Tea for me

I love my tea and my favorite tea is Earl Grey.  I love it the British way - with cream and sugar- although my pinkie doesn't go up when I hold the cup.  This is at a cute cafe in downtown bellevue and I loved how cozy it felt.  

Red Mill Burgers

It's not often you watch a TV show, spot a restaurant you really want to go to and then go the next day.  Man Vs. Food did a segment on Seattle and Red Mill Burgers was featured.  Our cousin was visiting so it was the perfect place to take him.  We went there around lunchtime and there was a 10 person line that greeted us.  The line went along as we decided what we wanted to order and before long, we got our order. 

Man vs. Food.... Man won!  The burgers were delicious and the onion rings were extra crispy.  Compared to other burgers, the burgers here were super juicy and not greasy at all - that really makes the burger stand out for me.

Twedes Cafe

We are usually pretty quiet on our way up the hike, but on the way down, the topic of conversation is always, without fail, about food.  More importantly, it's about food, and when we are going to eat it.  It's about planning for the next meal, the next outing of eating, and figuring out schedules.  It's my favorite part of the hike!

Twedes Cafe is one of the dying breed of small town diners in North Bend that I love going to whenever we are doing a hike east of the city.   Breakfast is served all day and the plates are usually bigger than your head.  There are like 50 burger selections, along with plenty of lunch options, but for us, it's always about the breakfast.  The biggest hit amongst my friends is the country fried steak - they all seem to love it! 

Here's my healthy, but tasty! order of 1 egg breakfast with ham and hotcake

My friend did us proud - 3 eggs, made 3 different ways!

The crowd favorite - country fried steak

Seattle Community Church Women's Potluck

Food and fellowship - that's what a church potluck is all about right?  The women at my church know how to throw down for anything that has to do with food.  The spread seems to be endless and you wish you had a couple more stomachs to enjoy all the great food.  The fellowship is just as amazing - gather strong women of faith all around to share stories and insights, and there usually are a few tears (last time the waterworks was me!).

Portage Bay Cafe

A perfect day starts with a perfect brunch.  My friend ordered the big breakfast and with it, came huge pancakes that you can top with loads and loads of fresh fruit.  I order the Joe Scramble and it was the best ever - it had fresh baby spinach, freshly grated Parmesano-Reggiano, and chicken sausage.  The toast was honey wheat bread. 

Portage Bay does a really great job with their breakfast - the atmosphere is casual, but modern.  The food is tasty, but not greasy.  They source from organic, sustainable producers, and all the eggs are cage free, hormone free and all the veggies are organic.  I've become a big fan!  I tried going there for dinner, but turns out they only do brunch and lunch and reserve dinner for private parties.

Old Country Buffet

I heard good things about the fried chicken and it really was delicious!  I was a little nervous about going to a buffet, because I tend to go a little crazy, but I've learned that taking a picture of each plate helps you remember how much food you are eating!  Thursday night turned out to be Rib Night and we were quite happy about that.  The Old Country Buffet may have bragging rights to their ribs and fried chicken, but unfortunately, the salad bar was not as fresh as I would have liked and the other dishes reminded me of school cafeteria food.

I love my sprinkles!

Joe loved his ribs!

To eat or not to eat...

Typical extended family dinner spread

The answer to that question for me has always been - duh, eat it!  Joe is the love of my life, but food has always been my first love.  Everyone in my family loves to eat, and we grew up on large extended family dinners on Friday nights, and large food fests for birthdays. We would also have a fresh set of dishes for dinner EVERY night.  My mom sacrificed her free time after work so that we would always have 2 kinds of meat, fish, and at least 2 vegetables dishes for dinner, along with a pot of soup that my grandfather would start at 4pm.

Because I grew up understanding that love = food, food began to = good feelings, happiness, etc as I got older.  Food and I always got along, especially if food = soup.  Slowly, as I wandered farther from home, food began to come in tastier/sugary forms, and more convenient forms - frozen dinners, animal cookies, chips, cheesecakes, etc.  What I wasn't noticing was that the food I was eating was containing more and more empty calories, and less nutrition. 

We were able to realize this only after going on the South Beach Diet.  It has been a life changer and it has helped convert my taste buds to like "healthy" foods.  Going two weeks without processed foods, carbs, and sugars have helped me eliminate my addiction to those types of foods.

It's hard to believe, but once you go without these foods, your body will adjust and you actually won't miss it!  I'm shocked as anybody because I used to be so addicted to junk food!  And after two weeks of not eating carbs (well, you can cheat once in a while), even cardboard will taste good and thus, at this point, you can introduce brown carbs back into your life. 

Here's a quick summary of how I choose to eat these days:

• eliminate all junk food, processed food
• eat "brown" carbs only - whole wheat bread, rice, whole wheat pasta, egg noodles made with wheat. 
• start the day with omelet and steel cut oatmeal (instant oatmeal is actually not good for you!)
• snack 2x a day - nuts/yogurt/cheese
• replace white potatoes with sweet potatoes
• load up on lentils, beans (you could never get bored, there are so many kinds!)
• okay to have a "cheat" meal if you follow up with a meal of less meat/more veggies/legumes 

I know that my healthier eating habits will sometimes disqualify me from being an "eater," a title that I have worked hard to earn.  I still love delicious food, and I love variety, but just the quantity that satisfies me has gone down.  Perhaps other eaters will want to eat with me, because now I'll actually be willing to share!  :)

Good South Beach diet website

Kalyn's Kitchen - I love her recipes - she makes healthy eating taste great!  For those who want to skip the most restrictive phase (phase #1), just look up recipes for Phase #2 (brown carbs, healthy eating phase)