Native Foods Clackamas Town Center // Plus a Giveaway

May 19, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls 10 Comments

Disclaimer: My family was provided with VIP passes for dinner last week. All opinions are my own as always!

Prior to moving out to Portland I had heard about Native Foods but since there are currently none the East Coast (there are however two opening in D.C. soon) we had never been. We were thrilled to first try Native Foods at their Bridgeport location last year but since we don’t make it down to Bridgeport Village very often we haven’t been back. Needless to say I was thrilled to see that they had a new location at the Clackamas Town Center which is close to where we live in SE Portland.

Now the Clackamas Town Center Native Foods doesn’t officially open until May 21st but they have been doing VIP events since last week to give people a sneak peek of their new restaurant and the food. We received VIP passes for last Wednesday night and we were able to sample a variety of items.

Starters:

Butternut Polenta BitesSaigon Roll

Entrees:

Twister Wrap with Side Salad

Oklahoma Bacon Cheeseburger with Seasoned FriesKids Mac and Cheese with Broccoli

Drinks:

Lavender Lemonade & Watermelon Fresca

Dessert:

Peanut Butter Parfait

Thoughts on the Food:

We really liked both of the starters that we ordered and I would definitely get the Saigon Rolls again. I was actually a little surprised I liked them so much but they were really good. As for the entrees neither of us enjoyed the Twister Wrap it was a little boring and by the time I ate my half (we were sharing) mine was super soggy and I ended up eating two bites before removing the “chicken” and eating that on it’s own. The side salad that came with our Twister Wrap was good though!

I really liked the Oklahoma Bacon Cheeseburger despite it not being what I think of when I want a vegan burger. It isn’t so much of a burger but rather a sliced seitan sandwich, either way I thought it was tasty and I was glad we ordered it because I don’t think I would have had we not been at the VIP event (aka it was free). The side of fries that came with the Oklahoma Bacon Cheeseburger where meh. They were super salty and just not great fries. Edith enjoyed her mac and cheese and Neil and I both had a bite and thought it tasted good.

Lastly dessert and drinks. Neil chose the lavender lemonade which was SO good I made him go get more because while Edith enjoyed her kids size watermelon fresca I just didn’t love it. As for dessert we all loved the Peanut Butter Parfait and some little munchin decided to devour it before we even got more than two bites. We also got a sticky toffee cake that we took home with us and shared after Edith went to bed. It was so good!

Service:

The service was great! Super friendly, super efficient and helpful!

Overall:

Overall we had a good experience at Native Foods. I have to say we would probably get a meal of lemonade, starters and desserts because those were our overall favorites but there are so many things on the menu to try like the Chicken Run Ranch <–regretting not getting this after hearing other people rave about it. Also umm have you see the colossal nachos? I think we need to try those too!

Giveaway:

Since many of you guys out there don’t have a Native Foods near you they have agreed to send out one of their cookbooks to one lucky reader!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fit Pregnancy | Latourell Falls Hike

March 25, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls 5 Comments

We have really been trying to get out and take advantage of the beautiful weekend weather here in Oregon. Two weekends ago we hiked up to Wahclella Falls and had a great time so this past weekend we decided to hike Latourell Falls.While I knew that this hike was going to be more challenging I didn’t expect it to be quite as much of a challenge as it was for me.

When choosing a hike I was looking for something that was had an elevation gain no more than 550ft and was between 2-3 miles round trip. Well, Latourell Falls hike has an elevation gain for 540ft and is 2.4 miles round trip. I thought this would be the perfect hike! Well it was a great hike but shortly into it (I’m talking about a half mile in) it really started to kick my ass. Who knew a 540ft elevation gain was really a lot more than I thought? To top it off the hike begins at a higher elevation than the Wahclella Falls Hike and add in that I’m a week further along in this pregnancy which also makes hikes more challenging.

Anyways I brought my hiking polls with me just in case I decided that I might need a little extra support and when we reached the half mile point and I realized we still had to go up and up and up before we started to go down (a little more up) and then down, down, down I decided that it was time to take them out. Looking back at things I should have started with them from the beginning because it this hike started with a pretty steep incline right from the start, at least there are lots of switch backs; if we had been in VT doing this hike we would have been going straight up!

By the time we reached the half way point I was slowly treking along behind Neil who was wearing Edith. Feeling proud that at nearly 22 weeks pregnant I was out there hiking but also feeling a little embarrassed at just how slow I was going and remembering back to the 10-15 mile hikes that Neil and I used to do back in VT where to be quite honest the trails were considerably harder in comparison.

