Flashback Photos from Erie VegFest & Looking Ahead with Changes

Erie VegFest took place back on September 24th and I'm embarrassed I didn't post these photos soon!  So sorry!  The Shimmy Shack was a food truck that drove all the way from Michigan to participate!  It was a pretty neat truck!

Once again my parents attended the FEST with me - neither of them are veg - but they enjoy checking them out and have always been supportive of me and my adventures.  My father had the Southwest Burger.

My mom munched on little things all day for the most part.  The truck had a simple yet wonderful concept of doing a basket of fries that was made up of 1/2 regular fries and 1/2 sweet potato fries.

I opted for the Indian Lunch that day!  It was HUGE!

Area and regional businesses participated, too!

Eventho they were not vegetarian eating establishments they did offer vegan options!

I wasn't able to try a lot of them because they were pretty large portions.

The first VegFest I attended was in Buffalo 3 years ago and this vendor participated from Ohio!  She made and sold her own flavored vegan cheese spreads!  I remember them well!  When I saw them at Erie VegFest I knew I had to stop over and mention it to her.  Dad ended up buying 2 of her cheese spreads!  The Blue Cheese with Spirulina was exceptionally awesome!

Oddly...one thing Erie VegFest did BETTER than WNY VegFest was that Erie incorporated a Farmers Market type vendor space.  It was a small Farmers Market Vendor space but still more than Buffalo offered.  As you can see here my dad in his TyeDye and my mom in the blue short in the front corner.

We did end up buying more produce that day than anything else.

The prices were good!  The people were nice!  I also found Erie to have more INFO available overall.  Erie did focus more on gluten-free stuff than Buffalo did, too.  However, Buffalo offered way more food options but that isn't surprising due to the size of the two markets and the population.  PLUS...this was Erie's first year and Buffalo's 3rd.  I will say that Erie had a WONDERFULLY IMPRESSIVE first year!  I hope both markets continue to grow!

A QUICK UPDATE:

I have continued to sleep different, wear different under garments, and take B-Complex, B-12, D, and Chlorella Tabs without missing a day!  I've tried to stick to 1 cup of caff tea a day instead of 6 to 8 and I'm upping my herbal tisanes.  I am seeing and feeling a difference over the last 3 days and I hope it continues to improve.  Thank you all for the encouragement!

WNY VegFest 2016!

LONG POST AHEAD from WNY VegFest 2016!

This was the 3rd annual WNY VegFest in Buffalo, NY.  It was at a different location this year...Delaware Park.  Each year my sister and I go and make it a Sisters Day!  My sister is NOT veg but likes to try all of the veggie stuff!  This year my parents came a long!  This is a photo of me, my dad, and sister!  We made the Buffalo News (Website)!  I'm originally from WNY and it's always nice to go back and visit!  Afterwards we attended my cousins daughters graduation party!

For the 3rd year in a row I was able to meet up with the Vegan Zombie guys!  I didn't think they were going to be there this year but they were able to go at the last minute!  Jon and Chris are always AWESOME!  I bought one of their hoodies this year!  The first year I bought a cookbook and a t-shirt and last year I bought another t-shirt of theirs!

Chris also gave me one of their rubber bracelets!  You can see the one I am talking about on Chris's left arm.

The VegFest t-shirt I was wear in these photo's was from last years VegFest.  I'm hoping to attend the Erie VegFest in September if all works out, too!

There was a new juice place this year!  Squeeze Juicery and their juices are AWESOME!  Since my parents have been getting into juicing when we are able I thought they would get a kick out of these!  For the most part they did!  I will say that Squeeze kept selling out of them so they MUST have been good, eh!?  We went a little crazy and bought several.  Of course everything that we bought that day we shared so we could all sample everything!

First up we have the 'We Got The Beet' with Beet, Carrot, Lemon, Ginger, and Apple.  Then the 'Espresso Love' and that had Cashews, Dates, Espresso, Cacao, Vanilla, and Sea Salt.  I don't think the Sea Salt was necessary - neither did my parents or sister.  We've never been a 'salt family'.

We ended up buying TWO of the Tiny Dancer you see here on the left.  'Tiny Dancer' had Strawberry, Kiwi, Cucumber, Pear, and Raspberry.  'Good Day Sunshine' was the other one and that had Turmeric, Orange, Lemon, Carrot, Cucumber, Celery, Pineapple, and Ginger.

My mom and sister liked the Tiny Dancer the best and my dad liked the Good Day Sunshine the best.  I liked all 4 of them for different reasons.

I will have to make a trip to one of their two locations SOON!  They are in Elmwood and Buffalo.  Check out their full menu HERE.

