Vegetarian Food Fair – On now!
12 Sep 2010 2 Comments
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If you didn’t get a chance to visit the Vegetarian Food Fair down at the Harbourfront Centre yet this weekend, try today! It is a huge event, with lots of speakers, cooking demos, exhibitors, and (of course!) food. Come see me at the Veggie Challenge Tent from 11:30am to 2:30pm. :)
I’ll post about my weekend when it’s done. Also, a first-week-of-school post is on its way too.
Lisa xo
Busy! Happy, yes, but BUSY!
05 Sep 2010 2 Comments
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Phew! What a week! I was just re-reading my post-race entry and I can’t believe that it was only one week ago. It feels like forever since I crossed that finish line. Now, mind you, the tight hamstrings lasted for several days, and that seemed to last FOREVER. ;) Anyways, I’ve had an amazingly full week. Working at and preparing for markets with Cassandra. Trying to squeeze in fitness sessions. Cleaning the house. Looking after the garden. It’s two days until the start of another school year. So, as anyone who has a family member or friend who is a teacher will know, the week before (sometimes even two weeks) the first bell of the new year rings, teachers are back at school, setting up their classrooms. It’s always such an exciting, nerve-wracking time.
For a teacher (and kids, too), September is New Years. Everything is starting fresh, new goals are established, dreams for the year ahead have moved from the mind to the paper. Planning takes up a significant amount of time; thinking about timelines for the next year can be both fun and challenging. I’m moving into a new grade this year for the first time in my (short) career. Having taught Kindergarten for 4 years, I am now heading up (in grade and in floor in the school!) to Grade 3/4. It was my choice to change; I really felt like I needed something different this year. It’s hard: I love Kindergarten-age children so much. But, I was getting a little worn from all the zipper zipping, nose wiping, bathroom-accident cleaning, snack chopping, toy-washing, water-sand-paint changing… Wow, just writing that makes me tired! :)
So, I’m thrilled to be working with the older children. I look forward to challenging them during Readers and Writers Workshop. I can’t wait to invite them to dig deeper in science and social studies, while exploring the outdoors. I will invite them to share their thoughts, feelings, opinions on a variety of issues, from social justice to the colour of the paper on our walls. My classroom often looks quite different from that of other teachers on the first day of school. You won’t find labels on much; name cards are nowhere to be found. The desks aren’t labeled, the hooks have not been assigned. My purpose in not doing this (no, it’s not ‘cuz I’m lazy!) is to really let the classroom be created by the children, for the children. They can and should write their own names and label things in the classroom. I want to have a dialogue with them about which hooks they want to use, which desk they sit in. I imagine giving a child a hook in the hallway, only to discover 2 months into school that they feel stressed out leaving the classroom to get their things. So, I invite them to learn that this is OUR classroom. Yes, it’s MINE and yes, it’s THEIRS, but most importantly, it’s OURS.
There is only one “poster” with words in the classroom. I hesitate to call it a poster, mainly because that invokes all of that teacher-resource, plastic-laminated, company-created crap. But, what is up is a poster that I made. (I’m going to put in a picture of it on Tuesday, updating this post). The poster says this:
If you are a dreamer, come in.
If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a try-er,
A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer…
If you’re a pretender, come sit by my fire,
For we have some flax-golden tales to spin.
Come in! Come in!
Called “An Invitation” by Shel Silverstein, it is probably my favourite poem of his. I love the images it creates in my mind. I love the idea of magically inviting the children to “come in”. I don’t know if any of them will recognize the poem, or if they’ll even take time to read it on the first day (or realize that I changed one word from the original). However, whenever it is that they notice the poem, I will watch their eyes as they read it. And maybe it won’t make perfect sense to them at first, but that doesn’t matter. I intend to challenge children to build meaning for themselves, rather than serve it to them. I can’t wait for this amazing school year.
(Wow. This post was intended to be an “I’m so busy” post, talking about setting up the classroom, working at the market with Cassandra, and preparing lots of raw food for two markets. It’s only as I wrote that I realized how truly excited for the school I really am. Wow. I sure needed that. Awesome!)
Lisa xo
Run, run, run, you must…
28 Aug 2010 7 Comments
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Yipee. I did it. The first post-injury race. I am SO happy and so very, very proud of myself. It was amazing to join a large group of women, running a 10km through Sunnybrook Park. Though we didn’t physically run together, my friend Juanita and I definitely were running together in our hearts. And the best was meeting my awesome parents at the finish line! They came over last night (we dined on pad thai and pasta bolognese from Rawlicious…the perfect pre-raceday dinner) and played some cards before retiring for the night. Waking up at 5:30am (not early for me or dad, but mom wouldn’t have minded a couple more hours of shut-eye!), we headed out to the park. I was sure to follow my usual warmup routine; I was not going to get injured this time! Once Juanita arrived, we took a few sleepy-morning pictures:
I look tired (and hopefully you can’t tell that I’m nervous…about injury, but not the actual running!).
