I know, I know... It's a food blog! It was a VEGAN blogging conference!
Show us the FoooooOOOoooD!
The folks at VidaVeganCon did such a great job of offering gluten-free, soy-free & raw options at every meal... and always tasty. If, like me, you don't need to follow any of those more specialized diets, it meant there were so many things to try that you couldn't even fit it all on your plate in one pass. Just the way I like it!!
Day One Lunch: A piece of Grilled Zucchini, Steamed Kale, purple Cauliflower Hummus (purple!!!), roasted asparagus, BBQ Tempeh, Shredded Yellow Beet Salad, Orzo Salad, & Pesto Potato Salad. SO Many Yumz! And I loved how healthy it was, too.
Plus at lunch, these fancy bottles of MetroMint water were available. I tried one... orange mint flavor. Orange flavored things aren't usually my favorite, and plus flavored water isn't my favorite, but I found this unexpected pairing somewhat intriguing and compelling.
Dessert was a Coconut Bliss chocolate ice cream bar. Verdict: GOOOOOOOD! Problematically good, in fact. I will try to repress this memory and walk past the freezer aisle without stopping.
Saturday night was a big gala event and there was much delightful food to munch on. Vegan pizza (can you see that my piece is already half-eaten in this picture?? I was so impatient!), bruschetta with a spinach-artichoke spread, Gardein "chicken" nuggets, little mini veggie burgers cut in half, fresh spring rolls...
... and they even had Gluten-Free pizza for the xgfx amongst us!
All of that dinnertime glory was followed by an amazing ice cream sundae bar. They had chocolate and vanilla Coconut Bliss ice cream with SO many toppings... I chose chocolate syrup, caramel sauce, roasted peanuts, chopped walnuts, and crumbled oreo cookies (actually they were the ones from Trader Joes). Such decadence! Plus, ice cream twice in one day! OMG!
Lunch on Sunday was a taco/burrito bar.... Your choice of corn or flour tortillas, super yummy soy curls, roasted onions & bell peppers, lots of toppings, a whole salsa bar, walnut chorizo, spanish rice, guacamole... all soooo good. I love Mexi food, and I love guacamole and I love soy curls, so the whole thing was pretty much a hit with me.
From the Opening Night Reception: Tuxedo Cupcakes and Cookies & Cream Cupcakes
Lemon Chiffon Cupcakes - This is the one I tried. The lemony cake was great, and that lemon curd was really, really good!
Day One Lunch: A piece of Grilled Zucchini, Steamed Kale, purple Cauliflower Hummus (purple!!!), roasted asparagus, BBQ Tempeh, Shredded Yellow Beet Salad, Orzo Salad, & Pesto Potato Salad. SO Many Yumz! And I loved how healthy it was, too.
Plus at lunch, these fancy bottles of MetroMint water were available. I tried one... orange mint flavor. Orange flavored things aren't usually my favorite, and plus flavored water isn't my favorite, but I found this unexpected pairing somewhat intriguing and compelling. 
Dessert was a Coconut Bliss chocolate ice cream bar. Verdict: GOOOOOOOD! Problematically good, in fact. I will try to repress this memory and walk past the freezer aisle without stopping.
Saturday night was a big gala event and there was much delightful food to munch on. Vegan pizza (can you see that my piece is already half-eaten in this picture?? I was so impatient!), bruschetta with a spinach-artichoke spread, Gardein "chicken" nuggets, little mini veggie burgers cut in half, fresh spring rolls...
... and they even had Gluten-Free pizza for the xgfx amongst us!
All of that dinnertime glory was followed by an amazing ice cream sundae bar. They had chocolate and vanilla Coconut Bliss ice cream with SO many toppings... I chose chocolate syrup, caramel sauce, roasted peanuts, chopped walnuts, and crumbled oreo cookies (actually they were the ones from Trader Joes). Such decadence! Plus, ice cream twice in one day! OMG!
Lunch on Sunday was a taco/burrito bar.... Your choice of corn or flour tortillas, super yummy soy curls, roasted onions & bell peppers, lots of toppings, a whole salsa bar, walnut chorizo, spanish rice, guacamole... all soooo good. I love Mexi food, and I love guacamole and I love soy curls, so the whole thing was pretty much a hit with me.For dessert, we had a whole bunch of new flavors from Coconut Bliss to chose from. Some people were excited about the ginger snap flavor, but I am all about chocolate. I had the Chocolate Walnut Brownie, which was absolutely great. I love nuts in my ice cream (controversial stance!), and it turns out I love pieces of brownies in my ice cream too. One of the classes I went to at the conference was called "Opinionated Bloggers," regarding taking a stand and sticking to it... apparently that message really sunk in! ha ha!
* Note: How did I not take pictures of breakfast either day? I guess I was too groggy from late night fun to take pictures! We had fruit, coconut yogurt, chia pudding, coffee & tea, biscuits & gravy, gluten free pancakes, tofu scramble... YUMZ!
oh man. i am so stealing this picture. i got stylez!
ReplyDeletelove you to the moon, you patootie. also, no one else at vida vegan had me in tears. nope!
xo
kittee
The food looks SO good! I love that there were gf & sf options too.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like pure heaven to me. So many amazing options--I could actually EAT there!! :D
ReplyDeleteMeeting you this past weekend cracked me up. You were very approachable, funny, and so refreshingly honest. Loved your Build-A-Blog pannel! Hope your allergies/cold cleared up. Can't wait to read about more of your travels!
ReplyDeleteOh man how did I miss this? What a great experience. I love coconut bliss. Everything looks so good. Feel better!
ReplyDeleteOh, I am hungry all over again. Everything was so good...I can`t even pick a favorite. Though the chocolate ice cream bars were pretty much amazing.
ReplyDelete