Today, podcast (ir)regulars Emily and Liam are joined by everyone's favourite Oakvillian, Angeline and fresh to the TVA Sarah.

They keep things short with two main topics. The 3rd Annual Fabulous Vegan Bakeoff is coming up on February 4th at 918 Bathurst. Registration is still open so put on your baking hats and get thee to the kitchen. Their second topic is a little more sensitive so you'll have to listen to find out what it is.

A number of visitors stopped by the resource centre today (yay!) including Chris who shared his feelings on the very effective TTC ads from chooseveg.ca.  

Today's podcast is a foxy 7 minutes.

Listen Now!

There is still time to register as a competitor in the 4th Annual Totally Fabulous Vegan Bake-Off!

Why not don your favourite apron, show off your prowess in the kitchen and have a chance to win some amazing prizes from local vegan businesses? Visit veg.ca/bakeoff today for details on registering – registration closes January 27^th!

Win Great Prizes from Our Generous Sponsors!

For the cost of registration, bakers receive a free Totally Fabulous Vegan Bake-Off t-shirt (while supplies last), a free sample plate and of course, the chance to win awesome prizes like vegan cookies, fabulous cookbooks and gift certificates to local restaurants. It's totally fun and your participation helps us to bring together people from the veg community and beyond to showcase the very yummiest treats Toronto has to offer.

There are five categories you can pick from to enter, plus there's a winner of Best in Show and Best Presentation. That means we're giving away not one, but SEVEN fantastic prize packages at this year's event from:

This could be you!

Click here to read more about being a contestant.

The event takes place on Saturday, February 4th from 2 to 4:30 pm at 918 Bathurst (on Bathurst, a couple of blocks north of Bloor).

Not intersted in competing but still want to taste and vote?

If you’re not planning to enter the competition yourself, that’s no excuse to miss your chance to sample the entries and vote for your favourite dishes! $3 gets you a sample plate for one of five categories (cookies/bars, cupcakes/tarts/pastries, raw sweets, gluten-free desserts, and professionally crafted). You can opt for a single sample plate or try all the categories!

Visit veg.ca/bakeoff for full details.

In this podcast, which may be the worst we've ever put out, Liam and Lisa O. discuss their low energy vibe, talk about their New Year's resolutions, and share the news about some exciting upcoming events. Seedy Saturdays and Sundays are coming up in March in locations around Toronto. Exchange and buy heirloom seeds! Also in March is Meatout, during which activists will distribute tasty vegan food to promote the benefits of a meat-free diet. Click on the link above to find out how you can get involved.

The Totally Fabulous Vegan Bake-Off is coming up on February 4th, with registration open until January 27th. Check out the sponsors on veg.ca/bakeoff to get a sneak peek at the prizes the winners will receive. If you're not a baker, plan on taking part in the tasting and judging. 

Sadie's is having a chili fundraiser on February 28th, which will benefit TVA! It's just $10, and you'll receive a hearty helping of delicious chili and chips. 

Last podcast, it was suggested that there weren't a whole lot of vegan dining options in the Markham area, but it turns out there are quite a few! Check out this list of restaurants. If you happen to live outside the GTA but want to promote vegan-friendly restaurants in your area, please consider helping out with Veggielicious 2012, which will be coming up in May! Email veggielicious@veg.ca for more details. TVA is also looking for a volunteer to fill the exciting new position of community animator.

Hulu viewers in the US are now seeing ads by Compassion Over Killing, advocating a meat-free diet, and directing audiences to their website.

If you want to maintain a healthy meat-free diet yourself, you can follow Liam's lead and eat more legumes. He describes some delicious roasted chickpeas he's made recently and tells you how to make them yourself. Some cruciferous vegetables can interfere with thryoid function (and the metabolizing of certain medications). If you're curious and want to find out more, you can read up on the issue here.

This podcast has been a yawnstipating 27 minutes.

Listen Now!

Vegan baking is on the rise once again as registration for Toronto's 4th Annual Totally Fabulous Vegan Bake-off officially opens!

We want to try your smartest tarts, your sweetest squares, your tastiest pastries and any other cacophonoulsy delectable specialties you've been working on. For more details about this year's event and to enter your perfect patisserie, click here.

This year's event takes place on Saturday, February 4 at 918 Bathurst St. 

RSVP and invite your friends and family on Facebook.

