Once Upon a Time

 BBQ, beer, body changes, body image, Camping, Dinner, Family, food, Food update, Friends, Grilling, Memories, reunion, Road Trips, Weekend Update  12 Responses »
Jul 312012
 

Since I’ve kept my weight off for four years now, I’ve kind of forgotten what it feels like to get attention–where everyone’s focus is my body. This is just me, give or take about 5 pounds, I haven’t changed much in the last few years and I’m used to living in this body.

Last weekend I went to my family reunion. It was the “big one” that I grew up going to, not the small one I’ve gone to the last few years. No, the “big” one was the tradition for 26 years. It was on my aunt’s farm here in Oregon and it was actually two families that were joined by marriage and stayed connected after my uncle was tragically killed. I grew up with this huge, extended family and it was such a fun environment for a kid. About 6 years ago, my poor aunt decided to retire from hosting it and I don’t blame her; imagine hosting a party for 3 days for 150+ people! This time, there were 108 people!

Well, the last time I saw most of those people (the other side of the family) was when I weighed 250 pounds. It was so weird being transported to the time in my life when my body was changing and people noticed it. Despite feeling awkward and uncomfortable, I had a fantastic time reliving my childhood at the family reunion. I saw people I haven’t seen in years and I got to show Michael what it was like (instead of just describing it).

We pitched our tent in the hazelnut orchard with everyone else. The house is an old farmhouse from the 1800′s and while my aunt and uncle have updated it and made changes, it’s still old.

I totally unplugged for the weekend and just relaxed. It was so nice to catch up with everyone. The sun was out, we were camping and lounging in the shade.

Of course there were shenanigans, too. (The girl in the cowboy hat above is my cousins Kristin and if you live in the Poulsbo, Washington area, they have a food cart! Check it out!)

Yes, that is my uncle below riding a bike backwards. It was quite impressive, actually. I am pretty sure I cannot do that!

One of the coolest things about this weekend event was that the kids just run wild! My aunt has 10 acres of farmland and for three days, the kids run around having fun, playing games, playing with the dogs, and just being kids –totally covered in dirt all weekend long. I remember those days…so much fun! (Flashlight tag, anyone?)

Friday is often a slow day because people are traveling to the farm. This year we had family travel from California, Florida, Texas, Wyoming, and Washington. Friday night my uncle grilled up burgers for everyone. I made a cheeseburger on a sandwich thin, had pasta salad and some veggies and fruit on the side.

When night falls, the campfire gets bigger and bigger and everyone sits around it talking, drinking, laughing, and sometimes singing. Some of my favorite childhood memories are of this family reunion and sitting around the campfire.

My 90 year old Grandma (left) put on a big show playing the harmonica around the fire. Her older sister, Mary, who is 92, joined in and played as well. It was a really special moment and I’m glad I was able to see the two of them play together.

Seeing everyone was so special and I was happy and content all weekend long. I did well with my food all weekend long (I even skipped the s’mores temptation!), often being too busy to even notice I was hungry!

QUESTION: Does your family have annual reunions?

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Sometimes Healthy, Sometimes Not

 4th Of July, BBQ, Best Burger Quest, calories, cheeseburger, Dinner, Dinner out, Easy meals, food, Food update, Holiday Foods, Holidays, Michael, Portland, Portland Restaurants, Recommendations, Restaurants, Review  10 Responses »
Jul 042012
 

Happy 4th of July! I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday with their families and friends. Enjoy the BBQ’s and fireworks. Michael and I are about to go enjoy the sunshine with a hike and I wanted to pop in with a quick hello and a post.

My meals are like teeter-totters some weeks: sometimes they swing to the super healthy, sometimes they swing to the other side where the indulging lives but most of the time they are somewhere in the middle. I’ve been trying to make a conscious decision to limit out the amount of times I eat out in a week. My preferred number is one. I don’t eat out for lunch during the week and usually when Michael and I go out it’s to try a new restaurant–which is something we both love to do and living in Portland it’s an easy thing to do.

Most of our meals at home are the the standard healthy fare you’ve gotten used to seeing here: a protein plus a veggie (usually from our garden). One day after work I plucked a bunch of kale from the garden and cooked it in the skillet with Grapeseed Oil and one piece of bacon chopped up.

I baked salmon with a little butter, lemon pepper seasoning and dried dill. I added a serving of tater tots to the plate simply because I was craving them. Dinner was around 600 calories total, filling, delicious and healthy. Then of course, the next day we went out and indulged a little bit. Michael wanted to kick off the holiday with a big cheeseburger and I wanted to do one at home. In the end we ended up at The Country Cat Diner.

The Country Cat

The restaurant was packed when we got there. It was a Tuesday evening, early still but not quite meeting “early bird” standards. There were empty tables but we were told there was only bar seating or galley seating (which was weird, do they take reservations? After we were seated I noticed a booth stayed empty for our whole visit.). The galley seating turned out to be quite fun because we had a front row view of the kitchen.

We were both mesmerized watching the three chefs work in tandem behind the counter, smiling and laughing, dancing together like ballerinas without a misstep. We even watched our meal be made right before our eyes.

It was difficult for me to decide what to order because everything sounded intriguing. They had fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy (my number one choice but I decided to order the burger). There was plenty of vegetarian options too, although their specialty seemed to be meat.

While we waited for our dinner I watched as the various plates emerged, created from nothing, looking pretty fantastic. I commented repeatedly to Michael, “I should have ordered that.” The duck leg look crispy and magnificent, topped with what looked like cherries in a sauce. The salmon wrapped in bacon looked awesome.

There was a “Flinstone’s Chop” and it looked like it. It was a giant hunk of pork on the bone, glistening in sauce and nestled next to corn. It was humongous, gluttonous-looking and pretty humorous. Thank goodness I didn’t order that. :)

How was the burger? Michael and I both agreed it did not make our top 5 list. To refresh your memory (I know, it’s been awhile):

Burger Quest Ranking:

1. Slow Bar

2. Laurelhurst

3. Toast

4. Gruner

5. Foster Burger

That is not to say there was anything wrong with the burger, it was unusual in a lot of ways but not good enough to knock anyone of the list so far. The burger was beautiful and the meat was juicy but it was so thickly packed that it was almost chewy.

The burger arrived on a delicate bun that was lightly toasted with American cheese, a piece of butter lettuce (the perfect lettuce for a burger if you ask me) and a garlic mayo sauce. The garlic mayo was not overpowering at all, very light, and the homemade ketchup was extremely unique. Neither Michael nor I could figure out what it was made with. It had a smoky and a sweet flavor to it.

The cheeseburger was flavorful and unique but not the best one I’ve ever had. I really didn’t like the chewiness of it. I like my burgers to be tender, juicy and kind of soft. It may look like it was humongous but it was actually a reasonable size.

The onion rings, however, were the show-stopper. They were spectacular! Strange, thin, crispy, crunchy, salty, and delicious. I loved how tiny they were. They look like curly fries but were stuffed with sweet onions. The rings were by far the best thing about the meal. We both ate half of our rings and took the rest home. Despite the burger being just ok, we both left satisfied and happy and I didn’t feel like a brick was sitting in my stomach. I guess those onion rings were that fantastic!

QUESTION: How often do you eat out in a week?

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