Healthy Plant-BAsed options in madison, wi? You Betcha!

Madison, Wisconsin will always feel like home to me.  I lived in this amazing city for 5 years and enjoy coming back to visit. This particular trip was to support my friends and PACE athlete racing Ironman Wisconsin. I've done this race 6 times before, but I've never experienced it as a spectator.   ​​I knew this was going to be a fun!  I was also excited to check out what's new on the menu at some of my favorite spots. 

I was staying at a hotel, so my usual travel plans of cooking most of my meals was not going to happen this time.  I decided to bring a small single serve blender for smoothies and packed a few snacks for the flight.  My first stop was at Whole Foods to get some fruit, plant-based protein, chia seeds, hemp granola, almond milk and a few other necessities.  This would cover me for breakfast on most mornings. I was so excited to be back in town, that I completely forgot to take pictures of my delicious food this day. I had a late breakfast at Marigold Kitchen -  Tofu Scramble with red peppers, scallions, black beans, and toasted corn tortilla strips.  The nice girl that took my order was vegan and told me about a Vegan Fest that was going on that weekend. It's pretty cool to see that type of event happening in America's Dairyland.  My dinner was from Lucille. I ordered the Mediterranean Wood-Fired Pizza (hold the cheese) with Basil and Arugula, Artichoke Hearts, Cherry Tomato, Kalamata Olives,  Spinach, and Red Onions.  It was really tasty with lots of flavor and the crust was cooked to perfection.  ​

Saturday morning began with a peaceful run along Lake Mendota and out to Picnic Point.  This is one of my favorite spots to run in the city.  Some of this trail is also part of the IMWI run course, so it brings back a lot of great memories.  

After a quick trip around the Farmer's Market, I enjoyed a bite to eat at Field Table. The Roasted Potatoes and Avocado Toast with rainbow radish and fried leaks hit the spot.  Yum!

Dinner was at the Great Dane downtown.  I found the High Point Harvest Bowl  on the menu.  It had brown rice, red quinoa, broccoli, sweet potato, roasted beets, spiced cashews, edamame, dried apricot,  and sesame crusted tofu. I also tried the Orecchiette Pasta (hold the sausage and cheese).  It had fresh cherry tomatoes, Kalamata olives, and arugula.  Both dishes were great!

Race day was finally here. It felt really weird not to be racing.  I certainly had moments during the day when I wished I was out there too, but spectating was tons of fun.  It seems like the whole city comes together to join in the fun.  

Now that the race was over, I had a some extra time on my hands, so I set out to find as many Bucky on Parade statues as I could.  This was a highlight of my trip!  Such an awesome way to see the city.  Each Bucky  statue was so unique and they were placed in such great locations.  It's hard to say which one was my favorite.  I loved them all:)  

I worked up an appetite searching for Bucky.  I stopped in  Ancora for a bite to eat with a friend.  We split the Veggie Benedict (hold the cheese and sub tofu for the eggs), Watermelon Basic Salad (hold the cheese) and Granola Bowl (sub Oat Milk instead of yogurt).  The cauliflower steaks were delicious and the watermelon was so fresh.  They had 3 choices of non-dairy milk - Almond, Oat and Soy.  

Dinner was Ian's Vegan Veggie Pizza to go because I wanted to find more Buckys.  The pizza was filled with mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, onions and spinach with a Pesto Sauce.   My Bucky search took me to Middleton, WI so I had to make a quick stop at Bloom for a treat.  I had a ginger turmeric latte and a vegan cookie.  They have a great selection of vegan cookies.  

My last night in Madison was spent watching the sunset with friends at the Union. I couldn't ask for a better way to end a great trip. 

Oh, I almost forgot...I was searching for the last two statues right until I had to go to the airport.  I had to make the tough decision to sit in construction traffic to go find Bucky or miss my flight.....tempting.  I had to settle for 84 Bucky's.  So close....