Photo by Sean Ohlenkamp

Vegetarian specialties from Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand

Senwell photo credit

Visit Senwell Vegetarian Cuisine in Thornhill for some of their dishes like, “Malaysian Satay, Chicken on Hot Plate, Lamb Curry, Mongolian Styled Tofu, Fragrance Leaf Fried Rice, Curry Laksa, and many more. Malaysian Satay are shish kabobs served with satay sauce and highly recommended as an appetizer. Chicken on Hot Plate is chicken served on a sizzling hot plate along with special sauces. It is a highly recommended main dish. Mongolian Styled Tofu is deep-fried tofu with Mongolian sauces. Last, but not least, Curry Laksa is soup noodles with Malaysian Curry as soup base. We also offer Lunch Specials from Monday to Friday. Occasionally, we also provide free desserts during weekends. None of our dishes contain any onions, garlic, or leeks, and upon request, we can also provide vegan dishes. Our restaurant is open from Monday to Sunday from 11:00 am to 10:00 pm. Beautiful decor, lots of seating. Please pay us a visit and try our delicacies from Singapore, Malaysian, and Thailand.”

Meal Delivery

It's January and, for many of us, that means cracking down on our eating habits. If you are having a hard time finding the time to make healthy meals, take a look at Healthy Diet Delivery! They offer "diet meals delivered straight to your door. Our Toronto diet delivery program is convenient & cost effective, while our chef prepared meals taste great. Vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free, are some of our most popular meal plans.”  Enjoy vegan items like Creamy Smoked Meatless Tart, Kale and Herbs in Olive Oil, Moroccan Stewed Apricots and Figs, Mashed Potatos with Fennel, Roasted Vegetables and Chickpea Salad, Tarragon Tempeh, Chocolate Caramel Cluster Zone Bar, Grilled Herbed Tomatoes. If you are looking to watch your caloric intake, you can choose the plan that best suit your needs. Preview the upcoming vegan diet menu here and the vegetarian diet menu here.

Catering

Phony Balony photo credit

There is a new all-vegetarian catering company in Toronto! “Phony Balony Delicatessen Catering  was born standing in front of a chain grocery store's deli counter. We realized that going to the deli is just something that vegetarians weren't able to do, so we decided to change that. We became fake meat obsessed, while making another discovery along the way... where was the comfort food? Where was the stuff Mom used to make? So we did that too. Our company philosophy is that just because you made the decision not to eat meat, be it full time, sometimes, or only on Mondays; you should still get to have Shepherds Pie and meatloaf. Or anything else traditionally meaty. We promise to be local, organic, sustainable and homemade when we can.”

Organic Delivery

Here’s a twist! Fresh City Farms is an urban farm based in Downsview Park that delivers hyper-local, organic produce boxes all around the city.  Their member farmers grow much of the produce at Downsview Park (field and greenhouse) as well as yards all over Toronto. They can also deliver locally made YingYing Soyfoods, fruit preserves, gluten-free baking mixes, pantry bean staples, fair-trade coffee beans and Ontario wines.

Raw Products


Amazing Grass produces "organic Green SuperFoods for the entire family. Their products provide essential fruit and vegetable nutrition the way Mother Nature intended...organic, raw and delicious. Amazing Grass' mission is to help people lead healthier more active lives by achieving their full potential through better nutrition. They strive to educate the world by spreading the word about the amazing benefits of green superfoods. Amazing Grass will spare no resources or expense to produce nutritionally superior organic products with the highest quality green superfoods available anywhere in the world." Remember when Mike Zigomanis of the Toronto Marlies was in the Star recently about his vegan diet? He lists Amazing Grass as one of the ingredients he includes in his pre-workout shakes.

Vegan Eating & Drinking Event

Caroline wrote to let us know about Black Oak Breweries’ Monthly Parties. The Winter Warmer Party takes place at the brewery in Etobicoke on January 28th from 5-9 pm, and costs $20.00 for all you can eat and drink. Black Oak elaborates: “We ALWAYS have vegetarian options at our monthly parties, the January event will feature a vegan curry catered by Burger Bar (ironic name, but they also have veggie burgers!)” February will be a Valentine's Day Party with our friends at Chocosol, who make vegan, ethically-traded chocolate treats.  Black Oak's beers are also vegan friendly as “Black Oak beer does not contain or use animal products at any phase” according to our dear friends at Barnivore. Directions can be found here.

New Restaurant Outside Toronto:

Pure photo credit

Janice writes: “I saw your film (Be Veg Campaign) on Facebook and was so impressed, a real game changer. I look forward to reading this website in full. If you do consider adding vegan restaurants in other cities near Toronto, I would like to recommend Pure in Collingwood. Sam, one of the owners became vegetarian overnight after viewing a film like this, when he was still in high school. His whole family became vegan. Now he is making delicious vegan food to share.” They describe themselves as “Collingwood's premier Raw and Living-Foods Restaurant. Experience our fully equipped organic juice, smoothie and espresso bar, as well as a full course raw menu for take-out or dining in. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner!" Visit them at 10 Ketih Avenue (on Hwy 26) in Collingwood. 705-445-9990.

Print Edition Correction:

The correct phone number for Sadie’s Juice Bar & Ice Creem Parlour in Kensington is 647-340-1155. Sorry for any inconvenience! Now that the cool weather has arrived, stop by for vegan tuna melts, chile sin carne, Tempeh sandwiches and more. Use your Vegetarian Discount Card for 10% off. 