For a couple of years I have been hearing The Vegan Zombie guys talk about Tamerlaine Farm Animal Sanctuary.  So when I heard they were going to be at WNY VegFest this year I had to stop by.  I'm pretty sure they were there last year, too, because I tried their hot sauces.  This year they were selling the hot sauces, their hummus (which my parents bought), and their totes and t-shirts.  I bought one of their totes!

I was able to meet the co-founders and chatted with Peter for quite a while.  SUPER nice people!

They sold out of a lot of their hot sauces and hummus by the time we left the event which was only a couple hours in.  The proceeds benefit the animals at the sanctuary.

Last year I passed up the vegan ice cream so this year it was on my list of priorities that is for sure!  My mom and I got 2 servings and shared with my dad and sister.  Since we didn't want it in a cone we opted for the cup!  They served them in temperature changing cups that had the VegFest logo on it!  How cool is that!?

I was in my glory at this event because everything at this event is vegan!  It's nice not having to pick apart and read labels for once!

There were some vendors that I missed this year for one reason or another but there were new vendors that I enjoyed seeing, too!

There was at least 1 new food cart this year, too!

You could buy the whole menu for $25.  As tempting as that was - we didn't do it.  My Dad opted for their Bangarang Taco option, tho!

He seemed to really like them!  They had a crispy coated sweet potato, slaw, and a few other things in there topped with a strong ginger sauce.

My sister grabbed a Quinoa Bowl.  I remember her and I had those last year, too!  She really liked them - so much so - she got another one this year.

Mom chose the Veg Noodle Bowl.  It was a large serving for the $7 price tag.

This year it was on my list of priorities to visit the Indian Food Area and I was able to!!!

The establishment was called Dosa Place and it featured South Indian Cuisine.  I really like India Food but I wanted to try something I had not had a lot of experience with.  I opted for the Bonda and the Vadai.  The Bonda is a Potato Fried Ball with onion and spices.  It was great!  The Vadai was basically a savory lentil donut of sorts.  That was terrific, too!

I was surprised that my mom liked the Vadai, actually.  My Dad liked everything he tried that day!

My mom and I visited the Love Beets booth and tried all of their beet samples.  There was a BBQ that was nice - subtle.  My mom really liked the White Balsamic beets.  My mom LOVES beets!  Her and I do - my sister and dad don't care for them generally.

Last photo is the one chat we attended.  It was a group of families that rescued dogs from the Korean Meat Market.  Their stories were heart wrenching!


There are so many other experiences that we had that day!  And so much more food, too!  I remember my parents getting some Vega and Garden of Life Samples and my dad making smoothies the next morning!  I will be giving him some of my protein powder supply soon!  I'm thrilled he enjoyed them!  My dad also bought some Sunflower Seed Butter!  Wheatberry Bake Shop from Snyder, NY, was there and was selling a Vegan Pizza and it was WONDERFUL.  The owner was so nice!  We also grabbed a Lemon Basil infused water from them which gave my mom the idea to start doing that at home with all of the basil she has growing!  It was another great year at WNY VegFest!  I'm so excited that my parents came with us this year!  I hope to attend the VegFest in Erie next month, too!  Fingers crossed it all works out!

WNY VegFest - Part II - The Juices & Food!

Today's post is all about the juices and food we had at WNY VegFest on Sunday!  Be sure to scroll down for the speakers and other photos from yesterday!

As for the first photo in this post I HAD to give major shout outs to the folks at Ashker's Juice Bar in Buffalo!  They really pumped up VegFest full of color with their juices!  It was so awesome seeing so many people walking around with fresh juiced juices!  I really hope more juice business start opening up in the region!

Check out this first one...Heated Heart...with beet, carrot, lemon, sage, apple, and ginger!  It was SO tempting...I almost bought one but decided on a different one which you will see in a moment.

The one on the right of this photo is the one I opted for it was called Clean Greens and it had cucumber, kale, celery, apple, parsley, and mint!
It was FAB.

I wanted to try all of them!  As you can see there was a Zinger that had orange, lemon, carrot, apple, and ginger.  Then there was one called Golden Child and that one had gold beet, ginger, carrot, apple, and turmeric.

As you can see in the back there is a sign for their newest addition and I just HAD to get that, too!  That was the Watermelon Slushie and it had Watermelon, Lemon, cucumber, apple, and beet and it was AMAZING!

Here's a pic of me with the Watermelon Slushie with my green juice in tow.  We saved that for the upcoming speaker.  My sister and I both had some but I probably drank 75% of it to her 25%.  It was great!

My sister doesn't like watermelon - actually it doesn't like her.  My father has the same problem.  Not me...I could live off of it.  My mom and I usually treat ourselves when watermelon season is here.

We were sitting in a grassed area re-grouping before the speakers.  What you can't see in this photo is that we were watching and listening to one of the musicians on their outdoor stage.

