mississippi avenue food carts

Despite the rain, on Sunday morning we decided to take my parents to Mississippi Avenue to explore the eclectic shops a bit, drink some quality coffee, and eat lunch at the food carts. Portland is famous for its food carts - you can find clusters of them in many different areas around town, but Mississippi Ave. is home to some of the best ones. One of our favorite spots, Prost, is next door, and they happily allow customers to bring food from the carts into their adorable, light-strung patio area, as long as you are also drinking the delicious German beer from Prost.

What does a pregnant gal do when faced with multiple food carts that all look mind-blowingly amazing?! Stand there, eyes glazed, slowly shifting incoherently from cart to cart, and drool. I got several funny looks from the cart owners...like, "can I help you miss???" Everything looked so darn yummy, I just couldn't make up my mind!!

My mom and I finally settled on delicious savory waffles from Flavor Spot. I ordered a cornmeal savory waffle with a scramble on top, made with eggs, a tiny bit of bacon, green onions, a little cheese, and some spinach. My dad and Jeff visited another food cart for some chicken-fried-steak sandwiches topped with a fried egg and some cheese, all slammed between a brioche bun. Wowsers - gut bomb! But it was de-lish.

So next time you're looking for something to do...stroll down Mississippi Ave!! Visit Fresh Pot for some Stumptown coffee, browse the vast array of adorable shops, pop into the Rebuilding Center just to see what it's all about, and grab a snack at the food carts. Oh, and stop to pee three times along the way (that's what I did...thanks baby meakins :).

The eating area at the food carts - it's covered, but bring your jackets!

My savory cornmeal waffle with scramble on top

My cutie pie parents

blueberries and the start of a garden

I AM DYING WITH EXCITEMENT!!! For my birthday (next month), my parents' gift to me was to buy me some blueberry plants and help us get a garden started. I am super lucky in the fact that my mom is a landscape architect and knows all about these garden things, because I do not! I have never been one to enjoy getting my hands dirty :) ... but I think we may have entered a new chapter because I have a new motivation for getting dirty...the FOOD (that is growing in the garden)!!

First my mom told me that most blueberry plants do not produce any fruit for several years. Of course I did not like this answer. So I started looking on Craigslist, and found a guy out in Estacada who was selling some eight-year old plants that would "produce a ton of fruit this year" the ad said (time will tell...). My mom said this would be our only option for getting a lot of berries this year. So we made the trek out there, brought home three luscious blueberry plants, and started getting dirty! I could squeal with excitement over picking blueberries from my own backyard this summer!

Jeff and my dad whipped out a hefty garden box in just a few swift minutes, and now we even have room for me to plant some tomatoes, basil, chard, lettuce, or whatever else I choose! LOVE IT! Next year we will add another box next to the current one (maybe two :). Why not take advantage of this free land behind us?!

Jeff sprinkling grass seed to fill in the bare spots we turned over...Chloe inspecting the changes to her playground

Chloe: "Okay guys, I think all is looking good! Now if I could just find my frisbee..."

Dad taking a hard-earned break from the manual labor - Chloe is by his side, as usual

She was happy as a clam on this day - before planting we took a two-hour walk to Peet's coffee and back - bliss!

homemade coconut pancakes

Okay, well I haven't been successful at locating (besides online) the Stonewall Kitchen Toasted Pancake & Waffle Mix I posted about a couple weeks ago...so...I found this recipe and tried it out on my parents this weekend while they were visiting. I got thumbs up from the eating crew, so I would say it's a winner! We topped with warm maple syrup, but it would surely be amazing with any type of banana topping or tropical sauce. Serve with bacon and eggs for the perfect sweet-savory breakfast combo!!

TOASTED COCONUT PANCAKES

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
4 eggs, separated
1 1/2 C coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C unsweetened coconut, toasted until light golden brown

Place all of the ingredients except the eggs whites into a bowl and mix to combine. Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form and then fold into the batter. Lightly grease a frying pan with butter over medium low heat. Cook about 1/4 cup of batter at a time, about 3 minutes per side. You want to see air bubbles al over the top of the pancake before flipping it. Keep them warm in a 200 F oven while you finish making the rest.

the growing belly!

This is for those of you who have been pestering me to post belly shots!! I have always said I would not be one to post a bunch of preggo pics of myself, but here are a few to make everyone happy. :)

Jeff and I are off to San Diego in a couple weeks for a little getaway before the baby comes...more pics will be posted then I'm sure. Love to you all!

