I'm Participating in Vegan Mofo 2011!

I've signed up for Vegan Mofo - or Vegan Month of Food - for this year since I now have a Vegan blog of my own!  It runs for the entire month of October and right now, I'm thinking of going with the theme of baking vegan desserts or transforming my old favorite non-vegan desserts into vegan desserts.  That means a whole lot of baking and a whole lot of desserts around the house!  I will have to share them with some friends or co-workers as I can't have all of those baked goods hanging around - that's dangerous!  It will also be quite the challenge for me as my day job has picked up quite a bit and I haven't been around the house very much lately.  Hopefully I can get a little head start on the baking and save the dessert blog posts for October.

Hundreds of Vegan blogs participate in Vegan Mofo, so I can't wait to start reading some new blogs based on a whole variety of topics!  It will be interesting to see the different takes on this challenge and how creative some people can get.  I'm also excited to be a part of something amazing online, a whole network of like-minded people coming together to celebrate Veganism!  If you're ready to take on the challenge of blogging about something Vegan every day in October, you should sign up your blog as well.  All of the participating blogs will be listed after September 28th, 2011 (the last sign-up day) over at VeganMofo.com.

Restaurant Review - Fresh Fruit at Cora's

My first restaurant review!  Paul and I took a spontaneous trip to Cora's for breakfast today.  Cora's is a breakfast restaurant chain across Canada that originated in Montreal.  Their menu places fresh fruit in the foreground for breakfast, including it with nearly every meal!  As it is not a vegetarian or vegan restaurant, they serve your typical breakfast choices like eggs and bacon, but this restaurant is far from your average "greasy spoon" eatery.

As a vegan at Cora's, you have a couple of options that involve lots of fresh fruit. I ordered the king of all fruit platters - the Samira Wake-up.  It is described as "A beautiful plate of lavishly cut fresh fruit served with a choice of toast."  As you can see, it is a huge plate of fruit!  From what I can remember (and see in the picture) I enjoyed apple, pear, strawberries, grapes, banana, nectarines, kiwi, pineapple, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, orange, grapefruit, starfruit, ground cherries, and watermelon.  It is quite an artistic plate, too, with some of the fruit being cut to fit decoratively wedged into other pieces of fruit.

You also get your choice of toast with a selection of jam and peanut butter.  Make sure you order your toast "dry" as it automatically comes slathered in butter if you don't specify.  Also, if you are a vegetarian, you can add slices of cheese to the plate at an extra cost.

I've also enjoyed smaller bowls of fruit and bagels in the past.  Plus, I ate a little bit of Paul's roasted potatoes from his plate that are just fried in some oil with sauteed onions.

While many menu items are catered towards meat-eaters, there is a good selection of vegetarian like waffles, crepes, and omelettes.  Thankfully, Cora's has their fruit plates and bowls for vegans!  These restaurants are popping up all across Canada and they provide healthier options for breakfast.  The focus here is on fresh flavorful fruit and I thoroughly enjoyed my meal!

My Response to "10 Things Never to Say to a Vegan"

Vegan Spoonful had a wonderful article entitled "Top 10 Things Never to Say to a Vegan" which I proceeded to post to my Facebook.  At work, someone came up to me and said "I saw the article you posted....and I'm fairly certain that we have all said all of those things to you at least once!"  I know people like to tease me and poke fun at me sometimes, but you have to know when you are crossing the line!  Here is my response to the top ten things to never say to a Vegan.

10.  ”If you were stranded on a desert island, and there was nothing to eat but animals, would you eat meat?”

I have heard this one a lot.  I've also heard "If I pay you X amount of dollars, would you eat a steak?" or "How much money would someone have to pay you to eat a steak?".  No, I wouldn't resort to eating animals if I were stranded on a desert island unless it became absolutely necessary, just as I wouldn't resort to cooking up and eating the friends I was stranded with unless it became absolutely necessary.  I would hope that this hypothetical island would have coconuts, berries, and other types of things on it.  I can't foresee myself becoming stranded on a desert island anytime soon, so I doubt I will have to ever face this situation.  I'm certainly not losing sleep over it!

9.  ”But where do you get your protein?”

