My husband surprised me by asking if Elena and I wanted to go to the beach for a day over the weekend. I said sure and before we knew it we were staying a night there too. We had a great time. Our first day we cheerfully went even though we knew the weather wasn’t going to be great and we had a great time browsing in shops, walking with umbrellas (It was Elena’s first time using one and she thought she was very grown-up), and spending a cold half an hour digging in the sand with Elena. But the second day we woke up to amazing weather (the above picture was taken that afternoon).
We spent a good portion of our day on the beach and Elena had a blast and was very busy the entire time! She could hardly stand still. As for me, there is nothing quite as relaxing as sitting on a beach, thinking and watching the waves. Though even here a little work crept in as I helped quiz Joel for an upcoming test. A needed and appreciated break from the daily grind of life for all of us. And today it’s back into our routine! Joel’s off to school and I have a long “to do” list ahead of me.
Meanwhile, here’s what we ate on our trip. On Saturday, I brought Egg Salad Sandwiches for our lunch (which Elena turned her nose up at, but we enjoyed). For snacks we brought along popped popcorn (doctored up with brewer’s yeast and butter), Irish Soda Bread, and Maple Cinnamon Pumpkin Seed Butter with apple slices). For dinner I put together a simple black bean and butternut squash salad (which Elena also turned her nose up at) served with a baguette spread with herbed kerrygold butter.
On Sunday we had the leftover baguette made into french toast- absolutely delicious-and then for lunch we had a special treat. We had heard of a cafe in Cannon Beach that used organic, local and wild ingredients and we knew we had to try it. Sweet Basil’s Cafe was a cute little place and we enjoyed their food.
My favorite item we got off the menu was the chicken salad sandwich. It had flavorful chicken, dried cranberries, green apple, celery and pumpkin and sunflower seeds. It had so much texture and a nice sweetness too. Delicious.
The crab wrap I had was also very flavorful and the crab was obviously quite fresh.
And their vegetarian melt was yummy too. (It had a pesto spread on it that was fabulous!).
Overall, a success!
How was everyone else’s weekend?
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
What amazing eats, very inspiring! So happy your beach trip was wonderful
oh your daughter is adorable! You are so amazing –I can’t believe you can pull meals and snacks together like that. Wow.
How did I not know you live in Oregon too? Cannon Beach is so lovely. We’re headed to the coast for Valentine’s Day weekend!
I hate Chicago.
amazing shots food looks so beautiful
Oh how I miss the Oregon coast!
Me too. We had to move to Texas 6 years ago, and I am very “seasick” as my husband calls it!
Kimi – I love reading your posts — all the delicious food! And Elena is so big!
Kimi,
This is off topic, but I was wondering what kind of grain mill you use. I don’t do a lot of baking – pancakes once a week, though I want to start to make my own bread (I have a newborn, so not much time for that). I have had a nutrimill for a while, but have to get a new mill now and am going back and forth between electric or hand-turned. I’m leaning towards the Wonder Junior because it’s not too expensive, does other things besides grind grain, and I don’t need a ton of flour…just a little each week.
I liked my Nutrimill, but honestly, it was a bit of a hassel to use and since my deep freezer is full of meat, I don’t have much space to grind a bunch of flour to store.
Any thoughts?
As the owner/chef of Sweet Basils Cafe it is great to see that our guests appreciate our efforts to bring a healthy plate to the table in Cannon Beach. We sincerely believe that you don’t have to sacrifice flavor to eat healthier. Thank you Kimi for letting people know they have choices.
Sounds like such a fun weekend. We are getting ready for a trip too – and I am getting our travel food ready to go! Beautiful photos – and your daughter is gorgeous!
The beach? It’s 14 degrees here. Ah, well.
You will have to elaborate sometime on how you put meals together while away from home. I am getting better about snacks in the car for road trips, but still need to work on my meals on the road skills.
I’m also impressed with your food for the trip, Kimi! I’m glad to see my 2- and 4- year old aren’t the only ones who are “turning up their noses” at my good food!! So frustrating
Looks like you had a nice beach weekend! We’re headed to Long Beach (WA, not CA) this weekend, I hope we have a day as nice as yours so my boys can have fun!