16 weeks along...

19 weeks

21 weeks

23 weeks

maternity jeans... (dare i say these words?)

So the rubber band trick on my regular jeans has still been doin' the job, but I have to say at this point it's clingin' on for dear life. :) It must be time to get some maternity jeans. The problem is...as my belly grows, all I long for is to wear my favorite jeans that make me feel good, and I CAN'T.

Until now!! A wonderful client let me in on a little secret: DZ Alterations. The owner of this polished and professional little alterations shop used to work for Nordstrom until she opened up her own location. Not only do they hem and tailor anything you want, but they will take any pair of jeans and convert them into maternity jeans for only $25!! I dropped off a pair of my older Hudson jeans, a pair that I don't wear very much, just to test out the process. I picked them up today and was pleasantly surprised - they fit perfectly!! The seamstress even included the original waistband from my jeans so I could bring them in to be converted back after the baby is born. I will definitely be returning with another pair!! What a deal - the Hudson maternity jeans cost around $200, and mine were $25.

Just a little tip for you mamas who are also appalled at the maternity clothing out there these days. :) I was about to start sewing my own!

isabel in the pearl

Just had to post about this delicious little spot where we had breakfast last week with some friends. Isabel's Cantina is on the corner of NW 10th and Everett/Flanders in the Pearl district, and has an amazing breakfast - not to mention a modern and naturally lit space! Most of the walls completely open up in the summer. Haven't had a chance to eat lunch or dinner there yet, but all menus look superb!

For breakfast I had coconut french toast (lately it's been all about the coconut...), which was insanely wonderful. You can add two eggs and bacon to any breakfast for only $2.50! Other breakfast items which I considered include: Banana blackberry pancakes, a breakfast burrito, avocado scramble, coconut granola, or nirvana (marinated grilled tofu, brown rice, broccoli, zucchini, egg whites, and salsa). Doesn't everything just sound gobble-up-able??!!

Lunch consists of an array of latin flavors: rice bowls, soups, delightful salads, sandwiches, wraps, burrito, or quesadilla. For dinner you will see entrees ranging from an ahi platter (yum) to wild salmon or steak.

coconut pancakes

Last weekend we spent the night at Jeff's dad's house and got some good family catch-up time in with Roger, Mindy, and Sam. Sunday morning we woke up to heavenly smells in the kitchen...bacon, eggs, and these absolutely delightful toasted coconut pancakes. I think I ate like five. I have been googling ever since to try and find a decent recipe that might compare, but will probably just end up ordering the real mix. Mindy picked up the mix from a small store in Arizona, but it can also be ordered on the Stonewall Kitchen website. Get yours here! We decided they would be decadent topped with carmelized bananas!

rosemary asiago & bartlett pears

Yum.

I just discovered a delicious new snack. And lately these days, once I discover a snack I like, I eat it ... a lot.

Thank you (hippie) Trader Joe's employee, for launching into a tirade while I was in the check-out line the other day. He was going on and on about how people need to eat healthier, how we are too fast-food dependent, how he feeds his kids healthy snacks and they come running from the nether regions of the house when it's snack time. What does he feed them? Well let me tell you. Because at this point in the tirade, my hungry little foodie ears perked up.

Rosemary Asiago cheese with cold, crisp Bartlett pears. Such a simple snack. Ooooh, but oh so delicious! You may think that this blog post is a bit drawn out for just some pears and cheese, but I think extraordinary combinations such as this one deserve a few extra words.

So try it yourself! I have a little tray ready to go for as soon as Jeff walks in the door from work. I've secretly been sneaking nibbles from the edges while I wait. :)

congrats, karrie and mark!

On Sunday, we were giddy with excitement to meet the new little baby Addison Grace Fansler! Her parents are Mark and Karrie (Mark is my cousin), some of our close friends here in the Portland area. The delivery was smooth and Karrie was a champ! We are so excited about the growing social network of babies this year - baby girl Meakins will have no shortage of play dates! :)

Addison Grace Fansler, born at 6 lb. 7 oz. to beaming parents Mark and Karrie!

My new neice-y :) (What relationship is my cousin's daughter BTW?)

he's gonna be such a good daddy :)

Just a couple snapshots I sneakily took (thanks to my trusty new verizon iphone) of Jeff and Chloe - so sweet! You probably chuckle that I am taking pictures of my dog - and yes, I know that this will soon change and I will be taking pictures of the new babe instead. :) But until then...enjoy these cute pics!