Toronto Veg Fest 2019

Hello Friends,


I hope you are doing well. Yesterday I spent the whole day at the Toronto Vegan Festival with my friend Leeanna. We have been going for three years now and the very first year I went inspired me to go vegetarian. You can read about the first trip I took to veg fest which inspired me to go veg here. I have also been very interested in going vegan and have done a month long challenge in the past. You can read about my month long vegan challenge here. I was so happy to see so many people at this year's veg fest it was so busy. I loved going to all the vendors and eating samples and talking with some of the vendors. I enjoyed attending some cooking sessions on making healthy salads with Terry Hope Romero and cooking vegan food in the instant pot with Nisha Vora. I always leave feeling so inspired and good about being vegetarian and wanting to improve in my cooking and also my networking with others.

 It was so busy there and such a positive energy in the air people enjoying vegan food and I was feeling so happy because I could eat everything there and enjoy the food and be with like minded people. My friend and I went to Vegan Bear stall first for lunch we got the "bear wrap" which is a vegan shawarma with seitan, veggies, tzatziki, and hot sauce in a pita. It was tasty.

Vegan Shawarma from Vegan Bear

 Next we walked around to more vendors and got lots of food samples. Then I saw people eating poutine and had to get some because I haven't had poutine for so long because of the gravy not being vegetarian. We went to Twigs & Taters next and they had this hilarious sign on their truck. 

This poutine was declious!

Photo of the CN tower

 Then I went to the Apiecalypse now! stall for dinner and got a slice of pizza. They also had a lot of other treats like cookies and pies, but I resisted. I got the BBQ buffalover pizza which was so delcious and filling. The ingredients were: buffalo not-chicken, red onion, plant-based notzzarella,  plant-based jalapeno havarti-style crumbles, ranch dressing spiral, and bbq sauce. As I was walking with it and waiting for my friend to order from my favorite vegan restaurant Fresh, I was asked twice where I got it from people who wanted to go get a slice.

I bought two shirts while at the veg fest. One is from Kinder Culture and says 'be kind to every kind'. I also got the Veg Fest t-shirt made my American Apparel which says "Live Life on the Veg" on the front and on the back it says Toronto Veg Fest. I am looking forward to wearing these shirts and working harder on spreading the positive message of living a plant based life.

Be kind

Front of shirt

Back of shirt

At night it was beautiful with the stringed-lights hanging from the trees. I was so happy to spend the whole day there with my friend catching up on life and trying out more foods because we could be there for two meals. I am still so happy that I decided to go vegetarian two years ago after attending my first veg fest. I believe in a world where no animal needs to be harmed so we can eat because we can live healthy lives without eating animals and causing them to suffer. Abstaining from meat is also better for the planet because deforestation for animal agriculture is causing harm to our planet right now and is one of the contributing factors to the amazon burning. I feel sad that this is happening to our planet and I am glad I can make a difference in my health, the lives of animals, and the environment by choosing to be vegetarian. I would like to continue living vegetarian and also start living a more vegan lifestyle by having less dairy, eggs, and fish.

Are you vegetarian or vegan and have you attended this type of festival before?

Thank you for stopping by!

Baking Vegan Banana Bread From Oh She Glows

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I baked some vegan banana bread this week using the vegan banana bread recipe from Oh She Glows. It has been on my list of things to bake for a long time. I took a look at my overripe bananas on Tuesday morning and decided once and for all it was time to bake the bread. It was so delicious and I really enjoyed eating it all week with my coffee or tea in the afternoon. My boyfriend also really liked it and I also shared some with him.

I got all of my ingredients ready for a photo. All you will need for the recipe is:
Wet ingredients: bananas, almond milk, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract, ground flax seeds.
Dry ingredients: rolled oats, flour (any kind you would like, gluten free, spelt flour etc. I used the regular kind), raw cane sugar/brown sugar ( or you can use coconut sugar), baking powder, baking soda, walnuts (for ontop of the banana bread).  Mix the wet ingredients first, then mix in the dry ingredients afterwards.

I won't be sharing the recipe on my blog, but you can find the full recipe from Oh She Glows here. I hope you enjoy trying it out and also browsing more of her wonderful vegan recipes. I can't wait to try out more of her recipes. I have her cookbook and have tried making some of her meals and really love them and I am making one tonight.

I have been knitting the front piece of the Wool and the Gang Farrah Billie Jean top and also knitting another pair of Ribbed Fingerless Mitts, pattern by Kathy North, for a customer. I will keep on knitting these this weekend and be able to give them to her by next weekend. What will you be working on this weekend?