This is probably the number one question I get asked.  People are so concerned about the amount of protein that I eat.  They don't ever consider the fact that they probably eat at least two or three times the daily required amounts of protein that they should eat, and that all of that extra protein can lead to health problems like cancer or heart disease.  There are plenty of ways for vegans and vegetarians to get their protein - whole grains, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, and the list goes on.  I don't ask every meat eater that I meet - "Are you getting enough fibre?  Are you eating enough fruits and vegetables?"

8.  ”I just ate <insert name of animal body part here> for lunch, it was soooo yummy!”  and then on and on and on, describing it in great detail.

I've even had a co-worker at a past job try to sneak meat into my food.  I'm not sure if all of the yummy descriptions are supposed to make me feel bad that I'm not eating meat.  I choose not to eat it and I wish that some people would respect my decision.  While I don't agree with your decision to eat meat, you can make your own choices and choose to eat whatever you want.  Please respect my decisions as well!

7.  ”Plants have feelings too!  Don’t you care about the poor carrots?”

This is one of the more ridiculous phrases that I've heard uttered on numerous occasions.  If you can't tell the difference between a vegetable and a suffering animal, maybe you had better take a closer look.   Or, as she says on Vegan Spoonful (couldn't have said it better myself): "If you truly can’t see the difference between pulling a carrot out of the ground and slitting a chicken’s throat, why don’t you try doing both and see if you feel the same about both acts?" 

6.  ”If humans weren’t meant to eat meat, why are animals so tasty?”

Just because animals are roaming the earth and co-existing with us, it doesn't mean that they were put here to serve our needs.  They should live peacefully just as we do.  To survive, we do not need to eat animals or create way more cows/chickens/pigs/etc. in factory farms to serve our needs.  In fact, the over-abundance of these factory farmed animals is horrible for our environment and the entire planet.

5.  ”So what made you decide to become a vegan?”…asked in the middle of a big family dinner while eating a hunk of ham.

I haven't had this one...yet.  Thankfully, most people are sensitive to the fact that I don't eat meat over dinner and have even offered to prepare vegetarian meals.  I've also been fortunate enough to have friends and co-workers ask if I was okay with them eating meat around me.  That is totally fine, and I am grateful that you are considerate of my feelings and choices.

4.  ”Oh, I could never go vegan.  I love meat way too much!  And I could never live without cheese!” 

I love how cheese and dairy tastes, too!  I choose not to eat it due to my ethical concerns regarding the poor treatment of dairy cows, chickens, and farm animals.  It is no wonder that I still have soy milk with my cereal, put Daiya cheese on pizza, and eat coconut milk ice cream - I obviously love the taste of dairy but I can't justify continuing to eat it knowing how the animals are treated.

3.  ”I feel sorry for you, that you can’t eat <insert animal food here>.”

I choose not to eat <insert animal food here> and I can sleep at night better knowing that I don't eat it!

2.  ”You sure don’t look like a vegan!”

I'm not sure what that is supposed to mean and thankfully, no one has ever said this to me.  I'm not sure if someone who is vegan is supposed to look skinny, malnourished, or like a tattooed hipster.  I just look like me and I am a vegan!

1.  Why don’t you care about people?  Aren’t people more important than animals?      

Of course I care about people.  I care about animals, too.  I choose to donate to animal related charities (Donkey Sanctuary of Canada, Farm Sanctuary, Animal Welfare Association, etc.) and I choose to donate to human related charities, too (Red Cross for disaster relief, for instance).  I care about everything on this planet and I don't want harm to happen to anyone or anything.  Just because you care about animals doesn't mean that you don't care about people.  In fact, eating a vegan diet does help people - it allows us to enjoy a more sustainable planet, it helps to protect our waterways, it helps to protect against the exploitation of the workers who have to work in dangerous slaughter houses, and the list goes on.

How do you feel about this Top 10 list?  Do you have anything to add to it, any odd questions that people may ask you?  Personally, if the question doesn't come off as insulting, I don't mind answering people's questions about not eating meat or dairy.  I would rather give people some insight into my choices, provide them with some reading material or movies to watch about the topic, and maybe they might end up making similar decisions in the end.  I am always happy to answer my friends' questions, but I don't appreciate it when it comes across as an insult to my intelligence (for example, many of the above questions or retorts).

I'm "Forever Nuts" About David's Tea!

Okay, so the title of this blog post is a tad cheesy.  But I am really crazy for David's Tea!  I've always been such a coffee drinker, but this tea has converted me into a full-time tea consumer!  (I still love you too, coffee.)

