Food Notes

I'm excited about New Harvest Omega 3 (EPA) Supplement, but I'm going to save an in depth review for another time because I got a Bio-metric Test Collection Kit so I can evaluate my body's fatty acid profile. I'll take the New Harvest supplements (which have 600 mg EPA in each pill) for 6 weeks, and then do the test again to see if the numbers get better - then I'll hit you with a review. This is one way to PROVE that a supplement, whether it be a multi-vitamin or something else, is working.

But so far my thoughts are:

* I LOVE that New Harvest provides a vegetarian omega-3 (EPA) supplement.
* I am still not sure whether it is better to supplement with both EPA AND DHA - but I'm still doing the research on that - EPA alone has been shown to provide heart healthy benefits, so the question really is could I get more of a benefit with a supplement that has both.

Here's a recap of the New Harvest Weekend.
Friday night: Cocktail reception with passed hors d'oeuvres and then blogger only dinner at Square 1682. The food was insanely delicious.

Caramelized Onion and Spinach, Feta & Goat Cheese Hors d'oeuvres

Food bloggers in action: Anne of fANNEtastic food and Monica of Run Eat Repeat.

Saturday Morning: Breakfast and then getting to know more about New Harvest from Jenna Bell, PhD, RD, CSSD, Sujata Bhatia, MD, PhD and Mike Saltzberg, PhD.

Saturday Afternoon: Cooking class at La Cucina where we made our own vegetarian lunch. From L to R: Monica (Run Eat Repeat), Tina (Carrots n Cake), Jenna (Eat Live Run), Anne (fANNEtastic food), Maridel (Vital Juice), Me (Iateapie.net).

Anne-Marie (This mama Cooks) and Christine (No Meat Athlete).

We made our own pasta! The dish included crostinis with caramelized onions, fig jam, and goat cheese for an appetizer; and a main course of sweet potato ravioli in a brown butter sauce, roasted asparagus and a salad with citrus salad romaine lettuce, arugula, oranges & grapefruits plus a dressing made with the citrus juice & olive oil.

After lunch, we walked to The Franklin Institute where we saw the gigantic heart that you can walk through, plus the other really cool exhibits. This was followed by a walk to the Philadelphia Art Museum, where Rocky was filmed doing his famous workout. Lots of people were running up the steps then striking that Rocky "I Made It" pose. Unfortunately, I tweaked my knee a few days before, so I was hopping everywhere and by this time, I was completely worn out.

Still, I had to catch up with my girl YumYucky for a pre-dinner dinner at Tavern 17. Then it was a mad dash to to re-join the New Harvest gang for dinner at James - again, amazing food! Omega 3's were on everyone's mind and a lot of people ordered the Salmon (Scottish Salmon, bathed in extra virgin olive oil, with artichoke barigoule), which I heard was amazing. I must admit that while I usually jump at the chance to eat salmon, I went with the chicken instead (Slow Roasted Poularde, tender spinach, porcini mushrooms & apple infused pan sauce) - and it too was amazing.

It was truly a spectacular weekend, which reminded me that I need to take my omega 3s more regularly and I got to meet some really nice bloggers and of course, the cool New Harvest and Ogilvy folks. I'm so glad I accepted the invitation - my curiosity about vegetarian source of omega-3 was more than satisfied. And I would like to add that this is not just for vegetarians, as the fishyness of fish oil pills can be overwhelming and I for one, being non-vegetarian, welcome a different option.

If you want to see LOTS more pictures check out the posts at Carrots n Cake, Eat Live Run, Run Eat Repeat and fANNEtastic food.