Today Colleen and John get caught up after the holidays.  Colleen was in Portugal during December and reports that she had no trouble being vegetarian while there.  She also reports that Vega did a good job of tiding her over when she was beginning to feel hungry.  John was in Vancouver over the holidays and, and while one might think that John would have the easier time of it, this is not the case.  Troubles can arise for John when vegan meals are made, but not necessarily the healthiest vegan meals.  Sometimes both co-hosts would much rather have just a big, old, salad.  I'm sure many listeners can relate.

Calling all bakers, calling all bakers!  The Totally Fabulous Vegan Bakeoff is just around the corner.  Get all of the details and sign up for the great prices that are available.

Colleen is not really one for New Year's resolutions per se, but she wants to keep one going.  Namely, she wants to try new, vegan, whole foods.  What's on the list of new foods?  We don't want to give everything away, but to paraphrase Duran Duran "Her name is Yuca and she dances on the sand, just like that river twisting through a dusty land".

There is a great school which is open on Toronto Island which serves vegetarian meals for their students.  Waterfront Montessori Childrens' Centre places an emphasis on nature studies and green values.  Parents get the added comfort of knowing their child will be well fed with wholesome, vegetarian meals.

Lastly, the podcast co-hosts received an email with regards to the recent Be Veg subway ad campaign.  Conrad, the email writer, suggests that the campaign got the ball rolling for him towards altering his diet to be vegetarian.  We hope Conrad is representative of many more T.T.C. riders.

Today's episode is 34 minutes. Long enough to listen to while eating a big green salad with blueberries.

Notes Update: There are actually quite a few vegetarian restaurants in Markham :) See markhamveg.wordpress.com  and http://veg.ca/directory/list/north-of-toronto

  Listen Now!

Start the year off right by making some key changes to your routine. Many of the following resolutions benefit animals and the planet, and can lead to enhanced health and well-being. If your plan involves going vegetarian or vegan, be sure to check out our one week  Veggie Challenge. Participants receive supportive emails with recipes, tips and information about nutrition.

Go vegetarian
Start by reading our Top 10 reasons to go vegetarian, then check out What to Eat. This page has meal suggestions and tips for new vegetarians about eating out, ordering in, and adjusting the meals you currently make. Also see our Cuisine page for meal plans, shortcuts to vegetarian cooking, basic veggie meals, and the best recipe links.

Go vegan
Eggs are an optional part of a vegetarian diet. Eliminating eggs will spare hens from the horrors of factory farms. Eggs are also high in cholesterol. See our Eggs page for more information and egg substitutes. See our Cow's Milk page for an in depth overview of some of the potential problems associated with dairy, and a look at the alternatives. See our Nutrition page for answers to see how an optimal plant-based diet can meet anyone's nutritional needs and protect against common health problems.

Become veggie and fit
Incorporate fitness into your lifestyle and become a shining example of a strong healthy vegetarian. Bike, run or walk instead taking the car. Or skate, cross country ski, dance, swim, do yoga or anything else that will inspire you to move your body. OranicAthlete.org has an excellent guide to vegan sports nutrition.

Cut back on sweets
The average North American consumes about 150 pounds of sweeteners per year. For a review of the different types of sweeteners and the controversy surrounding most of them, see From Sugar to Agave – How Sweet It Is?

Eat local foods
Buying locally grown food supports nearby farmers, and greatly reduces the energy and resources necessary to transport and store foods. Even in the winter, you can find locally grown potatoes, cabbage, carrots, turnips, squash, apples, and more. Check out our Local & Organic page for more information.

Go organic
By voting with your food dollars, you can support organic methods while at the same time saying no to chemical agriculture. Modern conventional farming relies on soil fumigants, herbicides, systemic insecticides, pesticides, fertilizers, and fungicides. Check out our Local & Organic page for more information.

Try a raw foods diet
Raw and living foods include fruits, vegetables, sprouts, nuts, seeds, grains and sea vegetables. Eating such foods uncooked preserves enzymes and nutrient values. Many people say they feel healthier eating more raw foods. Some take on a raw diet as a temporary cleanse. See our Raw page for more information.

Lose weight
Vegetarians and vegans are more likely to keep to a healthy weight. A recent study found that vegetarians are, on average, 3 percent to 20 percent lighter than meat-eaters. The researchers found that a low-fat vegan diet leads to weight loss of about one pound per week, even without additional exercise or limits on portion sizes, calories, or carbohydrates. However, some feel they need a little extra help. The Veg Family website has a review of popular weight loss programs. See Peta.org for some vegetarian weight loss Success stories (includes photos).

Gain weight
See our High energy vegetarian foods article. If you really want to bulk up, check out www.veganbodybuilding.com.
 

