Here's the second part of our day at the Vegetarian Food Festival, where we were fed more tasty treats and continued to explore new vendors.
A raw and vegan take on cheese sauce! CheeSauce by Rawfoodz Inc. It's base from a base of olive oi, water, hemp seeds and nutritional yeast.
I was given a blue corn chip and sampled the chipotle flavour, which was surprisingly cheese-y tasting and mildly spicy. Rich didn't like it much, but he doesn't like the taste of cheese to begin with. I liked it!
At the same table were dips, also made by Rawfoodz. I tried the Wild Ranch Dip and if I were blind folded, I wouldn't have known it wasn't the regular, dairy kind.
All natural health and energy drinks from Smartfx. They tasted like watered down fruit juice, but contain herbal extracts and super seeds.
I tasted the Blueberry Hemp and Citrus Ginseng. Both tasted good and I liked that the beverages weren't carbonated.
Sunflower Kitchen had a table at the Vegetarian Food Festival last year. They make really tasty spreads and soups!
Cucumber slices with hummus and pesto. Never thought to serve it in this combination, but it worked! I might have to make this at home.
Their soups in a jar are yummy. I didn't sample any this time around, but I've always enjoyed them.
NongShim had a large table this year, along with their spin-the-wheel game where you win prizes!
It was last year where we discovered their vegan ramen noodles and Rich became obsessed. He limits himself to one pack a week, only when The Walking Dead is on.
We both spun the wheel and we both won not so nice smelling car air fresheners. I was hoping for a character umbrella and I was totally jealous of all the little kids who had them. So jellllssss.
We liked Strawberry Crunch the best. The space we were in was starting to get ridiculously crowded, so we hurried a long.
More dairy free cheese, this time Chao Slices by Field Roast. Made with a coconut base and fermented tofu.
Field Roast is known for their meatless sausage links, and rightfully so. They are a really, really tasty alternative to meat sausages.
I could totally eat these instead of the real thing. They're not rubbery at all and are spiced just right.
Rich and I were really happy to see SO Delicious there. They have yummy frozen treats and are always super generous with their samples; which are full sized. Here I tried a Vanilla Coconut Milk Bar- mildy coconut-ty and covered in dark chocolate, super creamy. So good.
This was their Mini's Coconut Sandwiches. They're just like the dairy variety, but with a more coconut flavour. I was in a sugar coma at this point, so I only ate a bit and gave the rest to Richard who was more than happy to finish it off. We would totally buy these!
We spoke to a nice So Delicious rep, who gave me a couple of these cards- which are made from recycled paper and studded with flower seeds. I thought they were so cute! I can't wait to stick them in the ground come spring.
We also tried some coconut beverages, which I was totally not a fan of.
I mentioned to her about making a blog post, so she gave me one of their BNTO jar adapters. It's a pretty neat concept and for those who know me, I'm all about snacks and dippy dips.
Quinoa- a seed that fills our cupboards at home. We eat it a lot! Sometimes I do 50/50 brown rice and quinoa for a change.
The sample of quinoa salad was nice- it had a medley of veg in it, including sweet potatoes.
Pretty hand made soaps by Pulp & Press. The scents were Lavender/Beet and Lemon/Ginger, the latter being my favourite. It smelled super energizing and really fresh. Nice packaging too.
Pulp & Press makes raw, organic cold pressed juices. I was initially attracted by the vibrant colours. Bright greens, yellows, oranges and pinks!
I tried the Liver Rinse, which is made of apple, beet, grapefruit, lemon and ginger. Holy moley, it was potent. The ginger really punched me in the face. It was interestingly enough, good. I guess my mind was all "It's super good for you, drink up!" so even though it took a little getting used to, I'd drink it again. Maybe one shot at a time.
Simple Protein makes yummy chips. They aren't really strong in flavour, but for those who like to snack and like the added protein, these are for you.
They come in 4 flavours, all banana based- original, fig, pineapple and guava. They wanted us to taste all of them, so we happily obliged. The texture is soft and fruit leather like. They were solid and I'm guessing high in carbs and sugar. Out of all four flavours, pineapple and guava were my favourites and Rich really liked the one with figs. I especially liked that they didn't taste strongly of banana!
At this time, we were super full and could even think of dinner. But we had a movie screening to be atsoon, so we pushed on.
Back to the So Delicious booth!
We saw one of the guys rolling a huge trolley full of pints of ice cream towards the display, so we stalked him. No shame at all. Frozen treats belong in our bellies. We got to try our third dairy-less treat of the day made from cashew milk, in the flavour Dark Chocolate Truffle. It was topped off with a scoop of their new Coco Whip (similar to Cool Whip). Ohmergerd, everything was super sweet. It was yummy, but way too sweet. Rich ate all of his, but wouldn't finish mine. I wanted to like this so much!
We saw one of the guys rolling a huge trolley full of pints of ice cream towards the display, so we stalked him. No shame at all. Frozen treats belong in our bellies. We got to try our third dairy-less treat of the day made from cashew milk, in the flavour Dark Chocolate Truffle. It was topped off with a scoop of their new Coco Whip (similar to Cool Whip). Ohmergerd, everything was super sweet. It was yummy, but way too sweet. Rich ate all of his, but wouldn't finish mine. I wanted to like this so much!
Maybe their Salted Caramel Cluster or Cappuccino might be better.
We made our way to the World Cafe to check out hot food choices for dinner. The caribbean food looked promising, but we were in a rush and there was a line up.
Line up at Apiecalypse Now. We didn't get a chance to buy goodies from here for dessert, we were in such a hurry. Boo.
Fail proof dinner at King's Cafe, where they serve Chinese vegetarian goodies. Most of it is fried, so totally not healthy, but their faux meats are super tasty. We usually buy them frozen and cook them at home.
Veggie filled steamed bun (bao). I liked it, Rich not so much due to the shiitake mushrooms and overload of cabbage.
Curry potato and veg steamed bun (bao), super mild curry flavour, kind of bland. Rich ate this one dipped in dumpling sauce.
Two types of chick'n nugget skewers. Both where delicious. The best out of everything we got!
It kind of looks like real chicken nuggets, dosen't it? Meat shreds and all.
Chick'n drumstick- Rich loves these.
Sweet potato rolls that were fried with a crisp lacy exterior. I had to get one, because they looked so pretty. They were tasty too!
By 7:15, we had quickly ate dinner and started our 30 minute walk up the movie theater at Yonge and Dundas. It was a much needed walk after nearly 4 hours of grazing. I'm glade Mother Nature decided to hold the downpour of rain and that the temperature wasn't super hot. Going on the first day was a good decision, as there were less people and therefore less crowds. We always love going to the Vegetarian Food Festival and are already looking forward to next year's!
If you decide to go, it's super helpful to bring a reusable tote bag and a large bottle of water. :)