I think my head is twice the size of Juanita’s head.
Juanita had an amazing run, coming in 17th out of 331 female runners. I came in 150th, so I was in the top 50%. Wooooo! And regardless of the times/positions, we had a blast! See how tough we are?:
AWESOME!
And of course, the entire thing was fueled by Vega and the Thrive Diet recipes. This morning, I ate the Energy Pudding before the race (banana, dates, coconut oil, lemon zest, salt, and probably some other stuff that I can’t remember right now). Right before the race, I drank a scoop of Vega Sport Optimizer (which is great stuff). I actually felt a little hungry around the 6km mark so I ate one of the Direct Energy Bites I had made (dates, lemon zest, coconut oil). It was just the right amount of fuel. I was sooo in the zone. So in the zone, I tell you, that I barely even noticed the Toronto FIREFIGHTERS who were handing out the water at one of the aid stations. Yup, I barely noticed them. Now, I wish I’d taken a longer look! ;)
It was a fantastic morning. Awesome weather, awesome running, awesome support. Love it! Run, run, run, you must.
Lisa xo
I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like!
23 Aug 2010 Leave a Comment
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After my yummy St. Lawrence Market lunch, I hopped on my ride and headed up to meet my darling friend, Jenny. She’s super awesome and so very much fun to be with. We had planned to go for a long bike ride and then end up somewhere for dinner. We fueled up with a Vega Vibrancy Bar (yum!) and headed out. Having checked out the Toronto Cycling Map (get it here), we decided to roll along the Don Valley bike path. It is such a fantastic path, busy with lots of people enjoying a Friday night ride. Look at our beautiful bikes (they’re cuddling):
We jumped off the bikes to take some funny photos and videos along the trail.
Me
Jenny
We had such a great ride, ending up at Ashbridges Bay beach. Lying in the grass, we chatted about life, looking up at the sun and beautiful blue sky. Then, Jenny twittered (tweeted?) to her followers, asking for suggestions for vegetarian eating in the Queen Street East hood. We got so many ideas and ended up at Leslie Jones. Not a vegetarian or vegan restaurant, I was a little unsure about what they might have to offer. But, amazingly, the waitress and chef were so accommodating. We were able to veganize everything! Our courses were: lime dressing-avocado salad, roasted potatoes, sauteed mushrooms and onions, and polenta. It was delicious. A perfect ending to a perfect day. Good eats all day long.
Lisa xo
To Market, To Market
21 Aug 2010 3 Comments
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Ah, the market. The St. Lawrence Market. I don’t know if anyone visits Toronto and doesn’t go there! To be honest, with my camera in hand and my big biking backpack, I definitely looked like a tourist. I wanted someone to say to me, “Tourist?” just so I could reply, “Blogger”. It didn’t happen, but I pretended that it might. (The conversation could have even continued: “Ooh, blogger,” they would reply, “What kind of blog?”. ”It’s called Five Shades of Green. It’s all about health and wellness. My business partner, Kari and I run a company called Five Shades of Green.” ”Wow,” this person would then say, “That’s amazing. I’m actually a very rich person who is looking for a small healthy eating/yoga type business to invest in. I just want to give two lovely girls lots of money so that they can follow their dreams. Would you be interested?”. Hey, it COULD happen!!)
Anyways, back to the market. Check out all the beautiful, colourful food:
Peaches and cherries and plums…oh my!
“Oh, there’s a root cellar, fruit cellar down below. You better watch your head, down you go…”
Look at all the green! Can you see the various shades of green? Five, perhaps?! ;)
Now those are signs you love to see! But, I actually want more. Ontario is one big, expansive province (I know that we sometimes forget that down here in Toronto). I want to know where in Ontario this stuff is from. But, baby, it’s a beautiful thing to see that Foodland logo.
The purpose of my trip to the market was to see a dear friend whom I haven’t seen in ages! Maggie and I had a great lunch, munching on raw enchiladas from Cruda Cafe. 
Maggie drives a Vespa, mint green and beautiful. It’s pretty much the coolest way of getting around town. I went for a ride with her once and it was just the best. I’m too chicken to drive one, but I sure like riding on the back!
Happiness! What a wonderful morning/afternoon. And stay tuned…that was only the first half of my super awesome Friday. There’s more to share later. As for now, I gotta get going…heading to yet another Farmer’s Market. Wychwood Barns to get fixings for a dinner tonight. Have a fantastic day, my fabulously healthy friends and family!
