Vegfest

Saturday the 24th my mom, Elizabeth and I went to Vegfest.  It's an event put on by Vegetarians of Washington.  I'd read about it in the paper last year, on the day it was happening.  It was too late for me to make plans to attend.  I was pretty disappointed and that was even before I went "Veg".  This time, I checked their website in January and put it on my calendar.  For $8/adult, you get to sample over 500 different vegetarian products.  They also have featured speakers and a book sale.  My mom isn't a vegetarian but she's a healthy eater and I thought she'd enjoy going with me.  At the last minute, I asked Elizabeth if she wanted to go too since Anastaya and Isaac were gone for the day at the temple.

When we got to my mom's house, we met a very excited Ramirez.  He couldn't believe his luck to get us as visitors.  They have hard surface flooring and he was spinning out trying to run up and greet us.  Elizabeth entertained him with the red dot (laser pointer) while we waited for my mom to finish getting ready.  You can't be around that dog and not smile.  He's absolutely full of life.

My mom hates to pay for parking and had spied an area in Seattle about 5 blocks from the Seattle Center where you can park for free.  We weren't exactly sure where we were going so walked up to the center, walked around in circles just a bit, and finally made our way to the Exhibition Hall.

We rounded the corner to the entrance and saw a long line of people waiting to buy a ticket to get in.  It reminded me of some of the waits at the happiest place on earth.  The line moved as fast as the line to the Pirates of the Caribbean (quickly) and soon we were inside.  Once we made our way inside, we were greeted with huge crowds.  Dode would have absolutely hated it.  I was surprised at the variety of people at the event.  Kids, teens, adults, dread locked/tattooed, seniors.... everyone was clustering around the tables to get their free samples.

overlooking the show, toward the back where it was less crowded

90% of the products were vegan, score!  I tried some things that I didn't care for, some that I was neutral about, and some that I'd love to buy.  The problem was that while they had samples, they didn't have any literature to hand out so I don't remember the product names of what I liked.  I realized on the way home that I should have used my camera to take photos of the items I'd like to pursue purchasing.  I also realized that a water bottle would be a valuable thing for getting rid of bad tastes.  One thing I loved was that they had lots of garbage cans scattered everywhere.  There's nothing worse than being stuck with a yucky sample and no way to get rid of it.  I learned that lesson the first time I went to the Cookie Exchange with my mom.  Now I always have a plan for getting rid of things that don't pass muster.

They were having a special deal at the event where if you joined the Vegetarians of Washington for a year ($22), you'd get a free bag filled with goodies.  You also receive a year subscription to Vegetarian Times as well as discounts to Vegetarians of Washington events.

I got all these products, plus coupons for buy one get one free meals at 12 different vegetarian restaurants in the Pacific Northwest, as well as 4 free full size product coupons.  Definitely worth it!  I'm glad to have all the packaged snacks because in two weeks, we're going to the ocean for our annual Spring Break vacation and it just doesn't work to bring a lot of produce along (I do plan on bring a quart of frozen green smoothie for each day as well as quarts of green juice).  Then, whatever doesn't get eaten during that trip will come in handy the following week when I teach at National Camp School in Olympia for three days.  They say they always provide a vegetarian option at meals but who knows what it will be.

Some of these are things I already buy, like Dave's Killer Bread, Biscuit Spread, and Larabars.  Others are things I'll enjoy indulging in like Odwalla juice and a sprouted bagel.  One thing I gave to Dode, White Cheddar Half Popped popcorn.  Dode liked it so much, he got on the internet so see if you could figure out how to make it at home.  He hasn't found a recipe yet.

We were pretty full after the sampling, but not too full to try out a vegan/gluten free bakery, Flying Apron.  My mom and I had a medium spicy curried butternut squash soup and Elizabeth went all healthy with a cinnamon roll.  The gluten free bread that accompanied the soup wasn't very tasty.  I guess it must be an acquired taste!  After lunch, we headed across the street to Sweet and Savory Pie where all there pies are individually sized.   My mom bought some chocolate peanut butter pies for the boys as well as a berry pie for me.  I enjoyed it for dinner warmed up with a scoop of coconut milk ice cream on top.  On the way back to the car, we wandered into a cute shop where I found a few stocking stuffers for the kids.

We had a fun girl day.  I didn't feel pressure to get anywhere at a certain time and could just enjoy the day.  I'm glad my mom and Elizabeth chose to attend with me.  It's nice to have someone to turn to and say, "This is good!" or "Mozzarella rice cheese does not taste good following a cookie!" I tried a great vegan caramel swirl cheesecake from Jodee's  near Greenlake that I think would make a perfect birthday dessert (hint, hint!).  And, Ramirez made me feel like a celebrity to be so happy to see us.

for once, the face painting line was manageable.  Elizabeth only had to wait for one child.

a pretty girl, fancied up

Elizabeth enjoyed her day with the big girls (although her feet got tired after a while).  She thought it was fun to spend time with us.  She was pretty brave about trying things and learned a few new things that she liked.  She was more adventurous about the solid foods than the drinks.  She'd have me sample each drink to see if I thought she'd like it before trying it.  She knows from the things I drink that I'm not afraid to put some pretty strange things in my mouth.

Isaac has been inspired to try to eat healthier.  He's started asking for tastes of fruits and veggies and is even ready to try a green smoothie.  He was sitting by me when I watched the new documentary Food Matters on the computer.  It addresses what the standard American diet does to our health.  I think it inspired him to try to eat a more balanced diet.

In other news
At the produce co-op, we had a record breaking 31 organic baskets today!  Together with 30 fruit lovers baskets and 67 conventional baskets, we moved almost 4,000 pounds of produce this morning.  That's a lot of fruits and vegetables!  We had a catastrophic box failure with the beets at the end of the driveway,  We groped around in the dark for them and thought we'd picked them all up.  We must have missed some because by the time the co-op was over, there were quite a few "blood" stains at the end of the driveway.  We used so many baskets (229), that we thought we'd run short until a few more turned up.  Time to order more baskets from Dollar Tree.  Dode is wondering, "Does owning more than 229 laundary baskets get you in the record books, make you a freak or just label you with a disorder?"