The weather was great this year and I really think there were at least 5 (if not 10) times the amount of people at the event this year!

This was one of the first things we had when we first got to VegFest!  It was from a local bakery D & M Confections!  This is their Vegan Oatmeal Blueberry Banana Cupcake!  It was YUMMY!  My sister and I split this, too!

I don't usually eat sweets mostly because there are no local vegan dessert options near me and I'm certainly NOT a baker!

D & M Confections is located in Tonawanda, NY, and about 2 hours from where I live.  It's not a 100% vegan bakery but at least they have options, right?  I will say that THIS option was awesome!

The color was out of this world, too!

Taking a look at the Food and Food Trucks this year!  This place was there last year, too!  I was tempted by many of their menu items and probably would have ate more if I could but it seemed like we were eating and drinking all day!

The BEST part - at VegFest - everything is VEGAN - so I don't really have to think too much about what I can eat!  YAY!  I know this might sound silly to some people but where I live that isn't the case often!

There was at least 1 food truck that was missing from the previous year but there were many new food vendors this year which was AWESOME!  And some of them weren't even trucks but tents regardless the options were terrific!  There was a stand that did vegan nachos and another that had vegan ice cream.  I would have gotten some ice cream but didn't want to walk around and eat a cone.

Amy's Place in Buffalo was there with Amy's Truck!  Years ago I visited Amy's Place and LOVED it!  The truck stop was packed so we didn't grab food from there but I want to visit their location again, soon!

There were representatives from Strong Hearts Cafe in Syracuse, NY, at the event and I wasn't able to meet Joel but I saw him there!  My sister and I are planning a day trip to Syracuse with Strong Hearts Cafe in mind and top priority!  I'm sure we will find other things to do while we are there, too!  It's about a 3 and a half hour drive but I know it will be FUN!

One tent we did stop at for food was this place!  The SoHo Project!  The one guy was telling a fellow festival go-er that it was a proof of concept type food business.  The business helps their non-profit and the non-profit is to help animals.  I loved the idea!

My sister and I each had a quinoa bowl from here which you will see mine in just a moment.  We both opted for the Cilantro Lime Dressing.  Mine with WITH jalapenos and my sister's was WITHOUT.

My sister said it was one of the BEST quinoa bowls she's ever had!  In addition to quinoa it had black beans, avocado, corn, lime, cilantro, and lettuce!

We didn't get a "candy" apple but they sounded wonderful!

And here's what my quinoa bowl looked like!

All I want to eat now is variations of quinoa bowls!  They were so tasty!  I do make them often so it's not that much of a stretch to do them but it's nice to try other people's bowls, too, right?

So as you can see we had plenty to eat and drink during WNY VegFest!  It was bigger and better than last year and I know it will just continue to grow and I'm so excited about that!

I still have at least one more blog post I will be doing about VegFest so stay tuned!  I want to share many of the vendors that were there, too!

Vegan Food Trucks & Food at WNY VegFest

This post rounds up the rest of my WNY VegFest chatter and photos.  As you can tell I had a great time.  Today I want to share with you the photos from the food stations, tables, and trucks!

Starting off with this one...The Whole Hog!  Eventho The Whole Hog is a food truck that serves the Buffalo and Western New York area with foods using meat raised locally and supporting local farms - they can also go vegan when the opportunity arises!   For the VegFest this truck went Vegan on Sunday!  I was VERY tempted by almost everything on this list and REALLY wanted to try it but by the time my sister and I got back over and ordered the race was done and this truck was PACKED with potential customers.

Of course my sister LOVED this truck since it was PINK.  She's a PINK Freak...I for one...can't stand the color pink...but I WAS very interested in what they were serving!

After Googling the company they have a domain but I wasn't able to view it so I decided NOT to link it.  Maybe down the road, tho!

We took a few steps to the right and went to this truck instead.

They were more of a vendor type truck but they did have options!  The line was shorter so we opted for PIZZA. 

They used Tofurky Products for the most part.

My sister had a Veggie Pizza - it didn't have cheese but it did have TONS of Broccoli, Onions, and Black Olives on it.  She said she REALLY liked it.

I ended up ordering a slice of the Taco Pizza.  Mostly because I don't remember having Taco Pizza as a vegan or even as a lacto/lacto-ovo veg prior.

They used Daiya Cheese, Tofurky for the Taco 'meat', and a nice sauce with some black olives.  Eventho I was really hungry when I first started eating this slice I was completely full when I finished it.  It was VERY filling!

Because my sister isn't vegetarian I thought pizza was a good option.  She's fairly open to other foods, tho, and does eat vegetarian meals more than most people I know who are not vegetarian.  She tried a bite of mine and said she liked it, too!

