life+running » road trip

WIAW: BLEND Foodings.

chimes — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Remember that I promised you that Humpday Blog Lovin’ would resume this week?

Yeah. I’m a liar.

However, I do have posts for all of my favorite Blends scheduled all the way through September. I just have to write them …

Today you’re getting a crazy-long recap of what I ate during my trip to Blend last week. Enjoy! So much good food was had.

If you’re looking for gorgeous photos and fab collages, check out my friend Heather’s recap instead.

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Thursday, May 3, 2012

Quick stop at Wheatsfield in Ames before I hit the road for Omaha. Major score: Lärabars were only $.50 per bar. I picked up a few of them to eat on the road. As well as a Gingerade Kombucha.

Thank goodness I had all those Lärabars because I had an 8+ hour drive on Friday. I got up at 8 AM and hit the road.

When I got to Chautauqua, I was greeted by three lovely ladies (Janetha, Katie and Lindsay) and a MASSIVE bag of swag. In foodie / fitness blogger world swag = healthy snacks and food.

I separated out the stuff I couldn’t eat (which was VERY minimal actually — such a great attention was paid to food allergies and diets by the fab women who organized the retreat) and noshed on this most of the weekend.

Friday evening we met up at the dining hall for cocktails and a fancy schmancy dinner.

Don’t be fooled by my terrible camera skills. Dinner was pretty fantastic. Chicken and broccoli with quinoa and what look to be pearl onions. YUM.

Oh, and the best part? The cupcake spread. Actually. I’m lying. The quinoa was my favorite part. But the cupcakes were great too.

That tower in the middle? All gluten-free and vegan options of the flavors of cupcakes that we chose (our group voted on flavors a couple weeks ago).

I had a s’more (top), lavender raspberry (middle) and a junkyard (bottom — supposed to taste like carrot cake. all I tasted was banana. yuck!).

And actually … I had 3-4 of the lavender raspberry. Shh.

Saturday morning we had bootcamp at 7 AM that was lead by Lindsay, who was one of the gals who put the shindig together, and Tina Reale.

We had a huge breakfast bar afterwards that included yogurt, breads, bagels, oatmeal and a lot of fruit. Oh, and Xagave. Because they were the sponsor. They’d even made jam with their product so we could try it on our bread.

Since I couldn’t eat most of what was on the bar, I had some 2% chob with a buttload of fruit and nuts.

Breakfast proved to not be enough fuel for the 4 mile up-the-mountain hike we went on afterwards. So I was pretty anxious to get some lunch in me.

A bunch of us went to Mountain Sun. I was pleasantly surprised that a) they had a (GOOD) GF beer to offer and b) EVERY option on their menu was able to be made GF.

The waitress almost got a hug.

I ordered the GF beer (New Planet), and it’s my new favorite. I’m talking to our local liquor store to see if they can get some.

I was originally going to order a ginormous salad but when I heard I could do anything on the menu GF, I jumped at the opportunity and got a steak sandwich. The steak sandwich came with spicy giardina and gooey fresh mozz. Oh, and fries. Because subbing a salad was $3 more. And after that hike, I wasn’t really concerned about how much or what I ate. Just get food in my belly. Preferably food that won’t make me sick.

YUM!

After lunch, a good portion of our group went to Avery Brewing Company. We got a tour. And I was hesitant about drinking any beer because none are GF. However, I gave in. I had a sip or two of a couple of the other gals’ beers and had to get some for myself. Plus, they came in super-small taster sizes for $1. I could not pass that up.

I looked at the menu (which made me gag a little … papyrus? really? ugh) and ordered the BEAST. Since I’m sure you can’t read it, it was made with 6 sugars, 6 hops and 6 malts (666 — the number of the beast, get it? If you’re new here … I’m kind of a metal-head.). It was also 16% alcohol. Which was the real reason I ordered it — minimizing the amount of gluten that goes into my system by upping the booze content (so I don’t drink AS MANY beers).

And I also got a coffee-like beer called Out of Sight.

Not double fisting.

After the brewery, a bunch of us met up at Rio Grande for drinks and food. I did not partake in the boozing since I had a good amount in my system from the brewery. And tequila — anybody else remember this bit by Jim Breuer about partying in his stomach? Yeesh. If I do one shot, it goes downhill. I didn’t want to ruin my day on Sunday, so I stayed away.

