Veggies, Leaders And No Sleep In Sight

This weekend was epic!

It was my second year of attending the Vegetarian Food Fair in Toronto and this year I was even busier. On Friday I hung out with Meghan Telpner at her booth chatting up her classes, tutorials and retreats in St. Lucia. We had a lot of fun in our pink aprons and I felt right at home amongst all the flowers in her booth! It was nice to meet so many new people and share my experiences in Meghan’s classes. Our beautiful friend Nicole was there as well and together we ran off to score some goodies from the über cute guy at Vega (whose Shake & Go chocolate smoothie I’ve been really enjoying) and Living Libations, as well as find some dinner. 

Similar to last year, I was truly disappointed by the lack of yummy options for dinner. There were lots of yummy treats and samples, but many of the vendors in the food tent were serving more fried and complicated tofu dishes that really didn’t appeal to me. Cruda Cafe was originally supposed to be a part of the show, but sadly they cancelled. With all of the amazing vegetarian, vegan and raw restaurants that we have in the city, I think it would be awesome for more of them to have a presence at the Food Fair (especially since it’s touted as being North America’s largest!). All of that being said, we decided to get some Mexican food It was okay. There was rice, cactus salad and a tofu/corn/something mix. It was kind of pricey, but filling and I learned my lesson for the following day.

I sadly missed Meghan’s demo on Saturday afternoon (but you can check out all the recipes on her blog!) but showed up just in time to catch the flurry of people around 12:30.  I ended up bringing lots of food with me and definitely did not go hungry. Lots of fruit, almonds plus a great salad of romaine, peppers, onions, avocado, black beans, hemp seeds and pumpkin seeds with a little bit of salsa. It was awesome!!

I traded in my fuchsia apron for a beige one with a SFTE logo as I was at the Sweets From the Earth tent selling delightful vegan baked goods. I love their gluten free line and had the pleasure of testing a brand new gluten free vegan chocolate cake!! I forgot to take a picture of that or anything on Saturday really. I talked to so many people and sold so many cakes, cookies and squares that it was all really a blur. It was non-stop from 1 to 9 and I was just wiped by the end of the day. On Sunday I had the pleasure of attending a giant Weight Watchers meeting with many of my colleagues including my two lovely Lindsays. It was great to connect with others who are passionate about their jobs and helping others lose weight!! Lindsay won an award for her meeting and our row was definitely the loudest, cheering her on and ensuring that she was commended for her team’s success. So so proud of her.

I felt like a zombie by the end of the day and after a wee nap I made myself a simple but delicious bowl for dinner. Mmmmm quinoa with swiss chard, baby portabellas and tempeh sautéed in garlic & ginger with tamari, pickled ginger and sesame seeds. It was a delightful end to the weekend!

This month is going to be insane, but I am so excited about everything that is to come! I’m back to school today and looking forward to getting back into some sort of routine whilst rehearsing for 2 shows, a big audition and doing all my usual stuff as well.  Where did the summer go?

How was your weekend? Did you get to the Vegetarian Food Fair? What were your thoughts?