I first stumbled upon a David's Tea location in a mall near my work.  I was rather intrigued by their tea samplers and ended up buying one for my sister for Christmas last year.  It was a big hit with her and her roommates!  They started rating each tea out of five as to how much they enjoyed it, but every tea was getting a 5/5 rating as they discovered that they are all super yummy!  I went over to her place for a visit and she said, "you have gotta try one of these teas!" and we brewed up a teapot of Jessie's Tea.  It is a blend of lavender, rooibos, coconut and cornflowers and became one of my favorite teas ever!

I headed back to the store and picked up another one of her recommendations, Forever Nuts.  The description on the website states:

It looks all normal when it’s loose. But steep it and you’ll see that it’s nuts. Within seconds, this tempting jumble of almond slices and chunks, apple bits and cinnamon bark starts turning a crazy shade of pink. Why? Because it contains a hint of beetroot. That’s what gives this rich almond tea its earthy depth and its all-natural signature colour. Deliciously nutty, decidedly addictive.

Decidedly addictive, indeed!  That's the featured flavour in the photo above.  You can see from the photo that the beetroot does turn the tea a lovely shade of pink, which looks even better in person.  If you are a fan of The Office, I also hope that you like the coffee mug that I'm using!

If you don't have a David's Tea store near you, you are able to order from their online shop.  I highly recommend it!

Toronto Vegetarian Food Festival 2011 - The Food

Yesterday, I posted about the events I attended at Friday's Vegetarian Food Fair in Toronto.  Today, I'm going to tell you all about the delicious food I ate, sampled, and purchased!  Of course, one of the best things about a food fair is....the food!  The Vegetarian Food Fair is a dreamy paradise where you can walk around to all of the food stands and sample almost everything for free!  Let's say you are like me, and you've never had the chance to try soy yogurt or hemp milk before.  You might be skeptical to drop a bunch of money on something that could end up tasting yucky. At the Veggie Food Festival, you are able to sample all of these goodies to see if you like them or not.  For the record, I really enjoyed the soy yogurt and the chocolate/vanilla hemp milk I tried!

At most of the booths, I tried out some samples and purchased the food if I liked it or not.  In some cases, there were great deals on products that I already currently buy at natural grocery stores.  Some of the vendors were able to sell their products at lower prices because they were selling directly to the consumer and not through a store.  Some of them even had special festival deals!

This was one of my favourite booths - LPK's Culinary Groove, which sold vegan and gluten-free desserts.  My friend Sarah, who went to the food fair with me, isn't vegan but requires gluten-free foods so she was all about shopping here!  We both ended up purchasing the sweet potato donuts (as pictured below), and I bought some of the peanut butter nanaimo bars and chocolate chip cookie sandwiches.  They also sold vegan/gluten-free ice cream sandwiches, which unfortunately I didn't get to try out as I was far too full by the end of the day (after sampling SO much food!) but they looked divine!

Sweet Potato Donuts

I got to taste so many different foods, and I bought most of the ones that I really enjoyed.  The one thing I forgot to buy was the soy yogurt and soy cream cheese that I liked, but I know I can grab that at the grocery store.  I wanted to buy it at the end of the day as I didn't want to carry around  refrigerated items all day long, but after seeing Terry Hope Romero's seminar on vegan blogging, I completely forgot!  Oops.  Moving along, I'm going to post all kinds of photos right now of the things I bought, and information about the products just in case you are interested in them, too!

Tons of Vegan yummy goodies.

Here is my kitchen table, covered with the treats that I found at the festival!  Look at all of those yummy vegan treats.  Yum!  I think I opted for a good balance between healthy foods and baked goods, don't you think?

Roasted Soybeans

Here are some roasted soy beans from one of the first booths that I visited by The Bean Ladies.  They had a table full of different flavoured roasted soy beans with samples of each one to try out!  They all tasted so good but in the end, I decided to stick with my three favourites - "Gotta Be Garlic", "Pomegranate and Pear" and "Canadian Maple Eh?".  They use non-GMO locally grown (in Ontario) soy beans for all of their products.  Also, soy beans are high in fibre, protein, a source of Omega-3 fatty acids, and are an excellent source of iron, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and zinc.  These treats are also low in fat.  Hooray!

