During the Walt Disney World Marathon weekend, I was invited to the Blogger (Challenge) Cook-off! Cigna is a global health service company that is dedicated to helping people improve their health, well-being, and sense of security. The event was held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports. It was exciting to formally meet bloggers that I met or discovered through social media along with many new faces!
Pascale Jean, Cigna Health Promotion Manager and nutritionist, kicked off the event! She ran Dopey by the way! After the introduction, we were split into teams. I felt like I was on an episode of Iron Chef! The challenge was for each team to create a meal fit for marathon training. We were given a protein along with an abundance of ingredients to help bring our masterpiece to life! Each team had their own Disney Chef to oversee them. Thank you, Rebecca! We had all of the kitchen accessories and appliances we needed…so “let’s get it started” *in my MC Hammer voice*!
But first, a selfie!
Dicing like a BOSS! Kristin, Carrie, and I are ready for a taste test!
LET’S EAT!
I really need to say this…everything was AH-MAZING! Sampling everyone’s creation made it even more fun! From Team Turkey Stir Fry’s exquisite turkey stir fry to one of the best vegan meals I’ve ever tasted! Let’s not even talk about the shrimp-n-grits. I think everyone is still raving over those grits! And the dessert! Oh…my…goodness—Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding! Divineeee!
We had the pleasure of dining with two amazing people: Sarah (AKA Sparkly Runner) and her fiancé husband, Matthew! They were such a joy to be around. We chatted about everything during our meal: the fact that my husband was self-proclaimed support staff for the event, running, and so many other things. You would have thought we were old friends picking up without missing a beat. We already know they will be our Forever Friends!
After we enjoyed our yumtastic meals, Chef Mickey arrived for a private Meet-and-Greet with all of the bloggers in attendance!
The Cigna Team!
Stay tuned for Part III of my Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend Recap! In the meantime, you can check out Part I !
Walt Disney World Marathon Training, Updates, and Weekend posts .
Cigna Corporation is a global health service company dedicated to helping people improve their health, well-being and sense of security. All products and services are provided exclusively by or through operating subsidiaries of Cigna Corporation. The products and services include an integrated suite of health services, such as medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy, vision, supplemental benefits, and other related products including group life, accident and disability insurance.
“Cigna and runDisney share a commitment to inspire healthy living and active lifestyles across all ages and fitness levels,” said Lisa Bacus, Executive Vice President and Global Chief Marketing Officer at Cigna. “runDisney’s stature as one of the most respected race series in the nation gives Cigna and our customers and employees the opportunity to showcase our passion for community service. At the same time, we’ve been able to share inspiring personal stories of the customers, military veterans and so many others who have been part of our runDisney teams.”
The majority of the photos in this post were provided courtesy of Cigna!
Awesome recap – and your husband WAS awesome! I remain in awe of your dicing skills. Serious, those knife skills were awesome.
So glad to have gotten to meet you at the event! It was so much fun.
Thank you so much, Megan! He is hilarious! I’m so glad I had the opportunity to meet you. As for my dicing skills,they aren’t too bad for relying on my food processor + chopper most of the time.
What a fun event to be invited to and to participate in! I would have LOVED doing something like this, and I adore how it tied in with the marathon weekend, too. And I can imagine that food was amazing!
Here’s to making new blogger friends, preparing awesome dishes and running races!
Meeting new bloggers/people, learning more about health/nutrition, the food, the memories…Everything was amazing! Thank you, Erin!
That looks like so much fun!! I just ate breakfast and you are making me HUNGRY!! HA!! I;m goad you had such a great time at Disney!!
This post has me hungry too! Lol It was truly some great food and I had a blast! Thank you, Ricci!
This sounds like such a fun event to be invited to during your weekend! The food sounds so amazing! And getting to spend time with other bloggers is awesome.
It was a blast! Meeting other bloggers was one of the highlights and the food we created was simply amazing! Thank you, Paris!
How fun! I had a few friends there who said it was a blast! That’s so cool you were able to do that.
It was such a fun experience! I’m sure I met your friends too. Thank you, Amy!!!
THis looks like so much fun! I am really looking forward to the Disney Princess weekend in a few weeks!
Thank you, LaShawn! I’m sooooooooo excited for you and your Princess Half weekend! I wish I could be there this year, but I’m doing Disneyland Half Weekend in Sept. I can’t wait to hear all about it!
It sounds like a great trip and an opportunity of a lifetime. I am sure it was so refreshing to meet others with the same goals as you enjoying the same meals as you do! Looking forward to Part III.
It truly was, Kim! God showed me so much favor during this weekend…I’m so thankful. I met so many people and have experiences to last a lifetime!
Oh, what fun! I know you enjoyed getting to know so many new blogger friends. The Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding sounds amazing!
That chocolate chip bread pudding…so amazing! Thank you, Alli!
Disney sure knows how to throw a party! A marathon is hard work so being rewarded with the medal, the win of the challenge and then lots of fun after is awesome. You look like you had a blast. I would love to taste the goodies your team created.
Thank you, MJ! There were approximately eight teams and every dish was delicious!!! It was truly an experience that I’ll never forget!