Vacation!

I just came back from my holiday vacation to the pacific northwest! The food, family and friends were great (most of the time) hahahahaha … real people, real food, real fun.

The first thing I did was go food shopping to save money in the long run and to have ‘real’ wholesome grub at our fingertips.   I spent $300.00 and for 11 days we had Christmas ham, fresh pineapple, stuffed turkey, eggs, oats, quinoa, freekah*, onions, garlic, celery, carrots, sourdough bread, butter, cranberry sauce, greens, turkey soup, fresh pomegranates, pink grapefruit, lemons and limes, hard cheese, soft cheese, corn tortillas, local sausage, pickles, grainy mustard, Mary’s gluten free crackers, beer, nuts, good strong coffee, tea, milk and plain yogurt!!!  The only thing I didn’t buy were the beans I’m always talking about; oh well.

Our days included being at www.stevenspass.com/ for some steep and deep snowboarding.   The lift lines were short and moved fast besides.  The people were BIG time friendly.  The food and drinks at the lodge were delicious and reasonably priced.  My only disappointment was when I ordered the portabello slider and was told they had run out, boohoo   Some of the time, we brought our own lunch which consisted of leftovers from the night before….yummmmm.   No one cooks as good as my daughter or myself(in my opinion).

*Freekah was the new grain I brought from home and made a ‘mock’ stuffing with onions, celery, carrots and pine nuts, along with the www.wildtree.com  Herbes de Provence Blend I brought all the way from Rhode Island.  So I did plan ahead a little but nothing really over the top…also in my bag were nuts, seeds, dried fruit, tea and a couple other herbs and spices.

Getting back to the *Freekah…it is a high protein, high fiber grain that is NOT gluten free.  I didn’t have a recipe so I followed the cooking instructions on the back of the package and added what I had to make a ‘mock’ pilaf/stuffing.   According to my better half, Mikey Musclelips Rand, that Freekah was freakin’ REALLY good!!!  (Mikey, who tells me the truth no matter what.)

If I had bought some garbanzo beans and mint in that $300.00 grocery adventure, and had an internet connection, I would have tried this recipe:    http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017122-freekeh-chickpea-and-herb-salad

Vacation eating can be challenging, especially if you don’t have access to cooking facilities or water…by the way, did I mention we had to melt snow for water?!  The stove was gas so we had plenty of fuel to cook on the stovetop and the roast turkey was done at my daughters house, next door.  The electricity went out on Christmas eve because of a great snowstorm so our turkey dinner was delayed by only 36 hours.

The pacific northwest and especially Skykomish, Goldbar, Index and Stevens Pass was one of the most spectacular places I have ever been!

If you don’t like the snow, go in the summer and get your exercise by hiking, biking and swimming.  Make sure you plan ahead to save money so you can eat out at least once and maybe order the dungeness crab like we did!  On our way out of the mountains, we went to a great restaurant in the Ballard section of Seattle and had a great meal served by Carly.

The weather is considered temperate in Seattle…from the Bhagavad Gita:

Arjuna, those who eat too much or eat too little, who sleep too much or sleep too little, will not succeed in meditation. But those who are temperate in eating and sleeping, work and recreation, will come to the end of sorrow through meditation.