A Blend {Food} Bender

Hey guys!

I hope you are all having a fantastic week! I’m glad to hear you all enjoyed yesterday’s Blend 2013 recap! As promised, today’s post is all about…

THE FOOD!!

We’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s do this!

Tess and I had one of the later flights in. We met up with Heather, Linz, and Stephanie at the airport, scored a BMW rental (woo!), and arrived at the Hyatt Escala Resort around 5:30pm. Everyone else quickly headed downstairs for the start of the cocktail hour hosted by Silk, but I HAD to have a shower so fashionably late it was! 😉

Blend 2013 Silk Cocktail Hour

By the time I got downstairs, everyone was EVERYWHERE! It was so overwhelming! I quickly grabbed a drink (a Ginger Refresher) and managed a few sips in between hugs, moments of jumping up and down (when I turned and saw Meg), and nearly crying (the moment I finally got to meet Sarena after TWO YEARS of following her blog!)

It wasn’t long before we were all ushered into the dining hall for dinner. I ordered a glass of Chardonnay and was on my way…ok, that rhyme was totally an accident…WORD! 😉

The dinner the resort prepared was amazing!

Blend 2013 Dinner Veggies

Mixed greens salads, bulgar wheat salad, and a big pot of sautéed veggies…

Blend 2013 Dinner EntreeQuinoa vegetable cakes with tomato pepper coulis (whatever the heck that is), chicken with roasted potatoes and natural jus, and Alaskan halibut with brown rice pilaf and citrus nage (nage? umm, wtf?!)

Blend 2013 Dinner DessertsAnd for dessert? Eh, you can read! 😉

Blend 2013 Escala Dinner

I managed to get a little bite of everything (the quinoa cake was my favorite…I’m still trying to figure out what all was in it and that coulis red stuff was fantastic! 😉 Oh and I also got a bowl of carrot ginger soup (I took a picture of the pot it was in but it was SO not pretty…though it tasted amazing…and kinda made me wish they were serving grilled cheese! ;))

Blend 2013 Desserts

Laura, Lindsay, and I split the three desserts…they were all pretty tasty but the panna cotta (my first time trying) was out of this world!! I may or may not have gone back for one of my own a little later! 😉

The next morning after a hellacious workout led by Neil of GPP Fitness, which I am STILL sore from, we enjoyed a co-hosted breakfast by Muesli Fusion and Laughing Cow!

Blend 2013 Muesli Fusion Breakfast

There were several flavors of muesli, bagels (regular AND gluten-free), various cream cheese spreads, fruit, and Chobani.

Blend 2013 Muesli Fusion & Laughing Cow BreakfastI got a sampling of the bagels and cream cheese (the garden herb on the everything bagel was my fave), a few pieces of fruit, and a bit of muesli (again, a first for me!)…then I went back and tried the three other flavors of muesli (the An-Ox is the BEST!)…needless to say, I was STUFFED after this meal! Lol

It wasn’t long after breakfast that we were zumba-ing it up (I swear it’s a miracle I didn’t toss that muesli), but afterwards, we were left to our own devices…

11

Which CLEARLY translates into B-E-E-R-R-U-N! 😉

After sampling some tasty selections at Wasatch Brewery…the smoked porter was amazing (dark chocolate, caramel, coffee, and smoke?!)…we did a little bar hopping and ended up at the No Name Saloon.

No Name Saloon Chips

Laura, Heather, Michelle, Calee, Heather, Sonja, and I all worked on a basket of house-made chips, salsa, guac, and some un-pictured carrots and celery before leaving the bar and heading out for a real meal.

We had seen good reviews for Riverhorse on Main before heading out that night and decided that’s where we would have dinner.

Blend 2013 River Horse RestaurantRoasted red beets on potato crisps shared with Heather and Michelle and my entrée of slow roasted pork shoulder, whipped potatoes, and caramelized fennel.

The service was VERY poor, but everyone seemed to enjoy their meal…except for me. Unfortunately I paid thirty bucks for two pieces of delicious fennel and some apple slaw because the meat definitely left something to be desired…twss?! 😉 Of course, since we had a table full of foodies, there were random forkfuls of things passed around the table. I think Heather got the best dish of the night. Her pistachio crusted trout with pomegranate salsa was fantastic!

The next morning, after ANOTHER hellacious workout (we do NOT love burpees!), our Chobani hosted breakfast TOTALLY made up for the dinner disaster!

Blend 2013 Chobani BreakfastBlend 2013 Chobani Smoothies & Pancake BarBlend 2013 Chobani Yogurt & GranolaBlend 2013 Chobani Omelet Station

Smoothies, granola, and omelets…oh my!!

Blend 2013 Chobani Breakfast Plate

And pancakes too!!! 

