My Week in the Great NorthWest

Scott and I traveled to Portland, OR to spend Christmas with his family and, although I was not completely out of control, my Paleo lifestyle was not in full effect during this trip.We were all over the place, visiting friends and family, but for the most part we did a pretty good job of eating clean. As far as working out was concerned, we only did it once. Here's how it went down:

Tuesday:
We got into Portland around 2pm (CT) and were both starving, so we headed to Burgerville for hamburgers and yam fries. I ordered the Burgerville Classic Hamburger (no mayo, no bun, extra lettuce). Their motto is "Fresh. Local. Sustainable."...very cool! They use local, seasonal ingredients and even offer compostable cups! Gotta love it!

That night we headed to the coolest bar you'll ever step foot in...The Buffalo Gap. Along with my *beers, I ordered the Mixed Green Salad w/Blackened Wild Salmon (no dressing, squeeze of lemon). Overall...a pretty good day of eating.
 
Wednesday:
This morning we headed over to Manzanita, OR. On our way out we stopped by the Buffalo Gap for some breakfast. I'm consistently surprised by the food here! I ordered The Hang Town Fry (no bacon, no cheese)...nothing like oysters and eggs for breakfast!

We ate a late breakfast, so we stopped for a coffee and then held out for Grandma Betty's homemade meal...totally worth the wait! She made Wild Coho Salmon (caught by Scott's uncle Rick), twice-baked potatoes (I haven't had these since I was little and loved every un-Paleo bite!), and a mixed green salad.

(Me and Grandma Betty)

Thursday:
We had a bowl of fruit for breakfast and then wandered into town for some shopping and perusing. Lunch was eaten at The Sand Dune Pub. We ordered a burger The Shaun Burger and side of lettuce...I wrapped one of the burger patties (no cheese) and veggies in a few lettuce leafs, and Scott ate the rest. I also enjoyed a Mac N' Jack Amber (really good stuff!) and some Oregon State Video Poker...after all was said and done, we were up $13. All in a day's work!

Dinner was actually finger foods at Grandma Betty's house. I think I must have eaten about 1/2lb of boiled shrimp and a bunch of Rick and Karen's (Scott's aunt and uncle) smoked Coho Salmon. We also got a bunch of cheeses to nibble on and some really amazing (non-Paleo...unfortunately) cracker/crips, Raincoast Crisps. We got the *Rosemary Raisin Pecan crisps and ate them with a little smearing of *Rogue River Blue Cheese...ridiculously good!

The Cereghino Family (well...our portion):

Scott, Me, Tony, Nicole, Larry, Sara, Emma, Becky

Friday (Christmas Day):
This morning we headed for the farm, for the annual Christmas ravioli feed. Scott's aunt Nancy makes the raviolis and his mom, Becky makes the sauce (you can see them pictured below [thank you, Sara, for taking pictures!]...in the lower left corner)...a tradition that the family looks forward to all year. They make pounds and pounds of ravioli, so that there are enough to feed 20+ family members three times over...while still leaving leftovers, of course! I have a little sampling of *ravioli and then eat a huge helping of roasted brussels sprouts and salad. Oh, and this really great smoked Steelhead that Tony (Scott's brother) caught and smoked. I was hoping to get my hands on some more...maybe he'll send me some...hint, hint...

 Christmas at the Cereghino Family Farm

(just a small sampling of the food buffet)

After our late lunch/early dinner, we headed to our friend's (Troy And Alicia) for Christmas cocktail hour.

Saturday:
This morning we woke up late and  Becky made us scrambled eggs with peppers and onions. After breakfast, we headed to the local 24 Hour Fitness to get our blood flowing. They have a little area of the gym blocked off for CrossFit-friendly workouts; they've got two rowers, pull-up bars (not as sturdy as the one I built, I must say), and a few plyo boxes. Pretty cool! 

As for food, we didn't eat very heavy the rest of the day, knowing that we would be headed to Basta's for some good, authentic Italian food. Here's what I ate:

Carpaccio- Thinly sliced angus sirloin served dressed w/ arugula (my first experience...and, it was so good!)
Calamari alla Griglia- Grilled pacific calamari dry rubbed with oregano
*Arancini- Southern style rice fritter stuffed with mozzarella, zucchini and eggplant (just a little bite, but only because I was trying to save some for the others...)

Beet Salad- Organic beets served with baby watercress and fresh ricotta in a balsamic vinaigrette

Ciuppin- The original cioppino from the Ligurian coast made with seasonal seafood
Grilled Tuscan Kale

And, a lot of Italian red wine...it's good for the heart...right!?

Sunday:
We went to Scott's all-time favorite pizza place, Pietro's, for lunch today. I had a *personal pizza with artichoke hearts and fresh tomato. This is some seriously good pizza and totally worth every crispy, dough-filled bite!

Dinner was thai food at our friend's (Courtney and Brian aka Iggy) house. I had *Panang Curry w/Seafood (no rice) and Vegetables w/*Peanut Sauce. Yes, I realize that peanuts (in both the Panang and the Vegetables) are not Paleo, but I already ate pizza, so...

Monday:
We traveled home this morning. I picked up a Greek salad (no croutons, no feta) from Zupan's the night before, so I was good to go for our travels. I also drank a Very Green (celery, spinach, parsley, kale, romaine, sunflower sprouts, clover sprouts, spirulina) drink from Trader Joe's, to get some extra veggies into my system.

So, there you have it...not too bad for a week of Holiday travels! 

"Cheats" are marked with an (*)