Tonica Kombucha and Beanitos chips

 I have recently discovered Kombucha fermented tea and I love it.  It tastes fantastic because I am trying to cut Diet Coke out of my diet, but I still crave a bit of carbonation now and then.  I find that Kombucha helps my cravings for sparkling beverages, plus it is really healthy for you (probiotics, polyphenols, B vitamins, rich in enzymes and healthy bacteria, etc.)!  Tonica Kombucha is 100% organic, raw, and is made locally in Toronto.  I'm happy to be able to buy Kombucha locally so hopefully I can continue to purchase it at some nearby stores.

The Beanitos are Chipotle BBQ flavor and they're made out of black beans.  They are vegan and gluten-free.  I tried a sample of them and they're super yummy, so I just had to bring home a bag!

Oh my goodness...the peanut butter!  Peanut Butter & Co had a stand at the food fair that had all of their different kinds of peanut butters all in a row, and you could sample any of them as much as you'd like!  We stood there making "mmmm" noises for a while, then quickly decided on the flavours to buy.  I grabbed two jars of my favourite flavour, "Mighty Maple".  Believe or not, they had it on sale - 3 jars for $10!  Natural peanut butter costs way more than that usually, so I happily purchased three jars (one of plain crunchy, too).  I can't wait to try the maple peanut butter in a stir fry sauce!

I purchased a salad dressing by RawFoodz in Purely Poppy flavour.  It was amazing to find a creamy salad dressing that is vegan, organic, and raw!  Can't wait to pour this over my veggies.

I bought this granola from Girlnola in Gojinana flavour - cashews, coconut, banana, and goji berries.  This would make for a great snack on its own, mixed in with some of my regular cereal, or maybe even mixed into some soy yogurt that I plan on purchasing soon!

Mmm...New Moon Kitchen cookies.  These are a regular staple in our cupboard, but they go fast since they're so tasty.  I usually purchase them for $8 a box at Whole Foods, but was able to buy them for a spectacular deal at the show - 3 boxes for $10!  Wow.  Needless to say, I bought three boxes in Oatmeal Goldies, Chocolate Espresso Mokas, and Chocolate Mint Momints. 

This was a great find - Quinoa products by Your Fitness Dish.  I purchased the Quinola Ancient Grains Blast cereal and the Quin'Bites snacks.  The Quin'Bites are crunchy quinoa, almonds, and agave with a hint of ginger and nutmeg and they are so delicious.  I think I could eat these every day if I had the chance!  A very satisfying snack that provides a great energizing boost.  I hope to try the cereal in some soy milk soon - I tried it plain though at the fair and it tasted good to me.  Quinoa is such an amazing whole grain and I try to eat as much of it as I can!

This shows a close-up of the cookie sandwiches and peanut butter nanaimo bars (oops...should be two bars there, except I ate one of them!  Couldn't resist.) from LPK's Culinary Groove.  Also, some samples of Mary's Crackers products in the background.

And lastly, here are the veggie samosas I brought home that were purchased from the Meditation Toronto booth!  These were thoroughly enjoyed at dinner time last night. Hopefully, I will be able to attend one of their meditation sessions soon.

I hope you enjoyed viewing a sampling of the food that was amongst many, many other kinds of food at the Vegetarian Food Festival in Toronto!  If you're interested, the festival is still going today (Sunday) so please check it out if you get the chance.  It is completely free to attend!  Please check the Toronto Vegetarian Association website for more details!

Toronto Vegetarian Food Festival 2011 - The Events

 

On Friday, my friend Sarah and I attended the 27th Annual Vegetarian Food Festival at the Harbour Front in Toronto!  I have always had my eye on this event as it is one of the largest (if not *the* largest) vegetarian food fair in North America!  In past years, the odds always seemed stacked against me as something would always come up that prevented me from attending.  Finally, I was able to go, even if it was just for one evening of the three-day-long festival!

I'd like to split this into two separate blog posts for you - today, I'll cover the actual events and demonstrations that I attended, and tomorrow, I'll let you know all about the amazing food I was able to taste and buy!

I have to say that it totally still amazes me that I can actually visit some places and eat whatever I want.  That might sound really strange to the average person.  Growing up as a vegetarian, I've always been used to searching through a menu at a restaurant for the one or two vegetarian offerings they may have had, or scanning through ingredient lists to make sure there were no hidden animal products inside.  I've always had to do this so it is second nature to me.  To actually go to an entirely vegan restaurant, or attend an event where absolutely everything is vegetarian makes me so happy!  I can just walk around and sample any of the tasty treats that I want!

