash, some more unidentifiable squash, cucumber with dressing, cherry tomatoes, salsa chicken salad, vinegared broccoli, soup, red and white rice. All for under 10 dollars (this is considered very reasonable in Japan).

It is not easy at all to find healthful restaurants, not here in Japan and not back home either. I used to like luxury fine dining...until many kilos later when I saw what it did to my waist. And what's more, the healthier food I eat, the better I feel about myself. I think somewhere along the way, between Big Macs and Yoshinoyas and various convenience stores, people forgot how to eat.

Food on the run? People from some countries would think it barbarious, to not even have time to sit down and have a proper meal. I agree - when you start skipping meals and lowering it on your priority list...or forgetting it altogether, you have to rethink either a) your job b) time management and c) health!

You may wonder why I am such a health nut...I have not always been this way. I think it has to do with being hypnotized years ago by a professioinal hypnotist. She told me various key phrases like, "you will have the confidence to make the right choices in food" and "you will feel vitalized by fresh vegetables and fruits." (oh, I am healthful in all aspects except for when it comes to sweets...that is my Achilles' heel)

If you live in Toronto and you live around the Kensington market area, you might become a health geek. I was a regular at some of the various health food stores there. They have TVP (textured vegetable protein often used as a meat substitute), veggy patties, whole wheat pasta, nuts, granola, spices galore... 3 years later the kind Korean shopkeeper still remembers me, I was happy not to be forgotten! I miss shopping there. *wistful sigh*