We completed the hike and it felt great but let me tell you that all future hikes will be ones in the easy category with a 400ft or less elevation gain because while I managed to do this hike I know that as my pregnancy progresses that hikes categorized as ‘easy’ are a better option for me!

Q: What are you favorite types of hikes? Have you hiked in Oregon?

P.S. This is the link to the hike we did around Latourell Falls.

Fitbloggin’13 Recap Part One

July 5, 2013 by Lindsay Ingalls 2 Comments

I finally did it! After nearly 7 years of blogging I finally made it to my first blog conference!

This past weekend I headed to downtown Portland to the Fitbloggin’13 conference. The FitBloggin’ Conference is for bloggers that specialize in fitness, wellness, good food and a healthy lifestyles. I have been interested in going to past Fitbloggin’s but unfortunately timing and cost just haven’t been in my favor until this year! Finally I actually live in the city that hosted a blogger event I wanted to attend!

I kicked off the conference with dinner at Portobello with Annabel, Kelly, Dacia and Brooke. This was my second visit to Portobello in the same week (I had been the previous Saturday) so I already had an idea of what I wanted to order. After debating between the gnocchi and the arribitta pizza I decided to go with the pizza with the gluten free crust. It was so delicious! It was so nice to have dinner with a table of other women and bloggers. We all enjoyed our dinner, drinks, dessert, and wonderful conversation before heading to The Nines for registration and the mixer.

We arrived at the mixer a little on the late side but that was okay because I had a nice time at dinner and couldn’t stay long at the mixer anyways. I registered and then made an attempt to meet some new people. I did end up meeting another local Oregon blogger, Dani, who is super nice and is also a mother runner. I also finally met Kristina of Spabettie who I have known through blogging for years; she was even my last vegan exchange partner!

After some chatting, swag pick up and name badge decorating I decided to head out. Neil and Edith picked me up from the mixer and home we went to get ourselves ready for the conference weekend.

More Fitbloggin recaps to come!

Portland Dirty Girl Mud Run

May 15, 2013 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

I am hooked on women only races lately. I just completed my first quarter marathon which was all women, I am signed up for a 7k and a 5k in August both of which are women only and I have a 10k in September that is, you guessed it WOMEN ONLY! I just love women only races right now.

One women only race that I really wish that I could participate in this year is the Dirty Girl Mud Run on June 1st here in the Portland area. I had actually planned to run this race and just before I signed up Neil was offered a new job (out of the blue) and he has chosen to take it so we are preparing to move a little closer into Portland so he doesn’t have to have over an hour commute both ways by bus and train. So since we are going away to Seattle Memorial Day weekend and we are hoping to move by mid June we are spending all of our other weekends packing our things up. Anyways I am on to a tangent so lets get back to the point of this post.

What is the Dirty Girl Mud Run: “Dirty Girl is a 5k womens only run for women of all ages and athletic abilities. Don’t worry, it’s not a “race” in the traditional sense. It is an untimed obstacle course designed to push you slightly out of your comfort zone, but only as far as you are comfortable going. Forming teams is encouraged, and so is helping your fellow Dirty Girls get through to the finish. At a Dirty Girl Mud Run you’ll find excitement, laughter, and camaraderie—as well as lots of music and even some adult beverages. It’s a day you’ll never forget” (source)

Dirty Girl Mud Run from Story Place Productions on Vimeo.

The good people at Dirty Girl have something special for you…..20 percent of the Portland Area race!!! Just use this 20% discount code, DGPORTBLOGGUEST, at check out.

If you do run this race please come back and tell me all about it. I would love to hear about your experience!

Disclaimer: I was NOT compensated in anyway to post this. I just wanted to share this opportunity with all of you!

Portland: While We Wait

January 14, 2013 by Lindsay Ingalls 9 Comments

Since apparently our movers are off somewhere on a beach with their legs up and an umbrella drink in there hand, well that’s what I imagine they must be doing since they are already five days past due, we have been out exploring the area. It’s pretty frustrating that they haven’t arrived yet but what can you do? Honestly this is probably the only time in my life I wish I had been unpacking my dishes than eating Voodoo Doughnuts….wait no I’d always rather be eating Voodoo Doughnuts who am I kidding?

On Saturday morning we headed downtown to get our Voodoo Doughnuts on and for good measure we chose 5 doughnuts to share between the three of us (my mom is here right now). Although we ordered 5 we really only shared 4 because after a tiny nibble of one of the vegan cake doughnuts we decided it was awful and tossed it out and moved on to the vegan maple creme (hello yum). We also had to of course get some Stumptown Coffee while we waited in line for doughnuts which had us crossing off two of the top sites to see in Portland.

