Real Good Food, Real Good Friends

on March 27, 2010

I had the BEST day of eats! I feel like I ate gourmet all day, especially for dinner, which was a special FoodBuzz event hosted by Ryan and Lindsey.

First things first – an amazing, veggie-packed lunch. I think I’m turning a corner on vegetables, by the way! I used to not be the biggest fan of veggies (yes, a vegetarian who didn’t like vegetables!). The key was figuring out how I liked to prepare veggies (mostly roasted), finding some “new” veggies (like parsnips and Brussel sprouts), and actually BUYING the veggies. If it’s in my fridge, I’ll eat it!

Lunch:

I had a whole wheat wrap with jarred artichokes, sundried tomatoes, sprouts, steamed asparagus, and hummus.

Plus, steamed Brussel sprouts and an orange from Angela:

As an afternoon snack, I had a Chobani Pineapple:

As mentioned, dinner was SO amazing. FoodBuzz hosts a special event called 24, 24, 24 every month, and my friends Ryan and Lindsey were selected to host a “World Tour of Vegan Eats” for a group of about twenty people.

Can you believe these amazing chefs served everyone 7 courses?!

The Husband and I made a serious effort to try a little bit of everything, and we both ended up STUFFED. I also drank a beer while I munched.

The first course was from Italy. We had bruchestta with tomato, white kidney beans, and balsamic vinaigrette.

I had one bruchestta.

Second course was from France. It was a delicious mixed green salad with potato, green beans, and olives.

My portion:

Third course was from Africa. It was a peanut sweet potato soup. I must try to recreate it at home!

At this point, the Husband muttered, “OHMIGOD, VEGAN FOOD IS SOOOO GOOD.” 🙂

Fourth course was a palette cleanser. It was a mint sorbet.

Fifth course was from Mexico. We each had corn-wrapped tamales stuffed with black beans, corn, and verde salsa.

Sixth course was from Jamaica. We had jerk-flavored seitan with dehydrated plantain chips.

I just tasted the seitan and had a bunch of plantain chips. The seitan tasted a little too much like meat for me!

And the SEVENTH course was raw smores with coconut milk “marshmellows”, dehydrated graham crackers, and cocoa and agave chocolate syrups.

All that vegan food was so amazing, delicious, and satisfying. It felt like I was eating at a real restaurant!

Hanging out with everyone was so fun! It was such a great coincidence that Angela was in town for this amazing party.

Ashley is a representative for Bondi Band, headbands for active ladies (slash men?). She brought a ton of headbands and hats for everyone to try out.

Mine says “Will run for beer” (so true) and the Husband’s says “Endurance.” Haha. I can’t wait to wear it under my helmet when I go biking tomorrow! I think it will wick away all the sweat and keep me from getting that awkward red helmet imprint.

Whew! What a night. We had so much fun. Thanks Ryan, Lindsey, and Foodbuzz for an incredible meal!

Last, but not least, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO KATY!

Currently, Angela and I are sitting on the couch, side by side and blogging. <3 Aww.

Angela and Eric are leaving early in the morning, and then I have a 40 mile bike ride! We better get to bed!

{ 55 comments }

Heather (Heather's Dish) March 27, 2010, 11:55 pm
what an awesome dinner! i’ve never had anything intentionally vegan, but all of those courses sound incredible 🙂 i’m glad y’all had a great time with angela and eric, and hope you ride a mile for me tomorrow (since i’m currently without a road bike!)
Karla March 28, 2010, 12:07 am
Awesome idea! I love large meals with themes!!

