Lunchbox Laboratory

Going to dinner at Lunchbox Laboratory was one of the last things we did in Seattle. This majorly retro burger place was fabulous! Not only was the food spectacular and creative, but Lunchbox Lab was gluten-free and vegetarian friendly. Why do I care, you ask? Although I am neither gluten-free or vegetarian, my father-in-law has Celiac Disease and I am a lover of veggie burgers (a leftover habit from when I really was a vegetarian for 7 years), so I am always on the lookout for both!

Now let me tell you why this veggie burger was the best I've EVER had... and I consider myself to be somewhat of a connoisseur! 

Most veggie burgers are veggie burger flavored- meaning that the usual suspects accompany said burger: lettuce or sprouts, tomato, onion, some sort of spread, various cheeses, and the occasional avocado slices. What made this veggie burger so remarkable is that I was able to have it with the accouterments of "The Tear Jerker" aka the spiciest burger on their menu. I LOVE mega spicy food, so a burger with some jalapenos, a little habanero mayo and "Satan's tears ketchup" was right up my ally. 

It actually hurt my mouth a bit to eat this magnificent veggie burger (it was that spicy!!!), but that is how I like things.  I'm a little wild sometimes...

My husband stuck with the traditional beef "Burger of the Gods," and I think he was nearly equally pleased with his selection.  

This is my main man with the yummy shake we shared for dessert!  Speaking of which, the shakes are why we ended up at Lunchbox in the first place. We came across this article and decided it sounded good enough to check out in person.

We ended up (at the suggestion of our wonderful waitress) getting the Boston Creme Pie shake with a shot of vanilla vodka... they call this 'boozy'! The small size was more than share-able for the two of us, but then again, I had just eaten the best veggie burger of my life. The shake was a great cool off for my mouth fire, not to mention extremely delicious.

To sum it up, this quirky (did I mention that most of their cocktails involve Tang? They take hipster/retro to a whole other level!) burger place exceeded my expectations.  Even the atmosphere- we sat outside in a sweet patio garden, across the street from a cute Lutheran church- was perfection. 

I wish Lunchbox Laboratory was on the East Coast!!!

Pike Place Market

On our very last day in the Pacific Northwest, we were able to actually spend some time in Seattle! 

We hung out at Pike Place Market and went to all of the quintessential places... I even tricked my husband into checking out the gum wall in Post Alley. In case you've never seen it, the gum wall is more disgusting than you'd expect.  My favorite memory from viewing this spectacle was a mom lecturing her child who was posing in front of the wall: "Stand away from the wall... NO! Don't touch it! Just stand still near the wall.... Don't lean on it!!" This seemed like a traumatic photo-op, so we just kept walking without documenting our disgust.

Obviously, watching the fish mongers throw around HUGE halibut and salmon was a must. What made it even better is that we had a pint of fresh raspberries from one of the farmer's market vendors to munch on while we took in the show. Yummy!

Those lobster tails were as big as my arm!!

I loved walking through all of the flower vendors. The dahlias, sunflowers and peonys were my favorites.

As we walked, we munched on a delicious amandine (the best almond croissant ever) from Le Painier. 

Holy cow... I could eat those every day and still marvel at how perfect they are.

Our view from a rooftop bar.

We also went to Beecher's for some of their "world's best" macaroni and cheese.  We took it to-go and ate outside in a park. We also shared a dungeness crab grilled cheese sandwich. Everything was superb! I only wish that we'd had room in our suitcases to take some of their homemade cheese with us.  Our favorite was the Raw Flagship cheese.

When we needed a break from walking around in the blazing summer heat (just kidding, it was in the 70s), we ducked into the Frontier Room for some local beer. We both had an IPA from Diamond Knot.

I guess we really ate and drank our way through Seattle!

