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.

Banana Pancakes and the Pretty Things

I hate when I miss a day of blogging… it means I have to pick and choose which photos to share with you! The pretty things usually win!

Yesterday I made some banana pancakes for breakfast for David and me. I had a leftover mix that I had given out for gifts and thought it was time to use it. Instead of two eggs I used two flax eggs and instead of regular milk I used soy milk. I also added a banana :)

The result was delicious!

With lunch I was excited to finally make my own yucca fries with this oddly-looking yucca!

I followed this great tutorial that made the whole process easy. They were incredible. Seriously, I hope these become a staple in my diet. Mmmmm :) The yucca fries are starchier and heavier-tasting than what you'd expect from potato fries. Mine got crispy. I used basic oil, garlic salt and pepper... a combo that was finger-licking good!

Another highlight was this pumpkin smoothie I had after my long run this morning inspired by Caitlin. Delicious! I used canned pumpkin, soy milk, ice, brown rice protein powder, cinnamon, vanilla, ground flax and a banana in mine.

…served with frozen mango and an apple!

This morning I completed 15 miles for my long run. I’m running the Gasparilla marathon at the end of the month so I’m climbing mileage with my long runs quickly to prepare.

My legs were tired from yesterday’s bike ride and swim but I pushed on. I need to prepare for these long runs better… sleep, eat enough the night before, bring plenty of water, etc.

I’m off to think of something fun and healthy for dinner tonight. Maybe homemade pizza?!

What’s your favorite dinner on a rainy night?

My New Bike is Home!

Today was wonderful. I started the day with a light breakfast of two bananas served banana soft serve style! Breakfast is normally big for me, but with yoga just an hour later I wanted to keep my belly light.

Then Katy, Ryan, Caitlin and I had an awesome 90-minute power yoga session at our favorite College Park Yoga.

Then we had lunch at Infusion Tea! Megan and Meghann met us for lunch.

Last time I went to Infusion Tea I had a little rant about their service and portions going downhill. The portions were much better today, but the service was still pretty curt. I’ve taken your advice and sent them a friendly email.

I went with my favorite- tempeh chili with 1/2 a Milton Salad. Delicious!

After a quick stop at Costco with Katy for Larabars only to find out they don’t carry Larabars anymore, I came home to find my new bike delivered!

The puppies modeled so you could see how large the box was!

The bike was all wrapped up and packed in a box. I was so determined to try to put it together by myself… but there wasn’t a chance!

My part of the operation was unwrapping everything and laying it out. And for that I deserved a fruit pop.

Then I called in the big guns: David!

Turns out how I thought the pieces were supposed to go together were all wrong!!

It’s funny- I loved my old bike, but now my eyes are only for my new, shiny bike!

Bike #1 is a Specialized Vita. It’s a hybrid- a road bike body with straight handle bars. It’s a great bike for commuting with a smooth ride but more upright handlebars for easy maneuvering.

Bike #2 is a Specialized S-Works Tarmac. It’s 18 pounds and heavenly. It’s an all-out road bike so I can use it for my Ironman 70.3 in May. It was double my budget but I think it’ll be worth it :) I have to take it to a bike shop to have it properly fitted. I can’t wait to take it for a good ride!

I took Bike #1 out for a 25 mi. bike ride. Before I left I had a granola bar.

For dinner I had just what I wanted- naner oatmeal with lots of PB! I finally restocked my PB stash at Costco earlier so it was totally necessary that dinner included it :)

Tonight I’ve been sipping tea- with soy milk and raw sugar of course!

             Do you ride a bike? What’s your dream bike?