I Ate My Way Around Blogher 10

I just got back from Blogher 10 in foodopolis – New York City. This was my second year at the conference. In addition to networking and meeting blogging friends in real life, I was determined to learn more about this food blogging thing. Turns out, I learned that there is an ocean of food blogs and Lazy Budget Chef is a drop in the bucket. I wondered if I had something different to say about food. 

Two conversations made me think that maybe there is room in the crowded food blogsphere for me.

• I spoke with Dr. Stuart Seale author of The Full Plate Diet about incorporating more vegetables and grains in your diet and making real food quickly and less expensively. He was preaching to the choir because that is what I’m trying to do with Lazy Budget Chef and exactly why I got the chance to speak with him at the Metamucil suite. I wasn’t eating all of my veggies and grains like I do at home and I hoped a sample of their Metamucil yogurt smoothie would put my digestive track back to rights. Thankfully it did.
• The other conversation was at the SoyJoy brunch. Nancy Newgent of The Big Green Cookbook gave us ideas for making healthy snacks at home.  I almost nodded my head off in agreeing with everything she said. She talked about using basic ingredients to make healthy food and snacks on a budget. That's exactly what I want to do and where I want to take Lazy Budget Chef. I can’t wait to dive head first into her book!

Just in case you were wondering, before I accepted the invitation to the SoyJoy brunch I double checked that SoyJoy does not have genetically modified soybeans (GMO) in them. I thought some of you might want to know that.

Just like last year I didn’t take nearly enough photos despite the fact that I had a had a new M580 Easyshare camera that slipped easily into my purse because of its compact size (perfect for a blogger to take around town) and took full bodied photos in rich colors courtesy of the very generous people at Kodak.

Check out the rich color in this photo taken with the Kodak EasyShare M580n

a very dark room by a complete stranger at the SocialLuxe party.

The best foodgasm of the weekend was at the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Bloggers' Night Out! party I attended at Martha Stewart Omnimedia. I am still pinching myself that I was invited to well, Heaven.

Photo courtesy of Mindful Momma

Not only was Martha’s party perfect in every way but it was an excellent lesson for bloggers about building your brand. Throughout the party there were stations and displays set up featuring items from all of Martha Stewart’s divisions. The brilliant marketing part was that everything displayed along the lines of the food, wedding cakes, and crafts are in this month’s issue of Martha’s magazines, TV show, and blogs. Simply brilliant.

The drinks at Martha’s party were so exquisite it didn’t matter that they were largely nonalcoholic. For me, this is another sign of a successful party. I was grateful for that because I still had an event to attend after Martha's party and alcohol makes me sleepy. 

This pedal powered blender made refreshing blueberry and green tea slushies!

 Photo courtesy of Martha Stewart Omnimedia Fliker Stream

I had a great time talking to the boys of MAD Hungry, which will be debuting on the Hallmark Channel this fall. It is based on Lucinda Scala Quinn cookbook. She wrote her book about cooking large amounts of food quickly to feed her growing. She had to do it  inexpensively because boys eat like there’s no tomorrow.

Calder and Miles Quinn where fun to talk to and very excited about their mom's cooking, her cookbook, and her new TV show.

Real food, real quick and on a budget. Sounds like something the Lazy Budget Chef would do, doesn’t it? I added yet another book to my growing Must Read list during the conference.

Then it was off to the Green Blogger Soiree by the 3 Green Angels to meet my friends from The Green Moms Carnival.

Me, Anna from GreenTalk, Miceala from Mindful Momma, Sommer from Green and Clean Mom, Amy from Crunchy Domestic Goddess, and Beth of Fake Plastic Fish.

I was so happy to finally meet Anna in real life. We acted like we were long lost sisters! It was great to catch up in a smaller venue with my green blogger friends. We ate this.

Yum!

We ate this too along with grilled vegetables. Grilled eggplant, summer squash, and zucchini made their appearance several times thought the weekend. I partook of them every chance I got.

Thank goodness both Assets and Spanx were sponsors at different venues. I got a sample of each. Apparently it's necessary equipment for food bloggers.

Best use of cake for the conference goes to the Sparklecorn party – unicorns!

This is a Charm City Cake! Duff Goldman is my cake hero!
Photo courtesy of Adam Avitable

In between sessions, I went to the Expo hall. I met more food celebrities. From Pop ‘n Fresh…

He really makes that "Whoo-hoo!" sound

when you poke his tummy in person.

…to The Sun.

I told him I was a fan of his work and that warm summer days are my favorite.
Husband said I should have asked him to visit Columbus more often.

Fortunately, it was not all desserts or sausage pancakes on a stick. The National Honey Board had a booth and we swapped recipes. They also resupplied me with honey sticks because honey sticks I bought at the Ohio State Fair didn’t last very long after I brought them home.

I had a great time and made connections with a lot of people and companies. I brought so much back with me and I’m sure that once I process everything it will make me a better photographer, writer, and blogger. However, the thing that I immediately put into practice was food related – I made a quick wrap for lunch with eggplant and zucchini grilled on my George Foreman grill.

Reason number 485 why I needed to start a food blog.

I blogged about more of my BlogHer adventures on Condo Blues. Click on over for a great read about giant  Rabbids! 

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