Healthy food at the Livingston health fair

The Fall Health Festival in Livingston was a good place to load up on snacks today.

You could grab an apple from one of the many baskets displayed around the hall.

Or fill up on a free breakfast. Before I asked or even wondered about it, one of the cooks proudly told me that almost everything was produced in Montana -- Wheat Montana flour for the pancakes, local eggs, sausages from Wilsall -- and everything was carefully selected for maximum health benefit; for example, organic maple syrup and fresh berries and melons.

My favorite place to eat in Livingston is the Wheatgrass Saloon, a place with a simple vegan menu that includes a new taco bar and the long-popular Dragon Bowl: a dozen or so shredded veggies on top of your choice of quinoa or kelp noodles and smothered in an amaaaaaaaaazing (I cant get enough As in there to describe its deliciousness) secret dressing that is reminiscent of Thai peanut sauce. Mostly, its all about tantalizing beverages. Check out the menu and come taste them all.

Today at the fair they were pouring samples of Ginger n Juice, Greentini, and We Got the Beet. If you drank one of each, you were entered into a drawing for a fabulous basket of gifts. Everyone who tasted the juices was a winner, in my opinion.

Not every snack was exactly healthy, as seen in the right of this photo of the Wells Fargo booth (I think they were there to talk about financial health). But who can resist an occasional chocolate chip cookie?

Best of all were the generous samples at the Vegans Rock Montana booth, Bonnies ever-present smile brightening up the morning. Bonnies mission is to show folks that genuinely healthy -- and truly delicious -- food does not have to contain animal products.

After selecting from the Just Mayo swag -- caps, tote bags, t-shirts, and a large free sample of Just Mayo -- you could indulge in Bonnies good cooking. Today that included Kale & White Bean Dip and Chickn Salad made with Gardein Chickn and, of course, Just Mayo. Bonnie always provides recipes.

After all that, the dentist booth was a good place to pick up some toothpaste samples.