This past weekend we traveled to Portland. Usually this isn't a big deal as we know what we like and there is plenty of food to pick from except this time...
When we arrived on Friday we needed to find dinner. We had planned to check out the Deschutes Brewery PDX so at least we knew where we were headed. Now Deschutes has a nice Gluten Free Menu however, my current journey has me a bit past "gluten free." There was a chicken salad or wings that I could have had that didn't have any other "offending" ingredients. The special that night was a sampler platter of mini house-made sausages. While one did have apple in it, I thought it was a good option. I passed on the beer and gave some of my bread to my daughter. Not too bad. So ends the first meal.
Now for breakfast. I had originally planned to make a smoothie at home and bring it since I knew the hotel had a fridge but time got away from me and I didn't get it done. No problem, we can figure this out. Of course the reason we were there was for a car appointment on Saturday and we had to be there by 8:30am. Due to an overwhelming consensus (that of a 12 year old) we planned on having breakfast after we dropped off the car allowing everyone to sleep in.
Surely we could find some great place serving local, hand-raised eggs with "fresh from the yard" veggies and grass-fed meat. It's Portland, right?!?! Well, not so much. We asked at the dealer for some near-by recommendations and didn't come up with quite what we were looking for so we ended up at Starbucks. Now for anyone who knows me, Starbucks is up there on my "favorite" places list. I'm pretty familiar with the menu and what's good to eat but this new eating program posed a few challenges. Let's see, all the breakfast items have gluten, the fruit is still off the list, no to the yogurt as it has sugar or honey, hmmm, what to do? I went ahead and ordered the egg-white, spinach feta wrap with a fork. You know, when you open those things up to just eat the insides, there really isn't much to it. Back in line for some salted almonds. That wraps up meal two. Nuts, there's still three more to go!
Lunch...hmmm. So we're at IKEA and there are plenty of places to eat...depending on what you're eating. There's IKEA (if you have a hankering for some Swedish meatballs), IHOP (uh, ewe!), some burger place, Panda Express, a pizza joint, Red Robin and that Buffalo Wings place. Oh wait! There's another Starbucks. Like I said, I'm familiar with their menu so in we went. This time I had to make a decision about getting in a good meal. The last time I was in Portland I was watching my gluten so I had their protein meal which has a hard-boiled egg, some peanut butter with honey, cheese, grapes, apple slices and a muesli roll. I assessed that meal again and decided really, outside of the peanut butter, it was all "whole" foods and I was going to go with that for lunch. I passed the roll to my daughter and devoured the rest of the meal. Let me tell you, those were the best tasting grapes, EV-AH! After being without fruit for 40+ days, you realize just how sweet they taste. Wow, made it through lunch.
Now dinner. We had this one in the bag. We were going to Jake's Grill. I knew I could have something that moo'ed or swam there and I could make any side dishes work either by passing on them or substituting them for vegetables. Leave early for dinner, take the Tri-Met to the Pearl District (not without some train excitement along the way), short walk and we're there! Ah, not so fast.
"Reservations sir?"
"No....is that a problem?"
"Well, tonight is prom and graduation celebrations, we won't have anything available until 8:00pm"
8:00pm?!?!? That's two hours from now. It's early, we should be able to find something so off we go. Stop at one restaurant, packed. Over an hour wait. Menu not appealing enough to stay. Moving on. Let's try another brewery. Walk two more blocks this way another few this direction. Okay, they have room but let's take a look at the menu first. Gluten heaven! Pizza, burgers, pasta, oh my! Keep going. Stop at an Italian restaurant that's "empty." They have some nice entrees without pasta so I can make this work. Once again...
"Reservations?"
"No..."
"Sorry."
Ugh! Who thought finding food in Portland would be so hard? Should have had my pedometer on as I know I'm nearing 20,000 steps! Well, maybe not but it sure feels like it. The "little one" in the crowd is whining, "Let's just go back to Deschutes." Nope, we press on. We are getting close to where we started (now an hour later) and we come across Henry's. In big letters on their awning it says "steak - seafood." Let's check in here because I know I can eat one of those. Last time we were here it was over an hour wait so we aren't holding our breath for any miracles based on our current luck. Believe it or not, it's a 30 minute wait. We can handle this. Pop in to Whole Foods across the way to get the "little one," our mouse, some cheese to hold her over. Get back to Henry's to wait it out and they have a table ready. Sweet! Find a great burger on their features menu and inquire about a salad they have. The waitress suggests we have the burger and substitute the salad for the fries. Great gal! Okay, no bun, sub the fries and it's dinner-time! Thus ends Day 1 - 3 meals. WHEW!
Since we completed all our tasks, we figure we can have breakfast and hit the road. We have nuts to snack on until we get home and can have lunch. This morning we have a plan. It's back to Starbucks. (I know, I know but it's in walking distance to the hotel and has options for everyone.) This time it's easy-peasy for me. I get the protein meal again and savor my fruit! I know when I get back home I'll go without again so I'm going to eat it and enjoy it.
While I walked into this trip having a plan, we all know plans can be foiled. I felt good about the decisions I made along the way with the options I had in front of me. I never "fell off the wagon" as I stuck with whole foods and didn't fall into the processed-crap trap. And as I have come to realize, I'm eating this way for my health, as a life-style change. I never used the four-letter word (D-I-E-T) as I know that's not what I'm doing. I'm eating for my health...are you?
Ciao!
