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CLICK HERE FOR A RECAP OF THIS YEAR'S EVENT!

Happy Halloween! We have gathered some healthy treat suggestions, tips for parents and links to several delicious recipes.

Most Halloween candies are over-packaged, chemical laden, and high in refined sweeteners. Some even contain hidden animal products (read the labels).

Avoid the junk by trying alternatives such as seaweed strips, peanuts in the shell, fruit cups, mini boxes of raisins, fruit leather sticks, dark chocolate, pretzels, holiday-themed stickers, temporary tattoos or noisemakers.

Click "Read More" furthur down for full details, recipe links and more tips.

Hallowe'en Treats in Toronto – October 2011

– Sweets from the Earth Bakery says: "Halloween is coming soon. Get your treats from us. e are now going to offer chocolate chip Halloween Cookies this year!!! We are offering a 38g cookie with our “softer” recipe. You can purchase 50 Halloween cookies for $20 this year directly with us! Our cookies are healthy, nut free, egg free and dairy free so they will make a great treat for all the little ones who come to visit. Send your order to info@sweetsfromtheearth.com with your contact information."

–Boardwalk Chocolates says: "Halloween treats at Panacea include: Creepy Coffins (2 hand painted white chocolate eyeballs, pumpkin truffle, monster truffle, butterscotch fudge with bone, skull peanut butter caramel truffle) All hand crafted and limited edition. Plus Scary Boxes with a variety of hand painted goulish solid pieces, hand painted eyeballs in bags, hand painted cute pumpkin chocolate suckers and tombstones. Check out the Boardwalk Chocolates face book for pictures. There are still some chocolate leaf suckers with maple sugar left  - at the eye popping price of $2.25! Vegan Oraganic and Fair Trade!"

– No Trick Treats!   "NoTrickTreats shows children and parents houses, apartments and businesses that will be giving out Halloween treats that accommodate restricted diets - from vegan to nut-free and everything in between." Add your house to the map!! 

Continue reading for full details, recipe links and more tips. 

This Canadian Thanksgiving enjoy a vegetarian feast. We have links to the best recipes, tips on what to serve, and how to avoid stress when vegetarians and meat eaters will be at the same meal. Also a special edtion of the Vegetarian Directory focusing on Thankgiving specials in Toronto . 

Left: Balsamic glazed chickpeas with spinach and quinoa, adapted from a recipe at Fatfree Vegan Kitchen.  Photo Creative Commons from Flickr: jodigreen. Right: Gluten-Free, Vegan Ukrainian Christmas Eve Dinner by canadianveggie. Photo is creative commons.

Question: I have just signed up for the veggie challenge but my family is trying to be (mostly) gluten free as well.  Can you make further suggestions to include gluten free meals?
– Kelly

Gluten-free is easy as long as you're willing to spend a bit of time in the kitchen and cook meals from scratch. There are a slew of gluten-free products available these days in grocery and health food stores, but they are ridiculously expensive and often not vegan – most contain dairy and/or eggs. Instead, I would encourage you to focus on legumes, which provide far superior nutrition to any packaged food. They're quick (think lentils or canned beans) and can be made into hundreds of yummy recipes. Try chickpeas (e.g. hummus), beans, lentils, tofu and tempeh.

Also eat lots of vegetables and fruits. And I can't rave enough about quinoa – it should be a staple for anyone with a gluten issue – it's a complete protein, cooks in 20 minutes, and can be used as alternative to brown rice in any recipe. Try making a refreshing quiona salad with chopped veggies and your favourite dressing.

If convenience is a driving force, there are a couple of veggie burgers on the market that are gluten free – Sunshine burgers are made from sunflower seeds as the base (available in most health food stores).

For specific recipes, there's a slew of them at this link (and the food is really yummy!):

http://www.fatfreevegan.com/gluten-free/index.shtml

If you're looking for something specific, feel free to write back - we're happy to help! :-)

Congratulations on signing up for the challenge - wishing you optimum health!