Back to the events.  Sarah and I attended two events on Friday, including a cooking demonstration by Jae Steele (Toronto-based holistic nutritionist) and a talk on vegan blogging with Terry Hope Romero (author of Viva Vegan, Veganomicon, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, etc.).

Jae Steele did a cooking demonstration on how to make Coconut Chocolate Bean Fudge that is both vegan and low in sugar.  This doesn't mean that it is tasteless! We all got to try a piece of the fudge after the cooking demo was over and it tasted chocolatey and sweet, but not overly sugary! Here is the recipe - I hope that Jae doesn't mind that I'm posting it here on the blog, as the recipe was handed out to everyone who attended.

Coconut Chocolate Bean Fudge

2 cups (or one 16oz can) cooked black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup fair-trade cocoa powder
1/4 cup carob powder
1/3 cup melted non-hydrogenated coconut oil
2 tbsp agave nectar (or maple syrup)
1/2 tsp stevia powder (or more liquid sweetener)
1/2 tsp sea salt
optional: 1/3 cup shredded coconut

Give all ingredients but the coconut a whirl together in a food processor for about 1 minute until very smooth.  Add the shredded coconut, and pulse a few times to get it evenly dispersed.  Scrape out into a baking pan (9" x 9") and smooth out the top as best you can.  Allow to sit in the fridge for 2 hours before slicing into squares.  Makes at least 16 pieces.  Stores refrigerated for up to a week.

Jae's presentation was entertaining because was very energetic and had a great sense of humour.  She answered all of our questions about the ingredients themselves, preparing the dish, or anything else about veganism in general.  She also talked about some great restaurants in Toronto that I can't wait to try out for myself.  I really enjoyed attending this demonstration!

Afterwards, we went into the larger theatre where vegan chef (& blogger!) extraordinaire Terry Hope Romero gave a seminar about vegan blogging!  Of course, being the author of a vegan blog, I was incredibly interested in this talk.  Also, I own several of Terry's cookbooks and read her websites, so I was really excited to see her in person!  She made the presentation informative and fun, with plenty of slides filled with important blogging tid-bits, balanced with nerdy monster motifs and adorable kitties.  It was great to hear some valuable tips from a seasoned blogging veteran, and some of her points really made me think about my own future blogging plans and ideas.

I really wish that I could attend all three days of the food festival!  Terry Hope Romero is doing two cooking demos over the weekend that I am dying to see.  There are speakers throughout the weekend including nutritionists, registered dieticians, vegan chefs, authors, animal advocates, and more.  I really wish I didn't have to work on Saturday and Sunday, or else I would be at the harbour front all weekend long!  Head on over to the Toronto Vegetarian Association website to get a full listing of events for the weekend.

Even if you aren't vegan or vegetarian, please check out the Vegetarian Food Festival if you are in Toronto this weekend.  You will be able to taste some super yummy food, catch a guest speaker or two (or more!), see live food demonstrations, and pick up some informative reading materials.  Even if you're just a little veg-curious, see what all the fuss is about - this is the perfect opportunity to learn all about the wonderful world of cruelty-free living!

Apple Crisp Muffins

This has got to be one of my favourite vegan muffins yet!  These are the Apple Crisp muffins as originally posted on Happy Herbivore.  Unlike the Oat Flour muffins I made from the same website last week, these ones turned out simply fantastic!  I made them exactly according to the recipe.  They had bites of apple inside and were very moist and delicious.  These muffins were quite sweet so you may consider dialing down the amount of sugar in the recipe.  I asked Paul about the amount of sugar in the muffins for a second opinion and he said to keep them exactly as I made them without changing a single thing!

While I love vegan baked goods, I found that these tasted just like a typical muffin using dairy would taste.  This may have been due to the fact that no dairy substitutes were in the recipe at all - applesauce is used along with whole wheat pastry flour, oats, sugar, maple syrup, and of course, apples!

These ones went pretty fast so I'll be cooking up a fresh batch pretty soon.  I didn't have to buy any extra ingredients to make these as it included ingredients that I already had on hand (definitely a plus!).  These make for excellent snacks while at work or on-the-go, visiting places that may not have vegan snacks or baked goods readily available.