It seriously took me an hour to get my food (the omelet line was VERY popular), but it was totally worth it! I ended up with two pancakes topped with plain Greek yogurt, granola, dried apricots, almonds, and a few chocolate chips, berries, and one of the best omelets I’ve ever had…egg whites with spinach, mushrooms, zucchini, and onion stuffed AND topped with crumbled goat cheese!

I know…if I hadn’t been ready to chew my arm off, I probably would have ohh-ed and ahhh-ed for a good 20 minutes over this plate…sadly, it lasted about 5 minutes! Lol

IMG_4565

They also had oatmeal, which I snagged for the road air, but apparently TSA hates ALL healthy food…not just hummus and so I never actually got to taste it! 🙁

What I SHOULD have done was ordered another plate of this to take on the plane…

Cafe Rio

On the way back to the airport that day, Tess, Amanda, and I made a stop at Cafe Rio to have lunch after hearing Meg rave about it the night before!

And she had every right to rave!

I ordered the grilled chicken tostada with black beans with guac, sour cream, and an amazing tomatillo dressing…

I mean Ahhhh-freakin’-MAZING!!

I may have never touched a tomatillo before, but I have GOT to figure out how to recreate that stuff!

Now, if you made it through all that, how about hopping on over to Peas & Crayons, giving Jenn a shout, and partying it up with the best of us?

WIAW Teal

I’m willing to bet a FEW of my Blends will be linking up! 😉

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49 Responses to A Blend {Food} Bender

  1. All your pictures are amazing!!

  2. Fran@BCDC says:

    Incredible, Heather! I really need to come to Blend some year. Wow is all I can say. Glad you enjoyed!

  3. I swear you take the best pics. Lend me your patience!!! How crazy was that server at Riverhorse?! I’m so sorry you didn’t love your food though. I would have switched or shared more! This porker loooooves pork. Lol!

    I’m an the security line on the way to Chicago where I am certain not to eat as good as we did at Blend. Boo hiss. Love you!!

  4. Oh my wow….all that food looks amazing?! I wouldn’t know where to begin.
    Especially the breakfasts; I love a good breakfast buffet..It’s been ages since I’ve had muesli, I used to love it! You’ve got me really fancying some now! Yum!!!

  5. SO.JEALOUS. (Jesus, I am a broken record at this point). I’m sorry the service at the restaurant was so bad! I swear, service can make or break a good meal…but clearly, the rest of your weekend made up for it. Bring me next year, mmk? 😉

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Omg, YES!!! You have to come! I’m already talking Chelsea and Amanda into it…Canandian bloggers take Blend 2014!! Love it!

  6. I was drooling all weekend while looking at the pictures on IG and now, even though I just finished a delic breakfast, I’m drooling again 😛 I’m really hoping to join in on all of the festivities next year!

  7. Yay for a B-double-E-double-R-U-N. 🙂 Looks like such a fun and delicious time.

  8. Gorgeous food! I wouldn’t want to leave that place!

  9. Oh my gosh I can’t decide which dish I’m most jealous of! It all looks amazing!

  10. so much good food! glad you got to try cafe rio – that place was awesome!! loved their ginormous salads!!

  11. Lucie says:

    Oh my!! I am drooling!! That omelette and pancake plate is my favorite. I love when food looks delicious AND pretty!! And I am totally thrilled that you guys say MUESLI. This is SUCH a Swiss word! I am proud!! 🙂

  12. I am still so bummed about your Saturday night meal, but JEALOUS that you got to hit up Cafe Rio. I have heard such amazing things about it, too.

    “Apparently TSA hates all healthy food.” AMEN! Seriously. They took away Laura’s muesli because it had powder at the bottom. I mean, REALLY? Clearly we need to all invest in train companies. 🙂

    You have so many amazing food photos. I want to eat most of everything all over again. First, let’s get to work on recreating the muesli. [But how does he get the gojis to stay so soft?!?!] I also MUST figure out the peanut sauce you missed from cocktail hour, and as coulis is just pureed veggies, I’m sure we could figure that out. [I know there was zucchini in the quinoa cake. And it was definitely tied with the soup for my favorite part of the meal.]

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Now THAT is just sad…and somebody had muesli for lunch that day for sure! Bah!!

      The wheels have definitely been turning for recreating the muesli…and going heavy on the blueberries since they are my absolute favorite part! Now I’m just kicking myself for getting rid of my rock hard gojis a few months ago…pretty sure you were onto something thinking the oats would soften them up…we need to give it a go!