Lisa xo
Tomatoes
20 Aug 2010 Leave a Comment
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Look:
Aren’t these beautiful tomatoes? Don’t you want to eat them right away? I sure did. These tomatoes were the best I’d ever had. But, the best thing about them is where they came from. Grown with love and excitement, these delicious tomatoes came from Davidson Farms. Never heard of them? :) Well, get ready to!!! Davidson Farms is a small “farm” run by…my parents! :) Mom and Dad have done an amazing job in their backyard, growing all kinds of food. Check out their cold frames: 
I’m telling you…best tomatoes in Ontario. You can’t get more local than right outside your door. Thanks M&D!
Lisa xo
So Very, Very Full
20 Aug 2010 2 Comments
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Rain clouds flooded the Toronto sky this afternoon at about 1:30pm. The rain came down pretty fast. Armed with a copy of Metro as an umbrella, I made my way towards Dufferin-Grove Park for the weekly Farmer’s Market. As soon as I got to the park, the sky cleared and the beautiful sun dried everything, just in time for the start of the market.
Now, I wasn’t at the market to do some shopping. On the contrary! I was there to help out a new friend. Recently, I had the privilege of meeting an amazing artist, creator, and all-round woman, Cassandra Rizzotto. Because life is so fantastic, there is always a great story behind any friendship and this one is no different. As you all know, I am a HUGE fan of Rawlicious, the fabulous raw-food restaurant in the Junction. Well, the walls of Rawlicious are adorned with incredible paintings, all by Cassandra. After gazing at the great works time after time, I spoke to the waitress who put me in touch with Cassandra. I chose the following painting, from her amazing fall collection:
Isn’t it beautiful? I initially wanted the painting in my dining room, but it is now in my bedroom. Love it!!! Anyways, we met briefly in May to make the exchange and basically had a quick hello. Now, fast forward to two weeks ago. My dear friend Juanita and I went to the Dufferin-Grove Farmer’s Market, shopping for ingredients to prepare a lovely dinner. While we were there, I saw Cassandra working at a booth. I reintroduced myself and we got to chatting. She prepares amazing raw treats and eats, selling them at a tent with Nujima Living Foods. We reconnected through email and made plans for me to swing by one Thursday afternoon.
So, today, I had the privilege of joining my new friend at the Nujima tent for the market. It was SOOOO fun!!! I got to prepare raw wraps (I’ll admit I had some trouble at first…ha!) and help sell various treats to the beautiful people who shop the market (people like Kari Romaniuk, my wonderful partner of Five Shades of Green)! I feel so very blessed to have been able to spend the afternoon in the presence of amazing people. Thank you so much, Cassandra!!!
I love the way the Universe brings people into our lives, usually just when we need them. I love making new friends and, of course, deeply cherishing the longtime ones. It’s days like these that I just feel so full. My cup is brimming with gratitude. It’s overflowing with love, light, and life. Could there be anything more satisfying?
Lisa xo
Vegetarian Food Fair!!!
18 Aug 2010 Leave a Comment
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The Vegetarian Food Fair is coming soon! Tonight was the training session for volunteers.
I can’t remember if I mentioned this in a previous post…so just in case, I’ll tell you all again! I’m volunteering at the Vegetarian Food Fair this September. The fair takes place at the Harbourfront Centre, on September 10th, 11th, and 12th. I have never volunteered with the Toronto Vegetarian Association before (actually, I’m not even a member, which was a little embarrassing at the training session tonight!), so I’m a little nervous, but also a little excited! It was really great talking with fellows veggies tonight, hearing different stories and experiences.
(One of my favourite “vegetarian” stories was one I heard during my teacher training program. My friend told us about her friend (call him Tim) who was doing a teaching placement in a Kindergarten class. The Kindergarten teacher wanted Tim to do a Thanksgiving “turkey craft” with the Kindergarten children (don’t get me started on crafts). Tim wasn’t comfortable doing a turkey craft, as he is vegan. However, the teacher wasn’t interested in an alternative Thanksgiving craft and told him he MUST do the turkey craft. So, Tim did the turkey craft. Every child made a turkey (grrr…), but THEN Tim invited the children to make disguises for the turkey so that the turkeys could hide from the farmers and not get eaten! Ha, I loved it! The children loved creating disguises for the turkeys.)
Anyways, back to the Food Fair. I hope that everyone will come and out and experience the fair. You certainly don’t need to be vegetarian or vegan to enjoy the festival. Come try yummy food (you know you all like coming over to my place for dinner), listen to great speakers, participate in cooking demonstrations, AND come see me! I would love friendly faces in the crowds.