New Year’s Eve

Rawlicious Bloor West is having a "delicious 5 course dinner beginning at 8pm on New Years Eve. Live jazz to follow and ring in the New Year! The price is $55/per person and includes one alcoholic drink (or sparkling juice). Beer & wine available through out the evening as well. Reservations are required, call to book. Also, we are having a healthy food bank drive at either location. Donors are entered in a draw with various raw prizes such as dehydrators & spiralizers when they bring in a healthy food item!"

 Fresh (Spadina, Crawford, Bloor) says "It's never too early to start planning for New Year's Eve. Make us a part of your night and join us for our discount countdown. It's a NO BRAINER"

Time is running out to launch a revamped veg.ca website by 2012.

For thousands of people, a google search is their first source of information about any new topic. For young people in particular, veg.ca is a primary point of contact to learn about food issues, access vegetarian recipes and information, and ease the transition to a plant-based diet. 

But the current site has fallen out of date and we are missing opportunities to demonstrate that being vegetarian is healthy, easy and delicious!

Thanks to those who have already donated, we've raised over $1100 towards the $7000 needed to build an improved online home that will engage thousands more to reduce their eco-footprint, improve their health, and save animals by going veg.

If you haven't already done so, please consider taking a moment to make a tax-deductible gift now. Your donation of $50, $100, $300 or whatever you can afford will make veg.ca a more powerful tool for outreach in the GTA.

And, all gifts made by Dec 30, 2011 will be matched up to $2500 by another generous TVA donor!

With your support, we can transform veg.ca into an essential online resource for the next generation of potential vegetarians, instantly communicate the benefits of vegetarianism and answer key questions.  

Please make your tax-deductible gift today.

Your charitable gift will show tens of thousands of new visitors how easy it is to be veg in the GTA. 

Today Liam and Lisa O discuss the good news for chimpanzees this week - the United States NIH decided to stop using them for government funded research. While the move isn't perfect, it's a step in the right direction. 

Liam suggests volunteering at the Toronto Humane Society as a dog-walker as a great way to spend time helping animals and being around dogs if you can't adopt a dog of your own.

There are lots of holiday deals going on through the end of the year! Check them out here.

Liam recommends an easy and delicious method of quesadilla-making, and Lisa recommends The Vegan Stoner for other quick and tasty recipes. She also highly recommends the peanut butter blondie from Rise Above Bakery, a new 100% vegan bakery/cafe in St. Catharines. 

Today's podcat was an animal-testing-free 33 minutes.  Listen Now!

This time of year you may be planning your New Year's Resolution. The Toronto Vegetarian Association has already decided ours:

We need your help to build a new and improved veg.ca website to be the online home for all things veg in the GTA. 

The current website design is more than 5 years old, created before YouTube was launched and before the first iPhone was unveiled. The way people use the web has changed, but our site has not.

A refreshed online home will engage thousands more to make changes that will reduce their ecological footprint, improve health outcomes and save animals. It will act as a hub and online resource centre for the veg community, and also clearly and instantly communicate the benefits of vegetarianism to the veg-curious.

We need your support to fulfill our New Year's Resolution and get this website up and running in 2012.

Fortunately, the services we need like project management, web design and search engine optimization have been offered to us at a discount by expert TVA supporters!    

But the coding, content transfer and introduction of new features will still cost $7000. 

If you give before December 30, the first $2500 given to support our new online home will be matched dollar for dollar by a generous TVA donor.

Please make a tax-deductible gift of $200, $100, $50 or whatever you can afford this holiday season to build a new and improved veg.ca. Please make sure to enter "TVA Website" as the campaign code.

Your charitable donation this holiday season will inspire more people to go vegetarian by making the benefits of veg living clearer and showing people how easy it is to make a change. Please make a donation today! 

Please make sure to enter "TVA Website" as the campaign code.

Fancy Pants Vegan Brunch

"The works" by Karam

Beauty Products

Vegan Restaurant

Rise Above (120 St. Paul Street, St. Catharines. 289-362-2636) is Niagara’s first vegan restauarant. Their hours are are 10-9 Tuesday through Saturday. They do special orders and also offer lunch and dinner. Their menu boasts: enchilatas, chipotle seitan wraps, salads, soups and of course, their signature doughnuts like Maple Walnut Doughnut, Peanut Butter Cream and Chocolate Dip Doughnut to name a few.

Food Products

Nutrisoy has just launched an enriched low calorie almond beverage to their roster. It’s “made with California almonds, all the vitamins and calcium the body needs. Great hot or cold, over cereal, in recipes or as a delicious non-dairy creamer.”

Hundreds of Sobey’s across Ontario are now carrying Sweets from the Earth Gluten-Free Cake Pans, so even when you are visiting family out of town you can indulge and share.     

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