One thing we did that didn't involve eating (or drinking) was our visit to Seattle Glassblowing Studio.  I imagine that I forgot to take a picture in the gallery because I was too busy trying to take it all in.  The vases, figurines, bowls, and sculptures were spectacular.  We bought a little evergreen tree to remember our foray in the Pacific Northwest :)

Last, but not least, we saw the first Starbucks shop. It was swarmed with people, of course, so we didn't stop in, but it was fun to see where the coffee magnate originated.

Delong's Deluxe

DeLong's Deluxe was a local burger place we visited during our last week at Fort Lewis.

All of the Yelp reviews would have discouraged me from going here, but after passing this cute walk-up, eat outside burger place when I was running errands, I thought it would be a fun place to go when my husband was craving a good cheeseburger. 

I was right. Fresh ingredients, not greasy, good service. Definitely not McDonald's prices (I think our meal was around $15 for two burgers, fries and a shake), but the quality and selection was far superior. Also, they offered a military discount (10%, I think), which I really appreciate.

It was a beautiful evening when we went to DeLong's, so sitting outside on their picnic benches was ideal.  We would definitely visit again if we go back to Fort Lewis!

Detox Tea

 I've mentioned a few times now that juicing has found its way back in to my life. Hallelujah! However, I felt as though I wasn't very 'clean' when I started drinking juices again (maybe the abundance of Lean Cuisine in my life has something to do with this...) and wanted to kick start my detox.  By detox I mean getting rid of the bad stuff accumulated in my body so it can absorb all of the awesome nutrients in these juices.

That's where this tea comes in:






















 At one point in time, I went to a detox workshop and learned how to make a homemade detox tea blend.  However, this tastes remarkably similar, and it is SO much easier to just grab a tea bag rather than grinding up your own. Its yummy and dandelion (among other ingredients) is supposed to be very cleansing. Combine that with the natural diuretics that come along with juicing and some yoga, and I feel well on my way to being in tip top shape! A glass of wine here or a chai latte there doesn't hurt, right?

Oh, for those of you not on the juicing train (you're missing out!) or if you're simply bored of reading about liquids, you're in luck! My next post will definitely not be about juice.  I think.

Tropical Green Juice

Because I am juicing in a hotel room in Washington State (help me!), something I promised I'd never do, I decided to create a new juice combo. Also, I've heard that this particular type of blend is great at preventing and attenuating migraines. Hallelujah!

Ingredients:

2 Cups Fresh Spinach*

3 Stalks Celery*

1 Green Apple*

1/4 of a Fresh Pineapple

1 Lemon

Juice all ingredients together.  Stir juice together with 1/3 Cup coconut water. 

*Use organic whenever possible!

Washington Juice

I decided that since I'm jumping off the juicing cliff here in Washington, I might as well make it interesting. Here is a new juice recipe, inspired by my favorite local ingredient: cherries!!

Ingredients:

3 Large Carrots

1 Apple

15-20 Cherries, Pitted

3 Stalks of Celery

1 Orange

1 Lemon

1 Tbs. Fresh Ginger

Juice in this order. Enjoy!

Makes one delicious serving of juice that is really satisfying! 

Breaking Promises

Ok, y'all. I have a confession to make. I know I said I would never do this, but I really wasn't given a choice (thanks mom!)! I am juicing in our little hotel room!

Obviously, I'm not actually upset at this new development... juicing is in my soul!!

The little juicer that showed up in the mail from my mom gets the job done, even if the cleaning process is slightly excruciating without access to a disposal.

So there you have it... never say never! New juicing recipes coming soon!

Side note- looking back, I used way too many exclamation points in this post... I guess you can tell that I'm excited!! ;) just a couple more for emphasis...

4th of July

 Just in case you were wondering, we had a perfect little 4th of July here in the northwest. Although my husband had to spend most of the day working at the hospital, we were able to spend a couple of hours together in the evening.

I spent most of the day in Silverdale, WA, with some family friends that I've known for over a decade. It was really lovely catching up with them, and we definitely had some good laughs. They were so thoughtful to pack up some of their cookout fare for me to bring back to Fort Lewis for Michael (whom they have yet to meet!) to enjoy.