Check out the Toronto Vegetarian Association’s website by clicking on this logo:
Logo from TVA Website
If you have any questions, please let me know!!!
Lisa xo
The Sandwich
15 Aug 2010 Leave a Comment
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NORI ROLLS! 
I believe this to be the best lunch in the world! Why? Well, sandwiches are pretty awesome. They make for a perfect, fit-in-your-hand, load-it-up-with-anything-you-want meal. I really love sandwiches. However, I don’t love wheat. And when you think of a sandwich, you usually (or at least I usually…) picture a fluffy white bread stuffed with colourful ingredients (side note: I was talking to my mom tonight about how I used to love ham. When I picture a sandwich, even now, I still see a fluffy white ciabatta from the bakery, filled with black forest ham, sliced tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, cheese, and probably mustard and mayo). WOAH…what a sandwich of the past!!!! Anyways, I think that I’m always trying to find that “sandwich” feeling somewhere else. I’ve had sprouted rye bread, but it just doesn’t seem to do the trick.
I think that I’ve mentioned in a previous post how I’m not a big fan of the vegan “substitute” game. You know, the chick-UN strips, the “neat”-balls…basically anything that is trying to be something else. I love nut milk because it’s delicious (not because it’s a “milk” substitute). I love bean and grain burgers because they are so tasty (again, not because they are “meat” substitutes). So, rather than try to recreate the sandwich my subconscious dreams about, I wanted to find something that was tasty, nutritious, and served the purpose of a sandwich (that being, something easy, quick, flavourful, inviting-of-variety). Enter…NORI ROLLS.
I love them! Doesn’t that look so tasty, packed with delicious-ness?
Sprouts are SO nutritious and delicious; stuff them into everything!
Sundried tomatoes and olives from my local Italian grocer!
Some of my favourite stuffings for Nori Rolls include:
- Fresh veggies: tomatoes, cucumber, grated beets, grated carrots, celery
- Greens: sunflower sprouts, buckwheat sprouts, collard greens, lettuce
- Olives, avocados, tahini
- Hummus, carrot-seed pate, parsnip rice
Make some nori rolls and let me know your favourite combinations!!!
Lisa xo
Cashew Creamery Review
13 Aug 2010 Leave a Comment
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Sooooo….it’s HOT in Toronto. Very hot. Don’t get me wrong: I love it, but it’s pretty insane sometimes. Lots of cold baths and showers. Very little hair drying. :) I’m trying to soak it all in though, because I know that when winter comes, this will all be a distant memory. Since I’ve been biking around, I’m actually quite tan at the moment (well, as tan as a VERY whitey white English/Scottish gal can be). I want to keep this bronzed look!!!
Now, I hestitate to admit what I’m feeling today. As a teacher, I get the whole summer off. I recognize how glorious this is, I truly do. When I’m stuck in traffic or waiting for the TTC, or any “time-taking” activity, I just think, “Well, I have no where to be until September 1st”. So, I’m not fussed with waiting these days. However, today, for the first time this summer, I was feeling…*hate to admit it*…bored. I feel bad even writing it…but it’s true. Today, I felt bored.
Soooo, I decided to ride the rails. :) I have a metropass (I’m a big fan of the TTC), so I figured that the airconditioned subway wouldn’t be too bad. I could just ride around, read my book, keep cool. And thennnnnnn. And then then then…I remembered that The Big Carrot has raw ice cream from The Cashew Creamery. I read about this ice cream on another food blog (http://rawcandy.wordpress.com/). Boredom be gone, I had a mission! A little while later, I wound up at the Big Carrot, buying a vegan chocolate chip cookie and a pint of Cashew Creamery Mint Chocolate Chip raw, organic ice cream, which cost $10 (!). I thought, “This better be worth it!”. Now, forget the whole, “I’m fine with waiting and traffic”. Once that pint was in my bag (and possibly starting to melt), I was on a straight beeline for home.
Here’s what the ice cream looked like:
Verdict: I really liked the ice cream! There are cacao nib bits (which serve as the chocolate chips) in the creamy part. I’m not crazy about cacao nibs (I prefer the cacao powder), so I would probably have prefered the ice cream sans cacao nibs. But, it was VERY creamy, yummy…tasty.
Will I buy it again? Maybe. A different flavour I would like to try. However, I do think that my raw ice cream recipe might be tastier! It’s far simpler and I really like having things with fewer ingredients. So, I’ll probably save something like this for a “once-in-a-while, The-Big-Chill-craving-squasher” treat.
If you try it, let me know!
Lisa xo
