On My Mind

On my mind today is what I should sprout next.  I recently sprouted some mung beans we had in our cabinet forever.  It was my first time sprouting, and was oh so easy!  Next time I will only sprout a couple tablespoons at a time though, because I wound up throwing several of these sprouts in the compost. 

This is a Friday feature from Rhonda at Down to Earth.

Things acquired

We did acquire some items while at Summerfest. We each got a T-shirt and I got a lovely basket, the kind you see at the natural foods stores, handmade in a fair trade business somewhere in Africa. They usually have leather on the handle and obviously I'm not buying that, so I was delighted when I was able to purchase a cruelty-free basket this year.

We had to make our way to the bookstore of course. :)

 And I got a couple pieces of jewelry that I'm thrilled to have.  The second one is actually a necklace but sometimes I like to wear it as a bracelet too.

I think we should stay home for a while...

Gabby sez:  You not go anywhere for a while, you unnerstand?

The Road Home

We found an Indian restaurant in Louisville, KY, on the way home and wanted to give it a try.  But we were worried there wouldn't be enough for a couple vegans.  Well, we were totally and happily wrong!  Everything except a couple of meat dishes and one with dairy yogurt were vegan!  There were noodles, idli, salads, rice of course, and a new one for both of us--upma.  This is a sampling of what I tried.

And of course brought out freshly cooked were the dosas.  Yum.  I need to learn how to make those...

We drove home after lunch and picked up the pups from my mom.  We had a wonderful time at Summerfest, but it felt so good to be back in our own bed that night.

Summerfest Day 5

Our last day.  *Sigh*  We had a great breakfast--rice, corn and quinoa pancakes, lotus rice, Field Roast sausages, and zucchini muffins. 

We attended the morning plenary, listening to Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr, Amie Hamlin, Dr. Greger, Rae Sikora, and Will Tuttle.  After that it was time to pack up and leave.  There were some more sessions, but we needed to get on the road.  Boxed lunches were available, and we packed those up to eat in the car.  I had savory tofu salad, a tofu Reuben, and tabouli salad.   

We stopped outside of Cincinnati that night, and found our dinner at Whole Foods, plus loaded up our cooler with kale and other produce, since we would be home the next day.  Mr. GV shared my burgers with me, but I was still too full to eat the large salad I also made.  It became dinner the next night, after we got home. 



Wrap up:  This was our second year at Summerfest, and even though the friends we made last year did not come this year, it was at least as enjoyable as last year.  I think that was due to knowing what to expect, how everything worked, and feeling more relaxed about trying to get to every session we were interested in.  Mr. GV even got in a couple of bike rides, and I had a rest period once or twice.  When you are going from 6:00 a.m. straight through to 11:00 p.m. or later, you need a rest every now and then. 

Summerfest Day 4

This was the last full day of Summerfest.  First on my agenda was a session about getting rid of your sugar habit.  And then I was lucky enough to get a seat in a packed room to see Melanie Joy, Phd.  speak about communicating, advocating, and living in a meat-eating world. 

Next up was lunch, which for me was 1/2 a baked sweet potato (plain--seriously you don't need brown sugar or butter--they are so sweet and delicious all by themselves), Italian bean something-or-other (ha!), brown rice,

Tuscan vegetable soup, and dessert--a brownie, cookie, and pudding--so sue me, I had to try them all.  lol

But to redeem myself somewhat, I also had a big salad.

 After lunch was another session with Colleen Patrick-Goudreau about how to tackle popular excuses people might give when they say they "want to go vegan, but..." 

We had our farewell dinner that evening, and it was lovely--French onion soup, brown rice, whole wheat pasta with sauce, broccoli raab, chik'n picata,

and an ice cream bar.  Mr. GV and I shared this dessert. 

The plenary that evening included many lovely things, including the induction of Dr. Neal Barnard, founder of PCRM. 

The children of Summerfest performed a few songs for us, and it was lovely to see so many happy faces up on the stage.  Dr. Michael Greger presented his popular "Latest in Nutrition" in a quiz-show format, and we all had a lot of laughs and were able to catch up on some nutrition news.

After the plenary, there was the usual social and dancing, but added on was a drawing for a free package for next year.  I was so happy for the lucky winner!  

Summerfest Day 3

Day 3, and the only pictures I have from this day are a couple of food pics.

I decided to try some of the raw food selections.  I was skeptical, but you know what?  They were delicious!  I am not a fan of either raw cauliflower or raw mushrooms, but I enjoyed both of them.  Here we have cauliflower with olive spread, mushrooms with nori, and a cashew creme. 

And here you see potato strata, brown rice with nutritional yeast, grilled veggies, a corn tortilla, and a soup that I did not like so did not eat. 



As far as other, non-culinary activities went, I attended a session about raw foods, one about vegan sweeteners and fats, and one regarding women's cancers.  They were all interesting, however the last one was frankly below my level, leaving it rather boring to me.  But that wasn't the fault of the presenter, but mine.  That is, after all, what I completed my college degree in, along with an intense 4th year program and clinical rotations.  Mr. GV attended some fitness-based sessions.  In the afternoon, together we attended a session presented by Dr. Milton Mills.  Dr. Mills gave an informed yet humorous presentation about how a plant-based diet protects you from many chronic diseases.  If you are interested in this topic, I recommend you do a search for his presentations.  I believe you can find some of them on YouTube. 

Next for me was a session with Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, cookbook author, public speaker, and owner of one of the best vegan podcasts out there.  Again, if you are interested in the subject, or have some "But why..." type questions, then her podcasts are for you.  I appreciate her compassion and the fact that she is so well-spoken on the subject.  This particular session was about upholding values and honoring tradition, and how to deal with people who try to make you feel guilty or don't understand about not eating certain foods at holidays or other get togethers.

We had another great plenary that night, including an 11th century poem entitled "I No longer Steal from Nature", set to music and sung by an excellent  young singer named Sarah.