Columbus, OH

I hate sushi.

I haven't eaten fish since I was about 10, I never cook rice and soy sauce is straight from the devil.

Most the people in my life really enjoy sushi or fish, and Caleb especially loves it. He eats fish in all ways, shapes and forms and believes that the rawer it is, the better. He has to sacrifice eating it a lot because of me, so if I can find a way to eat it with him, I try to; usually without much success...until now!

Fusion

I first tried Fusian three years ago when my friend Casey was visiting; I was trying to be healthy and I forced it down and that was that. I didn't touch it again and didn't even think about it at all, until they opened up another one at Easton and I decided enough was enough and I should try it again. The main reason I can stomach Fusian is it's build your own Sushi - what a saviour!

Part of the reason I hate sushi is because I don't enjoy the taste of seaweed; it's salty and has a very strange texture that I can't get on board with; but here they give the option of the seaweed or a soy wrap. The soy wrap is thinner, and well, pretty much doesn't taste of anything so it suits me just fine. They then give an array of options for your protein and then vegetables including seasonal items. They also have a breakdown list letting GF eaters (and other allergies) know exactly what is safe for them to eat - very helpful (especially when it comes to the condiments).

As the choice for protein's are fish, tempura, chicken or tofu in soy sauce, I actually order veggie sushi and this time I picked avocados, jalapeños, spring onion, cream cheese and I took a chance on strawberries with white rice (you can order brown if you'd like). As I can't eat the "crispies" they offer to go on top, the only item I added onto my sushi was some sweet chili sauce (side note: they do offer GF soy sauce, but you've read how I feel about that). Caleb ordered a seaweed wrap with tuna, and then another with salmon and he thoroughly enjoyed his. He said the wasabi tasted as if it had been made in-house and that the tuna was leaner than usual and it all worked well for him. All-in-all it was a very positive experience and it's nice that Caleb can finally enjoy something he loves and I can at least eat there with him. I'm still not sure that I could ever eat sushi daily, but once in a while I can take the plunge thanks to Fusian!

Halo Top

I was originally only going to write about Fusian in this post, but I discovered something this week that blew my mind so much that I had to chuck it in. I have no idea how I found it, but I either clicked on a link or FB got me with a cheeky advert, but I somehow read about Halo Top. It was 240cals for the entire pint, all flavours were GF and it claimed it still tasted beautifully creamy; how could that be possible? Well, I was skeptical at first too, so I raced off down to my local Kroger (find your nearest stockist here), and bought the two flavours they had - chocolate and vanilla. As soon as I got home I tasted both and let me tell you, they were freakin' delicious. I ran upstairs and made Caleb taste it too and he was so confused as to how it could be achieving these results. We have tried forever to find a low-cal replacement for ice-cream that still tastes great and it has been a long and hard road, which it seems, we have finally found the answer to.

The next day I was working near a different, bigger Kroger and stopped in to see if they had other flavours, and they did. I bought mint chip, lemon cake and birthday cake and was tempted to buy another chocolate tub as well, but I resisted (which I now regret). We tasted them all, and the lemon cake is my favourite. It's beautiful. It's hard to describe the creaminess, the tart and cake flavours and just how yummy it is, but boy oh boy it's worth every low calorie it wants to give me. They're also packed full of protein and so it's a win win for me. And what a feeling to know I can eat an entire tub and only eat 240 calories (the only one that's more is the birthday cake at 280cals). I'm not sure about you, but there are times I could eat a ton of ice-cream and now I won't feel bad about it. Not one bit. 

Thank you Halo Top, thank you.