Food and Friends- 7 Vegan Wonders

What a night last night was! First, let’s back up. I successfully made it home from Virginia early Saturday morning. I have traveled alone and am officially a big girl! I actually really enjoyed moving out of my comfort zone and navigating an airplane, rental car, hotel and new city alone. It was a learning experience!

My diet was all over the place during my trip. I immediately indulged in some essentials when I came home: kombucha, POM,  Maqui, TJ’s almond butter and chocolate!

I spent Saturday morning unpacking from the trip and loving on the animals. Then David and I laid down for a 4 hour nap! Apparently my 3-hours night of sleep wasn’t sufficient. Luckily we woke up in just enough time to head over to Ryan’s for a fun night!

Ryan and Lindsey hosted a Foodbuzz 24-24-24 event at Ryan’s house. The theme was “Seven Course International Affair Gone Vegan.” I was blown away by the creativity, timeliness and quality of their hard work! The food and company couldn’t have been better.

• Lindsey and her husband, Ross
• Ryan and my boyfriend, Evan
• Caitlin and her husband, Kristien
• Angela and her husband, Eric
• Megan and her friend, Mark
• Meghann
• David and me
• Katy W. and her husband, Lucas
• Katy H. and her husband, Adam
• Evan’s brother’s fiancee, Dana
• Kelly and her boyfriend, Anthony

You can visit Ryan and Lindsey’s blogs for the details, but here’s what I saw through my camera’s lens:

First Course: An Italian appetizer of Crostini with Bruschetta consisting of tomato, basil, lemon, extra virgin olive oil, cannellini beans and a sweet balsamic reduction.

Second Course: African Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup

Third Course: A French vegan version of a Nicoise Salad

Fourth Course: A simple palate cleanser of a Moroccan Mint Sorbet with coconut water, lime and mint

Fifth Course: Mexican Vegan Tamales

Sixth Course: Jamaican Jerk Seitan with Raw Plantain Chips

I couldn’t get over the flavor of the raw plantain chips. Usually plantain chips are just greasy and crunchy, but these were so sweet and slightly chewy! I loved them!

Seventh Course: An All American, Vegan and Raw classic dessert of S’mores

Plus a bonus course for Katy’s birthday! Lindsey made her secret-recipe cookie into a cookie cake! Yum!

I remember first talking to Angela when I featured her on here back in the day! As if meeting Angela wasn’t enough, she also brought her amazing Glo Bars to share. Thank you, Angela!!

I brought some Bondi Bands to share :) All in all, it was a fun night with great people and incredible food. We’re so lucky to have such neat friends to share it with!

After the party David and I headed to downtown Orlando to meet some friends who were in town for the day. We sat outside a cigar shop and bar in the middle of the city. Everyone enjoyed beers and cigars while I sipped on water :)

What a beautiful night.