The Food Table & Tent was PACKED, too!  Which is a GREAT thing for the festival but not-so-great if you had a 2 hour trip back like we did so that's another reason why we went with the Pizza.  Next year I really want to try one of the food companies featured in this tent, tho!  I spoke with a few of the people when they were setting up and one of the store owners told me about her place, asked if I was a blogger, and invited me to stop by their location in Orchard Park.  I think at some point I just might try and do that!

One of the many places I wanted to try - but wasn't able to - was this Indian Food Table.  I didn't see a sign with the company's name but they had some decent prices.  I regret not getting in line specifically for their Samosa's.  My sister doesn't do fried foods because of her stomach issues so one of these days her and I will have to try and make some and bake them instead.  I think she would really like Samosa's.

GoVeggies was another section and they featured about a half dozen of their from-scratch veggie burgers that were all vegan.  They also had some spring rolls incase you weren't into veggie burgers. 

Last  time I was in town I saw that they were moving and wasn't able to catch them while they were open. 

After checking out their website I noticed they are now located in Tonawanda.  I want to do a day trip and visit soon!

I'm totally digging their 100% Vegan Menu!

Again, I'm so grateful that I was FINALLY able to attend a VegFest that was within driving distance.  I'm also thankful for my sister for making the trip with me eventho she's not vegetarian!  I hope to go to more in the future and I REALLY hope that Western New York has them each year now.  For the rest of this week I will be catching up on Fair Week posts and I'm starting to 'bank roll' some food posts for next week, too!  Another thing I want to start doing are "Happy Emails".  I want to start sending 3 short Thank You Emails or Happy Emails each week to not only try and brighten someone's day but to give credit where credit is due!  I think I will start off next week with notes to WNY VegFest as well as the Vegan Zombie Crew!

Random Thoughts, Vegan World Foods, Vegan Egg Replacements, Vegan Food Trucks, and More!

I know this is a different sort of a post for me lately but I have been finding some really interesting sites, resources, ideas, and things to think about and I thought I would share them with you all!

First, I was reading this article on the Smithsonian Mag and tried to not let the negatives bother me and concentrate on the positives which I found to be that there are approx. 400 Million Vegetarians in India alone!  How wonderful is that?  Of course I LOVE Indian Food and I have been craving it lately so I might have to try and make a dish in the near future.  Another Veg*n Food Friendly Country is Mexico and I also happen to LOVE Mexican Food!  Thailand is another country that shouldn't be forgotten when it comes to veggie food.  I would love to try more of Thailand's native fruits!  Chile.  I NEED to try more Chilean Foods SOON!  I just might have to challenge myself...OKAY FINE...it's an official personal challenge!  Give me some encouragement in comments.  Which Vegetarian Foods from Chile do you enjoy!?  The older I get the more I get into foods from Lebanon.  Ethiopian Meals?  I'm game!  What I have had I have enjoyed and look forward to more of their traditional foods in the future.  Greece.  I like Greek food but haven't tried a large amount of vegan foods from Greece yet.  We have a Greek restaurant in town, here, but it's jam-packed with meats and dairy.  There are a few simple things I can order which I am very grateful for but I am interested in more options, too!  Lesotho is one I MUST research and FAST!  I've always LOVED learning about different countries and I think Lesotho is a good place to start this time around!

I've been receiving the Earth Balance Newsletters in my email and they always having interesting things to say!  They are one of the better email newsletters these days!  Today I received a link for Vegan Egg Replacements.  The 4 listed I already knew about but want to 'play' with some of them more.  I used to use Flaxseeds years ago much more than I have been recently.  A mini goal of mine is to get back into Flax a bit more.  Not just the seeds but the meal and oil.  Since I have never been much of a 'baker' the idea has been haunting me more lately.  I might have to TRY again and this time around use Applesauce as mu 'egg' source.  Speaking of Egg Alternatives...I see a Scramble 'Egg' Tofu in my near future, too!  I have done one of those in a while and have been craving it.  I also want to try the "vegg" in a Scramble with Tofu as well.

Another thing I was reminded of with their newsletter was Vegan Food Trucks.  A while back I researched this topic a lot but it's been a while and I know things evolve so I must do this again and FAST!  Yeah...can you tell I'm "Little Miss Research" these days!?  In addition to their list linked in the previous sentence I came across PETA's post and Mobile Cuisine.  I LOVE looking at Food Trucks!  I love all of the art that goes into the designs and logos and colors and such.  I think it's wonderful that there are more and more veggie options stepping up to bat!  Unfortunately, I don't have those options in my area but my eyes will be peeled each time I visit a larger city!  Pardon my random and scattered thoughts in this post - just a few things I have been thinking about and researching lately.  More coming soon!  I will have multiple posts again, today, too!  Feedback always welcome!