Just as Michael and I were about to climb into bed, the base fireworks show began.  We watched the impressive half-hour show from our little hotel window. I can't remember a sweeter July 4th! Happy Birthday America!

Washington Things: Part 4

Last week I decided that I wanted to get something (food-wise) for my husband to take to the hospital for his 'team.'  People periodically bring things in for the group, and I think medical students should participate, too! Although, I was sort of using this as an excuse to check out cool local bakeries.  There was no way I was going to Taco Bell or Domino's Pizza to pick up my husband's contribution (although I'm sure they would've appreciated that, too).

After going online and researching cupcake bakeries and french pastry shops all around the Seattle/Tacoma area, I finally came across Top Pot.  Once I saw their tagline- "Hand-Forged Doughnuts", I knew this place was exactly what I was looking for.  What resident/intern/medical student/attending physician wouldn't want one of these bad boys at insert-ridiculous-time-of-day-here??

This was the top of the box... cute yet masculine. It felt like the packaging for a cool gift... and it was!

This was the precious cargo.  A dozen assorted 'hand-forged' doughnuts!  They have over 40 varieties that rotate through (I'm guessing they had about 20 different flavors available when I was there), so I spent quite a bit of time deciding on these. Aren't they pretty!?  Oh, and I heard they tasted amazing as well... the old fashioned salted caramel and the maple bar being two stand-outs. I think I'll pick some more up 'for the team' before we leave in two weeks!

This was the box of 'some more' that I picked up for my husband's last overnight call... I think they made the 27 hour shift a little more bearable!!

Washington Things: Part 3

In order to continue the theme of making our anniversary very true to our Seattle/Tacoma locale, I found some local 'champagne' (sparkling wine) to have with our cake.  In case you didn't notice from our first, first anniversary in February, cake and champagne together is one of my favorite things.

This 'champagne' comes from a division of Chateau Ste. Michelle, the quintessential Washington winery. It surprised me.  I paid $9 for the bottle at a local Trader Joe's, and at that price, I would definitely buy it again.  I am still partial towards Pommery (real Champagne), of course, but it is more than triple the price.

Also, I'm sure that our faux 'champagne' would've tasted better in actual crystal flutes. These are the glasses that are part of our kitchenette set-up. 

Anyhow, we really enjoyed having our cake and 'champagne' for breakfast!

Year Old Cake

In case you don't know, it is a tradition to save the top layer of wedding cake to eat on your first anniversary. It's supposed to be a sweet reminder of the wedding, and a chance to eat a full slice, rather than just a bite.

Usually, the cake is wrapped, frozen in the back of a freezer, and forgotten until the one year anniversary comes around.  Our poor top tier was not so fortunate.  Because of our transient lifestyle this year, our cake lived with my parents until this past week. Here is a little timeline of what this cake endured:

June 30, 2012- Cake sat out in a 90ish degree room for at least 5 hours (I'll do a throwback post about our      wedding day sometime soon) before being stored in my parent's freezer in Arlington, VA.

July 28, 2012- Cake moves from freezer in Arlington four hours away to my parent's new freezer in Norfolk, VA.

Novermber 2012- Cake moves 25 yards away to yet another new home/freezer at my parent's new home.

June 25, 2013- Cake arrives, semi-thawed in Seattle, WA. Box marked "fragile" is crushed in two places.

This is the end result of such trauma:

Big dent on the left, smooshed in various places across the top...

I had to explain all of that before I could talk about how it tasted because for having gone through all of that, it tasted pretty darn good.  However, it did not taste as good as it did in 2012 when it was one of the best cakes I've ever had in my life.  Almond cake with fresh raspberry buttercream gets a little soggy over time.  Who knew?

We shared a big slice and a bottle of 'champagne' for breakfast... it was the start of the perfect first anniversary!