Thank you for visiting my blog and I hope that you give this recipe a try, it was so delicious and I will be making a lot more of this banana bread for sure.

Have a great day!

First Day of My 22-Day Vegan Challenge and Knitting Progress

Hello Friends,

I hope you're doing well. Last night we had the first snowfall of the season in Toronto and it is very cold today. There isn't much snow on the ground, just a sprinkle of it. I hope this winter weather holds off just a bit longer because I don't feel ready for the cold and snow yet.

Today is day 1 of the 22 day vegan challenge I am doing called Challenge 22+. I decided to do the challenge because I am vegetarian now and eating mostly vegan but wanted to challenge myself to not having dairy, eggs, and honey at all for 22 days. I am not sure at this point if I could go vegan permanently just because so many products have milk ingredients and eggs. If you would like to join the challenge, you still can, they have different groups for the challenge starting at different times on Facebook. They match you up with a mentor who you can ask questions and they offer support. My mentor is so friendly, helpful, and supportive and I feel like it will be a great experience.

Day 1: What I Ate:
Today I ate oatmeal (Robin Hood Quick Oats) with one banana cut up and a sprinkle of cinnamon. I also had some coffee and poured in some almond milk. I like to use the Silk unsweetened vanilla almond milk in my smoothies and coffee to add extra flavoring. For lunch I had an Amy's brand bean and rice burrito. Not all of the burritos are vegan but there are two types that I get all the time which are: bean and the one I had today, bean and rice. I got a veggie burger at South St. burger for dinner on a lettuce wrap with some fries. Later I had a couple spoons of So Delicious dairy-free frozen dessert in the chocolate flavor.

I tried this So Delicious dairy-free frozen dessert tonight and loved it! It tasted exactly like ice cream! I loved this chocolate flavor. I can really see myself switching to dairy-free frozen desserts now over ice cream too. I had my doubts before buying it that it would not taste as good as ice cream, but it exceeded my expectations.

My second stocking is coming along, I knitted some more stripes and should be done in time for decorating this week or next week! I am still working on untangling the alpaca yarn and hope to get started on those socks soon.

 I forgot to share with you guys that I received these cute needles and wool socks as a gift for my birthday. I love these socks, I will wear them yarn shopping with my sister tomorrow!

Thank you for visiting my blog, if you would like to keep updated on when I post blog entries, please follow my blog on Bloglovin', Google Followers, or you can subscribe by email in the top right corner of the blog.

Have a great day!

Vegan Challenge 22+ and Progress on Knitting the Stocking

Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Last night was so cold, it was the first time I wore my winter jacket this season. I am glad I did, because as my boyfriend and I were walking I had to steal his mittens because my hands got really cold. I had a hat on which was good but my feet were cold in my sneakers. Winter is approaching which is exciting for a knitter, time to pull out the knitted hats, scarves, mittens, and sweaters etc. Last night, my boyfriend and I walked to a vegan restaurant called Fresh and I had a wrap with tempeh and tofu with kaleslaw, it is so yummy I am glad there are these options as a vegetarian it makes it more enjoyable and fun to try out new foods. I also tried the chocolate fudge cake for dessert that is vegan as well and it was so delicious.

I also wanted to mention that  I am starting the vegan Challenge 22, on November 10th, which is 22 days of eating vegan. This means no meat, dairy, egg, or honey for 22 days. I have been vegetarian since September 18th 2017(48 days!) and I have also been reducing my intake of dairy, eggs, and honey. I think I will be able to do this because it is always on my mind and I think it is so important to reduce the amount of animal products I eat for my health. I have been feeling great since going vegetarian/mostly vegan. I just watching Joey Carbstrong's video on YouTube today called "She Saw the Truth and Went Vegan on the Spot", and it really reminded me how important this cause is and to try the 22 day challenge he suggests in the video. Have any of you tried to go vegan for a challenge or are vegan now?

Challenge 22 photo (photo source) Click to go to the challenge!

I have been working on knitting the second stocking and I am finished knitting the cuff now. I started knitting the stripes of the stocking today. I am using the pattern Jumbo Christmas Stocking in a Jiffy- Striped by Jennifer Jackson from Ravelry. I was listening to Christmas music while knitting today and getting in the spirit. Christmas is only 50 days away now!

I am still reading the book Not Working by Lisa Owens and really loving it so far. I like the main character and I can relate to what she is going through in her life as I am also looking for a job soon.

Thank you for visiting my blog, if you would like to keep updated on when I post entries, please follow my blog on Bloglovin', Google Followers, and you can subscribe by email in the top right of the blog.

Have a great day!