Back from Vacation

It should be no surprise that I prefer to cook, even when on vacation. I don't like gaining weight on vacation. I do enjoy eating out (yum, food!) and the social aspect too. But the social aspect takes a back seat when you have a three year old. And the more I cook, the more disappointed I am in restaurant food.

So on this one-week trip to the east coast (Myrtle Beach, um, brrr), we ate in a fair bit. My sister cooked a delicious dinner our first night there (scallops with mushrooms and spinach). She also stocked us with some delicious banana muffins and coconut cupcakes.

We were in Myrtle Beach for 6 nights. Saturday night was the arrival day, and we just all ordered pizza. Sunday was a night out for Chinese buffet/ Mongolian BBQ. I hadn't planned on going out that night, but Mongolian is a build-your-own stir-fry, so there was the opportunity for lots of veggies (not terribly common in the South).

Monday, we ate in (spaghetti and salad)
Tuesday, out again (Mexican). Turns out Mexican, when you are trying to be vegetarian, isn't very good. Mostly a lot of cheese. This is also true in many California restaurants, so I'm not blaming South Carolina.
Weds, in (veggie burgers and broccoli, bean salad)
Thurs, out (a steak place, I got seafood and chicken. More meat than my body is used to, so I wasn't feeling too well after that).
Fri, out (we were en route back to Raleigh to fly out). We ate at Ruby Tuesday's. Can I tell you how much I love this place? Ate there last year too. They have brown rice and broccoli on the menu!

Saturday...well, that was the fiasco of a trip back (9 hours in the Houston airport...if I never see it again, it will be too soon). We didn't actually get dinner because we flew standby on a flight we didn't expect to get on. Oops. We luckily (because it's how I am), had a plethora of carbs in my backpack (chocolate, pretzels - thanks Sis!!, animal crackers, nuts, raisins, carrot sticks, and granola bars). Dinner was actually 13 hours after lunch, at 11:15 pm, Taco Bell drive-through half way into our 2 hour drive home. And don't even get me started on the hotel - the 11:15 pm fire alarm and the teenagers who were yelling and running down the halls at 2 am!!

Breakfasts and lunches were eaten in. For lunch every day, I had a middle-eastern sandwich. Flatbread, hummus, red onion, red pepper, olives, balsamic dressing, cucumber, and feta. I never took a picture. But it was GOOD. Despite a daily run or walk on the beach, and 50 pushups a day for a few days, I gained a pound or two. Eh.

Our 3-year old had an awesome time too. Thoroughly spoiled by cousins, aunties, parents, and farmor. His first words after waking from the nap the day we left was "Where's farmor?" And then a few more times "I want to go get her".

Now we're back home to 95 degree weather. I am not joking. Hubby is off to ANOTHER business trip. And I'm making falafel and caponata and lots of good veggies. Stay tuned for a spanish rice recipe.