WELLNESS CONNECTION · Nutrition

Guest blog Features Wellness Kitchen Recipe Commentary

Tina from CarrotsnCake.com

November 15, 2011 - 10:00AM

Dole's Healthly Lifestyle Blogger Summit

3 planes
14.5 hours
3,205 miles

And I�m finally here!

What an insane day of travel. I�ll spare you the details, but let you know that American Airlines has a lot of broken planes. I�m glad I�m not flying them home!

All of that travel was well worth it though. I arrived safe and sound at the gorgeous Four Seasons in Westlake, California for Dole's Healthly Lifestyle Blogger Summit. I�m spending the next two days listening to wellness-related presentations, nutrition discussions, and participating in spa (!!!) and fitness activities. Obviously, I am psyched to be here.

I�m also psyched about my hotel room at the Four Seasons. It�s beautiful�and you know how much I love hotels.

TV in the bathroom? I�m pretty sure that means it�s fancy.

Because of my crazy travel adventures, I missed the first 1.5 hours of the Summit�s kick-off event, a cocktail hour followed by a �Healthy Chef�s Challenge,� which was basically an Iron Chef-esque competition to introduce attendees to one another and challenge them to re-create a Thanksgiving meal with a healthy twist.

Groups were formed and then divided into teams where they prepare healthy entrees using a variety of Dole products and then presented their dishes to a panel of judges.

I arrived almost at the end of the competition, so I just watched and drank a glass of wine, which I really needed at that point in the day.

Group pic!

After the cooking competition, we sat down for dinner.

We started with a thick (broccoli) soup, which I absolutely loved. (I�m working on getting the recipe for it, so don�t you worry!) I�m not generally a huge fan of soup because it doesn�t normally fill me up, but this one was very satisfying�heavy, but not gross heavy, ya know?

The main course was the most amazing buffet�yams with bananas, farro spinach salad, grilled scallops, mint roasted Brussels sprouts, sliced turkey, and spinach salad with figs and goat cheese. So delicious, so nutritious.

For dessert, we enjoyed a slice of pumpkin pie with a ginger snap crust and some berry crisp�also delicious.

After eating all of that food and experiencing some serious jet lag, I was so ready for bed. I snapped a quick photo with Monica, went straight to my hotel room, and face-planted in my bed. I slept great last night.

Busy day ahead! Stay tuned!

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