A Blend weekend (ironically) meant I actually ate nothing blended.
You don’t realize how addicted you are to morning green smoothies until you don’t have it. Starting your day with carbs vs. greens feels different… not that I didn’t enjoy the spread we were treated to. It was an epically fabulous departure from my norm. 🙂
The only thing that could have made last weekend better was if my girl Jenn @ Peas and Crayons had been able to come. My What I Ate Wednesday this week is all about What I Ate at Blend. Dedicated to Jenn, since we missed her so.
Check out my eats below; then click here to see what everyone else enjoyed for WIAW.
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Breakfast:
No smoothies, but it was fruit-filled! We had mangoes, blueberries, strawberries, and the best pineapple I’ve had this season. All of that plus some almond butter made for a killer oatmeal bowl.
I couldn’t decide what to have, so I went back for round 2. Those muffins you see were homemade by the Xagave crew – the carrot muffin (let’s be honest – it was a cupcake) was out-of-this-world.
There was also a lot of tasty fuel provided by Green Mountain Coffee. I really loved the Double Black Diamond blend!
Lunch:
Local joint Mountain Sun was our lunch destination on Saturday. We showed up with a huge group that was ravenous from a 4 mile hike. Most restaurant staff would have run screaming from the building, but these guys were so cool. Lauren and I knew we were in love with this spot when the bartender said she LOVED giving people beer tastes. *swoon*
After finally selecting a beer (a pale ale called “Kind“), we sat down to order. Just when I thought the place couldn’t get better we found out that they have a hummus of the day (rosemary – it was delish) AND the server actually encouraged us to make modifications. Ashley and I split the special Cinco de Mayo burger and subbed the meat patty for the veggie.
The East Coast crew was still adjusting to the time zone, so we ran next door to the The Cup for double espressos. They came with the cutest mini biscottis!
Snacks:
Beer counts as a snack, right?
Lauren and her hubby hipped us to a great local brewery called Avery. This place was awesome – 21 beers on tap, $1 for a 4 oz taste, and a delicious menu. We came, we toured, we tasted.
See the bottom left pic? Those are sweet potato tater tots. And that dip? Super-star Heather had them blend hummus and avocado together and then topped it with hot sauce to make us an amazing dip.
Dinner:
We stopped in at Rio Grande to get our obligatory Mexican fill. Honestly, I wasn’t even hungry at this point… but Cinco de Mayo isn’t complete without fajitas! And margaritas.
It may be a chain, but I was impressed – the vegetarian fajitas came with an incredibly tasty grilled Portobello mushroom and grilled zucchini.
Aaaaaand… maybe some tequila shots. Disguises have been added to protect the identity of the not-so-innocent.
Gotta celebrate new tattoos. No, I didn’t get another… I won’t let the cat out of the bag as to who did. It looks good though. 🙂
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I miss you, my Cinco de Blenders!!! (P.S. I can’t remember who took these group shots… please claim them and I’ll give credit!!! Sorry…)
Did you celebrate Cinco de Mayo?
Do you eat greens in the morning? Would it throw you off to switch it up to carbs?
There was tequila shots??? nahhhh. 😉
I already tweeted around the web about the tat. LOL. Blame it on IG. 😉
But I will leave people guessing.
Such yummy eats & drinks this past weekend.
Whaaaat? Who said tequila? 😉
I just read your recap post before this and the weekend sound like such a blast!! I love that you guys had beer after the hike- gotta replenish those lost liquids ;)! Last week i switched up my usual bowls of oatmeal for protein shakes (I was staying with my sister so it was just easier) and I was amazed at how full they kept me…I will definitely be introducing them into my breakfast rota!
that added protein really does go a long way! did you make them green? 🙂
Except on race day or a.m. long runs I start every morning with Green! I’ve even been trying to figure out a way to have my Green when I travel but traveling with the blender is kind of a pain 🙂
Yes. It would most definitely throw me to switch my a.m. up with carbs.
No. We didn’t celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Not sure why because mexican food is my favorite.
Now I’m off to see what happened last weekend 🙂
[Fitness, Health and Happiness]
Traveling green is hard. I do bring my own protein podwer and beg whatever the nearest smoothie shop is to blend me a smoothie drink. 🙂
Looks like a delicious day!
I am so sad to have missed out on some of the shenanigans on Saturday. (Well, not that I would have really drunk all that much as I don’t really like beer…but you know…)
That being said, I agree that Mountain Sun was AMAZING. I’m glad you got the Cinco de Mayo Burger as it looked way too delicious to ignore (despite not being super Mexican). I’ll tell you my tempeh reuben there was phenomenal and I’m pretty sure the tempeh in my fridge and sauerkraut in my pantry might end up in some similar form!
I’ve had a tempeh reuben recipe pinned to try forever. That sandwich may my my motivation to finally execute.
Sweet Potato Tater Tots?!?! Oh lordy, lead the way!! All of your food looks terrific and it looks like you had a great time!
they were just as good as they sound! I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to eat regular tots again.
Ahh it looks like sooo much fun!! Morning time carbs, bloggers, tattoos and tequila shots! Whats not to love?! 🙂 Gahh I wish I lived close enough to attend! I would have been in my element! 🙁 As for that coffee – double black diamond blend – that sounds like something that would keep you up for weeks! Lol!
you need to plan a trip to the US in time for next year’s event!
