Blogger Meet-Up Recap and a Coupon!

This week I attended my first blogger meet up with Virginia Bloggers! I was excited to meet some bloggy friends in person that I had already gotten to know in the bloggy world, and to meet some new bloggers as well. The event was held at Kitchen Thyme and it was a cooking demonstration (and tasting!) led by Chef Tammy of The Green Kitchen (she is fabulous--so fun and feisty...you really need to check her out). The evening was sponsored by Relay Foods and they provided all of the {fresh, local, delicious} produce and recipes for our vegetarian meal. Relay Foods gave us a special to share with our readers too (they're so generous!), but you have to read all of the way to the bottom to get it. No, stop right there, you may not just scroll through all of my thoughts and ramblings to get to the deal. Patience, patience...

While I am not a vegetarian, hubby and I don't eat a ton of meat. Honestly, the reason is not for health or animal rights, but because it just doesn't always taste that great to us. We often struggle with thinking of meal ideas for the week, so I was excited to get some new meatless recipe ideas.

Side note: every weekend we make a meal plan for the week (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and one or two healthy snacks) and we do all of the shopping for the week. This has saved us a lot of money and calories because we buy only what we need, and our grocery shopping does not include random impulse buys that do not fit into our weekly menu. This also means that our pantry and fridge are not very full, so when a snack attack hits you are kind of SOL...but I guess that's the point.

Here is a rundown of what we sampled (links take you to the recipes):

Kale chips: Totally delicious. Hubby and I have actually been wanting to make these and this was all the encouragement I needed. On the to-do list! Chef Tammy's suggestion was to cook them low and slow to get the best crisp, 250 degrees for 2-3 hours.

ABC juice: This is pretty cool if you are into juicing. Relay Foods sells juicing kits and in the bag are all of the produce items you need to make the recipe. The one we had was apple, beet, and carrot (abc). I have to be honest I was not in love with this. I am still curious about juicing and would be open to try other recipes, but I am just not a veggie juice kind of girl. I really like beets pickled or roasted in a salad or as a side dish, but drinking them pureed is another thing. This is just my opinion though and several other ladies really enjoyed it. 

Carrot Pineapple Muffins: I loved the freshness of the carrot and pineapple. I have been really into pineapple lately, so this definitely hit the spot. The muffin had a healthier taste (not the sweetness you get with sugary refined white flour muffins) but it was still very delicious. I think these muffins would make an awesome breakfast!

Mustard Greens with Creamy Mustard Sauce: Oh yummy. We eat a fair amount of greens in our house but have not tried mustard greens. We eat a lot of kale and also use spinach and collards occasionally. When I first heard that the sauce was a mustard cream sauce I thought, oh great this is not a recipe I can take home because hubby does not like mustard at all, but I was so surprised with how light the sauce was. The mustard did not particularly stand out to me, it just tasted like a delicious sauce. It was super light and not heavy or thick tasting at all. The mustard greens do have a slightly bitter taste, but it was a nice contrast to the creamy sauce. 

Lentil, Olive, and Mushroom Veggie Burgers: These were amazing...possibly my favorite part of the meal. This was another recipe that I wasn't sure about using at home because hubby is not an olive fan (they are one of my favorite things and the olive bar at the grocery store is like my Mecca) but once again the ingredient worked to balance and create a really nice flavor, and there was not a strong olive taste to the burgers. The burgers were served with a salad of lettuce, kale, cilantro, radishes, avocado, and a delicious homemade vinaigrette. 

The event was fabulous and I was so happy that I attended. Everyone was so nice and it was super motivating to be with such a fabulous group of bloggers. It definitely gave me the push I needed to get back into my blog and continue to grow with it. I want to grow up to be some of these girls!

Here I am with my bloggy friend Samantha of Designer in Teal:

And here is our awesome group of bloggers:

Photo via Brittany of Eating Bird Food

And what you have been waiting for...use the code "VABLOG" for $25 off of a $50 purchase at Relay Foods. This special is for first time customers only. Enjoy!