      And I’m holding you up to making that peanut sauce…Miss Queen of all things dippy and spready! 😉 Oh and can I order some of those quinoa cakes too? I know if I try they’re just gonna fall apart into a million pieces! Quinoa scramble anyone? Lol

  13. I am so jealous of those breakfast spreads..it all looks amazing!

  14. So much good food this weekend!

  15. Kat says:

    Oh my goodies that place was like a mini foodie heaven!! Everything looks super delicious. I would have for sure been stuffed all the time lol

  16. Amazing recap filled with amazing food, but I am completely stuck on one thing you said.

    Grilled cheese + soup. Yeah, I need that.

  17. We were spoiled with so many great meals throughout the weekend! I totally agree that the hotel did a great job with appetizers and dinner on Friday. I was impressed!!

    Can you believe that I’m STILL super sore from the workouts over the weekend. It’s brutal!!

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Haha! I CAN because I’m still sore too! Lol I swear this is the longest bought of DOMS I’ve ever had! Lol

  18. Sloane says:

    Amazing pictures! I so wish I could have gone! I’ll be in Park City for the summer starting next week, so I’m LOVING stalking everyone’s eats! That Chobani breakfast?? dear LORD I would have passed out from all the deliciousness. I literally would not have known what to do with myself. Glad you had fun, and thanks for sharing!

  19. I’m so jealous. It looks like you had an amazing time.

  20. Wow….. that’s all I’m gonna say. I wish I went.

  21. Amazing friends and amazing food… Can.not.cope. Remember what you promised me about next year!

  22. Oh wow you guys were totally spoiled with awesome food! It seems like there were so many good choices at every meal. Those quinoa cakes and all the desserts at dinner all look amazing. And same with the breakfasts!

    That’s too bad your dinner out wasn’t that good, but it sounds like that tostada made up for it. I love good fresh Mexican food like that!

  23. SO JEALOUS! You all were eating GOOD!!

  24. Nicole @ Fruit N Fitness says:

    Your food all looks so wonderful! I’m so glad it sounds like you had such a wonderful time!

  25. I am seriously so jealous of everyone that got to go to this event! So much delicious looking food!

  26. calee says:

    aw man, i didn’t know that you didn’t like your pork. i would have traded you (or at least tried yours for a piece of what i got). heather SO got the best entreé.

  27. Food porn at its finest!!!!

  28. lindsay says:

    they took your oatmeal? TSA is RUDE! Wish i could have gone to dinner with you all. Sigh…

  29. Emily says:

    This trip may have been worth making solely for the food! All of the catering at the event looks phenomenal! You guys were spoiled. (:

  30. WOW! I’m salivating and I just finished lunch! Looks like an amazing food weekend!

  31. Everything looks sooo good!

  32. Wow. Every picture/blog post I see about BLEND makes me wish I could go! All of that food looks just incredible. I’m glad you had such a good time!

  33. purelytwins says:

    making us hungry 🙂
    we were so impressed by all the food at Blend – they did a great job!!

  34. Your pictures are so pretty! I feel the same way about dinner on Saturday. I don’t know why I thought fried chicken should be eaten anywhere other than the South? It wasn’t bad, but surely wasn’t the greatest. The company was BY FAR the best part!

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Ahhhhhhhh-greed! And I still can’t get over that mountain of mashed potatoes they served you! Lol

  35. Rach says:

    Oh my goodness, all of that food looks absolutely amazing! Makin’ me hungry, haha!

  36. Julie says:

    You got such good pictures of all the food, which is the most important part! I felt so at home at the retreat and can’t wait for the next one!

  37. Pingback: BLEND Retreat Part 2: Bootcamps, Hiking, and Food! | Fitcupcaker

  38. Okay wow can I hire you as my photographer?? Seriously awesome pics!!

    Also I think my favorite meal of the weekend was Cafe Rio! Probably the cheapest one too haha!

    Miss your pretty face and sweet accent already!! <3

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Awww, thanks girlie! I was actually kinda disappointed in myself for not using my “big girl” camera more…it was just such a pain to lug around! Guess the iPhone isn’t half bad…as long as the lighting is good anyway! And seriously? I went out with the man-friend last night and could not stop telling him how amazing that tomatillo dressing was! I about had him convinced to hop on a plane to Utah! Lol

  39. A BMW…well lady you sure travel in style. Aside for the food, which looks just ‘eh, I’d have to say the ride might have sealed the deal for me. Blend 2014….maybe, maybe.
    Seriously, this food looks ridiculously good…that breakfast buffet, those desserts, the carrot soup, which I just enjoy the sound of, the beer, the cocktails. It sounds like you ate like a champion all weekend long (except that one small meal, but we wont go there). I’m so glad to hear you had such a fantastic time; you deserved it.

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Seriously, it would have been 95863 times fantastic-er had YOU been there! Don’t you tease me woman…I will pester you for the next 12 months if you don’t watch it!! And hey, the man-friend’s suitcase he let me borrow is TOTALLY big enough…just grab a bottle of water and some cheese…it’ll work! 😉

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