Our Seattle Anniversary

For our first anniversary, we went into Seattle to eat dinner at Sky City, the restaurant in the Space Needle. We were VERY grateful that my husband actually had the day (June 30) off! Hallelujah! 

Side note about the Space Needle elevators... remember the time we talked about my death screams on a certain Universal Studios ride?  Well this elevator gave me flashbacks to that moment.  Luckily I just turned away from the windows and stopped myself short of a full on meltdown. I was fine once we were in the restaurant because it's easy to forget that there is nothing beneath the floor... it seems like your everyday skyscraper. Thank goodness... I was a little worried about how this would turn out when we were on our way up!

Without a doubt, the meal was memorable.  Not only was the view unbeatable, but the food was marvelous, too.

A sweet touch- Sky City had a photographer walking around taking photos that could be emailed to you free of charge. This amazing view only got better as our meal continued because the restaurant turns 360 degrees! I believe they said it takes 47 minutes to make the full rotation, so we made it around twice during our dinner.

One of our favorite appetizers, burrata mozzarella, done extremely well!

Fresh Alaskan Halibut (mine), frites, and a sirloin/lobster tail (his)... yummy!

Just to the right of the skyscrapers, faint in the distance, is Mount Rainier! It didn't photograph well, but it was really spectacular/bigger/easy to see in person.

The same view approximately 47 minutes later.

 It really felt like an 'escape' to relax and dine so far above the city.

Back at our hotel room after a wonderful evening in Seattle. We definitely won't forget this wonderful experience on our first anniversary!

My Must-Have for Washington State

It is completely ironic to post about my North Face rain jacket today because there isn't a single cloud in the sky.  However, it has rained at some point during 11 out of the past 14 days here in the Pacific Northwest, so I feel this post is deserved, nonetheless.

This jacket is really perfection as far as rain jackets/wind breakers go. It is super lightweight (which makes it wearable during the drizzly days) and fits well, and most importantly, it is very waterproof.  The hood is adjustable so that it won't blow off during squalls (we've had some of those, too), and the color selection is fabulous.  

Mine is a really dark teal/forest green with mint green lining, but this jacket comes in a million colors. 

Side note: I did not pay retail for this jacket thanks to Navy Exchange, but I think its probably worth the $90 price tag if you get as much use out of it as I have!

Rainier Inn

I've already mentioned various reasons why I like it here at Fort Lewis, but here are some specifics about our fabulous living conditions at Rainier Inn.

 My husband has a desk! This is where he spends most of his time if he isn't at the hospital or sleeping, so it's a luxury to have an actual desk (rather than a really grody armchair or nothing at all).

Do you see that blinding light?! Its natural because we have two windows (even if they don't open... what a fake out)! I won't speak about the situations in which we did not/barely had windows...

The kitchen!! Doesn't it look fancy?! There may or may not be a non-stick All Clad pan hiding in one of those cupboards... 

These two things are just icing on the cake of living on Fort Lewis.  1) The view (even though seldom because of the clouds and rain) of Mt. Rainier is spectacular! 2) The sweet black kitty living in one of the rooms on the first floor of Rainier Inn.  I talk to him when I see him sleeping in the window in the mornings and afternoons. You would too!

Curry Corner

Last night I had the best meal that I've had in a very long time (minus anything my mom fixed me while we were in Portsmouth... Thanks mom!). Curry Corner in Lacey/Olympia was absolutely spectacular. Even though we got take-out and ate on paper plates using the bed as our dining table, I don't think I've ever had better Indian food... except for when my friend Liz makes it from scratch, but that's another story!

Such sweet people working there... this little restaurant in a gas station strip mall.

We got the typical fare: butter chicken, chicken tikka masala, basmati rice, and naan, but nothing tasted typical. I've never been to India, so I can't officially say that this was authentic, however, I'm sure that this was the most authentic Indian food I've ever had. Holy cow... we will be eating here again!