VegFoodFest 2013: Part 3 - Sunday

Well, waking up that morning was not easy. After Day 1 and Day 2 at the Toronto Vegetarian Food Festival and a night of eating, drinking and dancing you can imagine my food baby, my hangover and my lack of sleep. That said, I was still so excited and ready to discover more veg-related products and businesses.

It was such a beautiful day, with the sun shining down on Toronto like it was mid-summer. As soon as I got to the festival, I was on the hunt. Thirsty. I wanted either a green juice or smoothie, maybe I'd even try some kombucha! After doing the rounds of booths, I got very discouraged. There were huge lineups at smoothie stands. One of the kombucha vendors were gone, the other one sold out a few minutes before I got there. Sad but hopeful, I tried to find something other than a $3 water from a vending machine. And then I found it. There was a table with man holding a massive knife, beside a box of fresh coconuts. EUREKA! I had never really tried packaged coconut water, and definitely not straight out of the coconut! I watched this talented man strike at the coconut a few times just enough to make a slit to stick in a straw. Well worth the $5 I'd say, and how cool did I look walking around holding a coconut with a straw!

VegFoodFest 2013: Part 1 - Friday

First, a tidbit about me:
2013 is my first year being vegan... Weird, I know. I almost feel like I've been vegan forever because I've been researching and dipping my toes into it for years. I grew up in a smaller northern Ontario town that had little (read: nothing) to offer the veg community, so it was difficult for me to make the jump from vegetarian to vegan. Immersing yourself into this culture and connecting with people in it is so amazing. I did this mainly online and with social media, since I felt I was so far from it physically. Toronto, by far, is the closest veg-destination and will probably always be my favourite (to be determined...) Their annual vegfest was the next step in strengthening my vegan lifestyle and of course, to be shared with you lovely readers.

My wrist tattoo - April 2013

VegFoodFest 2013: Part 2 - Saturday

Day 2 of the Toronto Vegetarian Food Festival was amazing! Haven't read my post about Day 1? Read it here.

The first event of my day was Marni Wasserman's presentation called "Fully Nourished". I have to say she looked absolutely ravishing and glowing, even on that icky rainy day.

The cooking demo was really informative and nutrition-focused. She talked about multiple uses for ingredients like quinoa (the nutritional superstar) and cooking tips for different uses like porridge and salads. The quinoa salad recipe demonstrated was amazing - it really was great for a full meal type of salad. It had quinoa, chickpeas, shredded beets and carrots, kale, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, avocado and a homemade dressing. And we all got to taste it afterwards!

Marni Wasserman's Quinoa Salad

Value Village Hauls

Thrift shopping is something that you are really into or not at all. It has been pretty trendy lately so I think a lot of people are jumping on board, which is great (especially from the environmental standpoint). I've always loved it. I love the treasure hunt, the lower prices and the smaller environmental footprint left behind.

The people who know me know that I always head straight for the sale rack every time I go shopping. It's always been my instinct to only buy things on sale or to save money everywhere I can. So naturally, I'm a fan of second hand items. I'm am even bigger fan of the value village giant half off sales that they have every few months. I'm all over their social media to make sure I know when the next one is. This one was right before they started setting up their Halloween merchandise... Heads up for next September! :)