Instead, I got some grilled mahi mahi tacos and split them with Ashley from Freckles and Spice (PS — ladies who are working on weight loss — read her before and after She is awesome!).

Ashley and I spent the next hour wanting fro-yo, but to no avail. Dang.

Sunday morning breakfast was a similar spread to Saturday, but was sponsored by Chobani (who also led our bootcamp that morning). I met the gal who organized my giveaway and another girl who apparently had heard of my fro yo recipes. I’m kind of a big deal I guess.

AND — there were a bunch of tiny sample packs of Love Grown granola.

Which I promptly hoarded … we don’t have any in Iowa. And it’s GF. Don’t judge!

After breakfast, we said our goodbyes and I hit the road. Everybody else hit the air (do you say that? I don’t know. I don’t fly!).

I stopped at the mall in Boulder and spent way too much money on cute workout clothes (I’m seriously considering wearing the leggings as actual leggings to work to recoup the cost). Then I actually LEFT town. And about an hour into it, I needed to get gas.

And the gas station was by a DQ. Um. I didn’t get fro yo. And I was seriously jonesin’. So this had to do.

A few hours down the road I finally ate my Simply Bar that was supposed to be fuel for Saturday’s hike.

Since I was smart enough to split my trip into two chunks, I stayed at The Rocking Chair Inn in Broken Bow, NE. They had a couple of restaurants, but most were closed. I managed to sneak into The Bonfire Grill and Pub. I was going to get a salad, but opted for the $20 piece of GRILLED walleye. (warning, I’m about to drop some f-bombs)

GRILLED.

I didn’t bother to mention that I couldn’t eat anything with gluten in it because I figured I would pick the croutons off the salad and ignore the roll.

BUT I GOT A FUCKING PIECE OF BREADED FISH.

That I paid $20 for.

Seriously?

I took my food to-go and the place was closed by the time that I got back to my room. I didn’t want to waste the fish, so I scraped off as much breading as possible.

But please note: Small town restaurants DO NOT always stick to their menus. Sometimes it has to do with availability of ingredients. Other times it has to do with the time of day (apparently grilling takes longer than flash-frying a piece of already-breaded fish and I ordered at about closing time). I should have remembered this from working at a small-town restaurant for several years. If you have a food allergy or follow special diet, you need to be VERY clear up front. Should be a general rule anyway, but I try not to come off as being picky because I once got a vegetarian omelet with ONE piece of ham smack dab in the center. My mom ordered the same, and got the same weird piece of ham. Hrm.

I left them a couple of bad reviews. I ~~was~~ am pissed off. I would have been just as upset to receive a fried piece of fish regardless of if I couldn’t eat breading or not. I ordered a GRILLED piece of fish.

And yes, I realize that previously in this post I talked about drinking beer that is not GF. I am not celiac, so I can have gluten, but it usually makes me sick. However, if I’m going to be sick, I want the thing that makes me sick to be something incredible. Not a freaking piece of fried-shoulda-been-grilled fish.

Since I likely ingested a bunch of gluteny not-so-goodness, I had a cup of tea with a little bit of my travel buddy in it.

FYI — this is not the same as ex-lax. It evens things out in your belly. It seems to quell the stomachaches I get from gluten. I only use this in severe situations, or if I eat something that is not GF. It’s best in peppermint tea.

So far, I haven’t gotten sick. But gluten is a sneaky bastard. It could be sometime this week. Or next. I don’t know, but it will likely happen. And when it does? It’s because of the fish. Not the beer. Edit: I just found out that we do not have running water in our bathrooms today. I will get sick today. I guarantee it.

Since I stayed at a B&B, I was served breakfast in the AM. The lady who owned the place (who is possibly the NICEST lady in the world. And the future-self of my friend Molly, I believe) actually took the time to chat with me about what I can and can’t eat and then went over ingredients in the recipe she was thinking about making me for breakfast.

And? She had the cutest dishes.

She ended up making me a crustless quiche with ham, cream cheese, dill and some onions. YUM!

I packed my bags and hit the road for the last leg of my trip. Fortunately I didn’t have to stop for anything (except construction … ugh) because I had this massive bag of swag!

Popchips are good. BTW. I should know. I ate 4 bags of them in the car that day. Wasn’t hugely fond of the sweet potato ones … but I could live off the BBQ flavor.

Did you eat anything exceptionally good this week? Do you have any dietary restrictions or food allergies?

