Hamilton Veggie Fest: Recap

Hi Friends!

I went to the Veggie Fest in Hamilton this weekend and it always makes me happy to share fun vegan products, food, etc with you guys. Here is a recap of Saturday:

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Clockwise from top left: 1. NingXia Red If you're anything like me you'll want to pronounce the 'X'. Don't. It's pronounced Ninja, which I guess is obvious, but I just really want to say it phonetically. Ha! The woman at the booth was very passionate about this antioxidant drink and mentioned many benefits to consuming it daily, one of them being improved vision. I found it very fascinating, not that I have any kind of issue with vision or eye health, but I'm always interested in improving health through nutrition rather than medicine. 2. Young Living Essential Oils. She was also very passionate about the essential oils. I learned the benefits of some of them but the one that stuck was Lemon. I'm a huge fan of having lemon water in the morning and go through lemons like crazy. Using a few drops of lemon oil in your water has the same benefits multiplied by a thousand. Oh, and it also purifies your water. Crazy, huh? 3. 3 Teas This was a gorgeous display of tea. I tried the Organic Strawberry Green Tea. I'm not a fan of most green teas but this was really good. 4. Nature's Roots Wheatgrass! Wheatgrass just always makes me happy. They were offering shots for $3 but I had my eye on something else so I didn't get one.

Oh how I love vegan treats, especially when there's samples! Giddy YoYo is probably one of my favorite raw vegan companies. I LOVE their chocolate and can honestly say that every one of the flavors are delicious. I've also purchased their cacao powder and am currently using their spirulina powder - love them both. At the festival I purchased their sea salt and I can't wait to start using it as well. Live On Chocolate power puddings! Have you had these before? They are the ultimate healthy treat! You feel like you are indulging but there is absolutely nothing bad in them, only good REAL ingredients. My favorite is the coconut lime flavor which they turned into frozen pops for the festival. It's also what I chose to buy instead of the wheatgrass shot. Oh man, it was SO good and totally the right choice! Everything Nice (bottom right corner and the photo above it) is what I like to call a healthy "fast food" company. They package a variety of meal kits that take most of the prep work out of cooking. You may have to chop an onion but that's as far as your prep goes. Just add water and simmer for about an hour. I love this idea for families who are too busy with extra-curricular's to get a healthy meal on the table during the week. We got to sample the Canadian Pea Soup which was really yummy.

Clockwise from top left: Fun "bean" spaghetti's from Upaya Naturals made from black beans, adzuki beans, and mung beans. Raw Pumpkin Seed oil from Styrian Gold. They made a quick 2-ingredient salad dressing using the pumpkin seed oil and a few squirts of an ice wine syrup. I swear it tasted like peanut butter and jam, in a good way. Richardo’s Ontario Hemp Hearts - Locally grown hemp seeds... yes, that's right, LOCAL as in Ontario! The Mustard Seed Co-op had a table full of products that they offer in-store. I had no idea they were already open for business so I'm excited to visit their store in the very near future. Rallis Ice Pressed Olive oil and Soap in the Raw. The lavender soap smelled like heaven but was too pricey for me.

Just a few of the products, samples and brochures that I brought home from the festival. Vegan dog food from V-Dog. I can't wait to send this sample to my parent's so they can give it to their dog Lexi. New Moon Kitchen's Gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, Ultimate Kale Chips pink salt flavor, and Giddy Yoyo's Mountain salt. I also finally bought my first glass straw from the Upaya Naturals table - you can't really tell in the photo, but it's pink, obviously. I bought my vegan key chain from the Cedar Row Farm Sanctuary table, and I got buttons from the Oliver's Garden Project table and the Fur Bearer Defenders table.

It was a great festival and I wish I had remembered to take more pictures of all the wonderful offerings. But, I was too busy sampling goodies and chatting with some pretty amazing people! My highlight was chatting with Victoria Moran, who I was first "introduced" to through IIN as one of our speakers. She was so inspirational that I googled her as soon as the lecture was over. I'm so happy that I was able to connect with her in person even if it was only for a few minutes.

Last but not least...

You can't have a Veggie Fest without a vegan food truck! There were many different vegan food offerings at the festival but I was holding out for Karma Chamealeon. I love their food. We split the Bourbon BBQ Burger and the Philly "Cheeze" Steak. Both were delish but the bourbon bbq burger was my favourite. Next time I absolutely have to try the coconut onion rings!

I hope you enjoyed my Veggie Fest recap! I had so much fun and can't wait for next year's festival!

Happy Monday!

Love,
Ves xx