After crossing those two sites off we headed to Powell’s Books to cross a third top site off the list. This bookstore is insane and I could have spent days in there just browsing all of the books. The children’s book section is especially impressive and I can’t wait to bring E there when she is older. I am already planning a bi-weekly Voodoo-Stumptown-Powell’s tradition in my mind for when she is older where we will all share one (okay maybe two) Voodoo Doughnuts, Neil and I will get Stumptown Coffees and E will get a new book at Powell’s.

After Powell’s we all started to come off our sugar high and decided that we should eat some real food so we walked a few more blocks to Deschutes Brewery. I have to say I am in beer heaven around here and Deschutes has a really beautiful brew pub in Portland. Neil and I got the veggie burger and some avocado for E and my mom and I shared a sampler while Neil had his own. The food was good and the beer was so good- my favorite was the White IPA.

The remainder of of our Saturday was spent at Ikea trying to pick up some new things for the house but we ended up being pretty unsuccessful since our rental car is on the smaller side and our car doesn’t arrive until at least Friday. So we picked up a few little things and made a list of what we need to go back for next weekend.

Since our things did not arrive on Sunday we headed out for more adventures, this time we took a little drive to Multnomah Falls. Neil and I have been dying to visit since our canceled Portland trip two years ago. The drive was beautiful and the falls even more so although it was pretty icy and freezing so I can’t wait to go back in the summer when we can also do a little hiking.

So far we are in love with the area and I can’t wait to do more exploring and of course hit up a few food carts- any recommendations?

Head over to Naturally Family to check out more photos of our adventures this weekend.

The Big Move

December 20, 2012 by Lindsay Ingalls 8 Comments

I am so glad that I am finally able to talk about our big move across the country! It has been such a challenge not to let it slip and now I just want to scream it from the hilltops!

Neil and I have been wanting to move for years but we have been waiting on a number of things- first his greencard, then the arrival of baby and then Neil finishing up a number of projects at his current job. The crazy thing about moving is that we could move absolutely anywhere in the country so one of the biggest challenges was trying to decide where we would start looking. Since we have intended to move for years now I have been researching the best places for us to move which included North Carolina, greater DC area, Austin, Denver, Boulder, San Francisco Bay area and the Pacific Northwest.

Finally in late November Neil started applying for jobs and after an unsuccessful interview with a company in Austin he had a successful interview with a company in the Portland area. This interview was so successful that he was offered the job only 15 minutes after interviewing- crazy right? We knew that it was a possibility that he could get the job and so we had already discussed things but it was still a bit of a shock. We had to make a pretty quick decision and after a little negotiating Neil accepted the position and moving plans were in full motion.

This all happened on November 30th and since then we have been busy busy busy. I have spent my days taking care of E while trying to find time to back, sort through our things, arrange movers, and find a place to live. Neil and I have never made a move this big before so it was all new on top of the fact we are moving to Portland site unseen.

That’s right neither of us has ever been to Portland. My only experience of the west I have traveled is California where I spent a few days in Long Beach before heading out on a cruise about 7 years ago. Neil lived in Vancouver for a few months about 10+ years ago but that was short lived and not a huge move like we are making.

We have had to arrange our own movers which has been a huge undertaking because not only are we moving our things we are also shipping our car out. We decided that it wasn’t the greatest idea for Neil to drive cross country by himself in January and well there was no question that Edith and I would be flying out because well who really wants to drive cross country with a six month old.

We finally set up movers and to get our goods by the time Neil or I arrive they have to be picked up this Friday or Saturday. So the past week we have been rushing to pack up all of our belongings, sell off almost all of our furniture (most from Ikea so cheaper to replace than move plus we were looking to replace a number of things) and go through and donate anything we don’t need/want.

On top of finding movers we had to find a place to live site-unseen. Let me tell you this was a huge challenge considering we have never even visited Portland before. Neil had a few tips from the recruiter on where would be good places to live and finally after contacting a number of places we found an apartment that is close to Neil’s job, walking distance from Whole Foods-um…dangerous, seemingly nice and would rent to us for 10 months site-unseen.

Edith has spent a lot of time in this box while I pack

The next few days are going to be chaotic as we finish last minute packing and wait for the movers to arrive but then we will be off to my parents to celebrate the Holiday’s. We will be staying with them since we will have no belongings besides clothes and essentials and then Neil will be flying out on the 2nd and Edith, my mom and I will be flying out on the 9th.

This is a huge move and things are crazy busy right now but I hope to get back to regular blogging as soon as this weekend is over. Also if you live in the Portland/Beaverton area if you can suggest a great yoga studio(s), doctors/pediatricians/dentists, or any tips about the area that would be great.

Naturally Lindsay

Portland