Oooh sweet potato tots… I definitely missed out on those!!
I am putting myself through a little beer detox for a week. I drank way too much awesome beer every single day we were in Colorado (how could you not??).
Mountain Sun ruled- especially for putting up with us pesky gals. I love that they were just like “nah, it’s cool… we love it!”
OMG – me too. At least until the Food & Wine Festival this weekend. 🙂
i want more of those tots!!!
I saw the tattoo pic on instagram! (Of course, I did with my instagram addiction.)
UM. Yum. All of that foods looks and sounds soo good. As if your last post didn’t convince me, I really want to try to make it to Blend next year!!!
You HAVE to come. I heard from HR that it is mandatory. 🙂
gotta love green mountain coffee. that day looks fabulous!!
I celebrated cinco de mayo with margaritas in mexico! actually, neither of us realized we were flying down on cinco de mayo until maybe the week before… still a nice celebration. hahaha.
Lucky duck! I did the same thing with Ireland and St. Patty’s Day. It was a fun coincidence though!
Looks so fun! I haven’t heard good things about Kind beer, but Avery knows what up. Glad you had a good time!
Oh, and of course I celebrated Cinco de Mayo. 😉
I really like it! It was a Nitro, which was cool.
Haha! No blender… crazy talk Laura! LOL. And YES beer is a snack 😀
I’m glad I’m not the only one that craves green smoothies! Whenever I travel they are the thing I miss the most! Looks like you had an amazing time 🙂
so cool to see it through a foodie’s perspective!
I just have to say again… you rock. 🙂
I’m with Linds.. I love seeing it from a foodie perspective! and I love my big sunglasses.
LOVE the disguises. Hilarious! And I can’t believe you forgot about the cupcakes … at least the lavender raspberry ones.
PS Trip to Atlanta is in the works. Seriously. Would love to spend more time with you and Heather. Manhattans … bloody marys … beer. Oh, and lots of great Vegan food (I would go vegan for the weekend if I made it down there!)
Doooooo it! just say when and we will overwhelm you with vegan deliciouness.
I usually add spinach tomy smoothies if I drink one, but I love to switch things and sometimes I will have oatmeal with PM or dessert! 🙂
Glad you had a great time at the Blend Retreat! What an awesome breakfast spread, everything looks delish!!
thanks! walking into the breakfast room was like Christmas morning. 🙂
ugh, i am so sad i wasn’t there. tequila…beer…espresso…fajitas…hummus…YOU LADIES. soooo glad you had a great time 🙂
next year you need to time it with a trip back to the states! 🙂
Oh my wow – everything sounds SO freaking good! Especially the hummus, avocado, hot sauce combo – ingenious!! 🙂
This is just awesome that you had a great time there… jealous! I want to attend something like this next year it happens, or ya know this even itself 🙂 SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS… (cuing Lil Jon here) a fun thing to do every once in awhile, that is FOR SURE 😉
That would be awesome if you came next year!!! There may have to be a celebratory shot… 😉
What a fun weekend!
I was shocked by the drop in energy from having a carby breakfast every day too – we are smoothie queens! You guys are way to easily impressed with my hummus/guac/spicy combo, I can do better. 🙂 It’s so much fun being creative out – it’s best when the staff wants to try what you created!!
And Rio Grande was much better than I expected – I’m such a baby about chains sometimes. 😉
LOL! I’m usually the same way with chains, but this is at least a smaller one. That ‘shroom was shockingly good!
That coffee photo looks awesome. Makes me want a lovely cup of dark french press <3
Thanks! Ah, the power of Instagram filters. 🙂
I never eat greens in my breakfast – I’m all about the carbs! 😀
The blend retreat looks like it was an awesome weekend! I’m so sad I couldn’t go. Hopefully it’ll be happening again next year though!
I hear 2013 is in the works. Would love to meet you there!!!
Yum! What fun too! I had veggie fajitas and margaritas for Cinco de Mayo too!
Yes, as of late I have been juicing up the greens for breakfast or putting them in a smoothie. Some days I do both. Such a great way to start out the day.
All of your stories about this Blend weekend make me so envious I just. might. cry.
SQUEEE!!! Why won’t anybody fly me to fun food friend shenanigans? Boo I say!
😉
LOL! You should plan a trip next year! Think of all the loot you would bring home… 😉
Next year? My dear, it’s happening sooner than that 😉
When?!?!?
*taps nose*
We didn’t get to celebrate…my hubby and I have spent the past several days packing up our house to get it ready to sell (thankfully I have a break today)!!
Good luck! I know that’s a beast of a job!
I just have to say how awesome it was to meet you! You are so sweet and I wish we could of chatted more, never enough time!!!
LOVED the cookies!!!! So good! Thank you again for them!
Happy weekend!
It was so awesome to meet YOU! What a fun weekend – I’m so looking forward to the next one. 🙂
Gah, we really did have some amazing eats that weekend, didn’t we? Unfortunately, I’m still having a hard time making it back to my “normal” clean eating…I find myself reaching for sweets (something I rarely ever do). Maybe I should bust out some green smoothies to get me back on track! Even so, it was totally worth it!\
It would have been fantastic if Jenn could’ve joined us…definitely missed that crazy girl!
Let’s go back! I know, I am late, catching up on blogs today 🙂