Date night!

So this past week has been a pretty good one! I picked up my cap and gown for graduation, got my acceptance letter for grad school (he bought me flowers!I have the best hubby :)), Bryce didn't have to go away for the weekend. We decided to celebrate! One thing that I absolutly love doing for date nights is picking a theme and running with it! I picked this up from a friends blog http://www.thedatingdivas.com/. If you have time check them out.

Our theme was Japanese night! We went out to sushi. Some tips that we use when eating out to sushi to make it a little easier on the waist line are:
-avoid the tempura dipped
-try having a Sriracha sauce instead of a creamy sauce
-ask the waiter for low sodium  soy sauce
-when choosing your sushi roll try not to have all of them with cream cheese (easy for me... I HATE cream cheese in my sushi.. weird I know)
-lastly, watch your portion sizes, try ordering an appetizer of Edamame or Miso Soup to help fill you up at the beginning

Next on our to do list was to go hot tubing... kind of a stretch for Japanese night but I did some research on Hinoki (wooden hot tubs that are famous in Japan. It was a stretch but it sure did feel great to just relax.

When we had had our fill of the heat we headed home to finish off our night with a movie! We watched The Last Samurai staring Tom Cruise. The movie takes place in Japan so it totally fit!

And of course you have to have dessert right?? Yes. So to find this recipe there is a little bit of a story. We were doubling with some good friends and she has Celiac disease (allergy to wheat gluten). So I had to find a recipe that we all could enjoy! I actually stalked her Pinterest account and found this Japanese Cheesecake! quiescence...? I think not! It was a little bit crazy of a recipe but all in all not to bad for you!

Adapted from http://www.thecookbookchronicles.com/blog/?p=3906

10 oz fat free cream cheese

3 Tbsp unsalted butter

3 egg yolk

1 Tbsp +1 tsp sugar

1 Tbsp cornstarch

2/3 cup milk 

3 egg whites 

1/4 cup sugar

Use a 7 in cake pan with a fixed bottom.

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Put the egg whites into the freezer so it just begins to freeze around the edges.  Sift the cornstarch.
2. Wrap the cream cheese in clear wrap and microwave until it becomes soft to the touch.  You do not want to heat it up.  (I did this in about 15 second intervals.)
In a large bowl, melt the butter over a double boiler.  Add the cream cheese and whisk well to combine.
In another bowl, combine the egg yolks and 1 Tbsp+1 tsp of sugar.  Mix in the cornstarch.
3. Heat the milk so it comes to a boil.  Add it to the egg yolks and whisk until it thickens in a double boiler over boiling water.  Add this mixture to the cream cheese and combine well.
4. Add a small amount of the 1/4 cup of sugar to the egg whites and mix on medium low speed for about 2 minutes.  Gradually add the remaining sugar to the egg whites and beat on medium until a soft meringue forms.
5. Add ¼ of the meringue to the cream cheese mixture and combine.  Add the remaining meringue to the cream cheese mixture and fold to combine.  Spray pan with non stick cooking spray. Fill the cake pan and smooth the top.
6. Put the cake pan in a roasting pan and add boiling water so it comes up 1-1.5 cm up the cake pan.  Bake for 15 minutes and then lower the temperature to 326°F and continue to bake for 25 minutes until the top turns slightly golden. 
7. Turn off the oven and leave the cake pan for another 40 minutes to an hour.  (I left mine for 40 minutes.)
8. Take the cake out of the roasting dish and place on a wire rack to cool completely.  Refrigerate and chill completely before taking it out of the pan.  It is best served the second day.

Nutrition info: if you slice it into 12 pecieses it equals about 90 calories per slice! Top with your favorite fresh fruit! 

  
 So overall it was a great night! We had so much fun and it was a great way to strengthen our relationship and grow closer to one another!! I hope you enjoyed it!