I did the 24,24,24 in December! I made a 12 course vegetarian meal inspired by the 12 days of Christmas!
Katy ( The Balanced Foodie ) March 28, 2010, 12:12 am
Aw, thank you for the sweet birthday shout out. Love youuuu! 🙂
Emily Eats and Exercises March 28, 2010, 12:20 am
All that vegan food looks amazing! I hope you try to recreate that soup – and pass on the recipe. I can picture the side by side blogging. 🙂
liane March 28, 2010, 12:24 am
Wow, that dinner looks incredible!
I’ve committed to a 21 day meatless challenge and I’m super excited checking out new recipes to make this month. I might even take a few pictures of my food as I’m not a food blogger like the rest of you amazing bloggers from whom I borrow fabulous meal ideas! 🙂
Mara @ What's For Dinner? March 28, 2010, 12:24 am
What an amazing time!!! Hug Ange for me 🙂
clay March 28, 2010, 12:28 am
I could easily go vegetarian with your eats! Did you photoshop that lunch? It looks THAT good! Goo luck on the bike ride tomorrow!
- Caitlin March 28, 2010, 12:30 am
  Hehe nope. Real food is just beautiful!
Beth @ Beth's Journey to Thin March 28, 2010, 12:33 am
Dinner looks so awesome!! I love sweet potato stew… I made one in the crockpot, and it was SO good. I’ll get the recipe and email it to you. Sounds like you have had an awesome visit with Angela!
- Caitlin March 28, 2010, 12:38 am
  Yes please do!!!
Allie (Live Laugh Eat) March 28, 2010, 12:35 am
WOW what a night!! First of all, what a meal!! I can’t believe all of that was vegan. Impressively epic! I wish I lived in Orlando right about now (slash 5 hours ago).
Caitlin March 28, 2010, 12:36 am
Yesssss please do!
Erin (Travel, Eat, Repeat) March 28, 2010, 12:58 am
This all looks absolutely incredible — so delicious, healthy and FUN! Bloggers unite! 😀
Mastering Public Health March 28, 2010, 1:16 am
Veggies have really grown on me since becoming healthier three years ago — the body really does start to “crave” them. Glad to hear they’re starting to grow on you. And you’re all just glowing! Must be the high-quality eats. 😉 Looks like so much fun.
meg c. March 28, 2010, 1:28 am
omg tamales. i die.
Lin March 28, 2010, 3:05 am
I must get the boyfriend the beer band!!!! He will run miles for a cold bottle of Heineken.
Amanda March 28, 2010, 3:18 am
Sorry, this is a pet peeve of mine, but which country in Africa is the soup from? Lots of times food is just labeled “African” as though everybody on the entire continent is familiar with the dish and it bugs me a little that the individual countries aren’t recognized. It looks really good though! 🙂
- Caitlin March 28, 2010, 7:34 am
  They just said African when they announced it. I don’t know if it’s a real African dish or just the flavors were inspired by general African meals.
- Lindsey @ Sound Eats March 29, 2010, 9:55 am
  Apologies that an individual country wasn’t recognized, Amanda, didn’t mean to bug you! When I created the menu I was just looking up international flavors and dishes and trying to incorporate a well-rounded international themed feast. There were actually many soups similar to this labeled as simply “African” so we went with it. I can’t label it as a specific country when we don’t have that information.
Freya @ Brit Chick Runs March 28, 2010, 3:28 am
I just saw this evening on Meghann’s blog and I can’t believe how amazing it all looks!! Vegan food looks INCREDIBLE espec the sweet pototo and peanut soup – I can’t wait to cook some of this stuff 🙂
Judy (cookbook maven) March 28, 2010, 5:25 am
OMG, those raw smores look amazing (not like the other food didn’t, but c’mon, it’s dessert!). And the bondi bands look interesting — I’d never heard of them.

And how cool is it to meet Angela in person?
- Caitlin March 28, 2010, 7:34 am
  Very cool!
Nicole of Raspberry Stethoscope March 28, 2010, 7:26 am
I’m so jealous. it’s like all the cool kids live in Orlando. C’mon Tampa/St. Pete! Clearly, I need to move. I would love to hang out with all these like-minded individuals!:)
- Lindsey @ Sound Eats March 29, 2010, 9:56 am
  haha I actually live in Gainesville (although I used to live in Orlando), I just come down semi-frequently. 🙂
Diana (Mymarblerye) March 28, 2010, 7:37 am
I’ve seen requests for the 24 24 24 opportunities so I loveddd how they used it for vegan eats. So unique! Amazing how Angela was there too! It’s sad but I’m like “oh I’ve seen her…she look familar”…I’m a blocker..”blog stalker”
Lee March 28, 2010, 7:41 am
That food looks amazing!
Anna @ Newlywed, Newly Veg March 28, 2010, 7:49 am
What a fun night!! I love looking at the 24,24,24 winners– the meals are always so cool and creative!
Nicole March 28, 2010, 8:22 am
Holy cow that food looked amazing. I loved the husband’s “Omigod vegan food is soo good”
I have to try making those s’mores!
Kelly (Local Foodie Fight) March 28, 2010, 8:36 am
hahah yess love that your husband loved the vegan food!! looks like it was a fun night 🙂
Jessica @ How Sweet It Is March 28, 2010, 8:54 am
That looks like one of the best 24, 24, 24 events I’ve seen! Awesome!
Jenna March 28, 2010, 9:00 am
what a fun night!
Rachel March 28, 2010, 9:03 am
That meal looks and sounds absolutely fabulous. I am so jealous that all of you bloggers live close together and can have such fun get-togethers! Wish there was a similar community in MN… Glad you enjoyed your day!
eatdrinkandbemerrynyc March 28, 2010, 9:24 am
Wow looks like an AMAZING MEAL!! Love the bondi bands…I have been toying with buying them!
S
Kristin (Cook, Bake and Nibble) March 28, 2010, 9:24 am
What an incredible looking dinner!!