Nimisha
TVA - Veggie Challenge Team

More information

Search Google for "Gluten free vegetarian" and for local resources include in your search the name of where you live such as "Gluten free vegetarian Toronto". Speaking of Toronto, Hibiscus in Kensington Market is a delicious vegetarian cafe that is entirely gluten free. 

From Wikipedia:  A gluten-free diet  is a diet free of gluten. Gluten is a protein found in wheat (including kamut and spelt), barley, rye, malts and triticale. It is used as a food additive in the form of a flavoring, stabilizing or thickening agent, often hidden under "dextrin". Gluten (from Latin gluten "glue") gives elasticity to dough, helping it to rise and to keep its shape, and often giving the final product a chewy texture.

Related to gluten-free is wheat-free and celiac disease. Celiacs are allergic to gluten and have no choice but to be gluten-free.

Easter is a celebration of resurrection and rebirth, so it is the perfect occasion for everyone – veggies and non-veggies alike – to enjoy a delicious meat-free meal. Check out our tips on what to serve and links to the best recipes. Plus, you'll find tips on where to find special Easter tasty treats in the GTA.

Also included are quotes from Veggie Challenge participants who gave up meat for Lent, a link to a good article about a woman questioning the baked ham that has always formed the centre piece of her family's Easter dinner, and a crucifixion ad by PETA.

Image from Sonicwalker's Flickr site (creative commons).

Whether it is Christmas, Chanukah, Solstice, or Kwanzaa – enjoy a vegetarian feast. We have links to the best recipes, tips on what to serve, gift suggestions, and E-card links. Plus, how to avoid stress when vegetarians and meat eaters will be at the same meal.

Celebrating in Toronto 

See Where to find holiday fare in Toronto

Food.com (formerly Recipe Zaar)
57,000+ | Ratings | Nutrition info | Change servings | Flag recipes | Many photos
Huge vegetarian section and vegan section (15,000+) of recipes submitted by users.

VegWeb.com
9,000+ | All vegan | Flag recipes | Some photos
More than 2,000 vegan recipes for just about any occasion.

CLICK HERE to read a re-cap of our 2010 event, see the list of winning entries and download a free e-book of the winning recipes!

On October 2nd, 2010 at the Harbourfront Community Centre, the Toronto Vegetarian Association hosted the third annual Totally Fabulous Vegan Bake-off.

Dessert Divas and Divos: Do you love to impress your friends and foes with your culinary prowess? If so, don your fancy apron, break out your whisk and prepare something fabulous for this year’s bake-off. The prizes are fabulous but the competition is sweet

Are you better at devouring desserts then creating them? Bring your appetite, celebratory attitude and pocket change down to the Harbourfront Community Centre. Incredible sweets in five categories will be waiting for you and your discerning palate. Tickets will be sold for plates in each category - you can buy one or try them all! Samples are limited so plan ahead and arrive on time. Savor your samples, record your ratings on your ballot, and enter the audience challenges to win amazing prizes! 

If you give up animal-based meat slices, cheeses and eggs, what's left? Plenty, you just need to get creative.

From easiest to hardest

Buying lunch – See our fast food page for what's available at the chains in the way of veggie burgers, pizza, burritos, falafel, etc. When visiting a sandwich deli shop, you can often just point to what you want in your sandwich. Many grocery stores sell veggie sandwiches, veggie sushi or healthy soups in jars.

Bring leftovers – It is very easy to make extra at dinner to pack for lunch the next day. This works especially well if you have a way of easily reheating it, or if it tastes fine at room temperature. Or you can get a thermos.

Simple sandwiches – Avocado, store-bought hummus, veggie deli meats, veggie burgers, tofu slices, veggie paté, nut butters, etc.

Hearty salads – Greens, beans or lentils, pasta, noodles, corn, taco, fruit, etc.

More involved sandwiches – TLT (Tempeh, lettuce and tomato), burritos, lettuce wraps, sloppy joes, portobello mushroom, panini, chickpea salad.

