Out and about in the Pacific Northwest

Seattle is a great town for food!!! I'm not so sure about how good a town it is for my waist though...at this point, we'll just see when we get back to Boston. The holidays are always a time to gain a little weight, but I'm actually afraid to see my scale in a couple of days. That's what lettuce is for, right? No. I've been joking that it's nothing but lettuce from here on out...however, that's definitely NOT the way to lose weight and get healthy. When I get back, I'll return to eating sensibly and return to the gym.

 12/26/11

Dinner back in Seattle after a short jaunt to Portland, OR----at Toulouse Petit

corn and green beans with ham

 I invoked the 'duck clause'---when there is duck on the menu, order it.

duck confit

 fresh mozzarell and tomatoes

 snack on the road

 Veggie and cheese from Subway...

 How can you resist a pink donut with marshmallows?????

 El Diabolos Rex....chocolate donut with chocolate frosting...from the world famous Voo Doo Donuts!! The magic is in the hole.

 oatmeal

Breakfast buffet at the Double Tree...

 12/27/11

Coconut cream pie from Lola's

 Roast Lamb and brussel sprouts from Lola's

 bread at Lola's

 Greek salad at Lola's

 spreads for the bread at Lola's

 garden burger...I ate 1/2 the burger and exactly ZERO of the veggies and pickle....that bad.

 Wondrous Egg Bialy and buttermilk biscuit with strawberry jam at Macrina Bakery

I actually at this Oreo covered donut the night we got back from OR...however, my camera does not understand that we've crossed into a different time zone and therefore thinks it's tomorrow 3 hours ahead of schedule.

Seattle eats, Christmas-style

Wow!! Am I going to have some work to do when I get back to Boston...or rather some working-out. I keep saying that from now on, I'm eating only lettuce...but it doesn't happen. Holiday eating is never good for my weight...and today was no exception.

We were talking tonight about how when we go on vacation, we do much extra walking...well, not really. Vacation walking tends to be strolling at a leisurely pace...not an aerobic exercise. Ugh, am I going to have some working out to do when I get home. And there's still several more great eating opportunities while I'm on the west coast!

 12/25/11

Always start with dessert, right? I don't even remember what all this was called...but some to die for chocolate hazelnut cake with hazelnut brittle and a little sweet sorbet

 Prime rib with root veggies and some weird potato thingy---I did not eat any of the horseradish sauce and I gave all the asparagi to Dawn

 Caesar salad

 Bread with olive tapanade

 Snack on the train--that's a mocha frappuccino

 Deep dish pizza for lunch...I actually had 3 pieces

 At least I started the day right...non-fat greek yogurt with granola and berries

Assorted sweets for opening presents

Merry Christmas!!!!

The start of Seattle eats

Ahhh! Seattle, you're soooo gastronomically good to me!!!  We started with some monkey bread from my favorite local bakery, then sushi, and later, tuna for dinner. Seriously, we've been to Whole Foods twice already. This is my kind of vacation!!!!

Seriously, so far, there's lots of good food in Seattle. We've got plans for Mediterranean and Mexican after Christmas.

Ok, so the burger was a bit much, but I promise that I only ate half of it, same for the mac and cheese!

I've become quite accustomed to explaining to pretty much everyone why I photograph all of my food, but it was a little weird with the waitress at the sushi restaurant today. She thought nothing about me photographing the food before anyone ate from the sashimi platter. In fact, she thought it was normal...but she made a face when I told her that I blogged ALL of my meals. As if I was telling her that the sushi wasn't pretty enough or something. Almost like I insulted her. I mean, I could understand if she was the owner...but the waitress? Anyhow. Really, the sashimi really was pretty enough to photograph, even if I didn't blog all of my food!

 12/23/11

Mahi mahi with broccolini and salad of beets, oranges, green beans, and water cress

 Lunchbox Laboratory: The Native New Yorker (that's me!) with a sundried tomato and basil macaroni and cheese

 Almond Joy shake

 Mediterranean tapas snack box from Alaska Airlines

 Fruitcup

Fruit and cheese plate from Alaska Airlines

 12/24/11

Assorted desserts from Whole Foods

 Tuna and salad with oranges, fennel, and cranberries

 sashimi platter--mainly tuna and assorted salmon...the white one at the top of the plate is actually a white salmon...the deep red one is Copper river Salmon, a local fish. The golden stuff coming out of the cucumber flower is sea urchin...I don't recommend it, but at least I tried it!

 Seattle Roll and spicy tuna roll

 side salad

banana and monkey bread from Macrina Bakery (I really had 2 pieces of monkey bread and a chocolate Italian Christmas cookie)

Small steps

Dear, dear, dear. I feel like I'm starting over...yet a-freakin'-gain. My weight is up...but I'm rationalizing. I've been eating salty snacks and retaining water. I'm pre-menstrual and retaining water. Both are true, but are no excuse for eating crap. I'd like to say I have a great holiday plan for staying healthy, but I don't. In fact, I'm visiting friends in Seattle...friends who are great cooks and we have plans to go out to some fantastic restaurants. My plan has only gotten as far as to make several trips to the Macrina Bakery while I'm here.

What I have done though...to help with getting back to working out...is to buy a Living Social deal for a boxing/kickboxing gym back in Cambridge, MA. I love boxing but don't get to do it often because of my school schedule. A friend of mine teaches kickboxing at this particular gym and is a total badass! She's agreed to go with me my first time and show me around. With this deal, I'll get to go to unlimited classes for one month. I figure I can use three weeks before classes get going. Perfect!!

And my friend being there is the best part. It's always good to have a work-out friend or two. Especially when I feel like I'm starting all over again. Sometimes I need that sense of obligation to another just to get to the gym. That promise of seeing a friend is enough to get me there. Once I get there, I'm good. Once I get there, I'll work out, break a sweat at least. Sometimes that's enough, small steps to get back into it. Small steps to pace myself getting back into it. Small steps to build confidence that I still can.

 12/20/11
White tiger tuna sushi

 OK, only that salmon roll is mine...

 shumai and sushi

 a little salad to start with

 Panera!!! Greek salad and chicken noodle soup

Eggs, Uncle Sam cereal, and berries

 12/21/11
Salad with chicken, apple and some cheddar cheese on the side

 Salad with pesto pasta, an egg and tomato and rice soup

Eggs, berries, Uncle Sam cereal and plan non-fat yogurt

 12/22/11

Another sushi feast!

 shumai

 Salad

 Salad with chicken, tortellini with afredo sauce and peas

Berries, Uncle Sam cereal, and quiche with scallion and cheese