xo
K
Jenn (www.j3nn.net) March 28, 2010, 10:10 am
Wow, that’s some vegan feast! It looks incredibly DELICIOUS! YUMMMM I could totally live off of foods like that. 🙂

Jenn
Ali@ Food, FItness, Fashion March 28, 2010, 10:25 am
That looks like so much fun! I really, really want the will run for Beer one! So me! I am glad you and Angela are having a great time!
Laura Legorburu March 28, 2010, 10:45 am
Everything look good, but tamales are not from Spain…they’re from Mesoamerican origin (Mexico)…
Anne P March 28, 2010, 10:47 am
That looks so fun and delicious!! So sad I wasn’t there to play, too 🙁 Epic!
Kalli@fitandfortysomething March 28, 2010, 11:01 am
How fun and seriously the food looks amazing! Those girls are quite talented. Actually you all are in your own ways:) hope you have a great bike ride. I am still bikeless but my new bike will be here soon 🙂
Amber K @ sparkpeople March 28, 2010, 11:09 am
That looks like so much fun! What a cool thing to try out so many new dishes. I, too, was a vegetarian who didn’t like veggies (other than broccoli). My diet consisted of fruit, bread, and cheese for too long! Now I’m glad to be trying new things inspired by all of you amazing bloggers!
Jessica @ The Process of Healing March 28, 2010, 11:38 am
That sounds like such an amazing night!!! I’ve been trying out vegan dishes and I’ve been SUPER impressed as to how easy and delicious they can be! And I always feel so GOOD after eating them!
Eliana >^..^ March 28, 2010, 12:50 pm
The food looks so good, I thought you guys were eating a vegan restaurant in Orlando but its actually better than that. I want to try all that food so badly. :O) It all looks SOOOOO good.
Kelly March 28, 2010, 1:28 pm
I would totally rock that headband. It’s awesome.
Heather @ For The Health Of It! March 28, 2010, 1:55 pm
I have that same Bondi Band, “will run for beer”. lol. Food looks amazing!
Jessica March 28, 2010, 2:10 pm
Caitlin! Although that gourmet dinner doesn’t sound amazing…your wrap looks soooo delish. I just adore wraps, and hummus way too much.

I’d totally be all over the bruschetta, TAMALES and mint sorbet though! I’m so glad you all had such a fun time 🙂
Jessica March 28, 2010, 2:10 pm
HAHAHA And I love your Bondi Band. Too cute
Amanda (Two Boos Who Eat) March 28, 2010, 3:07 pm
This is a great post! It’s great to show people that vegan food can be completely delicious and gourmet. I wish I could have attended. That african soup looks too good for words.

LOL I love the bondi band you are wearing. Too good!
Catherine March 28, 2010, 3:14 pm
That sounds like such an amazing meal – I love vegan food, but I think sometimes it can taste “too healthy”.
Jolene (www.everydayfoodie.ca) March 28, 2010, 9:41 pm
That sounds like so much fun!!!!

I actually hosted a 24, 24, 24 dinner yesterday 🙂 I did “A Little Feast on the Prairies” with all the food grown/ made on the Canadian Prairies! It was awesome!!
Jordan March 29, 2010, 9:20 am
Love your Bondi band!
Ashley @ Good Taste. Healthy Me March 29, 2010, 9:43 am
I really need to try roasting some vegetables. I think I’d really like it.
Angie (Losing It and Loving It) March 29, 2010, 10:32 am
Sounds like ya’ll had a blast. The Jamaican jerk is the key to my heart but I have no clue what seitan is, will have to check that out. Hubby would have liked the Mexico portion of the meal.

I’m looking at getting a Bondi Band this week, just wondering if it will stay in place during running. I spin too so it might be better suited for that, I don’t know.

Glad you all had a blast, love the picture of you and hubby with the bands on.
Tara March 29, 2010, 5:26 pm
Caitlin! Your wraps always look so tasty. Whenever I try to make a wrap, they end up floppy and messy. Next time you make one, could you snap a photo before you wrap it up? I think I must be putting way too much stuff inside, even though I try to keep it reasonable!
- Caitlin March 29, 2010, 5:34 pm
  people have been asking me to do this forever! there is a means to my madness. i will do it tomorrow!
Nalson Lesa December 21, 2013, 7:32 am
Good Food:)

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