Lunch recipes – While recipes take time initially, you can make plenty for several meals at a time. Try a nice chili or hearty soup with crusty bread.

Click “Read more” for tips, vegan sandwiches, salad suggestions and lots of recipes.

	Tofu Club Sandwich Photo: Mike Crooker www.flickr.com/photos/tofu/

Question

I’m sick of taking peanut butter and jam sandwiches to school every day for lunch – please give me some new ideas!

One way to spice up that old classic is to try different nut butters and unusual jams. One of my favourite variations on the PB&J theme is to use almond butter and either strawberry-rhubarb jam, apple butter, or marmalade.

If you want to get away from all nut butters, however, there are still plenty of options.

The fastest option is to buy vegetarian deli slices (try either Tofurky or Yves). I’m a big fan of all the Tofurky flavours and like to add spinach, avocado, sprouts, Vegenaise (or other mayonnaiselike spread of your choice), and Dijon mustard to make a hearty sandwich.

Such deli slices can be pricy, and not everyone wants to increase the amount of processed foods in their diet. Beans and legumes make excellent alternative sandwich fillings. David and Rachelle Bronfman’s CalciYum! has several excellent dips that can also be used as spreads — the Hummus Bean Blend, the Liverless Liver Pate, and the Just Like Tuna Salad are all excellent.

But my absolute favourite in this book is the Spicy Bean Blend:

In a Queens Quay condo overlooking the Gardiner Expressway, the kitchen fills with the warm scent of cumin and coriander. Indian food expert Shashi Jain (who owns the condo) is demonstrating how to dry roast spices to maximize flavour [see recipe below]. "Roasting them makes them easier to grind and it brings out the flavour," she explains, passing around a small frying pan filled with coriander seeds so that everyone standing in her cozy kitchen can catch a whiff. She puts the roasted spices into an electric coffee grinder. "Spices are more flavourful when they're fresh ground like this," she says. "Just don't use it to grind coffee afterwards!"

After the spices are ground together, she pulls a box of store-bought spice mix from her cupboard and passes it around so everyone can smell the difference. Fresh-ground spices are the clear winner.

Jain is teaching a vegetarian Indian cooking workshop to a small group of eager students who scribble notes on the recipes handed out at the beginning of class.

Continue reading for the rest of the article, a spice recipe and another photo. Reprinted by permission from "Getting intimate with Indian food" by Alison Broverman, National Post, October 04, 2008. 

By Lisa

October 4th was a chilly, blustery fall day. But one park in downtown Toronto was full of hot, sweet, spicy treats. When I arrived at Grange park to set up the gingham draped tables I could not have predicted the incredible sights, smells and tastes that awaited us all.

I was blown away by the amount of effort each of the Totally Fabulous Vegan Bakers put in to carefully preparing their decadent delights.

Plant-based baking provides lots of reason to celebrate and no risk of deprivation!

The Bake off was a strong demonstration that it is possible to live a cruelty free lifestyle without giving up any of life's sweet indulgences. There was so much excitement in the crowd as they sampled each entry, I heard many people discussing recipes and presentation techniques. There was no question that plant-based baking provides lots of reason to celebrate and no risk of deprivation!

A big thank you to all the amazing volunteers who pulled this together, the incredible companies that provided us with fabulous prizes and everyone who showed Toronto that eating vegan is Totally Fabulous!

Here are the winners:

Most Comforting

Spice Route Cupcakes – Nicola, who also won best cake/cupcake (see below).

Vanilla cardamom cupcake with ginger "cream cheese" frosting and candied pistachios.

Best Presentation

Black Forest Cake – Kathryn

"This is my first-time attempt at veganizing my family's traditional Schwarzwaldian dessert!"

Most Creative

Shameless Tarts – Karen

Whipped lemon and avocado custard with a toasted nut crust and fresh berry topping. The ingredients are avocado, toasted walnuts, cashew milk, white flour, raw sugar, baking powder, safflower oil, lemon juice and rind, vanilla and salt. They are topped with a raspberry and mint leaf. 

Continue reading for more photos and prize winners.