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Minnesota Road Trip!

chimes — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:01:53 +0000

This past weekend, Mark and I trekked up north to his family’s place in the Twin Cities to hit up his brother’s 30th Birthday and Housewarming party. Our friend Ben met us at Mark’s parents’ house on the way back from a camping trip in Canada. Ben’s car had been broken into a few different times and dismantled, so he didn’t have any way to get back to Iowa. His parents were going to Madison, and since Minneapolis was kind of on the way, they dropped him off with us since we were heading back to Iowa.

Anyway, that was kind of a mouthful.

So Nick, Mark’s brother, turned 30 (which, guys, I realize I’m getting closer and closer to that. No more birthdays. Seriously.), and he christened his house that he bought back in March or February with a nice little get-together. Mark, Ben, Mark’s dad and I showed up with some Moosehead Lager (my new favorite beer) and a bottle of Jim Beam. We were ready to roll.

Ben and me (also, check out the epic cleavage! what up?)

Beautiful scenery … one of my favorite parts of heading to MN.

I love the lilypads in all the little ponds and lakes. I actually ran 6 miles on Saturday on the Gateway Trail and went past a few of these. It was so refreshing — not to mention, it was about 5 degrees cooler and a lot less humid. So much easier and more enjoyable to run!

… not beautiful scenery. I giggled when I saw this guy driving by. But then I quickly realized this is probably going to be Mark someday.

Related: this truck pulled into the gas station we stopped at on the way back. The guy left the truck running, took up two spaces, and pretty much gave off an all-around aura of douchebag. Seriously. Who drives this?

And I must mention, that nothing makes me more happy than a new pair of big, cheap earrings. I love going to visit Minnesota for so many reasons, and sadly, one of them is to hit H&M for some adorable cheap couture. I picked up a skirt, a dress, a scarf and 2 pairs of earrings for an unbelievably low price. Why we don’t have one of those stores here is beyond me. Regardless, I am happy to have some new earrings!

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Iowa Road Trip Weekend

chimes — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 01:51:39 +0000

Last weekend I trekked back to my hometown to go to a friend’s baby shower. I made her some adorable gifts (which I have and will be blogging about). I was really on the fence about going because I didn’t think my finances would allow me to make another trip this month, but a freelance client ponied up a bit of cash up front so I could pay for gas. It’s pretty awesome having some great clients like that!

I didn’t take any pix of the shower … I felt weird because it was mostly family and people I didn’t know very well. So, just in case you’re wondering, this isn’t a blog post about babies.

I decided that since I made the trip, I better hang out with my parents for a bit and make a stop or two on the way back to make it totally worth my gas money. I wanted to get back by Sunday for sure so I could do some more crafting for Market Day, since it’s on the 26th.

My dad was mowing the lawn, so I didn’t get to spend much time with him. But he did find a little bitty froggie that my mom and I put in my niece’s bug box for her to see when she got home later.

My parents also managed to pawn off a box of VHS tapes and my SNES on me. I recently inherited a TV with a built-in VCR, so I was interested in getting some VHS tapes. My parents were interested in cleaning out the closet of what used to be my room.

(My Girl and Miss Congeniality may or may not be mine …)

After a bit, I decided to head out and go to Iowa City to see a friend of mine from high school. I always love the drive from home to Iowa City … so pretty!

My friend works at a tattoo shop and was getting off at 8 PM. Just in time to get some drinks! I wanted to go to some of his bars, because last time I went to Iowa City I went to clubby bars, and I’m not a fan of those. Give me a dive bar. Please.

Of course, he delivered. We went to this awesome place called Deadwoods that was just my style. I had to take pix of it to show the beau that Iowa City had some bars that he would like. (He’s a Cyclone through and through … he won’t have anything to do with Iowa City). We also went to this amazing place called The Oasis, which my friend happens to work at as well.

My friend Matthew at Deadwoods, with some Leinies. YUM!

After eating my delicious food from Oasis, I headed out for the long drive back to Ames. It was dark and I was ready to be home.

Finally, after a stop at a gas station and driving through a couple of thunderstorms, I made it home. Well, at least what we consider home sometimes: Welch Ave. Station in Ames. Mark and our friends were waiting for me (not sure if they were waiting for me … but they were excited that I showed up nonetheless).

Mark even (reluctantly) took a picture with me.

All in all, a pretty exciting day. Definitely a departure from my normal Saturday of staying home and crafting and working out.

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